Date of Completion

2018

Thesis Type

College of Arts and Science Honors

Department

English

First Advisor

Professor Major Jackson

Keywords

documentary poetry, docupoetry, critical race and ethnic studies, whiteness, University of Vermont, Vermont

Abstract

This project is located at the joining of the two fields of documentary poetry and critical race and ethnic studies, specifically that of whiteness. The University of Vermont is a predominantly white institution in a predominantly white state. Though traditionally the docupoet is incidental to the project, in 88.9 I explore the social phenomenon of whiteness by engaging with the political forces that are simultaneously insidious and explicit at UVM. To give this project balance, I also interrogate my own personal role not only as a student, but also as a white woman and a Vermonter. 88.9 is my attempt to utilize the form of docupoetry to arrive at a deeper understanding of the role of whiteness in shaping this university for bodies of all colors as well as my own identity within this space.

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