Out of (Queer/Disabled) Time

Temporal Experiences of Disability and LGBTQ+ Identities in U.S. Higher Education

Authors

  • Ryan A. Miller University of North Carolina at Charlotte

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v11i16.186495

Keywords:

higher education, temporality, LGBTQ, disability, identity, disability studies

Abstract

A qualitative study using situational analysis (Clarke, 2005) explored the temporal experiences of 25 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students with disabilities at a research-intensive university. Drawing upon queer and critical examinations of time, including the notions of queer and crip time, this manuscript details students’ experiences navigating and transgressing normative temporalities in higher education. Students in the study described processes of (1) calculating time to graduation; (2) resisting and accommodating temporal expectations; and (3) lacking energy, lacking time. Failure to keep up with the campus tempo was dismissed as an individual failure of motivation and of time management, thus absolving the institution. Ultimately, however, a focus on students experiencing acute temporal pressures might offer insight into broader trends embedded in dominant neoliberal discourses of higher education. This paper suggests interconnections among time, power, and identity that could inform new paradigms for higher education practitioners and researchers.

Downloads

Published

2020-09-09

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 16 (2020): Abelism in the Academy (Part 3)

Section

Ableism in the Academy

License

Authors who publish with Critical Education agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).