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Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies

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Research

Where to Start?

Ask the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Librarian, . She has expertise in feminist and queer research methods and can help you with your GSWS papers and assignments by helping you find, evaluate, and use relevant sources and information.

Need help writing a paper, a resume, a cover letter for a job, a graduate school personal statement, a scholarship essay, or creative writing? The Writing Center offers a variety of tailor-made programs to help you through all of the stages of your writing process: from brainstorming to final revisions. And they can do it all in English or Spanish.

Present Your Research

Presenting your research is a great way to build confidence in public speaking, a skill that’s integral to many careers. Formal presentations make your graduate school applications more impressive, too.

Written a research paper or created a work of art for a class? Share it with the Temple community at the annual Temple Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Forum (TURF-CReWS). TURF-CReWS gives ambitious undergraduate students the opportunity to present their scholarly and creative works at a day-long symposium that brings together students and their friends and family, as well as faculty from across the university.

The Diamond Research Scholars Program gives undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue an intensive research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor during the summer and fall. Diamond Research Scholars develop their research skills in an all-day Undergraduate Research Institute.

Student Research Projects

GSWS offers several opportunities for potential research funding:

The Laura Levitt GSWS Research Award funds research opportunities for GSWS undergraduate and graduate students. Each student who is selected will receive a $1500 stipend; their faculty mentor will receive $500.

Bruce Davidson and Donald Barb Award provides financial support for two (2) students annually who are enrolled in the GSWS program and who are completing their required fieldwork experience. A one-time payment of $2,500 shall be awarded to one (1) student during the fall and spring semester each year.

Rebecca Alpert Fund  This gift will fund field research experiences for students during the fall and spring semesters. The money will be divided equally among all students for the academic year. The amount is subject to vary depending on the number of student participants.

Hal Shanis Fund benefits students who are enrolled in GSWS by providing financial support for students to participate in fieldwork, internships, or other experiential learning that are meaningful to them and their specific GSWS interests. 

  • Periodically, the GSWS Program has access to additional awards and funds.

Previous Student Research Projects

Ari Gewirtzman, “Transgender Bodies: From Medicalization and Criminalization to Liberation”

This research explores how the relationship between cultural biases, medical practices, and legislation impact trans patients through analyzing historical and legal documents. The results of this research will be relevant for improving trans healthcare quality and informing activist strategies. 

Shelby Kubicka, “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: Gender Stereotypes and Assumptions in the Language of the Supreme Court”

A textual analysis of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court case decision. This analysis is representative of a larger issue at hand and lends itself to additional research in the future to study how these harmful stereotypes become embedded into society and then work their way into the law.

Jack Kleiner, “What If Laughter Were Really Tears?: A Zine About Online Activism Across Gender, Sexuality, Race and Class at the End of the World”

With a focus on GSWS related topics, this paper researches how young people’s use of social media and how it affects activism. Presented as a zine, the work explores how many people are feelings great senses of demoralization, hopelessness, helplessness, nihilism and dread. The work encourages readers creative ways to get involved in activism. 

Presented at the 2023 Undergraduate Research Symposium

Being in the first group for the Laura Levitt GSWS Research Award was not only an honor but one of the best research experiences I’ve had at Temple University. If I could do it again I would! - Jack Kleiner, Class of ’25

Anjani Ningaiah, “‘They Don’t Care at All’: Perceptions of Medical Transphobia and Resultant Changes to Outlook on the Healthcare System for Transgender Patients”

A study of trans people’s attitudes towards the healthcare system in general as well as trans-specific healthcare; additionally, to what degree do their experiences with the healthcare system positively or negatively impact their mental health.

Rebecca Albert Grant

Faculty Advisor: Prof. Brad Windhauser

Renata Pontes, “Afro-spirituality, Diasporic Commons, and Performative Politics in Caribbean Women’s Narratives”

A comprehensive archive of Black and women-of-color intellectuals from the Hispanophone, Anglophone, and Francophone Caribbean and its diaspora in the US (Ana Lydia Vega, Mayra Santos-Febres, Rita Indiana, Jamaica Kincaid, and Edwidge Danticat) in essays, short stories, novels, and musical performance released in late twentieth- and twenty-first-century (1980s-2020).

Samantha Sproviero, “Queen Louise of Prussia: Fashion, Gender and Power”

Analyzes Queen Louise of Prussia’s feminized military uniforms to better understand the complicated intersection of gender, power, and material culture used to navigate the position of queen consort in Prussia. The paper argues that Louise’s use of military-inspired clothing was performative, and that her fashion choices were informed (and limited ) by her gender. 

Julia Levin, “‘Boys Don’t Cry’: Examining Emotional Suppression, Masculinity and Gender-based Violence”

This project examines the ways in which expectations surrounding hegemonic masculinity force boys and men to suppress certain emotions. It then explores the connection between this emotional suppression, and gender-based violence.  

Presented at the 2023 Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Greater Philadelphia Women’s Studies Consortium

Take your research beyond Temple. Temple’s GSWS Program is a member of the Philadelphia Women’s Studies Consortium. In addition to the lectures, forums and workshops sponsored by the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program, the program plays a key role in the Greater Philadelphia Women’s Studies Consortium (GPWSC). Through the Consortium, we bring major scholars, performers, activists and writers to Temple and to the region through an annual Scholar in Residence initiative. The Consortium also sponsors the annual Student Research on Women, Gender, and Sexualities Conference featuring the work of graduate and undergraduate students at the Consortium’s 14 member colleges and universities.