Tag: Humanities

Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe: Combatting a Stolen Generation through Environmental Regeneration

Presenter: Cholena Wright

Faculty Mentor: Brian Klopotek

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: Political Science

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe located in western Washington state fell victim to a mysterious run of reproductive challenges. Over the span of more than a decade the majority of pregnancies in the community resulted in miscarriage, still born, and infant mortality. This tragic and overwhelming loss of pregnancies went largely ignored for years and remains unexplained to this day. The paper will attempt to offer insight into the potential for environmental pollution and contamination due to nearby fishing, cranberry, and forestry industries. The industries were negligent in their use of endocrine disrupting toxins and pesticides. Thus, the paper will argue that these industries were the perpetrators of environmental racism against the Shoalwater, and directly involved in causing this reproductive tragedy. Environmental degradation has prevented countless tribes from practicing their traditional ways, encroached on their traditional territory, and had adverse effect on the health of these nations. The Shoalwater are a very extreme example of how environmental racism, harmful stereotypes, and wanton disregard practiced by industries can reify intergenerational trauma and perpetuate the stolen generation practices of colonialism.

Indian Beauty Pageants: Performing Indigeneity or Celebrating It?

Presenter: Cholena Wright

Faculty Mentor: Stephanie Teves

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: Political Science

Beauty pageants get a bad rap. Since their inception they have had a precarious and convoluted relationship with feminism. Beauty pageants have been targeted for criticism and protest by feminists who claim they perpetuate the objectification and sexualization of women, present unrealistic models of femininity, and perpetuate harmful images of white/middle-class beauty standards. But what about Indian beauty pageants? Does this harmful culture cross- over into the indigenous model of beauty pageantry? Much like the conversation surrounding mainstream beauty pageants, the answer is complicated and nuanced. Indian beauty pageants were originally instituted as a colonizing mechanism, but over time they have evolved into cultural celebrations of indigenous traditions and beauty. Indian beauty pageants today are merely a shadow of their white supremacist history. Tracing the history through personal accounts of these pageants showcases the persistence and continued resistance of indigenous culture. Beauty pageants can be mechanisms for empowerment and an acknowledgement of female achievement, leadership, and talent. This is also true for Indigenous pageants. Throughout the Americas and the Pacific, these beauty pageants celebrate indigeneity and provide a space for indigenous queer locality. In spite of its flawed history, indigenous pageants are an indigenous feminist act that should not be underestimated as a tool for resistance and cultural revitalization.

Not Just a Pretty Face: 19th Century Japanese Courtesans and their Influence in Art Exportation

Presenter: Brandi Wilkens

Faculty Mentor: Akiko Walley

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: Art History

Funding Source: HURF, UO, $2500

19th century Japan was a time of momentous changes. The Edo period ended shortly after the country was opened to the West. The Meiji period, beginning in 1868, shows a society grappling with many changes. By examining
19th century woodblock prints and souvenir photography, I will examine Japanese courtesans, their reinvention in the 1870s as geisha, and their influence over art exportation. I will argue that these women were far more than common prostitutes, by exploring their rigorous training, and indicating in what ways they used their minds and business acumen to further their careers. These women were linked with Europeans due to their relationships with Dutch traders since the 16th century; courtesans provided the buffer between foreigners and the native Japanese population. Due to these close associations, courtesans were able to influence Japanese art exportation, both through woodblock prints and later through souvenir photography.

The complications of time period differences, and the difficulties in acquiring the necessary language skills (both Japanese and European languages are required), has created an unfortunate lack of scholarship on this vibrant time of change and cultural exchange between Japan and the West. It is my goal to shed more light on the changing dynamics of these tumultuous interactions, while bringing these marginalized women to the forefront, where there is evidence of their involvement with Westerners.

