Barrett

Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.

Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.

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An Intersectional Mestiza Consciousness: Redefining Colonial and Gender Narratives in Speculative Fiction

Description
Speculative fiction creates possibility in the imaginary through its ability to induce futuristic thinking. In Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s 2020 novel Mexican Gothic and Lizzie Borden’s 1983 film Born in Flames, the deployment of speculative fiction enables the authors’ feminist protagonists to resist and then defy systems of oppression. While Mexican Gothic’s…

Speculative fiction creates possibility in the imaginary through its ability to induce futuristic thinking. In Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s 2020 novel Mexican Gothic and Lizzie Borden’s 1983 film Born in Flames, the deployment of speculative fiction enables the authors’ feminist protagonists to resist and then defy systems of oppression. While Mexican Gothic’s heroine, Noemí, must navigate typical Gothic tropes to discover the true horror of colonial subjugation, Born in Flames demonstrates resistance against corrupt governmental powers in a dystopic society through feminist organization. This thesis argues that Gloria Anzaldúa’s mestiza consciousness – a framework by which to understand conflicting ideologies at identity crossroads – and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s intersectionality – a theory that accounts for the unique discrimination an individual faces depending on the combination of their race, gender, sexuality, etc. – can be used in tandem to recognize destructive internal and external cultural, societal, political, and economic influences. The inclusion of Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera amplifies the importance of recognizing colonial, racist, and patriarchal histories and the subsequent ability to rewrite these narratives. I contend that the application of these theories, used in conjunction with the teachings within Borderlands/La Frontera, yield an optic from which women of color in these speculative pieces may find liberation for themselves and others from unjust systems of power.
ContributorsTelles, Isabella (Author) / Van Engen, Dagmar (Thesis director) / Alcantara, Christiane (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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Monsters as People: Subversions of the Inhuman and Queerness

Description
This thesis takes the form of a nonfiction graphic novel to analyze how ideas about monsters are subverted in DreamWorks’s How to Train Your Dragon and Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, and how these subversions are queer acts. Both of these movies initially introduce the inhuman as something…

This thesis takes the form of a nonfiction graphic novel to analyze how ideas about monsters are subverted in DreamWorks’s How to Train Your Dragon and Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, and how these subversions are queer acts. Both of these movies initially introduce the inhuman as something to fear, but later deliver messages of empathy and respect as the protagonists learn to communicate with and befriend the inhuman. Interestingly enough, these movies present contrasting opinions on whether monsters should be integrated into society or remain outcast; How to Train Your Dragon shows a society where dragons become normalized by the end and argues for the integration of monsters into society. Conversely, The Shape of Water concludes with the protagonist Elisa escaping society with the Amphibian Man, therefore arguing that the monstrous is to be kept separate from society at large. The act of personifying monsters elevates them to the same level of respect as humans. I maintain that the personification of monsters queers the definition of both person- and monsterhood by blurring the distinctions between the two. This is important because it allows humans to recognize not just the humanity of monsters, but the monstrosity in ourselves.
ContributorsPhillips, Kelsey (Author) / Van Engen, Dagmar (Thesis director) / Deacon, Deborah (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2022-05