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Ivy Leaves, Volume 100, Anderson University - South Carolina

Ivy Leaves

The 2025 edition of the Anderson University journal of art and literature, Ivy Leaves.

The names of the known editors for this issue of Ivy Leaves were Jaylee Koon, Jenna Martin, Rachel Riddle, Milena Ulrich, Emma Brightman, Corinne Lowe, Torie Johnson, Anna Leigh Avant, Darcy Hseih, Kaylie Sheriff, Claudia Sarmiento, LIly Gregory, Ethan Wright, Elise Frauenholtz, KJ Lian, Ellie Gramm, Iley Gramm, Kenzi Miller, Ellie Ruperto, Miriam Cabrera-Santana, Ashlee Keller, Mateo De Los Cobos, Jacob Enzor, Claire Nunes, Abby McDonald, Heidi Dillow, Derek Updegraff and Tim Speaker.

Painting Stories And Filming Change, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Contributions to Books

Mithila Art has helped illuminate various aspects of the relationship between gendered Maithil social roles and Maithil women’s narratives in connection with a feminist participatory action research project conducted primarily in 2016-2017 in and around the northern Bihari town of Madhubani. While participatory action research philosophically and methodologically attends to process as much as product, Mithila Art played a role in the process and product of making a documentary film and in our capacity to understand and communicate with varied audiences about shifting Maithil gender norms. The research and filmic project provided insight into the complex relationship among the stories …

Painting The Other: Mary Cassatt's Spanish Portraits And The Feminine Gaze, Delaney Batter

Undergraduate Theses in Art History

The historical viewing of women artists, in conjunction with Mary Cassatt’s biography and later depictions of women and children, suggests that Cassatt's gender is identified within the art historical canon as an essential component to the interpretation of her work. The language attached to Cassatt's work is most often taken from discourses surrounding female-produced artwork of the nineteenth century, attaching passive and stereotypically feminine attributes like 'delicate,' 'light,' and 'tender' to the style, composition, and subjects of her works. These characteristics were among the accepted nineteenth-century descriptions of artworks, with inherent femininity translating to inherent domesticity.

Rather than further reducing …

Tolerance Of Homonegativity And Transnegativity Predicts Negative Evaluations Of Lgbt People And Lgbt-Supportive Policies Among Us-Based Heterosexual, Cisgender Participants, Abigail M. Folberg, Jennifer S. Hunt, Ellen D. B. Riggle

Gender and Women's Studies Faculty Publications

Many people in the United States express anti-LGBT attitudes and oppose LGBT rights. These views are perpetuated when others, including allies, tolerate expressions of anti-LGBT bias. In this study, we adapted and validated a measure of tolerance of homonegativity and transnegativity (TOHT), and assessed its associations with evaluations of LGBT people, straight people, support for LGBT rights, and system-justifying ideologies among heterosexual, straight, binary-gendered/non-trans (i.e., cisgender) women and men who identified as liberal, moderate, or conservative (N = 295). Participants completed measures of TOHT, evaluations of LGBT people, support for LGBT rights, authoritarianism, religiosity, and contact with LGBT people. Analyses …

Anti-Feminisms, Authoritarianism, And Digital Culture: A Pedagogy Project, Charlie Ambrose

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

This project began, broadly, with my exposure to TikTok’s tradwives—a subset of content creators and influencers who advocate traditional gender roles as women, homemakers, wives, and mothers, with a particular focus on moral and religious beliefs and aesthetic practices of “womanhood.” To me, tradwives encapsulated the internet’s capacity to weaponize subtly: slow-paced, pastel videos, gentle music, and even gentler voices delivering increasingly extreme ideas about masculine and feminine roles, Christian nationalism, and white supremacy. But other threads began to appear as I delved deeper into the world of tradwives. I noticed the men’s rights groups who praised tradwives while openly …

Deconstructing Ancient Allegories: Eleanor Antin’S 'Historical Takes' On Subverting Classical Motifs And Typologies, Lainey Tomasoski

Undergraduate Theses in Art History

The New York-born artist Eleanor Antin erupted into the male-dominated American conceptual photography art scene in the 1960s and 70s with feminist works that reimagined the female body in terms of representation and history. In congruence with the feminist and civil rights movements, conceptual photography represented a shift in how art was utilized to criticize the social and political institutions in which it is rooted. Antin and other feminist artists engaging in conceptual photography and video played with the embodiment of characters, performance of the body, and an intrinsic “self-reflexivity” of subject, viewer, and artist. However, Antin pivoted her work …

