Date of Award

5-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Theatre Arts

Abstract

According to Utah State University’s Office of Analysis, Assessment, and Accreditation during the Fall semester of 2020, about 18% of students enrolled were students of color. About 2.5% of students enrolled identified as two or more races. Margin of Error is a docudrama that elevates the voices of multiracial college students and promotes a better understanding of multiracial individuals. The project involves actor portrayals of interviews with multiracial college students who discuss navigating their multiple racial identities at often predominantly white universities. It also features reactions and commentary on the students’ experiences from faculty and students at Utah State University. This project was crafted through the devised theatre process. Devising is a subgroup of the larger genre, Applied Theatre, which intends to promote social change through theatre. In this form, “the audience is challenged to explore multiple possibilities within a given oppressive situation, and to actively engage in the theatrical process to attempt to overcome that oppression” (Boal as cited in Mesner, 2018, p. 256).

The specific goals of this project were to:

  • Elevate the voices of multiracial students.
  • Provide space for multiracial individuals to discuss and share their stories.
  • Promote a better understanding of multiracial people.

The research questions that I investigated are as follows:

  • How do multiracial individuals perform their self-identity in different social contexts?
  • Do multiracial individuals feel obligated to perform particular racial identities, or aspects of those identities to perform? Why or why not?
  • How do university demographics affect multiracial individuals' educational experiences?

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Faculty Mentor

Matt Omasta

Departmental Honors Advisor

Matt Omasta

Capstone Committee Member

Amanda Dawson