Digital Commons Network^™

Queering Storytelling: Challenging Normative Storytelling Methodology And Building A Queer Approach To Documentary Filmmaking, Ruben Schneiderman

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Honors Projects

As representations of queer people on screen grow, so too has the violence for queer folks at the margins. This project looks at four documentaries that cover key moments in LGBTQ history to see how filmmaking methodologies and choices can further the harms of institutional violence. Key themes include homonormative and assimilationist representations in film, the formation of a reductive cultural memory of queer politics, and the obscuring of the global crises of AIDS. Through an analysis of these films, I argue for the formation of queer documentary methodologies that are grounded in the ideas put forward by queer theorists …

Camp À La Campagne: Francis Poulenc’S Les Animaux Modèles, C.J. Everett

Dissertations

Francis Poulenc’s ballet Les Animaux modèles [The model animals] premiered in 1942 at the Paris Opéra during the German occupation of Paris to favorable reviews from prominent voices in the Parisian musical scene. Set in the French countryside (la campagne) in the seventeenth century, the ballet is a seemingly honest depiction of quaint rural life. To create the short vignettes that comprise the work, Poulenc (1899–1963) adapted well-known fables of the poet Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95). Existing discussions of Les Animaux modèles primarily focus on the ballet’s conception during World War II and the political implications of …

Final Master's Portfolio, Savannah Packman

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This portfolio uses Marxist and feminist film theory to analyze various forms of visual media. It analyzes Mark Mylod's film The Menu (2022), Julie Taymor's film Across the Universe (2007), the historic V-J Day Kiss photograph, and popular TikTok videos. This portfolio focuses on the impact of capitalism in the political and economic sphere. It also analyzes images of women throughout history and critiques how these images have been used to formulate the American body politic.

Girl Rot, Maddie Foss

Graduate Theses

Does individual identity curate our personal environments, or do environmental variables infiltrate the idea of selfhood? My work is a journey of questioning the origins of selfhood while simultaneously trying to understand identity through the lens of the physical world and online landscapes that influence me. Through an examination of identity work, the history of pop culture icons, and online aesthetics, my artwork is immersed in gender, sexuality, and media study conversations that help me better understand myself and others that heavily engage online. I am an interdisciplinary artist working in digital drawings, collages, and installations with my media reflecting …

School Shooters Are Men: Let’S Talk About It, Lily Lockwood

Student Zines

This zine was created for the course WS 268: Men and Masculinities, taught by Prof. Roxanna Azari.

Lgbtq+ Spaces In Rural Arkansas That Accommodate And Advocate For Queer Existence, Lacey Oxford

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

Queer communities located in rural Arkansas are often scarce and elusive to the public eye as a justified reaction to mass negative interpretations and understandings of these LGBTQ+ individuals from a predominantly conservative population. The few who have a more broadcasted identity are subject to potential public scrutiny, but offer queer individuals needed refuge and areas of unfiltered self-expression. This paper explores two LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and other identifying individuals) communities and their concomitant establishments: Santuario Arco Iris, an esteemed communal settlement designed specifically for BIPOC (black, indigenous, and other people of color), queer individuals in Boxley, …

A Little Loud And A Little Alone: A Phenomenology Of Leadership Identity Construction Among Women In Higher Education Technology, Amy Barry

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

This qualitative study is an exploration of how women in higher education information technology (IT) positions navigate constructing their leadership identities. This includes the messy, personal, internal identity work that occurs prior to claiming their leadership identities on the public stage, followed by an examination of what the experience of attempting to claim and negotiate a leadership identity is like in the social context of their organizations. This educational and sociological study employs an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach with a series of three interviews per participant that allowed the researcher to deeply explore the personal identity experiences of participants. Findings …

The Portrayal Of Stereotypes Of Latin American Men In American Television And Film, Karina Nava

Gender Studies Student Scholarship

In this project I seek to examine the ways in which Latin American men are stereotyped in American television and film in the form of controlling images and the impacts that these controlling images may bring. The purpose of this project is to show how television and film can not only contribute to the creation of stereotypes but enforce them as well. It also seeks to bring attention to the ways in which these stereotypes can affect societal and self-perception of Latinos, and the consequences that come with these perceptions. This will be done through a cross-disciplinary analysis using Gender …

