Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons^™

Countering Dominant Narratives In Community: The Many Voices In Spoken Word Poetry, Natalie Raquel Acuña

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In this project I research the counternarratives within spoken word poetry by authors of color (i.e., Rafeef Ziadah, José Olivarez, and Denise Frohman) and how they resist the dominant narratives that are broadcast towards a larger audience. I analyze categories of counterstory through the following paired themes: immigration/citizenship, and joy/trauma. I delve into the heavy importance of community within my project in the realm of spoken word poetry. A lot of poetry is going against dominant narratives, community within this discourse gives a sense of belonging and relatability to the experience of the spoken word performers.

The Persistent Voice Of The Colonizer: Troubling A Mascot’S Settler-Colonial Past, Linda J. Kuckuk

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The legacy of settler-colonialism permeates American culture. Remnants of westward expansion remain in our societal divides, political differences, environmental inequities and economic inequalities. Conversations about decolonization, gentrification, and other ongoing practices that precipitate and uphold colonialism are notably found in literature, art, social structures, icons and symbols. Mascots that rely on stereotypes or caricatures can contribute to negative perceptions and reinforce discriminatory attitudes, making it necessary to reevaluate and change representational practices. In this analysis I apply historical, textual, and visual methods to explore Cal Poly Humboldt’s mascot Lucky Logger and identify how this character is a “persistent voice” by …

“Why Blackness, Black Girl?:” Discovering Multilocal Blackness In Wonderful Adventures Of Mrs. Seacole In Many Lands And Americanah, Sydney A. Ware

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In “Why Blackness, Black Girl?” I argue that as a consequence of imperialism, Western Blackness has an interdependent relationship with whiteness, resulting in the domination of Western Blackness over non-Western Blackness. Tensions between both groups are usually portrayed by Western media as divisive. I pose Multilocality as a theory to reconcile this tension. I use Taiye Selasi's concept of the multilocal, and her Three Markers (3 R’s) to identify where hybridized identities are local to and how they can connect to each local space. I expand Selasi’s concept into a theory called Multilocality, and added a fourth marker that I …

Reimagining The Refugee Figure: Survival Migration And Its After-Affects, Gabriella Pishotti

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As the refugee crisis continues to worsen, so too will the field of refugee literature continue to expand into new directions to account for shifts in the refugee figure and developing concerns of survival migrant writers. Drawing from the foundational work of scholars such as Sianne Ngai and Sara Ahmed, I use affect theory as an intervention into these contemporary refugee texts to posit a rethinking of how we analyze refugee stories as narratives of crisis. I employ an affective approach to demonstrate how the emergency of forced migration can be narratively depicted in an embodied way that fosters connection …

A Legacy Of Labor: Maternity Narratives In 1960s And 1970s North American Life Writing, Katelynn Ann Vogelpohl

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Abstract

A Legacy of Labor: Maternity Narratives in 1960s and 1970s North American Life Writing

Katelynn Ann Vogelpohl

The phenomenon of maternity has been repeatedly described as an event that shakes the very foundations of social and physical identity. As the flesh of the pregnant person literally divides to produce new life, one subject becomes enclosed within another, dramatically affecting the pregnant person’s sense of self and causing a confluence of intense, and often conflicting, feelings. In North America, there are two dominant, and seemingly opposing, discourses on pregnancy and childbirth: the institutional medical discourse and the natural childbirth discourse. …

Course Design As Critical Creativity: Intersectional, Regional, And Demographic Approaches To Teaching Asian American Literatures, Thomas X. Sarmiento

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

This essay offers a theoretical and reflective exploration of critically informed acts of creativity expressed in my course design for and teaching of Asian American literatures at a predominantly white, public land-grant, Midwestern university. I argue that teaching is both a creative and critical activity as it generates new ways of knowing and being through an assessment and curation of extant literary texts and scholarly discourses. Given my geographic, scholarly, and personal orientations, my course features intersectional, regional, and ethnically diverse perspectives that aim to queer what “Asian America/n” signifies. I hope my situated pedagogical insights inspire other scholar-teachers to …

Romancing The University: Bipoc Scholars In Romance Novels In The 1980s And Now, Jayashree Kamble

Publications and Research

English-language mass-market romance novels written by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) writers and starring BIPOC protagonists are a small but important group. This article is a comparative analysis of how recent representations of diversity in this sub-set of the genre, specifically the character of the Black academic and the language of racial justice, compare with the first group of BIPOC novels that were published in 1984 (Sandra Kitt’s Adam and Eva and All Good Things as well as Barbara Stephens’s A Toast to Love). In Adrianna Herrera’s American Love Story (2019), Katrina Jackson’s Office Hours (2020), and …