Land-Seizing Language: Rhetoric’s Claim to Territory in Colonial Travel Writing of the New World

Presenter: Erin Weaver

Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Bohls, Brent Dawson

Presentation Type: Poster 88

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: English

England sends its first party of settlers to New World Virginia in 1585, but it isn’t until 1607 that the empire founds Jamestown – the first lasting colony on the continent, following 22 years of failure to occupy the territory. In absence of physical ownership of the land, how to do the narratives that emerge out of the New World during this period attempt to assert a rhetorical claim to it?

To answer this question, my research analyzes the writing of New World authors Smith, White, Lane, and Harriot. Thus far, it has investigated the existence of the following through close reading analysis in order to pinpoint rhetorical strategies that assert possession: a) the binding of space in the New World into definable (and therefore claimable) place through rhetorical cartography and the theory of space and place; b) Edenic tropes to assert a God-given right to cultivate the landscape and mark it as claimed; c) syntactical structures that infantilize native improvements and project English structures (or signs of ownership) onto the land.

The rhetoric of travel writing has been well studied; the rhetoric of claim within these texts is lacking. In combining the studies of travel writing’s rhetoric and language’s ability to bound space, I will discern ways in which English colonists are able to claim the territory solely through their use of narrative.

Women Working in the Public Relations Industry in Hong Kong

Presenter: Tiffany Wan Hoi Nga

Faculty Mentor: Kathryn Kuttis, David Remund

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: Journalism: Public Relations

In the 21st century, public relations plays an important role in the business world. The majority of people who work in the public relations industry are female. This pattern leads to a significant question “Why are there many women working in the public relations industry in Hong Kong?” Is it only because women tend to have a better communication skill? Indeed, it is more than this reason. This research focused on women working in public relations industry in Hong Kong. In this study, I used qualitative and quantitative methods to examine and explain why there is a pattern of feminization in the public relations industry in Hong Kong. Results showed that Hong Kong’s unbalanced gender ratio issue can become an impact in the public relations industry. Moreover, education is another crucial factor that lead to many women working in the public relations industry. Besides the unbalanced gender ratio and education factors, the most significant finding in this study is that the majority of public relations leaders in Hong Kong are men not women.

The People’s Music: Rhetoric and Musical Symbolism in the German Democratic Republic’s 1954

Presenter: Colin Takeo

Faculty Mentor: Loren Kajikawa

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: Music History, Historyv

Funding Source: HURF, OU Humanities Center, UROP, 3500; CHC Study Abroad Grant, Clark Honors College, $1000

After World War II, Germany had to be rebuilt. The artificial division of the country in 1949 made an already difficult task even more complicated. Although the Cold War period remains a dark memory for many, it also offers a glimpse into the process of constructing national and socialist cultural identity. The German Democratic Republic (GDR) began in earnest to promote a new societal consciousness in the 1950s, and redoubled their efforts after the 1953 Worker’s Uprising. In 1954, the GDR government and composers allied with the socialist cause began a new cultural campaign using musical events and the socialist-realist aesthetic to establish authority over the East German population. By promoting their own socialist aesthetic and combining it with German cultural traditions, they created a hybrid culture that co-opted patriotic prestige from German cultural icons while also promoting a revolutionary, anti-capitalist consciousness. To explore this campaign, I performed original research at state archives in Berlin and Leipzig. My primary sources were programs, internal documents, and musical works related to the Musikfest des VDK, a state-sponsored music festival held in Leipzig in 1954. The research has revealed that the Musikfest’s socialist-realist pieces heavily relied on rhetorical, extra-musical framing and cultural appropriation.

Early Identity Building in the Boy Scouts of America 1910–1912

Presenter: Charles Steenkolk

Faculty Mentor: Michael Peixoto, Jamie Bufalino

Presentation Type: Poster 92

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: History, Spanish

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the most popular, largest, and longest running youth organizations in the United States. Created in 1910, the organization competed with other youth organizations that started around the same time. This article looks at the incorporating documents, the letters and correspondence, and the minutes of the first national meetings, in order to identify and track the initial conceptualizations of the BSA as it asserted itself in the American society. The documents span from 1910 to 1912, the first two years of the BSA. The documents show that the future of the organization was not clear at the time, and that there were significant issues presented to the organization as it formed. The documents also show that the BSA was a composition of the individual people that founded it, and the consensus on a course of action was not present at first. The individual decisions of the leaders of the organization led to a more clear definition of the organization’s niche in society, and its identity as a youth organization.

