Activist Thinking

DePaul University’s School of Cinematic Arts is currently ranked #11 in the nation, and the films created by its students are just as high caliber. But these are student films; they’re bound to have problems at any stage along the production process. Via academic research and interviewing fellow collaborators, I aim to educate my peers on how to create a healthy work environment during film production, or rather a “safe space” on set. This is most useful for productions that deal with sensitive content or unorthodox methods of filming, but this frame of thinking should be applied to all productions. I will use my findings to create a manual for future student filmmakers to use when making their own student films.

This thesis attempts to explore the ways in which women’s social movements use social media to mobilize and sustain their actions. Building on my previous research which examined the relationship between political context and collective identity of women’s social movements, I pose the following question: Does Instagram provide adequate organizational capacity for sustained collective action in women’s movements in moments of lull? This paper will focus on one distinct case study in which social media was used to mobilize a movement, the International Women’s March in 2017, after President Donald Trump’s first election. I hope to explore the way Instagram was used within the United States, and whether or not digital activism is a useful tool for long-term sustained action in women’s movements.

Against a backdrop of political instability, economic insecurity, and institutionalized misogyny, women in South Korea have long been excluded from spaces of power and social progress. This paper explores how digital platforms have emerged as vital spaces for feminist discourse, offering both community and tools for activism. These digital platforms have fueled social movements that challenge discriminatory policies, reshape public dialogue, and push for legislative reforms. While the long-term impact of digital activism remains debated, South Korea’s technological advancement and entrenched misogyny sustain the relevance of these platforms. Ultimately, lasting change requires both digital resistance and broader cultural transformation.

The American South is a place of complicated history and political paradoxes. There are many parts of the South that are misunderstood, but also areas that seem stuck in time. Certain imagery, monuments, and stories are able to craft very specific narratives about Southern history, most notably through the adoption of “Lost Cause” philosophy. In my hometown of Columbia, South Carolina, there remains a statue of J. Marion Sims, an antebellum doctor and the so-called “Father of Modern Gynecology,” on the South Carolina State House grounds, despite his shameful history of experimenting on enslaved women of color. On the same grounds as this monument stands, elected representatives of South Carolina continue to advocate for oppressive reproductive laws and even threaten the adoption of the death penalty to women who have abortions. Using the J. Marion Sims monument as a case study, I will examine the ways in which honoring problematic figures and narratives reflects the South’s attitudes towards reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy and present these findings alongside a short personal documentary project about women in the South.