Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-186). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Art History, June 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 333-361). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references.

"Making Race: The Role of Free Blacks in the Development of New Orleans' Three-Caste Society, 1791-1812" excavates the ways that free people of African descent in New Orleans built an autonomous identity as a third "race" in what would become a unique racial caste system in the United States. I argue that in the time period I study, which encompasses not only the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, but also the rise of plantation slavery and the arrival of over twelve thousand refugees from the revolution-torn French West Indies, New Orleans's free blacks took advantage of political, cultural and legal uncertainty to protect and gain privileges denied to free blacks elsewhere in the South. The dissertation is organized around three sites in which free blacks forged and articulated a distinct collective identity: the courtroom, the ballroom, and the militia. This focus on specific spaces of racial contestation allows me to trace the multivalent development of racial identity. "Making Race" brings together the special dynamism of the Atlantic world in the Age of Revolution with the ability of individuals to act within structures of power to shape their surroundings. I show that changing political regimes (in the time period I study New Orleans was ruled by the Spanish, the French and the Americans) together with the socio-economic, ideological and demographic impact of the Haitian Revolution created opportunities for new social and legal understandings of race in the Crescent City. More importantly, however, I show how members of New Orleans's free black community, strengthened numerically and heavily influenced by thousands of gens de couleur refugees of the Haitian Revolution, shaped the racialization process by asserting a collective identity as a distinct middle caste, contributing to the creation of a tri-racial system. / text

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Although there has been much research regarding the portrayals of African Americans in Advertising, the central focus has been on categorizing this race as a physiologically homogeneous group. In other fields of research such as, psychology and sociology, there is a stream of study that investigates differentiations in how Blacks are perceived by others based on variations in skin tone within the spectrum of this race. This research suggests that examining skin tone within race may provide a more accurate insight into the effect that ethnicity plays on interacting factors. The focus of this dissertation, therefore, is to extend this research focus on skin tone to the field of Advertising. Specifically, this study examines whether the skin tone of a Black model in an advertisement affects specific outcome measures of advertising: attitude towards the ad (Aad), attitude towards the product (Aprod), attitude towards the model (Amod), and purchase intent (PI). In order to formulate predictions and explain the possible findings of this study, two competing frameworks, hegemony and ethnic identity, were examined. According to the framework of hegemony, people adopt the social standard set by the dominant group and in this case would, in turn, prefer a "lighter" Black model. However, according to research on ethnic identity, a person's level of ethnic identity dictates preference for members of their group. In other words, not all members of a group would necessarily prefer the "light" Black model. Specifically for African Americans, preference would hinge on their level of ethnic identity. This study employed three independent variables and four dependent variables. Skin tone served as the main independent variable of interest in this analysis. It was manipulated for the purposes of this study by featuring a Black model in an ad whose skin tone was altered to produce a "light" and a "dark" version of the same model. The products used in the advertisements were based upon the other two independent variables, realm of consumption and cultural relevance. These variables, which will be explained in further detail in this manuscript, provided a basis for understanding the role that reference group effect has on the resulting outcomes. The four dependent variables that were observed in this study were the advertising outcome measures. To determine if differences existed among the treatment groups, a two-way ANOVA was conducted, with eight condition groups in the 2x2x2 design. Approximately 480 subjects from two southwestern universities took a web based survey that was designed to gather the data analyzed in this study. The results of the study found a significant relationship between skin tone and attitude towards the model. According to the study, more favorable attitudes were formed when the Black model's skin tone was "light" as opposed to when the Black model's skin tone was "dark." In terms of the competing theoretical models presented, generally, people felt more favorable towards the "light" model, suggesting that hegemony dictates consumer attitude formation. Ethnic identity did, however, play a significant role in the attitude towards the Black model with Black participants, with strong ethnic identifiers feeling more positively towards the dark model than those Black participants lower in ethnic identification. / text

The 1980 amendments to the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act require each State Historic Preservation Office to research and document specific themes important to the history and development of the state. These statements, included in the state's comprehensive preservation plan, aid in the identification and evaluation of historic properties as potential National Register sites.Indiana has developed twelve broad themes to be used in the creation of context statements for the state's seven regions. Area Seven includes Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Pulaski, Starke, Jasper, Newton, Benton and White counties. This context statement provides essential information for defining significant historic properties related to African-American history in northwestern Indiana between 1850 and 1940. / Department of Architecture

