Education Commons^™

Exploring Taiwanese Creative Arts Therapists' Professional Identity After Returning Home From Studying Abroad, Rhona Jung Jung Chang

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study aimed to document Taiwanese creative arts therapists' career experiences after studying abroad and returning home, and how they perceive their professional identity as creative arts therapists in Taiwan. This qualitative study explores the experience of eight female professional Taiwanese creative arts therapists, including two art therapists, two dance/movement therapists, two drama therapists, and two music therapists. Interviews were conducted, and the participants were asked about their personal experience of art-making, the practice of creative arts therapies in Taiwan, and the understanding and awareness of their professional identity.

Data from this study was gathered by the interviews' transcripts and …

Human Capital Formation And Return Migration Within Mong Communities In Rural/Semi-Rural Northern California, Chong Yang

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This research uses computational grounded theory to explore the human capital formation and stay/return migration experiences of well-educated Mong adults living in various rural/semi-rural Northern California localities within Butte, Yuba, and Sutter Counties. Rural vitality is dependent on the return of these well-educated rural-raised adults. Out-migration of rurality’s best and brightest contributes towards a brain drain and the hallowing out of rurality’s human capital. Findings of this research is conveyed using two research articles examining two different points on the continuum of rural vitality. The first article examines 19 Mong adults’ educational experiences within their rural communities and college education. …

Book Review: Yang, K. (2017). The Making Of Hmong America: Forty Years After The Secret War. Lexington Books., Thong Vang

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

The Making of Hmong America is part of a series of books and articles published by Dr. Kou Yang, highlighting the Hmong’s involuntary migration from Asia to the rest of the world, their past status and progress of the Hmong diaspora in the United States. The book expands upon a previous text that Yang had written entitled "40 Years After the Vietnam War: Celebrating the Contributions of Indochinese Refugees to the United States."

Movement Upstream, Downstream: A Lyric Essay, Mong- Lan

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

Early on, without knowing I was part of a movement, I was part of the movement of the Asian American cultural and literary phenomenon.

Because it was necessary to bear witness, to tell my story, my stories, our stories, the collective story, my observations, which keeps on unravelling, I began to write.

The Effects Of Racialization On Sikhs In America: An Intersectional Approach, Harsirjan K. Roopra

Senior Theses

Sikhs have been largely ignored in the literature surrounding social justice and religious tolerance. The many pressures Sikhs face, and the social assumptions that lead to them, must be brought into the broader conversation on these issues so that educators and politicians might help support the well-being of the Sikh community. Sikh identity has been misinterpreted and redefined in modern day American society. The lack of cultural and religious literacy of many Americans, coupled with Sikhs’ distinct visible identity, has led to xenophobic violence against Sikhs since their arrival in the U.S. more than a century ago. The root of …

Undocumented Asian Immigrants: Securing Higher Education And Cultural Citizenship, Ka Kui Lee

Master's Theses

This research investigates how undocumented Asian immigrants navigate the obstacles of higher education. It inquires how undocumented Asian immigrant students navigated the higher education process and how institutional actors influenced their college experience, revealing the intimate interactions between undocumented students and the institutional actors. The political economy of their college application process is understood through the frameworks of liminal legality, narratives, cultural citizenship, borders and boundaries, and governmentality of migration, all of which frame the process of the data analysis.

Through the interviews of college-graduated undocumented Asian immigrants and ethnography at a local high school in the San Francisco Bay …

Voices Of Mixed-Race Asian Students On College Campuses, Amy Sara Lim

Honors Papers and Posters

Research suggests that there are a growing number of people who identify as mixed-race Asian Americans, and thus there is a growing need to understand and document their experiences (Literte,2009; Sims 2010; Tamai, Nakashima, Williams, 2017). The central question of this study is: how do mixed-race Asian students’ racial identities affect their identities as learners within social, emotional, academic and physical contexts? The goal of this research project is to explore the educational experiences of mixed-race Asian students at a Southern California university with the intention of developing a critical mixed-race pedagogy for educators and scholars. Through mixed methodologies involving …

Behind The Curtain: The Cultural Capital Of Pilipino Cultural Nights, Xavier J. Hernandez

