Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Abstracts

Presenter(s): Mausi Ruhland, Vicky poon, Kelis Julien, Shannon Johnson, Cypress Barbecho, Katherine Powers, Tomeira Smalls, Christina Kuriakose

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: The 'Women's Memorial Altar Tables' will feature four different women from various regions of the world who we thought made a significant global impact on women rights and social justice. Will be doing research on these individuals personal beliefs/ethics to ensure these altars are respected & honorable. Include photos of each individual & important events that contribute to the altars. Each individual we will be having a short description about who these women are, what they accomplished and why they are an important part of the history. Small plant to remember Wangari green belt movement and her involvement. June Jordan we will have one of her printed poems that shows her work as a poet. Mary Seacole we will have a printed picture of her autobiography and any medical supplies which will represent her medical work during the Crimean War. Marielle Franco we want to have a picture of Rio.

Presenter(s): Raneem Afifi, Yumi Cruz, Isabella Lucal, Lisa Witkowski

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Moderator: Janell Hobson

Abstract:  

Isabella Lucal, "Across Fifty Years of Bias: Media Narratives of Black Women's Presidential Campaigns," This paper examines how media narratives shape public perceptions of Black women presidential candidates by comparing coverage of Shirley Chisholm in 1972 and Kamala Harris in 2024. Using an intersectional framework, the study analyzes how race and gender influence media evaluations of credibility, leadership, and electability. Drawing on historical newspaper archives and contemporary news reporting, the paper identifies recurring narrative patterns that frame Black women candidates as historically significant yet politically constrained. Coverage of Chisholm frequently characterized her campaign as symbolic or unlikely to succeed, while reporting on Harris often centers on questions of viability, messaging, and voter comfort. Despite changes in the media landscape and increased political representation, the analysis finds that structural biases continue to shape media portrayals of Black women seeking executive power. The comparison highlights both the persistence and evolution of racialized and gendered framing in presidential campaign coverage.

Lisa Witkowski, "The Culture and Politics of American Motherhood: A Pedagogy Project," "The Politics and Culture of American Motherhood" is an undergraduate seminar course I have developed on the historical, political, and cultural constructions of American motherhood. This pedagogical project explores motherhood as a social and political identity through an intersectional lens and how it has been shaped by gender roles, class, race, current events, pop culture and public policy. Students will engage with scholarly and popular texts, journalism, cultural artifacts, and public policy to understand motherhood not as a static identity, but as an ever-evolving site of political struggle, social/cultural control, and gender roles. The course is designed as an elective that could fulfill requirements for majors or minors in political science, history, women’s studies, sociology or public health.

Raneem Afifi, "The Making of 'Gender (Studies) is Burning,'" "Gender Studies Is Burning" is a documentary that investigates interregional and intercontinental mobilization against women's and gender studies programs, implemented by both radical and extreme far-right groups. The documentary examines how these attacks function through various mechanisms, including institutional pressures, legislative and administrative action, rhetorical campaigns that characterize gender studies as part of a broader agenda aimed at disrupting traditional family values, and epistemological efforts to delegitimize gender studies as a field of knowledge. By highlighting the interregional and intercontinental character of the anti-gender studies mobilization and its integration into white supremacist and anti-immigrant politics, the documentary explores deep-seated motivations behind these attacks. 
It also examines how the mobilization against gender studies is closely connected to rising anti-democratic trends. In this sense, it traces connections between the global shift toward authoritarianism and the increasing erosion of academic freedom, particularly for scholars working on controversial topics like feminism, gender, and sexuality.

Yumi Cruz, "r/thepassportbros: Re/making Imperial Masculinity Online," Over the past decade, digital spaces have increasingly come to cultivate volatile, politicized communities wherein gendered and racial meanings are constantly being contested and negotiated. The subreddit r/thepassportbros exemplifies this phenomenon, functioning as a forum where predominantly Western men share their experiences and offer advice about seeking romantic partners abroad, particularly in Asia and South America. The Philippines is a central geography in these forums, informed by an expansive history of colonial and imperial encounters that have come to shape Filipina women as racialized, gendered subjects. This research examines how users on r/thepassportbros use the subreddit to construct the Philippines as an imagined geography wherein they can chart alternative economic and romantic destinies, drawing on existing colonial and imperial imaginaries of the Philippines and Filipina women. By exploring these constructions, this project situates these discourses within broader anxieties surrounding masculinity, privilege, and economic precarity under neoliberal hegemony.