The purpose of this research study was to determine what effect, if any, the role of parental divorce would have on African Americans' ability to form satisfying adult romantic relationships and on their socioeconomic status. The groups were divided into those who had experienced parental divorce prior to age thirteen (adult children of divorce) and those whose parents were still married when the respondent was thirteen (intact families). Respondents were recruited via online postings, correspondence with organizations and word of mouth.A survey packet was created to measure relationship satisfaction, reactions to conflict in relationships and demographic data to ascertain how similar or dissimilar the respondents were as well as their self-reported income level. Surveys were made available in paper format before being placed on an online university sponsored survey site where the majority of surveys were completed. The data were analyzed using a one way multiple analysis of variance to assess for differences in relationship satisfaction and conflict response and a chi square test of significance to assess for differences in socioeconomic status.The results showed that there was little difference between ACOD and respondents from intact families on relationship satisfaction or how they responded to conflict. Respondents from intact homes showed significantly higher scores on two of the survey subscales, investment (Multiple Determinants of Relationship Quality Inventory) and passion (Perceived Relationship Quality Components Inventory). This group also indicated that they handled conflict in their relationships better and their partners used more positive means to deal with conflict in their relationships than did the ACOD group. The ACOD respondents, however, had significantly higher income levels, which amounted to approximately two thousand dollars in salary per year.While the differences were minor, the similarity between group mean and responses would indicate that for this sample the experience of parental divorce did not create a permanent adverse effect on their SES or their ability to form healthy adult romantic relationships. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The utilization of counseling services by Black college students has been a focus of the help seeking literature. The help seeking literature has focused on the nature of the potential problem, attitude toward counseling, rank of potential helpers, characteristics of help seekers, and the characteristics that Black students most prefer when choosing to see a counselor. The majority of this literature has primarily focused on the differences between White and Black students while ignoring within group differences. The present study examined the help seeking attitude and counselor preference of Black college students. The following hypotheses were investigated: a) whether African self-consciousness, socioeconomic status, sex, cultural mistrust, and prior counseling experience would predict attitudes toward counseling, b) whether African selfconsciousness, sex, socioeconomic status, prior counseling , and cultural mistrust would predict counselor preference for personal concerns, c) whether African self-consciousness, sex, socioeconomic status, prior counseling , and cultural mistrust would predict counselor preference for educational/vocational concerns, and d)whether African selfconsciousness, sex, socioeconomic status, prior counseling , and cultural mistrust would predict counselor preference for environmental concerns.A regression analysis using SPSS revealed that socioeconomic status, sex, and cultural mistrust were statistically significant predictors of attitude toward counseling. Three separate canonical correlations revealed that African self-consciousness, cultural mistrust, and gender were significant predictors of race and gender preferences for personal, educational /vocational, and environmental concerns experienced by Black students. Generally, Black students who were culturally committed, as measured by African self-consciousness, preferred a Black female counselor when faced with personal, educational/vocational, or environmental concerns while those Black students who were less mistrustful preferred a White female counselor for these same concerns. Limitations and implications for theory, practice, and research of the findings are discussed / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Since the 1970s, several researchers have questioned the applicability of theories of career development based on research with White males to women, minority group members, andindividuals from low socioeconomic milieus. This study examined the validity of D.E. Super's theory of career development in an underresearched subject population, African-American male and female university students. A conceptual model of career maturity composed of determinants derived from Super's theory (1953, 1972, 1990) and based on research with Caucasians was hypothesized and examined. The rationale was that finding a good fit of the model that also accounted for a significant proportion of the variance would support the adequacy of Super's theory in explaining the career maturity of African-American students as well.The co-determinants of career maturity in the model were sex, educational level, and socioeconomic status (SES) as exogenous variables, and causality and work salience as endogenous variables. Causality and work salience were depicted as latent variables mediating the effects of the demographic variables on career maturity. The model was tested on a sample of 288 African-American students from freshman to doctoral levels. Additional hypotheses investigated which variables in the model were the best predictors of career maturity, sex differences in commitment to the work-role and in career maturity, and the relationship between SES and career maturity.Structural equation modeling using the EQS software program (Bentler, 1989) indicated that, while a good fit of the hypothesized model was obtained, only 12% of the variance in career maturity was explained by the variables in the model. The results suggested that Super's theory may not be wholly adequate in explaining the career maturity of African-American university students. Only commitment to work and educational level were found to be significant predictors of career maturity. Female students were found to be more committed to the work-role and to be more career mature than male students. In general, African-American students exhibited higher participation, commitment, and value expectations in the role of home and family than for the work-role. No significant relationship between SES strata and career maturity was found. Implications for theory, research, and practice were delineated and variables that may be more salient for African-American students' career maturity were also identified. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services