Hypersexualization And Sexual Racism: Effect Of Controlling Imagery On Female Low-Wage Asian American Workers, Charlie Yang

Gender Studies Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Diana E. H. Russell Against Gender-Based Violence In South Africa: Analyzing Europatriarchal Knowledge And Relations To Masculine Power, Georgia Peters

History & Classics Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Catastrophic Progress: A Queer Materialist Analysis Of The 2023 Trans/Bud Light Controversy, Brianna Radke

English (MA) Theses

On April 1, 2023, Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender woman and social media influencer, made a March Madness post on Instagram sponsored by Bud Light. The response from the conservative right was swift and extreme, galvanizing protests against Anheuser-Busch InBev and resulting in a massive loss in sales that is still discussed in news and pop culture circles today. The event offers unique analytic value, particularly through the nexus of queer and materialist theoretical frameworks, providing a glimpse into the growing conflict between big business and queer-allied consumers. From a materialist perspective, the Bud Light/Mulvaney controversy demonstrates how social media – …

“Beating Back The Past”: The Psychological Justifications Of Violence In Toni Morrison’S Fiction, Catherine Buhse

English Honors Theses

This thesis examines the traumatic experiences that consume characters’ lives and, in the absence of psychological healing efforts, manifest into violent actions in Toni Morrison’s three novels The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Beloved. I focus on the gendered experience of the female characters Pecola, Sula, Eva, and Sethe, except for the male character, Cholly in The Bluest Eye. Focusing on Morrison’s humanization of violent characters and her sharing of their full life stories, I establish the characters’ internal justifications for their violence to challenge the accepted depiction of all criminals as evil. The three chapters follow the manifestation of trauma …

Flamenco, Gender Roles, And Female Empowerment In Granada, Spain, Dana F. Giordano

Senior Honors Projects

During the 2023-2024 academic year, my academic pursuits led me to Granada, Spain. This city is nestled within the culturally rich region of Andalucia, renowned as the birthplace of flamenco. Immersed in the study of Spanish language and culture, but also cognizant of prevalent issues of sexism deeply rooted within its societal fabric, I decided to explore gender expression and dynamics in flamenco. For this project, I researched Laura Mulvey's notion of the “male gaze,” a feminist theory that argues that the depiction of women in art and media supports a patriarchal society. Women are often portrayed as objects for …

Intolerable Masculinity: Screening Men's Shame And Embracing Curious Futures, Cole Clark

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

This thesis argues that to critique hegemonic masculinity and patriarchy in good faith, film and television must focus on the futures created through men’s ethical action in the present, rather than inert displays of men’s horrific behaviors that rely on audience shame as a tool for reclaiming men’s pride. Men’s freedom to change their situation is introduced through Manon Garcia’s (2022) notion of masculinity as an “impasse,” preventing men from authentic connection with others. This concept is furthered using David Buchbinder (2013), with the television examples Mad Men (Weiner 2007-2015) and Black Mirror (Brooker 2011-2023) each presenting a different masculine …

Animating Gender: Conflicting Narrative And Character Design In Gravity Falls, Laine Marshall

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

This thesis analyzes the character designs from the Disney XD animated series Gravity Falls (Alex Hirsch, 2012-2016) through a third-wave feminist lens, arguing that these designs reflect an essentialized perception of gender that is in conflict with the themes of acceptance present in the series’ narrative. The series’ narrative pushes forth the idea that female characters are the moral center of the series and serve as an example to their peers, that they are self-assured and in control, and that men can push past any ignorance to care for the people around them, but this effort is undermined by the …

Dear Mama: An Exploration Of Trauma And Black Feminist Healing Practices Through Letter Writing, Bria Nickerson

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies M.A. Final Projects

This autoethnographic project delves into the multitude of strategies I've employed over the past decade since my mother's passing to confront and heal from my trauma. Through a series of original letters spanning from girlhood to early adulthood, I narrate my journey, delving into the depths of my emotions, thoughts, and coping mechanisms as I navigate through various traumatic experiences. Guided by Black Feminist Autoethnography as its methodology and anchored in Black Feminist Thought as its theoretical framework, this project also explores the profound impact of transgenerational trauma on the psychological well-being of Black women. From enduring slavery and racialized …

