Each year, the DePaul University Library celebrates the research of first-year writing students through the Library Research Prize. This year, we are pleased to announce our two winners, Madison Mayes for the essay “The Fraught Field of Sensory Processing Disorder” and Faith Okorie for “Negotiating the Female Athlete Paradox: Femininity, Media, and Intersectionality in Women’s College Sports.”
Both of these essays demonstrate excellence in the application of information literacy skills, including expertise in the discovery, evaluation, and use of sources. Each student submitted both an essay and a research statement that reflects on the use of library tools, sources, and services throughout the research process.
Madison’s essay discusses the biases and gaps within both research and therapy for Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and draws from a variety of resources, as well as personal experience. The essay uses scholarly sources from journals including Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience and The American Journal of Occupational Therapy to highlight how SPD research primarily focuses on children with autism, rather than adults. Madison traces back the origins of SPD research in the field to make this case:
“Sensory Processing Disorder [SPD] has been researched for around 50 years, beginning with Ayres’ Sensory Integration (ASI) theories in the 1970s. […] [ASI] focuses on improving tactile and motor function via structured challenges that require processing of multiple sensory systems at the same time. Ayres theorized processing more than one sense, called multisensory integration (MSI), would be the most effective way to restructure one’s brain for improved sensory processing.”
Madison began research by booking an appointment with Health Sciences Librarian, Grace Sheahan, and expanded keywords to include “sensory processing disorder,” “sensory integration disorder,” and “sensory integration” deficits to search in databases like PubMed. Madison visited the publishers’ websites to explore the scope of the journals, a crucial aspect of source evaluation. Madison’s essay discusses the research’s current narrow focus on autistic children and highlights the lack of demographic diversity along with a prevalence of ableist language and assumptions in autism-related studies; ultimately, the essay calls for more rigorous, inclusive research that prioritizes lived experience and meaningful long-term outcomes:
“I agree with Camarata et al.’s suggestion […] that we conduct more research into SPD [Sensory Processing Disorder] on its own vs. SPD co-occurring with other DSM [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders] diagnoses, as well as research specific to the senses that impact participants most (selecting sound sensitive/ sound under-responsive participants when researching audio processing).”
As a Division One basketball player, Faith similarly approaches the topic of the female athlete paradox with personal experience and interest. Faith’s essay explores how female athletes are expected to excel athletically while simultaneously conforming to narrow ideals of femininity, drawing on Vikki Krane’s concept of hegemonic femininity:
“The theoretical foundation for understanding these pressures comes from Vikki Krane’s (2001) concept of hegemonic femininity and the female athlete paradox.[…] In her framework, hegemonic femininity refers to the dominant cultural ideal of womanhood, being slim but not too muscular, attractive, passive, and non threatening. Female athletes, by definition, challenge some of these norms simply by being competitive and physically powerful, yet they are still expected to uphold others.”
While Faith initially started with keywords “women college athletes” and “femininity,” it became clear that more specific language was needed for searching. Incorporating phrases from the literature such as “female athlete paradox,” “self objectification,” “Black women athletes,” and “intersectionality” helped Faith identify research that specifically focused on Black women. Faith used the library’s Source + Beyond the Source criteria to examine the research methods and note author affiliations, such as commercial interests that could shape the framing of the research.
A variety of sources from journals including Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, and Women in Sport & Physical Activity Journal helped Faith discuss the pressure on Black women athletes due to intersecting racialized and gendered expectations, ultimately revealing broader societal discomfort with women who embody both power and femininity. Faith reflects on the affirmative power of the research process:
“As someone who has personally felt the weight of being a Black woman athlete navigating those exact expectations, finding research that finally named and validated that experience was genuinely meaningful. The gaps in existing literature are not just inconvenient, they are telling you something about whose experiences have been treated as worth studying and whose have not.”
Both of these essays demonstrate exemplary research strategies and use of sources to critically investigate topics of personal relevance. Congratulations to Madison and Faith on their excellent essays!
The Library Research Prize is just one of the awards given to recognize excellent undergraduate work at the First-Year Writing Showcase. Honorees, joined by their professors, family members, and friends, were celebrated at an in-person reception on May 19th in Cortelyou Commons. Many thanks to the faculty and staff of DePaul University’s First-Year Writing Program and Victoria Hohenzy, Assistant Director of First-Year Writing; our Library Research Prize coordinator, Firouzeh Rismiller; the Library Research Prize judges, Firouzeh Rismiller, Grace Sheahan, and Julia Wollrab; and all library staff who teach and support our students and faculty in WRD 104 and HON 100. Your contributions make this collaboration with our First-Year Writing colleagues a success!
If you would like to learn more about the Library Research Prize for First-Year Writing or the library’s instructional program for first-year students, please contact Firouzeh Rismiller, Instructional Services Librarian.