Health Humanities

Miranda LaValley

My work is a collection of personal experiences—both real and imagined—as well as tributes to the places, people, and stories that shaped who...

In professional writing, meaning is not something that can be made in isolation - it is inherited by the interpretive communities that engage with it...

As a writer and a feminine-presenting person, I have always been drawn to horror fiction as a way to explore personal experiences and the cultural...

This paper discusses a research project that investigates the college first year experience at Salem from the intersection of Health Humanities and Writing Program Administration...

The United States has the highest suicide rate of any wealthy nation, exacerbated by a sixfold risk of suicide in the first week post-discharge from...

This paper is the culmination of a senior project for English and Writing Studies. Drawing on the researcher’s previous experience with trauma study, it explores...

Confessional poetry challenges traditional notions of self-expression by delving into personal and often taboo subjects that were not typically addressed in poetry before. It goes...

My research set out to dissect the question: How can monstrosity be reclaimed through transness? Understanding the concept of "monstering" as a verb, an action...

Dementia, generally, and Alzheimer’s Disease, more narrowly, are among the conditions most feared by Americans. Fears of aging, becoming disabled, or becoming dementia-affected pervade the...

This presentation is the result of a literature review and an IRB-approved study based on the Salem College Writing Center. It investigates the questions of...

“How does the use of personal narrative in confessional poetry contribute to the understanding of the mind-body connection in health studies?” This question is important...

This independent study was a creative writing project that spanned two semesters (Fall 2022 - Spring 2023) about world building in different formats. During the...

When first working on world building for my original piece, I knew I wanted to write a story with original mythology. In order to do...

A recent examination of Disney/Pixar films — works traditionally aimed at young children and families — finds an increase of more mature, mental health-related themes...

When writing original science-fiction and fantasy, one of the most difficult questions is that of world-building — how to create an original world, how distant...

This project is the culmination of two semesters of work regarding ethical depictions of trauma within prose writing. This research serves to answer the question...

In recent years, yoga practitioners have joined forces with medical programs to approach patients’ well-being holistically. This study is a randomized controlled trial to assess...

I have been crafting a novel manuscript during my four years here at Salem College and am looking forward to its publication later this year...