<p> This research seeks to understand the experiences of African American female undergraduates in STEM. It investigates how familial factors and science identity formation characteristics influence persistence in STEM while considering the duality of African American women's status in society. This phenomenological study was designed using critical race feminism as the theoretical framework to answer the following questions: 1) What role does family play in the experiences of African American women undergraduate STEM majors who attended two universities in the UNC system? 2) What factors impact the formation of science identity for African American women undergraduate STEM majors who attended two universities in the UNC system?</p><p> Purposive sampling was used to select the participants for this study. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with 10 African American female undergraduate STEM major from a predominantly White and a historically Black institution with the state of North Carolina public university system. Findings suggest that African American families and science identity formation influence the STEM experiences of the African American females interviewed in this study. The following five themes emerged from the findings: (1) independence, (2) support, (3) pressure to succeed, (4) adaptations, and (5) race and gender. </p><p> This study contributes to the literature on African American female students in STEM higher education. The findings of this study produced knowledge regarding policies and practices that can lead to greater academic success and persistence of African American females in higher education in general, and STEM majors in particular. Colleges and universities may benefit from the findings of this study in a way that allows them to develop and sustain programs and policies that attend to the particular concerns and needs of African American women on their campuses. Finally, this research informs both current and future African American female STEM students so that they might benefit from the knowledge of the experiences of others in STEM-related fields. As a result, other African American female students might be enlightened by these stories and have the confidence to pursue a STEM degree of their own.</p>

I examine Ontario history textbooks to demonstrate how the portrayal of the white settler fantasy of Canada being peacefully colonized and settled is enforced through the temporality and geography of the Canadian settler state, leading to the erasure of connections between indigenous and black communities in the development of the settler state. The temporality of the settler state is enforced through the Indian Act and the Multiculturalism Act, which work together to deny shared time between indigenous peoples, black peoples, and settlers. Settlers are positioned as inhabiting the here and now as reflected in the temporality of the modern settler state, while indigenous peoples are consigned to a status of primitivity, and black peoples are positioned as hailing from a primitive place, yet recently arriving in Canada. The temporality of the Indian Act is represented geographically through the reserve system, which works within the Indian Act to replace indigenous sovereignty and nationhood with Indian Bands, while the temporality of the Multiculturalism Act is represented geographically through the image of Canada as a cultural mosaic, which enforces the divide-and-conquer strategies of the settler state. If indigenous peoples and black peoples are always positioned as temporally and spatially distant, then it follows that their histories developed discretely. However, through analyzing how, what Patrick Wolfe terms, a “logic of elimination” (105) is deployed within the Canadian settler state, it become clear that settler colonialism and transatlantic slavery have always been engaged in an intimate and mutually reinforcing relationship in Canada. By moving beyond the temporality and geography of the settler state, not only does it becomes clear that the connections between indigenous and black peoples are actually foundational to the Canadian settler state’s current formation, but space is also created to develop alliances between indigenous and black peoples. Developing alliances is integral to imagining a reconfiguration of the current settler state that moves beyond divide-and-conquer politics, and towards a more just way of organizing societies that takes seriously the flesh-and-blood of all individual subjects and the human species as whole (Wynter 47). / Thesis (Master, Gender Studies) -- Queen's University, 2011-08-12 15:55:33.498

<p>"Black Sacred Breath: Historicity, Performance and the Aesthetics of BlackPentecostalism" considers are the aesthetic practices found in BlackPentecostalism, a multiracial, multi-class, multi-national Christian sect that began in Los Angeles, California in 1906 to argue that the aesthetic practices are the condition of possibility for a performative assessment and antiphonal criticism of normative theology and philosophy. Indeed, the history of these performances is an atheological-aphilosophical project, produced against the grain of liberal logics of subjectivity. By showing that theology and philosophy were abstractions of thought that produced the conceptual body as the target of racialization, the atheological-aphilosophical couplet indexes modes of intellectual practice that engulf and exceed such reductivism. BlackPentecostalism is a social, musical, intellectual form of new life, predicated upon the necessity of ongoing new beginnings. The religious practices I analyze produce a range of common sensual experiences: of "shouting" as dance; "testimony" and "tarry service" as song and praise noise; "whooping" (ecstatic, eclipsed breath) that occurs in praying and preaching; as well as, finally, "speaking in tongues." I ultimately argue that these aesthetic practices and sensual experiences are not only important objects of study for those interested in alternative modes of social organization, but they also yield a general hermeneutics, a methodology for reading culture. </p><p>During the antebellum era, both clergy and scholars alike levied incessant injunctions against loud singing and frenzied dancing in religion and popular culture. Calling for the relinquishment of these sensual spiritual experiences, I argue that these framing injunctions led to a condition where BlackPentecostal aesthetics, even in the much later institutional Black Studies, were and are thought as excessive performances. "Black Sacred Breath" investigates how discourses that emerged within the cauldron of spatiotemporal triangular trades in coffee, tea, sugar and human flesh of Transatlantic slavery necessitated a theology and philosophy of race, and consequently, the racializing of aesthetic practices. Over and against this discursive theology-philosophy were the performance practices of BlackPentecostalism, an atheology-aphilosophy. These sensual experiences were not merely performed through duress but were the instantiation and sign of love, of life. As love and life, these performative dances, songs, noises and tongues illustrate how enjoyment, desire and joy are important for the historicity - the theory of history found in these practices - that antiphonally speaks back against aversion, embarrassment and abandonment, against the debasement and denigration of blackness. Fundamentally, "Black Sacred Breath" is about the possibility for Black Study (as opposed to and differentiated from university institutional Black Studies), about the capacity for aesthetic practices typically deemed excessive can be constitutive, can provide new models for collective intellectual practice.</p> / Dissertation

