Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2020, American Culture Studies

This dissertation examines American motherhood in twenty-first century film, particularly as motherhood intersects with the cultural meanings and experiences of blackness, whiteness, and class status. Through textual analysis of select mainstream and independent films, contextualized within an historical, cultural studies, feminist, and critical race theoretical framework, I build on the matricentric feminist scholarship that has long pointed out that motherhood is one of the most intimate forms of women's oppression. Working within the framework I establish, I argue that the role of motherhood has often shifted in order to reflect and perpetuate white supremacist, patriarchal, and capitalist power structures. The result of these shifts at particular social, cultural, and political moments is that layers of meaning have been added to the role of motherhood, but these meanings have never liberated the role. Thus, mothers remain confined within a system that values their work only to the extent that it upholds the status quo. Ultimately, I argue that these films are, in various implicit and explicit ways, pulling back the proverbial curtain to reveal the mechanisms of control within American mothers' lives. I acknowledge that the ubiquitous range of representations of motherhood within twenty-first film will in no way act as liberator for mothers. However, I contend that these films offer a glimpse into the layers of social, cultural, political, and economic constraints that perpetuate motherhood as a practice in ideological confinement.

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2023, Social Work

Domestic violence is a prevalent issue with extensive impacts. For some, abuse greatly threatens immediate safety and survivors are forced to flee their homes to seek refuge in domestic violence shelters. These shelters address immediate environmental, social, and emotional concerns, helping guide survivors through recovery. Like all people, survivors encompass a wide range of intersecting identities and backgrounds, inevitably making their recovery experience individualized. In particular, mother-survivors staying in domestic violence shelters face unique challenges as restrictions are placed on them which make parenting more difficult and in turn hinder parts of their recovery. Through qualitative interviews conducted with mother-survivors and staff members of domestic violence shelters, this study examines the unique challenges and strengths of mothers recovering from abuse in a domestic violence shelter. Findings reveal that the shelter supervision and discipline policies inhibit the recovery of mother-survivors. Despite these struggles with child-related policies, however, findings also show that motherhood is an important source of strength in recovery for survivors. Recommendations include promoting survivor-centered, trauma-informed care in shelters, being sympathetic and flexible when communicating and enforcing parenting policies, continuously building up a mother-survivor's self-image, and, if possible, expanding interventions and programming to address the specific needs of mother-survivors.

Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Bowling Green State University, 2018, English

This thesis is comprised of short fiction ranging from four to eighty pages, inhabiting worlds as familiar to the reader as a suburban home and as alien as a magical, spirit-filled wasteland. I assembled this collection along three key thematic lines, the first being feelings of ambivalent motherhood. Characters in this collection come to terms with their pregnancy or reject it; they leave their families wondering if they should have had children at all; and they live in a liminal space where love is expected of them but not easy to procure. The second thematic concern present in many of these stories is grappling with mythology. In “Ithaca”, a young woman is introduced to a cosmic mythology by her aging employer. In “Investigation No. 5,” a family mythology is investigated as if it holds as much importance as one of the major world religions. Disillusionment with Judeo-Christian mythology is portrayed in “In the Pool,” and “Shoulder, Midrib, Neck” deals with the retelling of a Scottish myth. The final theme running through these stories is that of generational legacy: what a parent bequeaths to their children far beyond physical possessions. How is that legacy corrupted by the actions of the parent? How can a child fit themselves into the world, bearing these often-sordid gifts? Characters struggle with these questions in “Nomads,” “Shoulder, Midrib, Neck,” and the novella that ends the collection, “The Ballad of Baby MacCrae.” The novella is the story where all of these themes come back and braid together. The solitary narrator must grapple with the worldview she's been indoctrinated into by her aunt: pagan Celtic beliefs, Old Testament Christianity, and blood rituals. This novella concerns how a woman can bring a private mythology into the public world, and how she can make peace with the legacies that have been left to her.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, History

