Fairies and Fairness:

The traditional association of whiteness with fairies warrants a closer examination, as this mythological yearning for a specific childlike realm reveals an idealization of a white past. Indeed, the likening of women to a pure, infantile domain reveals an elevation of whiteness, which, by default, degrades people of color as lesser. While there has been considerable scholarship on the racialization of Charlotte Brontë’s Haitian character Bertha Mason, the construction of whiteness in conjunction with Jane Eyre’s character has remained largely unexplored. I explore these themes of the construction of whiteness through fairies and the romanticization of a white past through a close analysis of humanity in Jane Eyre. I first investigate Victorian and Edwardian fairy visuals, moving on to demonstrate how Jane’s individuality and feminism gains autonomy with her religious spiritualism. I also show, however, how the faerie language in the novel serves to override and disregard Jane’s position as a human being with agency due to Mr. Rochester’s aesthetic of white femininity. Through close readings of the supernatural in Jane Eyre, I scrutinize how the use of fairy language creates a power imbalance where the dehumanization of women and minorities creates a male fantasy directly opposed to the theme of the individual. I discuss how the sexualization and racialization of women as supernatural beings bolsters the self-serving, problematic construct of the ‘human’ which continuously labels women and minorities as less than. Therefore, to restructure this racism and misogynistic thought, I propose a decentering of humanity from a white male perspective, seeing women and minorities not as a monolithic “Other,” almost supernatural beings, but as equally human and worth of respect and dignity.

The Emergence and Evolution of Slavery Legislation in Antebellum Louisiana

Louisiana emerged from the periphery of the American colonies to form a powerful commercial and economic center. The state’s development of sovereignty, wealth, infrastructure, and legislation relied heavily on the unsalaried labor of Enslaved individuals. The chattel slave market particularly shaped the state’s government structure and character. Slavery legislation developed with the influence European legal traditions. Beginning with the enactment of the French ordonnance, Code Noir, and finally the Spanish oartacion. These legislative forces influenced the drafting and enactment of the Louisiana’s first Civil Code in 1808. This Code married the ideals of French, Spanish, Roman, and English legal traditions. It established Enslaved individuals position as subordinate, expendable property. This legal commodification of human beings occurred over centuries and continues to persist as a barrier for equality and justice for all. The legal legacy of slavery legislation in the United States continues to impact the field in the present moment.

Children With Disabilities Express Less Concrete Gender-Based Biases:

Abnormalities with processing social concepts as children may display with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Nonverbal learning disorder (NSLD). The purpose of the study was to observe how children with disabilities and nondisabled children viewed gender stereotypes. Images of gender-advertised toys and clothing items were utilized to determine gender-biases held by preschoolers (ages 3-6), upper-elementary level students (ages 10-12), and high school level students (ages 15-18). This project raises awareness of cultural stereotypes in society and their impact on childhood perception development. 177 students were shown images of gender-advertised clothing and entertainment items and asked to categorize each object as a boy, girl, or both. Students with disabilities had less gender bias compared to their nondisabled counterparts. The children in all groups had increased stereotyped responses to clothing items as opposed to toys. The preschoolers displayed the most stereotypical responses, the upper-elementary schoolers responded with the least biased responses as they had gained more exposure to toy and clothing options, and the highschoolers solidified their opinions with moderate stereotypes, notably in clothing items. Presenting increased non-stereotypical opinions, there was a significant difference in gender perception in students with disabilities. The difference in responses to gender perception between students with and without disabilities assimilated in all categories by high school age, meaning there was no significant difference in gender perception by this stage.

Investigation of a Paternal-Mediated Preeclampsia-Like Pregnancy Phenotype Mouse Model

Preeclampsia, a pregnancy specific syndrome characterized by new onset hypertension and proteinuria, is a leading cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. While no animal model perfectly mimics the human syndrome, breeding C1q-/- (male) to C57 (female) mice results in a preeclampsia-like pregnancy including pregnancy-specific hypertension, vascular dysfunction and altering placental phenotype. As the placental genotype is primarily paternally driven, lack of paternal C1q is likely driving this preeclampsia-like phenotype. However, more work is needed to investigate whether a lack of maternal C1q also contributes to this preeclampsia-like phenotype. The aim of this study was to investigate the pregnancy phenotype of genetic control (C1q-/- female bred to C57 male) mice. Blood pressure was monitored during pregnancy and vascular function assessed during late pregnancy (gestation day 17.5) in genetic control females. These data were compared to similar data obtained from control (C57 male bred to C57 female) and preeclampsia-like (C1q-/- male bred to C57 female) pregnant mice. Genetic control blood pressure and vascular function data were similar to that of the control pregnancy group, indicating no significant effect of maternal C1q deficiency on the “preeclampsia-like” pregnancy phenotype. As understanding preeclampsia and its effect on women’s health is critical, the work presented is important to confirm the C1q-/- x C57 mouse model as a useful model for studying this syndrome further.

Scenic Design for The Verge:

Scenic designers often want designs to set the audience up for understanding once the set is revealed. However, as shown in the design of The Verge, making an audience slightly uncomfortable is another way to immerse them in the work.

Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, and Political Opportunities:

In the summer of 2020, while mired in the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States experienced an unprecedentedly massive wave of protests led by the Black Lives Matter movement. Given the novelty of this upswell and the lack of a clear precedent thereof, there does not yet exist much scholarly analysis into why and how this movement expanded as significantly as it did or what developmental routes it may take as in the future. My research seeks to remedy this gap by employing the political process theory of social movement activity to interpret how the COVID pandemic increased opportunities for insurgent activity, how Black Lives Matter was in a prime position to take advantage of those opportunities, and how the movement can and should approach its future development to retain the support and leverage it accumulated during the 2020 protests. Through informal qualitative analysis rooted in the political process model, I suggest that COVID led to greater public recognition of institutional maladies in the United States, which Black Lives Matter was able to channel toward protest activity thanks to the low-cost, high-reward membership system inherent in its non-hierarchical structure and tactful use of social media. I then briefly consider different developmental paths that Black Lives Matter may take and assert that carefully implemented attempts at formalization will allow the movement to retain its organizing potential regardless of any volatile external opportunities.