GSW Humanities Symposium Program 2025

5th Annual

GSW HUMANITIES SYMPOSIUM The Politics of Youth

The “S & B Club” in front of the Wheatley Administration Building, 1926

Friday, November 14, 2025 Georgia Southwestern State University Americus, Georgia

SCHEDULE 8:45am 9:25am

WELCOME RECEPTION Carter I, Magnolia Manor Nursing Auditorium Opening Remarks by Dr. Michelle R. Johnston, GSW President

9:30am 10:45am

ROUND 1 RESEARCH PANELS Carter I & Carter II Classrooms

11:00am 12:15pm

ROUND 2 RESEARCH PANELS Carter I & Carter II Classrooms

12:15pm 1:30pm

LUNCH RECEPTION Marshall Student Center, Faculty Dining Room Opening Remarks by Dr. Mark Laughlin, Dean of GSW’s College of Arts and Sciences Keynote Address by Dr. Paige Gray, Professor at Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta “Bloom Literature: The Cultivation of Young Black Writers, a Youth Literature, and Intergenerational Collaboration in Twentieth-Century Periodicals”

1:45pm 3:00pm

POSTER SESSION Canes Central Opening Remarks by Dr. Glenn Robins, Chair of GSW’s Department of History and Political Science

3:00pm 3:15pm

WRAP-UP* Canes Central

*Optional event

ROUND 1 PANELS

PANEL 1 Race, Education, & Power in American Society Chair: Dr. Lauren DiPaula | Carter II, Room 235

Chloe Curbelo “Industrial Education and High School Efforts during World War II: A Case Study in Columbus, GA” Columbus State University Amari Rudison “Professors’ Attitudes Towards Black English” Georgia Southwestern State University Gabrielle Webster “Resilient Readers” Valdosta State University

PANEL 2 Journalism Ethics in Film

Chair: Dr. Elizabeth Shiller | Carter II, Room 236 Madison Vickers, Dylan Scott, Trey Clinton, Gabrielle Foster, Rebecca Jones, & Ariyanni Raymon Georgia Southwestern State University

Panel 3 Uncovering Histories of Girlhood

Chair: Ms. Danielle Taylor | Carter II, Room 240 Lindsey Hogan “Enslaved Girlhood in Colonial Georgia: An Analysis of Girlhood, Enslavement, and Resistance in Colonial America” Georgia Southwestern State University Whitney Brown “Colonial Girls And The Way They Defined Their Experience” Georgia Southwestern State University Brandiyala Jones “The Spine of a Child v. The Weight of a Race: African American Respectability Politics & Girlhood” Georgia Southwestern State University Moderator: Adaora Nwagbara

PANEL 4 Trade, Power, and Culture: Historical Experiences of Conquest

Chair: Dr. Brian Parkinson | Carter II, Room 244 Gavin Tante “The Iranian Experience of Conquest and Occupation under Arab-Muslim Rule” Columbus State University Emery Evans “How did Islam Shape the Modern Perspective of American Slave Culture?”

Georgia Southwestern State University Nate Vines “A Dwindling People: Exploring the Diaspora of the Yuchi Native Peoples of the Southeastern United States” Georgia Southwestern State University

PANEL 5 Fiction, Fact, & Film: Exploring Narratives of Crisis Chair: Dr. Annie Laurie Nichols | Carter II, Room 245 Connor Harrington “Pocahontas: Facts vs. Fiction” Georgia Southwestern State University

Connor Mathis “The Woods - A Tale of the Georgian Frontier” Georgia Southwestern State University

Megan Ogden “Checking Out”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Moderator: Amelia Howard

Charter members of Delta Sigma Theta, GSW’S first Black Greek organization, 1971

PANEL 6 Gendering Health Care in 21st c. America Chair: Dr. Gary Fisk | Carter I, Room 106

Janila Diggs “Turning Back the Clock: From ERA to Roe to Now” Georgia Southwestern State University Zaisha Fudge “A Woman’s Right to Control Her Own Life” Georgia Southwestern State University Harleigh Farrell “Black Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States of America” Georgia Southwestern State University Chloe Ard “Gender-Based Violence and the Failure of Justice” Georgia Southwestern State University Moderator: Zac Monnier

PANEL 7 Diasporic Legacies: Politics, Culture, & Memory

Chair: Ms. Brittney Kilgore, PhD candidate, UGA | Carter I, Room 105 Samuel Robinson “Slavery and Colonialism In Africa” Georgia Southwestern State University Morgan Dollar “Fugitive Femininities: Locating Women’s Agency in 18th c. Virginia Runaway Ads” Georgia Southwestern State University Temple Williams “The Question of Respectability Politics Through the Lens of Children’s Literature in the Jim Crow Era” Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern’s campus, c. 1945

