Digital Commons Network^™

Deaf Black Youth's Narratives About Identity And Education, Dominic A. Harrison

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This study is significant in exploring the different ways in which Deaf Black youth construct their identities through the use of narrative inquiry. Educators of Deaf youth should acknowledge how the identity journeys of Deaf Black youth are often affected by the school and home communities. This research employed narrative inquiry to understand how Deaf Black youth construct their identities as Black Deaf individuals. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a theoretical framework with the guidance of Intersectionality and Dis/ability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) lenses, the study specifically examined four Deaf Black youth’s narratives to highlight how they construct and …

The Importance Of Preserving The Linguistic Identity For Arabic Speakers And Those Belonging To Its Culture, Riyadh Saleh Altheeb

Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Arts and Humanities

This is a theoretical research classified as library research, based on the descriptive analytical approach, and aims to reveal the importance of preserving the linguistic identity of Arabic speakers and those belonging to its culture. What distinguishes the Arabic linguistic identity from any other linguistic identity? Furthermore, it asked two other questions: What determines the form of the linguistic identity for each person? And is the linguistic identity fixed or developing? The results of the research revealed that the relationship between identity and language is closed and identical. The language reflects the cultural and social identity of the individual and …

Analyzing Focus Groups Through Poetic Dialogues: Enhancing Participant Engagement And Representation In Program Evaluation, Catherine E. Sanders, Alexa J. Lamm, Jori N. Hall, Abigail Borron, Maria Navarro, James C. Anderson Ii

The Qualitative Report

Evaluating programs in rural communities can present challenges when large, observable successes, such as infrastructure additions, are limited due to resource challenges. These successes are often quantifiable and easily identified by external stakeholders. However, there are often intangible and social impacts that should be captured as successes of rural community-focused programs that may not fit the more quantitative methodology. Arts-based methodologies, like poetic analysis, can help capture the diverse impacts of a program, while also centering the voices of program participants in the evaluation itself. This study examined the use of poetic dialogues, an application of poetic transcriptions for focus …

Creating And Re-Energizing Communities Of Meaning Throughout A Course, Nancy A. Heise, Anum Ahmed

Feminist Pedagogy

We propose a feminist course approach wherein instructors build what Amie Macdonald (2002) called "communities of meaning" in their classrooms (p.120). Through an intentional focus on supporting students' 1) individual identities, 2) holistic well-being, and 3) epistemic "buy-in" to classroom content, students will connect more deeply not only to themselves and their classmates, but also to the course material. We suggest four community-building touchpoints as a starting point for instructors looking to integrate this course approach. We start with an activity to lessen awkwardness around first-day name pronunciation. We emphasize the importance of creating collaborative classroom expectations with students, and …

The Idea Of Ethiopia: Heritage Tourism In The Land Of Origins, Hosaena T. Tilahun

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

Hosaena Tilahun's "The Idea of Ethiopia" explores how heritage tourism in Addis Ababa cultivates Ethiopian patriotism and exceptionalism. Through an in-depth, close reading of the National Museum of Ethiopia, Unity Park, and the Oromo Cultural Center, supplemented by observations at the Red Terror Memorial Museum and Dergue Prison, Tilahun examines how heritage sites shape the political memory of national resistance, revolution, and Black internationalist thought. Tilahun discovers omissions of Menelik II's role in the Red Sea Slave network, encountering museum and archival silences about the internal conquest of peoples peripheral to the northern Abyssinian empire. As these heritage site renovations …

Cultural Continuity And Identity Preservation In Diaspora: The Role Of African Pentecostal Churches In Maintaining Traditions Within African Communities In The United States, Olamide T. Awoyemi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the role of African Pentecostal churches in preserving cultural traditions andshaping identities among African diaspora communities in the United States, focusing specifically on Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) and Pentecost International Worship Centre (PIWC) in Tampa, Florida. Through detailed participant observation and in-depth qualitative interviews, this thesis examines how rituals, religious practices, and community engagement within these churches facilitate cultural continuity and identity negotiation among Nigerian and Ghanaian immigrants. Findings reveal that these religious institutions serve as critical sites for resisting cultural erasure, navigating the complex tensions between maintaining African heritage and adapting to American society, and providing …

