Livingstone Undergraduate Research Award in the Humanities
Livingstone Undergraduate Research Award in the Humanities
Jenna Zenouzi
French Facial Covering Ban: A Comparison of American and French Media Coverage from 2010–2012
View Jenna's project online
My research paper sought to compare media coverage techniques between two major nations in regard to an event of international magnitude. Through identifying both American and French reporting trends, the paper explores the effects of globalization and news flow on a controversial event.
What is your major and expected year of graduation?
I am a senior finance major with a minor in journalism. This paper is related to my minor studies, specifically my learnings from a journalism and globalization course I took in the spring of 2022.
What inspired you to pursue your project?
This project began as a final paper but transformed into a deeper analysis with the guidance of my faculty mentor, Dr. Darling-Wolf. I initially chose the French facial covering ban because I wanted to explore a topic that related, at least in part, to my own identity and how that is reflected in the news. I am a half-Iranian woman, born and raised in the US, and when this event first happened, I was only in middle school. Being able to revisit it with the added perspective I’ve gained through my studies and personal experiences was very fulfilling.
What does winning this award mean to you?
This award recognizes the immense work I put into deepening and perfecting this paper, especially as it relates to my minor field of study. I chose my major/minor mix with the intention to study things I was both very curious about and that would lend a multidisciplinary approach to my undergraduate education. To be recognized for writing and researching topics related to journalism is a huge accomplishment and a testament to my dedication to both fields during my time at Temple.
How did the Libraries support your research?
Temple Libraries’ journal search, newspaper article search, and databases were central to my project in two ways: access to international scholarly works and news articles and analyzing news articles through specific filtering methods. Specifically, the access Temple Libraries provided to the NexisUni database allowed me to filter terms, locations, and time periods, all of which were central to exploring my research question.
Jenna’s award-winning paper compares the coverage of the 2011 French facial covering ban—popularly known as the “French veil ban”—by French and US news media. In her treatment of this extremely complex issue, Jenna showcases her ability to locate the controversy within the French legal and cultural context while remaining attuned to key blind spots on either side of the Atlantic. Her granular engagement with the media’s choice of focus, sources, and language demonstrates her deep analytical skills, and powerfully illustrates how media coverage of global issues can strategically support “local” positionings.
—Fabienne Darling-Wolf, Professor, Lew Klein College of Media and Communication
This category covers research methods in the humanities (in both traditional and digital forms). Disciplines represented include such fields as Art History, Classics, Literature, Film Studies, Linguistics and Languages, History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies. Much of the scholarly output in the humanities relies upon traditional library research methods using primary and secondary sources, though the specific source types consulted will vary from discipline to discipline.
This award is generously sponsored by John H. Livingstone, SBM ’49.