Digital Commons Network^™

Liberatory And Public Health Harm Reduction: Retracing Genealogies, Forming Queer Imaginaries, Ana Sofia Harrison

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Religion On Gender Roles, Julianna R. Cutcher

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Religion plays a pivotal role in shaping cultural norms, values, and power structures within societies. Religious discourse, as a socially constructed form of knowledge, defines gender roles, norms, and stereotypes, often reinforcing systems of privilege that favor straight, cisgender, white, and male individuals. This paper explores how religious teachings contribute to gender inequality, limiting opportunities for women and marginalized groups while enforcing rigid expectations of gender identity and sexual orientation. The analysis highlights the intersection of religion and power, exploring the topic through four lenses: systems of privilege and inequality, gender, social implications, and media and culture; it also presents …

Revisiting “Autobiographical Reflections: My Story”: A Reflection On The Unspoken And Misconveyed, Ronak Karami

Journal of International Women's Studies

This piece revisits and reflects on my feminist essay, “Autobiographical Reflections: My Story” (2020), published in the Journal of International Women's Studies. With the benefit of years of growth and introspection, I return to that work and see more than the story I once told. I now notice the silences between the lines, the nuances I overlooked, and the unintended messages my words may have carried. This reflection is not an attempt to erase my truth but rather an effort to revisit and refine it—to provide, within the confines of a few pages, greater clarity, accountability, and context where …

Antecedents And Measures Of Women’S Financial Empowerment: A Comprehensive And Global Literature Review, Priya Gupta, Mamta Aggarwal, Meera Bamba

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women’s financial empowerment has garnered greater interest in recent years, and numerous articles have highlighted gender disparities. In existing literature, antecedents and measures of economic empowerment are fragmented, with limited research that provides a comprehensive assessment framework. This systematic review aims to identify the determinants affecting women’s financial empowerment to develop a comprehensive framework to measure financial empowerment based on insights derived from an examination of 101 selected research articles published from 2001 to 2023 and exclusively sourced from the Scopus database. The search followed a comprehensive and systematic approach involving identification, selection, appraisal, and synthesis of the existing literature. …

Merawat Tulisan Dan Perlawanan Perempuan: Terbitan Berkala Sebagai Ruang Dan Praktik Feminis, Asri Pratiwi Wulandari, Mia Siscawati

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Women writers have always contributed to literary development, but their works and thoughts have been structurally forgotten and erased. We conducted this research to unearth women writers' lives, works, and thoughts, which continue to be ignored in literary studies. We use feminist qualitative method and literature review technique to study literary initiatives from women writers in the past such as women-only periodicals. This research uses Virginia Woolf's thoughts as an analytical tool, and our findings show that the women-only space initiative was a response to the mainstream literary ecosystem's lack of support for women writers in various eras and countries. …

Kekerasan Terhadap Perempuan Dalam Cerpen “Penguburan Kembali Sitaresmi”, “Jemari Kiri”, Dan “Leteh”: Kajian Interseksionalitas, Rudi Ekasiswanto

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This research discusses the typology of violence in the short stories “Penguburan Kembali Sitaresmi”, “Jemari Nayla”, and “Leteh” by using Johan Galtung’s concept. The analysis also employs an intersectional approach to reveal the social categories that enable violence and to compare the violence across the three short stories. This research shows several findings. Firstly, in the first short story, direct violence (murder) and structural violence (marginalization) occur. In the second story, there is direct violence (sexual harassment) and structural violence (marginalization). In the third story, structural violence (stigmatization) is prevalent. Secondly, all three stories depict violence against women, but they …

“My Body Was Never Mine”: An Arts-Based Phenomenological Analysis Of Queer And Trans Adolescent Involuntary Psychiatric Hospitalization Experiences, Megan Doyle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization has life-saving and crisis-stabilizing intentions for queer and trans adolescents experiencing mental health crises; however, there are significant concerns about the adverse effects of this practice. This study employed two interwoven qualitative methods, interpretative phenomenological analysis and arts-based research, to gain a deeper understanding of queer and trans individuals’ adolescent experiences of involuntary psychiatric hospitalization. The theory of abolition was applied to examine the carcerality and identity-based oppression embedded within this procedure. Participant narratives and artwork revealed how involuntary psychiatric hospitalization is non-affirming for queer and trans young people in crisis, and the impacts of experiencing coercion, …

'Managed Hearts’ In Helper-Education: Gender Non-Binary Helper-Educators’ Experiences Of Emotional Labor, Jordan Pearce

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The unique experiences of people who identify with a gender beyond the binary paradigm dominant in the Global West are not well understood. The literature provides little insight into the experiences and perspectives of these individuals in a variety of contexts, including in their workplaces. As various social movements collide, they bring amplified attention to the mental health of marginalized communities and to workers, as well as the dynamics of modern work environments, and the specific needs of certain individuals doing certain types of work. The current study explored the experiences of gender non-binary individuals (GNI) working as helper-educators engaged …

