Violence in literature, media coverage and First Amendment issues are among the topics to be addressed by MTSU graduate students this Thursday, Oct. 15.

Click on the poster to visit the MTSU Women’s and Gender Studies Program website.

Three candidates for the Women’s and Gender Studies graduate certificate will present their research at 3 p.m. Oct. 15 in Room 100 of the James Union Building.

The event is free and open to the public.

Matthew Byrge, an English major from Briceville, Tennessee, will discuss “Gender Violence and Masculinity within Indigenous Literature and Culture across the Antipodes and Pacific Regions.”

Michelle Estes, a sociology major from Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, will present “More Closeted than Gayness Itself: The Depiction of Same-Sex Couple Violence in Newspaper Media.”

L’Oreal Stephens, a liberal arts major from Hendersonville, Tennessee, will unveil research on “Upskirting: ‘The Gaze’ and the First Amendment.”

The Women’s and Gender Studies Certificate Program at MTSU works to incorporate global feminist perspectives, integrate theory and practice, and produce scholar activists. It encourages students to research new ways of thinking about women and gender and to apply that knowledge to their personal and professional lives.

Admission to the program requires an application, resume, letter of interest, two letters of reference, a baccalaureate degree, a GPA of at least 2.75 and approval by the dean of the College of Graduate Studies and the director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

For more information, contact Dr. Clare Bratten at 615-898-2795 or clare.bratten@mtsu.edu, or the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at 615-898-5910 or womenstu@mtsu.edu. You also can visit the program’s website at www.mtsu.edu/womenstu.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)