African Women's Struggle Against Patriarchy: Challenging The 'Un-African' Narrative Of Feminism,
2026
Mountain Top University, Nigeria
African Women's Struggle Against Patriarchy: Challenging The 'Un-African' Narrative Of Feminism, Olufunso Temitope Olubanjo-Olufowobi
Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
This paper critically examines the assertion that feminism is a Western import and incompatible with African cultures by demonstrating that African women have participated in activism and liberation struggles prior to the emergence of the term ‘feminism’. Although the term ‘feminism’ did not originate within African societies, it was subsequently adopted to describe these longstanding struggles. Through historical analysis and a review of existing literature, this study highlights that pre colonial African societies often afforded women considerable autonomy and leadership, which were later diminished by colonial and post-colonial patriarchal systems. The marginalisation of African women across the political, legal, and …
From Farewell To Fáilte: The Voices Of Iowa’S Irish Daughters,
2026
University of Nebraska at Kearney
From Farewell To Fáilte: The Voices Of Iowa’S Irish Daughters, Katie Hermanson
History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity
Irish women’s immigration to Iowa brought rich culture and lasting impacts, despite their contributions being silenced by history. Women left Ireland for economic opportunity and education abroad to support their impoverished families. Millions emigrated between 1830 and 1915, spreading across the world. The Irish women who came to the United States encountered discrimination and cultural stereotyping as they worked in domestic service, developed religious orders, taught school, owned businesses and raised families. Women bore the burden of supporting their families in Ireland by sending remittances home and communicating between countries. Their cultural identity as exiles dwelled in guilt for leaving …
Akan Proverbs And Social Media Commentary: The Representation Of Women In Ghanaian Society,
2026
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Akan Proverbs And Social Media Commentary: The Representation Of Women In Ghanaian Society, Richard Ayertey Lawer
Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
This study examines how gender ideologies embedded in Akan proverbs are reproduced, negotiated, and contested within contemporary Ghanaian digital discourse. Drawing on feminist rhetorical analysis and digital discourse studies, the research analyzes a purposive sample of 25 Akan proverbs and 36 social media posts and comments from Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok (2022–2025) focusing on women in public roles. The study demonstrates that Akan proverbs function as enduring ideological resources that construct women’s agency as conditional, subordinate, and morally regulated. These ideological patterns are recontextualized in digital spaces through both explicit citation and implicit proverbial reasoning, where users mobilize cultural logics …
Predator Or Prey: The Analysis Of Gender And Race On The Perception Of Black Men As Sexual Assault Victims,
2026
University of South Carolina
Predator Or Prey: The Analysis Of Gender And Race On The Perception Of Black Men As Sexual Assault Victims, Jordyn Livingston, Dr. Florencia Cornet
Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal
Men sexual assault victims have gained more attention in recent years. Despite the growing sociological literature on violence against men, previous research provides little acknowledgment of Black men sexual assault victims. In this manuscript, I analyze emerging literature in the socio-medical sciences to explore how gender and race affects the perceptions of Black men as sexual assault victims. Specifically, I utilize intersectionality as a theoretical framework to synthesize literature on blackness and masculinity in sexual assault victims to conclude that there is an intersectional point that disadvantages Black males, portraying them as sexual predators. In so doing, I provide research …
Sexism In Unexpected Places: An Analysis Of Country Music Lyrics,
2026
University of South Carolina
Sexism In Unexpected Places: An Analysis Of Country Music Lyrics, Anna Rogers
Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal
This study aims to show that sexism exists in all facets of society by exposing its existence in the widely unexpected area of country music. Within sociology, much work has been done on sexism in the popular musical genres of rock and rap, but little attention has been given to country music. The focus of this study is an area of society where sexism is often thought to be less salient. In order to do this I will use a perspective developed from sociological perspectives on culture, gender, and music, and look at popular country songs for sexist lyrics. Using …
The Brain And Becoming: Integrating Play And Performance-Based Learning In The Community College Classroom,
