43rd Annual Gender and Sexuality Studies Colloquium

Schedule of Events

9:45 - 11 a.m. | Film Screening

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• Keynote documentary film On the Divide follows the story of three Latinx people living in McAllen, Texas who, despite their views, are connected by the most unexpected of places: the last abortion clinic on the U.S./Mexico border. As threats to the clinic and their personal safety mount, our three characters are forced to make decisions they never could have imagined.

11:30 a.m. | Keynote Q&A and Awards Presentation

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Awards

• 2025 Ziegler-Gee Award presented to Jonah Friedman, Counselor at the Rider University Counseling Center
• 2025-2026 Virginia J. Cyrus Scholarship presented to Samantha Killin '26

Keynote: Directors of On the Divide, Maya Cueva and Leah Galant

The documentary directors Cueva and Galant will appear virtually in Rue Auditorium, answering questions from the audience about the film. 

Cueva’s Director’s Statement: As a mixed Latinx filmmaker, ON THE DIVIDE was an incredibly important film for me to make because of my personal connection to the story and topic and understanding the complexity around abortion and choice in the Latinx community. Although I am not from the border region, I felt connected to our participants’--Rey, Mercedes, and Denisse stories and felt like they could be family members of mine. I felt that it was important to share the unlikely faces behind the issue surrounding reproductive healthcare and what it means to have to grapple with survival and choice when options are limited. Rarely do we see Latinx voices being centered in the battle surrounding reproductive healthcare, and it was important for me to take an intimate look into their lives to show how the issue is not as black and white as it might appear as well as show how choice is ultimately necessary for survival, bodily autonomy, and agency.

Galant’s Director’s Statement: We decided to film ON THE DIVIDE in an intimate verité style in order to focus on the real human stories behind a complicated and polarizing issue. As the cinematographer, I wanted the lens to feel as close as an extension to Maya and I as possible and it was important for us to create a safe space for our characters to share. By allowing our participants to tell their own stories we hope to create dialogue across echo chambers and for people to understand what choice means if you are not provided many options.

12:30 to 1 p.m. | Poster Session for GSS 400: A Global History of Sex and Gender

Display of student works in progress from the GSS transcultural research seminar, in SWG Atrium.

1:10 - 2:40 p.m. | Gender & Sex in History & Politics 

• Sarah F. Griffin, “Epistemic Power versus Gender: Celebrity Presidential Endorsements in 2024”*
• Katelyn Salvatore, “A Seat at the Table: Feminist Art and Pop Culture During the Second Wave”
• Yusef J. Collins-Bryant, “Beyond the Battlefield: Latinx and Chicanx Resistance in the Age of Juan Crow; Legalized Exclusion in Post-World War I America”
• Elizabeth-Mae Minimi, “Love, Liberation, and Flower Power: How Counterculture Challenged the Heteronormativity Revolutions in America”
• Cecilia E. Simon, “Drivers of Support for Anti-LGBTQ+ Curriculum Policy in Arizona”*

2:50 - 4:20 p.m. | Sexed Bodies in Science & Social Science

• Vivienne Rene Evans, “An Equation of Inequalities: How Underrepresentation Affects Women in Engineering”
• Lakshitha Govinda, “Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Medically Gaslight: Is it all in her head?”
• Jacob Adam, “Shattered Souls: Types of Domestic Violence and the Effects on Women’s Mental Health”
• Sarah Dickstein, “Breaking the Cycle: Awareness of Period Poverty”#
• Sharp, “The Transgender American Genocide”

4:30 - 6:15 p.m. | Feminism & Sex in the Arts

• John Morrone, “Harmonizing Voice and Identity: A Guide for Teachers of Private Voice and Choir to Empower Trans Singers in Singing and Speaking”
• Joe Giambelluca, “Failed Masculinity Across Literary Texts”
• Brooke Foster, “I Am Not Ruined, I Am Ruination: A Feminist Analysis of Genya Safin”
• Klaudine Bessasparis, “Eurydice Escapes”*
• Aileen Pujols, “Niña Linda” (Film): 
  • Niña Linda follows the story of a young Dominican-American college student, Carolina (played by Aileen Pujols), who begins to find a new sense of self through her relationship with Carter (played by Brock Warren), and navigates her complicated relationships with Mami (played by Yanelba Ferreira), Tia (played by Genesis Diaz), and God.

*Student panelists who will present their work at the New Jersey Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium Colloquium at Rutgers University, March 28, 2025.  

#We will be collecting donations of period products in a drive to mitigate period poverty. Please bring unopened period products of any kind and look for the donation box in the back of Rue Auditorium.