Trauma And Stigma In Aids Literature: Tony Kushner’S Angels In America (1995) And Colm Tóibín’S The Blackwater Lightship (1999), J. Javier Torres-Fernández

Journal of Franco-Irish Studies

This paper explores the representation of trauma and stigma tied to HIV/AIDS in The Blackwater Lightship (1999) by Colm Tóibín and Angels in America (1995) by Tony Kushner. Both works arguably respond to the socio-political and biomedical crisis that affected queer identities and international politics. These experiences of health and illness highlight the silenced and marginalized voices of those infected with HIV during the 80s and 90s. HIV/AIDS-related stigma and shame marked the LGBTQ+ community under the illness as punishment metaphor for their sexuality. The role of politics and religion remains fundamental in the historical silence around this illness and …

Symposium Review: The Highway And Me And My Earl Grey Tea—Emily Smucker, Julia Martin, Karen Conley

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

With its poetic lilt, The Highway and Me and My Earl Grey Tea beckons with the lure of travel, comforting drink in hand. To Conservative Mennonite author Emily Smucker, it is time to explore. Her world of 28 years has been Willamette Valley, OR, a place of faith and family while dealing with West Nile Disease and finishing college. Moving beyond the educational structure to pursue a career in writing posed new questions. “Where should I live? Where do I belong? What is my purpose? What is my identity?” [First paragraph.]

Bedside Diaries And Caregiver Journals: Plain Authors’ Accounts Of Medical Experiences, Jennifer Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Plain populations (Amish and some Mennonites) write nonfiction accounts of their medical experiences as a means of networking and sharing knowledge about medical conditions and care. These stories serve as a means of creating space to normalize the condition. These accounts are written in the form of medical dramas, “bedside diaries” (such as autobiographies and caregivers’ journals), and reference books. In this article, I propose that healthcare providers read bedside diaries and medical experience stories to learn how plain people process their medical experiences, utilize community support systems, and create meaning based on their faith and beliefs. A select bibliography …

Every Tongue Got To Confess: Zora Neale Hurston As Afrofuturist, Nicole Huff

Third Stone

To understand Hurston’s influence on the black speculative practice and engagement in Afrofuturist practice, we must first understand the period she was working within— the Harlem Renaissance.

Mirroring Financial Speculation And Late Capitalism Through Speculative Fiction: Worker Gullibility And Guilt As Re-Imagination Of Human Value, Ian Koh

English (MA) Theses

Charles Yu’s short story “Standard Loneliness Package” from the speculative fiction collection Sorry Please Thank You features a worker who conforms to the cultural logic of Wall Street and late capitalism. However, the privilege of working in a tech company in an up-and-coming industry does not shield him from experiencing the oftentimes destructive logic of financial speculation and in-built structural inequalities. This paper makes a case that a tragedy could be read into this worker’s seemingly stable situation in a way that can uncover the character’s truly sorry state from his illusion of privilege and choice. But first, readers must …

Developing Resilience In The School Setting: A Response To Trauma, Michelle Nutter

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lasting effects of childhood trauma manifest themselves in a variety of problem behaviors witnessed in classrooms across the nation. School staff would benefit from background knowledge to understand students who have experienced trauma and interventions to respond appropriately and positively to behaviors. As a school leader, the purpose of this cross-case qualitative design was twofold. First, I hoped to understand the perceptions of school staff members regarding trauma-informed interventions in elementary public schools. Second, this study explored the infrastructure of select schools that enable principals and staff members to view its students through a trauma lens. Literature on successful interventions …

Self-Authorship And Professional Identity Formation In Professional-Level Athletic Training Students, Matthew Rivera

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The development of a professional identity is a crucial component of health professions’ education programs and aids in interprofessional collaboration, communication, efficiency, and patient outcomes. Yet, limited research on the development of the individual as a component of professional identity development exists. The use of curricular strategies rooted in the self-authorship theory can close this gap in the development of a professional identity. Self-authorship is a developmental continuum whereby individuals move from following external formulas to building an internal foundation where they make meaning and integrate beliefs into how they think and act. This study aimed to investigate the self-authorship …

Networking For Mid-Level Administrators In Higher Education: Increase Job Performance And Reduce Burnout, Laura Glasbrenner