Uncovering Artemisia: Turning Rage Into Fame, Sophie Longo

Undergraduate Theses in Art History

During the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries in Italy - more commonly known as the Italian Renaissance and early Baroque periods - masters like Titian, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio made a name for themselves and secured legacies through the widespread popularity and study of their masterpieces. As time progressed, however, more artworks have been found, and more histories, especially by women Baroque artists, have been explored. With the rise of women’s rights movements and social justice campaigns from the mid-20th century on, stories of female artists and figures have further emerged from the woodwork and hold greater precedence in …

For The Birds, Charlotte L. Middleton

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

For the Birds is a homogenous material exhibition of porcelain pottery that explores the relationships between, expectations of, and roles placed upon women and pottery. Using traditional craft processes, still life imagery, and the language and limits of porcelain, I create arrangements that expose the viewers assumptions of both subjects. Pottery- pitchers, cups, and vases—is a product of anthropocentrism and anthropomorphism and can be entirely taken for granted- their role is assumed and unquestionable—to serve. The language and expectations of these objects are the medium I build with.

The title of the show, For the Birds, is both a …

Rationing Hunger: The Gendered Consequences Of India's Public Distribution System, Krisha Silwal

Audre Lorde Prize

This paper examines how the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India, while introduced to address hunger and food insecurity, displaces women from traditional farming, weakens their nutritional autonomy, and erases their cultural roles in food systems. The focus on subsidized rice and wheat benefits male landowners and excludes women, especially Dalit and Adivasi farmers, from agricultural decision-making. Drawing on a grassroots initiative led by Dalit women in Zaheerabad, the paper highlights how community-driven, decentralized food systems rooted in women’s knowledge can improve food security and restore autonomy. It calls for a reimagined PDS that centers women’s lived experiences and leadership.

State Of Women In The Media: A Look At Kenya, Tanzania, And Uganda - Policy Brief 2025, Hesbon Owilla, Nancy Achieng' Booker, George Nyabuga, Shitemi Khamadi, Alykhan Peermohamed, Clare Mogere, Pauline Muriuki

Graduate School of Media and Communications

In 2023, Aga Khan University’s Graduate School of Media and Communications (AKU-GSMC) undertook a study examining the representation of women in East African news media organisations with a focus on the coverage and portrayal of women in prominent newspapers, television, and digital news platforms across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. The study specifically sought to assess gender representation within the media workforce, the distribution of leadership roles and responsibilities in media companies, and the way women are covered and portrayed in the media. Using content analysis, the study reveals that women are frequently underreported in news stories and disproportionately portrayed in …

Rising From The Ashes : How African American Women From North Tulsa Overcame The Oppressions Of Race, Gender, And Class And Achieved Success, Cynthia A. Talley

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Compulsory Sterilisation And Reproductive Injustice In India: The Global Impact Of The American Eugenics Movement, Marina Cortez

Institute for the Humanities Theses

On 8 November 2014, Dr RK Gupta performed eighty-three tubal ligations at a makeshift clinic in Bilaspur, India — thirteen of which resulted in death. The women, most of whom belonged to the Dalit or “untouchable” caste, were recruited by family planning agencies, lured in by cash incentives or other gifts in exchange for sterilisation. Sadly, however, the Bilaspur tragedy does not exist in isolation — but rather belongs to an extensive history of government-sponsored abuse, the majority of which has been directly led by white, Western powers. Funded by the New York-based Population Council, India was one of the …

Corsets Of Empowerment, Dorsa Farzi

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project explores the intersection of fashion and activism, using contemporary design to reflect on significant women’s rights movements from around the world. This exhibition presents four uniquely crafted corsets, each representing a pivotal movement, from the Suffragette era to the ongoing fight for gender equality in Iran. Through modern aesthetics, innovative construction, and symbolic details, this project transforms clothing into a medium for dialogue and advocacy. Fashion becomes more than just design—it becomes a powerful tool for storytelling, sparking awareness, and encouraging new perspectives on gender equality and activism.

This project was exhibited at the Robert Hillestad Gallery, University …

Empowerher:A Digital Mosaic Celebrating Six Black Feminist Icons, Jessica M. Mcguire

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Abstract

EmpowerHer: A Digital Mosaic of Six Black Feminist Icons is a research project that explores the lives and work of Angela Davis, Patricia Hill-Collins, bell hooks, Sojourner Truth, Audre Lorde, and Anna Julia Cooper. This digital project expands our knowledge of feminist theory beyond the women's words to encompass information about their education, work, motivations, and areas of focus. It also expounds on why they are important and highlights their accomplishments. This project was completed by researching these women’s lives, primarily with the use of biographies, journal articles, and online resources. In addition to the narrative provided for each …

Nebraska Women In Agriculture Conference Marks 40 Years, Lindsey Mckeever, Sarah Sivits, Jessica J. Groskopf

Cornhusker Economics

The Nebraska Women in Agriculture program marked 40 years of educating and empowering females in farming, ranching, and agribusiness, with nearly 370 people attending its annual conference on February 20 and 21, 2025, in Kearney.

