Elizabeth Phillips Award Winners
This award pays tribute to Elizabeth Phillips, Professor Emerita of English, for her exceptional scholarly commitment to the advancement of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. The winning essay is chosen from essays nominated by university faculty. Essays from fall and spring semesters are eligible and calls for nominations should be made accordingly.
A monetary prize and a certificate are awarded to the best undergraduate senior capstone or honors thesis or graduate student paper (Graduate School, Divinity School, Law School) written on the subject of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies during the academic year.
Past Recipients
Xiaoya Yang
“Alternative Narrations: An Ethnography of Sinophone Queer Imaginaries and Identity Construction”
Abstract:
This thesis provides an ethnographic study of how Queer imaginary media influences the identity construction and societal engagement of young Sinophone readers, particularly those born around 2000. It explores the complex interplay between readers’ engagement with queer content, their personal and ethnic identities, and their critiques of hetero-patriarchal norms. Through semi-structured interviews with fifteen individuals, the research reveals how queer media serves as a pivotal medium for challenging traditional societal expectations, facilitating the exploration of “queer alternative” lifestyles as theorized by Jack Halberstam. The study critiques academic orientalism and integrates queer theory with ethnography to understand the cultural dynamics of Sinophone queer imaginary media. It also discusses the impact of cultural capital on access to queer media, pointing to social inequalities within the queer media landscape. Reflecting on the researcher’s positionality, the thesis underscores the activism inherent in building relationships with interviewees. By highlighting the transformative potential of Queer imaginary media in empowering readers to construct alternative identities, this research contributes to broader discussions on queer identity, media representation, and resistance to normative societal pressures. Future research directions include expanding demographics and incorporating auto-ethnographic methods to further enrich the discourse on Sinophone queer culture.
Jacqueline Bumgarner
Alexandria Purcell
Katherine Finch
No winner was selected.
Meara Waxman (Undergranduate): “This Little Boat of the Language”: Language Repression as a vehicle of Cultural and Sexual Marginalization in a Hush-a-Bye Baby and The Blackwater Lightship.”
Abigail S. Trombley (Undergraduate): “Empowerment, Resistance, and the Birth Control Pill: A Feminist Analysis of Contraception in the Developing World”
Nicole Jodan (Undergraduate): “Nature nor Nurture: The Queer Struggle for
Expansion” considers how the heroes of two novels—James Baldwin’s
Giovanni’s Room and Edward Prime Stevenson’s Imre—reconcile queer
sexual desire with both internal and external repression.
The committee was impressed with Nicole’s impeccable reasoning and keen
eye for detail as she argued that the accommodation of hegemonic
structures of power allows for more stable secret spaces of pleasure.
Madeline Chastain Coffey (Undergraduate): “The Loophole in the Lavender Scare: Sex Change Operations as a Cure to Subversion”
Justice Ciera von Maur (Undergraduate): “An Oral History of Gay and Lesbian Activism at Wake Forest University 1985 to 2000
Kate Llewellyn (Undergraduate): “The Comparative Development of LGBTQ Rights in Ecuador and Chile: Legal Positivism and the Rule of Recognition”
Sara Brigagliano (Undergraduate – Second Place Prize): “You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide: How the Media Morphs Gender: Bias in the Coverage of Female Political Candidates”
Dianne Gene Uwayo (Undergraduate): “Perceptions about the Causes of Intimate Partner Violence in Kisumu, Kenya”
Shoshanna Natanya Goldin (Undergraduate): “The Land of Milk, Honey, and Motherhood: An Examination of Jewish, Muslim, and Druze Women’s Perspectives of IVF Policy in Israel”
Felicity Ratway (Graduate): “Preserving Víctor Hugo Robles’ Queer Ideology in a Spanish-English Translation of Bandera Hueca”
Lindsey Jayne Mullen (Graduate): “Being Natal: The Theological and Pastoral Significance of Labor and Birth for Christianity”
Kimberly Quick
Parastou Azaeh Ranjbar ’15 (Undergraduate)
Mallory Pladus ’13 (Graduate)
Natalie Elise Moreland ’12 (Undergraduate)
Bailey Mestayer Pittenger ’13 (Undergraduate)
Ronald Terry Parrish ’13 (Graduate)
Caitlin Cheyenne Williams ’12 (Undergraduate)
Lauren Anastasia Wright ’10 (Undergraduate)
Anna Elizabeth Williams ’10 (Undergraduate)
Christine Cooluris ’09 (Undergraduate)
Ashley Elizabeth Gedraitis ’11 (Undergraduate)
Audrey Golden ’09 (Graduate)
Emily Teresa Rubino ’08 (Undergraduate)
Lin Cohen Bunce ’08 (Graduate)
Elizabeth Anne Lundeen ’07 (Undergraduate)
Anne Lindsey Leake ’07 (Graduate)
Emily Wonnell Mathews ’08 (Honorable Mention)