ARMED WITH MORE THAN KNOWLEDGE: AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION OF GUN CULTURE By DARCI M. GRAVES A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Department of Teaching and Learning DECEMBER 2019 © Copyright by DARCI M. GRAVES, 2019 All Rights Reserved © Copyright by DARCI M. GRAVES, 2019 All Rights Reserved ii To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of DARCI M. GRAVES find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. Pamela Bettis, Ph.D., Co-Chair Ashley Boyd, Ph.D., Co-Chair Susan Finley, Ph.D. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to take a moment to thank the people who have supported me in completing my doctoral coursework and writing my dissertation. First, I would like to thank the members of my doctoral committee. Dr. Pamela Bettis, whom I first met prior to applying to this doctoral program. Thank you for supporting me since day one and seeing me through to the very end of writing this dissertation. You have pushed me to be a better academic and a stronger writer. Thanks to Dr. Susan Finley for inspiring me to step outside my comfort zone and integrate an arts-based approach into my academic work. Thank you to Dr. Ashley Boyd for stepping in and supporting me through the final and most difficult stages of writing a dissertation. Each of these faculty members have taught me to see the value in my own work and for this I am grateful. I would also like to thank my husband, Dan, without whom this dissertation would not be possible. Thank you, Dan, for supporting me since I was an undergraduate – and then putting up with me through graduate school and then my doctoral program. Thank you for taking on all the extra work at home and making sure I never quit. I would also like to thank my children, Alma, Hadrian, and Theodore. Each of them inspires me to be a better person and gave me a sense of purpose in finishing my work. Lastly, I would like to thank the friends and colleagues who have supported me through this process. Lauralea Edwards, my writing partner and friend who encouraged me to keep going. Erika Offerdahl, a friend and supporter who always lent an ear and great advice. Manee Moua, my colleague and confidant. Matthew Jeffries, a friend who was always willing to edit my work and give feedback even on short notice. Without these people I could have never completed this work. iv ARMED WITH MORE THAN KNOWLEDGE: AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION OF GUNS ON CAMPUS Abstract by Darci M. Graves, Ph.D. Washington State University December 2019 Co-Chairs: Pamela Bettis and Ashley Boyd The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the author’s experiences with campus concealed carry and gun culture. The author employs methods of autoethnography to highlight the ways in which her lived experiences interact with gun culture in the United States of America. Vignettes included in this work examine the author’s: attendance at a campus-wide training on how to survive an active shooter; involvement in a concealed carry permit course; and experience with a student implying possession of a gun inside an academic classroom. Through the lens of intersectional feminism, the author deconstructs the ways in which gender, race, class, and ability impact her experiences and analyzes how these constructs are represented within gun culture. Significant findings discussed are: the culturally constructed idea of the ‘good guy with a gun’; the ways in which gun culture positions women as inherently vulnerable in order to support their claim that guns are empowering; the methods by which gun culture utilizes fear to encourage gun use; and the ways guns in academic spaces impact power structures. Future directions for research include further exploration of the implications of guns v in college classrooms and examining the numbers of students who choose to practice concealed carry on campus. Key words: Gun culture, Guns on Campus, Campus Concealed Carry, School Violence vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENT ........................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. iv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................1 Contextualizing/Defining the Problem: Guns on Campus ........................................................3 Statement of the Question Driving this Study:..........................................................................5 Overview of the Study .............................................................................................................6 Methodology of the Study........................................................................................................9 Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................................... 10 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 12 CHAPTER TWO: INTERSECTIONAL FEMINISM AS A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR RESEARCH ..................................................................................................................... 14 Troubling Notions of Equality ............................................................................................... 15 Intersectional Feminism ......................................................................................................... 21 Theoretical Origins ................................................................................................................ 22 Double Jeopardy, Triple Jeopardy, and Multiple Jeopardies. .............................................. 27 CRC Interlocking Systems of Oppression. ......................................................................... 29 Intersectionality. ................................................................................................................ 30 The Outsider Within .......................................................................................................... 31 The Personal is Political. ................................................................................................... 31 Arriving at the Third Wave. ............................................................................................... 32 Intersectional Feminism Defined ........................................................................................... 33 vii Critiques of Intersectional Feminism...................................................................................... 35 My Positionality and Intersectional Feminism........................................................................ 37 Utilizing Intersectional Feminism to Analyze Guns and Gun Culture ..................................... 38 CHAPTER THREE: CONTEXTUALIZING CAMPUS CONCEALED CARRY AS A PART OF AMERICAN GUN CULTURE ........................................................................................... 41 The Rise of School Shootings in America .............................................................................. 42 A Brief History of the Movement to Bring Concealed Carry to a School Near You................ 47 The Movement to Bring Concealed Carry to a Campus Near You .......................................... 49 Academic Freedom and Implications for Students and Faculty .............................................. 51 Student and Faculty Perceptions of Guns on Campus ............................................................. 53 Who is carrying weapons on campus? .................................................................................... 55 Gun Culture ........................................................................................................................... 56 Exploring the Intersection of Guns, Race, and Socioeconomic Status .................................... 58 The Great Equalizer ............................................................................................................... 60 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 62 CHAPTER FOUR: METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY ......................................................... 64 Critical Autoethnography Defined ......................................................................................... 65 Fieldwork .............................................................................................................................. 75 Crafting a Narrative ............................................................................................................... 80 Validity and Reliability .......................................................................................................... 83 Ethical Considerations/Positionality. ..................................................................................... 83 CHAPTER FIVE: ANALYSIS ................................................................................................. 86 Armed with More than Knowledge ........................................................................................ 87 viii Narrating an Incident ............................................................................................................