Browsing by Subject "feminist theory"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Poetry "Found" in Illness Narrative: A Feminist Approach to Patients' Ways of Knowing and the Concept of Relational Autonomy
    (2009-10-29T14:29:25Z) Kauffman, Jill Lauren; Brand, Peggy Zeglin; Capshew, James H.; Gunderman, Richard B.; Schultz, Jane E.
    This project contributes to the improvement of the healing encounter between physician and patient and broadens the scope of medical ethics via application of a methodology that creatively communicates patient experience. Contemporary medical training and socialization can create emotional distance between patients and physicians, which has both positive and negative effects. A physician’s “detached concern” often renders patients’ ways of knowing irrelevant to their care. This has a negative effect on patient autonomy, trust, and the healing encounter in general. Herwaldt (2008) developed a pedagogical tool of distilling patient interviews in narrative form into “found poems,” in which the patient experience is expressed in verse; Herwaldt contends that the resulting poems hold the possibility of cultivating empathy in medical practitioners. My research extends Herwaldt’s work with a new set of ten patients currently in cancer treatment, translating their stories of illness into verse. The resulting poems have the potential to empower patients by legitimizing their narrative or experiential ways of knowing as complementary to physician perspectives and approaches to treatment. Clinical and feminist ethics are similar in their attention to case context, empathy, and legitimacy of narrative. However, there are aspects of feminist ethical theory that are not thoroughly delineated in clinical ethics—specifically, attention to power imbalances in medical structures and variations in ethical perspectives. When the poems are examined using a feminist bioethical framework, patients are empowered by expanding both the idea of justice and the principlist definition of autonomy to include the feminist conception of relational autonomy.
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    Power, Resistance, and Transformation: A Leadership Studies Analysis of Dystopian Young Adult Literature
    (2019-08) Hampshire, Kathryn Marie; Musgrave, Megan; Seelinger Trites, Roberta; Sickmann Han, Carrie
    Through an analysis of the depiction of female protagonists in young adult dystopian and speculative works of fiction, this thesis establishes leadership studies as a theoretical framework for literary study. Leadership studies is a relatively young branch of academic inquiry, using interdisciplinary approaches to investigate the phenomenon of leadership. From psychology, sociology, and philosophy, to education, business, and history, leadership studies has both drawn from and provided insight into a variety of disciplines; however, these theories have not yet found their way into conversations about literature. My thesis pulls leadership studies away from its corporate connotations to establish it as a valid and valuable addition to our literary analysis repertoire through a demonstration of its potential to further conversations about texts. This analysis is positioned within the contexts of children’s literature, feminist theory, and practices of reading for ideology, anchoring leadership studies in already-established modes of inquiry while demonstrating how this field offers valuable insight into them. My focus on dystopian and speculative young adult novels reflects the recent surge in dystopic/postapocalyptic texts that feature strong female protagonists, presenting potential leadership strategies for young girl readers during an important stage of development. Thus, this thesis uses leadership studies to further our analysis of how agency, power, and gender are represented within children’s literature.
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    Selection and Decision-Making in State Supreme Courts: How Feminist Theory Influences Female Judges
    (2019-09) Oluseye-Are, Gloria O.I.; Friesen, Amanda; McCormick, John; Dusso, Aaron P.
    This paper examines the history that influences the rate at which female justices are elected and appointed to state supreme courts. There are different variables like judicial campaign activity, limited pool, role expectations of women and advocacy that influence the selection process. I pick the states with the earliest history of selecting female justices (Ohio and New Mexico) and the states that selected female justices last (South Dakota and West Virginia) to address some of the variables mentioned above that have influenced the use of feminist jurisprudence on the bench. After selection, I examine if it is possible for said judges to use feminist theories (like liberal feminist theory) in decision-making processes on the bench. Specifically, can we, in fact use feminist theory to understand the decision making of female state Supreme Court justices? For the most part, I find that we can imply that they do and are additionally interested in creating policy and programs based on the decisions made. Does this change with political party affiliation, race and sexual orientation of the female judges? I determine that more research needs to be conducted in this area on the courts of last resort at both the federal and state level.