In an era that sees sports clubs facing a crisis, a few still grow and attract new members. They use technology for their benefit and provide a place where the members have fun, become aware of their competence, set goals for improvement and experience empowerment. The present qualitative study, conducted with a road cycling club in Germany, investigates how membership is negotiated and confirmed. By exploring the factors that influence the degree of belonging, this research aims to provide some answers on how active members of a cycling hobby club experience becoming part of such a community, what it takes to substantiate membership, and how individual and collective identities are formed and constantly negotiated. The situated learning perspective and Etienne Wenger's Communities of Practice concept have been adopted, and semi-structured interviews with ten participants were conducted. Moreover, observations and conclusions from a stimulated focus group discussion were used. The analysis shows that cycling in a group is a complex, multifaceted learning experience. Power, speed, or cycling skills do not suffice without the will and active efforts to harmonise with a group. Belonging grows parallel to competence, and the degree of competence gets constantly evaluated by the community in their practice, as a combination of contribution to the common goal and ability to be a trusted partner. Competence is thus a “becoming”, reflecting the members’ engagement with the sport and on an interpersonal level.

Thesis advisor: Ana M. Martínez-Alemán / Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (BSN) programs need to increase the retention and graduation rates of students of color to create a diverse nursing workforce that meets the needs of the United States. Living and learning communities (LLCs) are an emerging method for residential colleges to improve the experiences and retention of undergraduate students. This dissertation used a critical race theory lens to investigate the impact of a nursing-focused living and learning community on the first-year experiences of women of color. A qualitative comparative case study methodology was appropriate to explore the differences of sense of belonging of women of color in the LLC compared to women of color not enrolled in the LLC. The research questions that guided this study were, How does a nursing living and learning community impact the sense of belonging for first-year women of color who attend a BSN program within a predominantly White institution? and How different is the sense of belonging of the women of color who participated in the nursing-focused LLC compared to the first-year BSN women of color who did not participate in the nursing-focused LLC? Thirteen women of color from a predominantly White BSN program, River Stone University, participated in a survey, journal entries, individual interviews, and focus groups. The findings suggest that the nursing-focused LLC positively impacted the sense of belonging of women of color in the BSN program. The nursing-focused LLC was an institutional counterspace for women of color, which mitigated the adverse effects of the BSN program’s hostile racial climate and competitive culture. The women of color who did not participate in the nursing-focused LLC had a lower sense of belonging and perceived the BSN program to be more racially hostile and unwelcoming. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Le poète Palestinien Mahmoud Darwich appartient à l’interrogation de la victime, victime de l’injustice infligée par l’autre, et aussi, victime de sa propre défaite. La victime vit dans une situation extra-ordinaire, qui perturbe sa relation identitaire avec le monde. Ainsi, la quête identitaire de la victime devient la quête de l’ordinaire et du naturel, qui se présente en tant que problématique posée à un individu qui ne peut suffisamment interroger son individualité indépendante. A travers, l’approche égo-écologique qui permet de reconstruire l’espace élémentaire de l’identité, nous avons prélevé les effets identitaires dans la poésie de Mahmoud Darwich qui lui ont permis de reconstruire son identité de victime, et en même temps ont participé à l’émergence d’une identité collective palestinienne. / The Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish belongs to the interrogation of the victim, victim of the injustice perpetrated by others, and also, victim of his own defeat. The victim lives in an extra-ordinary situation, which disturbs its identity relationship with the world. Hence, the identity quest of the victim becomes the quest for the ordinary and the natural, that occurs as a problematic confronted by an individual who can not sufficiently interrogate his independent individuality. Throughout the ego-ecological approach that reconstructs the elementary frame of identity, we deducted the identity effects of Mahmoud Darwish's poetry, that allowed him to recreate his identity as a victim, and at the same time, contributed to the emergence of a collective Palestinian identity.

