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Title: "Readin' sistahs after school : counterstories from an all black girl book club"
Creator: Carey, Carleen
Date: 2015
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This study uses ethnographic tools to analyze one after-school Black girl book club. It addressesthe question, “How do the students construct raced and gendered identities as they engage withtexts?” While some studies highlight the need for teachers to employ culturally relevantcurricula, more studies are required to illuminate how students themselves define which texts areculturally sustaining. Drawing on Gee’s model of discourse as type of toolkit, this studyinvestigates the stories...
Show moreThis study uses ethnographic tools to analyze one after-school Black girl book club. It addressesthe question, “How do the students construct raced and gendered identities as they engage withtexts?” While some studies highlight the need for teachers to employ culturally relevantcurricula, more studies are required to illuminate how students themselves define which texts areculturally sustaining. Drawing on Gee’s model of discourse as type of toolkit, this studyinvestigates the stories narrated by six female African American1 seventh-graders over the courseof one school year in a large Midwestern city. Using critical discourse analysis, this studyillustrates how written and oral story-telling can support students’ critical literacy development.This dissertation expands the literature on identity and literacy. It expands our knowledge aboutan oral narrative in conversational response to text, thus uncovering the potential of narrative andconversational response to text as a tool for both young adult identity development and teachereducation, especially among young women of color studying English in urban settings.
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Title: Learning in a postindustrial place : reading the multiple texts of the city
Creator: Bodle, Aaron Thomas
Date: 2012
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: ABSTRACTLEARNING IN A POSTINDUSTRIAL PLACE: READING THE MULTIPLE TEXTS OF THE CITYByAaron Thomas Bodle In the second half of the Twentieth Century, many Western industrial cities underwent a gradual process of de-industrialization. This process reached its apex for many U.S. cities in the 1990s. The dramatic economic and social devastation that developed concomitantly with these economic changes left many urban policy makers, service workers, and educators searching for answers. Factory Town,...
Show moreABSTRACTLEARNING IN A POSTINDUSTRIAL PLACE: READING THE MULTIPLE TEXTS OF THE CITYByAaron Thomas Bodle In the second half of the Twentieth Century, many Western industrial cities underwent a gradual process of de-industrialization. This process reached its apex for many U.S. cities in the 1990s. The dramatic economic and social devastation that developed concomitantly with these economic changes left many urban policy makers, service workers, and educators searching for answers. Factory Town, the setting of this study, is one such city. In the past forty years, White flight, disinvestment, widespread poverty, and high crime rates in the city have resulted in the emigration of 50% of Factory Town's residents. Those who remain have inherited a cityscape that resembles a checkerboard of empty lots, abandoned homes, and brownfields. Among the many challenges these changes have presented, providing effective and meaningful education to the city's residents ranks among the highest. Viewing learning as a social process that is tightly linked to the contexts in which and for which it occurs, this dissertation was framed with the following questions in mind. What are the narratives of place that students encounter by virtue of living and learning in a postindustrial city? How do these narratives, as they are interpreted, composed, and expressed in practice serve as processes of place-making, or the active process of grasping one's relationship to the places they inhabit? How do students' experiences of place influence their sense of who they are, where they are in the world, and what is possible for the future? This work contributes to the growing field of place-based education by providing a complex and critical portrait of the pedagogical power of place in one postindustrial city. Fifteen high school students and two teachers associated with one urban high school agreed to participate in this project. As ethnography, the study was conducted using reflexive methodologies. It employed participant observation, a series of semi-structured interviews, auto-driven photo-elicited interviewing, and an ongoing analysis of my positionality as a researcher. Analysis and production of data occurred throughout the process from forming the research questions to the final stages of the writing process, heightening when data collection ended. Analysis involved open-coding, two stages of memo-writing, and peer debriefing techniques. Data were analyzed in relationship to theory in critical geography and place-based education. Places are inscribed with, and reify power relations stabilizing, directing, and organizing "who we are in relationship to where we are" (Casey, 1993, p. xv). Students' experiences of Factory Town, for example, stabilized their sense of racial and class divisions as they were inscribed in physical borders that divided the city. On the other hand, students' readings of the non-aestheticized places of the postindustrial city, former industrial sites and residential neighborhoods produced a non-linear sense of temporality in which the past, present, and future were simultaneously present. These experiences opened a sense of possibility amidst narratives of decline dominating national and local discourse related to the city. The voices of the participants in this study provide a window into possibilities for place-based educators attempting to encourage students to develop an ethic of care for the places they inhabit.
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Title: Cultivating the city : exploring the production of place and people through urban agriculture. Three studies from M'Bour, Senegal
Creator: White, Stephanie A.
Date: 2014
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This dissertation is comprised of three qualitative studies that look at a number of urban processes in M'Bour, Senegal through three separate theoretical lenses. Urban agriculture (UA) serves as the entry point to, and framework for, the inquiry. The diverse approaches are held together with a common conceptual framework of place. In an era dominated by a mode of development that aims to 'flatten the world,' in which 'success' is contingent on the erasure of diverse ways of living and...
