Thesis advisor: Eve E. Spangler / Thesis advisor: C. Shawn C. McGuffey / My dissertation, “Race, Religion, and Class at the Intersection of High-Skilled Immigration,” takes a comprehensive approach to understanding the contemporary contexts of U.S. immigration underlined by Islamophobia and neo-liberal conditions of the U.S. economy. Methodologically, the data for my dissertation comes from the lived experiences of first-generation South-Asian Muslim immigrants arriving as young adults in search of their American dream, pursuing their graduate education in the fields of liberal arts, and science and technology, finding job prospects as high-skilled labor, growing into families, and emerging as American citizens. I study their acculturation and integration experiences, using two distinct groups of high-skilled migrants, i.e., short-term (international students) and long-term (permanent-residents), for which I conducted a total of 68 life-history interviews across the two categories. These ethno-racial and religiously othered identities located at the confluence of their Asian American and South Asian identities, model minority stereotypes, and racialized Muslim constructs present a unique window in examining the social and cultural processes of high-skilled immigration underlined by the political contexts of the War on Terror (WOT) era, and the recent Muslim ban. I study these intersectional identities using the case of Pakistani migrants, who continue to be the largest Muslim immigrant group by national origins in the U.S. Moreover, they also have higher skill levels than the native population (MPI 2015), making the non-white, Pakistani Muslim immigrant experience in the U.S. ideal for the study of high-skilled immigration.The first chapter, titled “Double Consciousness: How Pakistani Graduate Students Navigate Their Contested Identities in American Universities,” contributes to the knowledge of contemporary contexts of Islamophobia. It presents a global and transnational frame to DuBoisian theories of double consciousness, illustrating how Pakistani graduate students perceive their religious and national identities as threatening within the Western political constructs of Islamic terrorism. They experience a sense of twoness as they pursue their academic lives in the United States. While they see their religion as an extension of their cultural selves, they battle with the social constructions of terrorism imposed on their Muslim and Pakistani identities by the American political rhetoric on WOT. Thus, continuously challenging the stereotypes surrounding their contested identities as global Muslim migrants. The research has been published alongside educational policy practitioners and academics in a Springer publication titled International Students from Asia: The Two-Way Street of Learning and Living Globalization. The second chapter, titled “Gendered acculturation: Pakistani international graduate students navigating U.S. culture,” is a publication in the Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and presents new ways of thinking about the acculturation of non-white migrants as a gendered process. I demonstrate that the interplay of their intersectional identities underlines their acculturative strategies. Moreover, their gender identity emerges as a master status, shaping how they interact with different aspects of American culture distinct from their home cultural settings. The third article, titled “From 9/11 to Travel Bans: The Contemporary Ethno-Racial, High-Skilled Muslim American experience,” focused on the experiences of long-term immigrants, examines how South Asian Muslim Americans come to terms with the outburst of Islamophobia surrounding their ethno-racial and religious identities. The study theoretically contributes to understanding the intersectional relationships of upwardly mobile classed, gendered, and racialized immigrant identities that conflate the issues of race and religion. Bringing together racialization theory, intersectionality theory, and the concept of master status, I demonstrate how high-skilled Muslim immigrants present their understandings of the Islamophobic contexts of the American mainstream. I show that while their religious identity serves as a master status to their racialized experiences, the intersectional dimensions of their complex identities are crucial to how they experience overt and covert forms of Islamophobia in their personal and professional lives. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Magister Theologiae - MTh / No theologian can credibly claim to be able to speak on behalf of the whole human race in all places at all times and under all circumstances. In recent years theologians stressed the importance of the particular group. In our day authentic theology is characterised by the need to know the self (chapter 1). Douglas John Hall accepts this and therefore consciously theologises on behalf of those in the dominant culture of the North .American continent. He describes the primary characteristic of the human condition of this group of people as the experience of the failure of their symbolic world. This disintegration is especially felt with regard to the perception of the human being (anthropology) . So, in chapter 2 I focus on Hall's theological anthropological perception of those in the dominant culture of the North .American continent. Hall views the primary task of all disciplines in this context - including Christian theology - in the present time as providing resources of meaning in this world of disintegrating symbols. Consequently, he proposes his theological methodology as such a resource. In chapter 3 I focus on Hall's theological methodology as a means out of this present condition of meaninglessness - due to the disintegration of especially the anthropological symbol - for those in the dominant culture of the North American continent

It is necessary to address the nature of board composition in the South African economy because boards of directors are the lead indicator of whether or not the transformation initiatives put in place since 1994 are effective in bringing about meaningful change in the society within which we live. Companies are a microcosm of society. A hundred randomly selected companies were used to provide demographic data which was used in the analysis for this study. The aim was to identify what constitutes a typical board of directors for a Johannesburg Securities Exchange listed company by measuring dimensions of gender, race, tenure, independence and board size attributes. Findings from this research will help companies to better understand the role they can play in leveling the playing field by enabling more black people and white females to fulfil their potential and become directors of companies. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

In this report, we analyze trends in interleukin-6 (IL-6) production in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH), as a function of smoking behaviors and race, using a clinic-based case-control design. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected from a multiethnic cohort of 120 PLWH to measure IL-6 in culture supernatant. The data indicated that stimulated PBMC produced significantly higher levels of IL-6 in smokers than nonsmokers. However, as expected, this relationship was substantially modified by race. The distinctive production of IL-6 across different racial groups highlights the need for additional studies and suggests that African American smokers have enhanced production of IL-6 than other groups. Additional analyses indicate that higher IL-6 levels are related to the predicted use of mentholated cigarettes, which are more frequently used by African Americans. These findings warrant further investigation and indicate the critical need for tailored preventive interventions.