ROUND 2 PANELS

PANEL 8 Roundtable: Youth Politics and U.S. Political Parties: Richard Nixon and the Republican Party Chair: Dr. Jason Berggren | Carter II, Room 235

Participants: Connor Harrington, Adriana Hortelano, Chloe Ard, Daniel Heath Odom, Lindsey Hogan, Connor Mathis, & Jordan White Georgia Southwestern State University

PANEL 9 Sex and the Body—Envisioning Change in the 21st Century Chair: Dr. Ellen Cotter | Carter II, Room 236 Makayla Jackson “The Importance of Sexual Education” Georgia Southwestern State University Kendall Gay “Raising Awareness of Intersex Discrimination and Possible Solutions” Georgia Southwestern State University Piper Anstey “Creating Safe Spaces: Strategies for Supporting Trans Mental Health” Georgia Southwestern State University

PANEL 10 Sex, Gender, & Power: How Do We Reimagine Relationships?

Chair: Dr. Jon Carter | Carter II, Room 240 Levi Hefton “From Boston to Lavender Marriages” Georgia Southwestern State University Demijanae Nurinda Aguilar “An Unspoken Struggle Amongst Men: SEM” Georgia Southwestern State University Libned Velasquez “Redefining Masculinity to Prevent Gender-Based Violence in America” Georgia Southwestern State University Amelia Howard “How Gay is it With Socks On: The Aesthetic-Erotic Hierarchy and Feminine Presentation” Georgia Southwestern State University

PANEL 11 Modernization & Change: Debating Legitimacy Past & Present Chair: Dr. John LeJeune | Carter II, Room 244

Rico Mora “Of Coins and Law: The Establishment of Political Legitimacy by the Emperor Vespasian” Columbus State University Josh Haas “Ramifications of German Unification” Georgia Southern University Noah Miller “The Grinding Gears of Modernity--An Exploration of Nepalese Aesthetics” Georgia Southwestern State University

PANEL 12 Big Ideas, Big Values: Ethics & Social Change

Co-Chairs: Dr. Judy Orton Grissett & Dr. Debbie Palmer | Carter II, Room 245 Marianna Hall, Charley Contess, & Arya Sheth “Redefining Love: Valuing Self-Love and Individualism in bell hook’s Communion: The Female Search for Love” Georgia College and State University Brenya Lockhart “The Connection between Animal and Community Struggle” Valdosta State University Afeni Powers “Mystic Chords of Memory: Joy As a Weapon” Georgia Southwestern State University

Boys in Terrell Hall dorm room, 1943

PANEL 13 Popular Media Politics: Characters and Relationships Chair: Dr. Penny Dearmin | Carter I, Room 105

Canyon Osgood “The Color Purple 2023: A Solid But Flawed Adaptation” Georgia Southwestern State University Amaya Martin “To All of Those Who’ve Loved Before” Georgia Southwestern State University Makenzi Parr “The Interpretations of Girlhood in Anne with an E” Georgia Southwestern State University

PANEL 14 We Didn’t Start the Fire

Chair: Dr. Elizabeth Shiller | Carter I, Room 106 Madison Vickers, Dylan Scott, Trey Clinton, Colby Hernandez, Canyon Osgood, Jonathan Pike Georgia Southwestern State University

POSTERS Charlie Baird “Little Oscar’s First Raid”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Khalid Bentley “The Uproar of Young African American Children in Americus” Georgia Southwestern State University

Dylan Barger “Cases of Runaway Boys During Children’s Rights Reformation”

Marcus Black “Died in Sumter: Children & Disease”

KJ Bentley “Challenges of Being a Black American”

Abby Brown “Printing the Future: Americus Newsboys go to Atlanta”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Aden Bruce “Weike Wang’s Chemistry and the Effects of Trauma”

Emily Feagler “Taste and Class of the Sinclair Family”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Felix Butler “19th C. Americus African American Hopes for a College”

Jalanda Freeman “Faith in Action: Bridging Generations Through Service”

Javon Byrd “Soda Fountains to War Work: Americus Youth in the Great War”

Landon Galloway “Tobe”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Valdosta State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Jakobe Chrispen “Love in Translation: What It Means to Be Raised Asian?”