Show moreThis dissertation is comprised of three qualitative studies that look at a number of urban processes in M'Bour, Senegal through three separate theoretical lenses. Urban agriculture (UA) serves as the entry point to, and framework for, the inquiry. The diverse approaches are held together with a common conceptual framework of place. In an era dominated by a mode of development that aims to 'flatten the world,' in which 'success' is contingent on the erasure of diverse ways of living and enrollment in a universal, 'globalized' process, narratives of place push back and argue for alternative courses of action that profoundly engage with culture, environment and identity from place-based, though not place-bound, perspectives.Each study in this dissertation represents a different methodological approach to accessing place. Analytical approaches were chosen based on their potential to ground the analysis in place by engaging with the materiality of lived experience, the interactions between social and ecological systems, and for their ability to see and consider variables across space and time. This dissertation presents three ways to explore place: Through (1) emplaced performances of gender, (2) Theodore Schatzki's practice theory, and (3) vulnerability, adaptive capacity, and resilience of socio-ecological systems.
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Title: Transformative internationalization through kindness : the experiences of Chinese undergraduate students and their instructors at a U.S. higher education institution
Creator: Achirri, Karolina
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: In this dissertation, I set out to explore and analyze the experiences of six international students from mainland China (henceforth student-participants), who are currently undergraduate students at a midwestern university in the United States (henceforth Grand Lake University or GLU), alongside the experiences of their four instructors (henceforth instructor-participants). In addition, I aim to investigate interculturality in the teaching-learning context. Participants include four...
Show moreIn this dissertation, I set out to explore and analyze the experiences of six international students from mainland China (henceforth student-participants), who are currently undergraduate students at a midwestern university in the United States (henceforth Grand Lake University or GLU), alongside the experiences of their four instructors (henceforth instructor-participants). In addition, I aim to investigate interculturality in the teaching-learning context. Participants include four instructors of three different courses (an English as a second language class, business management class, and a college writing class) and six Chinese undergraduate students attending these classes. As a multiple case study (Stake, 1995, 2006), this project comprises two collective case studies, a student-participants collective case study and an instructor-participants collective case study. The theoretical lenses are those of interculturality in education (Dervin, 2016b). I present a literature review where I identify the experiences of Chinese undergraduate students in the U.S. and these of their instructors thematically. I depict both enriching and challenging experiences that crop up during learning and teaching in the U.S. For my data in both collective case studies, I conducted semi-structured interviews as a main data source. I also observed classes for both case studies but conducted participant observations and collected artifacts for instructor-participants collective case study only. Additional data sources were a researcher's journal, field notes journals and email correspondence with both groups of participants throughout the process. I then applied holistic coding (Saldana, 2016) to derive codes and patterns from collected data and transformed them into themes in the findings section of this dissertation. I conducted transcript checks with all participants by sending them interview transcripts and asking for their feedback. Also, in my analysis, I emphasized the experiences of the participants (students and instructors alike) and how they construct intercultural learning and teaching. I discuss the findings from both collective case studies within the motif of transformative internationalization being possible through kindness (Abelmann & Kang, 2014; Loreman, 2011). I show that in order to reach transformative rather than symbolic internationalized learning environment, all voices must be heard. The four instructor-participants demonstrated open-minded approaches towards Chinese undergraduate students and positive perceptions of them, making the multiple cultures of learning they brought to their classrooms an asset rather than a barrier in a variety of ways and to different extents. The instructor-participants demonstrated not only culturally responsive pedagogies but also pedagogies that were interculturally rich and encouraging. Culturally, to the student-participants, kindness seemed to be a crucial factor. Wherever any instances of kindness were offered to them, either directly or indirectly, the student-participants thrived in their communication with instructor-participants and peers, in their social life, and in their evolving ideas about GLU. I also found that student-participants prepared thoroughly for their sojourns and depicted multiple types of motivation to study in the U.S. (including familial pressure and better career opportunities afterwards). I examined their language experiences at GLU alongside their sociocultural endeavors, which turned out to be challenging but educational and enriching. Based on these findings I also suggest directions for future research.
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Title: The strengths and needs of Palestinian youth : perspectives of youth service providers in Bethlehem, Palestine
Creator: Al-Zoughbi, Lucas
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Background: Palestinian youth are subject to a reality predicated on political and social injustice. The extant literature tends to view these youth through a deficit lens without adequate contextualization. This study aims to address this gap by documenting Palestinian youth strengths, challenges, and root causes according to youth-service providers. Methods: We conducted interviews with youth-service providers in the Bethlehem area. Interviews were followed by a member-checking survey to...
