Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons^™

The Spaces Between Us: A Queer<=>Intersectional Analysis Of The Narratives Of Black Gay International Students, Bryan S. Hubain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The experiences of international students along the lines of race and ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and nationality are virtually unknown. This study utilizes experience-centered narrative inquiry to explore the experiences of Black gay international students, and how they are racialized and sexualized in American higher education. Using a Queer and Intersectional framework, this study highlighted power structures and processes that continue to marginalize Black gay international students in the U.S. and in their home countries. Their narratives reflected significant moments or events that were important to them and how they understand their identities and realities. This study provides a strong foundation …

Jotería-Historias: Theories From The Fringes, Robert Mitchell Gutierrez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By collecting the cultural/historical narratives of gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (GBTQ) Chicanos of Colorado, this research project locates theories in the flesh, or theories of resistance and agency, in the forms of cuentos, pláticas, chismé, mitos, testimonios, and consejos to explicate a queer of color performance of intersectional and decolonial politics. To set the context, several historical and political snapshots of GBTQ Chicano experience over the last 500 years are reviewed to demonstrate how communication about, for, and between GBTQ Chicanos operate in a liminal state (nepantla) where violence, marginalization, and oppression are …

Flinging The Apron And Tearing The Kerchief: Janie Crawford's Gestures In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Madeline Elizabeth Celley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I argue that in her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston demonstrates protagonist Janie Crawford's development through her use of gesture. As the narrative moves throughout Janie's life, she becomes progressively able to communicate her feelings and desires through the use of her body's movements. By depicting Janie's subjectivity as fundamentally embodied, Hurston indicates an awareness of the cultural oppression Janie suffers, linking her body to those of women in the past that suffered as slaves. She draws attention to Janie's body by relying on her gestures in order to emphasize the …

“Carried In The Arms Of Standing Waves:" The Transmotional Aesthetics Of Nora Marks Dauenhauer, Billy J. Stratton

English and Literary Arts: Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, Native, Indigenous, First Nations, and Aboriginal scholars and writers have forged alliances to initiate and support decolonization efforts and the reassertion of native survivance. Native and non-Native scholars have responded to modern challenges by reconceptualizing notions of peoplehood, identity, and nationalism. Following these intellectual contours, rather than conceiving of native culture as totalizing, static, and/or incommensurable—as always already foreign—responsive readings informed by the critical work of Gerald Vizenor can support more sophisticated understandings of native literary production while revealing sites of native transmotion. Through a thusly informed examination of the work of the Tlingit poet, Nora Marks …

Rhetorical Imperialism, Allison Welty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

José Donoso’s The Obscene Bird of Night is often described as a grotesque labyrinth of symbols and images representative of the Latin Boom literary moment. The novel’s purposefully ambiguous construction opens itself up to two opposing readings that reveal discrepancies and conflicts in postcolonial and globalization studies, and as such, my project consists of two papers, easily read separately or in conversation with one another. The first proposes a reading of the novel as an assertion of marginal identity onto the world stage, ultimately upholding the indigenous native as a source of strength. Here, the novel’s appropriation of the folklore …

Collaborating With Chicago Urban Communities: The Unforeseen Challenges Of Better Museum Practices, Dionisia Ann Mathios

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on better museum practices, social justice museums, and the unforeseen challenges that museums encounter when collaborating and consulting with communities. More specifically, this project looks at the National Public Housing Museum (NPHM) and the exhibit Report to the Public: An Untold Story of the Conservative Vice Lords (CVL), which was co-created with the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. Both Chicago institutions worked with public housing residents and the former CVL, a 1960s gang, to give voice to two often unheard communities. Through an anthropological and museum studies perspective, this thesis summarizes the history of museum practice as well …

Conceptual Decolonization Of Space: Worldview And Language In Anishinaabe Akiing, Mark Freeland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role of worldview and language in the cultural framework of American Indian people. In it I develop a theory of worldview which can be defined as an interrelated set of logics that orients a culture to space (land), time, the rest of life, and provides a prescription for understanding that life. Considering the strong links between language and worldview, it is methodologically necessary to focus on a particular language and culture to decolonize concepts of and relationships to land. In particular, this dissertation focuses on an Anishinaabe worldview as consisting of four components, which are; (1) …

