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 Brace
Center Student Fellows Program
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Each
year the Brace Center for Gender Studies supports students
doing independent summer research projects in the field of
gender studies. The Student Fellows Series provides an opportunity
for the fellows to share their research findings. Please join
us for the student presentations that are held 5:30
p.m.-6:30 p.m.
Tuesdays in the Abbot Hall School Room. A light dinner is
provided.
Fall
2001 |
Fall 2000
| Winter
2000 | Fall
1999 | Fall
1998 | Fall
1997
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Brace
Center Student Fellows Presentations - Fall 2001 |
Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2001
Teresa Chen '02
Survival of the Prettiest?
In this study, Chen examines the nature/nurture debate through the
lens of beauty. She summarizes the arguments advanced by evolutionary
theorists who posit that human responses to beauty are more biologically
than culturally determined. She then presents the challenges that
feminist scientists and cultural theorists have raised in response.
The primary authors that Chen engages include Nancy Etcoff, Matt Ridley,
E.O. Wilson, Ruth Bleier and Anne Fausto-Sterling.
Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2001
Daniel K.
People with Disabilities: A Look into the Challenges of Everyday Life
People with physical disabilities represent the largest minority group
in American society, yet public awareness of the myriad issues faced
by this diverse population is scant. This study presents an overview
of the everyday challenges that people with disabilities confront
with a special focus on adolescents and the ways that gendered expectations
are experienced and negotiated.
Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2001
Quanisha Smith '02
Peeling Back the Present: A Search for the Lost Heart of a Community
In this presentation, Smith reflects upon her childhood experiences
of community in her South Bronx neighborhood and the deterioration
of that community over the past few years. She offers insights into
the causes of that deterioration and suggestions for neighborhood
revitalization that are informed by her own sense of responsibility
to "give back" to the people and place that nurtured her
into being.
Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2001
Adam E.
The Self Undone: Women, Submersion, and the Search for a Text
in the
Scandinavian Modern Breakthrough
Drawing archetypes from the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen,
this study analyzes the ways female self-destruction was used by 19th
century Scandinavian authors, both male and female, as a symbol for
the frustrated quest to obtain an independent self and art. The paper
focuses on two canonical works by male authors, Miss Julie by August
Strindberg and Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, and on the works of the
lesser-known female writers Amalie Skram and Victoria Benedictsson,
all of which offer fascinating insights into the ways 19th century
authors constructed narratives of female life and death, particularly
suicide. A concluding analysis of Sigrid Undset's early 20th century
novel Jenny finishes the study, raising issues of female chauvinism
and the adulteration of the female artistic voice.
Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2001
Emily Kumpel '02
Bridging the Digital Divide: Gender and Technology
Kumpel begins her study with a survey of the history of computer technology
and the significant role that women played in its development. She
goes on to reflect upon the social and cultural influences that have
led to a contemporary situation whereby boys far outnumber girls in
measurements assessing computer skills, confidence and interest in
pursuing careers in computer technology. Kumpel closes by profiling
some innovative programs developed to help alter this trend.
Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2001
Stephanie Hackett '02
Stephanie Stockton: A Renaissance Woman of the Twentieth Century
Stephanie Stockton is an accomplished watercolorist and significant
figure in the group of artists known as the California Scene Painters.
At 95 years of age, her life experiences have been profoundly shaped
by gendered expectations and the dramatic events of the 20th century,
including the great depression and the first and second world wars.
For this study, her namesake and great granddaughter Stephanie Hackett
conducted a series of interviews with Stockton that focused on the
life challenges she faced in her attempts to integrate her identities
as wife, mother and emerging professional female artist. Hackett's
presentation includes slides of her great-grandmother's paintings
and a short video interview clip. Please click here
to view a collection of her paintings. |
Brace Center Student Fellows Presentations
- Fall 2000
Tuesday,
Sept. 26, 2000
James Sonne '02
The Clinton-Giuliani New York Senate Race: A Case Study in
Gender and Media
The Clinton-Giuliani Senate race received widespread media coverage
prior to Giuliani's decision to withdraw in May of 2000. From the
perspective of critical gender theory, Sonne analyzes and compares
coverage of this high profile campaign as reported in Time and Newsweek
magazines withan eye toward discerning whether unexamined gender
stereotypes were reproduced in these popular mass media publications.
In this presentation, he outlines the criteria for evaluation he
employed, share the results and implications of his findings, and
offers reflections regarding the importance of developing skills
in critical gender analysis of media.
