The Sensemaking and Construction of Political Narratives in Academic Settings

  1. Valerie J. D’Erman
  1. Richard T. Marcy is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at the School of Public Administration, University of Victoria.
  2. Valerie D’Erman is an instructor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Victoria.

Introduction

In recent years, there has been something of an explosion of news stories about various college and university campuses across North America experiencing heightened levels of political advocacy and political unrest. Visible examples include the “canceling” of invited speakers who have been deemed offensive by select student groups1 or petitions calling for the removal of instructors who have been accused of using harmful language.2 While these examples shed light on some of the more intense political debates circulating in higher educational institutions, they are also newsworthy stories precisely because they suggest strong divisiveness in worldviews in action—the contradiction between different…

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