This dissertation is a cultural and intellectual history of patriarchy in Pennsylvania from the American Revolution through the beginning of the Civil War. The erosion of patriarchal control in the years following the American Revolution only occurred when social obedience to perceived superiors became less important than personal obedience to moral conscience. The process by which some Pennsylvanians' mentalities changed, measured by linguistic shifts in Pennsylvania's print culture, occurred slowly and unevenly over the first seventy years of the state's existence. The language of the American Revolution was distinctly anti-patriarchal: colonists denounced the king's longstanding role as father of his people and encouraged Americans to think about duty and obligation in terms of reciprocity. Love of country and love of family were the highest duties and patriarchal authority was given rhetorical short shrift during this era. By the 1790s, however, consensus unraveled amidst torrid partisan fighting. Debates about familial authority mirrored political debates over tyranny and authority with no clear consensus. Although some painted familial relationships as sentimental and reciprocal, many authors continued to promote hierarchical or antagonistic familial paradigms. In both cases discussions about family intimately attached to broader themes of social control in the new nation. The language of brotherhood provided the most salient conceptualization of how political society was rhetorically linked to the family. While this language helped to dismantle some of the lingering obligations of paternal patriarchy, it retrenched conjugal patriarchy as consenting men in civil society continued to exercise complete control over their female dependents in the private realm. Throughout the nineteenth century, the language of duty tracked the political debates of the era and mapped onto partisan conflicts at both the state and national level. Although the es (open full item for complete abstract)

BA, Oberlin College, 1997, Sociology

My analysis adds to the literature on single motherhood by trying to refine a structural equations model to use to examine the causal importance and relationships between economics and parenting in single mother families and the effect on intergenerational attainment. This work also utilizes the relatively new longitudinal data from the second wave of the National Survey of Families and Households which includes more comprehensive (measuring participation in school activities and adding indexes to previously single indicator concepts) measures of parenting practices (Thomson, Hanson, and McLahanan 1994; Astone and McLanahan 1991). Further, the role of these and economic factors are considered on years of education completed and, as discussed subsequently, on whether or not adult offspring have ever enrolled in a four-year college or university to illuminate the effect of educational attainment on eventual socioeconomic status (occupational prestige and earnings). As suggested by Astone and McLahanan (1991), it is hoped that these measures of educational attainment will capture the intergenerational effects of growing up in a female-headed family.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2024, Mass Communication (Communication)

Contemporary horror films have changed their aesthetic and thematic approaches, thus providing more reflection on current political and social issues. Conventionally, the horror genre frames the mother as the Other and often maintains a traditional subject-versus-object dichotomy that is aligned with the child-mother relationship. However, more contemporary horror films show their explorations of the maternal as subject, meanwhile replacing the subject-object dichotomy with the idea of intersubjectivity when referring to the mother-child relationship. Notably, the cinematic exploration of maternal subjectivity in contemporary horror cinema relies on unpacking a temporal experience, which rethinks the conventional exclusion of women from the theorization of temporality. Therefore, this dissertation argues that contemporary horror films constitute a promising field that challenges the horror genre's traditional gender representation by offering novel cinematic portrayals of mothers and motherhood through re-theorizing the understanding of time. Specifically, this dissertation aims to articulate and comprehend the changes in depictions of maternal figures in contemporary horror by answering the questions: How does the temporal experience in motherhood bring out the maternal subject in the contemporary horror cinema, and how does this shift in focus on the maternal time experience rewrite the genre's conventional theme of the mother-as-the-Other? Along with discussing a rising concern that overshadows the conventional idea of the reproductive future in contemporary horror, how does the recent cinematic conceptualization (particularly the temporalization) of motherhood unleash reproductive and temporal anxiety? And what aspects of this anxiety are revealed in contemporary horror films? To answer these questions, this dissertation investigates the novel cinematic portrayals of motherhood in The Babadook (dir. Jennifer Kent. 2014), The Wailing (dir. Na Hong-jin. 2016), The (open full item for complete abstract)

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2024, Antioch New England: Clinical Psychology

