Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

The Making And Silencing Of “Axé-Ocracy” In Brazil: Black Women Writers’ Spiritual, Political And Literary Movement In São Paulo, Sarah S. Ohmer

Publications and Research

In this article, I will focus on two influential writers from the south of Brazil, Cristiane Sobral who currently lives in Brasília, from Rio de Janeiro, and Conceição Evaristo who currently lives in Rio de Janeiro state, from Minas Gerais. I got to know them in São Paulo in 2015 at a public event: the “Afroétnica Flink! Sampa Festival of Black Thought, Literature and Culture.” I will include references to some of their younger contemporaries such as Raquel Almeida, Jenyffer Nascimento, and Elizandra Souza, all of whom reside in São Paulo, in order to illustrate the Black Brazilian women writers’ …

Through The Mouth: An Essay On Appetite And Ecocide, Iemanja Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is an exploration of mourning and resilient joy in the midst of ecocide. Resisting the pervasive classification of the human as inherently destructive, I look to appetite as an aesthetic procedure that includes a material desire for intimacy with the more-than-human. My study considers the intersections of aesthetic production (primarily twentieth-century poetry and visual art), climate science, geology, cultural studies, theory within the contemporary nonhuman turn, and Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophy of organism. I employ an interdisciplinary approach, which helps me explore the various ways that literal and figurative appetite can be a way of sensing and exploring …

Giiwe, Skyler Kuczaboski

I2

No abstract provided.

Displaced, Charlene Browne

I2

No abstract provided.

The Anti-Yellow Agenda, Karen Zheng

I2

No abstract provided.

Proof Positive, Lalini Shanela Ranaraja

Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award

This poem is an exploration of the aftermath of sexual assault and the myriad factors which determine how women, especially women of colour and Asian women, cope with that aftermath. I am particularly concerned with how the testimony and literature of Asian women can prompt other Asian women to unravel their own stories by reflecting these stories back to them and giving them a medium through which to have this confrontation. With this piece I attempt to communicate that the act of confronting and sharing trauma is a continuous and absolutely vital process for survivors of sexual assault.

The Introvert's Guide To The Galaxy: A Reflective Guide Of Solo Travel And Study Abroad, Hope Patterson

Senior Theses

Oringinally meant to be a much longer volume, The Introvert’s Guide to the Galaxy is a creative anthology of works that explores one person’s Study Abroad and solo travel experiences. The main goal is to open a space to talk about unique experiences that cannot be anticipated, but should be learned from later. Topics include culture shock, sexism, alcohol culture, family, freelance tutoring, and risky outdoor activites.

Travel with our trusty guide as she fills you in on the things to know while traveling abroad, including finding perfect outdoor sleeping conditions because you missed all the taxis, dealing with the …

"Free Indirect Suicide: An Unfinished Fugue In H Minor", Seo-Young J. Chu

Publications and Research

In this lyric essay/work of creative nonfiction (listed among “Notable Essays & Literary Nonfiction” in Best American Essays 2020), Seo-Young Chu uses poetry, autotheory, and creative nonfiction to explore the generational trauma/postmemory han she inherited from her parents and the importance of destigmatizing mental illness through dialogue.

Burning, Drowning, Shining, Blooming: The Shapes Of Aging In W.B. Yeats’ Poetry, Malea C. Martin

CMC Senior Theses

Love and growing old are thematically inseparable in W.B. Yeats' poetry, yet it is the former with which this great Irish poet is often associated. The poet's attitudes toward aging are made clear through his symbolism, complicated Irish allusions, and a sometimes jarring treatment of women. As it turns out, these devices have as much to do with Yeats' concern over aging as they have to do with the infamous Maud Gonne. This thesis attempts to not only expose and analyze these intricacies, but also challenge the way the literary canon typically isolates Yeats’ more famous poems without the context …

"Bachelor Buttons": Feminist And Womanist Essays And Poems, Billy E. Clem Jr.

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In this critical and creative dissertation, I sketch a brief study of selected multicultural hybrid texts in contemporary US Anglophone literary studies; discuss their implications for reading, writing, and teaching; and present my own hybrid text.

