Digital Commons Network^™

Rhetoric-Remembrance-Race-Region: Contemporary Stories Of Abolition And The Making Of Race In The Upper Midwest, Kristin Wagel

Theses and Dissertations

The project examines how contemporary stories of abolition are inventive resources for articulating race in the upper Midwest. Focusing online fragments representative of abolition stories, these analyses illustrate the entanglement of rhetoric, remembrance, race, and region in a space distanced from race in the public imaginary. Through three case studies, I utilize the hermeneutic of public memory to advance a rhetorical reading of these narratives that construct the region through rhetorics of whiteness. In the first case study, rhetorics of purity are deployed in remembrances of Joshua Glover in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to absolve the state and its white residents from …

Stand Up Eight: Adversity, Resilience, And Career Adaptability, Samantha Schams

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to fill a gap in the literature by examining the relationship between adversity and career adaptability. The objectives of this study are: 1) to better understand the relationship between adversity and career adaptability. 2) to examine whether race, gender, socioeconomic status, or resilience moderate this relationship. 3) to compare career adaptability and resilience. These objectives were addressed in a quantitative analysis of survey results gathered of adults living in the United States who speak English. To test for a curvilinear relationship between adversity and career adaptability, we completed a regression analysis of the data using adversity, squared …

An Examination Of Early Childhood Teachers’ Perceptions Of Discussing Race With Children, Sarah Elizabeth Kubly

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examines early childhood teachers’ perceptions and practices with regard to talking to young children about race. Through an online survey and an individual interview with two early childhood teachers, I uncovered three findings: a) teachers’ understandings of their students’ racial awareness, b) teachers’ current classroom practices regarding race, culture, ethnicity, and c) challenges teachers faced in talking about race with their students along with possible sources of support. Based on these findings, I concluded that teachers made the decision not to directly confront the issue of race with their students due to feelings of fear and discomfort. …

African Americans’ Perceptions Of Racial Inequality In Relation To Institutional And Social Trust, Megan Brianna Betts

Theses and Dissertations

Much of the research examining institutional and social trust explores the factors that affect these concepts, including race and ethnicity. Such studies involve comparing different racial groups and using race as a discrete independent variable in their analysis. Few researchers have sought to explore social and institutional trust within a single racial group, and when they have, it has only been in White respondents. In addition, few researchers have tied institutional and social trust to understandings of racial inequality. Due to the complex social and historical circumstances of African Americans, I propose there is a pattern in the way Black …

German-American Wpa Murals At The Milwaukee Public Museum And National Socialist Schultafeln: A Comparative Analysis, Katherine J. Santell

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis was to systematically examine and compare the themes and styles present in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) paintings housed in the Milwaukee Public Museum to a selection of National Socialist Schultafeln in Germany. The research conducted on the WPA paintings concentrated on pieces from the A.O. Tiemann collection and other works by painters who emigrated from Germany in the early 20th century or were of German descent. This was further narrowed to an in-depth analysis of pieces that depict lake dwelling sites of the European Neolithic and Bronze Ages in both US Museums and selected …

Situating Worker Cooperatives: The Urban, Racial And Gendered Geographies Of Cooperative Development In New York City’S Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative, Rebecca Wolfe

Theses and Dissertations

Worker cooperatives are gaining increased traction as an urban economic development strategy aimed to better support low-income women, immigrants and communities of color. Worker cooperatives are businesses that are owned and managed by its workers, and their supporters see them as a more equitable form of development that facilitates enhanced economic agency and access to ownership and wealth building. Reflecting and reinforcing growing cooperative momentum, New York City developed the nation’s first municipal-sponsored cooperative development initiative in 2014. The Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative (WCBDI) brings together policy makers, city administrators and nonprofit community-based organizations to provide educational programming, cooperative …

An Intersectional Analysis Of The Role Race And Gender Play In Welfare Recipients’ And Case Manager Experiences, Stephanie Baran

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of food insecurity in Milwaukee and how people receiving benefit assistance understand themselves, others and how they thought others understand them. This frame was duplicated for social workers and poverty organizations in the Milwaukee area. Using a series of theoretical viewpoints, the study utilizes racial theories, as well as, symbolic violence and annihilation to discuss how various aspects of recipients, social workers and poverty organizations interact within the theoretical margins. Taking place over one and a half years and including 350 observation hours at a local food pantry, the study found that respondents feel …

Cw Is Open To All: Post-Difference Representation And Hegemonic Time-Travel Narratives In Dc's Legends Of Tomorrow, Claire Elizabeth Hackett

