Layering the Cake: Engaging Autoethnography in Dissertations

This presentation explores how the researcher employed autoethnography to juxtapose the lived experience of her 19th century Mormon ancestor with her own as a 21st century lesbian. She discusses how she interwove data derived from primary sources, historic documents, family lore, her own felt-sense, reflecting on personal narrative, and shamanic journeying. Themes of personal and societal neglect, persecution, perseverance, and resilience were also layered into the dissertation’s narrative