Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Wearing The Keffiyeh: Solidarity, Resistance, Activism, Catherine Harper Ph.D, Tasnim Alahdal, Rawan Gamal Agha

Arts and Design

The Palestinian keffiyeh is a distinctly patterned black-and-white woven double-cloth, hand-stitched scarf, originally used by farmers of the region. It became a prominent symbol of Palestinian nationalism from mid-twentieth century. Adopted by Yasser Arafat in the 1960s, it became a masculinist icon of Palestine’s politics of resistance, extended by female Palestinian liberationist Leila Khaled’s hijabi-like use, and then mobilised by wider leftist, activist, even Israel-critical Jewish, protest groups in the West.

In recent years, keffiyeh-patterned scarves, accessories, even dresses and skirts – in a range of colours – have appeared periodically in Western fashion stores, on couture catwalks, and …

Pastoral Prose And Civic Engagement: Crafting The Call To The Public Square, Christopher Ian Thoma

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis explores the relationship between creative writing techniques employed by pastors and congregational engagement in the public square. The central thesis posits that if pastors incorporate creative writing methods in extended weekly communications with congregants, then the necessary factors for engagement in the public square will be fostered, leading to attitudinal shifts demonstrated by increased congregational interest or participation in civil affairs. Through an extensive literature review, the thesis fairly examines historical and contemporary views of church and state, the Two Kingdoms doctrine, concepts relative to public square participation, Christianity’s waning cultural influence, communication science, developmental theory, literature familiarity, …

Profiles Of Activism In The Lives Of Writing, Rhetoric, And Literacy Studies Scholars, Ruth Osario

Women's & Gender Studies Faculty Publications

[Introduction] When I was an undergraduate student, I dreamed of being a badass scholar-activist like Angela Davis the way that young kids dream of being a princess or a dragon. As a baby feminist and scholar, I admired Dr. Davis for her powerful writing and speaking on Black feminism and class struggle, and her impeccable style. When I decided to apply to graduate school, I did so with Angela Davis in mind, imagining a future career where I meandered in a labyrinth of books one day and shut down the streets in a protest the next.

Political Theory, Activism, And Visual Media: The Ideology Of Protest Symbols, Jilly E. Crane-Mauzy Mx.

Whittier Scholars Program

Art changes culture while policy codifies it. Radical revolutionary movements are often accompanied by equally radical shifts in art and design. I cataloged, compared, and contrasted the semiotic power of three specific symbols and their most significant historical moments in the United States. Through the examination of; Stonewall, The Equality March March Against Death, The Day The World Said No To War, The 1968 Summer Olympics, and The 2020 Black Lives Matter, the shifting of each ideologies symbol from inflammation in the media to recognition showcases the clarifying function along with creating unity and pride in community that is integral …

Study Of Fashion And Politics, Jacqueline Arena

Library Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this research is to analyze the way fashion has been used as a vessel for

political statements; specifically through studying the work of artists Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander Mcqueen and Vivienne Westwood. Gaultier and Mcqueen showcased shocking collections that caught the public eye by testing gender boundaries and reflecting historical events. Westwood’s work was a protest, and she was an activist. The sources included highlight the success of these unique designers. Furthermore, the research evaluates how political statements by fashion designers have become harmful because today newer designers are vying for the success of trailblazers such as …

The Effects Of Climate Change In Guam, Olga M. Zyzanska, Brooke R. Ashfield, Kate E. Eulberg

Student Publications

The purpose of this project is to dive into the harm that climate change has on Guam and its population. The objectives of our project are centered on highlighting the creative resistance of the CHamoru Indigenous community on Guam to established structures of colonialism and militarization during increasing climate crises. This project explores questions such as: How is Guam being impacted by climate change? Is the impact severe and/or immediate? How is the Indigenous community in Guam affected? How does US policy help or harm the island and its Indigenous population? What is being done to protect the island and …

“Why Invest In Racism?”: Anti-Apartheid Activism At The University Of Illinois, 1977-1987, Shane Smith

Student Honors Theses

On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela walked out of prison a free man after being held captive for over 27 years. Crowds roared with joyfulness as their beacon of hope pumped his right fist in the air triumphantly. The international community watched the occasion with hope and a feeling of success after the assistance in the struggle to bring down the brutal regime of apartheid. This inspiring movement took decades of unified activism from both South Africans and local, grassroots organizations to bring the system down. Amidst the ongoing Cold War politics and other international issues, dismantling apartheid proved to …

How To Effect Change Through Theatre, James Webb '26

Best First-Year Seminar Writing

No abstract provided.