Second-wave feminist and womanist theories and practices opened literary and cultural studies to new and exciting ideas and methods for reading, teaching, and writing both canonical and non-canonical Anglophone texts. One genre emerging anew by these theories, practices, and practitioners is the literary hybrid text, a multi-genre form composed of a variety of prose genres, poetry, drama, and/or visual imagery. Hybrid texts ask readers …

The Resurrection, Megan Barrios

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Continental Divide(S), Carmela Lanza

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

“Seven Mothers”, Carmela Lanza

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

“Blood Moon”, Carmela Lanza

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Sacred Spaces, Ikea Johnson

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Pantheon, Zilia Balkansky-Sellés

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Grand Mothers, Lizzie Nova

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Smoke And Mirrors, Megan Barrios

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Behold, Kaitlyn Mccray Burnett

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Om!, Aparajita Dutta

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Elders Talkin’, Lizzie Nova

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Saying Goodbye To Grandma, Courtney A. Brown

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

If Everything Was Perfect, Courtney A. Brown

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Synthetic, Julia L. Prince

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Throughout her life, the poet May Swenson concerned herself with communicating pathways to personal improvement and self-discovery by navigating the distinct social and psychological challenges specific to her historical context, personality, and gender. Though deceased, Swenson is still able to communicate these notions successfully, as many of her poems’ speakers do not conceal their intentions, but rather “force the truth.”

Synthetic, a poetry chapbook, similarly “forces the truth,” as the speaker – like Swenson’s – craves to bare all and discover more about who she is, as she contends with her own social and psychological challenges regarding beauty-gestures, practices, …

Editing Aphra Behn In The Digital Age: An Interview With Gillian Wright And Alan Hogarth, Laura Runge, Gillian Wright, Alan Hogarth

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

This interview provides a view of the work in progress for the Cambridge University Press edition of the Complete Works of Aphra Behn. Gillian Wright serves as a general editor (with Elaine Hobby, Claire Bowditch, and Mel Evans) as well as the volume editor for Behn’s poetry. Alan Hogarth is the Postdoctoral Research Associate working with Mel Evans on the computational stylistics and author attribution testing. The discussion focuses on the scope and principles of editing the poetry of Aphra Behn, the role of stylometry in establishing the corpus, the status of work, a few particular poems, and some surprises.

Dragonflies (Poetry), Chloe Jensen

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Hallow Hallow (Poetry), Anna Salvania

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Poetry; experience of racism growing up

Plan B (Poetry), Madelyn Taylor

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Poetry. A young woman contemplates how an unplanned pregnancy can manifest the grace of God.

The Journey Of An Emotional Black Boy, Alonzo Elias

Philosophy Summer Fellows

The title of my project is "Emotional Nigga" a.k.a. "Emotional Black Boy" because people would be comfortable if I called it so. The audience for this project may want to think of it this way. The title I chose is meant to express the struggles I faced in my journey to self-awareness. I decided to share my story through fifteen topics, which have brought me a better understanding of myself and will hopefully help the audience as well. These topics are Self-Love, Prelude: Intimacy and Attachment Theory, Relationships, Sex, Beauty, Sexuality, Love, Self-Love, Spirituality, Religion, Astrology, Psychology, Self-Care, and Life. …

To Be Everything: Sylvia Plath And The Problem That Has No Name, Alanna P. Mcauliffe

Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores, in depth, how the poetry of Sylvia Plath operates as an expression of female discontent in the decade directly preceding the sexual revolution. This analysis incorporates both sociohistorical context and theory introduced in Betty Friedan’s 1963 work The Feminine Mystique. In particular, Plath’s work is put in conversation with Friedan’s notion of the “problem that has no name,” an all-consuming sense of malaise and dissatisfaction that plagued American women in the postwar era. This notion is furthered by close-readings of poems written throughout various stages of Plath’s career (namely “Spinster,” “Two Sisters of Persephone,” “Elm,” “Ariel,” “Daddy,” …