Show moreBackground: Palestinian youth are subject to a reality predicated on political and social injustice. The extant literature tends to view these youth through a deficit lens without adequate contextualization. This study aims to address this gap by documenting Palestinian youth strengths, challenges, and root causes according to youth-service providers. Methods: We conducted interviews with youth-service providers in the Bethlehem area. Interviews were followed by a member-checking survey to improve accurate capture of their experiences. Results: Utilizing Graneheim and Lundman's (2004) pragmatic qualitative data analysis, we extracted nuanced themes that mapped onto the analytical categories. We identified five analytical categories: educational, societal, political, economic, and individual. Discussion: Our findings suggest a complex and nuanced perspective of Palestinian youth according to youth service providers in the Bethlehem area. We discuss implications for practitioners and researchers interested in youth development and well-being in the Palestinian context.
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Title: Socioeconomic position and low birth weight : an evaluation of selected measures across race in Michigan
Creator: Taylor, Cedric Andrew
Date: 2011
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "The aim of this study was to evaluate multiple and 'contextual' SEP [socioeconomic position] measures in relation to Low Birth Weight (LBW) among black and white women in Michigan. ... Four SEP measures were evaluated: maternal education; Medicaid during pregnancy; Women, Infants, Children (WIC) enrollment during pregnancy; and Paternal Acknowledgement on infant birth certificates."--From abstract.

Title: I can be myself, [almost] always : a Latinx microclimate in a predominantly white institution of higher education
Creator: Ruvalcaba, Angelica
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Latinx students often experience exclusion, alienation, microaggressions, self-doubt, hostility and feelings of not being supported in institutions of higher education. Yet, sense of belonging can also play a crucial role in their experiences. For this study, I used a qualitative approach and applied Critical Race Theory and LatCrit epistemology with a grounded theory methodology as a foundation to gather, code, and analyze the data. I drew on data obtained through thirteen open-ended...
Show moreLatinx students often experience exclusion, alienation, microaggressions, self-doubt, hostility and feelings of not being supported in institutions of higher education. Yet, sense of belonging can also play a crucial role in their experiences. For this study, I used a qualitative approach and applied Critical Race Theory and LatCrit epistemology with a grounded theory methodology as a foundation to gather, code, and analyze the data. I drew on data obtained through thirteen open-ended interviews, thirteen corresponding demographic questionnaires from the Latinx undergraduate students, and participant observation. Findings suggest that microclimates are significant in engaging students' sense of belonging. Yet, they do not eliminate the exclusion, invalidation, and self-doubt that is perpetuated throughout the campus. Furthermore, findings also illustrate that microclimates can also perpetuate these for certain students based on their positionalities. Understanding the complexities of identity, belonging, and microclimates is critical to understanding the experiences of undergraduate Latinx students in institutions of higher education.
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Title: Environmental concern and pro-environmental behaviors : attitudes and behaviors in urban Chinese residents
Creator: Lu, Chuntian
Date: 2012
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Since 1978, China's rapid economic growth has also generated numerous environmental problems, which cause substantial economic losses, social conflict, and rising health costs. This requires us to examine the factors affecting attitudes and behaviors toward the environment among the Chinese. This study used data from 2003 General Social Survey in China to answer the following questions: Is the measurement of environmental concern in China different from in western societies? Will the...
Show moreSince 1978, China's rapid economic growth has also generated numerous environmental problems, which cause substantial economic losses, social conflict, and rising health costs. This requires us to examine the factors affecting attitudes and behaviors toward the environment among the Chinese. This study used data from 2003 General Social Survey in China to answer the following questions: Is the measurement of environmental concern in China different from in western societies? Will the selection of particular measure of environmental concern affect its relation to social-demographic variables? What are the effects of individual and community level variables on two types of environmental behaviors?The results showed that environmental concern in China includes four dimensions: economical trade off, pro-environmental behaviors, perceived locally environmental problems and NEP. However, the results are somewhat different from those in western societies. The analysis suggests that more attention should be paid to the selection of particular measure of environmental concern and demonstrates that it really makes a difference how environmental concern is measured. Our findings indicate that except for gender and income, the effects of other individual variables follow the same pattern as in the West. As for municipal level variables, our analysis demonstrates that the affluence hypothesis, which states that the level of national income per capita influences the level of environmental concern, is partially supported while the objective hypothesis, which argues that the rising of environmental concern is consequence of deteriorating objective environmental problems, is not fully supported here.This research provides some guidelines for future study of environmental concern and fills an important gap in the environmental attitudes and behaviors research in China.
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Title: A qualitative exploration of Black middle school adolescents' experiences with and responses to perceived discrimination
Creator: Okoroji, Chimereodo
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Racial discrimination is commonplace among racial minority individuals, including adolescents, who report experiencing discrimination in their everyday lives. These experiences can put youth at risk for negative health and psychological outcomes. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) perspectives, this study qualitatively explored the perceived discrimination experiences and responses of Black middle school students, as well as...
