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Mizungo

Description

Mizungo is a work of lyrical creative nonfiction with an interactive braided essay format that plays with place and time melding culture, experience, and memory. It weaves the threads of sexuality, loss, depression, privilege, and family between photographs. This develops the themes of otherness and identity while exploring the settings of Uganda, Tempe, and small-town Utah. The piece explores the identity of "mizungo," the name given by the locals to any white person who travels to Eastern Sub-Saharan Africa. In Uganda, a region known for both hospitality and homophobia, this identity overtakes the author's name and sense of self propeling the mizungo to near celebrity status simply because of skin color and the privilege it promises. For McGovern, this attention creates otherness and the isolation that forces self-reflection, which propels self-healing. "Mizungo" provides her a mask in the homophobic region, that not only protects, but promotes self-acceptance. It also forces her to face her grief over familial tragedies and contemplate the settings of depression, loss, and the makings of family around the world. The timeline of Mizungo flows nonlinearly, and does not stick to one setting. Along with her mental state, the narrative explores the world and the beginning and ending of the "mizungo" identity. The narrative drops the reader onto the streets of Kampala where McGovern is first branded as "mizungo" and ends with the exploration of a different meaning of this identity. In between these scenes, the narrative pulls from memories of childhood and summers spent in Utah up through nine years later in Tempe, a few months before the story was published, and a year after traveling to Uganda.

ContributorsMcgovern, Sophia Odonnell (Author) / Dombrowski, Rosemarie (Thesis director) / Hoyt, Heather (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2015-12

LGBT+ in Africa: Gay Rights Through the Lenses of Law and Colonialism

Description

The perception that homosexuality is an immoral affliction and an innovation from Western cultures is prevalent throughout Africa, specifically in six case countries: Togo, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. This thesis seeks to demonstrate that homophobia, not homosexuality, is the true Western import. Additionally, it will analyze the background and colonial histories of my six dossier countries, their current laws surrounding LGBT+ rights, the social and legal repercussions of being LGBT+, and the consequences of state-sponsored homophobia in terms of justice, international law, and the future of each country. Based on my research, all these case countries use colonial-era provisions, penal codes, and religious norms to discriminate against homosexuals, which operate under legally-mandated “morality,” a notion inherently subjective. Additionally, the most targeted groups are gay men and transgender people, while lesbians and bisexual women are rarely targeted and convicted compared to homosexual men. This is due to various social, legal, and religious factors regarding the high importance of patriarchy and masculinity. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that European colonization in Togo, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Namibia introduced new legal norms that persecuted pre-colonial practices of homosexuality under the guise of morality. Now, the repercussions are rampant and dangerous (especially for homosexual men and transgender people) and cannot be overcome without radical changes to local legal and social systems.

ContributorsZanon, Brooke (Author) / Joslin, Isaac (Thesis director) / Lennon, Tara (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)

Created2023-05

We All Need to Eat: A Memoir in Three Countries

Description

Food provides nutrients and sustenance that are essential to life. Humans rely on food to fuel our thoughts and actions. However, food isn’t just a source of energy; it’s a fundamental part of culture and connection. Simply sharing a meal with someone can build teamwork and create a bond. Throughout this short memoir, I explored the ways in which food creates a connection across language and cultural barriers through reflection on specific experiences that I had in India, Uganda, and South Africa. While my experiences in each of these three countries were vastly different, there was one defining theme that brought them together: food. This memoir uses mixed media (personal reflection, research, recipes, and photos) to connect the three different international experiences. Reflection on my own family traditions and history bridges the gap between my upbringing and my interactions with people while spending time abroad. Popular recipes from each of the three countries are mixed into the personal reflection, showing how preparing food in a different geographic location can change the experience of preparation and eating. In addition to personal experience, included is a synthesis of research done on the effects of sharing a plate or a meal on negotiations tactics, how eating the same food increases trust, the ways in which food sharing is an act of social intimacy, and how it can build community. Food is an important part of family connection, a tool in many rituals such as Sunday dinners or breaking bread, a critical aspect of many religions, and is tied to the celebration of both birth and death in cultures around the globe. We all need to eat; food is the great commonality among people.

ContributorsRivard-Lentz, Haley Marie Anne (Co-author) / Rivard-Lentz, Haley (Co-author) / Fette, Donald (Thesis director) / Jacobs, Mark (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2020-05