Date of Completion
2017
Document Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Environmental Studies
Thesis Type
Honors College, Environmental Studies Electronic Thesis, College of Arts and Science Honors
First Advisor
Pablo Bose
Second Advisor
Bindu Panikkar
Third Advisor
Jonah Steinberg
Keywords
creative nonfiction, women’s health, subject agency, embodiment, power, environmental justice
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to write a collection of personal narrative, creative nonfiction essays based on my study abroad experiences in India, South Africa, and Brazil. I conducted preliminary, case study, and ethnographic research on women’s and maternal health across these sites. In my essays, I consider the many ways in which subjects embody larger hierarchies of power, how this relates to subject agency, and how this affects health. In particular, I pay attention to 1) the relationship between education and health, 2) how racial identity affects access to resources, and 3) how individual and social agency play a role in securing adequate healthcare and in creating healthy environments. I critically consider the ways in which the creative nonfiction form is a valuable practice for thinking with and through stories and encounters. By writing in this genre, I seek to critically analyze dynamic power relations - both their implications and possible contradictions.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Gilgore, Erica Rose, "Interstices of Power: Considerations of women’s health and agency through creative nonfiction" (2017). UVM Honors College Senior Theses. 146.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses/146