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This study examines the phenomenon of Pilipino Cultural Nights in higher education through the lens of community cultural wealth. While in name, Pilipino Cultural Nights pay homage to the native culture of the Philippines, the processes through which these performances are produced and reproduced as annual traditions exhibit a distinct Filipino American cultural experience that is facilitated by the higher education environment. As under-represented and under-served students, Filipino American students utilize their various forms of community cultural wealth to create one of the most visible performances on their campus and a cornerstone coming of age experience for Filipino American youth. …

Untwining Threads: Second Wave Hmong Parents’ Conceptualizations Of Ways To Support Their Adolescent Children’S Education, Mao Sea Lee

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This research identifies the support systems for adolescents’ education within the second wave Hmong refugee family setting. The study examines the parents’ perspectives on their own support systems for their adolescents’ education. The work focuses on studying both the instrumental support and psychological care these parents provide their teenage children and interprets why these parents choose to provide these resources. Studying these parents’ ways of supporting their adolescents provided a more in-depth understanding of why these recent refugee parents choose to invest of their resources to their adolescents’ education and, subsequently, what education means to them. The research also brought …

South Asian Americans’ Identity Journeys To Becoming Critically Conscious Educators, Radhika Khandelwal

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Typical identity stereotypes for South Asian Americans, such as the model minority myth, do not convincingly support a trajectory into K–12 education, as South Asian Americans are not readily seen as agents for social change. This qualitative study explored how South Asian American educators’ understanding of their ethnic and racial identity interplayed with their practice as critically conscious educators for social justice. Eleven participants who self-identified as social-justice-oriented were interviewed to share their experiences as South Asian American educators. Their responses revealed South Asian American educators develop their ethnic identity consciousness in complex ways, demonstrating self-awareness and subsequently draw upon …

Southeast Asian American Students’ Perspectives On Influences That Lead To High School Dropout, Elizabeth D. Kuo

CGU Theses & Dissertations

High school dropouts continue to happen in the U.S. without a clear solution. Southeast Asian American (SEAA) is a population with significantly disproportionate high school dropout rates and one of the lowest enrollment rates in higher education. This study seeks to challenge the notion that “all” Asians are high-achieving by analyzing the reasons why a surprising number do not do well, i.e., drop out of school. A better understanding of the perspectives of Southeast Asian American students on the factors and influences that lead to their decision or cause to drop out of high school is the focus of this …

Negotiating My Chineseness In College: The Complexities And Uniqueness Of Being Chinese American, Yan Wang

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Chinese Americans are historically perceived as “perpetual foreigners” in the American political, cultural and racial discourses. People of Chinese descent have long been conceived as sharing a same ancestor as those in China. Situated in the global context of China’s rise in the world, culturally, politically and economically, this research looks at how Chinese American college students negotiate their ethnic identity in the Midwest of the United States. The current Coronavirus outbreak brought new waves of anti-Chinese/Asian sentiment into American political and cultural life. This rhetoric makes the discussion of Chinese American college students’ ethnicity construction crucial.

Using qualitative research …

“Where Are You From?”: Using Critical Race Theory To Analyze Graphic Novel Counter-Stories Of The Racial Microaggressions Experienced By Two Angry Asian Girls, Talitha Angelica Acaylar Trazo, Woohee Kim

Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

This article uses critical race theory (CRT) to analyze two stories about racial microaggressions from Where Are You From?: Short stories about being Asian in America, the graphic novel written and illustrated by Talitha Angelica Acaylar Trazo in fulfillment of her undergraduate honors thesis. Where Are You From? visually historicizes the counter-stories of 48 Asian and Asian American students at a predominantly-white undergraduate institution. In this article, we examine these microaggressions in relation to institutional and structural racism and the intersections of race, gender, and power dynamics between white faculty and Asian female students. Furthermore, we propose …

Splinters From The Bamboo Ceiling: Understanding The Experiences Of Asian American Men In Higher Education Leadership, Jerald Adamos

Doctoral Dissertations

Asian Americans continue to confront perceptions connected to the perpetual foreigner and model minority concepts which challenges their acceptance as leaders in mainstream American culture. Asian men have recently been able to attain higher levels of education that opens doors to higher level positions and organizations yet still face barriers to career advancement opportunities. In consideration of the American higher education system, Whites continue to exceed their proportional representation in areas of the institution while Asian Americans do not. The purpose of this study is to understand how the intersection of racial and gender identity has influenced leadership through the …

Chinese Culture Club, Ashley Thyes

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

Afterschool club that teaches students about Chinese culture and teaches them how to speak and white various words and phrases.