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis examines how a post-difference perspective, where diversity is shallowly embraced, can influence the characters and narratives of a television show, with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow as the prime example. Legends is a great example of this because it is an ensemble show that features characters who are from different races, religions, sexualities, ages, genders and historical time periods. A post-difference lens myopically pushes the narrative that everyone in society is equal, and the discrimination faced by marginalized communities is no longer relevant. This perspective is problematic because it reinforces how whiteness is the norm in society, and the …

“This Has Never Really Been About Books”: A Latcrit Case Study Of Intellectual Freedom, Adriana Marie Mccleer

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines historical and contemporary traditions and practices at an intersection of Library and Information Studies (LIS) and K-12 education to identify barriers and limitations to intellectual freedom related to race and ethnicity. It presents a qualitative case study, first documenting the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Mexican American Studies (MAS) program, a public K-12 ethnic studies program in Tucson, Arizona between 1998 and 2012. Next, it details actions that led to the dismantling of the program, including Arizona officials designing and passing two laws that put financial pressure on the district to end the MAS program in …

"Becoming A Multicultural Teacher: Reflections On Responsibility In First-Year Writing", Ingrid Jayne Nordstrom

Theses and Dissertations

Composition Studies teacher-scholars who are committed to working with multicultural student populations are trained to value writing from marginalized groups, recognize the intelligence that lies within “non-standard” forms, and encourage student writers to find and use their own voices. Too often, however, our thinking and writing focuses on what we teachers assume to be our responsibility: giving voice to the voiceless or empowering student success. This dissertation addresses this situation by re-conceptualizing responsibility itself, proposing that multicultural pedagogies are of limited use unless we examine the self-perceptions and preconceptions influencing our work with students in the classroom. Modeling a research-based …

Making An Old-World Milwaukee: German Heritage, Nostalgia, And The Reshaping Of The Twentieth Century City, Joseph B. Walzer

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the importance of white ethnicity, and especially Germanness, in the “civic branding” and urban restructuring efforts of city officials, civic boosters, and business leaders in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the mid-to-late twentieth century. Scholars have increasingly identified the significant roles the “revival” of European ethnic identities played in maintaining white racial privilege in response to the Civil Rights Movement since the 1960s. I contribute to these new veins of scholarship by tracing the continued and evolving prominence of Germanness in the Midwestern city of Milwaukee, long after common assumptions of ethnic assimilation might have expected such nineteenth century …

Examining The Processes Of Social Construction On Decision-Making In Domestic Violence Probation Review Hearings, Danielle M. Romain

Theses and Dissertations

In domestic violence courts, judges and other court actors are often trained on one particular model of understanding domestic violence: the Duluth model of violence as power and control. There are, however, different theories and discourses about the causes and nature of domestic violence. Further, specialized domestic violence courts, which have become more prevalent since the 1990s, employ a problem-solving approach to domestic violence, focusing on offender accountability, rehabilitation, and victim safety. Whether these courts reduce violence and increase safety is less clear. Further, limited research exists on how offenders are processed through these courts, including post-sentencing decision-making. Given the …

Food Inequities, Urban Agriculture, And The Remaking Of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Margaret Pettygrove

Theses and Dissertations

Evidence of growing food insecurity and diet-related disease (e.g., diabetes) in North America has raised concerns among scholars and community groups about the quantity and quality of food available to urban residents (Guthman 2012). Research indicates that low-income and racial or ethnic minority populations experience disproportionately limited food access (Zenk et al 2005). Scholars hypothesize that limited physical proximity to full-service retail food stores or to sources of affordable fresh produce leads to unhealthy dietary practices (such as overconsumption of fat) that then produce diet-related illness. This “obesogenic environment thesis” has shaped much of the geographic research on food access, …

Welfare Queens To Childcare Queens: The Political Economy Of State Subsidized Childcare In Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2009-2012), Anika Yetunde Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Through the privatization of childcare in Wisconsin, thousands of impoverished, under-educated and low skilled African-American women became micro-enterprising entrepreneurs. In 2006 through the instituting of Wisconsin Shares (Shares), Wisconsin’s low-income childcare program, the average family daycare provider in Milwaukee County earned over $50,000 a year (Pawasarat and Quinn 2006). Drawing on neoliberal ideas of micro-enterprising entrepreneurship, these women were successful, but this success appeared to not align with the architects of Shares. Loic Wacquant (2009, 2012) argues that neoliberalism should not be viewed as market strategies or exercises, but rather, it should be viewed as a quintessential political project that …

Constructing Loyalty, Citizenship, And Identity: A Rhetorical History Of The Japanese American Incarceration, Kaori Miyawaki

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reexamines loyalty, citizenship, and identity in the United States by closely reading historical materials about the Japanese American incarceration. The Japanese American incarceration is a unique and important historical event for studying citizenship and identity, since it was a moment in the U.S. history that citizens of the country were incarcerated by their government. This raises a larger question beyond the incarceration. What does it mean to be a loyal American citizen?