Cloaked Trannies On The Silver Screen: "Evolutionary Derangement" And Cronenberg's Approach To Shaping A Critical Mindset Towards Trans Bodies, John David Hunter

All Theses

This thesis engages David Cronenberg’s 2022 film, Crimes of the Future, analyzing the text through the lens of Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensten) as a transgender allegory. Through this, the project investigates the way in which Cronenberg’s text visually creates a Deleuzian language of the body, which is the body of becoming. This queer analysis of the film does so by utilizing the perspective of the trans body, through the character of Tenser, which more clearly illustrates the human body as one which is in a continual process of evolution. Following in the footsteps of scholars such as Susan …

The Controlled Narrative Of “Jane Roe:” Norma Mccorvey’S Life Beyond The 1973 Trial, Eleanor G. Strickland

Honors College Theses

Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, 1973, wrote two memoirs twenty years after the Supreme Court trial that surrounded her third pregnancy. These memoirs (I Am Roe, 1994, and Won by Love, 1997), along with the recent documentary AKA Jane Roe (2020), provide an insight into McCorvey’s life and how she was used by politicians and civilians during and after the influential trial. McCorvey lived a complicated life and was constantly being pulled in different directions spiritually, politically, and personally. This thesis shows how McCorvey attempted to re-write the narrative of her life using …

Coalitional Response(Ability) In Rhetoric And Composition, Zoe Nicole Mcdonald

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation considers the literacy practices of progressive coalitions as a provocative way to examine central responsibilities of rhetorical scholars, college writing instructors, and writing program administrators. Through attention to case studies, this dissertation suggests opportunities to consider social differences as crucial assets for political advocacy, scholarly knowledge production, and teaching strategies.

Advisor: Stacey Waite

The Relationship Between Sex Education And Women’S Sexual Liberation And Exploration: A Phenomenological Study, Jessica Ann Boyles

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Sex education in schools is a pivotal yet contentious aspect of adolescent development, with enduring impacts on individuals' sexual exploration and liberation. However, the types of sex education offered have varied over time, often disseminating misinformation, and reinforcing traditional gender norms. Particularly for women, sex education can perpetuate harmful stereotypes, limit sexual agency, and contribute to disparities in sexual and reproductive health. This qualitative study aims to address the gap of intersecting sex education and sexual identity by examining the relationship between women's sexual liberation and exploration in adulthood and the sex education they received. Drawing from a phenomenological approach, …

The Sexual Trauma Of The Female Body: Violence Against Women In Contemporary Spanish And Latin American Cultures, Lara Armenteros Garrido

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation focuses on the idea that women’s bodies have a sexual stigma attached to them as a consequence of different forms of heteropatriarcal violence inflicted on them. From violence in public spaces, such as street harassment or the sexual exploitation of women, to the intimacy of the relationship, like intimate partner violence or the orgasm gap, it becomes increasingly difficult for women to escape violence. Through the analysis of films, documentaries, narratives, and the testimonies of women from Spain and Latin America, I argue there is still a lack of adequate sexual and emotional knowledge to help complete agency …

The Role Of Family And Peer Social Support Against Bullying Involvement Among Sexual Minority Latine Young Adults, Guadalupe Gutierrez

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Bullying is a significant risk factor for healthy youth development and functioning. Research on bullying has provided evidence that bullying involvement is linked to negative mental health outcomes for young adults; however, researchers have yet to fully explore the relationship between the different bullying statuses (victims, perpetrators, bully-victims) and internalized problems (anxiety and depression), and whether peer/friend and family support serves as a protective factor. In addition, a significant amount of research on bullying has been conducted in Europe and the United States but it remains limited in Latin American countries. The current research demonstrates that bullying is a significant …

Storytelling For Social Change: Using Victim Narratives From Social Media To Disrupt Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Students, Grace Carmack

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study employed a narrative intervention experiment aimed at challenging college students' acceptance of rape myths (RMA). Rape myths are erroneous beliefs that shift blame for sexual violence (SV) from perpetrators to victims and encompass stereotypical misconceptions about women. Three authentic narratives, shared anonymously on social media by college victims of sexual violence, were selected for their varying levels of graphic detail and situational context. The study's objective was not only to interrogate RMA among college students but also to discover which of the three narratives was most effective in reducing RMA among readers, utilizing the Transportation Theory as a …

Bedeviled Beauty: My Journey Through White American Theater Institutions, J'Aila C. Price

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Game console: Oculus Quest

World: American Theater Institutions

Player: Minority

Place: United States

Level: “Ain’t no way.”