Tuesday,
Oct. 3, 2000
Rachel Higbie '02
Challenging Gendered Assumptions: The Life of Rachel Robinson
Elmer
Rachel Robinson Elmer was born in 1878 in Ferrisburg, Vermont to
parents who were artists and abolitionists. She followed their example
of challenging social convention by postponing marriage until the
age of 33 and pursuing a career in New York City as a successful
commercial artist. In this study, Higbie examines the private correspondences
of Rachel Robinson Elmer to understand the challenges she faced
and the sources of her courage to defy gender expectations of her
era. Higbie shares her findings and reflects upon the insights Elmer's
life offers for a deeper understanding of gendered cultural norms
and assumptions that were operative in 20th century America.
Tuesday,
Oct. 10, 2000
Alexandra Zukerman '01
Women and Sports in the U.S.: A Cultural Analysis of Past
Assumptions and Future Trends
Recognition and support for women's participation in sports has
increased dramatically over the past two decades. The establishment
of the Women's National Basketball Association, the unprecedented
interest generated by the 1999 Women's Soccer World Cup and the
soaring popularity of girl's local soccer teams are just a few examples
of this shifting trend. Zukerman's project focuses on identifying
and evaluating the cultural influences that have operated to both
stifle and encourage female athleticism over the past twenty years.
She presents her findings and defends the view that early participation
in sports can enhance female self esteem and promote gender equity
in unique and culturally beneficial ways.
Tuesday,
Oct. 17, 2000
Baolu Lan '02
The Heart Beneath: Charlotte Bronte's Female Protagonist in
Villette
In the now classic feminist literary critiqueThe Madwoman in
the Attic,Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar offer the analogy of
the woman before a mirror to describe the relationship between the
nineteenth century female writer's repressed true self and her social
surrogate as embodied through particular characters whom she creates
in her fiction. Presented as a literary autobiography,Villette
is Charlotte Brontë's final work and arguably the most feminist
of all her novels. It was published in 1855, merely two years before
her early death at the age of thirty-nine. Drawing from Gilbert
and Gubar, Lan argues that Villette's heroine Lucy Snowe is the
protagonist in whom Brontë incarnates the female outsider,
a person who must find and ultimately assert her voice in the context
of an alien patriarchal culture. Lan reflects upon the parallels
between Brontë's life and that of Lucy Snowe while exploring
the relevance of these observations to a contemporary understanding
of the duplicity of character that precedes Snowe's eventual self-identification.
Tuesday,
Oct. 24, 2000
Matthew Steinert '02
Women in the Navy: Tensions Between Policy and Practice
Women have always served as members of the armed services, though
in limited capacities and with little public recognition. Over the
past few decades, their numbers and roles have expanded due to civil
rights legislation and movements supporting women's equality in
all arenas of society. Though there are marked gains that have been
achieved, tensions still exist between policy and practice in all
branches of the armed forces. Steinert presents an overview of official
Naval policy pronouncements regarding women's service coupled with
a general analysis of women's actual status. More focused emphasis
is given to the past 20 years, and Steinert examines the 1991 Tailhook
incident as a specific case study.
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Brace
Center Student Fellows Presentations - Winter 2000
Tuesday,
Jan. 11, 2000
Biana Fay '00
Gender and the Internet
Over the past two decades, the Internet has been transformed from
a network that primarily served a male-dominated scientific community
to a medium currently accessed by both men and women for a variety
of commercial, social, and scholarly pursuits. Fay explores the
nature of the transformation itself as well as the similarities
and differences between the ways that men and women currently
utilize Internet services.
Tuesday,
Jan. 18, 2000
Ella Hoffman '01
Rivers of Babylon
Because of the unique history and culture of the Virgin Islands,
women's struggles for equality there is not easily understood when
considered through a conventional lens. To help understand the complex
and dynamic forces that converge in the USVI and their relationship
to women's emancipation, Hoffman returned home to interview two
longstanding members of the Virgin Island community. The two women
successfully defied stereotypical roles and rose to prominence in
arenas traditionally open only to men.
Tuesday,
Jan. 25, 2000
Gita Sjahrir '00
Military Violence against Women in Indonesia during Political
Crisis: Case Studies in Aech and Jakarta
Political instability in Indonesia has had widespread consequences
throughout the society. One area that is often overlooked is the
sharp rise in violence against women at the hands of the military.
