Emerging Voices: Doctoral Candidates Shaping Critical Sexuality Studies

Join us as we feature the innovative research of our doctoral candidates in the Department of Human Sexuality during our tenth anniversary presentations exploring the intersection of critical sexuality studies and real-world implications. This is your chance to connect with the next generation of scholars and be inspired by their groundbreaking work!

Meet the Panelists

Trish Whitfield specializes in corporate equity building and cultural-competence within education sectors. Currently, Trish is the Associate Director of Student Support & Belonging at Bryn Mawr College where her efforts focus on programming and support for First-generation, Limited-income, and Undocu+ students. Trish is a Ph.D. candidate at California Institute of Integral Studies where her research and publications explore Black women’s subjectivity and seeks to expand conversations on Black women’s sexuality that include empowerment, joy, pleasure, and connectedness. Her dissertation project is entitled, “Who are you. Name It: Integrating Agency and Pleasure into Black Women’s Sexuality Studies.” Utilizing Black Feminist and postmodernist thought joined to textual and narrative analyses, Trish's research aims to return Black women's sexual subjectivity to Black women by allowing them to name how they experience their bodies, how they experience pleasure, and if/how they believe their sexual subjectivity contributes to their overall existence as subjects.

James Arrasmith is a doctoral candidate in the Human Sexuality Ph.D. Program. He is also a retired Marine Corps Officer having served for 22 years on active duty. He holds an M.A. in Homeland Security and an M.A. in International Relations, a Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis, and a B.A. double major in International Studies and Political Science. His dissertation research study is entitled “Case Study of the Ethically Non-Monogamous Community within the United States Military: Navigating the Lifestyle within the Uniform Code of Military Justice.” In brief, that project examines the United States military’s long history of maintaining a force that comports with expectations of sexual monogamy and marriage in keeping with general societal standards and in the name of good order and discipline. The study examines the ENM sexual minority community within the U.S. military through the theoretical lenses of Sexual Scripts Theory (Simon & Gagnon, 1984), Impression Management Theory (Tedeschi, 1981), and Identity Management Theory (Leary, 2019). The ethnographic study will provide novel contributions to the fields of sexuality, ethical non-monogamy, and military studies.

Alisha Fisher is an International Relationship Coach, who works with individuals and people in relationships to enhance their intimate lifestyles. Alisha is a Ph.D. candidate at California Institute of Integral Studies where her research examines the impact of third-party storytelling among female survivors of sexual violence. Her dissertation project is entitled “The Impact of Third-Party Storytelling for Female Survivors of Sexual Violence.” With the rising popularity of sexually violent crime coverage in the news, survivors are increasingly turning to the news media as a medium for telling their story and sharing their experiences. Grounded in media framing theory, Alisha analyzes the strengths, drawbacks, and neutral responses associated with the framing of sexual violence stories in the news media on the survivors themselves. Employing a narrative analysis approach, the study aims to comprehensively understand the experiences of cisgender female survivors before, during, and after news media discussion, and publication through interviews with the survivors who have spoken to the news media about their survivorship.

Daniella Robinson is a Bigstone Cree and Italian sexologist, student, and Helper. Ms. Robinson is a Human Sexuality Ph.D. Candidate at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her research focuses on Indigenous epistemologies of pleasure, sexual violence prevention, and curriculum development. Her dissertation research is titled: “Pleasure According to You: Indigenous Epistemologies of Pleasure, Consent, and Sexual Violence Prevention/Intervention.” Her research focuses on understanding how a diverse group of sex and consent educators receive and respond to an Indigenous pedagogical approach to pleasure education, where pleasure is recognized as important and is theorized through Indigenous epistemologies. Daniella also supervises the Bekaadendang (Being Peaceful) team at Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, where her team supports Indigenous survivors of sexual exploitation and those at risk.

Related Program

Human Sexuality Ph.D. Program