Educational Dialogues And Shuar Cultural Identity: An Approach From The Neutrosophic N- Alectics., María Claudina Gómez Ayora, María Belén Centeno Defas, Isaac Roger Martínez

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

This dissertation aims to assess the significance of dialogues in educational interventions that facilitate the con-struction and reinforcement of the cultural identity of Shuar students in rural multigrade classrooms from a Neutrosophic N-Alectic Assessment based on the Theory of Neutrosophy that seeks to approximate truth, deni-al, and indeterminacy within pedagogical realities. Therefore, it involves an interpretative qualitative study comprised of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with teachers and students, participant observation in class-rooms, and neutrosophic discursive analysis of dialogue occurring in bilingual learning environments. Results show that dialogue surrounding ancestral stories, purposeful interaction with the Shuar language, and subse-quent community involvement facilitate …

Democratic Lawyering: Upending The “Hidden Curriculum” To Prepare New Lawyers For A New World, Eduardo R.C. Capulong, Andrew King-Ries, Monte Mills

The Journal of Law Teaching and Learning

Multiple heightening crises reveal the deficiencies and contradictions of legal education, in particular the values it imparts. Perpetuating myths about U.S. democracy and rule of law, the enduring formalist, liberal legalist cast of law school is increasingly at odds with students’ lived experiences. As liberal democracy and the rule of law falter, no longer is relying on the “hidden curriculum” or the historically nebulous and mythical narratives of the law and our legal system sufficient to prepare tomorrow’s lawyers for the challenges faced by our profession. Instead, with a boost from ABA Standard 303, this article draws on the tradition …

A Teacher, A Tutor, A Friend: Chatgpt And The High School Experience, Saisha Gupta, Vivek Mehta, Rebecca Kam, Caroline Ehmann, Alma Orgad, Emily Kuang, Alejandro Castro Barrantes, Matthew Posada, Samay Shah, Nikhita Prasad, Tara Pai, Eileen Ho, Shirley Xi, Tianyi Zhou, Elaina Li, Stephanie Wan, Shreya Paranjape, Zoe Dearling, Siqi (Grace) Peng, Aanya Kaveti, Gwendolyn Lowrance, Angela Ziyi Xie, Mira Xu, Adhiti Hariram, Alexa Muse

The Qualitative Report

Given the increasing emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, high school students' perspectives on ChatGPT are underrepresented in current research literature. As high school student researchers in an English Language Arts course, we approached this gap in literature by asking the question: In what ways do pressures within high school communities influence students’ perspectives on justifying or rejecting the use of ChatGPT? We interviewed 24 secondary students and conducted a thematic and discourse analysis, coding the interviews through the lenses of social goods (Gee, 2014), Figured Worlds (Holland et al., 1998), and positioning theory (Holland et al., 1998; Ingram …

Introduction: Mother Tongue As Global Politics, Jessica Chandras, Joshua Babcock

UNF Faculty Research and Scholarship

For racialized speakers living in the wake of colonial modernity, “mother tongues” persist as perilous, precarious terrain. Far from being a straightforward linguistic resource or a totalizing, self-evident identity marker, “mother tongue” is always positioned, partial, and political. As a category, “mother tongue” encompasses projects across disparate sites, histories, and interactional grounds beyond South Asia, where the concept has been most extensively elaborated. Articles in this collection trace the links among collective national identities, individuated personhood, and the denotational codes that get made to refract language-community attentions—not just a group's language, but more essentially, their “mother tongue.” What transformations, investments, …

“I’M Not Belgian, I’M European”: Ontological Security, Common Security & Defense Policy, And Evolving Identity Dynamics Within The European Union, Madeleine Bamford

Senior Theses

Identity dynamics worldwide continue to impact global integration and defense policy. This study aims to fill a gap in scholarship: how political science research can zoom in on the individual and produce effective research at the singular level through ontological security theory. Drawing on Eurobarometer studies and social media comments, this study delineates the evolution of European identity dynamics from 1975 to 2024. The study considers how the idea of ‘Home,’ the othering of outside peoples, and perceived physical security contribute to the constituent perception of defense policy. Furthermore, this study examines various European Union policies that have impacted collective …