Show moreRacial discrimination is commonplace among racial minority individuals, including adolescents, who report experiencing discrimination in their everyday lives. These experiences can put youth at risk for negative health and psychological outcomes. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) perspectives, this study qualitatively explored the perceived discrimination experiences and responses of Black middle school students, as well as parental racial socialization practices, as previous research has found this to be related to perceived discrimination and racial identity among children and adolescents. The study used a phenomenological approach to understand the unique perspectives of nine Black adolescents in middle school and their parents. The findings confirmed that the youth experienced both direct and vicarious discrimination during this developmental period in multiple forms, across settings, and from different sources. In addition, adolescent responses highlighted developmental and adaptive challenges involved in responding to discrimination. Findings revealed direct and indirect socialization practices used by parents to prevent these experiences, or to help their children navigate them in order to promote positive racial identity development and reduce negative outcomes. Connections were also found between discriminatory experiences, socialization, and racial identity. Implications of these findings for parents, educators, and researchers are discussed.
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Title: An exploration of racial microaggressions within domestic violence shelters
Creator: Nnawulezi, Nkiru
Date: 2011
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: To date, there are limited studies that address the presence of subtle racism within domestic violence shelters (Gillum, 2009), and no one has defined these subtle forms of racism as racial microaggressions. Racial microaggressions are often unintentional, subtle, insulting communications or behaviors directed toward a racially oppressed person or group (Sue, 2010). The aim of this study was to explore the presence of racial microaggressions within domestic violence shelters, to understand...
Show moreTo date, there are limited studies that address the presence of subtle racism within domestic violence shelters (Gillum, 2009), and no one has defined these subtle forms of racism as racial microaggressions. Racial microaggressions are often unintentional, subtle, insulting communications or behaviors directed toward a racially oppressed person or group (Sue, 2010). The aim of this study was to explore the presence of racial microaggressions within domestic violence shelters, to understand how women responded to them, and to determine if women would return to shelter based on these experiences. Using a phenomenological approach, 14 Black women from three domestic violence shelters across a Midwestern state were interviewed. Results showed that twelve of the fourteen survivors in the study experienced at least one racial microaggression. Microaggressions were either environmental or non-environmental (microassaults, microinsults, or microinvalidations). Survivors generally responded non-confrontationally to their experiences, and, interestingly, few identified the experience as racist. Belief that staff were just and fair, blaming women for bad presentation, believing that certain women were undeserving clients, and internalized oppression were examined for how they may have influenced the denial of racial microaggressions. Future implications for research, policy and practice related to the research findings are discussed.
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Title: Power and stigma : examining Chinese students' stigmatized responses to chronic hbv carriers
Creator: Zhu, Xun
Date: 2014
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This study examines the influence of power differentials on stigma with respect to separation and status loss regarding an interaction with an individual who has hepatitis B. Rooted in Link and Phelan's (2001) stigma model and Trope and Liberman's (2010) construal level theory (CLT), the current study posits that power relations change stigma such that power holders show more agreement with statements about separation and status loss when they interact with a powerless disease carrier, as...
Show moreThis study examines the influence of power differentials on stigma with respect to separation and status loss regarding an interaction with an individual who has hepatitis B. Rooted in Link and Phelan's (2001) stigma model and Trope and Liberman's (2010) construal level theory (CLT), the current study posits that power relations change stigma such that power holders show more agreement with statements about separation and status loss when they interact with a powerless disease carrier, as compared to the powerless interacting with a powerful disease carrier. In addition, the study tests CLT's prediction on the relationship between power and levels of mental construal. It is expected that an elevated sense of power should trigger higher level of construal, as demonstrated by abstract thinking. A written survey was conducted with one hundred and fifty Chinese college students. Results indicated that power differentials between the healthy participants and the hypothetical disease carrier exerted no impact on self-report stigma measures. Instead, the strongest indicators for stigma outcomes were interpersonal liking and perceived similarity. However, power relations significantly predicted attitude toward the university segregation policy and whether participants agreed to share food with the disease carrier. Contrary to CLT's prediction, participants in low power conditions generated more abstract descriptions assessed by the number of adjectives and state verbs compared to participants in high power conditions. Implications, future directions and limitations are discussed.
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Title: Social Distance in Iraq and Lebanon
Creator: Mohammed, Jihan A.
Date: 2017
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Research has found that tensions, conflicts, and wars worsen the views groups hold towards each other and, plausibly, increase social distance. ... Since the twentieth century the Middle East is caught up in interlocking pattern of crises, conflicts, wars, and terrorism. Almost every country in the region have serious problems in social and political stability. The focus of this study is to investigate levels of social distance in conflict areas like Iraq and Lebanon where thousands of...
Show moreResearch has found that tensions, conflicts, and wars worsen the views groups hold towards each other and, plausibly, increase social distance. ... Since the twentieth century the Middle East is caught up in interlocking pattern of crises, conflicts, wars, and terrorism. Almost every country in the region have serious problems in social and political stability. The focus of this study is to investigate levels of social distance in conflict areas like Iraq and Lebanon where thousands of people have been killed and displaced because of civils wars and counter-terrorism. ... We are specifically interested to see the relative importance of: practicing religious rituals i.e. praying, fasting, attending Friday prayer/Sunday service; sectarian/denominational identification; and voting behavior as determinants of social distance.--Abstract
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Title: Indicators of human trafficking within migrant farmworker communities in Western Michigan
Creator: Norwood, Jeremy S.
