The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2015 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2015 Barnard College Queens College (CUNY) Claremont Colleges Consortium Livingstone College Bowdoin College Rice University Claremont McKenna College Miles College Brooklyn College (CUNY) Smith Colege Harvey Mudd College Morehouse College Brown University Stanford University Pitzer College Morris College Bryn Mawr College Swarthmore College Pomona College Oakwood College California Institute of Technology University of California at Berkeley Scripps College Paine College Carleton College University of California at Los Angeles Paul Quinn College City College of New York (CUNY) University of California at Riverside United Negro College Fund Participants Philander Smith College Columbia University University of Cape Town Allen University Rust College Connecticut College University of Chicago Benedict College Saint Augustine’s College Cornell University University of New Mexico Bennett College Saint Paul’s College Dartmouth College University of Pennsylvania Bethune-Cookman University Shaw University Duke University University of Puerto Rico Claflin University Spelman College Emory University University of Southern California Clark Atlanta University Stillman College Grinnell College University of Texas at Austin Dillard University Talladega College Harvard University University of the Western Cape Edward Waters College Texas College Haverford College University of the Witwatersrand Fisk University Tougaloo College Heritage University Washington University Florida Memorial University Tuskegee University Hunter College (CUNY) Wellesley College Huston-Tillotson University Virginia Union University Macalester College Wesleyan University Interdenominational Theological Center Voorhees College Northwestern University Whittier College Jarvis Christian College Wilberforce University Oberlin College Williams College Johnson C. Smith University Wiley College Princeton University Yale University Lane College Xavier University LeMoyne-Owen College Through subtle shades of color, the cover design represents the layers of richness and diversity that flourish within minority communities. The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2015 A collection of scholarly research by fellows of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program Preface The core mission of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is truly ambitious; the Foundation “endeavors to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies.” i Operationalizing this laudable goal is a complex process. At its core, a truly democratic society is predicated on the active participation of a knowledgeable citizenry. In order to realize the full potential of a representative and diverse democracy, it’s crucial that those filling keys roles in higher education are equally as diverse as those we hope to educate and empower. As a concrete step toward promoting the diverse contributions of the humanities and arts to human flourishing, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) program directly confronts the historical lack of diversity in the academy; by supporting students from underrepresented minority groups, the MMUF program directly increases the number of diverse scholars securing both a PhD and a faculty position at institutions of higher education. The hallmark of this increased diversity is the ability of scholars—and the population at large—to determine their own intellectual agenda and path, and to share these contributions broadly and powerfully. The 22 Fellows who have contributed to the 2015 MMUF Journal reflect and advance this tradition. Their academic interests range across many nations, cultures, time periods, and environments—from undersea to distant stars to self-produced internet comedy series. Ultimately though, these Fellows are all concerned with better understanding the human experience: understanding our own selves, understanding those around us, and understanding how our history has shaped us and how we shape our future, with respect to both our physical and experiential environments. This year, all of us involved with the journal are proud to present the launch of a new editorial process at the MMUF Journal—one that elevates the scope of the journal’s ambition. Article selection and revision now better mirrors the process of premier academic journals. Every student submission is anonymously reviewed and scored by two inde- pendent members of the MMUF Journal Editorial Board, as well as the Editor-in-Chief. Thoughtful critique is sent to every student based on the synthesis of these reviews. Articles ultimately selected for publication reflect multiple rounds of revision and interaction