Racialized Aggressions And Sense Of Belonging Among Asian American College Students, Kevin J. Gin

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

This naturalistic, qualitative inquiry explored how Asian American college students’ encounters with racialized aggressions on social media impacted their sense of belonging at a predominately White institution (PWI). Participants indicated that encounters with racism on social media, especially on the anonymous mobile app Yik Yak, engendered racial distrust, and alienation from their institution. These findings suggest the virtual components of campus culture play a critical role in determining how Asian American college students feel they are welcomed, valued, and included at a PWI.

The Mere Mention Of Asians In Affirmative Action, Jennifer Lee, Van C. Tran

Publications and Research

Presumed competent, U.S. Asians evince exceptional educational outcomes but lack the cultural pedigree of elite whites that safeguard them from bias in the labor market. In spite of their nonwhite minority status, Asians also lack the legacy of disadvantage of blacks that make them eligible beneficiaries of affirmative action. Their labor market disadvantage coupled with their exclusion from affirmative action programs place Asians in a unique bind: do they support policies that give preferences to blacks but exclude them? Given their self- and group interests, this bind should make Asians unlikely to do so. We assess whether this is the …

Mimicry: A Short Play, Diana M. Pho

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This short play is inspired by the author’s lived experience as a queer Vietnamese-American woman in academia and in US society. This theatrical piece, centered around two young women meeting for the first time after several years, reflects upon the mutable divergence of shared memory, while also exploring intersectional feminist theory and the Vietnamese-American community. This is also a critique of US-based stereotypes about young Asian-American women, and how social prejudices and microaggressions can result in internalized anti-Asian misogyny. Like the range of identities and life experiences that characters Laurel and Mattie have, the Asian diasporic experience in the United …

Asian American Community College Presidents: An Asiancrit Analysis Of Their Approaches To Leadership, Johnny Hu

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

This study explores the experiences of five current and former Asian American community college presidents including their career transitions into executive leadership using an AsianCrit analysis for framing their narrative experiences. The literature review situates the experiences of Asian American community college presidents in various contexts by providing a brief summary of several historical moments and political movements that have shaped the realities they currently confront as higher education leaders. This study employed a Critical Race Theory (CRT) approach to counter storytelling to analyze the participants’ narratives both individually and thematically based on their social identities as Asian Americans and …

Dmt And “The Man Box:” Provoking Change And Encouraging Authentic Living, An Arts-Based Project, Steven Reynolds

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the mind-body experience through an arts-based research approach to examine, and redefine the emotional capacity and usefulness of males through societal determinants that limits and hinders men from living their authentic selves. Through the lens of a metaphoric “Man Box” 112 men participated in a workshop recreating their personal narratives of socialization through, style of dress, coping mechanisms, belief systems and who they should be as men through society's standards. In the “Man Box,” male bonding, and emotional feelings are discouraged, while the objectification of women, material property and physical/emotional strength are encouraged. This research investigates the …

Empowering Filipino American Young Adults Through Culturally Relevant Leadership Experiences, Donnaly Y. Atajar

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore the leadership development of Filipino American young adults. As an advisor for Lakas Mentorship Program in the Inland Empire, I explored the following question among program staff and mentors: How could I use culturally relevant curriculum to foster personal and professional development for young Filipino American leaders? I evaluated the impact of four cycles centered on leadership training and improving program practices to understand how to deepen engagement and facilitate positive transformation. I found that the following contributed to meaningful engagement: intentional leadership opportunities, institutionalized program structure, and peer mentorship and community …

"Name Her Reiko!": The Ikemiya Diaspora, Morgan Ikemiya

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This creative-nonfiction project encapsulates a Japanese family diaspora to America beginning in the late 1880s. Through short stories, poems, and monologues, the author expresses familial struggles such as living in a foreign land and being Japanese in White America. The author reflects on her grandparents' time in the Japanese internment camps where they faced hardship and hegemonic oppression as well as her father's experience of growing up Japanese-American in Los Angeles. The stories weave together history, hardship, and race to create a unique diaspora story.