This thesis explores the contrast between the Westernized philosophies ingrained in my education and my identity as a Black female artist. It sheds light on the difficulties of pursuing higher education in the arts and the gaps that arise from limited exposure to culturally diverse Black resources, revealing the systemic issues in Western performance education. The paper also discusses the insights gained from my journey as a Black female artist, focusing on my thesis performance of Blood at the Root, which is …

Examining The Risks And Resilience Of Older Adults Living With Hiv/Aids: Qualitative Community-Based Participatory Research Studies In Southern Nevada, Brandon Ranuschio

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the height of the HIV pandemic in the 1980s, medical interventions have significantly increased the life expectancy of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) and made HIV/AIDS a livable, chronic health condition. Because of this, PLWH have been living longer lives and thriving with the help of HIV sector healthcare and service providers. However, with their longer life expectancy, older PLWH have been experiencing other health challenges. One such challenge is the risk of developing HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND), which is a condition that affects up to 50% of PLWH at some point in their lifetime, with middle-aged and older …

That Way: An Examination Of Male Relationships In Film During The Hays Code, Jane Knudsen

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The Hays Code (1934-1968) influenced the construct of United States masculinity and the discourse surrounding masculine presentation between the 1920s to the 1960s. The Hays Code and World War II affected the culture surrounding male/male relationships in the United States. Previous research done by David Lugowski (1999) and Jeffrey Suzik (1999) shows that both World Wars led to crises of masculinity in which the hegemonic ideal of masculinity was restructured to establish men as providers and warriors, and Code-era films reflected the discourse. To understand the gender roles in the 20^th century, I analyzed the Hays code, male bonds, …

The Art Of Inclusion: The Psychosocial Impact Of Media Representation On Lgbtq+ Youth, Madison Cook

University Honors College

The 21st century saw a significant rise in LGBTQ+ representation, much of which is catered to queer children, adolescents, teenagers, and emerging adults. However, media’s ability to affect the psychological development, mental health, and quality of life for queer youth is still relatively unexplored. Through an analyzation of the current available literature, it was determined that LGBTQ+ representation's influence on queer youth is complex. Findings indicated that representative media allowed queer youth to find support and community by using current media as a tool to connect with others. It was determined that there was a lack of evidence to indicate …

Rewriting Women: The Narratives Of Angela Carter And Kathy Acker, Marcella Rea

Honors Theses

This paper outlines the significance of contemporary readings of feminist writers Angela Carter and Kathy Acker and traces the genres and theories they utilize: magic realism, pastiche strategy, and postmodern feminism. Through their employment of these aesthetic and expressive strategies, they position themselves kairotically as writers conscious of the context from which they are writing in. This paper explores Acker and Carter’s adherence to the arguments of postmodern feminism through their navigation of feminine identity, sexuality, and their critiques of patriarchy and capitalism. For this paper’s argument that contemporary audiences should continue to read Acker and Carter, the evidence drawn …

Gender Equality Threatened: A Digital Communication Analysis Of Spanish Right-Wing Political Parties, Daisy Rehbock

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

Spanish right-wing political parties have become incredibly active on social media within the last decade, especially with the creation of the ultra-right wing party Vox, which now has the most followers of any Spanish political party across all social media platforms. The usage of social media by right-wing political parties is a populistic approach that allows politicians to connect directly to their voter base instead of utilizing more ‘elitist’ forms of media. This paper is focused on analyzing the rhetoric of two right-wing Spanish political parties, Vox and Partido Popular, in order to gauge their stances and impacts on gender …

How Design Depicted In Film Contributes To The Evolution Of Cultural Narratives, Catherine Vanhoose

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

Interior Design and its trends have had significant influence on pop culture and the general public through the course of human history. Acting as a universal language, design is a tool often used to help communicate ideas. The different interpretations of these ideas are what help to create cultural narratives. This capstone explores the relationships between film and design as creative arts, how they are affected by the current times and trends throughout the history of women, and as a result how women throughout history are influenced by these relationships. Findings provide insight on how interior design is used to …