Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Recovering Palestinian Lives: Qudsiyya Khurshid From Mandate Palestine To Postwar Pennsylvania, Andrea L. Stanton

Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

This article works to recover the life story of Qudsiyya Khurshid, a once well-known Mandate Palestinian intellectual and educator, who wrote essays for publication and for broadcasting on the Palestine Broadcasting Service, while working as a principal at girls’ schools in al-Bireh and Jerusalem. One of a number of educated women active in the Mandate public sphere, she disappeared from public consciousness after the Nakba. But in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, where she had moved with her husband, a naturalized U.S. citizen, she became a prominent figure in civic work and as a community speaker on Palestinian and Middle Eastern life …

Gender Dynamics In Newsroom Leadership: The Influence Of Gender Norms On The Career Trajectories Of Women Journalists, Isabella L. Hackett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within the field of journalism, women journalists face obstacles impeding their career progression and autonomy. This qualitative study uses field theory, which explores how social spaces are structured and how actors access resources; a key avenue for exploring the power relationships within a field. This theory is put in conversation with interviews with women leaders in journalism from across the United States (n=13). The study examines how women in leadership navigate their career trajectories amid structural barriers, such as gender expectations for leadership, the struggle to balance work and family, and unequal access to mentorship and resources. Despite these challenges, …

Reenvisioning Identities That Precede Us: “Body Acknowledgement” As Social Justice Practice Within A Communication Ethics Course Redesign, Wendy Kz Anderson, Ollivia Webster, Nicole Yang, Cass Bryant, Taylor Herr

Feminist Pedagogy

We infuse this conversation of “body neutrality” through social justice responsiveness (compassion, equity, and accountability of body/presence privilege) by specifically attending to intersections of race, gender, and body mindset built into our identities. In reimagining the term “body-neutrality” through identity engagement, we introduce the term “body acknowledgment” as an active interpretative state. As a co-authored pedagogical “co-conspiring” for racial justice (Houdek and Ore, 2021, p. 92), we (instructor, teaching assistants, and previous students) offered a course redesign centering social justice strategies to address the following question: How can dialogue about intersectional communication work toward redesigning learning with difference and develop …

Stereotypes Of Female Characters In Disney, Merouge Hazem Elboraie

The Undergraduate Research Journal

The depiction of female characters in Disney films has undergone a significant transformation throughout the decades, reflecting societal shifts and changing perceptions of gender roles. As young girls tend to idolize fictional female characters, ensuring a healthy portrayal of women in animated films is crucial. This paper aims to discuss the portrayal of female characters in Disney movies within certain frames and their impact on the general public through a case analysis of literature reviews. It underscores the dynamic interplay between societal change and cinematic narratives, particularly in Disney. The research’s findings indicate that the negative portrayal of Disney female …

Recasting Gender Roles: A Study Of Indian Television Commercials (2011– 2020), Himika Akram, Alicia Mason

Faculty Submissions

On media, television commercials (TVCs) play a significant role in shaping societal perceptions of gender roles. This study examines gender depictions in Indian TVCs, focusing on key dimensions such as gender ratio in primary characters, voiceovers, settings (home, outdoor, workplace), and product categories. A content analysis of 120 TVCs from Indian brands (2011–2020) was conducted, with coding performed by the researcher. Findings reveal that men were primary characters in 54.6% of the advertisements, while women featured in 45.4%. Male voiceovers dominated at 70.1%, compared to 29.9% for females. Women were portrayed in home settings in 66.7% of TVCs, while men …

Diseño De Experiencia De Usuario En El Continuo Del Cuidado Del Vih. Revisión Sistemática De Literatura Científica (Análisis Bibliográfico Y Bibliométrico), Marco Antonio Guzmán Garnica, Marco Vinicio Ferruzca Navarro, Román A. Mora

GDI. Revista de investigación de Género, Diseño e Innovación

Resumen: Introducción: En los últimos años, el UX design ha ganado terreno en el desarrollo de intervenciones para la atención del continuo del cuidado del VIH. Sin embargo, no existe claridad sobre el desarrollo epistemológico de la disciplina. Metodología: Se recolectaron 180 materiales publicados entre 2014 y 2024 en cuatro bases de datos especializadas a través del método P.R.I.S.M.A. y se realizó un análisis bibliográfico de la literatura encontrada y su contenido con el método L.A.T.C.H. y un análisis bibliométrico a través de procesamiento de lenguaje natural. Resultados: Se encontró que los trabajos tendieron a concentrarse en tres modelos de …

Ua68/6 Newsletter, Wku Gender & Women's Studies

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by and about the WKU Gender & Women's Studies program.

