The DSA has awarded this annual dissertation prize since 2015, with departments around the UK invited to submit one dissertation each.
Emeli’s dissertation is entitled The Construction of Menstruation as “something you have to hide”: Embodied Experiences of Adolescent Girls in Uganda and can be read here.
As part of the award, Emeli has also been invited to present her research at the DSA2025 conference, held in Bath this June. The conference theme this year is ‘Navigating crisis: dangers and opportunities in development’.
I am truly honoured to have received the DSA 2025 Masters Dissertation Prize.
When conducting this research, it was essential that embodied experiences were recognised as the focal point of understanding menstrual health management within the particular context., and for that, I am hugely thankful to the incredible young women who participated in this study. Their openness, honesty, and trust were essential to making this work possible.
In addition, I am extremely grateful for the incredible partnership between the University of Sheffield and Kids Club Kampala, which facilitated my first experience of qualitative fieldwork research.”
Emeli Hanson
Emeli’s dissertation was supervised by Dr Sammia Poveda, Lecturer in International Development in the School of Geography and Planning.
Emeli's work, informed by robust primary data collected by herself during fieldwork, showed a commitment to prioritising the participants' voices through a feminist phenomenological framework.
Her analysis enriched the understanding of the lived experiences of menstruating girls and women and the complexities of challenging and reproducing menstrual stigma.
Her work also helped to challenge some research findings from Global North locations, showing the importance of context within development research and practice"
Dr Sammia Poveda
