Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Calling In Antiracist Accomplices Beyond The Writing Center, Hillary Coenen

Writing Center Journal

A reflective, ethnographic study of a grassroots, antiracist educational workshop (The Conversation Workshops, TCW) reveals that writing center (WC) pedagogy and feminist invitational rhetoric’s (FIR) influence on TCW enables participants to recognize their own and their partners’ expertise, meaningful experiences, valuable perspectives, and their need to be listened to, accounted for, and understood. In an invitational model, particularly one based on a one-with- one, interpersonal dynamic, participants are more like collaborators than audiences, an approach that can be applied in diverse educational settings, and which reflects the WC’s model of one-with- one pedagogy. This dynamic also reveals one of TCW’s …

Theorizing Social Movement Practices, Christopher Lomelín, Anna Peterson

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay contributes to the systematic and expansive exploration of social movement practices by looking more closely at symbolic and instrumental practices, on the one hand, and works of mercy and structural transformation practices, on the other. The categories we have discussed, while far from perfect, provide valuable tools to understand social movement practices and thus movements in general. We argue that attention to practices can strengthen the systematic, comparative analysis of social movements both by calling attention to previously under-studied types of activities and by illuminating the relationships between different types of practices.

Political Theory, Activism, And Visual Media: The Ideology Of Protest Symbols, Jilly E. Crane-Mauzy Mx.

Whittier Scholars Program

Art changes culture while policy codifies it. Radical revolutionary movements are often accompanied by equally radical shifts in art and design. I cataloged, compared, and contrasted the semiotic power of three specific symbols and their most significant historical moments in the United States. Through the examination of; Stonewall, The Equality March March Against Death, The Day The World Said No To War, The 1968 Summer Olympics, and The 2020 Black Lives Matter, the shifting of each ideologies symbol from inflammation in the media to recognition showcases the clarifying function along with creating unity and pride in community that is integral …

The Solidarity Manifesto: A New Network For Future Change, Sofia Calicchio

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Colonialism is a scheme of standpoint; colonizer versus colonized, West versus East, good versus bad. When put in the foreground, the value of what we see heavily relies on our perspective and knowledge. When learning to dissect, deconstruct, and decolonize spaces, we need to start utilizing decolonial thought as an historical tool rather than a true depiction of reality. Decolonizing spaces and recognizing Western colonization practices means challenging the normative structures in colonial history, thus breaking the cycle of oppression through building community and fostering solidarity. Drawing on theories exploring access to public spheres, representation, protection, permanence, cultural displacement and …

The Intermountain West Lgbtq+ Oral History Project: The Folklorization Of Queer Theory, John Priegnitz

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Following the passing of a friend who witnessed firsthand the transformation of Salt Lake City’s Queer community from the 1950s to 2020, I created the Intermountain West LGBTQ+ Oral History Project to document the queer experience within the Intermountain West. Since beginning the project in 2020, I have documented several diverse stories that intersect class, race, sexuality, gender, faith, and politics. By documenting the queer experience, a marginalized community will have their voices heard and preserved for the enlightenment of future generations. This presentation provides an overview of my project and its preliminary findings.

The Philosophy Of Activism And Its Paradox., Omar Arar

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Activist organizations have been at the forefront of countless progressive efforts, seeking to ameliorate social injustices, expand the rights of marginalized people, and strengthen democratic institutions. However, the efforts of activists always seem to lead to incremental victories or a minimal change to the status quo. In this paper, I argue that the primary cause of this largely stagnant social justice landscape is the professionalization of activism. Activism in its professional form, as people who make a living out of their activist efforts, brings with it numerous issues, the most problematic among them is the manifestation a paradox. Namely, professional …

The Effects Of Climate Change In Guam, Olga M. Zyzanska, Brooke R. Ashfield, Kate E. Eulberg

Student Publications

The purpose of this project is to dive into the harm that climate change has on Guam and its population. The objectives of our project are centered on highlighting the creative resistance of the CHamoru Indigenous community on Guam to established structures of colonialism and militarization during increasing climate crises. This project explores questions such as: How is Guam being impacted by climate change? Is the impact severe and/or immediate? How is the Indigenous community in Guam affected? How does US policy help or harm the island and its Indigenous population? What is being done to protect the island and …

How Activist Groups Use Human Rights Rhetoric In The Fight For Reproductive Rights And Abortion: The Cases Of The United States, Germany, And The Netherlands, Esme Ostrowitz-Levine

Senior Theses and Projects

Human rights advocates often argue their primary power is that claiming them and deploying human rights rhetoric adds legitimacy and authority to a cause. Yet our understanding of if, how, and why human rights language is used in the political struggle for equality is incomplete. In this thesis I examine the key question of the use of human rights rhetoric and claiming by activists and governmental actors via the struggle for reproductive rights, especially for access to abortion. Through a comparative case study of the United States, the Netherlands, and Germany, this paper finds that legislative bodies tend to utilize …

Study Of Fashion And Politics, Jacqueline Arena

Library Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this research is to analyze the way fashion has been used as a vessel for

political statements; specifically through studying the work of artists Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander Mcqueen and Vivienne Westwood. Gaultier and Mcqueen showcased shocking collections that caught the public eye by testing gender boundaries and reflecting historical events. Westwood’s work was a protest, and she was an activist. The sources included highlight the success of these unique designers. Furthermore, the research evaluates how political statements by fashion designers have become harmful because today newer designers are vying for the success of trailblazers such as …

Review Of We Are The Voice Of The Grass: Interfaith Peace Activism In Northern Uganda, J.J. Carney

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Examining Past, Present, And Future Of Agricultural Labor: From The Bracero Program To The Coalition Of Immokalee Workers, Francesca Paradiso

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis is a comparative study that examines the Bracero Program and the work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). The Bracero Program brought Mexican workers into the United States on temporary work visas from 1942-1964. The CIW is an organization of Mexican workers that was founded in 1992 as a response to the horrible working conditions that Mexican tomato pickers faced in Immokalee, Florida. In this thesis, I show that by putting these programs side by side, we can see the exploitation of Mexican farmworkers has relied on changing government tools—different forms of visas, different immigration regimes, different …

The Murder Of George Floyd: A Case Study Examining How The Policing Of Black Men And Grassroots Activism Influence The Will Of Black Women To Lead, Ella Gates-Mahmoud

Doctorate in Education

This study's objective investigates the viewpoints held by Black women in two urban areas of Minnesota about the social upheaval that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020 for using a counterfeit $20 bill. In the last decade, police killings of innocent Black people in the United States have received more attention, and Floyd's death is only one example of this phenomenon. In the U.S., the likelihood of a police officer taking the life of a Black man is higher than that of a White man. Between 2013-2019 there have been 1,641 fatal shootings of defenseless Black men by …

On Your Mark, Get Set, Gender, Emilia Vella

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Women in sport is a territory that is seldom included in politics, yet “woman,” as an identity, is one that comes with political meaning. This thesis will be discussing the inadvertent politicality of women in sport, and the legislation, as well as systems that declare the identity as so.