Sjhrir focused her research on two case studies that she believes
exemplify a more general rise in violence against women since Suharto
left the presidency in 1998. She presents these cases and offers
an analysis of the relationship between violence against women and
political crisis in contemporary Indonesian society.
Tuesday,
Feb. 1, 2000
Jonathan Ross-Harrington '00
The Strength of the Comedic Shakespearean Woman
William Shakespeare has provided the world with female theatrical
characters that are both compelling and controversial. In this presentation,
Ross Harrington considers the gendered social context out of which
Shakespeare emerged in an attempt to demonstrate how the "genius
of western drama" was also a revolutionary writer of his time. He
also offers reflections regarding contemporary interpretations of
selected female characters.
Tuesday,
Feb. 8, 2000
Ashley White-Stern '02
Orthodox Jewish Women in the New Millennium: Rooted in Tradition
and Walking toward the Future
In this study, White-Stern interviewed four Orthodox Jewish women
to understand how they negotiate their lives as self identified
feminists within an Orthodox patriarchal religious community of
faith. Simplistic stereotypes dissolve as the complexity of these
identities and commitments are exposed. White-Stern reflects on
her interviews within the context of a larger body of published
literature on women in Judaism.
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Brace Center Student Fellows Presentations
- Fall 1999 Tuesday,
Oct. 26, 1999
Elizabeth Asch '01
Adult Women with Special Needs
Women with special needs are often overlooked when considering gender
related issues. This study was designed to highlight the particular
challenges women with special needs face as they negotiate their
lives in light of gender and disability-based discrimination. Asch
interviewed 12 young women, ages 16-22, and their mothers regarding
their social lives, feminine hygiene issues, educational achievements,
and plans for the future. Though the Americans with Disabilities
Act and state initiatives have helped provide much needed support,
Asch's research reveals that there are still basic needs that remain
unmet.
Tuesday,
Nov. 2, 1999
Ross Perlin '01
A Belated Flowering: Virginia Wolf and Anna Akhmatova
The English author Virginia Woolf is known for numerous influential
works, including the landmark essay A Room of One's Own and her
most famous novel, To the Lighthouse. Anna Ahkmatova was a Russian
poet whose wistful poetry celebrates love and mourns those lost
in the Soviet purges. Together, the two women were literary vanguards
of the early 20th century. In this presentation, Perlin argues that
they both achieved Woolf's ideal of an "unimpeded" author, one who
writes from experience and is free from debilitating bitterness
over the limited rights of women.
Tuesday,
Nov. 9, 1999
Nicole Roberts '02
Gay and Lesbian Teen Suicide
Adolescence is a challenging stage of development for everyone.
This is especially true for gay and lesbian youth, who account for
approximately 10 percent of the adolescent population. Although
there is increasing awareness that gay men and lesbians are healthy,
valuable members of society and discrimination against gays and
lesbians constitutes a civil rights violation, adolescents are particularly
vulnerable to the societal stigma still associated with being homosexual.
Torn between a desire for social/familial acceptance and the need
to act with personal integrity, gay and lesbian adolescents are
three times more likely than their peers to experience depression
that can lead to suicide. Roberts surveyed the literature on gay
and lesbian teen suicide, with a focus on personal accounts. She
offers suggestions regarding ways to decrease the debilitating social
stigma associated with homosexuality.
Tuesday,
Nov. 16, 1999
Kathrine Russell '01
Revolution, Girls' Style: The Struggles and Triumphs of Women
Musicians in a Man's World
Despite the numerous gains made by women in music over the past
few years, rock and roll still remains a boys' club where women
have to work twice as hard as men to gain listeners and credibility.
In this presentation, Russell explores the historical context of
this contemporary phenomenon and showcases women who are currently
overcoming the odds by making artistically revolutionary music for
an enlightened audience.
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Brace
Center Student Fellows Presentations - Fall 1998
Tuesday,
Oct. 6, 1998
Kate Nesin '99
The Distaff Side: Images of Women and Weaving in the Classical
Epic
Continuing to develop work she began last year in English 550A,
The Epic Poem, Nesin explores her evolving engagement of women in
the classical epic. She focuses on feminine imagery with an emphasis
on weaving and women's work, creatively balancing ancient text,
art and image, and responsive prose.
