Modernism has been called “a reaction to the carnage and disillusionment of the First World War and a search for a new mode of art that would rescue civilization from its state of crisis after the war” (Lewis, 109) Hemingway attempts this rescue by re-thinking aspects of the novel that were taken for granted in earlier periods, just as the conventions of modern life were taken for granted pre-WWI. Furthermore, his work tries to rectify the dissonance between a pre and post-war self through the exploration of social conventions relating to violence, trauma and masculinity.

This paper serves to explore how female subjects are represented in films featuring a woman on the road in ways that can create a female gaze, as an alternative to the male gaze. It looks for answers in four films from the 1970s to 2016, all made by female filmmakers, which are Je, Tu, Il, Elle (1974), Vagabond (Sans Toit Ni Loi) (1978), Wendy and Lucy (2008) and American Honey (2016). All four films share approaches that reject objectification in the depiction of females, but each is distinctive in their filmi strategies. Focusing on each work individually while attempting to make comparisons with others, this paper also aims to connect the shift of strategies in these works to the related discussion in feminist film theories.

Existing literature about transgender college students calls upon higher education organizations to support trans students' use of self-identified first names (in place of legal names, given at birth) and self-identified pronouns (in place of assumed pronouns based on sex assigned at birth, or other's perceptions of physical appearance), but that literature lacks guidance on how to achieve this work, which is deceptively complex. This study addressed this gap in the literature in two ways. First by using critical theory to show how hegemonic, binary notions of gender shape intellectual, social, and regulatory dimensions of higher education in ways that complicate practitioners' efforts to provide trans students with support. Second, by using institutional ethnography (IE) as a critical framework and methodology to uncover what IE refers to as texts and relations that operate in unintended ways to undo practitioners' efforts to provide desired supports. I use examples from my experience as a higher education LGBTQ resource professional at the University of Vermont (UVM) to add depth to my analysis and present the results in two articles. The first article presents the rationale for changing campus information systems to enable transgender students to use self-identified names and pronouns on campus, and presents examples of the work accomplished at the University of Vermont and the University of Michigan. The second article extends beyond logistics to explore the complex questions that are the focus of this dissertation.

This analysis examines Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea through the lens of lunar imagery and the irrational feminine, arguing that both texts are aspects of an extended, collective narrative in which both heroines rescue and reclaim their feminine essence from the construction of a masculine idealism.

Background: In the United States, currently about half (49%) of the 6.7 million pregnancies are reported as mistimed or unplanned, and this rate of unintended pregnancy is significantly higher than the rate in most other developed countries. Abortion services are critical to the prevention and management of unintended pregnancies. Abortion in the United States has been legal since the 1973; however this right has little meaning without access to safe abortion care and access is declining. Medication abortion, the use of medications to induce abortion and terminate an early pregnancy, has been legal in the United States since 2000, is ideal for the outpatient setting, and allows for increased provision of and access to abortion services. The literature assessing the provision of medication abortion has largely been conducted in populations of physicians, and combined groups of advanced practice clinicians including physician assistants (PAs), certified nurse midwives (CNMs), and nurse practitioners (NPs). No studies exist assessing provision of and barriers to medication abortion by NPs and CNMs (Advance Practice Registered Nurses or APRNs) in the state of Vermont. Purpose: This study sought to fill this gap in the literature. Data was collected in order to determine whether APRNs are providing care to women at risk for unintended pregnancy and are providing medication abortion, the characteristics of these providers, and perceived barriers or supports to practice. Methods: The design was a cross-sectional survey, using purposive sampling methods. Between July 2014 and September 2014, 21 eligible participants completed an anonymous, self-administered online survey, recruited via notifications sent out through professional listserv. The survey assessed their personal characteristics, beliefs and clinical practice related to reproductive health care and unintended pregnancy prevention and management. All participants had current APRN certification with prescriptive authority in the state of Vermont. Results: Ninety percent of respondents reported care for women of reproductive age as at least one-third of their clinical work and 85% of respondents reported seeing women with unintended pregnancies as part of their practice. Eighty-five percent agreed or strongly agreed that medication abortions fall within the scope of practice of an APRN and of a primary care provider, and 85% would like to be trained to provide medication abortions to manage unintended pregnancy. Lack of training opportunities, clinical facility constraints, and legal uncertainties were the most frequently reported barriers to provision of medication abortion. Conclusions: Many APRNs in Vermont may be interested in receiving medication abortion training. APRNs are experienced and highly trained health care professionals that have the competence and skills to provide comprehensive reproductive health care, including medication abortion. The perceived barriers of training, clinical facility constraints, and legal uncertainties are amenable to change, and can be decreased through inclusion of these topics into APRN education. The political and social climate of Vermont, combined with the findings of this preliminary study, suggest that the state of Vermont is ready, willing, and able to serve as a model for the primary provision of and improved population access to, comprehensive reproductive health care including abortion services.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) worldwide has grown exponentially in the last two decades and while sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been grappling with the crippling effects of epidemic infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, cardiovascular disease is now emerging as a grievous concern. Research and resources have largely been directed toward understanding and curtailing infectious diseases in the African continent. But as the risk of cardiovascular disease reaching endemic proportions in sub-Saharan Africa becomes more evident, research is critically needed in order to understand how to manage it and more importantly to direct the development and implementations of culturally relevant prevention strategies. The risks and effects of CVD are present in both men and women across the globe, but there are differences in their occurrence based on gender that are worth considering. Women in sub-Saharan Africa, who are already burdened with the disadvantage of access to health care by virtue of their gender alone, are likely to be most adversely affected by CVD. Socioeconomic status (SES), epidemiologic transition and urbanization, lifestyle changes, and gender-based violence are all factors implicated in the compounded risk for CVD among women in this region. To understand how women in a sub-Saharan region perceive CVD and its risk factors, this descriptive phenomenological study set out to answer the following research question: How do Kenyan women perceive the modifiable risk factors for CVD? Furthermore, how do they perceive its effects on their lives and their families? Two samples from central Kenya representing an urban and rural area were selected and interviewed in a focus group setting. A number of themes were extrapolated from the interviews. The modifiable risk factors were perceived to be independent of CVD. Diet modification and physical activity were found to be helpful in controlling these diseases but clear understanding on their effects on overall cardiovascular health was lacking. Cigarette smoking generated the least discussion because none of the women were smokers. The effects of having either hypertension or type two diabetes included financial cost, emotional burden on the women and their families, and the concern of losing a breadwinner from disease or illness. These results have implications in nursing practice, public health, primary care provision, and national and global policies. They also shed light on areas of potential consideration in prevention program design and implementation. Awareness, though felt by the women to be slowly gaining in Kenya, is key to disease prevention. There is limited research on this subject matter in SSA and more studies are needed to understand the scope and effects of CVD in this region.

