Student Activism Within Christian College Cultures: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
This study contributes to the understanding of the structural and cultural influences of Christian college environments on student activism through the framework of symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1934). The goal of this research was to examine how the students at Christian institutions...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2014
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| In: |
Christian higher education
Year: 2014, Volume: 13, Issue: 5, Pages: 317-339 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This study contributes to the understanding of the structural and cultural influences of Christian college environments on student activism through the framework of symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1934). The goal of this research was to examine how the students at Christian institutions understand and engage in activism within their college's culture and to provide institutional leaders information about these student activists and campus cultures. The three research questions posed were: How do current students, studying at a Christian college or university, understand the concept of activism? What are the institutional facilitating factors or barriers in relation to student activism and how do they shape student activities? How do students make meaning of their activism within the Christian campus culture as they think about their future activism? This article focuses on the findings from a qualitative case study research project involving two Christian colleges in the Midwest. Data were received through 23 individual interviews with elite samples of student activists and were triangulated through two follow-up focus groups, 15 individual interviews with elite samples of staff and faculty, campus observation, and archival records. One finding to emerge from the within-case analysis and multicase synthesis was that these Christian college student activists’ understanding of activism is shaped by their institution and through an educational paradigm. These student activists were also found to embrace and work within institutional systems that control student activism, making meaning of their activism through the lens of their institutional construct. |
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| ISSN: | 1539-4107 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Christian higher education
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/15363759.2014.950358 |