Ethnic Studies Commons^™

Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis, Pedro M. Aceves

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

My Work is about looking at Cruising through a queer decolonial lens. Using multiple mediums such as photo, glass, Augmented reality, and film, I explore these queer histories and aesthetics through not just an anthropological approach but also an artistic epistemological approach weaving together narratives of prehispanic and modern queer Latinidad.

Apala Best Of The Best Booklist 2023 - 2024, Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, Family Literacy Focus Committee, Education Subcommittee, Jessea Young (Chair), Zoë Bowlus, Nicole Fernandez, Erika Fitzpatrick, Cathy Lin, Kim Nguyen, Patty Sumire Mcgowan, Yer Vang

Librarian Publications & Presentations

Started in 2022, the Best of the Best Booklist celebrates stories from across the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) diaspora. All APALA members were invited to nominate picture book titles about AANHPI communities and experiences that were published in the 2023 and 2024 calendar years. To curate the final list, members of the APALA Family Literacy Focus Committee evaluated the nominations, guided by the mission of Talk Story and APALA Rubric to Evaluate Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth Literature. The committee is grateful to all the members who nominated titles. Eligible titles that earned a …

Opening The Outdoors: Experiences Of Black, Indigenous, And People Of Color (Bipoc) Adults In Outdoor Occupations To Support Mental Health, Jasmine Reynoso, Amy Lyons-Brown

Spring 2025 OTD Capstone Symposium

This mixed methods study explores the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) adults in exploring and engaging in outdoor occupations to support mental health. Through 15 survey responses and 2 semi-structured interviews, data was collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics and reflective thematic analysis. The findings revealed three overarching themes: Barriers to Outdoor Occupations, Facilitators to Encourage Participation, and Personally Experienced Benefits. Participants explained how outdoor activities contribute to improved mental health, emotional regulation, and a sense of holistic well-being. By addressing the gap in research on nature-based occupations within BIPOC communities, this study highlights the need …

The Curse Of El Dorado: How The Californnia Gold Rush Shaped The History Of Hawai'i, Ernesto Coronado

Theses and Dissertations

In the discourse of Western historiography, we fail to account for the importance of the Hawai’ian Islands. American imperialism did not stop with the occupation of the Pacific Coast but continued into the Pacific. In the mid-nineteenth century, Hawai’i and its monarch, King Kamehameha III, stood at the center of a dispute between Britain, France, and the United States. King Kamehameha III used the California Gold Rush and Hawai’i’s location to his advantage to garner capital and prevent the imperial powers from annexing his kingdom. However, even he knew he could not stop the mass wave of Hawai’ians leaving the …

Deconstructing The Afd: An Analysis Of The German Right-Wing Populist Political Party, The Alternative For Germany (Vchc Poster), Elizabeth A. Breckenridge

Research and Creativity Symposium

The Alternativ für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany) (AfD) is a far-right populist party that has quickly grown in power within the past decade, particularly in Eastern German states, due to its emphasis on nationalization, populist rhetoric, and attraction to voters’ fears about immigration and cultural change. The AfD has managed to mobilize strong voting support within five years, gaining parliamentary seats in the Bundestag (Federal Parliament) in 2017, and is now considered the main opposition party to the established parties. The AfD is the first right-wing party to gain significant voting attention since 1945, capitalizing on the rise of right-wing …

The Casualties Of The Open-Borders Debate: Latinx Feminist Voices On The Ethics Of Migration, Amely Logan

Posters - 2025

To consider philosophical perspectives on immigration restrictions and the consequences of the open borders debate more generally.

• The open borders debate within the ethics of migration consists of arguments from philosophers who justify states’ rights to restrict immigration and arguments from philosophers who believe states should have open borders.

• Christopher Heath Wellman’s “Immigration and Freedom of Association,” where he argues that states do in fact have a right to exclude immigrants from their territories. I highlight how the language and framing around migrants in works, like Wellman’s, itself does harm to migrants.

• While border enforcement results in …

The Ascent Of The Balthi: The Emergence Of Visigothic Kingship In Late Antiquity, William Deloach

Tenor of Our Times

The first four centuries of the First Millennium AD witnessed the rapid development of political infrastructure among the Gothic people. Emerging from Scandinavia, Gothic group consolidated into more nuanced political confederations by the third century. Challenges to these power structures, both internal and external, became the catalyst for further consolidation. The adaptations of the third and fourth centuries resulted in the emergence of a more easily recognizable political unit: the Visigoths under a Balthi monarchy. These challenges, and forthcoming adaptations, places the Goths within the tradition of the Late Antique world. Late Antiquity, therefore, should not only be thought to …

Harnessing Habeas Corpus: Women's Battles Against Coercive Psychiatric Institutionalization, Andy Knopik

Digital Legal Research Lab

No abstract provided.