By closely analyzing texts generated by the U.S. government, the Japanese American community, and White American photographers, I identify multiple, conflicting meanings and implications behind the …

A Different Kind Of Race: How Native Racial Practice Affected Kinship In The Borderlands Of The Old Northwest, 1778-1813, Alexis Helen Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses changes in native racial practice in the Ohio River Valley and lower Great Lakes from 1778-1813. In this region, Native peoples altered their identities and racial practices in order to navigate an environment where Euro-Americans threatened their way of life and their land. They cultivated a pan-Indian identity in order to fight against westward expansion, making the isolation of "others" a typical function of kinship practices. While recognizing the racial hierarchy of whites, Native peoples created their own racial thought and practices, integrating their beliefs into their kinship structures, daily lives, and identities. As pan-Indianism evolved, "white" …

Reflecting, Seeing, Learning: Using Autoethnography To Critically Interrogate Racism, Classism, And Selfhood, Stephanie Nook

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this self-study was to engage in autoethnography that focused on the interactions of the auto (self) and the ethno (culture) components of this qualitative method of study. In an effort to be more culturally aware of my selfhood within the classroom, I sought to "story" pivotal moments in my personal history where class, race and privilege intersected. I aimed to interrogate these intersections and their role in shaping and informing my identity, while also harvesting new knowledge and understanding through the very act of retelling. I argue that the act of autoethnography was influential in dismantling unproductive …

Predictors Of Perceived Belonging Among U.S. Military Men And Women, Heidi M. Pfeiffer

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to identify predictors of perceived belonging within the military unit, a factor which has been shown to promote effectiveness, satisfaction, and mental health. Online survey responses from service members, veterans, and trainees were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. It was found that perceptions of positive military leadership, larger unit size, older age, and active duty (rather than reserve/guard) service were associated with higher perceived belonging, together explaining a significant portion of variance in scores. Male gender was also found to be associated with higher perceived belonging, but the increase in variance explained by the addition of this …

A Qualitative Case Study On Teachers' Identities, Ideologies, And Commitment To Teach In Urban And Suburban Schools, Talonda Michelle Lipsey

Theses and Dissertations

Using narrative inquiry, this study employed a Critical Race Theory lens to examine the ways in which identity factors such as race, culture, socioeconomic status, and gender work in concession with teachers' ideologies, as demonstrated by their values, beliefs, and perceptions about race, to inform their teaching practices, experiences with students and families of color, and commitment to teach. The main question this research study sought to examine was: How do teachers' identities and ideologies, as demonstrated by their values, beliefs, and perceptions, influence their decisions to remain in or leave urban and suburban classrooms?

The study focused on the …

Finding Its Place: The Effect Of Race On Drug Court Outcomes, Ben Gilbertson

Theses and Dissertations

The most recent statistics on United States adult drug courts indicate that there are more than 1,400 courts currently in operation nationwide (National Institute of Justice 2013). This number is rather astounding, given that drug courts only emerged in Miami, Florida in 1989. However, what is more astounding is the fact that in the two decades drug courts have existed, they have been studied more than all other criminal justice programs combined (Honda and Sheen 2011; Marlowe 2010). As successfully completing one's drug court program (i.e., graduating) often indicates whether a former participant will recidivate, myriad researchers and federally-funded studies …

Race, Crime And Athletes: A Qualitative Analysis Of Framing In Local Newspaper Coverage Of Nfl Quarterbacks Michael Vick And Ben Roethlisberger, Kristi Grim

Theses and Dissertations

The present study researched the positive, negative, thematic and episodic framing contained in local newspaper coverage of two criminal investigations of National Football League quarterbacks: the Ben Roethlisberger rape case and the Michael Vick dog-fighting case. A qualitative analysis revealed stories about Roethlisberger were more likely to feature positive framing supporting the message that Roethlisberger was a good person who was innocent of criminal activity. By contrast, Vick articles were more likely to feature negative framing supporting the message that Vick was a criminal. In addition, articles on Roethlisberger were more likely to use thematic frames as a way to …