Illustrations Of Benevolent And Hostile Heterosexism In Lgbtq+ People’S Lives, Jes L. Matsick, Lindsay Palmer, Flora Oswald, Mary Kruk, Kenneth Ye

Faculty Publications

In this study, we aimed to define heterosexism—a form of sexual stigma that accounts for interpersonal attitudes and institutionalized ideology—in a multi-dimensional way, centering on LGBTQ+ people’s experiences. We draw from an ambivalent theory of prejudice and focus on heterosexism, or an ideology that stigmatizes nonheterosexual behaviors, identities, relationships, and communities. We aimed to learn how LGBTQ+ people would narrate their experiences of heterosexism within a benevolent and hostile framing. In a qualitative online study, LGBTQ+ participants (N = 77; 49% White) reviewed definitions of and recalled encounters with benevolent and hostile heterosexism, providing examples of how heterosexism manifests …

“By The Sound Of Sparrows, I Knew It Was Dawn”: The Impact Of Women’S Latest Protests In Iran, Antonia Felix

Educational Leadership Department Publications

In Iran, men and women have protested against human rights abuses and other damaging actions and policies by the clerical leadership since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Major uprisings in the past 25 years include the Green Movement and widespread protests against economic crises. I’d like to share some facts about the two most recent movements, powerful campaigns built on decades of Iranian women’s fight for justice.

In Case I Make It: An Autoethnographic Argument For Care, Space, And Utopia, Faelyn T. Cowan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Taking an autoethnographic and autotheoretical approach I examine within this project TomboloBooks’ Queer Comic Book Club. Drawing from José Esteban Mun֮oz’s ideas of queer utopia and Jen Jack Gieseking’s framework of constellations, and analyzing my own experiences, I present the Queer Comic Book Club (QCBC) as a moment of utopic queer worldmaking and argue for it’s potential as a site of alternative mental health care. Though I cannot provide here a generalizable model of book clubs as care, what I offer here is a series of possibilities, arguing for the potential of these spaces as community resources and sites of …

Personal Perspectives Of Political Action: A Case Study Of How Women Discuss The Black Panther Party’S Free Breakfast For Schoolchildren Program, Megs Peterson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to investigate the impact ideology has on social movement actors. I do this by conducting a case study on the influence of Marxist feminist ideologies on the Black Panther Party’s (BPP) Free Breakfast for Schoolchildren Program (FBP). Within this case study, I narrow my focus to Marxist feminism, rather than Marxism more broadly, to choose a theoretical framework that aligns with my subject while ensuring gender is considered as a critical axis for examination. This research is situated at the intersection of feminisms and social movements, drawing from both social movement scholarship and Women’s, …

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 …

Monima: A Novel Of The Immigrant Experience In The Multilingual Early Republic, Betsy Klima, Len Von Morzé

English Faculty Publication Series

First published in 1802, Monima offers a unique look at the lives of the poor in Philadelphia: Describing her novel as "a very plain picture of life," a plea on behalf of the "oppressed, and life-worn children of affliction,'' the author exposes the class fractures within a society we have mythologized as egalitarian (99). Such myths, the novel shows, are based on ignorance; as one character, awakened to the existence of the poor, remarks, "one half of the world don't know how the other half live" (196). Though the identity of Monima's author was not discovered for over 220 years, …

Syncretic Spirits / Espíritus Sincréticos, Angelica Tapia - Estrada

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Syncretic Spirits / Espíritus Sincréticos is a multimedia exhibition that invites viewers into a fantastical space where cultural identity and perception intertwine. Colorful shaped panels, sculptural installations, prints, and drawings bridge physical and metaphysical realms. Personal archetypes intuitively inspired by natural forms drive the work.

Influenced by the dualities of my upbringing as a first-generation Mexican American, I was immersed in Mexican culture through my family traditions while finding a home in the nurturing embrace of the heartland. The work has become a means of reclaiming a new layered sense of self, disentangling from my Catholic upbringing, embracing indigenous healing …

Under The Veil: Women's Head Coverings In Tudor England, Savannah Toth

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis seeks to discover and analyze the agency and meaning of the role of women’s head coverings and veils within the context of Tudor Christianity, society, and the fashion world of English culture. By observing the usage of the veil through various lenses, this thesis examines the nuance of the veil as an object and actor in Tudor society that enables yet prohibits personal choice for women. This research uses various sources such as Tudor paintings and portraits, surviving pieces of garments, and written accounts to paint a picture of the impact and significance the veil had in every …