<p>The rapid growth of the retail economy has created an abundance of low wage work. The retail sector often employs black and Latina women in low middle management and part-time positions while, white men and women hold top managerial and human resource positions. Consequently, a distinctive pattern of inequality emerges for women of color in retail work. Utilizing data from 20 in-depth interviews, I find black and Latina women's raises and promotions are stifled by the surveillance and bodily control they encounter on the retail floor. This study explores the simultaneous ways race, gender, class and body type intersect to place women of color in subordinate positions within the workforce. Moreover, this research provides insight into how the "white racial frame" is used to exploit women of color by both white management and the self-surveillance women of color conduct onto their own bodies. </p>

<p> The primary purpose of this study was to examine successful instructional practices that promote high academic achievement for at-risk students in juvenile detention centers, and possibly lead to a reduction in recidivism in the juvenile justice system. A case study was conducted at 2 Los Angeles juvenile detention centers, known as "The Sports Camp" and "The Vocational Camp." Qualitative research methods provided data triangulated from a document and artifact examination, interviews, and observations. Analysis of the data suggests that, contrary to popular belief, there are successful instructional practices that positively impact student academic achievement. However, the findings also indicate that extenuating circumstances prevent some students from taking advantage f their educational opportunities. Although the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) is committed to improving educational outcomes for incarcerated youth, there are no magic formulas or solutions. Therefore, multiple strategies will be needed to significantly improve educational outcomes for students in this nontraditional school setting.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to partner with the community to learn and conceptualize how to integrate a spiritual and leadership development program in order to promote social and family responsibility in African American and Latino at-risk males who have become single fathers and to become responsive to the Word of God in their lives.</p>

<p> This study examined Latino student college experiences at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Black enrollment at HBCUs has been decreasing and, as a result, HBCUs are turning to non-Black students to make up the enrollment deficit. One group sought after by some HBCUs is Latino students. Comprising 15.2% of the population in the United States, Latinos are the largest minority group and these numbers are expected to grow another 29% by 2050. Five undergraduate students at two HBCUs were interviewed for this qualitative study. Findings revealed five themes from participants' college experiences&mdash;campus involvement, cultural integration, faculty involvement, family support, and financing of college education. Administrators in academic affairs, enrollment management, and student affairs can consider the study's findings in order to plan Latino student initiatives. A challenge in American higher education has been the Latino educational pipeline; as such, this study is significant because it expands research on Latino college experiences at HBCUs.</p>

<p> Leave as is.</p>

<p> This research attempts to discover teaching principles and practices that create more equitable learning environs for African American students as the most at-risk group in United States schools. The Rhythm of teaching Black students refers to pace-setting and the teacher to student and student to student to interactions that take place during math. The Rhyme of teaching mathematics to African American students is a reference to demonstrating dedication toward all students by providing compassionate, equitable, rigorous, learning environments. This study examines the historical and social similarities between Cambodian American teachers and inner-city African-American students. The purpose of this research is to provide insights into the beliefs held by participants, and the pedagogical practices that assist Black students toward proficiency and advanced proficiency in mathematics.</p>

<p>This study explored the opinions and feelings of urban African American young adults and sought to investigate their perception of discrimination and negative labeling by agency professionals and the impact it had on their attitude and behavior. Furthermore, it sought to discover how personal and vicarious experiences with discrimination shape youth identity, community help seeking patterns and generate a mistrust of service providers. </p><p> Results found that majority of the subjects reported that they felt mistrust and disconnect from agency professionals based on their personal experiences and those communicated to them by friends and family members. In addition, subjects described a reluctance to get involved or voluntarily engage with law enforcement based on acquired knowledge or past experiences or treatment. </p>