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mid-level administrators occupy a complex position within higher education institutions, a role defined by “middleness” (Gleeson & Shain, 1999, p. 488), which characterizes their place in institutional hierarchies between superiors and subordinates. Mid-level administrators often feel isolated since they cannot be seen as having close personal relationships with those above or below them in the rankings. Consequently, mid-level administrators are subject to burnout, a psychological condition resulting from isolation compounded by working long hours reconciling the competing and conflicting needs of supervisors and subordinates, which leaves them emotionally exhausted, physically depleted, and feeling like they have reached a professional dead-end. …

Evaluating The Influence Of Some Factors On Capability Maturity Model Integration For Development (Cmmi-Dev) Maturity Level, Sakawa Ogega

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development (CMMI-DEV) is a collection of characteristics of effective processes that guide improving an organization's operations and ability to manage software projects' development. The CMMI-DEV maturity levels range from 1 to 5 for the staged model; however, there are no certifications for maturity level 1. Organizations appraised may seek higher CMMI-DEV maturity levels. Most clients will seek to do business with organizations with at least CMMI Maturity Level 3 certification. This research aimed to find if software development methodology (SDM), CMMI training, and other process improvement (OPI) standards affect CMMI maturity level rating. The dependent …

State Charter School Law Scores As A Predictor Of Illegal Activity Within The Chartering Sector, David Stashevsky

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

State charter school policy is influenced through a collaboration between advocacy groups and state legislators. Charter school advocacy groups have an inherent bias toward deregulation and autonomy. Two advocacy groups, the Center for Education Reform (CER) and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), each conduct annual analyses on state charter school laws using their own model charter law as the comparator. Each group has developed a rubric of indicators with sub-scores which combine to form an overall state score. Higher scores indicate a closer adherence to the advocacy group’s model charter law. The charter school sector in the …

In-Person And Remote Employees And Information Security Policy Compliance, Joyce Mui

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many workers have changed their working status from in-person to remote, in the past several years, with a large increase in the number of employees working remotely during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In parallel, the increasing costs of data breaches and number of security incidents continue to be a concern to organizations seeking to protect their organization, systems, and data. This study’s research questions were formed using a theoretical framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to discover influences on employee behavior and the Social Bonds Theory (SBT) to address strength of relationships and impact to compliance. This …

Adolescent Well-Being And Exclusionary Discipline: A Resiliency Model, Rachel Ballard

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents, especially those with a mental illness, often behave in ways judged to be impulsive, overly emotional, and irresponsible (Gogtay et al., 2004; Lawrence et al., 2015; Tamnes et al., 2010). Many teen behaviors which concern adults can be related to underdeveloped skills or competencies, rate of brain development, or expressions of mental disorders (Casey et al., 2011; Serbin et al., 2011; Spear, 2000). Behaviors commonly associated with adolescence, such as impulsivity, risk-taking, and efforts to fit in with peers, are often seen as a serious threat to school harmony, learning, and student safety, necessitating a disciplinary response from school …

The Hidden Quality Cost Resulting From Food And Drug Administration Inspection Failures In Mid To Large Companies, Jonathan Walston

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An approach to identify and validate hidden quality costs associated with regulatory non-compliance from inspections by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not been previously researched. This dissertation presents a robust quantitative methodology to analyze the daily cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) on populations of publicly traded mid-to-large cap companies around FDA inspection events having negative outcomes. Three hypotheses have been tested focusing only on inspection events from companies falling under the biologics product type category. Hypothesis 1 states that there is no statistically significant correlation between the sum of CAR around inspection windows for such companies when a negative …

Us Manufacturing Readiness Assesment For Industry 4.0, Yogesh Bhutani

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Industry 4.0 is the next frontier in manufacturing evolution. Industry 4.0 is the term coined by the German government based on the research work of Henning Kaegermann. Multiple studies have been published worldwide, showing the slow or no adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Factors such as high costs, unproven technologies, integration, and others impacting the adoption are areas of concern. Readiness is an important factor that impacts adoption. Understanding the current readiness for Industry 4.0 to predict future adoption levels is important. It is vital to understand the readiness of manufacturing companies to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies, as this is …

A Holistic Approach To Creating Cultures Of Quality Excellence Within Higher Education Institutions In North Carolina, Natalie Aman

