Meghan Kajihara’s research poster, “Where No Man has Gone Before: Society and Symbolism in the Nonbinary Gender Characters of Star Trek” presented March 31, 2015.
Kajihara is a junior anthropology major who works on the 3D Segmentation Team @ xREZ.
xREZ Art + Science Lab student Meghan Kajihara presents her research poster today Mar. 31, 2015 at the Texas Tech University Undergraduate Research Conference. Her project, titled “Where No Man has Gone Before: Society and Symbolism in the Nonbinary Gender Characters of Star Trek,” is a capstone project for her studies as a member of the UNT Honors College. The paper examines non-binary gender representations in Star Trek.
Poster excerpt: “The non-binary gender characters of Star Trek are portrayed dualistically, with those that are more ambiguous being portrayed as dangerous while those who possess easily gendered qualities are portrayed as benevolent and human. In the Star Trek cultural universe, and perhaps our own, non-binary gender individuals embody the “unknown” incarnate. They are a constant shock to the culture of Star Trek’s central maxim that all things are knowable through science.”
Conference Update: Kajihara’s poster was selected as Top Poster Presenter in the Biological and Chemical Sciences category. The award was announced and recognized with a certificate at the TTU Undergraduate Research Banquet Apr. 2.