Calesia Monroe

Research/Areas of Interest

It's Time to Hoe: Black Women Perspectives of "Hoeing" in and Beyond the HBO Show Insecure
Mentor: Mitchell Gardner, PhD, Africana Studies Program

Biography

Hello! I am an Alaskan born and raised. My name is Calesia Monroe, and I am entering my third year as a Sociology & Africana Studies double major with a minor in Spanish. I am elated to announce that I am a Ronald E. McNair Scholar at the University of Northern Colorado. In regards to research, I hope to explore how the existing archetypes of Chocolate (black, melanin-rich) women portrayed throughout various forms of media affect the self-esteem of black women in intimate relationships. I aim to center my research around the “mammy” figure and countering images of black women prevalent today. As of now, I have not quite narrowed down what exactly I want to investigate. However, that is the beauty of being a McNair Scholar. You don’t know precisely where you will begin or even where you currently are; you just have an idea, and the McNair program assists you in transforming that idea into reality. As far as careers go, I guess that my intended line of work is considered activism. I dream to use the research that I have invested in as a foundation. I would like to express the conclusions I draw from research and create a positive, reinforcing image of black women in film (i.e., cinema/film). I want to introduce an evolving character of the black woman that reflects the progress and accomplishments that black women have achieved in recent times.