Arts and Humanities Commons^™

"Their Past In My Blood": Paule Marshall, Gayl Jones, And Octavia Butler's Response To The Black Aesthetic, Williamenia Miranda Walker Freeman

Dissertations

Paule Marshall’s The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (1969), Gayl Jones’ Corregidora (1975), and Octavia Butler’s Kindred (1979) enhance our conceptualization of black aestheticism and black nationalism as cultural and political movements. The writers use the novel as genre to question the ideological paradigm of a black nationalist aesthetic by providing alternative definitions of community, black women’s sexuality, and race relations. Because of the ways in which these writers respond to black aestheticism and black nationalism, they transform our understanding of movements often perceived as sexist, racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic. An examination of their works reveals the need for additional …

“Holla If You Hear Me”: A Conversation With Black, Inner-City Youth On Career Preparedness Programs, Theressa N. Cooper

Doctoral Dissertations

This research study specifically addressed; how vocational preparedness programs effect the career aspirations of Black youth, within the context of the Middle Tennessee Council Boy Scouts of America’s Exploring program. The goal of this research is to represent Black youth participating in a vocational preparedness program. Interviews, journals, and rich, thick descriptions are utilized in this work.

Using the lens of narrative inquiry and cultural studies, I hoped to further the field of career development through the experiences of some of its key players, African American youth. Within the context of their stories five major themes surfaced around the ideas: …

Composite Of Complexity: Manifestations Of Whiteness And Class Among Las Vegas Italian Americans, Danielle Nicole Axt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Conventional terminology and conventional boundaries, in regard to ethnicity, are no longer applicable to the ever shifting population of the United States. In specific, the various degrees of White ethnic identity does not easily transition into convenient all encompassing categories such as Caucasian or more simply, White. Whiteness studies have been at the forefront of this critique, most recently asserting that White ethnic identity is heavily influenced by context. However, although many studies are now recognizing the impact of multiple layers of White ethnic identity (along the lines of gender, locale, socioeconomic level etc.) many still neglect to identify a …

The Secret Identity Of Race: Exploring Ethnic And Racial Portrayals In Superhero Comic Books, Lowery Anderson Woodall Iii

Dissertations

Does race exist in comics? And if so, what do those characters tell us about how one of the largest fiction producing industries in the country has explained minority relationships to its millions of readers? This study took a close look at three of the most successful comic book characters of all time (Batman, Superman, and The Black Panther) and examines how each exemplifies a position that the comic book industry has taken on race over the years. Using a counter-narrative analysis informed by the strategies of Critical Race Theory and post-modernist thought, the racial messages lying beneath the surface …

Violence, Symbols, And The Archaeological Record: A Case Study Of Cahokia's Mound 72, Kathryn Koziol

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Acts of violence are not always easily distinguished in their form. Given the additional difficulties caused by the obscure nature of the archaeological record, it is no wonder that interpretations of these behaviors are so skewed both between and within fields of research. There is little consistency in this academic dialogue, which prevents researchers from grappling with the larger perspectives that should be approached. For instance, just how far back in our human history have events such as genocide occurred? Are these modern in origin? The scale of ancient events and our anthropological scopes need more adjustment to the unique …

Finances In Strong African American Marriages, Bonnie Lichfield Anderson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study focused on how African American couples in happy marriages talked about finances in their couple relationships. Qualitative methodology was used for this study, and the data came from transcribed interviews with participants. Thirty-seven couples who identified their marriages as being strong, happy, or highly satisfying, volunteered to be interviewed for this study. All individual participants (74 total) talked about finances in their marriages, and all interviews were used for the purpose of this study. Their descriptions were coded and analyzed to explore the way that they talked about money issues in their marriages. The research questions focused on …

Black-White Differences In Wealth Accumulation Among Americans Nearing Retirement, Eun Hyei Shin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Using data from the 2006 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this study examines what types of assets and levels of savings are held by Black near-retirees, while comparing how types of assets and levels of savings of Black near-retirees differ from those of White near-retirees. Through the use of multivariate analyses, this study further investigates the effects of being Black on the levels of savings, the likelihood of holding IRAs, and the likelihood of being financially prepared for retirement. The study sample includes 4,077 individuals between the ages of 51 and 64, and the subsamples consist of 680 Black and …

Africanizing The Territory: The History, Memory And Contemporary Imagination Of Black Frontier Settlements In The Oklahoma Territory, Catherine Lynn Adams