Identity And The Russian-Ukrainian War: Evidence From The American Community Survey, Matthew Holian, Oleh Wolowyna

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to significant changes in ethnic identity and language preferences among U.S. residents. We observe an 18.9% increase in U.S.-born individuals identifying as ethnic Ukrainian from 2021 to 2022 and a 6.8% decrease for U.S.-born ethnic Russians, which cannot be attributed to prior trends or sampling variation. The changes among Ukrainians were more pronounced among college graduates and those living in Democratic-leaning counties. We document an increase in the use of the Ukrainian language among Ukrainian immigrants, which cannot be explained by prior trends or immigration patterns. We test for labor market discrimination, …

Folk Art As A Catalyst: Unfolding Salvadoran Identity Through Design., Kevin E. Lopez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This research explores how folk art can act as a catalyst to revitalize spaces and deepen connections to Salvadoran culture. It examines works of folk art as cultural artifacts that embody Salvadoran identity, revealing their underlying structures, patterns, and meanings. This understanding of form and symbolism within these artistic expressions will serve as a foundation for translating cultural identity into architectural design.

Ideas and experiences can be ephemeral, but through design, these concepts can be translated into architectural forms. Knoespel argued in “Diagrammatic Transformation of Architectural Space” that diagrams conveys architectural information, suggesting that by analyzing an element, new information …

Beyond Stigma: Role Theory And Drama Therapy In Reentry And Rehabilitation, Mackenzee Donham-Stradling

Expressive Therapies Theses

To be system-impacted often means facing stigmatization. The experience of incarceration is profoundly dehumanizing, eroding self-worth and identity. This thesis examines the application of a 3-week drama therapy method for formerly incarcerated women residing in a transitional facility with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. This project integrated a drama therapy framework with Robert Landy’s Role Theory to create a method aimed at assisting formerly incarcerated clients in expanding their role repertoire and discarding those roles that perpetuate their disempowerment. This thesis begins with a literature review of role in drama therapy, the experiences of incarcerated women in the …

Generational Remigration Of The Latvian Diaspora: Tracing The Confluence Of Cultural Identity And Economic Opportunity, Elizabeth L. Curiskis

Geography Honors Projects

At just 1.85 million, Latvia’s current population is declining at one of the fastest rates in Europe. This situation is prompting the Latvian government to introduce policies seeking economic, political, educational, and cultural engagement with the country’s diaspora with the hope that some of the approximately 390,000 emigrants and their descendants living abroad will return to live in Latvia. This paper asks whether these government initiatives are successful in their goal of influencing Latvian diaspora members to remigrate, and if the policies acknowledge and reconcile generational differences in the diaspora’s attitudes towards cultural involvement and eventual remigration. Through surveys and …

Becoming Sephardic: Historical Consciousness And Emergent Ethnoreligious Identification In New Mexico, Sarah Leiter

Anthropology ETDs

In recent years, an increasing number of Hispanic Catholic New Mexicans have discovered that they descend from Iberian Jewish victims of the Spanish Inquisition. For some, this new information has prompted them to identify as Jewish in various ways. However, many have faced considerable difficulty in gaining recognition of their newfound ethnoreligious ancestry among family members, normative Jewish communities, and the Spanish and Portuguese governments that offered reparative citizenship to Sephardic (Iberian Jewish) descendants. In this ethnographic context, this dissertation explores how shifting understandings of religious identity and ancestral pasts affect identification practices in the present. Drawing on theoretical analyses …

Storytelling In Undergraduate Engineering Courses As Inclusive Curriculum: Improving Students’ Sense Of Belonging, Identity, And Persistence, Brooke Heller

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The engineering field experiences high attrition rates and a historical lack of diversity in the United States. Sense of belonging and identity have been shown to impact persistence, especially for people from historically marginalized communities. This three-paper dissertation is focused specifically on this phenomenon in academia and methods of contributing to improving and progressing conditions. To pivot to a new paradigm in which people from diverse backgrounds feel welcome and valued, there is a need for more inclusive practices in the field, particularly in the form of curriculum in academia. Inclusion has been shown to improve outcomes for students from …