Ua19/16/5/16 Athletic Media Relations - Volleyball Film/Ideo/Audio File, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Video of WKU volleyball games.

The Roots Of Womanism As Identity, Empowerment, And Liberation For Black American Women: Raciolinguistic Genealogical Exploration, Shante Noel Millercent Morgan

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Black American women intellectuals, activists, and scholars have grappled with womanism in relation to Black women’s presence in the world, particularly in the context of feminist and Black liberation movements. Since womanism was introduced more than four decades ago, both movements claimed Black women were a priority in theory and rhetoric but often excluded them in practice. For this reason, this dissertation examines womanist thought as a source of identity, empowerment, and liberation for Black American women. I employed two methods to investigate womanist thought that align with a qualitative inquiry: genealogy focus and raciolinguistic genealogy analysis. I conducted a …

You Go, I Will Wait, Rasim Bayramov

Theses and Dissertations

On the other side of the coast, a hand is waiting. On the other side of the shore, someone is waiting for you to come. This space between you and them is an asymptote. The more you wait, the colder the pan is to the hand. But the salt of the sea will cover and warm your hand. There’s much to play with while you wait. The destination is only a promise, a figure disillusioned. Waiting spaces are enchantingly altering

in their premise. A bureaucratic fantasy with no avail and no ending. Systematically accumulated levels of power and control lies …

Seeing Her, Wanting Her: Postfeminist Desire And Its Contradictions In Zendaya’S Magazine Covers, Sophia Shelley

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This article examines Zendaya’s modelling evolution as a case study to explore how a postfeminist critique and psychoanalysis can illuminate the contradictory nature of women’s advertising. My analysis compares Zendaya’s covers in Seventeen (2012) and Essence (2020), emphasizing the stark differences in aesthetics, where Seventeen conforms to ideals of (white) femininity, and in opposition, Essence centres around Black femininity and desire. By situating Zendaya as both a gendered and racialized ‘other,’ the intricate dynamics of femininity, race, and age in media portrayals are made visible. I argue that Zendaya’s image is sold through postfeminist ideals of empowerment, choice, and sexuality …

Cultural And Counter-Cultural Contexts In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club And Cristina GarcíA'S Dreaming In Cuban, Melinda M. Ninewise

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This thesis explores the cultural and counter-cultural narratives presented in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club and Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban, examining how these works impact the literary canon and redefine the immigrant experience through a distinctly female lens. Both novels share themes of generational conflict, fragmented identities, and the struggles of communication shaped by cultural and linguistic divides. While these works feature distinct cultural backgrounds, Chinese American and Cuban American respectively, the authors challenge patriarchal norms by privileging female voices and presenting nuanced portrayals of mother-daughter relationships. The analysis highlights shared literary techniques and thematic parallels, including identity …

Post Opera, Suzy Lykins

Theses and Dissertations

Post Opera is a spell and work of embodied research which explores medicalization, desire, labor, and belief. Through methods of performance, sound, text and installation, I facilitate encounters of trans-femininity, spiritual power and connectivity. An opening wound, a set of psychic scalpels, sutures and bandages prepare this text for your consumption, take care to digest her well.

Coming Out To My Christian Loved Ones: Online Workshop Effectiveness For Increasing Lgbtq+ Individuals And Lgbtq+ Ally Communication Efficacy And Impacts On Personal-Enacted Identity Gaps, Samantha Renee Leggett-Bradley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

It is not uncommon for passages from the Christian Bible to produce schisms in families, friendships, mentorships, workplace relationships, individual churches, and denominations. These challenging conversations are often around LGBTQ+ topics. Many marginalized LGBTQ+ individuals and allies in these spaces become outgroup members who feel insecure and less confident enacting aspects of their own identities or identities they support. A lack of communication efficacy for how to navigate LGBTQ+ related conversations with Christian loved ones may lead to detrimental physical, mental, and emotional outcomes.

This study surveyed 134 LGBTQ+ individuals and allies as well as conducted semi structured interviews with …

Apocalyptic Technical Communication From Clockface To Briefcase: Revealing The Spurious Coin Of Nuclear-Security Rhetoric, Ryan Cheek

English and Technical Communication Faculty Research & Creative Works

This article the Doomsday Clock and the Nuclear Football as interconnected technical communication artifacts that function as two sides of a "spurious coin" in the securitization of nuclear deterrence. While the Clock externalizes existential risk through apocalyptic rhetoric, the Football internalizes it within exclusive military command structures—together legitimizing perpetual nuclear crisis. Drawing on technical communication scholarship and critical security studies, the analysis argues that both artifacts sustain nuclearist ideology by reinforcing deterrence as common sense. The Clock's ominous countdown and the Football's ever-present launch capability are mutually validating and together normalize nuclear brinkmanship as the price of global security.

