It's a Shit Show, and It's Fine: Symbolic Nonviolence Practices in Higher Education in 2020

Aubree Evans

doi:10.14288/ce.v14i3.186717

It's a Shit Show, and It's Fine

Symbolic Nonviolence Practices in Higher Education in 2020

Authors

Aubree Evans University of North Texas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v14i3.186717

Keywords:

COVID, College teaching, symbolic violence, symbolic nonviolence, thinking with theory, post-qualitative, Bourdieu, Kingian nonviolence

Abstract

Through in-depth interviews with 22 faculty who taught during COVID in 2020, this study examines symbolic violence and symbolic nonviolence in higher education. The post-qualitative method, thinking with theory, revealed inequities exposed by the pandemic which caused low grades, plagiarism, or disappearing from class. The concept, symbolic nonviolence, was created, which is the intentional and systemic practice of recognizing and absorbing symbolic violence to transform the habitus. Faculty practiced three types of symbolic nonviolence: non-academic support, academic adjustment, and disciplinary superpowers, which increased communication and social support for students, provided services that institutions were unable to provide, remediated students academically, adjusted academic expectations to be more suitable to pandemic learning, and taught students how to transform the world using tools unique to their disciplines. Symbolic nonviolence practices have the potential to transform the reproduction of oppression in the institution of higher education, improving academic success and social mobility.

Author Biography

Aubree Evans, University of North Texas

Aubree Michele Evans, Ph.D. is an applied sociologist and Senior Faculty Development Specialist in the Division of Digital Strategy & Innovation at the University of North Texas. Her research focuses on power dynamics and inclusive teaching practices in higher education. Her work has been published in the Journal of Transformative Learning and Inside Higher Education.

Critical Education Volume 14 Number 3 2023

Downloads

Published

2023-07-14

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 3 (2023)

Section

Articles

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International 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).