Date: 2015
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: INDICATORS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING WITHIN MIGRANT FARMWORKER COMMUNITIES IN WESTERN MICHIGANByJeremy S. NorwoodThis exploratory study was designed to research indicators of human trafficking within migrant farmworker communities in Western Michigan. Much of the research on human trafficking has focused exclusively on sex trafficking and very few studies have been done on labor trafficking. Furthermore, the majority of the research conducted on human trafficking has used the nation-state as a...
Show moreINDICATORS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING WITHIN MIGRANT FARMWORKER COMMUNITIES IN WESTERN MICHIGANByJeremy S. NorwoodThis exploratory study was designed to research indicators of human trafficking within migrant farmworker communities in Western Michigan. Much of the research on human trafficking has focused exclusively on sex trafficking and very few studies have been done on labor trafficking. Furthermore, the majority of the research conducted on human trafficking has used the nation-state as a focal point instead of a particular region or locality. For example, there has been a wealth of research done on the United States, but very few studies have been conducted within individual states themselves. This study was formulated in order to fill the gaps within the research and focuses exclusively on indicators of human (labor) trafficking in Western Michigan. In completing this research, I spent several months interviewing fifteen (15) different professionals from various occupations who worked regularly with migrant farmworkers in Western Michigan and another fifteen (15) migrant farmworkers who worked in Oceana County, one of the counties in Western Michigan which hosts the largest number of migrant farmworkers every growing season. The pool of professionals who were interviewed were diverse and the counties or other localities they worked in showed the diversity of approaches to migrant farmworkers in Western Michigan. The migrant farmworkers was working in Oceana County when I interviewed them but had a great deal of other experiences to draw from when responding.Research subjects in each of the two different groups were interviewed and agreed to answer a list of open-ended questions about their lives as professionals or migrant farmworkers. I recorded and later transcribed their responses to these questions. These responses shed light on their journeys to the United States, their lifestyles in following the crop cycles from farm to farm every year, and their resilience to carve out better lives for themselves and their children. Their responses also revealed areas of vulnerability where traffickers had an opportunity to take advantage of them. These areas would later serve as potential indicators of human trafficking amongst these dignified, yet vulnerable populations. The indicators of human trafficking can be summarized based on a number of factors. Firstly, the beginning of the migratory process often encompasses three separate indicators of human trafficking: the presence of economic, political, and family violence, the lack of economic and social networks, and the lack of secure employment. Secondly, the road to employment phase encompasses three additional indicators of human trafficking: the road to employment from the sending country to the place of employment, the access to familiar and reliable transportation on the workplace, and the nature of the contractual arrangement in a particular case. Thirdly, the living and working conditions of the farms in Western Michigan encompass an additional four indicators of human trafficking: the presence of force, fraud, or coercion, the existence of “gaps” in employment, the pay, hours, and working conditions of the migrant farmworkers, and the extent to which breaks, bonuses, and housing are available. Fourthly, the extent to which migrant farmworkers have control over their circumstances dictates an additional four indicators of human trafficking: restrictions on mobility, the role of employers, the extent to which there is dependency on crew leaders, the reluctance of marginalized populations, and the lack of mobility in the H(2)(A) Visa program. Finally, the chapter on the experience with human trafficking yields an additional four indicators of human trafficking within the context of the lives of migrant farmworkers in Western Michigan: the presence of force, fraud, or coercion, and the suspicions surrounding human trafficking. These are the indicators of human trafficking identified by this study.
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Title: The sense of belonging of Black gay men at predominantly White institutions of higher education
Creator: Gonyo, Claire P.
Date: 2016
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "This qualitative study utilized Harper and Hurtado's (1997) Sense of Belonging Model as a conceptual framework and a processes similar to ground theory as a theoretical framework to answer two research questions: 1. Do Black gay men feel a sense of belonging at predominantly White institutions? 2. If Black gay men do feel a sense of belonging, what processes contribute to sense of belonging? Given that the graduation rate of Black men is lower than any other group of students in higher...
