Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Teachers' Perspectives On Decolonizing U.S. Curriculum For Latinx Through Ethnic Studies Programs At The Middle And High School Levels, Richard Varela

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the implementation of an ethnic studies program with an emphasis on Mexican American Studies at the middle and high school level, in a district located along the Mexican/U.S. frontera. Ethnic Studies are a critical, interdisciplinary academic field of study that acknowledges that race, and racism are embedded in every U.S. system, especially our educational institution. As a critical pedagogy, ethnic studies validate and encourages the voices and viewpoints of the marginalized, while analyzing and criticizing dominant influences that promote â??normalizingâ?? of racialized inequality (de los Rios, 2013). At the center of ethnic …

"Building The Plane As We Fly It": Tesmonios Of First-Time Mexican American Studies High School Teachers During The 2021-2022 School Year In Southwest Texas., Jesse Soledad Arrieta

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Mexican American Studies, as a course, was approved by the Texas State Board of Education in 2019. However, there were no provisions on how the course would be implemented or supported by school districts in Texas. Further, in 2021, Texas House Bill 3797 and Senate Bill 3 were passed into law, aiming at the heart of Ethnic Studies - Critical Race Theory (CRT). Utilizing testimonio as methodology and method, I sought to understand the experiences of first-time Mexican American Studies high school teachers implementing Mexican American Studies during the 2021-2022 school year in Southwest Texas. Testimonio interviews with six teachers …

The Shaping Of Ethnic Mexican Identity In The Segregated Schools Of Presidio, County, Texas, 1867-1947, Aurelio Saldana

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The work conducts a sociological analysis of the historical record documenting segregated school settings in a rural area from 1867 to 1947 using socialization theory. The sociological theory of schemas will provide a lens from the Americanization process students in the U.S., specifically ethnic Mexican students, underwent to shape "American" identity. The analysis ventures into the intersectionality created by the social constructs of gender, sex, race, and class and how these factors combined as part of the Americanized socialization of ethnic Mexican students. Gender inequality, or patriarchy, was a leading factor in shaping the contested U.S.-Mexico borderlands and U.S. society. …

Como Lobos, David Andrew Place

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In a world of conflict, Storm Crow, a Comanche warrior, leads a war party making its way through Mexico and Texas, stealing horses, abducting children, and wreaking chaos as he seeks spiritual and magical power, increasing his notoriety and prowess as a warrior. During one raid, Storm Crow abducts a white child, six-year-old Wade Vance. When Wade tries to escape, Storm Crow attempts to shoot him. When Storm Crow's gun fails twice, he realizes that the boy is not meant to die and adopts him, renaming Wade, "Broken Gun," in praise of the perceived magical intervention, the gun misfiring twice, …

Mi Feria Es Su Feria: How Mexican Americans Created The 1968 San Antonio Hemisfair, Gene Thomas Morales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In 1968, HemisFair became the first world's fair to be held in San Antonio, the United States Southwest, and to be recognized by the Bureau of International Expositions. Countries from around the globe were brought together by a shared commitment to democratic unity, Pan-American friendship, and to celebrate San Antonio's 250th anniversary. San Antonio Fair Inc., the group in charge of the fairâ??s construction and production, worked closely with community leaders, the Texas state government, and the U.S. federal government to create the exposition. The fair's theme would be called Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas. Confluence for the fair …

Skirting The Law: Women In Vice During U.S. Prohibition In South Texas, 1900-1933, Carolina Monsivais

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation explores both women's participation in the vice industry north of the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas and the ways in which women were policed. The Dissertation analyzes the interactions that occurred between law enforcement agents and the women they arrested, primarily ethnic Mexican women. This analysis illuminates law enforcement tactics that were honed during this era through the interactions that agents had with women who worked in vice industries. I also argue that women in this industry demonstrated knowledge, agency, and resistance. In addition, it created avenues of work for women, particularly in South Texas. However, studies examining …

Stratified Access On The Border: Examining Experiences Of Reproductive Care, Maralyn Doering