John Evans Study Committee Recommendations, Ramona Beltran, Richard Clemmer-Smith, Tamra D’Estree, Steven Fisher, David Fridtjof Halaas, Alan Gilbert, Dean Saitta, Billy J. Stratton, Adam Rovner, George E. Tinker, Nancy D. Wadsworth, Amanda Williams, Julia Bramante, Viki Eagle, Sara Schwartzkopf, Dave Buchanan, Gail Ridgely, Otto Braided Hair, Joe Big Medicine, Karen Little Coyote, Henry Littlebird, Chief Willey

John Evans Study Report

With the completion of this report the University of Denver is presented with an opportunity to reflect on our institutional origins, history, and legacy. We have an opportunity to provide a model of transparency, accountability, and transformation for institutions that have directly profited or indirectly benefited from the displacement of the indigenous communities whose lands and histories they occupy. This moment invites us to bend the arc of history away from the clamor of old apologetics that have caused deep wounds for those whose voices have been silenced and toward justice, healing, and peace. This likewise holds for those whose …

University Of Denver John Evans Study Report, Richard Clemmer-Smith, George E. Tinker, Alan Gilbert, Nancy D. Wadsworth, David Fridtjof Halaas, Billy J. Stratton, Steven Fisher

John Evans Study Report

"Universities are dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge. They are conservators of humanity's past. They cherish their own pasts, honoring forbears with statues and portraits and in the names of buildings. To study or teach at a [university] is to be a member of a community that exists across time, a participant in a procession that began centuries ago and that will continue long after we are gone. If an institution professing these principles cannot squarely face its own history, it is hard to imagine how any other institution, let alone our nation, might do so."

-Report …

How Does Your Garden Grow: How Planting Seeds Of Hope Inspire A Community Of Gifted African-American Learners To Flourish In An Early Childhood Setting, Danielle Elaine Macneal-Harris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

"Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested"

-African Proverb

Each day, African-American children are rarely given the opportunity to reach their full potential and flourish in American school systems. There continues to be a disparity in the number of African-Americans in the gifted population. When identified early, and with appropriate educational opportunities, young, culturally diverse gifted learners will be more likely to have long-term educational success. By utilizing an educational criticism methodology, this study discusses the importance of gifted education for African-American, early childhood students, by answering the question, how does The Hope …

Puritanism And American Exceptionalism: A Genealogy Of Their Impact On Native Americans 1620–1864, Jeremiah Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work traces the influence that a strand of Protestant Christianity had upon the idea of American Exceptionalism and its effect on the treatment of Native Americans. From Puritans to the Founding Fathers, to expansion into the west, this paper investigates instances where Indians have been forced to assimilate, removed from their homelands or exterminated outright in massacres. It specifically looks at the removal of the Cherokees, the Navajo Long Walk, the Pequot War, the Gnadenhutten Massacre, The Battle at Blue Water Creek and the Sand Creek Massacre

Language And Museums: Supporting Alaska Native Languages Through Collaborative Networking, Heather J. Mcclain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the ever-increasing risk of language loss and possible extinction of the world's Indigenous languages, museums are quickly becoming active supporters and valuable resources for communities engaged in revitalization initiatives. Although working with language material is inherently difficult for museums because of their traditionally object based nature, it is imperative for museums to focus on the documentation and preservation of language as intangible cultural heritage (ICH) because of the vital connection between language and culture. This thesis examines how museums in Alaska, particularly the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, Alaska Office, are supporting Alaska Native language and cultural revitalization through collaborative …

Resource Sovereignty: The Indigenous Value Of Mount Rainier Within Activities Of Traditional Resource Harvesting, Samantha Joan Nemecek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Nisqually, Puyallup, Muckleshoot, Cowlitz, and Yakama Indian Tribes historically utilized the plant resources of Mount Rainier until the National Park Service established Mount Rainier National Park in 1899. Since 1992 there have been formal, written requests by these Tribes to revitalize the harvest of these culturally significant plant resources in their original collection location. Through archival analysis, participant observation, and interviews with Indigenous consultants, I investigated the impetus for these requests and furthermore the role of Mount Rainier in tribally relevant plant harvesting. Data indicates a lack of plant resource monitoring in the United States Forest Service has resulted …