Alexia Griffin “Preserving the Legacy of River Hill Missionary Baptist Church” Valdosta State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Hanae Colquitt “The Role of Self-Efficacy, SelfEsteem, and Depression in College Students’ GPA and Academic Aspirations”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Haleigh Handy “Private Pepper of Dogs for Defense”

Georgia Southwestern State University

William Hawkins “Colonial Georgia”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Hilary Diabaka “The Grey Area of Consent: Rethinking Sexual Assault in Modern Society”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Colby Hernandez “Through Irish Eyes: Humanizing British Colonialism Through the Eyes of an Irish Soldier” Georgia Southwestern State University

Lily Dooley “Americus Child Bride: Fighting to Escape”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Philipp Hub “Letters to Santa -Toys in World War I”

Trent May “Puritans of Colonial America and their Education”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Makayla Jackson “Black Girls and Education in Post-Civil War Americus”

Maite Martin “The Love in Bilingual Books: The Impact of a School Book Drive”

Ku’Mya Jones “Child Lost”

Stephen McDonald “The Negative Effects of Japanese Culture on Family Relations”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Valdosta State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Leni Kann “Holiday Consumerism and the Rise of Libraries in 19th Century Americus”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Latanbreanna Keith “Teachings of Temperance in 19th c. Americus”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Dekeidra Laney “African American Girls Post-Civil War”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Kierstin Mcrae “The Mistreatment of African American Women in Healthcare” Georgia Southwestern State University

Chanice Miller “United States Navy in Action, 1941–1942”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Jeslyn Olson “The Effect of Informational Videos on College Students’ Attitudes Toward Generative Artificial Intelligence and the Environment” Georgia Southwestern State University

Dekeidra Laney “The Last Grownup”

Georgia Southwestern State University

SaNiya Parker “Unjust Times: Americus Juvenile Court Systems in the 1880s” Georgia Southwestern State University

Kelin Pearson “Youth and the Use of Bicycles in Americus, Georgia”

Jazsmine Tomlin “The Hardships in Americus in the late 19th Century”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Taylor Poe “The Arm Clutch in Americus, Georgia - Redefining Femininity in the 1880s”

Jazsmine Tomlin “The Online Self in Cat Person” Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Ariyanni Raymon “Baseball, Youth, and Social Change in Americus”

Carmiya Upshaw “From Studio to Spotlight: Youth and Public Attention in 1911” Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Sergio Saldana Coellar “Girls Shouldn’t Talk Slang, Right?”

Madison Vickers “How Hamilton Connects with American Culture”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Olivia Smith “Feathers, Friendship, and the Frontlines: Learning War Through Yussuf the Ostrich” Georgia Southwestern State University

Logan Stodola “Quaker Fatherhood in the 18th C.”

Donovius Williams “Witness”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Lydia Williams “Brick by Brick: Combating Housing Inequalities with Habitat for Humanity” Valdosta State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Gracie Talent “When to Remember, and When to Forget”

Jake Wilson “Analyzing Legacy Themes of American Literature”

Georgia Southwestern State University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Lilly Wilson “Private Pepper”

Georgia Southwestern State University

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Organizing the GSW Humanities Symposium has meant relying on both the good graces and the commitment of a wide variety of individuals and organizations. We appreciate this support, whether it be in offering critical funding, providing necessary aid to meet the physical demands of a large group event, or simply giving time to engage with student scholars.

We want to extend a special note of appreciation to: GSW’s academic leadership team, including President Dr. Michelle Johnston Provost Dr. Rachel Abbott, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Dr. Mark Laughlin, and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Paul Dahlgren We also recognize all faculty, student, and scholarly program participants who have committed to supporting student presenters during the Friday conference: Penny Dearmin, Gary Fisk, Ellen Cotter, Debaleena Ghosh, Jon Carter, John LeJeune, Debbie Palmer, Jeff Waldrop, Becca Jones, Annie Laurie Nichols, Brooke Stefancik, Judy Grissett, Brian Mallett, Danielle Taylor, Anh-Hue Tu, Eugenia Bryan, Anne Jacobs, Brian Parkinson, Lauren DiPaula, Elizabeth Shiller, Jason Berggren, Zac Monnier, Dori Nwagbara, Kennedy Daniels, Amelia Howard, Miriam Martinez, Clae Rodriguez, Arianna Morgan, Temple Williams, Morgan Dollar, Cole Parkinson, Alaina Kaus, Brittney Kilgore, and Glenn Robins Dr. Nedialka Iordonova, Dr. Jennifer Ryer, Ms. Jenn Smith, Mr. Bob Slenker, Ms. Malika Jones, & Ms. Sydney Scott have provided time and practical support to manage all the components of a campus conference.

Café Campesino has generously donated coffee services for today’s event.

And a special thank you to the Society for the History of Childhood and Youth (SHCY) for a grant supporting our event and regional conversations about childhood.