Subtle Asian Womxn, Long Tran

Global Honors Theses

My involvement with the Global Honors Program culminates with a senior capstone project for T GH 496 Experiential Learning in Global Honors. Over the course of spring quarter, I had the opportunity to produce a documentary film, under the supervision of my faculty advisor, Dr. David Coon, to fulfill the requirements to graduate with a minor in Global Engagement and earn the full distinction from the program. My film actively engages with the intersection of the historical representations of Asian womxn and their lived experiences with dating. As of Wednesday, May 1, 2019, I have been able to interview 14 …

Two Poems: Stop Time Before; Forsaken Ones, Ánh-Hoa Thị Nguyễn

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This creative work features two poems: Stop Time Before; Forsaken Ones

Racial Microaggressions And Alienation Among Hmong American College Students, Bruce Yang

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Students of color continue to experience racism within institutions of higher education across the United States. These experiences often include racial microaggressions, which are evolved forms of racism that are subtle, difficult to detect, and harmful. Racial microaggressions have been found to be associated with several consequences including mental health, emotional, and physical problems (Dahlia & Lieberman, 2010; Connolly, 2011; Cheng, Tran, Miyake, & Kim, 2017). Furthermore, studies have also alluded to the potential relationship between racial microaggressions and the dimensions of alienation for student populations of color (Fissori, 2010; James, 1988; Lambert, Herman, Bynum, & Ialongo, 2009; Sauceda, 2010; …

Hyper-Selectivity, Racial Mobility, And The Remaking Of Race, Van C. Tran, Jennifer Lee, Oshin Khachikian, Jess Lee

Publications and Research

Recent immigrants to the United States are diverse with regard to selectivity. Hyper-selectivity refers to a dual positive selectivity in which immigrants are more likely to have graduated from college than nonmigrants in sending countries and the host population in the United States. This article addresses two questions. First, how does hyper-selectivity affect second-generation educational outcomes? Second, how does second-generation mobility change the cognitive construction of racial categories? It shows how hyper-selectivity among Chinese immigrants results in positive second-generation educational outcomes and racial mobility for Asian Americans. It also raises the question of whether hyper-selectivity operates similarly for non-Asian groups. …

Koreans, Americans, Or Korean-Americans: Transnational Adoptees As Invisible Asians, A Book Review, Tairan Qiu

The Qualitative Report

The book, Invisible Asians: Korean American Adoptees, Asian American Experiences, and Racial Exceptionalism, explores the personal narratives and histories of adult adoptees who were born between 1949 and 1983 and who were adopted from Korea by White parents. Using oral history ethnography, Nelson (2016) seeks to correct, complicate, and contribute to current discussions about transnational adoptions. In this book review, the author provides an overview, a personal reflection, and recommendations for potential audiences of this book.

Because I Am A Daughter: A Hmong Woman’S Educational Journey, Kaozong Mouavangsou

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This paper is a critical reflection on the author’s educational experience as a Hmong woman. The author draws on feminist theories, and intertwines the Hmong culture and US education. The paper begins with an introduction about the author’s US-centric perspectives she had about her Hmong community. Her narrative focuses on how these perspectives influenced her interpretations of the events that took place surrounding her decision to attend college away from home. To unpack this experience, the author focused on a need to understand Hmong culture and gendered ideologies by deconstructing her then-western-perspective of why her relatives discouraged her. Through this …

How To Be The Perfect Asian Wife!, Sophia Hill

Art and Art History Honors Projects

“How to be the Perfect Asian Wife” critiques exploitative power systems that assault female bodies of color in intersectional ways. This work explores strategies of healing and resistance through inserting one’s own narrative of flourishing rather than surviving, while reflecting violent realities. Three large drawings mimic pervasive advertisement language and presentation reflecting the oppressive strategies used to contain women of color. Created with charcoal, watercolor, and ink, these 'advertisements' contrast with an interactive rice bag filled with comics of my everyday experiences. These documentations compel viewers to reflect on their own participation in systems of power.

Asian Americans In Greek Life, Lisa Li

Asian & Asian American Studies Student Research Symposium

My research aims to uncover the underlying reasons to why Asian Americans in college and university campuses join Greek Life.