Tuesday,
Oct. 13, 1998
Ingrid Hammond '99 and Mariko Hirose '99
An Informal Comparative Study of Women's Self-Image in Japan
and the United States
In this informal study, Hammond and Hirose surveyed a random sampling
of 100 young women (50 in Tokyo and 50 on Cape Cod in Massachusetts)
about their body image, their educational and occupational ambitions,
and their perception of gender roles in their significant relationships.
Their inquiry revealed distinctive similarities and differences
in the self perception of women in these two modern cultures. In
this presentation, they outline their findings and discuss their
views of the implications these findings hold for further inquiry.
Tuesday,
Oct. 20, 1998
Kristin Steinert '00
An Inquiry into Increased Incidents of Anterior Cruciate Ligament
Tears in Adolescent Females
A tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee is a
common athletic injury with serious consequences. The knee joint
becomes unstable, and reconstructive surgery, followed by six to
12 months of physical therapy and reconditioning, is necessary before
the athlete can return to full activity. As a result of this trauma,
the same knee is especially vulnerable to reinjury and the risk
factor regarding injury to the other knee is high. The athlete may
never regain the same competitive level. In this study, Steinert
examined the role of gender and age in ACL tears and discovered
that adolescent females are at a higher risk for injury than males,
though the rate of ACL tears is increasing for both genders. Steinert
shares her findings and offers reflections regarding implications
and possible interventions.
Tuesday,
Oct. 27, 1998
Ajay Sutaria '99
The Shattering of Illusions: My Hindu Indian Family Talks About
Gender Relations
Sutaria spent several days this past summer interviewing members
of his Hindu family about their perceptions of gender relationships
within the family network and Indian society as a whole. His interviews
spanned generations and embraced topics such as education, marriage,
decision making and conflict resolution. He discovered that people
in his family offered differing and often conflicting perspectives.
In this presentation, he shares his findings and reflects upon the
ways his family represents what he terms the "fragmented" nature
of contemporary Indian society. Sutaria also shares comparative
reflections regarding his view of gender relationships in India
and the United States.
Tuesday,
Nov. 3, 1998
Laura Oh '99
Judith in Art History: The Metamorphosis of a Biblical Heroine
Scholars believe the biblical Book of Judith was written in the
second century B.C.E. It recounts the story of the widow Judith
who, with the help of God, was able to overcome the mighty Holofernes,
the enemy general laying siege to her town. Even though she was
Jewish, Judith was able to gain admittance into the enemy camp because
of her gay apparel and beauty. Once admitted, Judith severed the
head of the general with his own sword and saved her people from
destruction. In early artistic representations, Judith is portrayed
as a hero and embodiment of various virtues such as chastity, courage
and civic pride. Later representations, however, are more negative.
Beginning in the 15th and continuing into the 16th century, Judith
is represented as an emblem of betrayal and seduction. In this presentation,
Oh explores the metamorphosis of Judith's image, the definition
of the female hero, and the influence art has on cultural assumptions
regarding gender.
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Brace
Center Student Fellows Presentations Fall - 1997
Tuesday,
Oct. 21, 1997
Ian Barnard '98 and Matthew Rouillard '98
Gendered Images and Advertising: Old Trends and New Directions
Operating from the assumptions that advertisements both reflect
and promote prevailing cultural stereotypes, Ian Barnard and Matthew
Rouillard assert that advertisements depict men and women in "traditional"
and "non-traditional" gender images and roles. They share their
findings from this preliminary study in a multimedia presentation
and invite discussion regarding implications.
Tuesday,
Nov. 4, 1997
Abigail Coleman '98 and Deborah Vinton '98
Girls and Body Image: Exploring Issues of Power and Powerlessness
Motivated by their observations that many of their female peers
struggle with issues related to body image, Abigail Coleman and
Deborah Vinton focused their research on identifying the complex
relationship between cultural images of beauty, gender roles, self-esteem,
and the prevalence of eating disorders among adolescent girls. Their
presentation includes a summary of research, stories from interviews,
personal reflection and opportunities for discussion.
Tuesday,
Nov. 11, 1997
Laura McSpadden '98
Gender Roles in Contemporary Amish Culture: The Preservation
of Tradition
Laura McSpadden focused her research on gender roles in Amish culture
partly because she was raised in rural Indiana near an Amish community.
Intrigued by the well-defined gender roles, she sought to understand
the social and historical context that supports those cultural values.
Her presentation includes a summary of her findings and a discussion
of what implications they hold for understanding gender roles in
other communities, including our own.
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