Description
This project centers on the question: how are dynamics present in the Salem Witch Trials related to contemporary religious issues surrounding gender and agency? An existential approach to studying the Salem Witch Trials is used, highlighting themes like agency and intersubjectivity to create a new understanding of these events. Not only has this not been done in previous scholarship, but existential analysis opens the door to making connections between the Salem Witch Trials and modern times. Women today are still constrained by social and religious norms and motivated by existential needs and questions. This will be seen in a variety of different case studies the author will analyze, including scholarly critiques of feminists who force neo-liberal notions of liberation and empowerment onto other women (such as the desire to ?free? Afghani women from wearing the hijab) and fictionalized accounts like The Handmaid?s Tale that depict women who are socially and religiously regulated. Overall, this project will draw from existential, anthropological, theological, and psychological themes to argue that religious women today still struggle with agency and resistance and create a case study for use in high school and undergraduate classes.
Stigma and Eating Disorders: How Perceptions are Impacted by Diet and Diagnosis
This project centers on the question: how are dynamics present in the Salem Witch Trials related to contemporary religious issues surrounding gender and agency? An existential approach to studying the Salem Witch Trials is used, highlighting themes like agency and intersubjectivity to create a new understanding of these events. Not only has this not been done in previous scholarship, but existential analysis opens the door to making connections between the Salem Witch Trials and modern times. Women today are still constrained by social and religious norms and motivated by existential needs and questions. This will be seen in a variety of different case studies the author will analyze, including scholarly critiques of feminists who force neo-liberal notions of liberation and empowerment onto other women (such as the desire to ?free? Afghani women from wearing the hijab) and fictionalized accounts like The Handmaid?s Tale that depict women who are socially and religiously regulated. Overall, this project will draw from existential, anthropological, theological, and psychological themes to argue that religious women today still struggle with agency and resistance and create a case study for use in high school and undergraduate classes.