2026
University of North Alabama
The Brain And Becoming: Integrating Play And Performance-Based Learning In The Community College Classroom, Hannah M. Green
English
Instruction in the community college classroom is in need of a shift, according to neuroscientific, pedagogical, and demographic data. Primarily, students in today’s community college classrooms are instructed in the form of lectures (Nilson 106), but research has shown that game-based learning would be the way to enhance learning experiences for these adult learners. Game-based learning specifically takes form in student learning through games, interactive reading activities such as performance pedagogy, discussions, and small group work. While research shows that play-based learning at the community college level is neurologically beneficial for students, there is a gap in implementing play-based learning …
Redefining The Teenager: Liminality And The Dystopian Young Adult Heroine Who Overthrows The Government To Save The Child And Preserve Innocence,
2026
Clemson University
Redefining The Teenager: Liminality And The Dystopian Young Adult Heroine Who Overthrows The Government To Save The Child And Preserve Innocence, Ashtyn Zavala
All Theses
The teen girl figure has swept young adult dystopian fiction from 2008 onward, continuously overthrowing governments and acting outside of her socially defined roles. This stock character became a cornerstone in most YA fiction during its time, leading to this thesis’s investigation of its necessitation: why must a teenage girl save her country’s people from an oppressive government and why can none of the other children or adults do this saving? This thesis attends to Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (2008-2025) and Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me (2011-2021) to examine the conditions and subsequent formula that give rise to this teen …
Sense Of Belonging And Self-Efficacy Of Women In Stemm At The University Of South Alabama,
2026
University of South Alabama
Sense Of Belonging And Self-Efficacy Of Women In Stemm At The University Of South Alabama, Emilie Dedeaux
Honors Theses
Despite decades of calls and initiatives to diversify science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) disciplines, females are still more likely to leave STEMM career paths compared to their male peers, which is often depicted as a 'leaky pipeline'. Females in STEMM often report greater social alienation, greater selfdoubt, lower sense of belonging and academic satisfaction due to a mismatch in values in STEMM disciplines. STEMM values have traditionally been normed by cisheteronormative, white, male ideologies . While extensive research has focused on the barriers females experience in STEMM that reduce sense of belonging , less research has focused on …
"Obsessive Myth:" Disturbing The Grammar Of The Lyric And Epic In Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's "Dictee",
2026
Clemson University
"Obsessive Myth:" Disturbing The Grammar Of The Lyric And Epic In Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's "Dictee", Noelle (Nell) Kriegel
All Theses
The archival text Dictée by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha spans many genres, making it a highly hybrid text. Cha uses personal letters, official government documents, images, prose, dictation exercises, translations, and poetry to create a composite identity of women neglected through history. Dictée’s hybrid form allows it to experiment with the lyric and epic traditions, challenging their forms to adequately reflect the lived experience of oppressed women. Dictée’s hybridity is but one aspect of its interrogation of literary form and language; the text also plays with grammar, specifically pronouns, to depict a genealogy of female voices as they relate to …
Understanding Challenges Faced By Refugee Women And Women With Experiences Of Forced Migration In Entrepreneurship In The Midwest Region Of The United States,
2026
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Understanding Challenges Faced By Refugee Women And Women With Experiences Of Forced Migration In Entrepreneurship In The Midwest Region Of The United States, Ritu Jadwani
College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
The labor market participation of refugee women was only 6%. The United States had the maximum employment rate for the refugee women population, which was 40%, as compared to 6% in Germany, Lebanon, and Jordan (Kabir & Klugman, 2019). Refugee women faced many challenges in labor force participation and especially in entrepreneurship. As demonstrated by Desai, Naude, and Stel (2020), refugees faced challenges like cultural integration, language barriers, level of education, and acceptance of education merits. This eventually led to disparities in income generation. Thus, many either remained in low-paying jobs or started their own business (Desai et al., 2020). …
