In 1920s-30s São Paulo, Brazil, leaders of the vanguard artistic movement known as “modernism” began to argue that national identity came not from shared values or even cultural practices but rather by a shared way of thinking, which they variously designated as Brazil’s “racial psychology,” “folkloric unconscious,” and “national psychology.” Building on turn-of-the-century psychological and anthropological theories, the group diagnosed Brazil’s national mind as characterized by “primitivity” and in need of a program of psychological development. The group rose to political power in the 1930s, placing the artists in a position to undertake such a project. The Symphony of State charts this previously unexamined intellectual project and explains why elite leaders believed music to be the most-promising strategy for developing the national mind beyond primitivity. In 1935, they founded the São Paulo Department of Culture and Recreation in order to fund music education, train ethnomusicologists, commission symphonies, and host performances across the city. Until now, historians of twentieth-century Brazil have praised music as a critical site for marginalized groups to sound out political protest. But The Symphony of State shows the reverse has also been true: elite groups used music as a top-down civilizing project designed to naturalize racial hierarchies and justify class difference. The intellectual history portion of the dissertation turns on archival sources, newspaper accounts, personal correspondence, modernist literature, and the period’s scholarly journals. The examination of literary form, discourse analysis, and marginalia lends depth to a carefully-documented study of ideas. Then, The Symphony of State brings to bear an innovative reading of ethnographic field books, vinyl records, and music scores to show that the department’s scholarship and symphonic compositions alike furthered the narrative of a nation jeopardized by primitivity. What is more, the department’s composers employed musical properties such as harmony and dissonance as metaphors to convince listeners that a harmonious society required the maintenance of racial and class hierarchies. In bringing further clarity to the department’s intellectual project, the sections featuring music analysis speak to the value of reading music as an historical text. The dissertation accomplishes multiple goals. It uncovers the theory of national psychology driving the musical institution; examines ethnographic material to further understand racial and regional prejudice in the period; and analyzes concert music commissioned and performed by the municipal department. The examination of the musical institution reveals a moment in Brazilian history in which national identity was constructed atop the notion of a shared psychology and in which modernity was believed to come with the musical tuning of the body politic and the training of its mind.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore how Christian networks enable strategies of transnational alliance, whereby groups in different nations strive to strengthen one another’s leverage and credibility in order to resolve conflicts and elaborate new possibilities. This research does so by analyzing the case of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia (IPC). The project examines the historical development of the IPC from the initial missionary period of the 1850s until the present. Specifically, the purpose of the study was to consider how the historical struggle to articulate autonomy and equality vis-à-vis the U.S. Presbyterians (PCUSA) and paternalist models of ecclesial relations has affected recent political strategies pursued by the IPC. Despite the paternalism of the early missionary model, changing conceptions of social transformation during the 60s contributed to a shift in relations. Over time the IPC and PCUSA negotiated relationships in which groups both acknowledge a problematic history and insist upon an ethnic of partnership and respect. Today, PCUSA groups, in concert with the IPC, collaborate on a range of transnational political strategies aimed at strengthening the IPC’s leverage in local struggles for justice and peace. A review of this case suggests that long-established Christian networks may have an advantage over other civil society groups such as NGOs in facilitating strategies of transnational alliance. Although civil society organizations often have better access to important resources needed for international advocacy initiatives, Christian networks, such as the one established between the IPC and U.S. Presbyterian communities, rely on a history of negotiating power-disparity in order to elaborate relationships based on listening and partnership. Such findings prove important not only to how we conceptualize transnational alliance but also to the ways that we think about the history and future of Christian networks.