Show more"This qualitative study utilized Harper and Hurtado's (1997) Sense of Belonging Model as a conceptual framework and a processes similar to ground theory as a theoretical framework to answer two research questions: 1. Do Black gay men feel a sense of belonging at predominantly White institutions? 2. If Black gay men do feel a sense of belonging, what processes contribute to sense of belonging? Given that the graduation rate of Black men is lower than any other group of students in higher education (Harper, Berhanu, Davis III, & McGuire, 2015) and that Black gay men are likely to experience homophobia, heterosexism, sexism, and racism at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) (e.g., Jaggers & Iverson, 2015; Mitchell & Means, 2014; Strayhorn & Tillman-Kelly, 2013a; Woodford & Kulick, 2015), Hurtado and Carter's (1997) Sense of Belonging was a fitting conceptual framework because sense of belonging is known to lead to higher rates of persistence for all students and specifically, minoritized students (e.g., Harper & Hurtado, 1997, Strayhorn, 2012). Social constructivist, anti-deficit, and intersectional lenses were used to explore the sense of belonging of 16 self-identified Black gay men who were at least completing their first year of college at three different PWIs in the Midwest. I conducted two interviews with each participant using a semi-structured interview protocol informed by Strayhorn's (2012) definition of sense of belonging, Harper and Hurtado's (1997) Sense of Belonging Model, and other relevant literature. I used a process similar to grounded theory to analyze interview data including the processes of open, axial, and selective coding. Though participants identified examples of homophobia, heterosexism, sexism, and racism they experienced, they all reported feeling a sense of belonging both within specific groups at their institutions and within their institutions as a whole. The analysis of this study led to the creation of a sense of belonging model that illustrates the process that the 16 Black gay men in this study went through to feel a sense of belonging. The factors identified in the model that led to sense of belonging include identities, cognitive mapping and perception of campus climate, learning appropriate behavior, expression of identities, and developing relationships and finding fit/place. Two participants noted feeling a sense of belonging at some point during their time attending their institution, but did not feel a sense of belonging at the time of their interviews. I describe the sense of belonging model and then the process that three individual participants, Greg, Timothy, and JJ, went through within the sense of belonging model. The discussion situates the factors in the sense of belonging model in existing literature and addresses the contradiction of participants sometimes having negative experiences on campus and yet still experiencing a sense of belonging. Implications for practice include recommendations for institutions based on university programs, student workplaces, faculty, and student organizations. Future uses of anti-deficit and intersectional research lenses are discussed in relation to implications for theory. Finally, implications for future research include recommendations for studying the sense of belonging of Black gay men at historically Black colleges and universities, applying the sense of belonging model identified in this study to students with other minoritized identities, Black masculinities, and sense of belonging and persistence."--Pages ii-iii.
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Title: Being and belonging : a critical phenomenological study of undergraduate Chinese international students' sense of belonging in residence halls
Creator: Yao, Christina Wai-Tze
Date: 2014
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "This study is centered on understanding how undergraduate Chinese international students' experiences with domestic students affected the Chinese students' understanding of their sense of belonging in their residential communities. The study participants' perceptions of barriers to their sense of belonging are addressed in this study."--From abstract.

Title: Modernization bubu : cars, roads, and the politics of development in Tanzania, 1870s--1980s
Creator: Grace, Joshua Ryan
Date: 2013
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The dominant historical narrative about Africans and technology in the twentieth-century is one of backwardness and underdevelopment. Though African contributions to technology or scientific knowledge are acknowledged during the pre-colonial era, they are rarely mentioned after European industrialization or the onset of colonialism. My research challenges this metanarrative by examining the manner in which Africans transformed motor vehicles and roads from European tools of empire into...
Show moreThe dominant historical narrative about Africans and technology in the twentieth-century is one of backwardness and underdevelopment. Though African contributions to technology or scientific knowledge are acknowledged during the pre-colonial era, they are rarely mentioned after European industrialization or the onset of colonialism. My research challenges this metanarrative by examining the manner in which Africans transformed motor vehicles and roads from European tools of empire into African technologies that could be used for different social, political, and economic goals. It focuses on five main themes: (1) Racial and gendered hierarchies of technology; (2) African histories of innovation and development; (3) The global politics of expertise; (4) The importance of technology and mobility to African identities; (5) The relationship between technology and economic liberation.Modernization is most often analyzed as a Western imposition upon passive African societies in need of technological assistance. My dissertation departs from this assumption by presenting modernization as a global process that was given shape and meaning by the knowledge and technological practices of local actors. In colonial repair garages, young men used access to automotive knowledge to create new forms of colonial personhood and challenge racial hierarchies of knowledge; after independence, they staked their careers and lives upon their creativity and ability to make a global machine commensurate with local economies of repair. On Tanzanian roads, African men and women upset ideologies of social and economic health by turning tools of social and economic engineering into vehicles for personal development. Instead of passive targets of technologically based interventions, this project reveals Africans as flexible and innovative technologists whose labor and ideas are crucial to understanding larger processes of modernization and development.My work makes at least three contributions to historical literature. (1) It replaces Eurocentric histories of development with the views and experiences of Africans who built personal and collective futures through car expertise or road travel. Instead of being targets of development schemes, my project analyses Africans as agents of development whose knowledge and labor are critical for understanding modernization in colonial and post-colonial periods. In particular, this research provides an alternative to state-based narratives of technology, governance, and development by using oral history, personal archives, and historical ethnographic methods. (2) My work shows the significance of technology to African identities in the twentieth-century. In contrast to colonial and post-colonial narratives that portray Africans as racially incompatible with modern technology, this research shows how cars, roads, and automobility became an integral part of African personhood. In particular, it reveals the importance of technology for contesting racial and gender social orders throughout the twentieth-century. (3) This research provides a new approach to modernity, technology, and expertise in World History by highlighting the contributions and achievements of African historical actors. In contrast to global historical narratives that describe Africa's twentieth-century through dominance and decline, this research reveals spaces of technological innovation and creativity that are critical for reevaluating World History from the perspective of historical actors in the Global South.