Impacts On College-Aged Asian American Mental Health, Zahra Soherwardy

Senior Theses

This study explores the relationship between different forms of racial harassment and mental health issues in Asian American college students. Asian American mental health is a growing concern in the field of public health. Asian Americans have the lowest treatment rates and some of the highest stigma levels of any demographic. They are also impacted by the model minority myth and discrimination, further alienating them from getting help. The topics of subtle racism, blatant racism, and current racial discrimination were compared to depressive symptoms, anxiety, self-esteem, and four domains of aggression using survey data. Subtle racism was found to be …

A Canvas Decolonized: An Exploration Of Haiti’S Colonial History Through Haitian Artists Philemon Obin, Jean Appolon, Sheilby Mecena, Flex Morisseau–Leroy, And Claes Gabriel, Dominique Dempsey

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

A Canvas Decolonized examines the complex realities faced by Haiti through the lens of its vibrant artistic heritage, highlighting the role of art in interpreting, preserving, and challenging narratives about the nation's history and identity. By exploring the works of Haitian muralists, photographers, painters, and poets including Jean Appolon, Flex Morisseau Leroy, Claes Gabriel, and Edwidge Danticat this study illuminates how these artists engage with themes of colonization, immigration, generational trauma, and cultural displacement. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Frantz Fanon and Benedict Anderson, the paper argues that Haitian art provides a powerful medium to analyze and contextualize the …

Ai-Enhanced Essay Prompt: Exploring Your Identity And Life Experiences, Victor M. Torres-Velez

Open Educational Resources

This assignment, AI-Enhanced Essay Prompt: Exploring Your Identity and Life Experiences, guides students through a reflective writing process that integrates personal narratives with academic concepts related to identity, globalization, and migration. Students will examine how their nationality, ethnicity, race, social class, and gender are shaped by larger cultural and transnational forces. The structured approach encourages students to engage with AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly) as personalized writing tutors, assisting with brainstorming, organization, clarity, and revision while maintaining their authentic voice.

The essay requires students to build upon previously submitted personal anecdotes, analyze their experiences through course readings (including works …

Carnival, Ritual, And Race-Thinking In The Bolivian Andes, Ximena Cordova, Adhemar Mercado

All Works

This paper explores the intersection of race, religion, and colonial legacies through the lens of the Oruro Carnival, examining its role in shaping Bolivian identity. Critical religion scholars argue that the entanglement of race and religion is a product of Western modernity and colonialism, which has influenced both historical and contemporary power relations. This framework is applied to analyse the Carnival, where religious practices and festive performances intersect, reflecting colonial efforts at religious conversion and racial categorisation. By focusing on the ethnography of Oruro’s embodied festive practices, this study investigates how the Carnival contributes to the construction of difference amid …

Odesa Will Never Be A 'Russian' City Again, Ian R. Singleton

Living in Languages

Russophone poet Galina Itskovich wrote the statement serving as the title of this text about the identity of her native Odesa, Ukraine in 2023, more than a year and a half after the full-scale invasion by Russia. I propose an examination of the relationship of contemporary Odesan writers to the Russian language. Sources for this examination include the work of writers in or from Odesa such as Galina Itskovich, Maria Galina, Oleg Fesenko, and Igor Bozhko. To discuss what this situation means for translation, such as is demanded by Ukraine’s 2019 law on the status of the Ukrainian language, I …

“Off To Greek Camp”: A History And Examination Of Greek America And Its Adaptation Of American Summer Camp Culture, Julia J. Walsh

Honors Theses

Camps are one of the most distinct institutions of American childhood, offering children a place to socialize and explore their identities. Since the late 19th century, camps have been used to inspire religious, social, and ethnic identity. Extensive research has been done into some kinds of summer camps, this thesis attempts to add to this literature through analysis of Greek Orthodox Summer Camp programs run under the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (The Metropolis of Boston Camp and Ionian Village). This dissertation examines the role of the modern religious summer camp in building and maintaining Greek American and Greek Orthodox …

Asian American Navigation In Higher Education: Do We Belong At Colby College?, Amanda Rose Alpert

Honors Theses

This thesis explores how Asian American students navigate their belonging at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI), specifically a case study at the higher educational institution Colby College. In understanding how Asian American students navigate the spaces around them, this thesis dives into the history of Asian immigration to the U.S., the Asian American politicized label, and the different diasporas and cultural nuances Asian Americans experience that make up the complicated, diverse, and misunderstood label. Through exploring global racializations of Asian bodies and legacies of Western imperialism and colonialism, this gives a basis of how Asian Americans understand themselves as persons living …

Seeing Her, Wanting Her: Postfeminist Desire And Its Contradictions In Zendaya’S Magazine Covers, Sophia Shelley