abstract: This dissertation project examines the cultural labor of the drag queen in the United States (US). I explore how the drag queen can be understood as a heuristic to understand the stakes and limits of belonging and exceptionalism. Inclusion in our social and national belonging in the US allows for legibility and safety, however, when exceptional or token figures become the path towards achieving belonging, it can leave out those who are unable to conform, which are often the most vulnerable folks. I argue that attending to the drag queen’s trajectory, we can trace the ways that multiply-marginalized bodies navigate attempts to include, subsume, and erase their existence by the nation-state while simultaneously celebrating and consuming them in the realm of media and consumer culture. In the first chapter I introduce the project, the context and the stakes involved. Chapter two examines representations of drag queens in films to unpack how these representations have layered over time for American audiences, and positions these films as necessary building blocks for queer semiosis for viewers to return to and engage with. Chapter three analyzes RuPaul and RuPaul’s Drag Race to outline RuPaul labor as an exceptional subject, focusing on his investment in homonormative politics and labor supporting homonationalist projects. Chapter four centers questions of trans* identity and race, specifically Blackness to analyze how Drag Race renders certain bodies and performances legitimate and legible, constructing proper drag citizens. Chapter five utilizes ethnographic methods to center local drag communities, focusing on The Rock and drag performers in Phoenix, Arizona to analyze how performers navigate shifting media discourses of drag and construct a queer performance space all their own. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Gender Studies 2020

abstract: The oppressive legislative policies and polarizing media narratives of undocu/DACAmented Latinx im/migrants in the United States have created unfavorable campus climates, which have further marginalized those students in higher education who fit into this category. As a result of Donald Trump’s presidency and rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that soon followed, undocu/DACAmented Latinx students are experiencing an increase in stress, anxiety, and fear to the point that they become silent, depressed, and feel the need to advocate more for their existence and worth on campus. My critical ethnographic case study investigates the everyday experiences of Mexican undocu/DACAmented students enrolled at a public university in Arizona – a state that borders Mexico – as they pursue their undergraduate degrees in the Trump era. This study is guided by critical race theory and LatCrit, sense of belonging, and resistance capital theoretical frameworks, and seeks to answer the following: (a) how race and racism shape their collegiate experiences, (b) where these collegians find belongingness to persist towards graduation while navigating an anti-im/migrant sociopolitical climate, and (c) how these students exercise agency via their activism efforts. The broader case study includes individual collaborative interviews, twelve months of participatory field observations, and a collection of documents. This study aims to expand the field of higher education’s understanding of how federal, state, and institutional policies and policymakers affect undocu/DACAmented students’ experiences in and persistence through college, highlight the agency exercised and assets these collegians bring with them to college, and offer research, policy, and practical recommendations for higher education and student affairs institutional agents. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Policy and Evaluation 2020

The purpose of this study has been to examine the lived experiences of people who have come to Sweden as refugees, specifically focusing on how a sense of belonging might take shape upon arrival. The study is based on qualitative, semi-structured interviews with six individuals, all of whom have been granted asylum in Sweden over the past 15 years. The interviews have been thematically analysed and given a theoretical interpretation by applying Antonsich’s concept of belonging, comprising an intimate and personal dimension, place-belongingness, and its structural counterpart, politics of belonging. The results suggest that a sense of place-belongingness is generated, or in some cases inhibited, by a range of factors: Autobiographical (e.g. past experiences proving to be resources in Sweden), relational (e.g. maintaining a proximity to family), cultural (e.g. learning the Swedish language), economic (e.g. establishing material security through employment) and legal (e.g. obtaining leave to remain in Sweden). The results also illustrate that a sense of place-belongingness is ultimately conditioned by politics of belonging (e.g. social attitudes and migration policy). The study concludes that refugees as a group, far from being a strain on society, are as resourceful as they are heterogenous.

The purpose of this study was to investigate, through a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods, whether Swedish citizens with two foreign-born parents feel that everyday racism is expressed in the society. Collected empirical data were conducted through an online questionnaire and eight interviews, in which all key informants were born in Sweden but originated from Lebanon, Syria, Spain and Kosovo. Previous research shows that the concept of immigrants tends to represent only a homogeneous cultural of non-indigenous ethnicities and that this unit is subordinate to the dominant Swedish identity. Being categorized as immigrants in Sweden can lead to stigmatization, racism, discrimination and exclusion in areas such as education, working life and income regardless of generation. It is therefore believed that cultural and social rankings have emerged between “Swedes” and “immigrants”, which means that the concept of immigrants has become a category that also subordinates individuals and collectively. Collected empirical data was analysed on the basis of Erving Goffman, Jan Inge Jönhill and Charles Horton Cooley theories and the results showed that informants carry experiences of racism that are a combination of structural knowledge and personal experiences. One can therefore describe the experiences as a cultural legacy of consciousness or a high knowledge of both previous social and current existing exclusions that have historically occurred or usually occur within a society today.