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper first seeks to identify cultural factors of faculty, staff, and students within Higher Education Intuitions (HEI) and then understand how those factors affect the individual as well as the overall larger population of all studied groups to create cultures of quality excellence. Secondary data collected from government databases was used for the research. The independent variables included cultural factors for each stakeholder and the dependent variables included satisfaction levels of each stakeholder. Faculty and staff independent cultural variables included Performance Management, Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness, Communication & Collaboration, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, and Mission and Pride. The dependent variable …

Adopting Open-Source Methodology For Improving Business Processes And Public Trust, Lawrence Bosek

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technology and the Internet have given rise to the availability of information at our fingertips. While the public, particularly consumers, are more commonly described as being the leading users and beneficiaries of electronic information services, businesses and governments are also players in the same information technology resource arena. Technology is also being integrated more in our everyday lives. Important information can now be easily stored on Internet websites for the public, businesses, and other governmental offices to search and peruse when needed. The Internet has also allowed for electronic devices to connect and communicate with each other in ways that …

Poetic Tracks And Treading On Indigenous Lands: Examining Marlatt And Warland’S And Akiwenzie-Damm’S Literary Travels To Australia And Aotearoa, Christine C. Campana

The Goose

This paper considers the work of poets who travel from the area of the Indigenous land of Turtle Island now known as Canada to the Indigenous territories of Australia and Aotearoa. The poets engage in different forms of movement on the land that reveal varying degrees of awareness of and respect for Indigenous sovereignty. In particular, I put “17:00 / coming into Port Pirie” and “30/5 8:50 / past Menindee” from Daphne Marlatt and Betsy Warland’s 1988 Double Negative, an understudied collection of poetry in which the lesbian poets traverse Australia by train while reflecting on travelling through “(ab) …

Excerpts From An Anti-Standardized “수능”: A Design-Fictional Approach To Korea, Seo-Young J. Chu, Seo-Young J. Chu

Publications and Research

"Excerpts from an Anti-Standardized '수능'” experiments with design fiction to disrupt overly rehearsed ways of thinking about Korea’s past(s), present(s), and future(s).

Her Precious White Body/Her Tender Black Flesh: The Gothic Link To Black Women's (Mis)Treatment In Real Life And On The Page, Madisty R. Thomas

English Theses & Dissertations

As a work in progress, this thesis explores the interplay between historical and contemporary devaluation of and violence against Black women, materially and discursively, including visual mediums and written text. Specifically, I focus on the gothic novel to illuminate the impact race-based inventions such as chattel slavery and human exhibitions, as well as the generic tropes of the Gothic, have had on Black women’s representation and lived experience via a wide-ranging introduction and close examination of Richard Marsh’s The Beetle. Additionally, the conclusion attempts to suggest how Black women and girls might survive in this antiblack world, thus escape …

New Coyote (Qomu'tsau) Stories: "About Time"

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

A Difference Of One's Own: Race, Sex, Modernism, Ryan L. Tracy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“A Difference of One’s Own” demonstrates that deconstructive conceptions of race lie at the heart of the modernist canon’s experimental representations of selfhood. Drawing on recent and canonical scholarship in Modernist Studies, Black Studies, Deconstruction, Queer Theory, Critical Theory, and Feminist Studies, I look at moments in modernist-era literature where the need to represent racial blackness, whether as a descriptor that defines one’s self-identity or the identity of another person, fails to draw a coherent line of difference between people, communities, selves, and importantly, the literatures that are thought to adhere to hard and fast racial distinctions. “Part I: …

Claude Mckay's Protest Sonnets, Lily Jensen

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

The sonnet tradition is rich with change. It is a genre forged in strict conventions: fourteen lines, iambic pentameter, a volta (or even multiple turns), and themes of praise and unrequited love. Because of these rules, sonneteers from Petrarch to Shakespeare, Donne to Rosetti, and Hopkins to Hughes have used this form and bent it to their own personal uses. The sonnet has an intense social, cultural, and political history. This paper analyzes how Claude Mckay both used the conventions of the sonnet tradition and broke from the sonnet tradition in the poems “If We Must Die” and “The Lynching” …

Frights And Forests: The Hellish Landscape Of The Dark Forest, From Sleepy Hollow To The Forest Of Arden, Minna Nizam

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

This paper seeks to explore forest settings in fantasy, and its hellish landscapes. From the headless horseman in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, to the frights and horrors of mythical creatures in fantasy settings placed in forests. The purpose of this study is to dive deep into the fear of the forest, its early days in storytelling, to more modern renditions. Sources used will be primarily books, and texts within books, such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Lord of the Rings, and much more.