NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – Victoria Sturtevant, an associate professor of film and media studies at the University of Oklahoma, has been named the recipient of the 2025 John G. Cawelti Award for the Best Textbook/Primer by the Popular Culture Association. The honor recognizes her latest book, It’s All in the Delivery: Pregnancy in American Film and Television Comedy, which explores how pregnancy is portrayed, and often distorted, in comedic movies and television shows throughout U.S. history.
“I’ve been working on this book since I was pregnant with my oldest son, who’s now 16,” she said. “I kept noticing how often pregnancy was misrepresented, trivialized or completely overlooked. This book is my attempt to trace how those portrayals have shaped and reflected cultural attitudes over time.”
The book begins with the silent film era, when even showing a baby bump was considered taboo, and traces the gradual shifts in visibility and storytelling. Milestones like Lucille Ball’s groundbreaking portrayal of pregnancy in I Love Lucy are central moments in that history. Sturtevant argues that, even after pregnancy became technically permissible on screen, mainstream narratives often continued to marginalize the experience, favoring comedic portrayals of confused or overwhelmed fathers-to-be.
The annual John G. Cawelti Award recognizes textbooks and primers that employ innovative and unique approaches to popular and American culture in the classroom.
“To know that the committee saw the book as useful in the classroom means a great deal. Bridging the gap between academic analysis and broader conversations about media is something I care deeply about,” she said.
This is Sturtevant’s third book. It is receiving critical praise from Library Journal and the Kraszna Krausz Foundation. Her previous work, Hysterical! Women in American Comedy, co-edited with Linda Mizejewski, also received recognition from the Popular Culture Association, earning the Susan Koppelman Award in 2017. She published A Great Big Girl Like Me: The Films of Marie Dressler in 2009.
About the project
At the University of Oklahoma, Sturtevant teaches courses on film history, theory, and criticism, including writing about film and media, gender and media, classical Hollywood cinema, and cinemas of childhood. She is also an affiliated member of the Women’s and Gender Studies faculty.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
The University of Oklahoma has received a transformative gift from Jon and Shannon McCartney, which will name the McCartney Family Tunnel of Champions, the McCartney Family Gate of the Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and the McCartney Family Grand Lecture Hall in the Michael F. Price College of Business. The gift will also support the Inspiring Champions and the Athletic Director’s Discretionary Fund, in addition to establishing the McCartney DFW Career Trek program at Price College.
The University of Oklahoma today celebrated the opening of a new air traffic control tower at the OU Max Westheimer Airport. Standing 106 feet tall, more than double the current 52-foot facility, the new tower will modernize air traffic control operations and improve safety for pilots and students operating in the airspace.
Do I buy groceries or pay the electric bill? Should I pawn some of my belongings to afford my prescription? My child is sick, so I will have to miss work to take care of him. Those are just a few of the difficult choices that OU-Tulsa health professional students confronted during the Community Access to Resources Experience. The role-playing activity challenged students to navigate the financial, family and other pressures that can affect a person’s health and ability to follow medical advice. Held annually during the SCM Institute orientation week, the experience is designed to generate understanding and build empathy.
