Cultural Studies

Genaro Prado, gaprado@shockers.wichita.edu
Wichita State University, with Dr. Ashley Cervantes

First Generation Latine College Students: Navigating Intersectional Identities on Campus 
In college, it is essential to know where to seek help for any issues or concerns in various areas of life. However, many students do not feel that there are resources to help them succeed. This is especially true of first-generation Latine students. First-generation students are less likely to utilize campus support systems when compared to their peers. They are often intimidated or overwhelmed by faculty and staff and may encounter cultural barriers when seeking assistance. Studies have shown that certain factors can impact the education of Latine students, ranging from students exploring their academic challenges, particularly how they overcome barriers, to the campus resources they utilize to persist toward graduation. Understanding Latine students is essential to implementing diversity within the college atmosphere. Additionally, understanding First-generation Latine students is key for implementing diversity and leads the way for universities to design inclusive policies and a supportive campus environment for first-generation Latine students.   
 

Jon James, jjames7@islander.tamucc.edu
Texas A&M University Corpus Christi , with Dr. Darcey Powell

The Rejection of LGB Young Adults in Religious Households
The overlap between religion and sexual orientation has faced many challenges, especially for those young adults who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) who come from religious backgrounds. Due to the sensitivity of the topics, it isoften not discussed to avoid any backlash or judgement. The goal here was to connect two very different groups andconnect them into one to show that it is okay to be homosexual and religious. The study that was conducted was used to analyze how religiosity impacts their self-perception of their sexual orientation, and how religiosity impacts their comingout experiences. Data was collected from surveys that were sent out and filled out by 63 participants from a Texasuniversity and 94 participants via Prolific. The questions were designed with 5-Point Likert Scale questions ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The surveys were used to assess personal and parental faith and emotional responses tocoming out. As well as perceived rejections and attachment to both parents separately. Those who come from greater religious households had a harder time coming out to their parents, than those who do not come from very religious households.
 

Rei Collins, rei.collins@students.tamuk.edu
Texas A&M University Kingsville, with Dr. Stephanie Peebles Tavera

Queer Distortion: Analyzing the Effects of Greer Lankton’s Misrepresented “Lonely Dolls” During the AIDS Epidemic
In this research project, I analyze artist Greer Lankton’s exhibit Doll Party, an instillation of various dolls created throughout the AIDS epidemic that offer satirized grotesque visages of trans and queer women as inherently effeminate or feminized by their proximity to AIDS. Using a queer studies and medical humanities approach that deploys Jack Halberstam’s concept of “female masculinity” and Priscilla Wald’s examination of “outbreak narratives,” I highlight how Lankton’s work problematizes cultural narratives of binary gender that feminize AIDS and its predominately gay male victims, leading to the medical industry’s stigmatization and neglect of queer-folk and AIDS carriers during 1980s America. This hostile relationship between (presumably cis) practitioners and queer patients arguably continues into the twenty-first century. I firmly argue that Lankton’s over-usage of horror elements and grotesqueness satirizes the themes she displays in her work and creates a cognitive dissonance—which I call queer dissonance—between her audience and the conversation in which she wishes to intervene to correct this hostile relationship. I suggest that in over-satirizing the misrepresentation of queer-folk during the AIDS epidemic, Lankton’s work fails to appeal to twenty-first century audiences and ironically contributes to the stigmatic narratives of queer-folk that she aimed to prevent.