Marietta J. Tanner, Mark Naison

Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP)

Interviewee: Marietta J. Tanner

Interviewers: Mark Naison, Donna Joseph, Saudah Muhammad

Date: July 2020

Summarized by Sophia Maier

Marietta J. Tanner was born in 1928 in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Influenced by the activism of her father and the wartime experiences of her uncle, Marietta is a life-long political activist. Her parents explained to her from a young age their experiences in Jim Crow era Pennsylvania and by the age of six she was passing out political pamphlets and registering people to vote with the rest of her family. After attending a segregated school in her youth and a brief period …

Law Library Blog (July 2022): Legal Beagle Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Sex, Suffrage, And Scandalous Ladies Podcast, Emma Hayes

Senior Honors Projects

The podcast, “Sex, Suffrage, and Scandalous Women,” tells stories of activists about whom the average listener may not be familiar. General audiences may not know the women’s impact beyond a basic level. Mainstream history lessons often gloss over the complex and nuanced aspects of feminist movement accomplishments and only trace activism in broad strokes. By disseminating this research in a podcast form I can highlight understudied aspects of women’s history in a way that is digestible and easy to understand. The podcast aims to answer questions about the motives of each movement and theme of activism, as well as the …

Lg Ms 111 Fortuna, Henderson, Prizer Collection, Caitlin E. Corrigan

Search the Manuscript Collection (Finding Aids)

Donated collectively by Stan Fortuna, Susan Henderson, and Peter Prizer, early activists in Maine’s LGBTQ+ history, this collection of research material spans from 1974 to 2014, with the bulk of material from the mid-1970s.

This collection documents the development and activities of the Maine Gay Task Force, including the creation and publication of a newsletter from 1974 to 1980. It opens with planning materials and news coverage of the first statewide gathering for gay people, the Maine Gay Symposium held at the University of Maine’s Orono campus, an event which sparked statewide organizing efforts, including the creation of the Maine …

Craftivism Between Nationalism And Activism In Ukraine And Belarus, Alla Myzelev

Art History

This article outlines the history and significance of Craftivism in Eastern Europe. Using two case studies of artists it investigates the use of the craft language in Eastern Europe and its usability for activism. Do-It-Yourself culture, of which Craftivism is part, rejects the commercialism, gender norms and the conventional lifestyle in the Global North. Use of crafts as a language of political and social struggle allows to convey the message in a less confrontational but nevertheless very pertinent way. The craftivism is a successful language for the feminist political struggle in the Eastern Europe.

Disabling Citizenship: Rhetorical Practices Of Disabled World-Making At The 1977 504 Sit-In, Ruth Osario

Women's & Gender Studies Faculty Publications

The article analyzes the importance of a citizenship approach to disability rights. Integrating disabled world-making in the writing classroom can transform thinking of people about the teaching of public writing. It is noted that disabled world-making can help English studies ensure professional organizations go beyond the legal requirements and ensure the full participation of disabled scholar-teachers.

An Analysis Of University Students’ Self-Labeling And Perception Of Feminism, Emilie Seibert

Honors Projects

This project investigates students’ perceptions of feminism, whether or not they identify as feminist, and how closely their ideals align with basic feminist ideals. There is currently no research that investigates self-labeling as a feminist among the current generation of college students in the United States. Despite the immense benefits to holding a feminist identification, it is estimated that only about 21% of the United States population identifies as feminist (Swirsky & Angelone, 2014, p. 230). Understanding the perspectives of current students is important as they have the potential to become activists and impact the future of the feminist movement. …

Wgss Program Shaped Alum’S Passion For Activism: A Blog Post, Rae Peter

Feminist & Queer Praxis

This blog post was written for the WSU Academic Blog, which showcases the exciting and challenging work WSU students do.

The Impact Of Political Protests In Hong Kong On Consumerism, Katherine Kane

Honors College Theses

Hong Kong’s free economy has major influence in Asia and around the world. Because of the rising political tension between Hong Kong and Mainland China, the city’s economy is at risk. There has been a long history of political dissent in the city showing a growing disapproval of the Beijing government. The political and sociological impact of activism has been extensively discussed in the literature. However, few studies have statistically tested the economic implications of the protests. During the 2014 Umbrella Movement and the 2019-20 Extradition Bill Protests, the city’s retail and tourism sectors have seen significant disruptions. This may …

Amplifying Collections With Oral Histories In A Virtual World: The Student Help Lived Experience Project At Queens College Cuny, Annie E. Tummino, Victoria Fernandez

Publications and Research

In response to the challenges brought on by the onset of the pandemic, the Queens College Special Collection and Archives (SCA) created the “Student Help: Lived Experience” student fellowship, designed to be completely remote. The project is an initiative to further document the activities of Queens College students who participated in both the Virginia and South Jamaica Student Help Projects in the early to mid-1960s. The Virginia Student Help Project was an intensive education effort during the summer of 1963 in Prince Edward County, Virginia where public schools were closed for five years in massive resistance to integration. The Jamaica …

Aids, Act Up, And Activism Within The Albany Community, Kimberly Eastlick

Library Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research

This research, completed in the senior-history capstone course, follows a feminist LGBTQ+ activist local to Albany, NY. Her and fellow activists worked during the 1980’s and 1990’s to provide awareness and resources following the outbreak of the AIDS crisis. I examined the Albany community’s (and the national government’s) response to the rise in LGBTQ+ violence and hate-crime cases. I also examined how activists were working to address the lack of serious response on behalf of local/national government, and the solutions they offered to Albany’s community. Therefore, my project is essentially an assessment of the work done by activists such as …

Nina Reddy, Nina Reddy

Oral Histories – Student Projects

On April 12, 2021 students in the class AMS 200 conducted an oral history interview with activist Nina Reddy. In the interview Ms. Reddy discussed her activist work and her support for the AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) community through the NAPAWF organization.

