The magical realism writing movement involved blurring the line between reality and fantasy. It takes reality and portrays its otherwise seemingly mundane elements as magical ones. This allows the writer the opportunity to faithfully represent reality itself as magical without creating a barrier between the reality and fantasy. In my thesis, I will implement these elements of magical realism, while also attempting to blur the line between the physical plane and the narrative. This will allow me, the writer, to center on the emotions I want to convey through my characters, while also allowing the reader to create a unique experience of their own.

Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) is a rare Disorder of Sexual Development (DSD) that results in the lack of a uterus and vagina in women. Receiving this diagnosis during adolescence can cause various forms of psychological distress in patients and families.<br/>Specifically, this condition could affect a women’s gender identity, body image, romantic relationships, family relationships, and psychological wellbeing. Parents are also put in a stressful<br/>position as they now have to navigate the healthcare system, disclosure, and the relationship with their child. This study aims to expand the knowledge of psychosocial adjustment by studying body<br/>image, gender identity, and mental health in individuals living with MRKH as well as parental disclosure, parental support systems, and parental perceptions of their child’s mental health.

Sophia’s Stuffed Friends is a book written for children of divorce, aged five to eight years. The story deals with anxiety, depression, and misappropriated guilt in the form of character traits in Sophia’s stuffed animals. The story takes place in a dream world after the stuffed animals are thrown into the washer of the new family house. The washer acts as a portal to the dream world. The lessons of the story are learned through flashbacks to Sophia’s life when she personally experienced anxiety, depression, and guilt. Each character learns coping mechanisms and strategies to overcome those feelings.
Squeakie is a positive influence on the way the other characters perceive themselves. The shadow turns each character’s self-doubt and negative feelings into fuel, which he stores in a paintbrush. When he takes the fuel from the character, it fades their body color. Phan has anxiety and uses the 4-7-8 breathing technique to overcome her panic attacks. Her range of color is blue to light blue. Ovid feels guilty and exercises to take his mind off his guilty thoughts. Ovid is either red or light pink. Amelia is depressed and reframes her way of thinking to overcome her inability to fly. Visually she is green or light green. The shadow is later revealed as a misguided character who was just looking to escape the dream world and find friends.
The story is resolved by the stuffed animals joining forces with the perceived antagonist, the shadow, to operate a plane. They each use their strength of color to fuel the plane, which takes them back to the real world. When Sophia’s mom pulls the stuffed animals out of the washer, the shadow comes with them. The shadow, now a cat with rainbow patches, is instantly loved by Sophia. The story ends with the stuffed animals drying on the porch bench while Sophia plays with the shadow in the new backyard.

An ever increasing number of university students partake in study abroad opportunities. Extant research has measured the effects of such experiences on the students who participate in them. Nonetheless, this research tends to rely on comparative analyses between study abroad participants and control groups of students who do not travel abroad. Furthermore, data are often retrospectively collected and are thus subject to individual retention, which may entail significant limitations. This research attempts to subvert these limitations by using a pre- and post-test methodology coupled with qualitative analysis. The study consists of in-depth qualitative interviews with nineteen participants who partook in a semester abroad at the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In contrast to previous research which has attempted to ascertain general effects, the aim of this research is to measure the effects of study abroad on individuals’ conceptions and perspectives as they relate to the Israel-Palestine situation and the groups involved. The results indicate that the participant group which consisted of both Jewish and non-Jewish individuals did, in fact, demonstrate changes in their perceptions and perspectives at the conclusion of their study abroad experience. Specifically, the majority of individuals reported more critical views of the Israeli state and its governmental policies in addition to demonstrated increases in empathetic sentiment towards Palestinian individuals. The results are discussed in relation to future research which perhaps could be utilized to further promote perception change and subversion of dominant narratives by fostering intergroup openness and interaction.

In 1986, Wendy Chapkis published Beauty Secrets: Women and the Politics of Appearance, exploring beauty as it is interpreted through physical appearance, gender, and sexuality. Over thirty years later, many of the trends and problems Chapkis identified still exist or have gotten worse; we still live in a society that praises ideal physical beauty, and creates and reinforces unrealistic beauty standards. This research strives to determine why these problems still exist, and how to solve them. Through a combination of creative writing and analytic research, this project will discuss topics that have helped to create problems like cultural influences, gender norms, and the media, as well as discuss the consequences like mental health and eating disorders, and the unattainable ideal beauty standard. The purpose of this study is to bring new attention to the flaws of a society that teaches people they are defined by their appearance, in order to teach people what actions we need to take to make real progress. Research was conducted using an online survey to allow for anonymous, honest, responses, which were then analyzed to inspire sections of creative writing, as well as fuel the analytical research portions of the paper. In this way, the text mirrors Chapkis’ original style to connect and engage with readers. Research shows that many respondents know there are problems with society’s standards, but feel powerless to change anything. This study provides a platform to restart the conversation, and call people to action, to inspire people not to simply redefine beauty, but teach them that they should not define others or themselves by merely their physical appearance.