The current study sought to better understand the relationship among parental burnout, insomnia, and first-time motherhood within the context of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A thorough review of the literature was conducted in order to position this dissertation and its questions within the current research landscape. A quantitative, survey-based research methodology was used to explore the association between the aforementioned variables of interest through correlational analyses. Findings of the study suggest a positive association between parental burnout and insomnia, though nonsignificant findings between motherhood groups in relation to insomnia and parental burnout suggest that continued investigation into these variables may be warranted. Variations between strength of correlations between groups on variables of interest are discussed, specifically with reference to association of potential impact on real-world clinical work. Future directions for research discussed within this dissertation include how the studied variables may relate to topics such as governmental and community regulations, policies, and norms as well as the role of resilience in mediating the relationships between variables. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Cross-Cultural, International Education

This research study explores the lived experience of nine international graduate student mothers (IGSMs) in the United States. This phenomenological study investigates the identity development of the nine international graduate student mothers (IGSMs) from six countries with diverse academic and cultural backgrounds as they navigate the dual roles of motherhood and educational pursuits. Through in-depth interviews, this research delves into the challenges and strategies IGSMs employ to balance their responsibilities, shedding light on the unique intersection of cultural, academic, and maternal identities. This study utilizes Bronfenbrenner's bioecological system theory to examine the multifaceted influences on their experiences, including personal, social, and institutional factors. The findings reveal that these mothers navigate complex interactions within their immediate and broader environments, leading to a continuous redefinition of their identities. Key themes include the balance between motherhood and academics, resources available to assist IGSMs, and the significance of the spouse's role, education, and cultural influence on IGSMs in identity development. The study underscores the importance of tailored support systems in graduate education to enhance the well-being, academic success, challenges, and resilience of IGSMs. The study provides implications for policymakers and educational institutions to foster more inclusive and supportive environments that could build a sense of belonging toward the host country's culture.

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Cross-Cultural, International Education

Balancing motherhood and formal education is often viewed as one of the greatest challenges for women is so hard that without support most women fail or quit. This explores the lived experiences of nine African Graduate Student mothers studying in the US who have left their children behind in Africa in order to focus on school while attending and motherly duties long-distance without their children. The study takes a phenomenological approach and uses Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory to help understand the experiences of these women. The analysis of responses in this study demonstrates that these African Graduate Students Mothers face double challenges as they first must attend to the most common international student challenges like immigration status, language differences, racial prejudice, and transitioning into a new culture.

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Ohio University, 2024, Dance

The postpartum period is a tumultuous time that often brings about changes to the psychological, social, and interpersonal aspects of a new mother's identity. Additionally, existing literature has revealed the potential for the creative arts—namely visual art and creative movement—to provide a space for individuals to explore their identities. This study aimed to examine 1) how mothers describe their postpartum identities and 2) how creative arts workshops can support an exploration into a mother's postpartum experience. Participants were postpartum women, without mental or physical health concerns. They participated in four, 90-minute creative arts workshops. Each workshop consisted of a visual art prompt and creative movement prompt for participants to explore, as well time for discussion about the art-making processes. Data included researcher observations, participant artwork, and participant reflective responses. Four distinct themes emerged through data analysis: Mother/Baby as a Unit, Routine, Body Size, and Reflections on Motherhood. The emergence of these themes reflected significant aspects of the participants' postpartum identities, including feelings that their babies were an extension of themselves, the presence (or lack) of a daily routine in the postpartum period, and feelings related to body size. The data revealed that creative arts workshops provided participants with time and space to reflect on—and bring new meaning to—their postpartum experience. Future research might build upon these findings to see how creative arts might be expanded to support women in the postpartum period.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, East Asian Studies