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Patient care experiences shape and affect the way that patients perceive and contextualize health care (Koenig 2011). Prior care experiences can change how patients choose to receive care in the future. In Texas, reproductive health care research has primarily focused on troubling trends in reproductive health care outcomes. This can be noted by the high cervical cancer rate (CDC 2019), the high unintended pregnancy rate (Kost 2015), and the limited access to reproductive care, particularly preventative care (Hopkins et al. 2015). The focus of this research has been on structural barriers, such as funding cuts (White et al. 2012), barriers …

The Representation And Shaping Of The Hispanic Identity And The Assignment Of Power In Three Types Of Hsi-Related Discourse: Hea Amendments, Utep President Diana Natalicio Convocation Speeches, Academic Articles, Julie Ann Rivera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation examines the impact of Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) related written discourse on the representation and shaping of the Hispanic identity and the assignment of power. Performing a critical discourse analysis of three types of written HSI-related discourse: amendments to the Higher Education Act (HEA), academic articles, and UTEP President Diana Natalicio convocation speeches, I look below the surface of the discourse to draw out implications for Hispanic students and HSIs. My analysis merges Norman Fairclough's method of Critical Discourse Analysis, known for its focus on the relationship between language and society, with Lloyd Bitzer's The Rhetorical Situation, which will …

Indios To Vecinos: Identity And Classification In Paso Del Norte, Eric Murillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Identity for Native Americans in the US-Mexico borderlands is still a challenge in many ways. Native Americans in the US-Mexico borderlands often struggle to be seen as such, and many are subjected to a fragmented identity. This research explores how Spanish colonial classification continues to affect Native Americans from the borderlands.

The Paradoxical Experiences Of Young Hispanic College Students: Academic Success In The Face Of Age-Related Stigma, Marilyn Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

There has been growth in programs such as the Early College High School Initiative in order to address the inequalities that racial/ethnic minorities, such as Hispanics, face when it comes to pursuing a higher education. As a result, there has been an increase of nontraditionally aged students (i.e., young students under 18) in higher education. Despite likely increases in young students attending universities, little is known about the young students' academic performance and the challenges they face while attending college; this Thesis addresses that limitation through two studies using institutional and interview data from one university. The first study used …

Racial Injustice In Houston, Texas: The Mexican American Mobilization Against The Police Killing Of Joe Campos Torres, Melanie Rodriguez Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the Houston Police Departmentâ??s (the HPD) relations with the ethnic-Mexican community across four decades to consider how the police killing of Joe Campos Torres sparked a wave of protest that ensured that cityâ??s long history of police brutality against ethnic Mexicans and other minorities (especially African Americans) came to the forefront in Texas, if not the nation in general. The HPD was a mechanisms of the cityâ??s status quo that reinforced the racial dominance of white Houstonians. From 1940 to 1970, the HPD found it necessary to implement effective police models to control wayward minorities and uphold …

Damas Y Caballeros, Guadalupe Mendez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Collected Poetry - Manuscript over socio - political and culturally relevant context.

Perspectives On Feminine Cultural Gender Role Values From Latina Leaders And Community Residents, Nazanin Mina Heydarian

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Marianismo and machismo are gender values prescribed to women and men respectively within Latino cultures. Characteristics associated with these gender values can be pro- or anti-social. Individuals, regardless of their own sex, self-identify with characteristics prescribed to both genders. There is little research examining how Latinos conceptualize and self-identify with both marianismo and machismo. The present study contributes to the literature by classifying how Latina leaders and non-leader community residents describe characteristics associated with marianismo and machismo. I identified characteristics of marianismo and machismo and their associated pro- and anti-social dimensions by means of a thematic analysis. The following characteristics …

The Notion Of Cultural Assimilation Into An American Identity: Abstract Or Concrete?, Julie A. Rivera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Assimilation is believed to be the process immigrants follow to become "American." To be American is to be equal to other Americans in societal, employment, and educational opportunities. But this is not and cannot be an outcome of the assimilation process in the United States. There are multiple definitions and expectations of assimilation; too many to allow a clear outcome. This project addresses the complexity associated with all versions of assimilate, the multiple definitions, processes, and outcomes associated with this term, and demonstrates that there is no concrete resolution to an assimilation process due to the multitude of definitions attached …

