From the Eye of the LGBT Community at MNSU

Location

CSU 202

Start Date

16-4-2013 10:05 AM

End Date

16-4-2013 11:05 AM

Student's Major

Art

Student's College

Arts and Humanities

Mentor's Name

Alisa Eimen

Mentor's Department

Art

Mentor's College

Arts and Humanities

Description

Through documentary photography emphasizing collaboration and multiple perspectives, my study focuses on identity within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The concept comes at a time when LGBT Americans have entered a broad, political discussion regarding marriage equality, bullying in schools, and whether identifying as LGBT is derived from nature versus nurture. Considering the political discourse happening across the country and more specifically, in Minnesota, questions that may be overlooked are: Do LGBT students feel politicized or threatened by the larger conversation happening across the state? To what extent do LGBT students identify with common stereotypes affecting their own community? And, finally, where do students generally see themselves in terms of their identity and, specifically, as a member of a much larger institution? Little published material exists directly concerning LGBT students at MNSU, but from journal articles, past student’s research, and broad sources that approach LGBT issues; I’ve found that one solution to give this marginalized community a voice is with the use of anonymous photography. Through the photo representations of how LGBT students see their identity within the MNSU community, I will be able to visually capture some elements of how students identify with their prescribed sexual orientation and gender. With my creative, interactive documentary photography project, I strive to find some answers to these broad questions as well as start a much larger discussion as to the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

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Apr 16th, 10:05 AM Apr 16th, 11:05 AM

From the Eye of the LGBT Community at MNSU

CSU 202

Through documentary photography emphasizing collaboration and multiple perspectives, my study focuses on identity within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The concept comes at a time when LGBT Americans have entered a broad, political discussion regarding marriage equality, bullying in schools, and whether identifying as LGBT is derived from nature versus nurture. Considering the political discourse happening across the country and more specifically, in Minnesota, questions that may be overlooked are: Do LGBT students feel politicized or threatened by the larger conversation happening across the state? To what extent do LGBT students identify with common stereotypes affecting their own community? And, finally, where do students generally see themselves in terms of their identity and, specifically, as a member of a much larger institution? Little published material exists directly concerning LGBT students at MNSU, but from journal articles, past student’s research, and broad sources that approach LGBT issues; I’ve found that one solution to give this marginalized community a voice is with the use of anonymous photography. Through the photo representations of how LGBT students see their identity within the MNSU community, I will be able to visually capture some elements of how students identify with their prescribed sexual orientation and gender. With my creative, interactive documentary photography project, I strive to find some answers to these broad questions as well as start a much larger discussion as to the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Recommended Citation

Schutz, Joshua. "From the Eye of the LGBT Community at MNSU." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 16, 2013.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2013/oral-session-03/3