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Title: Intensification & asset dynamics : intrahousehold decision-making in Burkina Faso
Creator: Haider, Syed Hamza
Date: 2018
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: With a population of over one billion people, Sub-Saharan Africa represents one of thepoorest regions of the world. Efforts to eradicate global poverty require substantial economicgrowth in this region. Similar to other developing countries, a large percent of the population inthis region is engaged in agriculture. Hence, increasing agricultural productivity is crucial forimproving the well-being of the people of this region.My dissertation is motivated by two key observations that hold...
Show moreWith a population of over one billion people, Sub-Saharan Africa represents one of thepoorest regions of the world. Efforts to eradicate global poverty require substantial economicgrowth in this region. Similar to other developing countries, a large percent of the population inthis region is engaged in agriculture. Hence, increasing agricultural productivity is crucial forimproving the well-being of the people of this region.My dissertation is motivated by two key observations that hold across most developingcountries. The first is that a majority of the population derives at least part of their income fromagricultural activities. Therefore, any efforts to reduce poverty will require greater agriculturalproductivity. This requires understanding how farmers make productivity-enhancing and otheragricultural decisions. The second observation is that while policy-makers have been concernedwith poverty across households, there is considerable variation in well-being within households.Women have historically been disadvantaged within households, and continue to be in manyparts of the world. A greater emphasis needs to be placed on measuring intrahousehold welfare,and understanding the heterogeneous impact of policies on different household members.Poverty reduction policies should consider individuals within a household, rather than thehousehold itself, as the appropriate unit of observation.My dissertation focuses on understanding the agricultural decisions of households inBurkina Faso. Adopting an intrahousehold decision-making approach, I study how input allocation decisions are made between family members and how they can affect each other. Ialso analyze how weather shocks can affect agriculture and access to productive assets necessaryfor income generation.In chapter two, I study the fertilizer subsidy program in Burkina Faso. I find that while itincreases fertilizer use and productivity of farmers, the increase is concentrated amongst malefarmers. In fact, fertilizer use for female farmers in the same households decreases. Therefore,men mostly benefit from the program.The third chapter develops a theoretical model of how agricultural inputs, such asfertilizer, are allocated between fields managed by different family members. The model showsthat individuals can engage in strategic behavior to influence the labor allocation decisions ofother family members. In the empirical analysis, I find there is substantial allocative inefficiencywithin households. Reallocating inputs from the household head’s fields can substantiallyincrease agricultural production and improve equity within the family. Therefore, the fertilizersubsidy program and similar initiatives should consider targeting women and younger males.Given increasing climate variability in Burkina Faso, the fourth chapter studies theeffects of floods and droughts on agriculture, and how households cope with these shocks. I findthat droughts lead to less land being cultivated and lower crop yields, while floods lead to lowercrop yields. Households sell and consume livestock during floods, but mostly rely on otherstrategies during droughts. During these weather shocks, the gender asset gap increases due tosubstantial sale of female-owned livestock. This leads to the ill-effects of weather shockspersisting for women over time. I also find that while households liquidate more livestock if theyhave a baby boy to sustain consumption levels, they do not do so if a baby girl is present. Thissuggests that baby girls are more vulnerable to negative economic shocks early in their lives.
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Title: How does a woman reporter's background affect sources in her news stories?
Creator: Howell, Alexis Francine
Date: 2017
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "As journalists begin to create stories, they need to find sources. Sources can include a variety of people. Depending on the story assigned, sources can range from officials to people on the street. When journalists decide who to talk to, they always want the best source, however, individual reporters must decide who is qualified to be the best source. My research questions asked whether race and years of experience were important in determining the choice of sources, I interviewed female...
Show more"As journalists begin to create stories, they need to find sources. Sources can include a variety of people. Depending on the story assigned, sources can range from officials to people on the street. When journalists decide who to talk to, they always want the best source, however, individual reporters must decide who is qualified to be the best source. My research questions asked whether race and years of experience were important in determining the choice of sources, I interviewed female television and newspaper reporters who differed in terms of race and experience. In depth interviews with these women suggests that a number of variables are important to how they chose sources. Some of the factors include socioeconomic background, years of experience in the industry and educational background. Each reporter had her own take on how comfortable she was when it came to interviewing sources. The reporters provided insight on what makes them approach sources, but many of the reasons for course choice were factors other than gender and race. In some cases gender and race did play a role because of who they felt was more approachable. The contribution of this thesis is the fact that I attempted to explore in depth how female journalists think about their own choices of sources."--Page ii.
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Title: Dreams of a soccer city : politics, consumption, and urban transformation in 20th century Buenos Aires
Creator: Galarza, Alex Gabriel
Date: 2017
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This dissertation examines the Ciudad Deportiva of Club Atlético Boca Juniors, a massive stadium, sports complex, and leisure site that aimed to redevelop the city’s dilapidated riverfront in the 1960s. The directors of Boca Juniors drew state and municipal support for the Ciudad Deportiva by appealing to developmentalist ideals that prioritized public-private collaborations, consumption, and leisure space for middle class families. As Argentina’s most popular soccer club, hundreds of...