Presenter(s): Jamie Ackerman, Daiyi Chen, Joe Padgett Herz

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Moderator: Janell Hobson

Abstract: This round table panel discussion includes joint PhD/MA students from the department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies who are completing their MA this semester. Students will discuss their experiences with the comprehensive exam process. Through these exams students demonstrated comprehensive knowledge in the specialty areas of gender or sexuality.

Presenter(s): Mouma Hoque, Jake Gonzalez, Aku Addo, John-Mark Weller, Madison Hamilton, Kamiyah Cusaac, Skylar Smith

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: The theme of “Your Body is International” is conveyed through a political fashion show that reconceptualizes the runway as a space for critical reflection and global dialogue. Centered around women from different countries, the show examines how bodies are shaped, regulated, commodified, and celebrated within transnational systems of power. Each country represents a distinct central theme, including gender expression, cultural appropriation/appreciation, environmental sustainability, state violence and democratic freedom, and the global circulation of labor/style. Through garments, symbolic materials, and embodied performance, the production illustrates how political, economic, and cultural forces intersect on and through female bodies. Satire and performance art are woven throughout the show to critique and disrupt dominant narratives surrounding beauty, identity, and ownership. Through satire and performance art, the production invites the audience to question who profits from the body, who controls its representation, and how fashion can become a medium for resistance, solidarity, and global awareness.

Presenter(s): Ayanna Brunson, Evelyn Smith, Charlie Pawli, Brenda Nazario, Carly Johnson, Sabrina Javier, Melody Castillo, Jumana Ahmed

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: Our project for the showcase will be a food exhibit that displays recipes that have been passed down to each of us by family. These dishes are prominent in our respective cultures, and our lives, so we will analyze the politics behind specific ingredients in each dish and how they correlate to the systemic oppression or liberation of women throughout history. Each group member will make sample sized dishes, with explanations on why they chose their food and how each ingredient ties into politics, women’s labor, and the societal inequalities that women faced throughout history. Ingredients like sugar, flour, bananas, eggs, and other components that have been highly politicized are some examples. The presentation includes samples of each member’s goods to be given to spectators, notes on posterboards about the dishes, along with general notes of shared ingredients (throughout each dish) with their impacts according to Global Perspectives on Women.

Presenter(s): Bianchi Vergara, Isabella Zarcone, Abigail Horn, Ty Ogarro, Hannah Green, Molly Putnam, Gabriella Mikropoulos, Nina Brady

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: Our project is centered on the “invisible” work of women all around the world, and our aim is to make their work visible, through poster art featuring illustrations.  Images and drawings will be able to express and capture the shared goal of how women's initiatives have started change. This also ties into our project title, “if you won’t, we will!” firmly stating that if political elites and officials around the world refuse to give women autonomy, women will take their own autonomy. Globally, these particular women have made waves, and we want to bring attention to the effects the waves have had on other parts of the world. These effects were able to overcome barriers like religion, language and culture, and even allow for women miles away to create their own movement in her own environment.

Presenter(s): Alyssa Prather

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: This research will examine the decline in the usage of Southern Appalachian Englishes and traditions, and explore ways to preserve this multi-faceted cultural heritage. Previous research has found that stereotypes surrounding Southern Appalachia negatively impact individuals’ identities as Southern Appalachian. However, previous research has also focused on the experiences of white, working-class individuals and failed to examine the role women play in Southern Appalachian traditions. Therefore, this proposed research will ask how experiences of Southern Appalachian culture differ based on race, gender, and class; and how these experiences may provide insight into the preservation of Southern Appalachian culture. Using an intersectional feminist lens, this research will aim to provide a more encompassing view of Southern Appalachian experiences through the voices of women from within the diverse population while illustrating the role women play in keeping traditions alive. The proposed research will conclude with strategies to help preserve Southern Appalachian culture.

Presenter(s): Daiyi Chen

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: This project aims to theorize intersectionality of sexuality and disability by exploring lived experiences of D/deaf queer in China. Studies on disabled queer have been mutually excluded from both sexuality and disability studies, which indicates a gap in intersectionality theories that struggle to provide synthetic framework on social inequalities and stratification targeting on the body and embodiment. Conducting in-depth life history interviews with D/deaf queers and participatory observation with local organizations for the D/deaf communities, this project attempt to theorize how the heteronormative and abled human body are regulated in everyday life. Empirical fieldworks will be conducted in Shenzhen, China, a developed city that hosts local NGOs for D/deaf communities. Participants will be recruited by snowball sampling where, starting from the primary contacts whom I have acquainted from college, primary contacts will help recruit from their personal networks. Narrative analysis and thematic coding will be adapted to analyze data collected.