Debbie Alicen Reclaimed Her Voice And Started The Human Rights Campaign In Lincoln, Nebraska, Morgan Grey, Debbie Alicen, Moni Usasz

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A story about Debbie Alicen's efforts in the early 1980s to have an amendment added to Lincoln, Nebraska's Human Rights Ordinance that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual preference.

Cluster Conversation: (Re)Writing Our Histories, (Re)Building Feminist Worlds: Working Toward Hope In The Archives, Ruth Osorio, Lamaya Williams, Megan Mcintyre

English Faculty Publications

[Introduction] "Hope is not like a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. [...] Hope is an ax you break down doors with in an emergency." - Rebecca Solnit

In 2018, Cheryl Glenn wrote, "The work of feminist rhetorical historiography is far from done; in fact, it has just begun-and it is anchored in hope." Following Glenn, we explore hope in this cluster as a methodological imperative in the archives. Informed by theorists Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Rebecca Solnit, and Cornel West, the writers in this Cluster Conversation envision hope as a radical orientation toward …

Social Media Through A Binary Lens: The Impact On College Students & Their Mental Health, Piper Mallchok

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It is important to first understand how individuals use social media so that we can then understand how and why their use will change the individual impact social media will have. Some students experience a decline in their mental health when their social media use changes. There is an abundance of research on college students and social media, respectively, that also addresses gender as a variable. In this review, the research will be studied to further understand the voices of those who are not commonly included in research that operates under a gendered framework. Additionally, these ideas will be compared …

Sexual And Gender-Based Violence Against Women In Sports: Prevalence, Impact, And Interventions In East Africa, Hesbon Hansen Owilla, Nancy Achieng' Booker, George Nyabuga, Tulinagwe Mwampanga, Samantha Agasha, Liz Awino, Ella Smith

Graduate School of Media and Communications

This study investigated the prevalence, causes, and impact of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women in sports across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study combined quantitative surveys with qualitative interviews to explore the scale of SGBV, its root causes, and the lived experiences of female athletes. A cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted, with data collected from athletes, coaches, administrators, and sports officials from federations and associations in the three countries. Stratified and purposive sampling techniques at the federations, clubs and within the clubs was used and this ensured representation at multiple levels of the sports …

The Romanticization Of Human-Vampire Relationships: How 'Twilight' And 'The Vampire Diaries' May Prime Young Women To Accept Dating Violence, Natalie M. Bowen

Undergraduate Research Posters

The first literary vampire can be traced back to 18th century Germany, with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s poem “Die Braut von Korinth,” but the stereotypical features of a vampire are traditionally accredited to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Modern vampires, such as Edward Cullen and Stefan Salvatore of the Twilight and The Vampire Diaries series respectively, have managed to win the hearts of teenage girls all across America with their sex appeal and charismatic nature. According to Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, individuals learn new behaviors by modeling and imitating the actions of those around them. This comprehensive literature review investigates the connection …

40 Years Passing By In (A) “Heartbeat”, Christopher Janney

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

This article outlines the forty-year history go Christopher Janney’s iconic performance work “HeartBeat.” Trained as an architect and jazz musician, Janney combines these two disciplines to create large interactive light/sound installations and performances. On the one hand, he attempts to make architecture more like music, more “alive” using real-time sensing devices as on his “Harmonic Convergence” installation on the Miami International Airport. On the other hand, he attempts to make music more like architecture, more physical more visual. In his “HeartBeat” performance, a dancer wears a heartbeat device that amplifies his/her heartbeat in “real time.” Over this pulse, live musicians …

Yoga Sūtra Book Four And The Yogabindu, Christopher Key Chapple

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

Four themes from the fourth pāda of Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra are examined here: karma (IV:2-13), individuality (IV:16), humility (IV:20-22), and freedom (IV:29-34). Affirmations and variant interpretations of these four are provided from Haribhadra Virahāṅka’s Yogabindu, most likely composed a century or two later.

Collective Karma: From The Yogasūtra To Taylor Swift, Zoë Slatoff

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

The Indian knowledge traditions speak at length about karma, which is divided into three categories—accumulated (saṃcita), ripe (prārabdha), and future (kriyamāṇa). While much is said about our individual karma and how it affects our repeated reincarnation in cyclic existence, how does this affect others and how do others affect us? In other words, as this paper explores, what is our reciprocal and collective karma?