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation articulates the ways in which black (e)migration to the territorial frontier challenges the master frontier narratives as well as African American migration narratives, and to capture how black frontier settlers and settlements are represented in three contemporary novels. I explore through the lens of cultural geography the racialized landscapes of the real and symbolic American South and the real, symbolic and imaginary black territorial frontier. Borrowing perspectives from cultural and critical race studies, I aim to show the theoretical and practical significance of contemporary literary representations of an almost forgotten historical past. Chapter I traces the sites of …

I Am Not My Hair...Or Am I?: Exploring The Minority Swimming Gap, Dawn M. Norwood

Doctoral Dissertations

A review of literature has revealed a dearth of research on leisure swimming patterns of Black females. Black youth, both male and female, have a higher rate of drowning than any other racial/ethnic group in the United States (“Water‐related injuries: Fact sheet”, 2005). Two known studies produced by (Irwin et al., 2009; 2010) examining hair as a constraint to swimming for African American youth produced conflicting results. In order to comprehensively examine hair as a constraint to African American female participation in swimming, the current study adopted a qualitative approach which allowed exploration of the cultural background and experiences of …

Is There Evidence For The Observation And Use Of Astronomy At The Harris Site In The Mimbres Valley?, Denise Ruzicka

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis is an archaeoastronomical study of a Late Pithouse Period (A.D. 550-1000) Mimbres-Mogollon site in the American Southwest. It specifically examines whether there is an association between architecture and astronomy at the Harris Site in the upper Mimbres Valley in southwestern New Mexico. The hypothesis for the study is that Mimbres pithouse groups observed astronomical phenomena and used such phenomena to guide the construction of their structures and establish a calendar. The methods used in this investigation include evaluating whether the site placement, the orientation and alignment of structures/houses, and the presence of cultural features on surrounding ridge tops …

Walking On The Red Brick Path: A Portrait Of African-American Women's Experiences With The Built Environment Of A Predominantly White Institution, Stephanie L. Krusemark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“Space, like language, is socially constructed; and like the syntax of language, the spatial arrangements of our buildings and communities reflect and reinforce the nature of gender, race, and class relations in society” (Weisman, 1992, p. 2). While institutions of higher education have granted physical access to African-American women over the last 150 years, their presence on American campuses has not been readily reflected in the physical design of the walls within which they learn. In examining the historical foundations of institutions of higher education, we cannot deny institutions consciously embed their values and basic assumptions within their physical manifestation …

Filmmaker, Lawyer, Indian Chief: The Negotiation Of Identity In An Indigenous Film Festival, William Lempert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since colonial contact, indigenous peoples have been predominantly represented by community outsiders. As a result, native peoples have rarely had a primary, or even collaborative role, in the production of these representations. However, in the last two decades, there has been an unprecedented proliferation of indigenous created films and the festivals that feature them. The Denver Indigenous Arts and Film Festival is an annual festival that exclusively showcases films made by and with indigenous peoples. The festival’s 2009 theme of “Telling Our Stories” emphasized cultural control of representation and the transmission of traditional knowledge.

In this thesis, I show that …

Spuren Visionärer Multikulturalität: Fantasie Und Wirklichkeit In Campes "Robinson Der Jüngere": Auf Dem Weg Vom Kolonialismus Zum Kosmopolitismus., Claus Huxdorff

Masters Theses

This thesis aims to investigate the traces of multicultural implications in Joachim Heinrich Campe’s Robinson der Jüngere 1779/80. On one level, Campe’s adaptation of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe appears to awaken or sustain potential colonial fantasies among its German readers. However, Campe’s Robinson der Jüngere does not follow colonial conventions, such as exhibited in Defoe, but instead depicts a society based much more on the concept of a common humanity shared by Europeans and Caribbean natives alike. It conceives of cooperation and exchange as a mutual gain for both parties. Robinson’s island functions as a kind of social testing ground offering …

Counselor Preferences Of White University Students: Ethnicity And Other Important Characteristics, Yi-Ying Lin

Masters Theses

In the last several decades, multiculturalism has became the one of the most popular research topics in psychology and counseling, and the counselor preferences of ethnic minority clients has been well researched. However, in the history of research on counselor preferences, the needs and preferences of ethnic majority clients have been neglected. This study investigated the counselor preferences of White university students.

