African American Studies Commons^™

A Case Study The Effects Of Student Engagement On Academic Achievement In African American Women: Comparing Undergraduate Stem Majors To Non-Stem Majors From A Historically Black College And University, Zenora E. Gay

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The nation is at a critical juncture in history as it seeks to increase the number of students who enter the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce. The national push to have a properly trained STEM workforce was at the forefront of the past administration’s top priority list. The higher education community has a unique opportunity to contribute to the creation of a sustainable U.S. STEM workforce. Although significant progress has been made in STEM fields, some argue that movement has been too slow in certain cases, as shown in degrees earned by women in engineering (National Academies of …

The Forgotten Activists Of Georgia: The Black Women Of Savannah, Emily Zanieski

Honors College Theses

Historians of the Civil Rights Movement in Georgia have primarily focused on how the national movement unfolded in the city of Atlanta. More recent scholarship has highlighted the role Martin Luther King Jr. played in Albany; however, many of these analyses focus on figures within the larger movement rather than focusing on local, grassroots organizers. Additionally, their primary focus tends to be on the role of Black men, leaving behind the voices of Black women who led alongside them. Through a Long Civil Rights Movement (LCRM) approach, I argue that Black women in Savannah, Georgia played an instrumental role in …

Healing Through Mother Earth, Taylor A. Russell

Dance (MFA) Theses

This thesis deals with mental health, with a focus on Black women. Historically, Black women are often so compromised, being constant caregivers and helping everyone else, that they forget to help themselves, not having the time and financial means to do so. If we go back in the time of slavery, many Black women were taking care of slave owners' children and suckling the white women’s babies instead of their own. By the time they got home and after diligently caring for other people’s children they were focused on their own children, who they had been away from for hours …

Where Are All The African-American Women Superintendents In California, Oregon, And Washington State?, Toniesha D. Webb

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

There are many African American women in leadership positions such as Assistant Superintendents, Network Superintendents, Directors, Principals, Assistant Principals, and Coaches. There is a disconnect for African American women in leadership and the highest position of authority in a school district. This leads to the question, what are the barriers, if any, that are limiting the amount of African American Women in the far western states to transition into Superintendent positions? In the reverse, what supports did the women who are superintendents have in their leadership ascension? Finally, what structures need to be developed and formalized in order to facilitate …

Holistic Health Among African American Women Remaining In A Marriage After Infidelity, Nena Evette Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Infidelity has been noted as a major reason married women experience stress and seek therapy. Infidelity is a social problem that results in adverse outcomes for individuals, families, and society. Health disparities are noted in women who have experienced infidelity. Studies have been conducted on marital status and health, but little has been studied on the holistic health experiences of married African American women who stay in their marriage after a spouse’s infidelity. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how the experience of marital infidelity affects the holistic health of heterosexual African American women in the …

Adding A Dimension: Illustrating Triple Consciousness Theory In The African American Literary Tradition, Asia Wesley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the way gender expands and nuances W.E.B. DuBois’s double consciousness theory, which depicts the African American identity as a doubleness that is both American and Negro. Black feminist criticism’s nuanced formulation of DuBois’s formulation of Black identity allows the African American literary tradition to be seen through three lenses: an American, a Negro, and an African American’s gender identity. In order to further contemporize the pre-existing Black feminist criticism, I examine Hurston, Brooks, and Morrison in the three time periods that followed DuBois’s coining of double consciousness theory: (1) the Harlem Renaissance, (2) the Civil Rights Movement …

An Examination Of The Relationship Among Social Services Support, Race, Ethnicity And Recidivism In Justice Involved Mothers, Ne’Shaun Janay Borden

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Historically, women have been ignored and minimized in criminology research and theory, leading to gaps in the literature on justice involved women. In recent years, there has been more focus on women as their rates of involvement in the justice system have increased. Previous studies have found that pathways to justice involvement are different for women and men, with women experiencing higher rates of victimization, sexual abuse and mental health concerns. Further, justice involved women are unique in that over 80% are mothers or primary caregivers for minors. General Strain Theory is used to assert that receiving support should reduce …

The Evolution Of Defining Rape In The United States, Sophia Rhoades

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Anger, Genre Bending, And Space In Kincaid, Ferré, And Vilar, Suzanne M. Uzzilia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines how women’s anger sparks the bending of genre, which ultimately leads to the development of space in the work of three Caribbean-American authors: Jamaica Kincaid, Rosario Ferré, and Irene Vilar. Women often occupy subject positions that restrict them, and women writers harness the anger provoked by such limitations to test the traditional borders of genre and create new forms that better reflect their realities.

