Artful Approaches for the Study of Multiracial Student Experiences: Not Artifact, But Aperture

Abstract

Within higher education, various methodologies are used to collect data on student experiences, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches. This paper highlights the importance of attending to artful methodologies particularly when learning with/from mixed and multiracial postsecondary students. We share three artful productions generated by multiracial undergraduate and graduate students from three separate studies, conducted over a range of time from 2017 to 2020. We argue that in each case, the art itself goes far beyond an artifact or “thick description” and instead serves as an aperture to new possibilities for inquiry and analysis. Not only are artful methods a generative form of inquiry with/on multiracial postsecondary students, but also the artful productions of these students can guide and shape continued, future scholarship in this area. Implications are discussed for research and postsecondary students in institutions of higher education.