2022 Race and Sexuality Proposals Funded

The Center for Positive Sexuality is pleased to announce the 2022 research projects awarded funding through generous donations from Anonymous Donors.

These projects center on Black people, indigenous people, and other communities of color. In 2022, we provided awards to the following projects:

Aristotle X: Digital Literacy Magazines as Homemaking for Chinese-American Queer Youth

Wendasha Jenkins-Hall, Dr. Ashley Townes, & Ibriana Garvey: Douche, Clean, Deodorize and Steam: An Exploratory Look at Black Women’s Vaginal Hygiene Practices

Manu Multani: Flipping the Script: A Visual Ethnographic Approach to Understanding Sexuality among Punjabi, Diasporic Youth in California

Aristotle X (they/them/theirs)

Aristotle X (they/them/theirs)

2022 Race and Sexuality Research Award Winner

To Write a Home: The Significance of Digital Literary Magazines in Supporting Chinese American Queer Youth

Summary: This research aims to investigate how Chinese American queer youth use digital literary magazines as a non-institutional site of mutual care and queer education in the face of intersecting structural violences.

Biography: Aristotle X is a Chinese American undergraduate student at Columbia University. Their research interests include critical pedagogy, performance, and queer & trans youth. Their goal is to understand how queer & trans youth of color form emergent strategies of resistance and communities of care. Their past work focused on narrative analyses of testimonies against anti-trans legislation, transness in contemporary horror cinema, and teaching queer & trans performance studies. They were a 2021 American Civil Liberties Union National Advocacy Institute research mentee, where they documented testimonies against U.S. anti-trans legislation. They are currently a staff editor for The Columbia Review. They also work as an assistant debate coach, where they specialize in queer of color critique and performance studies.

Manu Multani (she/her/they)

Manu Multani (she/her/they)

2022 Race and Sexuality Research Award Winner

Flipping the Script: A Visual Ethnographic Approach to Understanding Sexuality among Punjabi, Diasporic Youth in California

Summary: This project questions how young, diasporic, Punjabi adults of California define, experience, and forge romantic, healthy relationships and how these reciprocally inform their sexual scripts. Specifically, this multi-modal ethnography utilizes a participatory action research methodology by having participants provide first-hand video accounts by using Flip, an online platform, to document personal experiences responding to prompts exploring dating, intimacy, romance, and love resulting in a collaborative visual ethnography richer and truer to the real experiences of the participants.

Biography: As a diasporic, Punjabi, queer woman born and raised in California, Manu Multani has set her professional goals with the intention to emphasize the struggles of South Asian communities, but also seek, recognize, and name the solutions through which these communities resist. Currently, she is a Cinematography/Photojournalism student at Los Angeles City College and en route to completing her Ph.D. in Anthropology and Social Change at the California Institute of Integral Studies –exploring sexuality among youth in Punjab, India through documentary filmmaking. She has worked as a Health Program Planner for several years for the Department of Public Health in San Francisco engaging in local community discussions regarding public services such as hospital-based care, food insecurity, and homelessness resulting in expertise in the realities of social determinants of health and disparities. She considers this opportunity a great privilege to center human stories and community engagement through the lens of multi-dimensional sexualities. She is a two-time recipient of the Critical Language Scholarship for Panjabi in addition to the Hollywood Foreign Press Scholarship and Public Health Hero award. She has a Master’s in Global Health and a Bachelor’s in Philosophy. She currently lives between Los Angeles, California, and Punjab, India with her partner and pup. During their free time, they like to read culturally diverse cookbooks to integrate new spices and techniques into their own cooking.

Podcast: ReThinkDesi

Wendasha Jenkins Hall

Wendasha Jenkins Hall

2022 Race and Sexuality Research Award Winner

Douche, Clean, Deodorize, & Steam: An Exploratory Look at Black Women’s Vaginal Hygiene Practices

Biography: Dr. Wendasha Jenkins Hall is a sexuality researcher and educator residing in Atlanta, GA. With nearly two decades of experience in the sexual health field, Dr. Hall’s work employs pleasure-centered and intersectional frameworks to examine the historical, social, and technological factors that influence the sexual health and wellbeing of Black women and femmes. A Tallahassee, FL native, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism-Visual Media and Master of Science in Communication Management from the University of Central Florida and Morgan State University, respectively. She later earned a PhD in Public Health Education from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Dr. Hall is currently an Assistant Professor in Kennesaw State University’s Wellstar College of Health and Human Services.

Ashley Townes

Ashley Townes

2022 Race and Sexuality Research Award Winner

Biography: Dr. Ashley Townes is a sexuality researcher based in Atlanta, GA. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Education and Master of Public Health in Community Education degrees from the University of Cincinnati. She later earned a Ph.D in Health Behavior and Epidemiology from Indiana University-Bloomington. Dr. Townes has 15 years of work experience in a variety of academic and public health entities. Her research and passion focuses on exploring the sexual experiences of Black women, understanding their access to health information and how they utilize sexual health services.

Ibriana Garvey

Ibriana Garvey

2022 Race and Sexuality Research Award Winner

Biography: Ibriana Garvey is a research coordinator for a university hospital in Philadelphia, PA. She completed her Master of Public Health in Social and Behavioral Sciences at Temple University and her Bachelor of Biobehavioral Health at Pennsylvania State University. Ibriana considers herself a preventative health and wellness enthusiast. She has an unyielding passion for research in women’s sexual and reproductive health, focusing on Black women and health disparities.

Criteria for Submission

A brief (3 page maximum) proposal explaining the proposed research, a timeframe for its completion, and how it relates to one or more of the 8 Dimensions of Positive Sexuality. Applicants also submited a proposed budget and a resume or curriculum vitae.

Proposals were evaluated by the Board of Directors based on the following criteria: 1) quality and feasibility of work proposed 2) centrality of research on communities of color 3) connection of research to one or more of the Dimensions of Positive Sexuality and 4) potential for impact on communities of color.

What CPS is Providing

    • Research funding
    • Timely and clear communication
    • Research support from one or more of our volunteer Research Assistants (as available)
    • Promotion of your work via our website and social media
    • For projects that require IRB approval, assistance is available via our collaboration with the CARAS IRB
    • Option to submit for publication in the Journal of Positive Sexuality

Future Funding/Submissions

Center for Positive Sexuality is actively seeking donations to continue funding this project for future research. Our goal is to continue granting these awards on an annual basis as funding allows. If you wish to donate to the Race and Sexuality Research Award, please use the button below.

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