This dissertation asks how we should conceptualize white identity in the United States. I examine how we should measure white identity and assess the characteristics of white identity, primarily the robustness and durability of white identification. Taken together, the four papers offer two conclusions. First, traditional measures of white identity underemphasize the relationship between political preferences and white identification. I argue that we should instead characterize white identity in terms of adherence to white racial norms. Second, as opposed to narratives that portray white identity as reactionary, I find that white identity is remarkably durable in the face of both positive and negative information about whiteness.

As Medicaid moves toward a system of managed care, Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients often are assigned to an organization that assumes responsibility for managing their annual receipt of health care. This study reports the results of an investigation into the patterns of medical care utilization by AFDC recipients and their children under reformed Medicaid. The issues explored include whether or not medical care utilization patterns vary by race, and if there are identifiable factors that determine the utilization patterns of AFDC recipients and their children. We conclude that racial differences in medical care utilization do exist for AFDC recipients, but not for their children. Policy makers involved in reforming Medicaid should recognize that certain cohorts continue to exhibit undesirable medical care utilization patterns, and implement measures to rectify this situation.

The current research seeks to study and gauge current perceptions of police among college students at East Tennessee State University. As well as studying perceptions of police among students, the research will compare police perceptions among students with student opinions on incarceration. Correlations will be attempted to be observed through various demographical characteristics and similar standardized viewpoints. This will build on prior research from Lim (2015) and others in which college students were used to gauge results around perceptions of police. It is important to understand college student perceptions on police and incarceration as they form the future work force and form a large voting bloc to impact policy in the future. Following this introduction, this thesis will cover an additional four sections.

Thesis advisor: Betty Leask / Race plays a significant role in shaping the experiences of Black students who study abroad. Unlike their White peers, Black students are likely to encounter racism abroad, which a small body of research has documented. However, these studies say little about the short- and long- term effects of these experiences. This study is located in this gap in the research and examines how racism experienced while studying abroad can affect the wellbeing of Black students. In-depth interviews were conducted with 8 participants. Results revealed that the racism Black students encounter abroad can cause significant stress. When Black students lack adequate resources to cope with this stress, their wellbeing is threatened. Recommendations for study abroad offices and administrators for reducing and limiting the incidences and impact of racism experienced by Black students studying abroad are made. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Individual factors may impact the retention rate of Puerto Rican women in treatment for mental health and substance abuse-related issues. The purpose of this research was to examine the demographic factors that may contribute to the low retention rate of Puerto Rican women in treatment for mental health and substance abuse. The theory of reasoned action was implicit in the intervention. Data were collected from 120 Puerto Rican women enrolled in an addiction center. The following demographic factors were chosen from prior treatment records: age at first chemical abuse, whether the participant was a child of an alcoholic, level of education, and the first language of the participant. The data were analyzed using logistic regression equations. The results of the analysis did not show a significant relationship between the demographic factors and retention rate. However, the current literature regarding the effective use of these services is still limited with this population. This current study can lead to positive social change by helping to promote awareness of how cultural factors can impact substance abuse treatment for minority women. Therefore, one recommendation for a future study would be to use a research design that would allow for more exploration of relevant cultural factors. Significant results from a future study could result in better services, which could lead to positive social change by helping to reduce recidivism and lower substance abuse in this vulnerable population.

Considerable amounts of research, including research in psychology, has been produced to better understand the social constructions, dynamics, and relations of ‘race’, generally, and whiteness, in particular, within the field of sport. This study continues in this vein by critically examining the ways in which whiteness and, with it, racialised forms of prejudice can become implicated in water safety and the development of swimming skills, within the context of the learn-to-swim environment. This study specifically aims to explore how whiteness is (re)produced through, and (re)productive of, the perspectives of a sample of white South African learn-to-swim instructors by examining their racialised perceptions and constructions of swimmers of colour and, in particular, their abilities in learning to swim. To this effect, six white learn-to-swim instructors from a swim school in Gauteng Province, South Africa, were recruited and participated in one-on-one, face-to-face, unstructured, individual interviews. The data was analysed using a thematic analysis, underpinned by a theoretical framework of social constructionism and critical whiteness studies. The predominant themes that arose from this study include: (1) stereotypes by white learn-to-swim instructors surrounding the challenges that people of colour (PoC) appear to have when learning to swim swim as a result of fear, physiology, and issues around access; (2) whiteness in the form of comparing swimmers of colour to the ‘standard of whiteness’, white privilege and subtle forms of whiteness; (3) racial colour-blindness, and structural-institutional suggestions in order to make swimming and learn-to-swim more accessible to PoC and to assist in promoting water safety and swimming skills. Furthermore, two integrated themes emerged from the main themes, namely: (1) the understandings of race and (2) racialised coaching approaches. The value of this study lies in presenting initial insights into the ways that race, broadly, and swimmers of colours, more specifically, are perceived and socially constructed through the perspectives and coaching approaches of white learn-to-swim instructors. In doing so, the study attempts to understand the ways in which black subjectivities and black bodies are perceived and constructed, through the lens of whiteness and the perspective of the white gaze, in relation to water and, ultimately, how both explicit and implicit racialised prejudices continue to be (re)produced in learn-to-swim spaces and coaching approaches. / Mini Dissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Psychology / MA (Counselling Psychology) / Unrestricted