Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Education (Ph.D)
Department
Education Specialties
First Advisor
Olivia G. Stewart
Second Advisor
Michael Sampson
Abstract
This dissertation explores the affective experiences of LGBTQ+ undergraduates in an out-of-school poetry workshop. Through the lens of queer and affect theories, the study asks the following research questions: 1) How does reading and writing poetry foster community in an LGBTQ+ out-of-school poetry workshop? (2) How can participation in an out-of-school poetry workshop with members who identify as LGBTQ+ engender a love of writing in queer students? (3) How do LGBTQ+ college students’ affective experiences manifest in a queer out-of-school poetry workshop? Using queer phenomenological methods (Ahmed, 2006) to engage with such data sources as audio and video class recordings, semi-structured interviews, field notes, memos, and student writing, the study explores the way that two self-identified LGBTQ+ undergraduate students came to understand their writing and experiences in a queer out-of-school writing workshop space. Specifically, it engages with the ways young people interact with texts and writing prompts that center queer topics and issues, and how reorienting a space in which queer bodies and subjects are made visible can lead to increased engagement, empathy, and confidence in literacy skills.
Recommended Citation
Lynch, Jenna L., "MY WRITING MAKES IT SO OTHERS CAN FEEL SEEN: A QUEER PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF LGBTQ+ COLLEGE STUDENTS AFFECTIVE EXPERIENCES IN AN OUT-OF-SCHOOL POETRY WORKSHOP" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 865.
https://scholar.stjohns.edu/theses_dissertations/865