These stories, essays, and beginnings of a novel draft examine the complex, many-faceted nature of legacy; propelled by the question of how we become who we eventually become, these works seek to showcase how where we come from, and who we come from, shape us as individuals. From a variety of perspectives, my characters try to discover how they can create their own safe spaces, their own lives, while still maintaining some genuine connection to their familial roots--they try to strike a balance between how to forget, and how to remember. The prose here focuses largely on the women in the places, and from these families; how does a society that favors maleness shape a female's view of her ideas and her intellect, of her body and her control over it? The characters seek answers to these questions largely in the impoverished southwest, where the characters are always trying to do the right thing, but hardly ever in the right ways.

The author covers issues of gender and Iranian national identity as reflected in Iran’s first published woman novelist, Simin Daneshvar. Her novel, Savushun, is the first novel to be published by an Iranianwoman in 1969. The novel depicts Iran at the start of the country’s governmental factions in 1941 when Reza Shah Pahlavi overthrew years of Iranian dynasty and established a monarchy. This thesis explores how the novel is a vital part of Iran’s historical literature as well as essential to the present day discussion of gender and politics, especially for women within the patriarchal paradigm.

Neil Gaiman’s use of a hyper-masculine American culture in American Gods sheds light upon the multiple issues surrounding a misogynistic society in which women are treated as sexual objects and punished for their independence as sexual beings. Gaiman’s efforts at highlighting these issues are discreet and hidden under layers of patriarchal expectations, but through the use of his protagonist, Shadow, Gaiman is able to provide an alternative to the society he represents. While he successfully illustrates this more “ideal” society, his endeavors fall short and are almost imperceptible throughout his novel. Gaiman’s work in American Gods, while lacking in its overall presence, brings attention to the issues within a hyper-masculine society and it is through this unique, feminist approach that Gaiman is able to present his strong argument for change.

This study investigated the ways in which students attending American evangelical colleges form their heterosexually intimate relationships as well as how they craft gendered and religious performances along the way. Data was generated at two evangelical universities in the southern region of the United States over the 2011-2012 academic year using a combination of qualitative methods, including focus groups, individual interviews, participant observation, artifact analysis, and archival research. Findings suggest students employ a three-phase process, which begins within their peer networks, advances via social media to an intermediate phase, where students assess compatibility in a number of areas, and then potentially progresses into a committed, and oftentimes serious, dating relationship. This process is inherently patriarchal and encourages diffidence as well as shrewdness in many respects related to women’s demeanor, communication, and sexuality. Both women and men utilize a number of gendered and religious strategies to successfully navigate the dating scene amidst the backdrop of an evangelical milieu. Various aspects of campus culture, which influence students’ relational, gendered, and religious practices, are also explored, including the lack of casual dating, modesty expectations, purity imperatives, and an emphasis on (heterosexual) relationships. The implications of which create a high stakes environment surrounding both cross-sex friendships and romantic relationships where sexuality is sidelined and authenticity can be hard to find.