In Edo-period (1603-1868) playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon's The Woman-Killer and the Hell of Oil (1721), the central character Yohei murders an innocent young mother. Scholars have debated the root cause behind this heinous crime, with scholars C. Andrew Gerstle and Eiji Sekine arguing that Yohei's actions resulted from a lack of parental love. However, these perspectives have not adequately addressed the prominent presence and influence of mother figures in the play. My paper shifts the focus of the play away from Yohei and addresses this lack of scholarly attention to the female characters by focusing on the literary theme “giri (social obligation) versus ninjo (personal feelings)” that is informed by Neo-Confucian rhetoric and is used to justify characters' actions. In other words, historicizing motherhood during the Edo period allows the blame for Yohei's actions to shift away from his parents and more squarely on his own volition. Specifically, I will discuss the mother characters' virtuous invocations of giri and ninjo and juxtapose them against Yohei's misuse of these concepts to explore how Chikamatsu emphasizes and dramatizes his flawed protagonist's misconduct. I argue that Yohei's misuse of Neo-Confucian rhetoric is evidence of his immoral character rather than his misfortune due to a lack of parental care. In conclusion, this project, by closely examining how giri and ninjo are used in Neo-Confucian rhetoric, sheds light on the boundaries of ethics in Edo-period society, and explores the tensions between a woman's social obligation towards her husband and own family's well-being and her maternal inclination to care for her own child and others.

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2023, Geography

In the face of past, present, and future environmental injustice in central Appalachia, mothers have been on the front lines of resistance to extractive industry. Scholars have acknowledged this pattern, yet no substantive research on why motherhood is invoked so often as a discursive tool has been completed. This thesis examines the factors which have led central Appalachian women activists to use motherhood in their activism and analyze the discourse's strengths and weaknesses.

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2023, Educational Leadership

This study centers on the experiences of Black mothers in graduate school by taking an anti-deficit approach to examining Black mothers' use of faith. Specifically, this study seeks to understand how faith operates in the lives of Black mothers as they encounter intersecting systems of oppression while pursuing graduate education. Faith is essential to many Black women's lives (Mattis, 2017; Pew Research Center, 2020). However, research remains limited regarding Black graduate students and faith (Travers & Gatson, 2021), but even more so for Black student mothers. The study addresses this research gap at the intersection of Black womanhood, parental status, and religious-spiritual identity. The study utilized a qualitative approach and was guided by Parks' Theory of Faith Development and womanism. Eight participants were selected using snowball sampling from multiple universities across the United States. The participants self-identified as Black or African American, doctoral students, mothers, and Christians. Methodology and methods included using narrative inquiry to center Black student mothers' experiences in higher education by engaging in reflective journaling, a focus group, and individual interviews. The findings indicate that Black student mothers encounter multiple institutional barriers such as a lack of childcare, unsupportive faculty, and microaggressions in regard to race, class, age, and parental status. The findings also indicate the ways Black mothers define, conceptualize, and embody faith to navigate the complexities of graduate school. The discussion outlines the foundation of a new theoretical framework- the Black Women's Conceptualization of Faith framework (BWCFF) and various culturally relevant approaches to create inclusive environments and foster student success for Black student mothers. Implications for practice include practical advice for institutional responsibility, including providing safe spaces, centering m (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Psychology/Industrial-Organizational

During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work became commonplace for many knowledge workers who were previously office-based. In 2021 and beyond, many organizations have expected that their employees return to onsite work; much has been unknown, however, about employee attitudes toward loss of remote work during such a transition. Using the frameworks of social exchange theory, conservation of resources, and organizational support, this research seeks to understand how employee attitudes toward remote work may impact perceptions of psychological contract breach in required return to onsite work. Although initial hypotheses were not supported, exploratory analyses supported a serial mediation model in which psychological contract breach, perceived organizational support, and affective commitment serially mediate the positive relationship between remote work preference and turnover intent. Positive attitudes of working mothers toward remote work were also explored, with consideration of how remote work may help in the balance of conflicting home and work demands. Findings support the unique and valuable role that remote work choice may play for working mothers as well as illuminating their potential reactions to loss of remote work. Findings have implications for organizations seeking to meet employee needs and retain workers, particularly working mothers, when considering work location requirements.