“We Are Trans, But We’Re Not Transitional”: Exploring Safety, Place, And Space In The Lives Of Transgender Individuals In Southeastern Virginia, Susana Avalos

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

In general, little research exists on trans people’s spatial experiences despite space being highly relevant to their experiences of violence and perceptions of safety. To date, two criminological studies have examined LGBTQ people’s fear of crime in relation to public or private places and spaces. This is in stark contrast to the sizable place and space literature on cisgender men and women. These topics from the perspectives of trans people are underexplored primarily because most criminological research has historically upheld binarized understandings of gender. Safety should not be privileged or limited to certain groups, individuals, or spaces. Instead, safety should …

Mutualistas: La Sociedad Auxiliar De Mutua Beneficiaria, Antonito Colorado, 1937-1994, José A. Rivera Ph.D

Faculty Publications

Mutual Aid Societies proliferated in the American Southwest during a period of rapid social change, 1880-1930. In Hispanic towns, these societies were referred to as mutualistas, with a large number concentrated in the San Luis Valley of Colorado and rural counties of northcentral New Mexico. One of the men’s organizations, La Sociedad Protección Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos (SPMDTU), started in Antonito, Colorado, and quickly spread to other communities of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico and eventually to a few mining towns in Utah. With a tri-state model in place, women formed their own mutual protection societies: Sociedad Protectora …

The Embodiment And Experiences Of Gender Euphoria Among Transgender And Nonbinary Communities: A Mixed Methods Inquiry, Brendon T. Holloway

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gender euphoria is a critical aspect of embodiment for transgender and nonbinary (TNB) people that has long been overshadowed in academic research by deficit narratives and gender dysphoria. While gender dysphoria is the distress an individual may experience related to their gender, gender euphoria encapsulates the positive emotions a TNB person may experience because of positive gendered experiences. Despite community documentations of gender euphoria since the 1970s, academic research on gender euphoria has only recently begun to emerge. This three-paper dissertation advances this body of scholarship by exploring how gender euphoria is conceptualized, experienced, and embodied in TNB communities. Utilizing …

Don’T Take St. Anselm For A Marriage Therapist: The Utility Of Substitutionary Atonement Theology In Light Of Feminist Critiques, Abigail Elizabeth Livengood

Honors Projects

In light of feminist critiques from the twentieth and twenty-first century, this paper returns to Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo to examine the earliest expression of the Substitutionary Atonement Model. While acknowledging the harmful rhetoric attached to the model which has been brought to light by feminist theologians, this work examines Anselm's characterization of God, Jesus, and suffering from within his medieval worldview. In addition, this paper utilizes understandings of Christ held by historical women and survivors themselves to provide further context for Anselm’s understanding. Ultimately, this paper asserts that while feminist theologians raise important concerns about the dangers of Substitutionary …

Grief As Slip: (How Little I Show) An Exploration In Clay, When Words Are Not Enough, Michelle A. Smith

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Grief as Slip (how little I show) implies that even as we acknowledge our mortality and the fleeting nature of life, we still only reveal a fraction of our true selves or our deeper realities. The ceramic artwork in this exhibition carries and conveys a journey through the present and remembered emotions of the artists’ personal narrative. By juxtaposing the tactile nature of clay with the ethereal quality of human experience, Smith contemplates the profound interplay between material transformation and emotional resilience. The exhibition’s intent is to translate the essence of complex emotional states into abstracted forms so they can …

How Did Women In India Fare During The Covid-19 Pandemic? A Study Of Work-Life Balance, Bigi Thomas

Journal of International Women's Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted women globally, resulting in numerous work-life balance (WLB) challenges. The intersection of paid employment and familial obligations inside the household has compelled Indian women to assume many tasks. Married women encounter heightened stress due to the specific gender roles that society imposes upon them within a patriarchal sociocultural context; these gender roles were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, hindering Indian women in their management of domestic duties and reconciliation of personal and professional disputes. The pandemic’s fusion of professional and familial domains disrupted Indian women’s transition between home and work environments, leading to indistinct …

Exploring Dance/Movement Therapy Through An Existential-Feminist Lens For Perimenopausal Individuals In The Post-Covid Digital Age: A Literature Review, Karen Schmitz

Expressive Therapies Theses

The goal of this thesis was to understand the impact that perimenopause and the COVID-19 pandemic have on individuals and how existential theory and dance/movement therapy can be applied to enhance quality of life. The literature review first explores historical and current contexts of perimenopause. The second section covers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on caregiving individuals, particularly women. Subsequent sections introduce existential theory and dance/movement therapy frameworks, with a concentration on relevant concepts for the specified population. Research shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, external pressures around appearance, reproductive value, and the societal expectations of women intensified. Overall, …

