Research project gives LGBTQ+ students voice through photos

A research project is underway to help University of South Dakota LGBTQ+ students express themselves anonymously.

PhotoVoice is a project aimed at using photography as a way of empowering LGBTQ+ students “through the understanding of the content of the photos,” said Kim Grieve, vice president of Student Services and dean of students.

Grieve and Michael Suing, an adviser for the Jump Start college readiness program for first-year students, are both in charge of the research project.

“Students take photos with their cameras and share them to the PhotoVoice share point and we meet weekly to discuss the photos,” Grieve said.

Photos can be of anything that resonates with the participants, but human subjects are not allowed, Grieve said.

The idea for the project originated from a counseling staff member who has since relocated, Grieve said.

PhotoVoice has about eight undergraduate participants. The group has met twice and will meet four more times to discuss their photos, she said.

There isn’t a limit to how many students can participate. Students who wish to participate can contact Grieve or Suing.

The technique of having participants take photos for a research project is nothing new, Grieve said, who added that the findings of the research will be presented at a conference. Selected photos from the project’s completion will also be displayed in the Muenster University Center later this semester.

Suing said the research will be qualitative rather than quantitative.

“The way this methodology works is that people take pictures of their environment,” he said.

The conversations that are “sparked” by the photos are then evaluated, to see if certain themes or words such as “acceptance,” “misunderstanding” or “ignorance” appear frequently, which can help lead the research in one direction or another, Suing said.

In evaluating the emotional direction of the conversations surrounding the photos, the hope is that “students are met with safety on campus, not ignorance,” Suing said.

The findings of the PhotoVoice research are far from concrete as of yet, Suing said.

“A clear end is not yet in sight,” Suing said of the project. “(We’re anxious to see) what we can learn from the conversations.”