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Celia
Tagamolila Bardwell-Jones
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Unsettling the Hegemony of Immigrant
Settlers: Transnationalism, Provincialism and Native Hawai'ian Sovereignty |
| Ph.D. Candidate Philosophy |
Haunani Kay Trask in an
impassioned essay entitled "Settlers of Color and "Immigrant"
Hegemony" argues that all Asian immigrants in Hawai´i are
what she terms "colonial settlers". In this presentation,
I hope to complicate Trask's arguments and "unsettle" the
hegemony of immigrant settlers by analyzing the transnational connections
as experienced by many immigrants in Hawai´i and on the continent.
I introduce Josiah Royce's philosophical notion of a "wholesome
provincialism" which understands travel as a concept of mediation
between different communities. Travel in this light underscores the
transnational commitments of many Asian immigrants. I argue that while
there is a potential for Asian immigrants to be colonialist in Hawaii,
Asian immigrant status does not necessarily implicate a colonial status
as Trask suggests. To this extent, Asian immigrants understood transnationally
and provincially, would arguably support Native Hawai´ian sovereignty. |
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Nicholas Coronel-Viteri
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The Movimiento Sem
Terra (MST): Cooperativism, Community Relations and Agrarian Reform
in Rural Brazil |
M.A., International Studies; M.C.R.P.,
PPPM
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Brazil is the largest
country in Latin America and a land of profound contrasts. It has
one of the largest land concentrations in the world, with only one
percent of the landowners owning forty-three percent of its territory.
The struggle for land has marked the history of twentieth-century
Brazil. The aim of this paper is to study the Brazilian Landless Peasant
Movement (Movemento Sem Terra, MST), a movement that is attempting
to resolve land inequalities in the rural regions of Brazil by providing
its members with an alternative for a dignified life. Using social
movements and radical planning theories, I develop an ethnographic
study of one of the most important grassroots movements in the world
at the present time. In addition, I discuss the practical implications
of agrarian reform, and organic agricultural self-subsistence practices
of the members of one rural site in the state Rio Grande do Sul. |
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Nancy
Hiemstra
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Latino/a Immigrants
in Small Town USA: Race, Place and Community Transformation
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M.A. Candidate Geography
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Leadville, Colorado, has experienced
rapid growth in its Latina/o population as the result of demands for
low-wage labor at nearby mountain resorts. This research explores
how spatial separations of immigrants and long-term residents reflect
and reproduce deep social and economic differences. Understandings
of place, enactments of citizenship, and daily social interaction
are shaped by the politics of immigrants' legal status, as well as
the sense of belonging and entitlement felt by many long-term residents.
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Hee-Jung
Serenity Joo
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Racial Passings and
Utopian Be/Longings: Race, Citizenship, and National Identity in George
Schuyler's "Black No More" and Eric Liu's "The Accidental
Asian" |
| Ph.D. Candidate Comparative Literature |
My project investigates
the implications of "racial passing" and miscegenation suggested
in these two texts. The uncanny similarities between Schuyler's pre-
and Liu's post- Civil Rights utopian fantasies of the nation articulate
the embodied inevitability of race. A comparative analysis between
them reveals how the visual assumptions of race impact Asian Americans
and African Americans in different yet intersecting ways particularly
in the context of citizenship, cultural legitimacy, and national be/longing. |
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Asako
Kanazawa
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Acculturation and
Mood amongst International Students |
| M.A. Candidate Psychology |
This project examines the
relationship between the expression of social anxiety (examining known
cultural variations in symptom expression) and the levels of acculturation
and ethnic identity reported by University of Oregon international
students during their transition to a new environment. This research
also attempts to understand the role of self-construal plays in how
international students present emotional distress. |
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May
Lim
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Path Analysis of Psychosocial
Adjustment amongst Southeast Asian Immigrant Youth |
| Ph.D. Candidate Counseling Psychology |
Despite being the largest
majority of the current 724,600 foreign-born Asians living in the
U.S., few studies exist on the growing mental health needs of America's
Southeast Asian population. A comprehensive model of psychosocial
development that considers important cultural variables would better
inform the design and implementation of therapeutic interventions
for the Southeast Asian population. The following project proposes
a developmental model for Southeast Asian immigrant youths by examining
the role of youth acculturation level, family conflict, and peer relationships
on adolescent psychosocial adjustment. |
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Maylian
Pak
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Poverty, Race and
Community Organization: Social and Environmental Justice in Eugene |
| M.A. Candidate Geography |
Using the work of the Railroad
Pollution Coalition (RPC) in Eugene, Oregon as a case study, this
thesis examines the nature of community activism and citizenship among
economically and racially marginalized groups affected by toxic soil
and water contamination. This project analyzes the challenges of community
organization among marginalized populations, exploring how race and
class shape community activism. It contributes to environmental justice
research, particularly geographic perspectives on race and class in
the United States. |
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Barbara
Sutton
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"We Don't Have
Racial Problems:" Racism, Whiteness, and Racialized Femininity
in Argentina |
| Ph.D., Sociology |
Dominant ideologies in Argentina
claim that racism is not a relevant social issue in the country. This
perception is related to a national identity that conceives Argentina
as a White-European society and that erases the existence of non-White
subjects. In this paper, I contrast these ideologies with racialized
constructions of femininity and the embodied experiences of racism
narrated by women who do not conform to the hegemonic ideals of beauty
and femininity. |
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Thomas
Swensen
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A Memory beyond Authenticity:
Alutiiq Cultural Display in Fort Ross |
| M.A. Candidate English |
My research is on the representations
of Alutiiq culture at Fort Ross, California State Historical Park
during the park's "Cultural Heritage Day" on July 31, 2004.
My project is a visual and textual study of the politics of memory,
memorials, and ethnicity focusing on Fort Ross, a former 19th century
outpost of the Russian empire. The research entailed attending the
celebration, documenting the planned events through photography and
a written journal, and studying the permanent exhibits at the park. |
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Ayisha
Yahya
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Cultural Synthesis
through the Media: A Case Study of Kenyan Hip-Hop |
| M.A. Candidate International Studies |
Global media are key propagators
of Western cultural products around the world. In Kenya, a budding
hip-hop industry built on local and foreign elements reflects the
evolution of cultural hybridity among urban Kenyan youth not only
in terms of music, but also identity. Kenyans are actively borrowing
ideas from the West ad "Kenyanizing" them by fusing the
local with the foreign to generate their own unique multicultural
products and perspectives. This hybridity challenges the notion that
globalization and appropriation of foreign concepts in local contexts
leads to mere Westernization and cultural destruction. |
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