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Arts and Sciences: Classics

Vergil's systematic deployment of gremium to show coexisting maternity and sexuality is unparalleled by other extant Classical authors. Through a close reading of four passages from Books 1 and 4 of the Aeneid, I argue that gremium becomes the physical site where Dido's maternal and sexual desire intersect. My argument responds, in particular, to psychoanalytic readings that oversexualize Dido and see her sexuality as corrupting her maternity; Dido's gremium is a seat of intersecting and overlapping desires, which are related but distinct. In order to preface the discussion of the Aeneid, I first present evidence that the lap and gremium are feminine-coded concepts in the ancient sources and highlight the connections to maternity and sexuality. Building upon these broad observations, I demonstrate how Vergil develops a web of semantic associations surrounding gremium to frame Dido and related characters' maternal and sexual identities. Then, I analyze how those identities interact with each other within the network. In order to contextualize Vergil's unique deployment of gremium to speak to female characters' maternal and sexual identities and desires, I turn to Lucretius who similarly uses gremium systematically in an explicitly feminine-coded context, the image of Mother Earth. An analysis of the four instances of gremium in De Rerum Natura calls attention to the overlapping themes in the use of gremium between Lucretius and Vergil, namely its use with Venus and its use to represent maternity and fertility. My intertextual analysis that compares the similar feminine-coded themes in both authors' versions suggests that Lucretius directly influenced Vergil's use of gremium. The comparison to Lucretius results in a widening of the initial network that illuminates the shared associations of gremium in the Vergilian corpus beyond Dido and Venus. This paves the way for a fruitful analysis of gremium in Ovid. Ovid uses gremium with men to subvert gender roles. When he do (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2022, Communication Studies (Communication)

In this dissertation, I explore the experience of postpartum depression from a communicative identity standpoint. I use the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI; Hecht et al., 2005) to explore and discuss identity frames and gaps in women who experienced postpartum depression and present dominant and alternate discourses about motherhood evident in those identity frames and gaps. I conducted my research through an interpretive framework, where I used phronetic iterative analysis (Tracy, 2020) in interviewing 16 women who had experienced postpartum depression. In Chapter 1, I discuss postpartum depression, including the risk factors and outcomes associated with postpartum depression and my personal experience with the illness. In Chapter 2, I provide my rationale for the study, where I discuss the socially constructed concept of motherhood, identity challenges women face during postpartum depression, the intergroup communication framework, and the Communication Theory of Identity. Then, I present my research questions. In Chapter 3, I provide an overview of the methodology I used to address my research questions. In Chapters 4 and 5, I present my findings. Chapter 4 centers on the experience of postpartum depression, identity layers and gaps framed in CTI, and how postpartum depression is lasting within identity. Chapter 5 centers on dominate and alternate discourses circulating in women's experiences of identity. In Chapter 6, I present my implications, including implications for the Communication Theory of Identity, theoretical implications for mothering and postpartum depression research, and practical implications. Additionally, I share my study limitations and provide suggestions for future research. Finally, in the Afterward, I share more about my personal experience.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2022, Higher Education Administration

This study investigated the lived experiences of tenure-line academic mothers using a narrative methodology and interpretivist and feminist frameworks. Employing a semi-structured protocol, the researcher interviewed twelve tenure-line academic mothers at five midwestern institutions of higher education: one private four-year, one public four-year, one community college, one private Historically Black College or University (HBCU), and one private HBCU. After interviewing the academic mothers, the researcher composed narratives based on the transcripts. She also included her own narrative for analysis. After the narratives were member checked by the participants, the researcher conducted data analysis on the transcripts using low-inference coding. The coding allowed the researcher to focus on emerging themes as part of her plot analysis (Daiute, 2014). Through the use of plot analysis, the researcher uncovered the most prevalent characters, settings, initiating actions, complicating actions, and resolutions across the participants' narratives. The significant characters that emerged were: the mothers themselves, husbands, children, supervisors, and mentors. The salient settings were universities and departments. The initiating actions for academic mothers consisted of the job search/interviews and pregnancy/giving birth. Pregnancy loss and the Covid-19 constituted the most significant complicating actions. Finally, mothers turned to boundary setting and “inscribing motherhood” (Pillay, 2009) as means of resolution.