Gender Socialization of Masculinity

Presenter: Alexis Skaw

Co-Presenters: April Wheeler, Brent Koekkoek

Faculty Mentor: Julie Heffernan

Presentation Type: Poster 37

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: Education

As soon as a child is born in the United States, they are assigned a sex in the male/female gender binary and gender socialization automatically begins. For boys, this means they will be taught to be tough, strong and control their emotions in order to enact masculinity. While much of this socialization occurs in the child’s home, it is also strongly enforced throughout social institutions. Sometimes this socialization is explicitly taught while other times
the lessons are implicitly engrained into traditions and practices. Schools, as social institutions, contribute to student’s socialization regarding gender, race and class. Our focus is on how gender socialization of masculinity, which can intersect with race and class, affects boys at different stages of their development. Hyper-masculinity, the exaggeration of masculinity which emphasizes aggressive and impulsive behavior, is associated with a breadth of emotional and physical ramifications. By pointing out the negative effects of hyper-masculinity, we hope to inspire teachers to enact pedagogy which encourages boys to explore non-gender conforming hobbies, sports, studies
and careers among other activities. By fostering an environment where students do not feel pressured to enact masculinity, boys will feel less burdened to become hyper-masculine and in turn, they can avoid situations which have negative effects on their mental and physical well-being.

The Evolution of the Comic Panel in Japanese Manga: An Exploration of the Comic Panel from Ancient Times to Modern Day

Presenter: Grace Shum

Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Wheeler, Akiko Walley

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: English, Digital Arts, Advertising

Manga, the Japanese comic form has a style distinct from that of American superhero comics, European comics, and more. But how did manga form stylistically? I am exploring the answer to this question visually. By examining the evolution of Japanese narrative comic form, beginning from narrative picture scrolls to present day dojinshi fan art, I look to examine the basic construct of comics – the panel – to contemplate the evolution of manga today. Of course, since manga is a visual form, what better way to explain its evolution but through a comic itself? The end goal of my ongoing creative thesis is to have a comic book that tells a story itself, one that reflects the panel evolution in Japanese manga. Comics have only recently been taken seriously as a subject of academia and manga is a huge, as yet not widely touched, section of comic history. In this way, my own narrative will endeavor to illustrate how manga’s evolution is really a narrative itself and how distinct this comic form is from its global counterparts due to its heritage, cultural nuances, geographical and political isolation in the past, and language.

Women and Femininities in Relation to Sports

Presenter: Megan Schucht

Co-Presenters: Megan Davis, Amy Lee

Faculty Mentor: Julie Heffernan

Presentation Type: Poster 36

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: Educational Foundations

In what ways has gender roles and stereotypes affected women’s relationship to sports?
There is a need to improve the quality of women’s athletic experience. With Title IX, there has been an increase in sport participation but a significant decrease in women coaching the sport. However, female athletes are rarely included in the media and are often sexually objectified when they do receive media attention. Female athletes who are able to display the balance of masculinity and femininity receive the most attention and positive outputs by the media whereas those who are not able to show that balance are not shown or interviewed by the media. In order to be a successful female athlete, one must be able to provide that impossible balance of femininity and amazing skill. Our society has created an invisible line between what is too feminine and what is too masculine. This balance between masculine and feminine traits is known as the feminine apologetic where masculine power roles must be counter balanced with feminine qualities. This project has helped us gain an in depth understanding of the women’s role in sports and how it has made a significant impact today and will continue to make a change in the future.