Perceptions of Faculty-Student Informal Mentoring Relationship This qualitative study examined the informal mentoring relationships between faculty and students at two small, faith-based, liberal arts campuses. Perceptions of both faculty and students’ views of informal mentoring were studied. The research questions further explored the factors that encouraged or discouraged faculty-student informal mentoring as well as the role of on-campus faculty housing. Student participants were selected after completing an online survey regarding their perception of connection with professors at the campus location. Faculty participants were selected after completing an online survey regarding their perception of how much time they spent with students outside the classroom. From these responses, nine students and nine faculty members were selected and agreed to participate in semi-structured interviews. Recognizing the power of story to communicate rich biographical moments, a narrative inquiry approach to data collection and data analysis was utilized and triangulated with observation, field notes, and historical document review. Interviews were analyzed using three cycles of coding that generated the resulting themes. Eight themes were identified from the data and include intentionality towards care and concern, the importance of relationship building, investment of time, size of campus, spaces that contribute to informal mentoring, the role of on-campus faculty housing, blurred lines, and hindrances to connection. Additionally, the experience of faith-based student development, student-faculty relationships on faith-based campuses, the notion of vocational calling, and impacts on informal mentoring are explored.

The present phenomenological study explores the experiences of ethnic minority students at John Brown University. The study includes 25 interviews with undergraduate ethnic minority students. The findings from this study show minority students have an overall positive response to their experience at a private, Christian institution. Additionally, participants experienced a variety of challenges which included feeling less than, lacking connection, and feeling isolated. Lastly, the researchers noted what was necessary for minority students to succeed at this university, which included support from faculty, staff, and organizations. The most important finding from the study was that minority students need a sense of belonging to succeed at John Brown University.

Bakgrund: Hemmasittande ungdomar, i åldrarna 15–24 år, som inte har en daglig sysselsättning i form av skola, arbete eller annan aktivitet är en stor riskgrupp för psykisk ohälsa. Risken att vara kvar i sysslolöshet under lång tid är överhängande och det behövs därför ett större fokus på gruppen. För att minska andelen individer i gruppen behövs en helhetssyn på de ungas behov och tidigare insatser för att förebygga hemmasittande. Syfte: Studien syftar till att beskriva arbetsterapeutiska åtgärder som kan hjälpa hemmasittande ungdomar till en meningsfull sysselsättning i vardagen. Metod: En kvalitativ intervjustudie genomfördes med tio separata intervjuer med arbetsterapeuter inom olika verksamheter runt om i Sverige. Datainsamlingen analyserades genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Fyra kategorier framkom genom arbetet “Samtal och kommunikation”, “Åtgärder för en fungerande vardag”, “Samverkan” och “Utvecklingsmöjligheter” varje kategori har sedan två till tre underkategorier och flertalet koder som diskuteras. Slutsats: I resultatet framkom vikten av Klientcentrerade åtgärder och att lyssna på individen och möta upp denne där den befann sig för tillfället. / Background: Young people in the age between 15-24, who do not have a daily occupation by work, school or other activities are in a higher risk for mental illness. The risk of being left inoccupation for a longer period is imminent and therefore, a greater focus is needed to the group. To reduce the increase of individuals in the group, a holistic view and early contribution is needed to prevent the adolescent to ”stay at-home”. Purpose: The study aims to describe occupational therapeutic measures that can help ”stay at-home” youth to meaningful occupation in everyday life. Method: A qualitative interview study was conducted with ten separate interviews with occupational therapists from various organizations around Sweden. The collection of data was analyzed through a qualitative content analysis. Results: Four categories emerged through the work “Conversation and communication”, “Interventions for a functioning everyday life”, “Collaboration” and “Development” each category then has two to three subcategories and the majority of the codes got discussed. Conclusion: The result revealed the importance of client-based interventions, to listen to the clients and meet them where they are in life.