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This article examines Zendaya’s modelling evolution as a case study to explore how a postfeminist critique and psychoanalysis can illuminate the contradictory nature of women’s advertising. My analysis compares Zendaya’s covers in Seventeen (2012) and Essence (2020), emphasizing the stark differences in aesthetics, where Seventeen conforms to ideals of (white) femininity, and in opposition, Essence centres around Black femininity and desire. By situating Zendaya as both a gendered and racialized ‘other,’ the intricate dynamics of femininity, race, and age in media portrayals are made visible. I argue that Zendaya’s image is sold through postfeminist ideals of empowerment, choice, and sexuality …

“A True And Broad Sympathy:” Thomas Hughes, Medievalism, And Social Justice In The Nineteenth Century, Sarah E. Stapleton

Theses and Dissertations--History

Thomas Hughes, author of Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857), used medievalism to help solve social problems of the Nineteenth Century. This contravenes the traditional view of medievalism, especially Anglo-Saxonism, since others have used it to justify the subjugation of people of lower social status, namely the poor in England, enslaved African Americans in the United States, and Indians under British rule.

While the use of medievalism is veiled in Hughes’ work, the subtext of Tom Brown’s Schooldays demonstrated Hughes’ Anglo-Saxonism. Tom Brown and the intertextual material surrounding his narrative exhibit the characteristics of Anglo-Saxonism through cultural primitivism, the concept of allodial, …

Creating An Ofrenda, Sara Hinojos

Open Educational Resources

You do not need to be Mexican to celebrate Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). What you need however is a deep and thoughtful cultural understanding of the practice. This lesson plan teaches students what Dia de los Muertos is, the influence of colonialism (past and present), how mainstream media understands the celebration in the U.S., and how local communities honor the celebration. This approach is from a media studies perspective and a particular focus on art, specifically altar making or making an ofrenda. Writer, philosopher, tejana Gloria E. Anzaldúa details that altars are “‘the sanctuary of the …

Feeling Foreign / Foreign Feeling: Affect In Southeast Asian Diasporic Short Story Collections, Francys Aerin Fortes

Theses and Dissertations

Affect studies have long been saturated with scholarship investigating the fluidity of emotions, though a larger turn in the field now prioritizes the felt experiences of marginalized peoples. Sianne Ngai’s work is one part of this turn that seeks to unpack the effects of oppressive systemic forces on Black, Brown, and queer bodies. Sianne Ngai reexamined the nature of emotions in her seminal text Ugly Feelings (2005), particularly concerned with how negative feelings are disproportionately felt by marginalized bodies as a result of conditions of obstructed agency, systems of power, and wage labor capitalism. Drawing from Ngai’s writing, this thesis …

Yes, Those Are My Biological Parents: Growing Up Multiracial In The United States, Angie Navejas

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

“Multiracial individuals are the fastest growing racial population in the United States” (Atkin & Jackson; 2021:305). Literature highlights how parents transmit culture through racial socialization, however there is a missing piece, the perspective of the children. This study sought to expand the existing literature to include children’s perspectives and how it relates to their multiracial identity formation. Recognizing the complexity of conducting research with children, a survey was administered to adults ranging from the ages of 18 to 35 years old. This resulted in a collection of data from their recollection of experiences and interactions with their parents or caregivers …

Mental Heath Experiences Of Transracial Adoptees Of The Global Majority (Black, Indigenous, And People Of Color - Bipoc)., Phebe Brako

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of transracial adoptees of the global majority (BIPOC), focusing on their bicultural identity integration and its impact on mental health. During semi-structured interviews, nine participants shared their stories of navigating cultural and racial dynamics as adoptees in predominantly White adoptive families and communities. The findings revealed six core themes: (1) the Quest for Bicultural Identity Formation, (2) Cultural Integration and Adaptation, (3) Navigating Racial and Cultural Tensions, (4) the Role of Family in Cultural Integration, (5) the Importance of Community and Support Systems, and (6) Mental Health and Therapeutic Experiences, addressing …

Islam, Memory, And Denial: Preserving Bosniak Identity After The Srebrenica Genocide, Alek Barović

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The role of the Bosniak Islamic Community in preserving identity and collective memory of the Srebrenica genocide remains a subject of ongoing debate among Bosniaks in Bosnia, the wider Balkan region, and the diaspora. This paper explores how Bosniaks perceive the Islamic Community’s efforts in shaping and sustaining post-genocide identity through religious, cultural, and educational initiatives. By analyzing narratives from survivors, religious leaders, and community members, this study investigates whether the Islamic Community is seen as a central institution in the preservation of historical memory or as one actor among many in the broader struggle against denial and historical revisionism. …

Exploring Help-Seeking Experiences And Barriers Of Ethnic And Racially Marginalized Individuals With Ocd In The United States, Nayara Aparecida Da Costa Silva Beall