French Canadian playwright Joseph Armand Leclaire (1888-1931) was very well known and respected in his time. Although he wrote over thirty plays, lyrics to several songs and an abundance of political poems, most of his work has been lost and Leclaire himself seems to have been forgotten. Several of his plays were produced at the time they were written, including his 1916 play La petite maîtresse de l'école (later published in 1929 as Le petit maître d'école), but none have been presented postumously nor have any been translated. This M. F. A. thesis presents the first ever translation and adpatation of Leclaire's play, titled in English as The Little Schoolmaster. The first half of the thesis provide historical context for the play's significance, as well as information about Armand Leclaire and the changes he made to his own work between the original 1916 version and the 1929 published version. The thesis then analyses the creative acts of translation and adaptation, proposing a new model of translation for a linguistically rich audience. Through this new model of translation-adaptation for a bilingual spectrum, the thesis concludes by demonstrating that dramaturgy can serve as a dynamic instrument for communities to engage in the exploration of bilingual and bicultural identity.

Since 2001, the San Colombano Project has provided the College-Bound Tutoring program for disenfranchised prospective first-generation college students in a southwestern community of the United States. However, an evaluation of the program had never been conducted. The purpose of the study was to conduct a qualitative, responsive program evaluation in a naturalistic setting using a case-study approach with a constructivist lens to create a narrative portrait of the program. Guided by critical race theory, Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and Wlodkowski's motivational theory, the study explored the effectiveness of the program. Interviews were conducted and archival data were examined to understand the effectiveness of the program. Interview participants included 5 leaders, 4 alumni/staff members, and 2 adult volunteer tutors. Typological, inductive, and content analyses were applied to the contextualized data. The findings arising from data analyses were based on these themes: (a) authentic hope, (b) social and emotional learning, (c) organizational leadership, and (d) creation of a college completion culture. To promote social change, a program evaluation was provided to San Colombano Project based on these findings. Social change may be achieved through implementation of the program evaluation on behalf of these disenfranchised students by (a) embedding promising practices; (b) extending learning and growth opportunities; (c) leveraging data to improve, sustain, and embed processes; and (d) applying recommendations for enhancing an organizational learning culture.

The problem is that little is known about the life experiences and womanist characteristics of African-American female school leaders and how these experiences and characteristics have collectively influenced their leadership skills and practices within American schools. The phenomenological study sought to understand and describe the lived experiences of African-American female educational leaders who embody womanist characteristics and to identify how the following five factors have influenced their practices in educational leadership: (a) activism, (b) the knowledge and acceptance of multiple identities, (c) the usage of motherwit and othermothering (d) the care-ethic, and (e) the breaking of barriers. A purposive sample of African-American women who are educational leaders in urban school districts with predominately racial and ethnic minority student populations in the southwestern and southern parts of the country were used in this study. Data was analyzed to answer the following three research questions: (a) What do the characteristics of womanism mean to African-American female educational leaders?, (b) What perceived role do womanist characteristics have in the professional practices and leadership-styles of African-American female educational leaders?, and (c) What elements of womanism influence the African-American female educational leader’s efforts in helping to close the achievement gap experienced by many students of color? The study was conducted using an explanatory, qualitative style based on a phenomenological methodology. Participants completed telephone and face-to-face interviews. The four female participants (a) have held educational leadership positions, (b) are between the ages of 30 and 80, and (c) are African-American. This research can be a source of information and motivation to all women who aspire to become educational leaders, specifically African-American women who serve or desire to serve minority students in urban schools. The analysis revealed the nine themes: A mentor is a must, teacher leadership, activism, overcoming stereotypes, a strong sense of self, a vocation, breaking barriers, care, and high expectations.

Since the election of the first African American president in 2008, race relations have deteriorated in the United States. In May 2017, the emergence of the “alt-right” movement advocating for white nationalism caused further polarization between the races. This transcendental phenomenological research examined how white adult males’ exposure to racist ideologies influenced their perceptions towards African Americans, and how they emancipated from environments that promoted racist tenets. The study was guided by three research questions: How have white males been impacted by their exposure to racial antipathy and discrimination? What events or circumstances have white males experienced that led them to denouncing negative racial stereotypes and/or participation with hate groups? And, what efforts have they made to reconcile with individuals or groups they have harmed in the past? The literature review revealed racial conflict is a social phenomenon evolving from historical narratives posited by fear, social class, and white superiority. By employing qualitative data analysis, interviewing eight participants, and applying the theoretical lenses of critical race theory, social Darwinism, hate theory, and regenerative justice, the primary essence of the phenomenon acknowledged individuals are mentally and emotionally affected by negative historical narratives about racism. Six major themes evolved: 1) Familial Influences, 2) Southern White Experience, 3) Education and Race Relations, 4) Spiritual Convictions, 5) Immersion into the African American Experience, and 6) Physical and Mental Emancipation. The findings in this study contribute to the field of conflict resolution by advocating for advanced exploration into socio-psychology, racial reconciliation, and restorative justice.

