Euphoria Rising: The Link Between Activism and Higher Education

As activism across the world soars in light of the Israel–Hamas war, PhD student Euphoria Rising has been looking at the role higher education institutions play in navigating these issues. Her project looks at the relationship between the goals or “dreams” of higher educational institutions versus those of activist movements. Outside of her project, Rising works to instill students with a sense of agency and personal belonging through her teaching.

How would you summarize your project? How does it connect to your broader research interests?

My project examines how higher education actors—students, faculty, professionals, and staff—frame the role of public institutions in ongoing debates about the Palestine-Israel conflict. 

In the past year, higher education activism on issues of divestment and academic freedom has become increasingly fraught with the risk of discipline and censorship. This is not a new pattern: scholarship on the 1960s student movements as well as more recent movements show that institutions double down on repressionary tactics to protect commercial and capital accumulation interests. 

Thus, my broader interests include the study of institutions themselves: the social and spatial arrangements that gesture towards certain kinds of social change or status quo, as well as how members of institutions navigate such arrangements.

What question is at the heart of your project?

In the context of the ongoing political and social conflicts, how and why do certain dreams of higher education prevail while others struggle? Dreams are an important part of my research question because of their capacity to spur meaning making, especially among social collectives.

I contend that the power of dreams can best be described as what Audre Lorde calls the “creative energy” of feeling. That is, while certain dreams may not resonate with all social groups universally, people do gravitate towards dreams to develop meaning over their values and purpose.

How did you become interested in your topic? How did this project come about?

It is understood among scholars and professionals that the mission of higher education varies across institutions. Remarkably, recent unrest over diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), labor, and most recently the intensification of the Palestine-Israel conflict shows that institutional actors—students, faculty, professionals, administrators—are deeply divided over what constitutes the mission of their particular institution. 

So far in my engagements with critical university studies literature, I demonstrate that activist struggles, such as the Third World Liberation Front and Ethnic Studies movements, are intricately involved in what and who higher education is for. 

My project came about because I thought it was necessary to assert that the mission of higher education is always in formation and to show how institutional members negotiate their roles and capacities in light of social problems.

In what ways does your research influence how you teach, and vice versa?

The debate over the mission of higher education underscores important variance in why students choose to pursue an education at the university. 

Maybe students come to the university to develop certain personal, social, and leadership capacities. Perhaps earning a degree at the university is a means for students to gain skills in a specialized field. Or—and this is a running gag in my community engagement work—students simply want to engage in labor organizing! 

Whatever the reason, my research gives me further appreciation for the diverse stakes students have in their relationship with the university. When I teach, I always provide practical, metacognitive support (such as writing and study skills) in recognition that any college coursework is difficult for many students. 

But I also recognize student agency and belonging by engaging in conversations with students about their interest, motivations, and their investments in the coursework. This not only shows that the students are capable of doing the work, but that they can bring their whole selves to their academics.

What's next for you? Any exciting upcoming endeavors?

My journey takes me to Urbana-Champaign and Chicago where I will examine how student and faculty activists at University of Illinois engage in organizing within and across system campuses. I will also be attending higher education conferences to gain insight into how professionals and administrators engage in conversation about student protest and academic freedom.

This story was edited by Joy Edwards, an undergraduate student in CLA.