Dinah Whipple: The Black Community’S Fight For Access To Fair And Equal Education,
2026
University of New Orleans
Dinah Whipple: The Black Community’S Fight For Access To Fair And Equal Education, Isabelle C. Fortier
LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations
This thesis illuminates the story of Dinah Whipple, a former enslaved and literate woman of color living in Portsmouth, New Hampshire during the early 1800s. Dinah opened the Ladies Charitable African School, the first school for Black children in New Hampshire, and as an educator she was a community leader and championed social issues facing her community. This thesis will use the Ladies Charitable African School and Dinah Whipple’s work in New England to show the lengths local communities went to, to establish accessible schools. The major academic discussions surrounding education in the 18th-century to 19th-century revolve around earlier Black …
Pussy Protest! Protest Zines To Uplift Marginalized Voices,
2026
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Pussy Protest! Protest Zines To Uplift Marginalized Voices, Alekz Nelson
Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects
A publication of 4 separate zines made up of 12 pages each. The zines delve into the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act, trans women and their music artistry, lack of lesbian media, and inmate working conditions. These zines aim to not only raise awareness towards these issues, but spark action from readers by providing practical and doable options to pursue. With societal attitudes and political administrations becoming more conservative, spreading this information and awareness is vital to ensure that these alternatives ways of life are not forcibly erased.
Trad Lives Of Tiktok Wives: Rhetorical Strategies Of Mormon Wives On Tiktok,
2026
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Trad Lives Of Tiktok Wives: Rhetorical Strategies Of Mormon Wives On Tiktok, Makena L. Colson
Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects
Recently in the United States there have been debacles over gendered spaces in the home and workplace as debates spark over who a homemaker can be in a modernized society. TikTok, a short-form video social media app, is a way members of the younger generation communicate with one another over political and world events and discuss with one another in real time. The “tradwife” phenomenon on TikTok is examined here by using Walt Fischer’s Narrative Paradigm to show how what popular tradwife influencers’ words matter to a generation of adolescent girls and young mothers. Three popular influencers, Nara Smith, Hannah …
“Before Your Honour?”: Divine Morality And Women Reclaiming Power In Ben Jonson’S Volpone And William Shakespeare’S Measure For Measure,
2026
CUNY Hunter College
“Before Your Honour?”: Divine Morality And Women Reclaiming Power In Ben Jonson’S Volpone And William Shakespeare’S Measure For Measure, Delilah G. Fleming
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis explores how the female protagonists in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and Jonson’s Volpone navigate and combat corrupting patriarchal forces through moral religious speech. In both plays, the male characters have allowed false gods and hypocrisy to dictate and justify their corrupt behavior. By engaging with the historical significance of early modern female rhetoric this thesis examines Jonson’s Celia and Shakespeare’s Isabella, and how they operate in the interest of godly virtue rather than blind obedience to patriarchal figure heads. Volpone’s Celia is a character largely neglected in the canon, and whose speech emphasizes the relationship between female agency …
The "Evil Forest" As Threshold: A Computational Eco-Feminist Study Of The Forest In Nigerian Fantasy,
2026
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The "Evil Forest" As Threshold: A Computational Eco-Feminist Study Of The Forest In Nigerian Fantasy, Cynthia O. Mbagwu
Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
This study examines the representation of the “evil forest” in Nnedi Okorafor’s Zahrah the Windseeker and Ukamaka Olisakwe’s Don’t Answer When They Call Your Name, arguing that the forest functions as a liminal threshold that catalyses female transformation. Combining close reading with computational tools like TF-IDF keyword extraction in Ruby and sentiment analysis using VADER, the project investigates how pre-colonial and colonial connotations of the “evil forest” are re-imagined in contemporary Nigerian fantasy fiction. By segmenting each narrative into pre-liminal, liminal, and post-liminal phases, the study tracks shifts in sentiment toward the forest and correlates them with thematic developments …
Transforming Theory Into Action: Feminist Frameworks In Reproductive Justice Organizing,
2026
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Transforming Theory Into Action: Feminist Frameworks In Reproductive Justice Organizing, Ella R. Mitchell
Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)
This honors thesis examines how feminist theoretical frameworks can be translated into practical strategies for reproductive justice organizing. Grounded in a reproductive justice framework and drawing on three key feminist frameworks, intersectional feminism, queer feminist theory, and feminist ethics of care, this paper explores how each provides critical tools for understanding and responding to reproductive oppression. Intersectional feminism illuminates how overlapping systems of inequality structure reproductive experiences and political marginalization. Queer feminist theory challenges heteronormative assumptions about family, gender, and reproduction, expanding reproductive justice discourse to include LGBTQ+ communities and diverse forms of kinship. Feminist ethics of care emphasizes relational …
The Consumptive Female Ideal: The Case Study Of “Snow White”,
2026
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The Consumptive Female Ideal: The Case Study Of “Snow White”, Nayla G. Torres Ruiz
Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)
Tuberculosis (TB), also known as “consumption” or “phthisis,” was one of the most pervasive and culturally significant diseases of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Despite its high mortality rate—claiming more lives than cholera and smallpox combined—TB was widely romanticized in art, literature, and popular culture, particularly as a feminine disease associated with beauty, purity, fragility, and moral virtue. The physical traits of consumption—pale skin, rosy cheeks, red lips, glassy eyes, and a slender, delicate frame—became an ideal of female beauty, one that many women sought to emulate through restrictive diets, toxic cosmetics, and evolving fashion trends, such as increasingly tight …
Redefining The Mother Wound: Marianism, The Church, And Communal Mothering In Las Madres: Latinas In The Heartland Who Led Their Family To Success,
2026
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Redefining The Mother Wound: Marianism, The Church, And Communal Mothering In Las Madres: Latinas In The Heartland Who Led Their Family To Success, Maria R. Loya-Pérez
Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
This thesis reconsiders the restrictive role assigned to Mexican mothers that is perpetuated by the Church and Marianism, and how those restrictions are liberated by communal mothering. In examining how a Mexican mother is expected to act based on cultural expectations, I analyze the stories of three real mothers from the familial autobiography Las Madres: Latinas in the Heartland Who Led Their Family to Success. I analyze three mothers, the matriarch Candelaria, her daughter Rafaela, and her daughter Irene to better understand how the Church and Marianism has restricted them based on the experiences of Candelaria. These restrictions when placed …
Killing The Hot Vampire: Gender, Camp, And The Stakes Of Desire In Nineteenth-Century Vampire Fiction,
2026
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Killing The Hot Vampire: Gender, Camp, And The Stakes Of Desire In Nineteenth-Century Vampire Fiction, Ella G. Kehr
Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
This thesis examines the representation and destruction of the Hot Vampire in nineteenth-century vampire fiction, focusing on Dracula (1897), Carmilla (1872), and The Blood of the Vampire (1897). It argues that these texts construct the female vampire as a figure of excessive sexuality, independence, and deviance which causes both societal (patriarchal) and narrative disruption. In the male-authored texts, the construction of the Hot Vampire is exaggerated beyond the neat bounds of gothic excess and monster theory. The destruction of these vampires also follows this unbound extravagance. The Hot Vampire’s death becomes the ritualized restoration of patriarchal order, which is often …
Charting The Course: The Influence Of Mentorship On Women's Careers In Outdoor Education,
2026
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Charting The Course: The Influence Of Mentorship On Women's Careers In Outdoor Education, Jessica M. Callahan
Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research
Mentorship is a significant contributor to women’s experiences working in outdoor education, yet it remains underresearched in a formal capacity. This study aims to answer the central research question of “What meanings do women give to mentorship experiences in relation to their career development, retention, and professional identity?” A qualitative, phenomenological approach was chosen to be most appropriate, and both synchronous interviews and an online survey were used to collect data. In total, data was collected from 24 participants, which was analyzed using thematic analysis. Identified themes were categorized by the topics of mentor qualities and impact on self, mentorship …
