Please join the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program & the Center for Gender and Sexuality for our next session of Behind the Publication, a behind-the-scenes workshop series on faculty research in gender and sexuality. 

The series continues with Dr. Jessica D. Moorman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication. Dr. Moorman is a fourth generation Detroiter who researches how media shape health and development over the life course. In her primary area of research, Dr. Moorman examines the media’s role in shaping Black women’s single socialization; the process by which attitudes and beliefs about single status are acquired. Detroit plays a critical role in Dr. Moorman's single socialization research. For her current book project, Living Singlehood: The Values and Strategies Shaping Unmarried Life for Black Women, Dr. Moorman spoke with 51 single Black women living in Detroit about their experiences of unmarried life to gain a better understanding of the unique challenges facing Black women in singlehood. Dr. Moorman has a secondary area of specialty in health communication, examining most recently how screen media use impacts the weight, sleep behavior, and cognitive development of children ages 0 - 5. This presentation, entitled "Living Singlehood: The Values and Strategies Sustaining Black Women in Unmarried Life," draws from her current book project. Dr. Moorman has presented her research for agencies like the United Nations Women's Rights Division and has been featured in media outlets like Psychology Today, National Public Radio, and ESPN. 

About the series: The central goal of this series is to offer graduate and undergraduate students a series of informal workshops where faculty encourage and demystify research by sharing their own experiences. We invite WSU faculty members to share a little about the genesis of their current or recent research. We ask them to discuss the joys and frustrations of the project; to elaborate on the decisions around the scope of the work; to assess methodological questions; to discuss writing practices; to highlight the importance of colleagues, librarians, friends, and other interlocutors more generally for their work; and to offer tips and strategies to help students through their own projects.