Date of Award
Spring 4-19-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Edward Schortman
Abstract
At Kenyon College, more students hail from the top one percent of wealth in the country than the bottom sixty percent combined. This project explores the ways in which low income students at Kenyon College experience marginalization on an everyday basis, particularly in their interactions with food. In the Fall of 2017, the author conducted in-depth interviews with low income students (N=23), interviews with college administrators (N=5), distributed a survey (N=242), conducted focus groups, and was a participant observer. Contextualizing this data within a framework of cultural capital and structuration theory, this paper reveals the nuances in the experiences of low income students. The experienced isolation of low income students appears to be correlated with their racial identity, pre-collegiate experience, and overall sense of community. This paper concludes with several suggestions for the student body, faculty, and administration to better foster an inclusive community for students from low income backgrounds.
Recommended Citation
Rochelle, Jenna, "Born with a Plastic Spoon in Mouth: Food in the Experience of Low Income Kenyon Students" (2018). Honors Theses. 205.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/honorstheses/205
Rights Statement
All rights reserved. This copy is provided to the Kenyon Community solely for individual academic use. For any other use, please contact the copyright holder for permission.