Presenter(s): Elise Herrera

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: This project, examines feminist standpoint theory. Feminist standpoint theory argues that the perspective of marginalized groups, specifically women offers a more comprehensive and objective point of view. Marginalized groups experience life differently and aren't afforded the same privileges as people who are not marginalized. Their experiences give us insight on what is wrong with our world today. If you were always given everything and don’t have to struggle or fight for it then you are not going to see how things are wrong or unjust. Women have had to fight for their rights for years and so have people of color and other groups that have been impressed. The question really is how is feminist standpoint theory showing up in our world today? I anticipate that my research will show not much has changed and privileged voices can't give insight into things they have not felt or experienced in society.

Presenter(s): Evans Garvis

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: Eating disorders are serious psychological disorders that affect millions of people.  Previous research has identified multiple risk factors that may contribute to the development of different eating disorders and several social groups, including queer individuals, have been classified as higher risk of developing eating disorders or disordered eating. Previous research has been conducted to study the risk factors and rates queer individuals have with regard to developing body image issues, disordered eating behavior, and eating disorders. However, there are a limited number of studies focused on transgender individuals in relation to eating disorders and treatment.  
The proposed research will look at how hetero and cisgender normativities effect transgender individuals’ (transmen/boys/masc., transwomen/girls/femme., nonbinary, agender, etc.) experience with eating disorders and formal and informal eating disorder treatment.

Presenter(s): Genevieve Bombard

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: Predictive policing technologies use algorithmic systems to forecast crime by analyzing historical law enforcement data. While these technologies are often presented as neutral tools for improving public safety, they rely on datasets shaped by existing policing practices. Because marginalized communities are already subject to disproportionate surveillance and enforcement, predictive policing risks reinforcing structural inequalities embedded in the criminal justice system.

This project examines predictive policing through an intersectional lens, focusing on how these technologies disproportionately impact people experiencing homelessness, particularly those who hold multiple marginalized identities. Laws that regulate behaviors associated with survival in public spaces, such as camping or sleeping, increase police interactions with unhoused individuals. These encounters become data points within predictive systems, which can then identify already over-policed communities as high-risk areas for crime. This research argues that these systems raise significant constitutional concerns while also reinforcing broader systems of racialized, gendered, and economic inequality.

Presenter(s): Guadalupe Cataldo

Showcase Advisor: Barbara Sutton

Abstract: Throughout the history of the United States, there is a continuous theme of women of color and immigrant women experiencing violations of their reproductive rights, including forcible sterilization. Under eugenics laws and initiatives, these women have been sterilized to prevent the reproduction of people that those in power deemed “unfit.” 
Through the review of research articles, analysis of documentary interviews, collection of relevant news articles, and  archival research of materials produced by organizations fighting sterilization abuse, I will explain why women of color have been and continue to be a target of such human right violations in the United States, how this has happened to them, and what work has been done to stop these abusive practices. Due to intersecting gender, racial, and socioeconomic statuses, women of color are more vulnerable to involuntary sterilization than their more privileged peers.

Presenter(s): Xiaowen Tan

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: People hold diverse understandings and interpretations of what constitutes pornography and the erotic. In authoritarian China, critiques and restrictions surrounding (soft)pornography are not solely tied to “moral decline” or the rhetoric of slut-shaming. Instead, they are frequently articulated through a progressive, neoliberal feminist discourse. Ultimately, official and public evaluations converge: (soft)pornography is framed as women’s self-objectification and as an obstacle to their  self-improvement. Positioned as a pessimistic counterpoint to Lorde’s theory of the erotic as power, this study draws primarily on feminist existential phenomenology and Foucault’s theory of the docile body. Through in-depth interviews with young Chinese women on how they perceive women’s explicit sexual expression, as well as how they understand and negotiate regulation and accusations from the state and/or the public, this paper aims to explore their perceptions and interpretations of sexual self-expression and bodily autonomy, within a discursive context where official and public narratives are deeply intertwined.

Presenter(s): Yanru Yang

Showcase Advisor: Janell Hobson

Abstract: Contemporary Chinese society has witnessed the rise of “independent women.” Specifically, women are more conscious of their own identity and are satisfied with their own aesthetic tastes. However, the songs they are exposed to still center romantic relationships. They are encouraged to base their identities around such relationships rather than their own careers or personal achievements. My poster session will examine the impact of romantic songs on women’s development. However, the scholarship on this subject still only views women as the passive objects of the cultural industry. I will explore the complicated meanings behind consumer culture. I hypothesize that even independent women may still desire the trap of powerlessness. I will use discourse analysis to examine how popular songs construct and normalize a romanticized identity for women, prioritizing the pursuit of relationships over the expression of female subjectivity.