Honors College as Whitespace: An Institutional Ethnography

Abstract

This dissertation brings together the theory of whitespace and institutional ethnography to examine how whiteness operates within collegiate honors education. Situated within sociological theories of whiteness, race in higher education, and honors education, the project addresses a significant gap: the racialized dynamics of honors colleges remain understudied. Drawing on artist-activist Tema Okun's (2021) articulation of white supremacy cultural norms, I analyze the data generated to explore how whiteness manifests within honors colleges. Through institutional ethnography across three case sites—including interviews with honors practitioners, content analysis of organizing documents, and critical autoethnographic accounts from my experience as an admissions counselor—I trace how whiteness structures the ruling relations of honors education. This study explores whether and how honors colleges enact white supremacy culture, how whiteness exists within organizational logics and practices, and how honors practitioners navigate these dynamics. In addition to mapping the ruling relations for each of the three case sites, I construct both an ideal-type and an experience-based map of the ruling relations of honors education broadly. From there, I identify how characteristics of white supremacy culture (Okun 2021) and mechanisms of whiteness (Moore 2020) shape the social and structural organization of honors colleges. Ultimately, I argue that honors colleges function as whitespaces, privileging whiteness by design. The project concludes by offering possibilities and questions for disrupting whiteness and reimagining honors education through both a critical and liberatory lens.