The Women’s Studies Program Writing Contest announces student winners to be recognized on March 9
The Niagara University Women’s Studies Program Committee proudly announces the 2023 student winners for the annual writing contest. The awardees will be recognized for their efforts on Thursday, March 9, 2023, from 6-7:15 p.m. in Dunleavy Hall, Room 127, on the Niagara University campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Claiming the top prize is a senior in Communication and Media Studies, Arianna Musialowski for her paper, titled, “Reclaiming the Vampire: How Sexuality and Gender Are Represented in The Vampire Lovers and the Camilla Movie.” The Lancaster native wrote her paper in the Research Methods course offered by Dr. Douglas Tewksbury in the Communication and Media Studies major. Dr. Tewksbury said, “The Communication and Media Studies Department is thrilled to hear that Ari has won this award. It’s students like Ari that bring so much to our program, and to the Niagara University academic community as a whole. She is such a talented writer and thoughtful scholar, and it’s extremely well deserved.”
Earning second place is Lewiston native Danielle DeVantier, a History major, with her paper, “Enslaved Women: Maternal Mammies or Seductive Servants?” DeVantier completed this work for Dr. Carrie Glenn’s course on the Civil War and Reconstruction in the Department of History. According to Dr. Glenn, “Danielle’s excellent paper explores representations of the enslaved “mammy” figure in twentieth- and twenty-first century popular culture. In the process, she illuminates how these caricatures obscured the “emotional, physical, and sexual mistreatment” these enslaved women endured.”
Coming in at third place is Kenmore native Mia Madore, also a history major in her senior year at Niagara University. Madore’s paper, “Gender, Race, and the 19th-Century Women’s Club Movement in the United States,” was written for the Introduction to Research Methods course taught by Dr. Shannon Risk in the Department of History. Dr. Risk says that “Mia focused on the club-building of African American women in the late 1800s and early 1900s, which formed a solid foundation for future civil rights action and provided a haven for minority women during a difficult time. This is an important and timely topic.”
Welcoming the students, their families, and friends during this year’s awards program will be Dr. Peter Butera, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as Dr. Hope Russell, a professor in Women’s Studies, who will explain the significance of this long-running writing contest. Dr. Russell notes that, “Our Women’s Studies Program Writing Award Contest is such an important tradition, one that forms the cornerstone of our annual Women’s History Month programming. I am always so proud of the important research and writing our students are doing across campus at the intersections of gender, race, and other positionalities.”
The contest winners represent the best and brightest on the Niagara University campus and the Women’s Studies Committee commends them and the other entrants for their enthusiasm for study in a wide array of fields.