“I Saw Death With My Own Eyes”: Recent Women’S Protests And Punishments In Iran, Antonia Felix

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s brutal response to nonviolent protests exposes its tenuous hold on power over a youthful nation well familiar with 21st-century freedoms. Despite systemic discrimination and oppressive laws controlling and degrading the lives of women, ethnic and religious minorities, and the LGBTQ+ community, the Iranian government cannot halt public dissent that has continued to erupt since the 1979 Revolution. This article offers a brief overview of four major protests in the past 25 years as a context for discussing the two most recent movements focused on women’s rejection of the compulsory hijab and prisoners’ and activists’ fight …

Monstrous Feminine, Deviant Mother: Tolkien’S Shelob And The Grotesque Maternal, Sara Brown

Journal of Tolkien Research

J.R.R. Tolkien’s menacing character of Shelob embodies the ultimate danger that faces Frodo on his journey to destroy the Ring of Power. Her actions, in combination with the language that Tolkien uses to describe her, invite the reader to view Shelob with revulsion and horror, designating her as Other. However, Shelob is also undeniably a mother, a term laden with social and cultural expectation. This paper explores Shelob as a representation of what Barbara Creed, in her article “Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine: An Imaginary Abjection”, has termed the ‘monstrous-feminine’, examining Shelob’s presentation within the text as not only identified as …

Critical Scrutiny Of The World Of The Marriage As A Myth Of Male Power, Robiatul Adawiyah

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

For centuries, men have been considered the dominant gender, exercising hegemony over women. On the other hand, women have been conceptualized as subordinates who obey the orders of men. However, in reality, all images of male power and domination are just myths, a construction made by society to perpetuate patriarchy. Warren Farrel argues that the concept of male superiority is mistaken, as evidenced by the empirical data he presents, which shows that men have long been subordinate to women. Through the Korean drama The World of The Marriade (TWoTM), this study attempts to examine the myth of male …

Of Cordial Ladies And Independent Women: An Analysis Of The Ceramic Assemblage Of The 19th Century Cooper-Frost-Austin House, Mikayla Roderick

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis explores the transformation of Susan Austin’s (1807-1885) household in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from a private family home into a boardinghouse, challenging traditional distinctions between domestic and economic spaces. Using feminist and queer theoretical frameworks, it examines how Austin’s decisions blurred public and private boundaries, creating an intimate boardinghouse. Through ceramic analysis of two occupational phases and a documentary examination of the household members over time, this study identifies shifts in material culture that reflect changing household practices, social relationships, and status negotiation. Austin intentionally created an environment where commercial spaces took on a domestic appearance, integrating elements of familiarity …

Reimagining Imperfection: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis Of Women Characters In Studio Ghibli Animated Films, Xue Yang, Roslina Mamat, Zaid Mohd Zin

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study aims to explore the representation of flawed women characters in Studio Ghibli animated films, focusing on the themes of environmentalism, anti-war sentiments, and personal growth. Utilizing a qualitative approach and multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA), the research examines five selected films—Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away—with some additional attention to Howl’s Moving Castle. The analysis employs Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, visual grammar, and feminist film theory to scrutinize the visual and verbal elements used to represent these characters. The findings …

Reproductive Labour: Preventing Babies, Making Babies, And Growing Babies, Elizabeth J. O’Reilly

Journal of International Women's Studies

During her reproductive years, a Canadian heterosexual cisgender woman will likely engage in the labour of preventing pregnancy, trying to achieve pregnancy, and/or being pregnant. While each stage of reproduction involves significant time and energy, the labour tied to preventing pregnancy, conceiving, and growing life is undervalued, unrecognized, and rendered invisible. Much of the work around reproduction involves not just cognitive function, but also a mental load and emotional labour. It is assumed that women need to do this labour as a pregnancy exists within her reproductive body; however, this assumption fails to acknowledge the reality of how laborious each …

Cultural Representations Of Obstetric Violence In Contemporary Italy, Veronica Frigeni

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article is the first examination of a hybrid corpus of cultural narratives of obstetric violence in contemporary Italy. Adopting a reproductive justice approach, the paper considers obstetric violence as gendered, intersectional, and ontological violence against reproductive subjects over the course of their lived reproductive experiences. Combining personal and cultural narratives, the article examines the 2022 comic “Da Che Mondo È Mondo,” written by Irene Caselli and illustrated by Rita Petruccioli, Alberto Basaluzzo’s 2018 short film Si È Sempre Fatto così, and Antonella Lattanzi’s 2023 novel Cose Che Non Si Raccontano to assess how and to what extent they …