with the Editor-in-Chief. This process not only consistently aligns article selection and development with MMUF’s core mission of scholarly excellence, it gives Fellows key preparation for the level of professional publication expected of graduate students and faculty. This new process has allowed for increased one-on-one interaction between the Editor-in-Chief and Fellows. I can personally attest that the hours I’ve spent getting to know these Fellows through their research, writing, and conver- sation has demonstrated the extent to which these Fellows reflect the ideals of MMUF and the Foundation overall. Not only are the Fellows growing in their own scholarship—and in so doing, vastly increasing the diversity of partic- ipants in the academy—they are deeply, passionately committed to contributing and communicating this diversity of experience and thought to society. It is with great pride that we present the 2015 Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal as a window onto these contributions. Jerusha Achterberg Gregory A. Llacer MMUF Journal Editor-in-Chief MMUF Journal Editorial Board Preceptor in Expository Writing Director, Office of Undergraduate Harvard University Research and Fellowships Harvard University Duchess Harris Mary Laurita Krishna Winston MMUF Journal Editorial Board MMUF Journal Editorial Board MMUF Journal Editorial Board Professor and Chair of Assistant Dean, College of Arts Marcus L. Taft Professor of American Studies and Sciences German Language and Literature Macalester College Washington University in St. Louis Professor of German Studies Professor of Environmental Studies Wesleyan University i https://mellon.org/about/mission/ The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2015 Table of Contents 3 42 Kellen Aguilar, Whittier College Sarah Iverson, Smith College How to White Man: Intersections of Race and Gender in Unpacking Equality Ideology: The Relationship between “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” Race and Colorblind Attitudes Advisor/Mentor(s): Charles Adams, Michelle Chihara Advisor/Mentor(s): Ginetta Candelario, Tina Wildhagen 8 46 Brandon Alston, Haverford College Michelle R. Jackson, Smith College Nicki Beez King and Queen: An Exploration of Nicki Minaj’s Enactment Potential Effects of Eastern Hemlock Decline on the of Masculinity, Discursive Domination, and Gender-Blending Hemlock-Associated Liverwort Bazzania trilobata Advisor/Mentor(s): Tracey Hucks Advisor/Mentor(s): Jesse Bellemare 12 50 Isaiah W. Bolden, Bowdoin College Hadiya Layla Jones, Spelman College Reconstructing Tropical Climates with Coral Reefs: Resisting the Matrix: Black Female Agency in Issa Rae’s Links to Local Precipitation and Primary Productivity Awkward Black Girl Advisor/Mentor(s): Michèle LaVigne Advisor/Mentor(s): Tarshia Stanley 17 54 Courtney Brown, Rice University Paulina Jones-Torregrosa, Wesleyan University “Black and the Box It Came In”: Identity and Authenticity in The Limits of Narration in Nonfiction and Fiction Percival Everett’s Erasure Advisor/Mentor(s): Rachel Ellis Neyra Advisor/Mentor(s): Nicole Waligora-Davis 59 21 Maya Little, Bowdoin College Lucy Carreño-Roca, Bryn Mawr College Patriots: The Creation of the Chaoxianzu Ethnic Identity Woven Narratives of Truth, Reconciliation, and the South African Advisor/Mentor(s): Leah Zuo Collective: Marginalized Testimony within Sindiwe Magona’s Mother to Mother and K.Sello Duiker’s Thirteen Cents 65 Advisor/Mentor(s): Linda-Susan Beard, Leslie Cheng, Madison Nelson-Turner, Hampton University Jennifer Harford-Vargas The Madwoman Is Out of the Attic: A Literary Analysis on Contemporary Anthologies’ Construction of the “Madwoman” 24 in Nineteenth-Century British Women’s Literature Jafet Diego, Whittier College Advisor/Mentor(s): Joyce Jarrett Juchari Uinapekua: Autonomy and Self-Governance in Cherán Advisor/Mentor(s): Gustavo Geirola 69 Golden Marie Owens, Bowdoin College 29 Producing “Reality”: “Authentic” Representations of Black Women Taylor Gail Evans, University of California, Berkeley in Reality Television “We Are Here and We Will Not Be Silenced”: Sylvia Rivera, STAR, Advisor/Mentor(s): Elizabeth Muther and the Struggle for Transgender Rights, 1969–1974 Advisor/Mentor(s): Thomas Lacquer 75 Angela Pastorelli-Sosa, Williams College 33 Kara Walker’s Pornographic Parody of the Black, Enslaved, Wanda Feng, Smith College Raped Woman Revisiting Forbidden Lines in T Tauri Stars Advisor/Mentor(s): Jay Clarke Advisor/Mentor(s): Suzan Edwards 80 37 Sharee Rivera, University of California, Berkeley Kerwin Holmes, Jr., Morehouse College Speaking with the Dead: Encountering Psychic Violence The Gospel of Slavery: A Study of Antebellum Southern American in the Archives of Slavery and Colonialism