These three writers represent Anglophone and Hispanophone Caribbean literary traditions and are united by their interest in addressing feminist issues in their work. Accordingly, my research is guided by the feminist theoretical frameworks …

In Her Own Hands: How Girls And Women Used The Piano To Chart Their Futures, Expand Women's Roles, And Shape Music In America, 1880–1920, Sarah F. Litvin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

American girls and women used the parlor piano to reshape their lives between 1880 and 1920, the years when the instrument reached the height of its commercial and cultural popularity. Newspapers, memoirs, biographies, women’s magazines, personal papers, and trade publications show that female pianists engaged in public-facing piano play and work in pursuit of artistic expression, economic gain, self-actualization, social mobility, and social change. These motivations drove many to use their piano skills to play beyond the parlor, by studying in conservatory, working as classical and popular music performers and composers, founding and teaching at schools, working as department store …

Progressive Commemoration: Public Statues Of Historical Women In Urban American Cities, Melanie D. Chin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Women who made notable accomplishments are underrepresented in commemoration. Some American cities have brought women to the forefront of becoming visible through commemoration in statues. This thesis compares the commemoration of historical women in four different American cities. Stakeholders hold the key to implementing and changing public policy to increase the visibility of women and people of color in public monuments. Cities which lack representation of women and people of color may learn from and follow the efforts of a leading city to achieve lasting and effective change in representing those who historically been underrepresented.

We Are Roses From Our Mothers' Gardens: Black Feminist Visuality In African American Women's Art, Kelli Morgan

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT WE ARE ROSES FROM OUR MOTHERS’ GARDENS: BLACK FEMINIST VISUALITY IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN’S ART MAY 2017 KELLI MORGAN, B.A., WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNIVERISTY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Manisha Sinha We Are Roses From Our Mothers' Gardens posits that in differing historical periods African American women visual artists employed various media and create from individual political thoughts, intellectual views, and aesthetic interests to emphasize the innate unification of a Black woman’s race, gender, sexuality, class, and selfhood and how this multifaceted dynamic of Black women’s identity and material reality produces a …

Black Models Matter: Challenging The Racism Of Aesthetics And The Facade Of Inclusion In The Fashion Industry, Scarlett L. Newman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The global fashion market is expanding every day, but often, the global fashion runways do not reflect that reality. On average, black models make up for six percent of models used on the runway during the fashion month calendar. This small percentage is also mirrored in advertisements and editorials featured in popular fashion magazines. In the 1970s, black models were met with great opportunities, and that success trickled down into the 1980s and the 1990s. As the 90s came to a close, top designers opted for an aesthetic that ultimately excluded models of color, but black models beared the brunt …

Biosociocultural Factors And Motivation To Lose Weight Among Obese African American Women, Odette Marie Russell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity is a pandemic that has a substantial impact among African American women. Biological, social, and cultural acceptance of obesity, collectively referred to as biosociocultural factors, represents an obstacle to efforts to address this health risk among this group. The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of the relationship between biosociocultural factors and motivation to lose weight. Self-determination theory, objectification theory, and social learning theory formed the study's theoretical framework. The key research question concerned the extent to which the investigated constructs (BMI, internalized body image, and social networks) helped to explain motivation for weight loss …

“If There Are Men Who Are Afraid To Die, There Are Women Who Are Not”: African American Women's Civil Rights Leadership In Boston, 1920-1975., Julie De Chantal