Similar to other immigrant populations in the United States, Haitians have a migratory history of escaping from political turmoil, natural disasters, and extreme poverty (Zephir, 2004). However, Haitian Americans remain one of the underserved populations in the United States. Marginalized yet resilient, Haitian families in the U.S. continue to display strength in the face of adversity. Second-generation Haitian-American college graduates are the evidence of such strengths. There is very little research focused on second-generation Haitian-American college graduates’ perspective on the possible familial influences pertaining to education. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) design and Bowen’s Family Systems Theory as a theoretical framework, this study explored the lived experiences of seven selected selfidentified second-generation Haitian-American college graduates. The study was driven by three questions: 1. How do second-generation Haitian-American college graduates describe their cultural views on education? 2. How do these cultural views on education inform or influence Haitian families living in South Florida? 3. What are the lived experiences of second-generation Haitian-American college graduates regarding their family of origin’s influences on them as it pertains to education? Six themes emerged as a result: Multigenerational Method of Transmission, Reminiscent Educational Dialogue, Education as Economic Protection, Expected Educational Momentum, Future Multigenerational Method of Transmission, and Broadening the Educational View. It is the hope of the researcher that this study will expand marriage and family therapists’ understanding of the possible cultural/familial concerns, as well as, possible strengths and resources when working with Haitian families.

According to current U.S. labor statistics, Black male executives are underrepresented in every major industry in the United States. Common impediments preventing Black males from occupying executive positions include workplace white supremacy, biculturalism, repressive structures, and disparate career development. Using critical race theory as a framework, this basic qualitative study investigated the experiences of eight male executives, five Black and three white, from various industries to understand their perceptions and perspectives on race and racism, and examined their workplace lived experiences to study why there are not more Black males in the e-suite. Moreover, strategies to increase Black male representation in executive leadership positions were explored. The results of this study indicated white supremacy and norms are ubiquitous and dominant in the workplace. Consequently, this prevailing workplace ideology determines an organization’s culture, policies and practices, and, altogether, trigger traumas for Black males. Black male participants associated many of their workplace experiences with traumas in the forms of white favoritism, marginalization, stereotyping, microinvalidation, and compulsive assimilation. As a coping mechanism, they found support and organizational belonging through social networking in peer relationships and affinity groups, but their white counterparts almost exclusively used networking for career advancement.5 An emergent strategy from this study to increase Black male representation in the e-suite was the notion of a designed relationship model between aspiring Black male executives and equity-minded white male executives. However, because scholarship concerning career barriers impeding Black males from executive leadership positions is limited, future research is required to better understand the relationship between their workplace traumas and their underrepresentation.

This mixed-methods study addresses the relationship between the availability of food and realized food access by studying the retail food landscape of Holyoke, Massachusetts – a small, socio-economically diverse city. While a large body of empirical research finds that low-income communities and communities of color are especially likely to lack adequate access to healthy foods and experience increased vulnerability to food insecurity, few studies explore urban food environments through a mixed-methods case study approach. Through the use of food store mapping, store audits, and resident interviews, this research is a nascent attempt to articulate how the unique development histories and cultural politics of urban neighborhoods affect food access. The analysis finds that local food environments in Holyoke vary by social and spatial context. The study further considers how health and stability of a community is affected by the distribution and variety of food retail stores. In particular the study articulates the constructs of race and class in the food environment via the spatial mismatch of preferred food stores, mobility challenges, and the role of small urban food stores in the context of Holyoke’s foodscape. Implications for local food security policy are discussed.

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