Mary Gates Endowment for Students

Natalia Poliakova

Project

Role of Aesthetic Distance in Staging Gender-Based Violence

I staged a theatrical production of a play exploring gender-based violence four different ways. In the course of the performances, costumes, sound tracks and acting choices changed to portray different possible strategies within fixed sexual abuse scenario. I, then, collected audience's feedback discussing the dynamic they were shown and compared results across different versions. The findings revealed startling differences in blame distribution among the survivor, the perpetrators and the by-stander in a sexual abuse situation depending on their visual characteristics, such as clothes, make up and gestures.

What I learned

Scholarship is not one-person job and doesn't have to be confined to a singular discipline. Fascinating discoveries happen if you assume a multidisciplinary or cross-disciplinary approach. For example, my projects works in the realms of psychology and drama, taking the best from both worlds - quantifiable data and interactive approach to testing.

Advice for future applicants

Reach out to your mentor and other more experienced collegues, treat research as an opportunity to learn, grow, and make valuable connections with other inspired individuals who have big ideas and are not afraid to go after them.

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