Zoey Young (’24), a double major in English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, recently attended the National Women’s Studies Association annual conference in Detroit, Michigan and presented a research poster titled “Trans Identity and Theory in Contemporary American Poetry.” This research came from a capstone thesis, directed by Professor of English, Dr. Mara Scanlon. It examines the writing of six American trans poets: Andrea Abi-Karam, Oliver Baez Bendorf, torrin a. greathouse, Roy G. Guzman, Chrysanthemum Tran, and Justice Ameer. A deep reading of poets of vastly different backgrounds and identities revealed common threads in their poetics which reflected trans theoretical concepts and complicated the linguistic construction of gender. Most prominently, these poets’ use of lyric form to reject traditional, phallogocentric narrative structures, their choice to (de)center their embodiment, and their focus on alternative, queer aesthetics (such as that of the cyborg or of wilderness) speak to new poetic trends that challenge our way of thinking about gender.
Professor Surupa Gupta, Director of the UMW Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program, shared the significance of Zoey’s participation in the conference: “getting on the program of a national-level conference is a distinct achievement and deserves recognition.” Zoey’s travel to Detroit was funded in part by an undergraduate research grant from the College of Arts and Sciences.
A senior graduating at the end of this fall 2024 semester, Zoey spoke on the impact of this experience for their future work after graduation:
I built connections with more established academics and received invaluable feedback, new avenues to take in my continued research. It has further persuaded me to pursue graduate level research in the future, and I cannot wait to take up similar opportunities as I continue to work in this field!
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