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative study explored the help-seeking experiences and barriers of ethnic and racially marginalized individuals with OCD living in the United States through a sociocultural model of OCD. Participants included eight adults who self-identified as members of a racial or ethnic marginalized group and with an OCD diagnosis. Individual interviews were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of participants’ experiences and data was analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Five themes emerged from the analysis: (1) OCD Emergence, (2) Barriers to Getting Help with OCD, (3) Desire for Help, (4) Ongoing Challenges with OCD, and (5) The Importance of Finding …

Mirrors Of The Reel: Black Women's Identity In American Cinema (2009-2024), Melanie-Penny Harrison

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study investigates whether white supremacy structures, embodied in Hollywood’s predominantly white leadership, drive negative portrayals of Black women in 31 mainstream American films from 2009 to 2024. Employing a mixed-methods approach—quantitative content analysis, qualitative content analysis (QCA), and narrative methodology—I code portrayals for racism, patriarchy, heterosexism, colorism, and internalized racism, classifying them as progressive (e.g., empowered roles), regressive (e.g., subservient stereotypes), or hybrid. Guided by Critical Race Theory and intersectionality, the analysis examines narrative structures, character agency, symbolism, and dialogue to uncover intersectional patterns (e.g., race, gender, class) across three periods: 2009–2013, 2014–2018, and 2019–2024. Across these periods, cultural …

La Razón De Ser De Los Metodistas Hoy: Una Lectura Del Sermón “La Gracia Libre” De Juan Wesley Para Nuestros Tiempos, Philip Wingeier-Rayo Ph.D.

Apuntes: Reflexiones teológicas desde el margen hispano

Almost three hundred years have passed since John Wesley began the Methodist movement in England, and some may question its relevant to our current context. This article explores the role of Methodism through a contemporary re-reading of John Wesley's sermon "Free Grace." In dialogue with the current state of social, economic, and spiritual crises, the author compares the Wesleyan doctrine of universal grace and free will with the Calvinist doctrine of predestination and affirms the live-giving doctrine of free grace, which offers hope and social responsibility in the face of inequality and social injustice. By affirming these Wesleyan doctrines, Methodism …

Drip Hoses And Discipleship: Rethinking The Future Of Theological Education With Justo González, Benjamin D. Wayman Ph.D.

Apuntes: Reflexiones teológicas desde el margen hispano

In early February 2020 I spent a day with Justo González at his home in Decatur, Georgia, to discuss the future of theological education. The following piece showcases the disciplined imagination of one of the greatest church historians of our generation as he explains how drip hoses, worship, baptism, online learning, and more could guide the next generation of theological educators. In what follows, the reader will get a sense for why González thinks theological education is in a place of promise rather than peril.

A principios de febrero de 2020, pasé un día con Justo González en su casa …

Letter From The Editor, Elias H. Lopez D.Min.

Apuntes: Reflexiones teológicas desde el margen hispano

No abstract provided.

Grieving In Doorways: A Critical Autoethnographic Exploration Of Embodied Knowledge Amid Shifting Reality And Radical Possibility, Holly Rae

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis is a critical autoethnographic exploration of embodied knowledge amid shifting reality and radical possibility. Beginning and ending with my own body, I explore how grief, as an embodied companion, offers wisdom and power in moments of profound change. Rooted in a methodology of slowness, rest, walking, and active listening, this work resists the extractive pace of modernity and instead invites building a relationship with grief and discomfort. This research is an experiment in co-creating knowledge with bodies and their intersectionality within systems that would keep us separate from knowing our embodied knowledge. As a location of research for …

Campesino World-Building: Stories Of Migration, Memory, And Care In The Tension Of The Colonial Frame, Chelsea Ríos Gómez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Campesinos, often reduced to the label of “farmworkers”, are too often seen only through the lens of their labor within profit-driven systems. This thesis disrupts that limited narrative by illuminating the rich, expansive nature of vivencias campesinas, ways of being that transcend capitalist measures of value. These vivencias are lived, embodied experiences rooted in campesino lifeways, encompassing cultural, spiritual, and relational practices that nurture and sustain life.

My research is guided by four central questions: (1) In what ways have campesinos in pixley resisted exploitative labor systems, and how can this resistance be understood as a form of care labor? …

Representation In Higher Education: A Closer Look Into Cal Poly Humboldt’S Hsi Designation Through The Courageous Cuentos Retrospective, Audriana Peñaloza

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

When it comes to representation in education, it can be inconsistent. For many students of color, it can either feel like their identity is included in the conversations in the classroom and on campus, or it can feel like an afterthought — especially in higher education. Many colleges in the country are classified as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), Cal Poly Humboldt being one of them. This designation claims that Humboldt has the resources and support systems for all students of color, especially for the Hispanic/Latine population on campus. However, it looks like it is the student population that rise …