Scholarship & Research
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Item Porosity: the space between identities(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2021) McKay, Laurel Brooke; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Gesine JanzenPorosity' investigates the abstraction of bodies as a way to free people from the visual constraints and societal markers of 'difference' or 'otherness', as tied to class, gender, sexuality and race, that are used to marginalize individuals in our society. I in no way want to remove people's individual experiences, however, these narrow and rigid categories of socially constructed identities support hierarchies that are based in capitalism and systemic oppression, which I think should ultimately be dismantled. Within my monoprints, I use this abstraction of human form to allow for endless possibilities of shifting identity and individual freedom of expression that is not defined by the labels constructed by others. This abstraction of human form also, allows the body to become a sight of resistance and defiance to controls or 'disciplines' placed upon one's existence through bio-political or state structures. I argue that these works of art will allow contemplation on the structures, expectations and invisible manipulations that are tied to how we form and embody our identities in society, while still imparting feeling and emotion as tethered to a shared human existence. I also, hope that they will represent the future possibilities of our fluid identities and a utopian universal that is a shared human experience.Item Locating the transgender other: alterity in 21st century America(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2018) Medicine Horse, Cassidy Anne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Matthew HermanDiscussions directed toward amending past stigmatizations associated with transgender identity have expanded in the 21st-century. Contemporary debates concerning the sociocultural pariah of mid-20th-century America have swung wide the doors of denounced identity. As this has happened, a more extensive text has emerged concerning the notion of alterity. Designators of non-binary gender expanded during the middle of the last century and grew to include ideas of anti-nationalism, civil disruption, and sexual perversion. A plethora of politically motivated social agendas resulted in scholarship that did not keep up with contemporary realities. Perpetrated distortions of the 'trans-other' have disaffiliated more than 1.5 million American citizens. Dramatic increases in 'hate crimes' and a striking disparity in transgender suicide rates present a worrisome illustration of trans-alterity. This treatise centers on how the location of transgender Story has shifted and revealed new ways of discussing gender distinctiveness. There is an opportunity for a scholarship to develop that incorporates the history of trans-exclusion with contemporary advances in technology. Stories of the trans-subject are instantly communicated, and knowledge of the past acts to eliminate transgender alterity. The art of telling stories is an underutilized tool of scholarship. Trans-emergence is a story about contemporary reality and recording knowledge about the history of a marginalized culture. By looking back, it is possible to see a future that does not merely re-theorize or restate a call for inclusion but informs scholars that society is experiencing a 'Transgender Renaissance.'Item Othering Montana's T. Rex and the consequences of Mumpsimus(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2016) Smith, Matt Bradly; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert RydellThe term Othering has its origin in human to human contact; it is based on the perception of differences, creating an in-group and an out-group. Othering can also be projected on to other animals, plants, or the natural environment, living or dead, extant or extinct. To help comprehend the consequences of Othering, Montana’s T. rex, displayed at the Museum of the Rockies, on the campus of Montana State University, is examined through the lens of the philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics, specifically Gadamer’s hermeneutic circle. The hermeneutic circle proposes that: “one cannot understand the whole until one understands the parts, and one cannot understand the parts until one understands the whole” (Wikswo and Porter 3). The literal relationship humans share with the T. rex is surveyed through multiple methods including osteology, morphology, taphonomy, and forensics. Time, place and space of the paleo-habitat of the T. rex is calculated and compared to the modern equivalent. Concepts of biophilia, attraction to the natural environment, and biophobia, aversion to the natural environment, are examined. Americans historical association with “wilderness and the western regeneration myth is explored. Americans have defined themselves through the naturalization of their nation, while simultaneously objectifying nature as a place to conquer, seeing nature as a resource both physically and metaphorically. By separating themselves from the natural environment a cognitive dissonance, or mumpsimus, becomes engrained. Mumpsimus is an obstinate continuation of an unreasonable behavior. This behavior has created a detrimental relationship with the biosphere and its inhabitants through environmental modifications, the foundation of which is the consumption of fossil fuels. Mumpsimus is examined by investigating cognitive and neurological studies. These studies identify the roots of this behavior and why it continues. Methods for addressing the situation are discussed. These methods can help Americans obtain a deep understanding of their relationship to the biosphere past, present and the future.