Epistemic Injustice, Intersectional complexities, and International Students in America
Location
Ponderosa Room C
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
6-3-2026 11:15 AM
Event Sort Order
31
Abstract
Historically, prejudice materializes and perpetuates in many forms. The systemic discrepancies in society steer the prejudice and push marginalized communities away from having a reaction to the absurd experiences which they are subjected to. One such way this happens is through Epistemic Injustice, which refers to the act of undermining an individual in regard to their ability and status as knowers, interpreters, and relayers of knowledge, whilst also violating their status or agency for arbitrary reasonings that are unnecessary to attain, cultivate knowledge. Such an injustice arises from discrimination, biases towards specific races, genders, sexualities, nationalities, and so on. One example would be people of color being perceived as less credible and more likely to be persecuted and criminalized despite substantial evidence suggesting otherwise. There is a gap between credibility that these individuals are seen to possess in our current societal systems and the credibility everyone deserves inherently. As a brown, queer, and international student in the United States, after having faced various anecdotal experiences from my own intersectional complexities, make me a representative of this sort of injustice. My research aims to construct and clarify the basic framework as well as the state of epistemic injustice faced by queer, people of color, and marginalized individuals in the United States; specifically, by putting the experiences of such non-immigrants in the educational, academic context under a microscope. Through extensive literary review, my research would separate itself from other works in the field by capturing unique experiences and filling in a large gap that exists in the global acknowledgement and understanding of marginalized experiences that have failed to be captured by non-intersectional sources.
Epistemic Injustice, Intersectional complexities, and International Students in America
Ponderosa Room C
Historically, prejudice materializes and perpetuates in many forms. The systemic discrepancies in society steer the prejudice and push marginalized communities away from having a reaction to the absurd experiences which they are subjected to. One such way this happens is through Epistemic Injustice, which refers to the act of undermining an individual in regard to their ability and status as knowers, interpreters, and relayers of knowledge, whilst also violating their status or agency for arbitrary reasonings that are unnecessary to attain, cultivate knowledge. Such an injustice arises from discrimination, biases towards specific races, genders, sexualities, nationalities, and so on. One example would be people of color being perceived as less credible and more likely to be persecuted and criminalized despite substantial evidence suggesting otherwise. There is a gap between credibility that these individuals are seen to possess in our current societal systems and the credibility everyone deserves inherently. As a brown, queer, and international student in the United States, after having faced various anecdotal experiences from my own intersectional complexities, make me a representative of this sort of injustice. My research aims to construct and clarify the basic framework as well as the state of epistemic injustice faced by queer, people of color, and marginalized individuals in the United States; specifically, by putting the experiences of such non-immigrants in the educational, academic context under a microscope. Through extensive literary review, my research would separate itself from other works in the field by capturing unique experiences and filling in a large gap that exists in the global acknowledgement and understanding of marginalized experiences that have failed to be captured by non-intersectional sources.
Presenter Bio
Mantrana “Moon” Upadhyay is a sophomore at the University of Central Oklahoma pursuing a Computer Science major with a philosophy minor. They are currently a Sexual Health Ambassador and Research Intern for the Women's Research & BGLTQ+ Center at UCO. They plan to get doctorates, conduct research, and teach as a university professor in the future. A fun fact about them is that they love travelling and have been to about 14 countries!