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University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM Graduate College Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 2020 A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Professoriate And The Embodiment Of Epistemic Coloniality/whiteness: A Call For A Contemplative Approach To Academic Freedom Faith Yacubian University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis Recommended Citation Yacubian, Faith, "A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Professoriate And The Embodiment Of Epistemic Coloniality/whiteness: A Call For A Contemplative Approach To Academic Freedom" (2020). Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 1319. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1319 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate College Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE PROFESSORIATE AND THE EMBODIMENT OF EPISTEMIC COLONIALITY/WHITENESS: A CALL FOR A CONTEMPLATIVE APPROACH TO ACADEMIC FREEDOM A Dissertation Presented by Faith V. Yacubian to The Faculty of the Graduate College of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Education Specializing in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies August, 2020 Defense Date: May 26, 2020 Dissertation Examination Committee: Kelly Clark/Keefe, Ed.D., Advisor Jennifer Dickinson, Ph.D., Chairperson Brenda Solomon, Ph.D. Tracy Arámbula Ballysingh, Ph.D. Judith Aiken, Ed.D. Cynthia J. Forehand, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College Copyleft by Non-Proprietarian May 2020 Abstract Higher education in the United States has largely been influenced by colonial discourse. Archetypes of the academy, namely the professoriate, reflect and inhabit traces of Western or European schools of thought and colonial genealogy. Inspired by Black, Indigenous Students of Color (BISOC) at a small, private college in the Northeast, this writing aims to unveil the colonial lineage embodied by the professoriate through habits of whiteness. With the use of Critical Discourse Analysis and reflective anecdotes, observations are made about the professoriate’s epistemology and academic freedom’s role in reinforcing colonial epistemic principles, such as objectivity, mastery and autonomy. In so doing, critical questions about the epistemological tenets that prime the professoriate and academic freedom call upon more complex theories, such as sociomateriality, to rethink, or reorient, the professoriate. Key Words: professoriate, colonialism, epistemic whiteness, academic freedom Acknowledgments The African proverb, it takes a village to raise a child, has new meaning for me. I did not arrive at this place, of creating a body of work that I am fiercely proud of, alone. As I write the final portion of my dissertation, I hear the many voices of people who have been with me from the beginning. This work carries within it their wisdom that they generously imparted to me and compassion that they extended to me. There are a number of friends, family members, colleagues, mentors, and critical thinkers whose encouragement, love, support, insight and shared interests made this dissertation, and my writing it, possible. I am overwhelmed by the gratitude that I feel for their choice to guide me. At this time, I would like to recognize, in no particular order, some of the people who have shaped me or have greatly helped me over the last five years. Thank you to the student activists at Neoco College who inspired the thinking, queries, and ambition of my dissertation. They have shown us, faculty, how to relate to knowledge as emergent and an effect of interdependence. Your persistence has an awakening effect. Thank you, EDLP Cohort 2015 for being my community and having the wherewithal to encourage deep concerted care. I bet you thought I was going to say “concerted cultivation” (Lareau, 2011)! Thank you to the innumerous colleagues and friends who have supported me emotionally and intellectually. You made writing this dissertation feel possible. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you, Dr. Miriam Horne, for your unwavering friendship and teacher tactics. You helped me stay focused, motivated, and intellectually curious. And, Dr. Hoffman (a pseudonym) for conducting research that provoked me and steered me to this writing. Thank you, Emily Crist and Dr. Adrienne Wicker for spending hours and energy on offering suggestions and edits to my work. Thank you, Dr. Amanda Chase, for being my personal Dissertation Hotline and formatting my dissertation (more than once!). ii Thank you to my family whose support is unconditional and always giving. I could not have started or completed this without your love, patience, and inherited perseverance. I would like to thank my father, Richard Yacubian, in particular, for supporting me financially. I do not take the privilege of having this form of support lightly. And, yes, I know how proud you are of me! And, I would like to thank my mom, June Yacubian, for instilling faith in me, which helped me trust my instincts and see my doctoral work to its end. You taught me that belief, and not reason, will see me through the uncharted waters and keep me reaching for my goals. Thank you to my Dissertation Committee (Drs. Judith Aiken, Kelly Clark/Keefe, Tracy Ballysingh, Brenda Solomon, and Jennifer (J) Dickinson) for your insight, mentorship, and interest in my work. Dr. Solomon, thank you for jumping-in when you likely were unaware of what you were getting yourself into. I am eager to get to know you better. I want to send a special appreciation to my academic and dissertation advisor, Dr. Kelly Clark/Keefe, and informal advisor, Dr. Judith Aiken, for have been a consistent source of audacious encouragement. Both of you have a level of intellectual, spiritual and emotional wisdom that defies the scope of human capacities. Thank you for sticking around this long and making space for me to be me. And, lastly and firstly, thank you, Dr. Rachel de Simone (my wife), for being a consistent source of love and being my anchor. When you were not being my personal Zotero Guru, you were fueling my stamina with protein enriched food, taking on the role of Director of Household Operations, staying awake with me long past your bedtime, and being my biggest fan (although Uncle G and Aunty Regina might have an unfair advantage of knowing me longer☺). Rachel, thank you for believing in me and loving the light in me. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgments................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ........................................................................................................ vi Definition of Terms............................................................................................... vii Writing Conventions ............................................................................................ viii Prelude to Chapter One: Grounding the Research .................................................. 1 Chapter One: Introduction ...................................................................................... 6 Situating the Researcher: Reckoning with Epistemic Injustice .................. 7 Methodology ............................................................................................. 10 The Writing Style ...................................................................................... 13 Effects of the Writing Style ...................................................................... 17 Topic Under Examination: The Professoriate ........................................... 18 Research Questions and Researcher’s Dialectic ....................................... 20 Research’s Relevance: Academic Freedom’s Colonial Hangover ........... 21 Problematizing the hierarchy of knowledge. ................................ 28 Literature Review: Theories of Education ................................................ 31 Progressive reformers. .................................................................. 31 Critical education. ......................................................................... 33 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 41 Prelude to Chapter Two: Epistemology, Performativity, and Colonial Discourse 42 Epistemology ............................................................................................ 42 Performativity ........................................................................................... 49 Colonial Discourse .................................................................................... 50 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 55 Chapter Two: Archeology of Whiteness............................................................... 56 Engendering Epistemological Importance ................................................ 58 Embodiment of Separation ....................................................................... 59 Epistemic Coloniality and the Production of Whiteness .......................... 62 Episteme of supremacy and law. .................................................. 63 Compulsories: Habitus and Epistemological Ignorance ........................... 68 Habitus. ........................................................................................

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