Predicting Migrant Youth Integration In The United States, Scott Bayer Gove

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between participation in an identity development program for migrant youth and their subsequent integration into U.S. society is examined. The study focuses on the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants' (USCRI) READY4Life program, which aims to support migrant youth in their transition to life in the United States. This study will examine whether performance scores in the READY4Life program can predict scores on the Immigration Policy Lab's (IPL) Integration Index, a validated measure of integration. The study will employ a cross-sectional experimental research approach, using multiple linear regression analysis to examine the relationship between the READY4Life performance scores …

Transnational Teachers On Both Sides Of The U.S.-Mexico Border: Exploring Their Identities And Conocimiento. A Phenomenological Study With A Comparative Stance, Isaac Frausto Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The transnationalism phenomenon is at the core of an increasingly globalized world. This phenomenological study with a comparative stance explores the lived experiences and perspectives of teachers with a transnational migration background with regards to how they [re]construct their identities and conocimiento. It compares and contrasts the histories and insights from participants in the borderlands with those from the heart of Mexico. Specifically, this study contributes to the under-explored body of literature which has taken a comparative stance in looking at transnationalism in education on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Data derived from migration memory maps and in-depth, phenomenological …

Educating Indians, Learning ‘Indianness’: Navigating Pluralistic Educational Infrastructures In Diasporic Singapore, Emma Grimley, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper advances the idea of ‘educational infrastructures’ to explore the slippages created by national education frameworks and the everyday ways in which citizen-subjects learn to be part of an ethno-cultural community. In doing so, we tease apart the differences between education as a top-down process of citizen-making and learning as a poly-directional assemblage of behaviours and influences that permeate the socio-spatial landscapes of ethnic belonging. We illustrate these theoretical arguments through an analysis of Singapore’s diasporic Indian community and the collapse of linguistically and culturally complex community backgrounds under the Mother Tongue policy. This leads to a pluralisation of …

Study On Doctor-Patient Identity Construction From The Perspective Of Narrative Medicine, Fuxian Lin

Patient Experience Journal

This study delves into the construction of identities and the linguistic strategies employed within the doctor-patient interactions through the lens of narrative medicine, with text analysis methodology utilized. The research findings unveil linguistic strategies employed by doctors and patients within the narrative medicine framework in shaping their identities during communication. In the establishment of their collective identity, doctors concentrate on minimizing hierarchical disparities with patients. While establishing relational identities, doctors display attentiveness to patients' emotional states, primarily utilizing medium and low modality. They consciously avoid using imperatives with assertive tones, creating space for collaborative negotiation. When shaping personal identities, doctors …

Dedicatoria - Reflections On The Fabric Of Privilege (Chelsey Dipasquale-Hunton, Pp. 7-9), Chelsey Dipasquale-Hunton

Intersecciones Hispánicas: Revista de Cultura, Literatura y Lingüística

Chelsey’s reflection, written in November 2023 for Dr. Nancy López’s Intersectionality: Race, Gender, Class for Social Policy course, stands as a profound testament to her intellect, compassion, and commitment to understanding the complexities of privilege and identity. In this deeply personal narrative, Chelsey examines the paradoxes of privilege she carried and the ways in which they intersected with her marginalized identities. Her words reveal not only her dedication to self-awareness and growth but also her unwavering commitment to fostering equity and understanding within her community.As an educator, colleague, and advocate, Chelsey embodied the principles of humility and responsibility. Her reflection …

Gnsi Decision Brief: De Oppresso Liber – Applying Green Beret Identify And Ethos To Build U.S. Military Resiliency, Robert S. Burrell, Joseph E. Long, Charles Cleveland

GNSI Decision Briefs

Military ethos is the “spirit of the unit, which is the sense of unity that leads warriors on the battlefield to believe that the lives of those around them are more important than their own.” In 2025 Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth promised a return to a “warrior ethos,” which he said the Department of Defense (DOD) has lost because of the recent politicized climate, including diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. This brief will utilize the Army's Special Forces as a viable model for achieving collective military spirit in one of the world's most diverse nations.