Japanese American Cultural Identity: The Role Of Wwii, Internment, And The 3/11 Disaster In Japan, Carrie L. Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research explores the nature of Japanese American cultural identity through an examination of the historical contexts of WWII, internment, and the 3/11 disasters in Japan. Interview data was analyzed using both interpretive and critical paradigms. I then utilized the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), the corresponding concept of identity gaps, and critical-cultural hybridity. It was found that Japanese Americans construct, enact, and relate to their identities in markedly different ways despite belonging to the same cultural group. In turn, I am proposing further revision to CTI's communal frame to exemplify the shared and contested elements of a collective. This …

Toward A More Hospitable Conception Of Race & The Political: The Play Of Difference & Economy In A Politic Of Disruption, Zachary Thomas Settle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The body of this thesis is framed around Carl Schmitt's articulation of the political as the distinction between friend and enemy; more importantly, though, it revolves around opposition as the necessary foundation of the political. Making use of Derrida and

Agamben, this particular argument critiques/radicalizes Schmitt's notion.

After establishing the necessary limits and boundaries at play in the binary opposite embedded within Schmitt's understanding of the political, this essay aims to level a certain generative critique of Schmitt's definition. A certain appropriation of Agamben's homo sacer reveals that the presence of those bound up in the fate of the state …

Appendix: Thoughts On John Evans And Sand Creek, Gary L. Roberts

John Evans Study Report

Apart from political rivalry, there was little reason to oppose John Evans as governor of Colorado. He was a success by almost any standard one chose to apply. He was a self-made man, a son of the Middle West. He grew up in a Quaker family in Indiana, and although he converted to Methodism later, Protestant evangelism was a central feature of his character and experience. As a young man, he set his goals high—to build a city, to found a college, to create a fortune, to become a governor, to be elected to the United States Senate, and to …

Evans Study Committee Update, Dean Saitta

John Evans Study: Supporting Materials

Letter from Dean J. Saitta, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology to John Evans Study Committee.

Remembering Dearfield: A Study Of An Early 20th Century Black Community, Mary Connell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the different meanings of Dearfield, an early 20th Century black farming colony in northeastern Colorado, from the way the settlers’ conceived of their community, to the way that it was portrayed by the founder, to the way that it is remembered today. Through analysis of archival data and government records I show that there were two sides of Dearfield, that remembered by most of the settlers, and that portrayed by the founder O.T. Jackson. A magnetometer survey shows that the townsite was not as densely occupied as the common narrative of Dearfield would suggest, indeed many homesteaders …

"As Our Elders Taught Us To Speak It": Chinuk Wawa And The Process Of Creating Authenticity, Kylie N. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chinuk Wawa (also called Chinook Jargon) began as a trading language of the Pacific Northwest in the late eighteenth century. As it developed, it became the major heritage language of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, an intertribal nation located in Oregon. Now, as older speakers of the language pass on, there is an effort by the Grand Ronde to revitalize this language not only on the Grand Ronde Reservation, but also in nearby Portland, Oregon. However, revitalization can be a complicated process, as tribal leaders attempt to define Chinuk to maintain its traditions while adapting its vocabulary for …

Report Of Meeting With Chancellor And Provost, Dean Saitta

John Evans Study: Supporting Materials

Meeting notes regarding formation of a John Evans study.

Memo To Du Provost And Chancellor, Dean Saitta

John Evans Study: Supporting Materials

Memorandum sent to the University of Denver's Provost and Chancellor about interest in a study on John Evans and the Sand Creek Massacre.

Faculty Email Exchanges, Dean Saitta, Richard Clemmer-Smith, Billy J. Stratton, Gary A. Fine, Paul Colomy

John Evans Study: Supporting Materials

Email exchanges between University of Denver and Northwestern University on studies of John Evans and the Sand Creek Massacre.

Recognizing The 150th Anniversary Of The Dakota-U.S. War Of 1862 And Declaring 2012-2013 The Year Of The Dakota In Redwood Falls, City Council Of Redwood Falls

John Evans Study: Supporting Materials

Resolution adopted by the city of Redwood Falls in response to the city's history with the Dakota People. This resolution was used as a precedent in the University of Denver's study of its relationship with John Evans and the Sand Creek Massacre.