Show moreThis dissertation examines the Ciudad Deportiva of Club Atlético Boca Juniors, a massive stadium, sports complex, and leisure site that aimed to redevelop the city’s dilapidated riverfront in the 1960s. The directors of Boca Juniors drew state and municipal support for the Ciudad Deportiva by appealing to developmentalist ideals that prioritized public-private collaborations, consumption, and leisure space for middle class families. As Argentina’s most popular soccer club, hundreds of thousands of fans and supporters also invested in the project’s fundraising campaign with the belief that Boca’s stadium and facilities would contribute to the city’s modernization and symbolize national progress. Multiple democratic and military governments aided Boca’s efforts throughout a turbulent political and economic period in Argentina’s history, a signal that this kind of mass consumption and family leisure were key concerns for successive, yet divergent, political projects. The club completed most of the original planned facilities by 1970 including various sports fields, an amusement park, an aquarium, a concert pavilion, Argentina’s first drive-in movie theatre, and a social headquarters with a pool and restaurant. However, political infighting at the club, a withdrawal of public and private support, and national economic crises all contributed to Boca’s failure to construct the stadium in time for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The municipality seized the Ciudad Deportiva in 1979 but over the next thirteen years Boca’s directors were able to regain control of the property and eventually sell it for 22 million dollars. Drawing on newspapers, sports magazines, club documents, and state sources, as well as over twenty oral histories, this dissertation makes two principal arguments. First, that soccer clubs played significant roles in shaping conceptions of neighborhood identity, gender, and class in 20th century Buenos Aires. These institutions did so in tension with their legal status as non-profit civic associations providing services to a membership base while also functioning as producers of the commercialized spectacle of professional soccer. Second, the successes and failures of the Ciudad Deportiva offer a unique perspective through which to consider the very real dreams of development that animated politics in the post-Peronist decades in Argentina. Scholars tend to focus on political polarization and instability, often obscuring the importance of notions about national and urban development embodied in the Ciudad Deportiva.
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Title: Social support and self-management behaviors among emerging adults with inflammatory bowel disease
Creator: Kamp, Kendra Joy
Date: 2018
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationship between social support and self-management behaviors of medication adherence and diet modification among emerging adults (ages 18-29) with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Manuscript one is a systematic review of the relationship between social support and self-management behaviors among adults with IBD. The review of literature identified 430 articles; seven articles met review inclusion criteria of adults (age 18 or older)...
Show more"The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationship between social support and self-management behaviors of medication adherence and diet modification among emerging adults (ages 18-29) with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Manuscript one is a systematic review of the relationship between social support and self-management behaviors among adults with IBD. The review of literature identified 430 articles; seven articles met review inclusion criteria of adults (age 18 or older) with a diagnosis of IBD and measured social support and self-management behaviors. Articles with significant findings reported a positive relationship between social support and self-management behaviors. As age decreased, self-management behaviors also decreased. These findings informed the emphasis on emerging adults in manuscripts two and three. Manuscripts two and three used a convenience sample of emerging adults (ages 18-29) with a health care provider diagnosis of ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. All participants were recruited through Research Match, Facebook, and word of mouth. Participants were excluded if they were pregnant or lived outside of the United States. Sixty-one emerging adults met study criteria; the majority of participants were female (n=55, 90%), single (n=47, 77%), and diagnosed with Crohn's disease (n=39, 64%). Manuscript two examines the individual, condition-specific, and emerging adulthood factors influencing received social support among emerging adults with IBD. Increased total received social support was associated with decreased age (p = 0.001), being married (p = 0.039) and having employment full-time compared to being unemployed or a student (p = 0.007). Increased emotional support was associated with decreased age (p = 0.033) and being married (p = 0.001). For condition-specific factors, the use of immunomodulators (p < 0.001), biologics (p = 0.002) and the interaction between immunomodulators and biologics (p < 0.001) was associated with increased tangible social support when controlling for time since diagnosis and symptom frequency. Finally, emerging adulthood factors were not associated with received social support. Manuscript three examines the relationship between received social support and self-management behaviors of medication adherence and diet modification and examines how perceived availability of social support may moderate this relationship. Seventy-three percent of participants reported medication adherence and sixty-four percent reported modifying their diet. Low informational received social support was associated with medication non-adherence compared to high informational received social support (p = 0.023). Perceived availability of social support did not moderate the relationship between social support and self-management behaviors. Received social support was not associated with diet modification. The findings from these manuscripts advance science by demonstrating the need to improve self-management behaviors among emerging adults with IBD. Results can assist healthcare providers in identifying emerging adults who may receive less social support. Also, interventions aimed at improving informational received social support may improve medication adherence. Future research should examine received social support among emerging adults with IBD who are experiencing more frequent symptoms or increased symptom severity and those who are recently diagnosed. Additional research is needed to determine the factors which influence self-management behaviors of medication adherence and diet modification among emerging adults with IBD."--Pages ii-iii.
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