An MTSU alumna is the recipient of a statewide award for the best graduate thesis in the state of Tennessee.

Sociology major Nailah Herbert, who graduated in December, captured the “Best Thesis Award” at the Tennessee Conference for Graduate Schools’ 2020 spring meeting Feb. 21 at Meharry Medical College in Nashville.

MTSU alumna Nailah Herbert, a December 2019 graduate in sociology, delivers a presentation on her master’s degree thesis at the Tennessee Conference for Graduate Schools’ February 2020 spring meeting in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo submitted)

“I am honored to have received this award,” Herbert said. “It means a lot to receive recognition for work that I am passionate about.”

Herbert’s thesis is titled “I Do Not Weep at the World: Examining Black Women’s Expressions of Selfhood and the Revolutionary Act of Claiming Experiences and Identity.”

Herbert, a master’s degree candidate from Antioch, Tennessee, conducted interviews with 15 people who self-identified as black women and a small focus group that included three of the original interviewees.

“In this study, I explore black women’s self-defined interpretations of media and literature that portray black womanhood,” Herbert writes in the abstract of her paper. “Additionally, I consider how black women’s perceptions of such portrayals affect their impressions about popular media in general.”

The Tennessee Conference for Graduate Schools “represents more than 40 member institutions and serves the purpose of considering topics of mutual interest related to graduate education and research,” according to www.tcgsnet.org.

The members of Herbert’s MTSU thesis committee are the chair, Ashleigh McKinzie, assistant professor of sociology; Vicky MacLean, sociology professor; and Roberta Chevrette, assistant professor of communication studies. 

For more information, contact McKinzie at 615-894-8644 or ashleigh.mckinzie@mtsu.edu.

To learn more about MTSU’s graduate programs, contact the College of Graduate Studies at 615-898-2840 or graduate@mtsu.edu.

— Gina Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)

Pictured, from left, are Ethan Carver, professor of biology, geology and environmental science and assistant dean of graduate studies, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga; Mary Kyle, coordinator of graduate publications and recruitment, University of Memphis; Nailah Herbert, MTSU alumna and “Best Thesis Award” winner; and Ernest L. Brothers, president, Tennessee Conference for Graduate Schools. Herbert presented her thesis at the TCGS spring meeting Feb. 21 in Nashville. (Photo submitted)