The question remains unanswered on how higher education supports or limits the impact of extremism. In an institution like UCI, we must continue to engage in reflection and analysis of our systems, structures, and issues that impact the individuals who learn and work here. Our students, faculty, and staff come from diverse backgrounds in race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation and, sadly, experience extremism in their daily lives that members of the public may never know firsthand.
In recognition of their evidence-based research strategy to better understand and disrupt extremism through intersectionality, health humanities, and public discourse, the UCI Office of Inclusive Excellence has awarded pilot funding to Sean Arayasirikul, PhD, associate professor in residence of health, society, and behavior.
Their winning project will conduct a community-grounded research project using PhotoVoice, a participatory research method that asks participants to act as the researcher to analyze their social world through taking photos. These photos not only provide a literal snapshot of the lived experience, it can become a communication tool for understanding and empathy. In this project’s case, the participants are a group of sexual and gender minoritized young adults of color in the UCI campus who experience the effects of extremism in their daily lives. The project will culminate in a photo exhibit that will spark dialogue with our larger UCI community to develop respect and find common ground.
PhotoVoice creates an opportunity to amplify the lived experiences of people with marginalized, intersectional identities, and ask others with a different worldview to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. This project will afford our communities a moment to disrupt echo chambers and encourage us to value pluralism, diversity, and difference in the face of rising extremism targeting LGBTQ+ people of color today.”
– Sean Arayasirikul, PhD