Mentoring Matters: Exploring The Impact Of Mentorship On The Professional Growth Of Latina Assistant Principals, Corina Rendon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Abstract This qualitative study used an interpretative phenomenological approach. The purpose of this study is to explore the mentoring experiences of Latina assistant principals in the El Paso, Texas region who have been in the role for 0-5 years and to express the need for mentorship in their professional development. While more Latinas are stepping into roles in education, they continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions. Mentorship can be a powerful support system. Through semi-structured interviews, participants shared their lived experiences with formal and informal mentorship. Their voices were analyzed using thematic coding, and several key themes emerged, including …

A Texas-Sized Problem: Abortion Policy And Public Perception On The Border, Sabrina Bustillos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study is an examination of the impacts Texas' abortion restrictions have had on residents of El Paso, Texas. As of 2022, virtually all instances of abortion are illegal in the state of Texas. Despite the complete overturn of Roe V. Wade, in addition to Texas' passage of the "Texas Heartbeat Act", lawmakers have continued to propose and enact laws that encourage the intimidation, investigation, and punishment of anyone suspected of aiding and abetting an abortion, regardless of whether it occurred outside of state lines. These policies are ever-changing and impact millions of Texans, whether they know it or …

Exploring Full-Time Female Faculty Members’ Experiences With Institutional Climate In Rural Arkansas Community Colleges: A Preregistered Study, Gabrielle Patterson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current literature implies that female faculty in community colleges often endure a chilly organizational climate of marginalization. This marginalization makes female faculty more likely to leave higher education than male colleagues because of a lack of appreciation and recognition. This qualitative exploratory multiple-case study (preregistered study) uses the Job Embeddedness Theory as its conceptual framework. It explores full-time female faculty members’ (F-TFFMs) experiences with institutional climate in rural Arkansas community colleges to understand their motivations to teach in the setting and the reasons they choose to stay in their position. Findings from this study will show F-TFFMs motivations to …

Internalisasi Misogini: Kekerasan Seksual Sebagai Senjata Perang, Umanitya Fitri Hanryana, Lg. Saraswati Putri

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This study examines the role of internalized misogyny in sexual violence used as a weapon of war. Misogyny in patriarchal cultures fosters hatred towards women, facilitating sexual violence in armed conflicts. Cases in the Congo, Rwanda, Ukraine, and Yugoslavia demonstrate how sexual violence is systematically employed to demean and destroy women. Through a feminist critical approach and qualitative analysis, this research reveals that sexual violence in war is often not recognized as a weapon of war due to the inferior position of women in patriarchal societies, being merely seen as ordinary crimes despite being systematic and structured human rights violations. …

2025 Acssc Program, Acssc Planning Committee

Annual Celebration for Student Scholarship and Creativity

No abstract provided.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 100, No. 3, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Magazine edition of the College Heights Herald for the period February 17 - April 20, 2025.

• Wilborn, Price. You Matter & You Are Not Alone
• Smith, Kane. Peggy Crowe Reflects on Counseling Center in Face of Staff Shortages
• Stafford, Hallie. Help with Horses – New Beginnings Therapeutic Horse Riding
• Hawkins, Kaylee. How a WKU Professor Helps Improve Student Mental Health – Jay Gabbard, National Alliance on Mental Illness Recovery Support Group
• McMahon, Jake. More Than a Coach – Brent Chumbley, Track & Field
• Simpson, Libby. WKU’s American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Brings Mental Health Into the Light
• Hardesty, Emma. Trans …

Women’S Rights Across Borders: Challenges And Progress In Afghanistan, India And The United States, Zita Mpinganzima, Taylor Romer, Gracie Richter, Sydney Hersom

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

The Violation of women's rights remains a significant issue worldwide, with women facing challenges with access to opportunities, inequality to their male counterparts, negative social norms, and lack of legal protections. According to the World Bank 2.4 billion women do not have the same economic rights as men, women still have only three-quarters of the legal rights afforded to men and one in three women globally has experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence. In countries such as Afghanistan, India, and the United States, women face severe restrictions under Taliban rule, gender discrimination, wage gap, gender discrimination, violence, and efficient …

Issue Cover Art: Homecoming Collage, Rhi N. Soto

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

This piece is a found poem/collage made from different magazine cut-outs glued onto red construction paper. What inspired its creation is the book Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. In this book, Gyasi describes colonialism's over 400-year impact on the continent of Africa, the Indigenous people to those lands, and their ancestors. She does this by writing a historical fiction story of a family that started in what is now considered current-day Ghana, taking place from the mid-1700s to the early 2000s. The family starts with the mother of two sisters, Maame, who leaves her first daughter (Effia) while her village …