Thuggin' With The Oldies: Successful Professionals Who Continue To Listen To Gangsta Rap And The Professional Identity Conflict That Arises, Tarhonda Thomas Mckee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rise of explicit rap music in the 1990's brought with it a challenge that has not been seen until today: what becomes of listeners who, once past their adolescent years, become responsible, successful adults yet choose to keep explicit rap music in their lives? This thesis examined that question to find that some high-achieving adults continue to listen to the controversial form of music, while simultaneously separating themselves from the images associated with the music. Furthermore, their musical tastes can present a conflict with their professional images which may cause them to conceal their preference for explicit rap music, …

Relationship Adjustment In African American/White Interracial Couples, Elizabeth Rose Muino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Interracial intimate partnerships are at greater risk for relationship dissolution (i.e., divorce or permanent separation in cohabitating couples) than their endogamous counterparts (Bratter & King, 2008). However, a disparity in dissolution rates exists between African American male/White female pairings and African American female/White male pairings. This study sought to elucidate psychological variables that may be related to this sizable discrepancy. It was hypothesized that differences between these pairings exist with regard to color-blindness, empathy, sexism, and relationship adjustment. It was further hypothesized that color-blindness, empathy, and sexism, as controlled for by gender and race, would predict relationship adjustment.

Participants included …

The African-American Islamic Renaissance And The Rise Of The Nation Of Islam, Patrick Denis Bowen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines African-American Islamic culture from 1920 through 1959, a period I label the "African-American Islamic Renaissance" (AAIR). The AAIR is characterized by a significant increase in interest in Islam, extreme diversity in views about Islam, and the absence of a single organization dominating African-American Islamic culture for a significant amount of time. Previous works dealing with African-American Islam in this period have failed to fully recognize these features, particularly the last of these. As a result, explanations for the rise of the Nation of Islam (NOI) have not satisfactorily explained why it was only the NOI--and not other …

"A Shade Too Unreserved": Destabilizing Sexuality And Gender Constructs Of The New Negro Identity In Harlem Renaissance Literature, Renee E. Chase

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much of the Harlem Renaissance artistic movement was directly intertwined with the New Negro social movement of the time. Race leaders spoke to and influenced artistic trends, while artists often engaged with the New Negro race issues and social debates through their works. Wallace Thurman, Nella Larsen, and Zora Neale Hurston used their own fictional works to explore the New Negro construct being promoted. In examining the constructed nature of this New Negro identity, these artists strove to destabilize the social "norms" upon which the identity was based. As they thematically and stylistically explored such social constructs through their fiction, …

Christian Progress And American Myth: A Deep Cultural Analysis Of Spatiality And Exceptionalism In Struggles Over American Indian Lands, Bradley J. Klein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although typically characterized in politico-economic, social, and environmental terms, land struggles involving American Indian communities can be more accurately and valuably characterized as deep culture conflicts over the problem of space. As scholars like Vine Deloria Jr. and Tink Tinker contend, a significant distinction can be noted between the traditional American Indian and White Western approaches to this problem regarding how human communities should relate to particular spatial locations. In short, while Indian peoples tend to situate their identities relative to clearly defined places or lands, individuals of European descent are inclined to subordinate spatial relations to temporal concerns. Considering …

Urban Transition Of Races In The Denver Metro Area, Scott Kilker

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

The racial segregation of the primary racial groups, African-American, Asian, Latino and White, residing within the Denver metropolitan five-county area is analyzed using a Geographic Information System. The study uses census defined block groups to measure racial population within the study area as input to analysis methods that provide insight to the transition of racial groups within the Denver metropolitan area. Markov chain analysis is used to compute the probability that the ratio of a block group of a race will change. The Monte Carlo method is then applied using the probabilities to predict what the segregation in the Denver …

Hijas Rebeldes: Chicana Spirituality And The Re(Claiming) Of The Indigenous, Daisy Vargas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though the Chicano nationalist movement of the 1960s and 1970s helped Chicanas/os embrace an indigenous identity traced back to the Aztecs of Mexico, it nevertheless proved alienating to Chicanas. In response to patriarchal structures of control within the Chicano movement and Western culture, Chicanas developed a mestiza consciousness. The grounding of this new epistemic tradition in ancient indigenous practices creates a Chicana spirituality and a method for identifying with the cosmology and goddess mythology of the Aztecs. Though critics of Chicana spirituality question the authenticity of Chicana claims to indigenous traditions, Chicanas employ their spirituality as tool to transform them …