Bennington Research Community

Connecting researchers across departments at Bennington College

Psychology Research at Bennington


Recent Publications

Making the Mark; Gender, Identity, and Genital Cutting

Miroslava Prazak (2016)

Why do female genital cutting practices persist? How does circumcision affect the rights of girls in a culture where initiation forms the lynchpin of the ritual cycle at the core of defining gender, identity, and social and political status? In Making the Mark, Miroslava Prazak follows the practice of female circumcision through the lives and activities of community members in a rural Kenyan farming society as they decide whether or not to participate in the tradition.

In an ethnography twenty years in the making, Prazak weaves multiple Kuria perspectives—those of girls, boys, family members, circumcisers, political and religious leaders—into a riveting account. Though many books have been published on the topic of genital cutting, this is one of the few ethnographies to give voice to evolving perspectives of practitioners, especially through a period of intense anticutting campaigning on the part of international NGOs, local activists, and donor organizations. Prazak also examines the cultural challenges that complicate the human-rights anti-FGM stance.

Set in the rolling hills of southwestern Kenya, Making the Mark examines the influences that shape and change female genital cutting over time, presenting a rich mosaic of the voices contributing to the debate over this life-altering ritual.

Ohio University Press
ISBN: 9780896804975

Current Faculty Projects

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Current Senior Work

Annika Owenmark Psychology
New Narratives of Queer Gender Development
In this study, we examined the narratives of childhood gender experiences from queer undergraduate students in a Predominantly Queer Institution (PQI) college. We interviewed 16 students with representative gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and social class. Using qualitative thematic analysis and examining each theme through narrative analysis, we aim to understand how college students recall their internal experiences, and what meaning they ascribe to interpersonal interactions from childhood.Children often show signs of queerness, or have internal awareness of their differences. Any child could be quietly contemplating their gender, and all children should be given the space and support to explore their identities.

Senior Name Department Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce pharetra tristique vulputate. Aenean dictum dignissim nibh dignissim rutrum. Pellentesque vel velit volutpat, hendrerit ex sit amet, luctus urna. Fusce convallis erat in libero tincidunt, sed tincidunt mi sollicitudin.

Senior Name Department Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce pharetra tristique vulputate. Aenean dictum dignissim nibh dignissim rutrum. Pellentesque vel velit volutpat, hendrerit ex sit amet, luctus urna. Fusce convallis erat in libero tincidunt, sed tincidunt mi sollicitudin.