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2022, Antioch Seattle: Clinical Psychology

The literature on motherhood is dominated by topics on the roles of attachment, prenatal care, and childrearing. Research on the negative effects of motherhood is typically described in terms of postpartum depression (PPD) or postpartum mood disorder (PPMD). However, anger is a prominent component in motherhood, which may not be seen through the criteria of PPD or PPMD. Additionally, angry mothers conflict with the mythos of the Good Mother. In this phenomenological study, the thematic structure of mothers' experience within the first year of their newborns' life are examined. Data from interviews with seven women who were four to ten months postpartum were analyzed for thematic similarities and variance. In this study, the four themes emerged from the mothers' experiences within the context of expectation that was evident in both the mothers' own perception as well as the perception of others' expectations. The identified themes emerged from Merleau-Ponty's existential grounds as follows: The first was the visceral nature of motherhood, both physically and mentally. Four subthemes emerged, including the Intensive Labor of Motherhood, Motherhood is Hard, Loss of Control, and the Language of Anger. The second theme noted the Changes Surrounding Motherhood, where ideas emerged about the temporal nature of how women become mothers, such as the suddenness of that transition and when mothers begin to “get their lives back.” Three subthemes emerged surrounding Identity, Transition into Motherhood, and Grief. An interesting secondary subtheme of Older Motherhood also arose around the theme of transition. The third theme emerged around the Connection to Others about the support systems and how those near and far supports undergird their experiences as mothers. A subtheme arose of Loneliness and Isolation with a secondary subtheme of Lack of Information, with a tertiary subtheme of Looking for Support, and Comparison. The final theme was about the Pressure and Expec (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, Art History

In the early modern period, elite collectors began amassing magnificent collections of both locally produced and imported objects. Few were as innovative as Amalia van Solms-Braunfels (1602-1675), Princess of Orange. Under Amalia and her husband, Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647), Prince of Orange, the United Provinces flourished as a cultural and global power. The strength and wealth of the country, and by association the House of Orange-Nassau, is embedded in Amalia's cabinets or closets, private spaces where she carefully curated assemblages of locally produced and imported decorative and fine artworks. Under the weight of a historiographic tradition that privileges male rulers, much of the scholarship produced on the princely couple's cultural activities marks Frederik Hendrik or Constantijn Huygens as the deciding factor without discussion or justification. While scholarly interest in Amalia's role as an independent patron and collector has grown over the last two decades, the focus to date on individual, extant objects, while informative, does not provide a comprehensive understanding of Amalia's interests and motivations as a patron and collector-- how she acquired and employed objects, both individually and in decorative ensembles, to construct her various identities. My dissertation focuses on Amalia's cabinets found in the Stadtholder's Quarters (Stadhouderlijk Kwartier) and the Oude Hof (‘Old Court') at Noordeinde, and the objects displayed within. Uniting textual and visual evidence in the form of inventories, correspondence, and objects with novel digital tools, it first applies social network analysis to visualize Amalia's social, global network that provided her with access to other impressive collections and artists, as well as assisted her with acquiring objects originating from outside of Europe. It interrogates how, once acquired, objects were employed by Amalia in ensembles within the most intimate spaces of her residences to construct her (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Cleveland State University, 2021, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

The essays contained herein seek to examine the quantity of identities allowed in a life, specifically when the life is female in nature and American in flavor. Not secondarily examined is the quality of freedoms provided within aforesaid examined identities. Methods of examination include sleepless nights, introspection, substance use, religious practice, and, of course, writing. No conclusive results were found, other than that much work remains to be done in the field of American female identity and freedom. Recommendations for further research include a deconstruction of the workday as provided by the Industrial Revolution and a redefining of equality as misunderstood by the middle and upper classes.