Factors Of Social And Emotional Development Which Positively Impact Language Acquisition In Early Childhood To Support Well-Being And Academic Development, Amanda L. Sauer

Graduate Teacher Education

Students who speak a first language other than English often enter classrooms with educators who may not know how to support second language (L2) development. Even more so, there is little research about L2 development and the social and emotional factors that foster language growth for English language learners (ELL) as it pertains to early childhood. Through quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method studies, research was synthesized to give early childhood educators the necessary insight into factors that foster positive social and emotional growth for these dual language learners’ (DLL) L2 acquisition. Studies suggested that young students benefited from play-based learning environments …

L’Intertextualité Ou Quand Les Imaginaires Culturels Se Rencontrent, Lamiae Khayi

Dirassat

The literary text, regardless of its authors, does not carry a single, unequivocal voice anchored in an experience identifiable in a space situated in a specific time. This statement may provoke astonishment. Yet, this text, a complex reality in itself, like the canvas, invites a new way of reading and interpreting. This would allow us to discover either the constructive dialogue of proximity; or the echo of inter-personal violence; both revealed through the intertext. This article will attempt to examine this dual dimension in the work of Mohamed Nedali, thanks to Jean De La Fontaine.

What Is A Nation? Colonial Legacies, Identity, And Reclaiming In Métisse Autobiographical Narratives – A Case Study Of Sugar And Slate And Garçon Manqué, Thaïs Maëlle Autin

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis examines the question of national belonging in autobiographical narratives of second-generation immigrant métisse women. I study the similar aesthetic manner in which individuals with different regional and cultural influences grapple with concepts of identity, gender, racism, exile, and negotiation, and the way in which the authors anchor themselves in a broader familial and national heritage. I argue that such an enterprise can be understood as part of the alternative heritage wave, based on Andrew Higson’s theory. The texts put in question traditional understandings of nation. Doing so opens the possibility of engaging in a dialogue that expands the …

We Are The Cemetery Of Talents: Amazigh Reality In The Anti Atlas, Morgan Lee

Morocco: Human Rights, Social Justice, and Cultural Transformation

This paper seeks to explore a dynamic in which the Amazigh people of the Anti-Atlas Mountains are forced to decide between stability and success at the expense of their cultural identity. The Imazighen are deeply prideful of their culture and history. But in Morocco, being Amazigh often comes with burdens that disproportionately encumber this culture when compared to general Moroccan society. I will discuss literature on linguistic dynamics with the Tamazight language, literature regarding Amazigh art, and Pan-Africanist literature in order to gain a well-rounded insight into the Amazigh situation. I will then synthesize this information, along with some of …

Rooted Writing: The Role Of Place In Rural Writing Identities, Layne Elise Ilderton

The Rural Educator

This article investigates the intricate dynamics of writing relationships among rural students, highlighting the profound impact of place and identity on their writing experiences. Using a mixed methods approach, the study explores how rural settings influence students’ self-perceptions, apprehensions, and preferences in writing, as observed through a survey administered in three rural high schools. Central to the findings is the observation that students demonstrate a notable decrease in writing apprehension when engaging with topics rooted in their personal and rural experiences. They also have auditory and social preferences for writing environment and feel restricted with stringent grammar requirements in writing. …

The Health Status Of Black Asian American Communities: A Qualitative Study On Black Asian Americans Under Structural Racism, Regina Lee Bryant

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to describe various disparities and obstacles related to health justice, culture, community, identity, resilience, resistance, and well-being of the Black Asian American populations under structural racism within the United States. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and thematic analysis in community settings, including online spaces like the Korean Black Club and the Blasian Facebook groups. These platforms provided insight into shared cultural dynamics and the challenges of navigating dual identities amidst systemic racism. The findings illuminated how structural racism impacted social determinants of health, including economic stability and cultural validation. The …

Glotopolítica, Identidad Y Lenguas En México En El Siglo Xxi, Marilyn S. Avalos Huesca

Journal of Maya Heritage

Languages, like human beings, have been adapting to the changes produced worldwide, and with this they have grown in number of speakers or disappeared forever from society. These changes are not given arbitrarily, but are conceived from politics and the State, where what should be the best for the speakers, nationalism and society permeates according to the statutes established by those in power. All this from an ethnocentric point of view, which denigrates what is different, what we do not understand, and therefore, we reject. This article analyzes the presence of languages in Mexico from a point of view related …