Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-267).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Denver, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 298-320).

This paper is a critical reflection upon commonly found distortions in the representations of the lives of Canadian women of South Asian origin in the Vancouver Sun. The strategy adopted consists in presenting first, the views of three South Asian women activists who acted as collaborators and analyzed the constituted sample of articles; second, feminist anthropological readings are used to draw upon a theory of discourse which looks at news-products as active elements in the construction of reality. It is then argued that by focusing on a narrow range of topics, the prevalent media discourse encourages news readers to develop a homogenous perspective on Canadian women of South Asian origin. The depictions in the press suggest that not only are these women oppressed, but this oppression originates in elements of their own culture and assimilation is only possible by relinquishing these "oppressive" cultural traits. It is argued that the media reinforces the dominant patriarchal, racist and classist discourses prevailing in Canadian society. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic conditions of the intestinal tract, divided into two main subtypes Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The exact pathogenesis is unclear but the current paradigm is thought to be an aberrant immune response in a genetically susceptible individual. The incidence and prevalence of IBD has traditionally been higher in North America, Europe, Australia and Israel compared to other regions of the world including China, Japan, India and Korea. More recently there is evidence of an increase in immigrant populations. Studies have also suggested that the clinical characteristics differ across ethnic groups. This has been mirrored by genetic studies that suggest different genetic susceptibilities between groups. A systematic review was performed to define the relevance of gene variants to IBD in a South Asian population. This found that few studies (n=6) have genotyped susceptibility variants in the South Asian population. The majority of these studies examined three common polymorphisms (R702W, G908R, 1007fs) in NOD2/CARD15 in Caucasians and have determined that these are absent in South Asians. The first hypothesis of this study was that clinical characteristics and mucosal distribution differed in South Asians compared with White British in the North of England. A total of 1318 individuals (314 South Asians) with a diagnosis of IBD were recruited. In the South Asian cohort 59% had a diagnosis of UC, 41% CD. In contrast the Caucasian cohort 56% had CD and 44% had UC. South Asians had twice the rate of extensive colitis compared to White British cohort (46% SA vs. 24% White British) and a younger age of diagnosis (30 years vs. 40 years). In the CD cohort South Asians were twice as likely to have colonic disease than White British (54% vs. 20%). Also they had a younger age of onset and were less likely to need surgery for CD.The second hypothesis was that common variants in the same genes described in Caucasian IBD were relevant in South Asians. 13 known SNPs from GWA Studies robustly associated with IBD in Caucasian cohorts were sequenced in South Asians IBD cohort (n=255) and unrelated ethnically matched controls (n=275) to determine if they were relevant to IBD in South Asians. These were genotyped by Sequenom MassArray and no significant associations were discovered. The final hypothesis was that rare highly penetrant variants underlie a group of IBD in consanguineous families in South Asian IBD. A consanguineous family in which the proband had inflammatory colitis diagnosed at 18 months of age was recruited. No disease causing mutations were present in IL10RA, IL10RB and ADAM17. DNA from other family members was used to perform autozygosity mapping of the proband and family. Exome sequence analysis identified 6099 variants in autozygous regions. Further analysis focused on three novel variants. One variant (PPP1R3G) was considered a likely candidate and Sanger sequencing was performed which confirmed it was homozygous in the proband, but it did not segregate in the family and so unlikely to underlie IBD in this individual. In summary this thesis has shown that few genetic studies have been done in South Asian IBD. Also there are significant differences in the clinical characteristics and mucosal distribution between groups and that 13 SNPs associated with IBD in Caucasians were not replicated in the South Asian IBD cohort. Finally autozygosity mapping and exome sequencing has not been successful in identifying a rare novel variant responsible for IBD in the consanguineous family but work is continuing.

This dissertation is a comparative, interdisciplinary, and transregional study of the connections between textual and iconographic representations of the Buddha Shakyamuni’s extended biography, and a re-assessment of its role and significance for the spread of Buddhism from India through Central Asia to China between the third century BCE to around the sixth century CE. My research relies on diverse sources: early Buddhist canonical sources; the earliest textual versions of the Buddha’s life stories in Chinese, Sanskrit, and Pali; art historical and archaeological material remains from early stupa sites and cave temples in India, Central Asia, and China; and also other visual material such as Buddha images, stelae, votive stupas, portable shrines, etc. Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach, I propose a new interpretative framework to re-evaluate the connections between the Buddha’s life stories and his body. In this dissertation, I suggest a new approach to “reading” the Buddha’s extended biography, which I posit is not merely a story of his life, but essentially is a story of his body. With that thesis in mind, I also shed new light on the role and function of the Buddha’s biography in the production and use of images, proposing a new hypothesis to re-examine the design and construction of early stupa sites and cave temples. This study suggests a common iconographical programme that lasted for several centuries and demonstrates how this programme connects to the story of the Buddha and his body.

