McLaurin, Virginia

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Doctoral Student
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McLaurin
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Virginia
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Anthropology
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Introduction
Virginia McLaurin is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in Indigenous media and stereotypical Indigenous imagery.  She received a Bachelor's degree from Emory University in 2010, and a Master's degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2012, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Native American and Indigenous Studies.  She is currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology and a Graduate Certificate in Film Studies. She is currently researching the creation of Indigenous community web sites and Indigenous digital media production in the Northeastern United States.
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    Publication
    Charlotte's Web-based CMS
    McLaruin, Virginia
    Literary Inspiration: Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
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    Publication
    Digital Indigeneity: Digital Media's Uses for Identity Formation, Education, and Activism by Indigenous People in the Northeastern United States
    (2022-02) McLaurin, Virginia A.; McLaurin, Virginia
    This dissertation seeks to examine the types of digital media being produced in the Northeastern United States, its content, the goals and motivations of its creators, the processes underlying Indigenous digital media creation, and the desired and projected audiences of Indigenous digital artists and content creators. Resulting findings from this study illuminate long histories of Indigenous use of digital media tied to digital media's development in Indigenous lands. I argue that Native people have been producers and influencers in film and later, digital media, and have underwritten digital production due to its development on Indigenous lands. Through interviews and media analysis, I discuss how Indigenous content creators use digital media to express identity, educate others, make political gains, and insert Indigeneity into the future. Insights garnered through interviews and media analyses and comparisons with earlier forms of visual media, particularly Indigenous self-portrayals in film and on websites, all indicate that Indigenous people in the Northeast are largely resisting stereotypical self-representations. Indigenous framings of media landscapes and the sociohistorical processes informing them are emphasized, which furthers research on underrepresented presences, uses, and understandings of digital spaces
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    Publication
    Shhh...IT
    (2019-01-01) McLaurin, Virginia
    Literary inspiration: It
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    Publication
    Stereotypes of Contemporary Native American Indian Characters in Recent Popular Media
    (2012) Mclaurin, Virginia A.
    This thesis examines the ongoing trends in depictions of Native American Indians in popular mainstream media from the last two decades. Stereotypes in general and in relation to Native American Indians are discussed, and a pattern of stereotype reactions to colonists’ perceived strains is identified. An analysis of popular television shows, movies, and books with contemporary Native characters will demonstrate new trends which we might consider transformed or emerging stereotypes of Native people in non-Native media. These trends will not only be shown to have emerged from more general national and regional stereotypes of Native identity, but will also demonstrate a continuation of the historical willingness of colonists to rely on more virulent Native stereotypes in cases where they perceive some Native threat. Particular attention will be paid to the denial of Indian identity in the southeast and northeast through comedy and mockery and, on the other hand, the exaggeration of Indian identity in the western United States through shape-shifting, paranormal encounters, mystery, and more conventional Native interests. At the end of the thesis, some possible methods for grappling with these problematic portrayals will be discussed.