To Be Reel: A Narrative Inquiry of Black Student Placemaking and Digital Engagement

Abstract

Black students are often met with the laborious process of creating culturally affirming spaces and places on college campuses. While some higher education studies have sought to examine Black student life, few have honored the Black placemaking practices of students in their authentic voice. This digital media project and qualitative research study examine the ways Black students co-create and maintain space and place at a large, public, historically white, Hispanic-serving institution in southern Arizona. Grounded in Black placemaking theory and informed by Black studies, Black geographies, and Black arts-based research, this project uncovers the narratives of Black students engaged in placemaking as acts of endurance and resistance. Recognizing that Black placemaking extends beyond physical campus spaces, the study stretches traditional understandings of space and place by exploring how digital landscapes such as social media, gaming, and other technologies mediate and shape these processes. Employing a Black narrative inquiry approach, while utilizing interviews, narrative reels, and documentary filmmaking as a digital arts-based method, this research highlights the complexities of Black placemaking across varied student experiences, identities, and institutional contexts. Findings showcase how students engage in Black placemaking as a catalyst for refuge and security, worldbuilding, and reimagining the (im)possibility of Black affect.