Doctoral Dissertations

Since the 1980s, narratives surrounding the Boston Busing Crisis focus on South Boston white working-class’s reaction to Judge Arthur W. Garrity's forced desegregation order of 1974. Yet, by analyzing the crises from such narrow perspective, the narratives leave out half of the story. This dissertation challenges these narratives by situating the busing crisis as the culmination of more than half a century of grassroots activism led by Black working-class mothers. By taking action at the neighborhood and the city levels, these mothers succeeded where the National Association for the Advancement of the Colored People and the Urban League had failed. …

A Lineage Of Black Feminist Art, Kiana Miller

Honors Theses

This Black Feminist Art thesis project displays Black lives with full representational impact and it allows a space for agency to be shown. Through an empirical literature review, original poetry and artwork this thesis expresses dimensions of Black feminist/womanist voices. The purpose of this thesis is putting real images of Black lives out into the world in order to have a positive impact, giving young girls an artistic role model that looks like them, and the ability to read a book with images and stories of lives that may resemble theirs, lastly sharing a social commentary as well as a …

I Preferred, Much Preferred, My Version: Exploring The Female Voice And Feminine Identity Within Memoirs Of The 20th And 21st Centuries, Alexandra Fradelizio

Senior Theses

Memoirs have long been a valuable way in which individuals share and reflect on their past experiences. The genre of memoir writing especially had a tremendous impact on a range of American female writers. This thesis explores memoirs written by women throughout the 20^th century. With the shift in women’s roles during the 1900s and early 2000s, the memoirs examined emphasize the importance of feminine identity. The analysis provided within this thesis centers on each memoirist’s unique path in determining her sense of self. Moreover, the memoirists each use the process of writing to relay the value of personal …

Intercultural And Career Experiences Of African American Women Midlevel Leaders At Predominately White Institutions, Rabekah Stewart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American women leaders positively influence the college experiences of students at predominately White institutions (PWI), but the retention of those women leaders remains an issue. At the time of this study, limited research informed race and gender issues that intersect the career advancement of African American women serving in midlevel leadership positions at PWIs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the intercultural and career advancement experiences of these women. Critical race theory, critical race feminist theory, and intercultural communications theory were used as a framework to understand the participants' intercultural and career advancement experiences, perceived influences, …

Stigma And Hiv Testing Among African American Women In New Jersey, Mirriam Limage-Pierre

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American women are 18 times more likely to contract HIV than are European American women, yet they are less likely to be tested for HIV. Lack of HIV testing leads to late diagnosis and increased mortality from HIV-related illnesses. Based on the health belief model, this correlational study analyzed the extent to which HIV stigma mediated the relationship between perceived benefits or perceived severity of HIV and the uptake of HIV testing among African American women in New Jersey. A total of 93 African American women aged 18 and older who resided in New Jersey completed online questionnaires. Data …

The Adjustment Of First Year African American Women To Predominately White Institutions: Implications For Best Practices, Maisha Beasley

Doctoral Dissertations

Currently, both scholarly literature and educational practice are lacking depth and scope about the lived experience of African American (AA) female students, and, as a result, they lack effectiveness for this population of students. In particular, they do not address the varying ways AA female students adjust to the university during their first year, the most critical year for student retention and persistence in the college experience (Pike & Kuh, 2005), nor do they recognize how intersectionalities of identities in AA women are salient to successes and challenges at PWIs. This study addresses this gap in the research by not …

'She Shall Not Be Moved': Black Women's Spiritual Practice In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Paradise, And Home, Rondrea Danielle Mathis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

‘She Shall Not Be Moved’: Black Women’s Spiritual Practice in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Paradise, and Home argues that from The Bluest Eye, Morrison’s debut novel, to her 2012 novel, Home, Morrison brings her female characters to voice, autonomy, and personal divinity through unconventional spiritual work. The project addresses the history of Black women’s activist and spiritual work, Toni Morrison’s engagement with unconventional spiritual practice, and closes with a personal interrogation of the author’s connection to Black women’s spiritual practice.

Reproductive Rights And State Institutions: The Forced Sterilization Of Minority Women In The United States, Maggie Lawrence

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Eating Attitudes And Behaviors Among African American Women, Eileen N. Mccarthy

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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