Exploring Identity and Belonging: Dr. Lucille Toth’s On Board(hers) Project at UTSA
In October 2025, Dr. Lucille Toth, Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at The Ohio State University, brought her innovative research project On Board(hers) to the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). There, she collaborated with Latinx and DACA students in a creative workshop designed to explore themes of identity, displacement, and belonging through personal narratives and objects that evoke a sense of home.
Before the workshop, participants were invited to bring or describe an item of emotional significance—something that connects them to their roots, family traditions, or cultural heritage. These objects became the starting point for conversations about migration, memory, and the complexities of living between cultures. One participant brought a mask from her hometown in Mexico. Another brought an orange, recalling childhood moments spent picking fruit from trees. Through guided activities, participants shared stories tied to these objects, weaving together intimate reflections on their lived experiences. For many, the exercise opened a space to articulate feelings of in-betweenness—navigating life in the United States while maintaining strong ties to Latin American identities.
Dr. Toth’s approach emphasizes storytelling as a powerful tool for self-expression and community building, allowing participants to see their narratives as part of a larger cultural tapestry. The workshop also incorporated visual and performative elements. Participants collaborated to create scenes that combined their collective stories, blending individual movement with shared memory. This creative process not only highlighted individual voices but also underscored shared experiences of resilience and adaptation. By transforming personal memories into artistic expressions, participants engaged critically with questions of representation: How do we portray identity? What does home look like when it is fragmented or mobile?
The On Board(hers) project reflects Dr. Toth’s broader research interests in migration, gender, and dance. By situating these conversations within a university setting, she fosters intercultural dialogue and encourages students to think beyond traditional academic frameworks. The UTSA collaboration demonstrates how creative methodologies can enrich language and cultural studies, offering students a platform to explore identity in ways that are both personal and scholarly. For the Latinx and DACA students involved, the workshop was more than an academic exercise—it was an opportunity to affirm their voices and experiences in a supportive environment.
Through projects like On Board(hers), Dr. Toth continues to challenge conventional boundaries between research, teaching, and artistic practice. Her work reminds us that identity is not static; it is a dynamic process shaped by movement, memory, and imagination. And sometimes, all it takes to start that conversation is an object that feels like home.