My dissertation project, ‘Reimagining the Modern Hindu Self: Caste, Untouchability and Hindu Theology in Colonial South Asia, 1899-1948’ examines the interrelationship between modern forms of Hinduness and the narratives of Progressivism in the context of Maharashtra, a region in Western India. I present a thick description of the complex social world of Marathi intellectuals and cultural actors of the early twentieth century through various discursive/philosophical writings, journals, newspapers, pamphlets, personal correspondence, biographies, as well as a wide range of literary corpus of novels, plays and literary criticism in Marathi. My project hopes to demonstrate that a deeper engagement with the vernacular discourses would be enriching and productive for South Asian intellectual history. My methodology involved an exploration of the dialogic and transformational relationships between the centre and the peripheries of ‘Hinduness’ across disparate sites of discursive productions like non-Brahmin print publics, theological debates and literary culture. Through an examination of the ways in which the various peripheries of Hinduness – like Untouchables, the non-Brahmin, the non-Hindu and the women – had transformed the ideas of what constituted the core of modern Hinduness, I argue that the various narratives of Maharashtra’s progressivism and a complex phenomenon of modern Hinduness were deeply implicated in the production of each other in the first half of the twentieth century. My project identifies untouchables, women, anti-caste intellectuals, toilet cleaners, translators of Sanskrit texts and people who fasted unto death as crucial actors in this reimagination of modern Hindu self. Also, by providing a regionally specific history of Hindu ethic, my project challenges the Pan-Indian narrative of universal Hinduism that is privileged in the historiography of South Asia and enables me to argue that the ethical value of Hinduness was inherently political and the universal idea of Hinduness did not emerge through a singular genealogy. It is in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, that the contradiction between the ethical and political aspects of Hinduness became significant. My project is to write a long and complex history of this imperative moment that coincided with the dawn of independent India.

This dissertation follows the historians of left politics in Bangladesh, a country that went through a century of independence and reversal under three signs–British India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. While the country kept reimagining itself under new identities, the idea of communism was underground and persecuted in all three periods, although the forms of struggle and the shape of ideas kept changing. This research is an ethnography of forms of writing history, the purchase of the celebration or censure of the work, and new socialities and rearranged hierarchies that emerge from this process. For a small but significant group of journalists, publishers, activists, and survivors, the project of arguing, understanding, documenting, writing down, and reenacting particular moments of Bangladesh history is a vital and presentist task.

This qualitative study sought to examine the experience of Asian Americans who provide housing and financial support for first-generation biological Asian parents aged 65 and older. Semi-structured interviews regarding how participants came to take care of their parents, the impact it had on close relationships and participants' plans, the impact of cultural background on taking care of their parents, and the positive aspects of caring for their parents were conducted with eight second-generation adult Asians in the U.S. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis and themes were organized around the areas of inquiry. Participants spoke about fulfilling caregiving responsibilities out of love and obligation; the positive and negative impact of caregiving on relationships with parents, siblings, and significant others; the challenges associated with their own decreased independence and the difficulty of seeing parents age; the benefits of the instrumental support that they received from parents and closer grandparent-grandchild relationships; impact on financial and housing plans; and the expectation of non-financial care from their children. Despite living in an individualistic society, participants appeared to endorse values of filial piety by taking care of their parents. Further, the participants' hopes that their children would continue taking care of elderly family members in non-financial ways in the future suggests that while they maintain the cultural value of filial piety, it is being adapted to the reality of living in an individualistic society. Limitations, clinical implications, and directions for future research are discussed. / Master of Science

Popular culture texts such as films have become increasingly prevalent and powerful in dictating what we believe and know to be true. Throughout history, Asians and Asian Americans have been represented through disempowering portrayals that have evolved into stereotypes perpetuated in films. However, Asians and Asian Americans have worked to reclaim their identities and transform how they are portrayed in movies. Thus, this thesis examines four American films including "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), "Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005), "Minari" (2020), and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (2022). By conducting a modified critical discourse analysis of how these films portray Asian and Asian American identity, this thesis depicts how disempowerment in films is connected to negative stereotypes and representations, and how empowerment in films can provide prototypes that are more authentic representations of Asian and Asian Americans. / MACOM / This study uses a modified critical discourse analysis to examine the representation and portrayal of Asian and Asian American identity in four popular films, Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), "Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005), "Minari" (2020), and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (2022). In the past, Asians and Asian Americans have been featured in stereotypical roles to disempower them. However, Asian and Asian American actors, actresses, writers, and filmmakers have joined Hollywood on and off-screen to rewrite their stories, reclaim their identities and portray themselves in holistic and empowering ways. A modified critical discourse analysis is used to look at these four films and how these films portray Asian and Asian American identity. The thesis shows that negative stereotypical roles lead to the disempowerment of Asians and Asian Americans, while authentic representation leads to the empowerment of Asians and Asian Americans further providing prototypes that are more strong, authentic portrayals.

This study aimed to investigate public attitudes towards the sexuality of people with learning disabilities within a UK residing sample, and compare such attitudes between people from White Western and South Asian backgrounds. A mixed-method approach using an online questionnaire was employed. Three-hundred and thirty-one UK residing adults were recruited. Participants provided demographic details, completed five attitudes towards sexuality scales, in addition to measures of recognition and prior contact of a person with a mild learning disability. One of the sexual attitudes scales measured attitudes towards sexual openness in the typically developing men or women. The other four measured attitudes towards the sexuality of men or women with learning disabilities. These included four different aspects of sexuality (sexual rights, non-reproductive sexual behaviour, parenting and self-control). Participants completed either a male or female version of these scales. One open-ended question that asked about the sexuality of either men or women with learning disabilities was also included and responses to this question were analysed via a thematic analysis. Mean scores indicated that compared to White Westerners, South Asians had significantly more negative attitudes towards the sexual openness of men and women in the developing population and also towards the sexual rights of men and women with learning disabilities. Recognition was found to be poor in both ethnic groups, although White Westerners were found to be significantly more likely to be able to recognise mild learning disabilities compared to South Asians. These findings implicate the need to develop culturally sensitive interventions in improving knowledge and awareness of learning disabilities in addition to being aware of the differences in attitudes towards the sexuality of people with learning disabilities that may exist between different ethnic groups. These implications, the limitations of the study and suggested directions for future research are discussed.