This study examined three primary research questions: whether counselor ethnicity influenced White university students’ initial counselor preferences, what were White university students’ preferences for various counselor characteristics, and whether White university students preferred specific counseling styles for different …

Beef, Mutton, Pork, And A Taste Of Turtle: Zooarchaeology And Nineteenth-Century African American Foodways At The Boston-Higginbotham House, Nantucket, Massachusetts, Michael Andrew Way

Graduate Masters Theses

In 1774, nearly ten years before slavery was abolished in Massachusetts, an emancipated African American weaver named Seneca Boston purchased a tract of land in the Newtown section of Nantucket, Massachusetts. It is here that over the next thirty years Seneca Boston and his Wampanoag wife, Thankful Micah, would build a house, now known as the Boston-Higginbotham House, and raise six children. The Boston-Higginbotham House was home to the descendents of Seneca Boston and Thankful Micah for over one hundred years. Throughout the 19th century a vibrant and active African American community was developing in Newtown, and several generations of …

A Macrobotanical Analysis Of Native American Maize Agriculture At The Smith's Point Site, Kelly A. Ferguson

Graduate Masters Theses

The Smith's Point site was a seasonally inhabited Native American encampment in Yarmouth, Massachusetts occupied from the Middle Woodland through the early Colonial periods. Excavations at the site in the early 1990s yielded the remains of a multi-component site including both an agricultural field and an adjacent living area. The macrobotanical remains from the agricultural and living area features were examined for this thesis project in order to investigate subsistence practices at the site. The findings show that Native Americans actively shaped these ecological niches for purposes such as maintaining and improving their subsistence base. These landscape management activities included …

Multiform Segregation In The Context Of The Urban Crises In Las Vegas And Los Angeles, 1930 - 1980, Colin M. Fitzgerald

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Multiform segregation in the context of the urban crises was a complex socio-historical phenomenon. The primary focus of this study addresses racial segregation in at least three basic societal areas: housing, employment, and education. Through the spatial separation of multiple ethnoracial groups such as African Americans and Mexican Americans, multiform segregation precipitated the urban crises. In the 50-year period this study covers, Las Vegas and Los Angeles sustained a two-tiered class system according to the prevailing racial attitudes of each city's business elite. As a resort city, Las Vegas could not endure ethnoracial tensions while Los Angeles' industrial base provided …

Beyond The Sunset : Race And Ethnicity In Cullman County, Alabama, Miles Laseter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This Southern Studies master's thesis explores the racial and ethnic environment of Cullman County, Alabama from a number of perspectives. Critical readings of archived newspapers as well as local histories provide the foundation for this study. Oral history interviews and census data also figure prominently. The research aimed mainly at illuminating the elusive history of race relations in Cullman, an overwhelmingly white county. Much of the thesis focuses on Cullman's history of racial exclusiveness. Secondary sources, primarily works by historians and sociologists, contextualize Cullman's racial past and present. The county emerges from this study as an unusual if not truly …

Intergenerational Conflict Between Emerging Adults And Their Parents In Asian American Families, Kathy Nguyen

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Due to a paucity of research, little is understood about the experiences of Asian American emerging adults as they navigate their relationship with their parents. The purpose of the current study was to investigate intergenerational conflict in Asian American families, specifically when emerging adults are living at home with their parents. Acculturation gap, generational status, birth order, gender, and language proficiency were examined as predictors or mediators of conflict. Participants consisted of 350 Asian American emerging adults who were currently living with their parents, who lived with their parents during certain times of the year (e.g., vacations), or who had …

The Features Of The Voice Of African American Tradition: An Analysis Of African American Rhetoric For The Influence Of The Call Response Technique, Laura Venezia

Communication Studies

This project explicates the nature of the rhetorical strategies, especially the call response, used by various African American artists and orators (Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and Public Enemy). The techniques include the interplay of repetition and heightening emotion provided especially through 1. using the “call response” directly, 2. announcing jeremiad warnings and rallying cries, and 3. using potent images to arouse emotions—the objective correlative.

Through The Eyes Of A Child: The Archaeology Of Wwii Japanese American Internment At Amache, April Kamp-Whittaker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children’s lives in the World War II Japanese American Internment Camp, Amache are investigated using a combination of archaeology, oral history, and archival research. As part of internees’ efforts to create a more hospitable environment both children and adults extensively modified the physical landscape. The importance of landscape and place in Japanese culture and for the internee community is examined using the development of gardens around the elementary school as a case study. Internees also developed a rich social landscape that allowed for the socialization of children within Amache. The socialization of children at Amache was being influenced by the …

In Living Color, Chappelle's Show, And Bamboozled: Decoding Representations Of Blackness, Genevieve Odette Owsowitz

Communication Studies

This paper investigates depictions of African-Americans in popular American television and film. It examines the social context and historical background of three mediated texts in an effort to decode the political commentary present within comedic images.