Reinventing The Old West: Concordia Cemetery And The Power Over Space, 1800-1895, Nancy Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Utilizing Concordia Cemetery as a framework, this study analyzes the social and economic development of El Paso County and the surrounding areas after the U.S.-Mexico War (1846-48). The cemetery was a vast commercialized zone before it was a burial ground, and silenced histories, voices, and people that lived and thrived on this land are incorporated into this work. The role of the original owners, Hugh Stephenson and Juana Maria Ascarate, as well as the Mexican networks, intermarriage and Mexican American women, and the presence of ethnic Mexicans are subjects that are also examined. In addition, this Dissertation interrogates the pioneer …

Acculturation Effects On Preference For English And Spanish-Language Tv Commercials Among Hispanic Audiences Of Mexican Descent, John Burton

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The growth of the U.S. Hispanic population and its purchasing power over the past twenty years continues to be monitored closely by corporate interests anxious to gain market share and brand loyalty of the segment that now represents the largest minority group in the country. Marketers continue to look for competitive advantages in effectively communicating targeted messages to Hispanics in order to increase revenues and profits.

This study focused on the historically dominant mass-reach medium of television and explored concepts of acculturation theory to examine the effects of acculturation sub-dimensions on TV commercial language preference and attitudes among Hispanic audiences …

Era[C]Ing Diversity: A Critical Rhetorical Approach To Race And The New Citizen, Theresa Donovan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Era[c]ing Diversity is guided by a broad question of inquiry regarding the formation and reformation of subjectivity through the filling out of "blank" forms such as the application for naturalization. This dissertation examines how the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service uses and distributes race, and how subjects participate in the social reproduction of the dominant ideology to create a society where individuals think: I am White; He/she is Black, or Asian, or Native American etc. Era[c]ing Diversity examines how the N-400 constructs the new citizen and the ways that permanent legal residents of Mexican origin disrupt or reify this construct. …

The Literary Fictioning Of John Gregory Bourke's Imperial Nostalgia, Toni K. Mcnair

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Nineteenth-century Army Captain and American ethnographer John Gregory Bourke (b. 1846 - d. 1896) meticulously described and documented a vast amount of information on military life, geography, ecology, and people on both sides of the Mexican-American border, offering observations and opinions of American, Mexican, Mexican-American, Apache, Pueblo, Zuni and Plains Indian cultures. Because of his ethnographic studies of Mexican-Americans along the Rio Grande, cultural studies scholars, José E. Limón and José David Saldí­var have identified John Gregory Bourke as complicit in the U.S. government's imperialist project. Referring to Renato Rosaldo's anthropological theory of imperialist nostalgia, These authors declare Bourke's work …

Safe Medication Use Among Hispanic College Students: Knowledge, Attitudes And Behaviors, Tania Guadalupe Quiroz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

College students are at increased risk of medication errors. Research suggests that young adults are active users of over-the- counter (OTC) medications and other products that may increase the risk for negative health outcomes. Therefore, it is very important to analyze young adults' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors about medication use among college students in order to provide them with the necessary information. Due to language and cultural factors, the issue is particularly relevant in U.S.-Mexico border communities. This casual-comparative study examined knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding medication use among Hispanic college students. Data was collected through a survey developed by …

It's Bigger And Hip-Hop: Richard Wright, Hip-Hop, And Masculinity, Marcos Julian Del Hierro

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In Native Son, Richard Wright presents a view of the impoverished, inner-city from an insider's perspective, which reflects the anger and hate brewing towards the rest of the nation as a result of living under harsh, isolating conditions. Wright's main character, Bigger Thomas serves as an archetypal ghetto figure both in his attitudes and the treatment he receives from Anglo Americans. Additionally, the reception of Native Son by a majority white reading audience also reflected the voyeuristic thrill of the bourgeoisie when consuming cultural products by African Americans. The selection of Wright's novel into the Book of the Month …