Painting Liberation: A Visual Ontology Of The Interplay Of Mind And Consciousness In Book Four Of The Yoga Sūtras, Melissa Townsend

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

This presentation explores how artistic practice can illuminate philosophical questions about the nature of mind, consciousness, and liberation as articulated in Book Four of the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. Through a series of paintings that visually translate these sūtras, I propose that art offers a unique, experiential means of engaging with the complex relationship between citta (mind) and puruṣa (consciousness).

The paintings function as a form of “visual ontology,” inviting viewers to engage with abstract philosophical concepts in a sensory, tangible way. By depicting the interplay between the mutable processes of the mind and the unchanging awareness of consciousness, these …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experience Of Gay White Men In Mid-Level Student Affairs Leadership Roles, S. Craig Mourton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the lived experience of mid-level student affairs leaders who identify as cisgender, gay, White, and male in order to further understand the multidimensionality of embodying both privileged as well as marginalized identities. Four participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide and the resulting transcripts were analyzed utilizing the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) perspective. Experiential themes that emerged from the analysis of the individual cases as well as across the cases include unintended pathways into the field of student affairs, experiences of challenging heterosexual male supervisors and the preference for women supervisors, …

Exploring The Shadows: How Taylor Swift's Music Embodies Dark Sound As A Popular Music Artist, Kristyn E. Cole

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

To challenge the conceptual matter of “dark sound”, this major research paper centers around the popular music artist, Taylor Swift to demonstrate an overarching feminist wisdom in an alternative style of music to identify how Taylor Swift presents and embodies qualities of “dark sound”. Research done by D. Ferrett, Theodor Adorno, Roland Barthes and Paul C. Jasen are used to examine her popular music, and its intersections and influence on our culture and society. Using multimodal critical discourse analysis, this research paper discusses three of Swift’s songs; “willow” (evermore, 2020) for her sound, All Too Well: The Short …

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

WKU Administration Documents

Magazine edition of the College Heights Herald for the period November 11 - December 5, 2024.

• Wilborn, Price. Letter from the Editor – Homecoming
• Vickers, Abigail. Homecoming Royalty – Milie LeJeune, Sarah Burke, Katie Burch, Jennifer Smith, Alice Waddell
• A New Era for Social Sciences at WKU – Society, Culture, Crime & Justice
• Steps from WKU, Miles of Charm – Walk2Campus
• Wilborn, Price. Martha Sales Reflects on Life, Leadership & Growth
• Leasing Agents Lending a Friendly Face & Helping Hand – Columns
• Smith, Kane. How Local Businesses Prepare for Homecoming Crowds
• Downtown Bowling Green – Restaurants & Businesses
• Home Sweet …

How Misogyny In Gaming Affects Black Women/Poc, Niccarri Allen

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This research query explores the gaming industry and how its misogynistic issues affect the Black community in its forums. Research has shown that there has been a suppressed issue of prejudice against women of color in many gaming spaces in the last 20 years. Video games, created for healing and interactive spaces for communities seemingly have normalized its harming nature to minority groups. My research will look into aspects of how gender bias and racism mix into the gaming industry and cause distress among its players. I will research how misrepresentation in the character personas in video games lead to …

A Girls Guide To Study Abroad, Emily Childress

Human Development and Family Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis, titled "A Girl’s Guide to Study Abroad," explores the multifaceted experiences of female students in international study programs through an autoethnographic lens. The research draws on my personal experiences during a semester abroad with the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) in Italy. To document and analyze the diverse challenges, adaptations, and growth I encountered, I utilized the Diarium app to capture daily notes encompassing personal reflections, logistical hurdles, and emotional insights. These reflections were subsequently analyzed through thematic analysis using the Braun and Clarke method in NVivo 12 software to identify emergent themes categorized as positive, challenging, …

Gender, Age, Class And Racial Stereotypes, And Power Relations In Television Ads: 2011-13 Vs 2021-22, Thomas D. Clark, Julie Stewart

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This article demonstrates how faculty and DEI experts can use resources included in this paper to highlight how a range of stereotypes are created and reinforced in television ads, and it identifies several topics for future analysis. To understand how depictions of gender, class, age, and race intersect in 8 television ads featuring the relationship between the race of individuals depicted in romantic and platonic relationships this article examines 4 pairs of commercials from 2011-2013 and 2021-2022. Drawing on concepts of intercategorical complexity, it describes product, setting, characters and relationships to help gain a deeper understanding of how various stereotypes …