"The Invisible Victims: Wives And Families With Incarcerated Fathers", Sarah Quinlan

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

In the 2009 spring semester, I walked into the class called 'The Black Prison Experience" not fully aware of what the class entailed and not fully aware of what to expect. Nor did I realize and understand that a massive part of America's infrastructure is invisible to the average American citizen. Today, however, I can confidently say that after almost completing my final semester at Fordham, and in hindsight, this class has had the greatest impact on me in my four years at Fordham University. And without this class, I would have never come to fully understand the invisible victims …

Africans In Dublin: Race Relations, Cultural Preservation, And Working The Immigration System, Bridget Crane

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

"I did not even know there were Africans in Ireland," is the common response I received upon telling people about my research interests in Ireland. This exact response is what this paper seeks to disprove. Africans in Dublin: Race Relations, Cultural Preservation, and Working the Immigration System not only uncovers the existence of an African population, but documents fascinating immigration stories a few African interviewees experienced and their lives within the African immigrant community and within the larger Irish society. My interest in this topic derives from my two passions: Irish history and the African Diaspora. One characteristic both Ireland …

Failure Repeated: An Analysis Of Urban Design In The Central Ward Of Newark, John O'Neill

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

This thesis is a study of the rebuilding of Newark Housing Authority structures in an area of the Central Ward bounded by Gergen Street, Springfield Avenue, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Avon Avenue. This half square mile area of study has a population of 8,584 and a population density of 17,527 per square mile. The area has a long a troubled history, beginning on the 1960s when revolt and then renewal began. This massive infusion of federal dollars failed to address the long-term needs of the residents and the maintenance of housing facilities. The result was the first …

Political Accommodation: The Effects Of Booker T. Washington's Leadership And Legacy On Tuskegee University And The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment., Dominique Dubois Gilliard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this re-evaluation of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, I identify the original causes that made the Study emerge, examine why the intent of this research shifted over time, reveal the manner in which the Study was conducted, expose the role the government played in the manipulation of the Experiment, and, finally, investigate the ways, as well as the reasons, for the selection of the participants involved in the Study. After exploring the Experiment itself, I investigate the lasting effects of it on the community in which it occurred and the ways in which it further affected the relationship between African …

"It Is A New Kind Of Militancy": March On Washington Movement, 1941-1946, David Lucander

Open Access Dissertations

This study of the March on Washington Movement (MOWM) investigates the operations of the national office and examines its interactions with local branches, particularly in St. Louis. As the organization's president, A. Philip Randolph and members of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) such as Benjamin McLaurin and T.D. McNeal are important figures in this story. African American women such as Layle Lane, E. Pauline Myers, and Anna Arnold Hedgeman ran MOWM's national office. Of particular importance to this study is Myers' tenure as executive secretary. Working out of Harlem, she corresponded with MOWM's twenty-six local chapters, spending considerable …

Wanton Introversion, Ivan Van Wingerden Mr.

English

This senior project is a manuscript of original poetry.

Beer In New York City: A Social History, Ken Bergman

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

In 1937 the New York branch of the Brewers Board of Trade listed seventeen affiliated breweries in the New York metropolitan area (including northern New Jersey). With strong Irish, German, and Dutch traditions, and a predominately working class composition, beer was as much a part of New York as the Yankees. And because of the generally localized nature of the industry at the time, and the pride that the city's residents took in all things New York, New Yorkers drank New York beer almost exclusively. Reciprocally, New York brewing companies took much pride in serving New York residents, and played …

Hair Raising Power: Dominican Hair Salon Owners In New York City, Ginette Amezquita

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

My mother, Luisa Amezquita was, like many of her friends, a beauty shop owner in the Dominican Republic. Ever since migrating to New York City at the age of four, I always wondered what made my mother's background in hair styling so unique but yet so common amongst her many Dominican acquaintances. Although my mother did not take up the profession in NYC, Dominican women have always been known to be the best hair straighteners in the industry. While living in out small apartment in Chelsea, my mother's hair skills came in very handy when we ha no money to …