{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/135524"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/135524","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"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.","abstract_html":"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.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Roberts, Elizabeth Burdette"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":"Sociology","degree_department":"Sociology","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Brunsma, David L."],"committee_members":["Ovink, Sarah","Craig, Sherri Elaine","Reichelmann, Ashley Veronica"],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-06-13","date_published":"2025-06-13","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:18:50Z","subjects":["Whitespace","collegiate honors education","higher education","race and ethnicity","critical whiteness studies","institutional ethnography","ruling relations"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:44098"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:44098","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10919/135524","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Brunsma, David L."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Ovink, Sarah","Craig, Sherri Elaine","Reichelmann, Ashley Veronica"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Sociology"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Roberts, Elizabeth Burdette"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-06-14T08:02:34Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-06-14T08:02:34Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-06-13"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Sociology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Whitespace","collegiate honors education","higher education","race and ethnicity","critical whiteness studies","institutional ethnography","ruling relations"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:44098"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10919/135524"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["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."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["Even as research on whiteness and racial inequality in higher education has grown, few have looked at honors colleges and programs specifically. Honors colleges are additional academic and professional development programs offered at more than 800 universities in the United States and worldwide, often as a way to recruit high-achieving undergraduate students to public, state universities. This project considers how honors colleges, in their goal to enhance the educational opportunities of college students who want to go above and beyond in their academic careers, may uphold and reproduce a culture that privileges whiteness. Using Tema Okun's (2021) white supremacy cultural characteristics and Wendy Leo Moore's (2020) mechanisms of whitespace, I analyze the data collected through an institutional ethnography to explore how the theoretical characteristics of whiteness are part of how honors colleges are structured. I collected data through interviews, organizational documents, and autoethnographic accounts for three honors colleges in the U.S. in order to develop visual maps of the ruling relations, or the social relations that organize everyday life, of the three case sites. In doing so, I demonstrate how the qualities of whiteness shape the ruling relations of honors colleges generally, suggesting that the ruling relations of honors education are distinctly racialized. However, identifying how whiteness may structure the everyday work and lives of honors practitioners provides an additional entry point into potentially reimagining honors education that centers racial equity and liberation."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Honors College as Whitespace: An Institutional Ethnography"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Brunsma, David L."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Ovink, Sarah","Craig, Sherri Elaine","Reichelmann, Ashley Veronica"],"dc:contributor.department":["Sociology"],"dc:creator":["Roberts, Elizabeth Burdette"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-06-14T08:02:34Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-06-14T08:02:34Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-06-13"],"dc:description.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."],"dc:description.abstractgeneral":["Even as research on whiteness and racial inequality in higher education has grown, few have looked at honors colleges and programs specifically. Honors colleges are additional academic and professional development programs offered at more than 800 universities in the United States and worldwide, often as a way to recruit high-achieving undergraduate students to public, state universities. This project considers how honors colleges, in their goal to enhance the educational opportunities of college students who want to go above and beyond in their academic careers, may uphold and reproduce a culture that privileges whiteness. Using Tema Okun's (2021) white supremacy cultural characteristics and Wendy Leo Moore's (2020) mechanisms of whitespace, I analyze the data collected through an institutional ethnography to explore how the theoretical characteristics of whiteness are part of how honors colleges are structured. I collected data through interviews, organizational documents, and autoethnographic accounts for three honors colleges in the U.S. in order to develop visual maps of the ruling relations, or the social relations that organize everyday life, of the three case sites. In doing so, I demonstrate how the qualities of whiteness shape the ruling relations of honors colleges generally, suggesting that the ruling relations of honors education are distinctly racialized. However, identifying how whiteness may structure the everyday work and lives of honors practitioners provides an additional entry point into potentially reimagining honors education that centers racial equity and liberation."],"dc:description.degree":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:44098"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10919/135524"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Whitespace","collegiate honors education","higher education","race and ethnicity","critical whiteness studies","institutional ethnography","ruling relations"],"dc:title":["Honors College as Whitespace: An Institutional Ethnography"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Sociology"],"thesis:degree_level":["doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:18:50Z"}