"I Know Who I Am": Draw-And-Tell Conversations With Gender-Creative Children, Eline Leemans Lenne

Dissertations and Theses

A growing number of children identify in various gender-creative ways, likely due to broader social awareness and affirmation of transgenderism. Gender-creative children face higher risks for adverse social, academic, mental health, and healthcare outcomes compared to non-transgender peers. Support from loved ones along with guidance from pediatric providers can mitigate poor outcomes and ensure that gender-creative children live healthy and happy lives. Young gender-creative children's perspectives about the aforementioned topics are markedly absent from the literature, which instead highlights adolescent and adult proxy perspectives.

In this participatory arts-based study anchored by a constructivist epistemology and informed by post-structuralist, queer, and …

Fetal Personhood And Access To Reproductive Rights: Power And Precarity In Post-Roe America, Jainab Banu

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper delves into the concept of “fetal personhood” and dissects how lawmakers systematically deploy rhetorical agency in policy to draw demarcating lines between demographic groups in post-Roe America. After abortion was legalized in 1973, the number of women opting for abortion rose significantly. Even after legalization, however, underrepresented and marginalized women struggled to access safe and high-quality healthcare, and many of them risked self-induced abortions. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, women with financial affluence can still travel to states where abortion is not banned to access their reproductive rights; however, women with low income may not …

The Role Of Social Support In Protecting Against Perinatal Depression Among Egyptian Women, Radwa Raafat Abdelshafi

Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal Depression (PND) is a global public health issue affecting many women as they transition to motherhood, and carrying detrimental consequences for both mothers and infants. Research in low and middle-income countries shows higher PND prevalence rates than in high-income and Western countries. In addition, social support has been shown to strongly protect or reduce the impact of PND. This study aimed to address a gap in research on PND in Egypt, and to build an understanding of the social support ecological system of new mothers. A survey was conducted with 81 first-time middle-class mothers living in Greater Cairo between …

Hold Fast The Rope Of God: Space, Authority, And Speech In Muslim Prison Narratives, Basit Kareem Iqbal, Walaa Quisay

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Scholarship about Muslims in prison has been overwhelmingly dominated by security studies’ radicalization thesis and by a superficial reading of incarcerated Muslims’ “religious resilience.” Such approaches caricature the force of Islam in prison and indeed in Muslim prison narratives. This essay draws on interviews with survivors of prisons in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Syria in order to develop other terms for analysis. Across our textual and ethnographic engagements, we read for varied permutations of carceral space, formations of religious authority, and an intimate (witnessing) relation between speech and violence. Muslim prison narratives see a broad emphasis on the …

Parallel Punishments: The School-To-Prison Transgender Pipeline, Rayna Momen, Lindsay K. Semprevivo, Cris Mayo

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

With increasing criminalization of transgender people, especially legislation targeting youth, researchers need to consider more closely the historical and continuing criminalization of gender non-normativity. We suggest in this article that closer attention to queer criminology in relationship to transgender and gender-related social justice education can help shape research agendas and school practices and disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline for transgender youth. Our focus is specifically on how disciplinary practices requiring identification as well as those that ignore identification both contribute to the growth of punitive responses to gender diversity, especially in relationship to race and ethnicity.

A Cross-Cultural Analysis Of Violence Prevention Programs In Central Asia And The U.S. Education Systems, Nilufar Bobjonova

Graduate Research Papers

The rise of youth violence and aggressive behavior has become a significant public health concern, affecting individuals on multiple levels, including physical, economic, social, and psychological well-being. Given the national attention this issue has received in the United States, various prevention programs have been designed to equip children with essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes to minimize their involvement in violent activities (Higgerson et al., 2008). Preventing violence through structured programs is essential for creating safe and supportive educational environments. Schools serve as an ideal platform for implementing these initiatives, as they provide a consistent setting for teaching young individuals critical …

Digital Zines As Mental And Sexual Health Communication Tools For Latina Teens: Format And Content Acceptability And Initial Findings, Jenn M. Lilly, D'Andrah Almanzar, Susan R. Pace, Dante D. Bryant

Social Service Faculty Publications

Recognizing the potential of digital zines (defined as selfpublished,

online publications combining artwork and

text) as culturally tailored health communication tools,

this article examines the acceptability and impacts of two

digital zines about mental and sexual health created by

Latina young people for Latina teens as a health communication

strategy. We conducted an anonymous online

survey completed by Latina teens who read the zines (32

for sexual health and 33 for mental health). Data analysis

aimed to explore, summarize, and interpret the collected

data using an artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced

approach. Survey participants found the zine format and

content acceptable and …