Raising Canes: Crafting Disability Narratives, Charlotta Abernathy

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Disability is a common part of life, but not a well understood part of our cultural conscience. Because of this, the oppression that disabled people face, ableism, is particularly pervasive and under addressed. In order to begin to chip away at the systemic ableism that is embedded in all parts of society, disabled people need better representation in the media. This means not just showing stories that involve disabled people or that are about disabled people, but actual stories by disabled people about disability. One area of particular interest to me is addressing ableist misconceptions about assistive technology. To take …

Changing The World One Play At A Time; The Intersectionality Of Theatre And Activism, Joe Moore

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

For [Redacted], Lalini Shanela Ranaraja

Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award

This poem was written following the attempts of a close friend and myself to create awareness for the ongoing genocide in Tigray, Ethiopia in particular, and in reaction to activism in the age of social media in general. The digital age and related phenomena, such as hashtag activism and cancel culture, has enabled certain social justice movements to gain rapid traction while other equally worthy movements struggle to find a foothold. Simultaneously, standards of accountability and ethics continue to decline among global news media, with non-Western countries such as Ethiopia and my own home country of Sri Lanka bearing the …

Treatise, Scripture, Manifesto: Reckoning With "Love Cake", Lalini Shanela Ranaraja

Audre Lorde Writing Prize

This essay was written in response to Sri Lankan-American writer and activist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha's poetry collection Love Cake, as part of a directed study I undertook in Spring 2021. A goal of the directed study, titled "The Empire Writes Back" was to engage with and build upon work by writers from South Asia and the diaspora, of which Piepzna-Samarasinha is a vocal member. In this essay, I explore not only the sense of connection I feel with this poet and her body of work as a result of shared experiences of otherness, trauma, and nationhood, but also …

It Could Be So Much Worse, Alexandra Juhasz, Pato Hebert

Publications and Research

Conversation between longtime AIDS activists about longhauling with COVID-19, disclosure, shame, and the possibilities of COVID politics with photographs of the "COVID Body."

The World Would Be Better If They Hadn't Died: Alexandra Juhasz With Don’T Rhine, Alexandra Juhasz, Dont Rhine

Publications and Research

In Final Transmission: Performance Art and AIDS in LA, eds. Brian Getnick and Tanya Rubbak. When we chatted for an hour before to prepare, the first thing I asked you was how old you are. I’m 52, and you’re 54. But we realized that we didn’t know a lot about our shared history because we met in an activist part of the AIDS scene in Los Angeles. I picked up pieces about your history, and we’ve even collaborated, but I actually don’t know that much about you personally. Checking in before this public conversation, one of the things we realized …

Lulu Lola, Lulu Lola

Oral Histories – Student Projects

On December 10, 2021 students in Prof. Minnie Chiu's American Studies 102 class at Pace University conducted an oral history interview with Lulu Lola. In the interview Lola discussed her work as an activist and performer.

Information Activism: A Queer History Of Lesbian Media Technologies, Dawn Betts-Green

STEMPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Colonized Cop: Indigenous Exclusion And Youth Climate Justice Activism At The United Nations Climate Change Negotiations, Corrie Grosse, Brigid Mark

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Youth activists around the world are demanding urgent climate action from elected leaders. The annual United Nations climate change negotiations, known as COPs, are key sites of global organizing and hope for a comprehensive approach to climate policy. Drawing on participant observation and in-depth interviews at COP25 in 2019, this research examines youth climate activists’ priorities, frustrations and hopes for creating just climate policy. Youth are disillusioned with the COP process and highlight a variety of ways through which the COP perpetuates colonial power structures that marginalize Indigenous peoples and others fighting for justice. This is intersectional exclusion - the …

How Alumnae Of A Feminist Organization During Middle-High School Perceive Their Involvement As Related To Their Academic Self-Concept, Miranda R. Snyder

Honors College

Research has found that youth involvement in activism can benefit sense of self and belief in one’s abilities to make positive change for those involved through unique communication with people who are passionate about the same issue, a sense of personal empowerment, and a deepened sociopolitical consciousness to understand the complexities of social-justice issues.

This qualitative study provided greater understanding of how youth perceive their involvement in a feminist organization related to their academic self-concept in middle- high school. Six alumnae of the Girls Advisory Board (G.A.B.) of Hardy Girls Healthy Women, a Maine-based nonprofit that focuses on the empowerment …