Taking Care: Queer Belonging and Safety in The University

Abstract

In this research, Brock University offers a case study of the tensions that result from desires for inclusion and the realities of pain, misrecognition, and harm many experiences. This project explored how queer students utilize and create systems of care that are both daily acts of nourishment required to engage with heteronormativity, and urgent critiques of neoliberalism. Five participants were recruited, all of whom are currently enrolled at Brock University and are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. This study used a semi-structured, open-ended methodology for the data collection process to ask how do queer students experience care within the university? Four individual interviews were done with the participants on Zoom. Firstly, the participants use their identities to express their desires for care and systems of support that recognize their identities holistically. The second theme is the life-saving effect of queer kinship as a site of temporary relief from the stressors of navigating the heteronormative geographies of the university. The final theme identifies the precarious nature of safety in the classroom as experienced by queer students. I conclude that Brock University is at an impasse of care, I propose that students require care resources that engage meaningfully with queerness, acknowledging its implications for housing, individual pedagogy, and emotional wellbeing.