Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Transformation Of Self In Everyday Life: How Undocumented Latino Youth Perform Citizenship, Caley Emmaline Cross

Senior Projects Spring 2016

The purpose of this extended case study is to determine what institutional, social and cultural factors contribute to undocumented Latino youth identity formation. Based on one month of qualitative interviews and participant observation at Peachtree University, a modern day freedom school for undocumented youth in Georgia, I examine how undocumented Latino youth identity evolves within state and societal pressures, and the formation of a commitment to activism through these youths’ experiences. Taken as a whole, this study traces the transformation undocumented Latino youth make from a position of social and political exclusion to actively claiming rights, recognition, and inclusion in …

The Effect Of Controllability Beliefs On Attitudes About Weight And Socioeconomic Status, Marna Nicole Dunne

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Many studies have shown that weight and socioeconomic status are related, such that people of low socioeconomic status are much more likely to be obese than people of high socioeconomic status (Drewnowski, 2009; Ljungvall & Zimmerman, 2012; Pudrovska, Reither, Logan, & Sherman-Wilkins, 2014; J Sobal & Stunkard, 1989; Jeffery Sobal, 1991). Additionally, people are biased against both the poor (John-Henderson, Jacobs, Mendoza-Denton, & Francis, 2013; Williams, 2009) and the obese (Puhl, Andreyeva, & Brownell, 2008). Through two empirical studies, I investigated the relationship between people’s attitudes about weight and people’s attitudes about socioeconomic status. In study 1, which was conducted …

Islamic Conversion Confined: A Look At Why Black Men Convert To Islam While Incarcerated And The Effects Conversion Has On Their Processes Of Reentry, Antoinette Marie Kane

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Based on ten in-depth interviews with Black men who converted to Islam while incarcerated, this project serves to better understand why Black men in prison convert to Islam, the effects conversion has on their prison time and on their reentry processes. In this paper, I argue that conversion to Islam among Black men in prison allows them to construct a new conception of self, which further allows them manage their prison time. I also argue that the presence of conversion to Islam in prisons helps to influence inmate culture and leads to the formation of a new masculinity within the …

Sanctioned Silencing, Symbolic Resistance: Race, Space, And Dispossession In A Marginalized South African Community, Killian Richard Miller

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

My field work and the written portion of my ethnography work through issues of marginality, state apparatuses, illusions of freedom, and making meaning in a context of oppression. All these power dynamics are historically-situated within the cultural context and community of Hangberg, a place forged by the race-based forced removals of Apartheid. British and Dutch colonization, Apartheid's racial regime, and the post-Apartheid oligarchical state, are all historical and contemporary authoritative forces that are impacting the everyday lives of people in Hangberg. Perspectives of power also serve as examples …

Performing Femininity: Gender In Ancient Greek Myth, Katherine Anne Gabriel

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College

Save The Children: Black Liberation In The Age Of The Modern Oligarchy, Isaiah Louis Rice

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Two principles that are fundamental to the West is self-determination and democracy. Self-determination meaning one's control over the path of their destiny and democracy being, the enforcement of egalitarian ideals. The two would seem to guarantee the livelihood of all their citizens to sustain their well-being beyond the means of having just enough to survive. The recent deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Sandra Bland question the legitimacy of these principles because of the apparent lack of regard for their Black bodies. These injustices have spurred serious debates in the public sphere, but reverberate so loudly because …

Assessing The Theory Of Demographics As Destiny & Patterns Of Bloc Voting In The United States, Nathan Benjamin Susman

Senior Projects Spring 2016

By 2044, it is predicted that America will be a majority-minority country-- that is, a plurality of minorities will begin to outnumber white people. Some suggest that this demographic trend suggests the demise of the Republican party, thanks to their historical paucity of support amongst minority communities. This has been deemed the "Demographics as Destiny" theory. This paper argues that the theory of "Demographics as Destiny is based on four assumptions:

1) that the population of minority communities will continue to grow by leaps and bounds;

2) that minorities will soon register to vote and cast ballots in proportion to …

The Secret Life Of The Queer Muslim: An In Depth Cross Cultural Analysis Of Repression, Tamara Wong

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.