Digital Commons Network^™

Guides And Guidance: Subverting Tourist Narratives In Trans-Indigenous Time And Space, Shanae Aurora Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation is a study of the ways in which Indigenous writers and theorists suggest we decolonize the sites of knowledge production through our pedagogical and methodological practices. Ultimately, my dissertation is about the power of story and finding the necessary strategies to change the narratives that do harm in our daily lives. I focus on the sites of knowledge production because these are the institutions and practices with which I am the most familiar. The purpose of this work is beyond metaphorical as I strive to forefront the narratives that change the ways in which settler-Indigenous relationships are formed …

We May Find Ourselves In Art: The Artistic Purpose Of Defiant Indigenous Women, Alexa Goldstein

Senior Theses

Indigenous people have used cultural practices for centuries in order to resist the systematic forms of oppression that silenced or attempted to erase their cultures after the colonization of these lands. These oppressions even though they exist under democratic forms of government, fail to give recognition to the sovereignty of a culture with thousands of years of sacred wisdom. Women, in order to fight for their cultural heritage use art as a means of resisting oppressive and discriminatory actions towards them and to regain the agency and identity of the indigenous woman that had been colonized by a western-male gaze. …

The Search For 'Home': Anglo-Burman Identity At The End Of Empire, Katrina Chludzinski

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The study of mixed race populations and their identity formation have become important fields of historical research over the past few decades within the larger scope of colonialism. This dissertation explores how Anglo-Burmans formed and redefined their own place in the twentieth century as a consequence of conflicting perspectives on race and ‘belonging’ in the British Empire on the one hand, and majority Burman policies in the post-independence era on the other. These views are largely derived from archival records in the United Kingdom and Myanmar. Minutes from meetings as well as correspondence with Anglo-Burmans, British officials, and Burmese officials …

Primo Levi And Frantz Fanon: The Seizure Of Human Dignity, Reprisal, And Thereafter, Jake Cicero

Senior Projects Spring 2019

History has proven that memory, both collective and individual, can act as a trigger for revolution – the question at stake is the extent to which violence is appropriate, or furthermore beneficial, to the revolutionaries. There are limits to rational, ideological, and theological approaches to humanity amidst defining 20th century experiences for humanity. The path to modernity is a contested one. Primo Levi and Frantz Fanon give voice to the internalized debates of the oppressed and uncover historical truths to shed light on the reality of revolution in the 20th century. Fanon, the anti-colonial revolutionary and Levi, the survivor of …

Behind The Mask Of Morality: (E)Urochristian Bioethics And The Colonial-Racial Discourse, Jennifer L. Mccurdy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The discipline of bioethics is insufficient and ineffective in addressing the persistent issues of racism and racial inequalities in healthcare. A minority of bioethicists are indeed attentive to issues such as implicit bias, structural racism, power inequalities, and the social determinants of health. Yet, these efforts do not consider the colonial-racial discourse -- that racism is an instrument of eurochristian colonialism, and bioethics is a product of that same colonial worldview. Exposing mainstream bioethicists to the work of anti-colonial scholars and activists would provide bioethicists a framework through which they would be better equipped to address issues of race through: …

Decolonizing The Body Of The Chosen One: The Bodily Performance Of Anakin Skywalker, Buffy Summers, And T'Challa, Alise M. Wisniewski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis engages the figure of the Chosen One in fantasy literature. The Chosen One arises as a key figure in fantasy and exists today in the Anglo-American literary imagination as a hero above other heroes. This figure embodies Anglo-American understandings of the Hero's Journey and savior narratives theorized by Joseph Campbell. It is a site of colonial triumph and violence and heteronormative white masculinity. Embedded into reiterations of Chosen Ones in American fantasy films and television, this body is being destabilized and decolonized.

In close readings of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars, Buffy Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, …

Beyond Colonizing Epistemicides: Toward A Decolonizing Framework For Indigenous Education, Samuel B. Torres

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

American schooling and Indigenous peoples share a coarse relationship mired by devastating periods of forced removal, indoctrination, and brutal assimilation methods. Over the course of more than a century of failed education policy—though often veiled in good intentions—Indigenous peoples have yet to witness a comprehensive Indigenous education program that fundamentally honors the federal trust responsibility of the United States government. On the contrary, with a contemporary approach of apathy, invisibility, and institutionalization, it is not difficult to see the legacy of settler colonialism continuing to wield its oppressive influence on Indigenous communities. Wolfe’s (2006) claim that “invasion is a structure, …

Transformative Social Work Education: Student Learning Needs And The Truth And Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls To Action, Garrison Mccleary

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The social work profession has played, and continues to play, an integral role in the development and implementation of discriminatory and harmful practices against Indigenous individuals, families, and communities across Canada (Blackstock, 2011). The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) 94 Calls to Action provide a comprehensive list of recommendations of which the primary focuses on child welfare. This Call to Action centres on ensuring that social workers are, “properly educated and trained about the history and impacts of residential schools” (TRC, 2015). This responsibility falls to Faculties and Schools of Social Work Social work to ensure social work …

On The Edge Of Inclusion: A Look At The Shifting Of Representation In Museum Display And Archival Cataloging, Natalie Ray

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This project, entitled "On The Edge of Inclusion: A Look at the Shifting of Representation in Museum Display and Archival Cataloging" by Natalie Ray delves into how the growing trend of social justice has raised new questions about how to better represent marginalized populations and how museum work has followed this pursuit. The digital age continues to impact the dynamism of exhibiting. Accurate representation becomes more imperative now that representative texts are able to reach more people than ever before. This increasing access coupled with the expanding interest in social justice and cultural reconciliation renders it necessary for curators and …