ABSTRACT

Student affairs, a field comprised of many co- and extra-curricular university functions outside of academic affairs, has a durable left-leaning reputation. Roderick Ferguson’s theorization of minority absorption serves as the concept through which we investigate the practices of student affairs. Ferguson argues that student movements of the 1960s and 1970s, which aimed at transforming academic affairs into spaces of radical equity for minoritized students, were ultimately absorbed by institutions, leaving academic affairs relatively intact save a veneer of diversity. We review Ferguson’s arguments on absorption, including his utilization of Foucauldian biopower, and proceed to analyze absorption in three disparate areas of student affairs: student development theory, student outcomes, and cultural centers. As queer scholars, we specifically focus on queerness within these areas. From these critiques we explore the creative potential of Ferguson’s concept of critical possibilities, comprised of analytical framing and practices of dissensus. The practices of analytical framing and dissensus explored can bring the actions of student affairs communities in line with their reputation, and incite radical institutional changes long fought for.

摘要

学生事务是一个由许多学术事务之外的大学课外活动组成的领域，具有持久的左倾声誉。罗德里克·弗格森 (Roderick Ferguson) 的少数族裔吸收理论是我们研究学生事务实践的概念。弗格森认为，1960 年代和 1970 年代的学生运动旨在将学术事务转变为少数族裔学生的激进平等空间，最终被机构吸收，使学术事务相对完整，除了多样性的外衣。我们回顾了弗格森关于吸收的论点，包括他对福柯生物权力的利用，并继续分析学生事务三个不同领域的吸收：学生发展理论、学生成果和文化中心。作为酷儿学者，我们特别关注这些领域的酷儿。从这些批评中，我们探索了弗格森的批判可能性概念的创造潜力，包括分析框架和分歧实践。所探索的分析框架和分歧的做法可以使学生事务社区的行动与其声誉相符，并激发长期争取的激进制度变革。