Livingstone Undergraduate Research Award in Diversity and Social Justice
Livingstone Undergraduate Research Award in Diversity and Social Justice
Fredrika Ann Poscover
The Repro Review
View Fredrika’s project online
As a recipient of the Creative Arts, Research, and Scholarship (CARAS) award in 2025, I produced a print and digital zine about emergency contraception (EC) designed specifically to go hand-in-hand with the vending machine. This zine combines legal, social, historical, and medical perspectives about EC into an accessible and visually engaging format. The zine is available in print across all 8 of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania’s health centers; Temple University’s Wellness Resource Center; Temple’s GSWS department; digitally via a QR code on the front of the EC vending machine; and through Temple University’s Scholar Share database.
What is your major and expected year of graduation?
I will graduate in May of 2026 with a major in Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies from the College of Liberal Arts and a minor in Health Policy Management from the College of Public Health.
What inspired you to pursue your project?
Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, it has become increasingly more difficult to access reproductive care nationwide. In addition to abortion bans, many states have restricted access to emergency contraception (EC). As president of Planned Parenthood Generation at Temple University (PPGTU), I spent the past two years spearheading the initiative to install Temple’s first EC pill vending machine on campus. Throughout this process, I gained firsthand knowledge into the low rates of health literacy—specifically when it comes to sexual and reproductive health—impacting the Temple community.
How did the Libraries support your research?
Using Temple University’s Library databases, I was able to locate peer-reviewed articles on reproductive and sexual health literacy from PubMed, ProQuest Health and Medical Collection, and government publications from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). These sources helped me to contextualize national and local literacy data which served as the backbone for my project.
Rika Poscover is a fiery, energetic, and deeply creative scholar whose work sits at the critical intersection of reproductive justice, sexuality education, and public health. Her project, The Repro Review, is a timely and innovative intervention in a moment when access to accurate, stigma-free information about emergency contraception is increasingly urgent. In the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, misinformation and legal restrictions surrounding emergency contraception have only intensified. Rika’s work directly responds to these conditions by translating rigorous, research-based knowledge into an accessible and engaging zine format. Her work recognizes that information alone is not enough; it must be delivered in ways that are engaging, inclusive, and responsive to the lived realities of those most impacted.
-Jennifer Pollitt, Assistant Director and Assistant Professor, Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, College of Liberal Arts
This category covers work utilizing humanities or scientific methodologies, involving creative work or literature reviews, but relating in some way to the overall theme of diversity and social justice.
This award is generously sponsored by Gale, a Cengage company.