The purpose of this ethnographic study of Puerto Rican parental involvement was to understand how Puerto Rican families in Western Massachusetts view public education and participate in their children's educational experience. Although many studies look at parental involvement within white and non-marginalized families, only a few studies examine Puerto Rican parental involvement and the home environments of Puerto Rican families and how they support their child's education (Hine, 1992; Nieto, 1995, 2000). This study examines three distinct groups of Puerto Rican families with differing employment and income levels. For this study, the researcher interviewed twenty two Puerto Rican families. These families were either from the lower socioeconomic class, working class, or the professional class as determined by their employment and income. An ethnographic/qualitative research methodology was used within this research study, and this allowed the researcher to understand not only the participants' words but also the unique influences of both the community and neighborhoods in which the participants lived and raised their children. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews and observations of the families over a period of six months. The project's findings reveal that there are both similarities and differences between the three different social classes. This study highlights the importance of family relationships, bilingualism and biculturalism and Puerto Rican cultural pride as the central themes and findings that emerged within my study. Additionally, social class affected both the family's personal perceptions of their own skills and knowledge regarding their ability to support their children's education. Families with lower social economic class status were less likely to reach out to school staff and to question teachers given their perception that they did not have the same formal training or education as the teachers. However, families with greater income and education levels interacted more regularly, directly, and critically with school staff through actively engaging in dialogue with their child's teachers. To a greater degree, families with working class or professional class employment and incomes were able to operationalize or to name specific skills and knowledge that they could provide as parents to their children at home that would support their school experience.

The importance of the letter as a means for social, personal and intellectual expression for humanists has been highlighted in various studies. For those studies, its value resides in its effectiveness in responding more directly to the presence of a new pool of readers giving rise to a new cultural type, transforming it into the emblematic genre of the humanists. I am interested in considering the influence of epistolary models in the New World, because, as these models were transferred to a new context, they acquired new forms that responded to the needs of communication, representation, symbolization and, finally, a new rhetoric. For the purposes of this dissertation, I will depart from the conception of the letter in the New World as a "polysynthetic" genre; that is to say, inasmuch as I wish to respond to the plurality of communicative needs that arose from the new contexts that were unforeseen by the humanist rhetoric, I will consider the letters from the New World as emerging from and forming part of other genres: accounts, petitions, diaries, among others. The starting point for this dissertation is the thorough reading and analysis of eleven unpublished letters, all written by women, currently located at the Archivo General de Indias in Seville and sent from the Rio de la Plata during the XVI and XVII centuries. In my investigation, I intend to demonstrate how the authors used the writing of such documents as an empowering practice. Secondly, I will prove that these first epistles, written from America, do not necessarily belong to the ars epistolandi, but to the ars dictaminis. Furthermore, this change in distinction requires a critical review of the current state of classical letters. Finally, I maintain that these letters provide a space for the emergence of the authors' identity. In other words, I understand and ground the conclusions of this work on the fact that space culturally shapes gender, but that gender acts in the production of such spaces as well. The participation of female authors by means of these letters merges them with that spatiality in a process both of production and reproduction, since, as a conscience building act, the "I" is turned into text in order to discuss on/about the space.

<p> Minority populations in the United States (U.S.) suffer an unequal burden of morbidity and mortality due to health disparities. The purpose of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to identify factors associated with disparities in self-rated health (SRH) among Asian and Hispanic immigrants. The acculturation theory and intersectionality framework were used to select predictors of SRH that included age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, depressive symptoms, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, acculturation status, social position, and acculturative stress and discrimination events. A systematic review of the literature was completed and data from the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 2002-2003 National Latino and Asian American Study were reviewed. This study found that acculturation status was associated with reporting disparities in SRH for both Asian and Hispanic immigrants. Limited English proficiency and being foreign-born was associated with worse SRH for Korean, Chinese, and Mexican immigrants, and in aggregate samples of Asian and Hispanic immigrants, compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Additionally, limited English proficiency was associated with worse SRH for Vietnamese immigrants. Among Mexican immigrants, higher levels of acculturation were associated with better SRH. Other key findings among Mexican immigrants were that depressive symptoms, increasing age, female gender, and elevated CRP were predictors of worse SRH compared to U.S.-born, non-Hispanic Whites. However, female gender and higher CRP were not predictors of worse SRH when level of acculturation was controlled for. For Chinese immigrants, acculturative stress was associated with worse SRH in an additive model while the interactions between social position and discrimination, and between gender, acculturative stress, and social position and education were predictive of worse SRH in multiplicative models. In summary, age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, depressive symptoms, CRP, acculturation status, social position, and acculturative stress and discrimination were associated with disparities in SRH among two ethnic minorities in the U.S. These findings can be used to improve awareness and understanding of these immigrant populations who are vulnerable to poor health outcomes. Additionally, outcomes can assist in developing interventions to reduce the influence of social structures on health and to capture the true complexities of immigrants&rsquo; lives.</p>

<p> In this study, I used <i>testimonio</i> as Methodology to conduct and analyze interviews with 11 undergraduate Mexicana undocumented students. Utilizing and expanding upon Latina/o Critical Theory and Chicana Feminisms as the overarching theoretical frameworks, my analysis revealed that participants drew on cultural assets they obtained in their homes to resist institutional barriers and Racist Nativist Microaggressions&mdash;both rooted in Institutional Racism&mdash;they faced in K-16 academic institutions.</p><p> Students developed strategies to access and navigate higher education despite institutional barriers by drawing on what I coin "Mother-Daughter Pedagogies of Resistance" learned within their homes. Moreover, I developed the term "Grounding Counterspaces" to illustrate how students' homes were spaces that allowed them to challenge, resist, and heal from Racist Nativist Microaggressions. These findings serve as tools to improve assets-based institutional support for undocumented students and to advocate for a comprehensive immigration reform that recognizes the humanity of undocumented students, families, and communities.</p>

<p> Since the landmark Coleman Report was issued in 1966 and questioned whether School Practice, or inputs, may have any effects on student performance, there has been considerable debate in the educational community regarding the role that School Practice may play in learning. More contemporary research has suggested that such factors as teacher training and retention, class and school size, and spending per student, may all have impacts on student academic achievement. Many of the studies that have found School Practice to be influential on higher levels of achievement proficiency have been criticized by others in the professional community for not considering School Context. School Context includes those features of schools over which teachers and administrators have little decision-making authority, such as the socioeconomic, ethnic, and linguistic background of the students at that school, or the school's attendance rate. </p><p> Others have found that for disadvantaged minorities, School Practice may have greater effects than for the general population. This study provides evidence that for Hispanic students, School Practice contributes a small amount to explaining differences in English language arts and mathematics achievement, considering the much larger effects of School Context. </p><p> Additionally, this research suggests that School Practice may have different effects based on geography and subject area content. Specifically, the results of this study suggest that School Practice may be more meaningful for mathematics than for English language arts. School Practice may also have greater effects in schools that are not located in wealthy suburban counties, such as those that surround New York City. In spite of the aggregate small effects of School Practice, there were two variables that were particularly important for their effects on both ELA and mathematics achievement. These variables were the percentage of teachers at a school with advanced levels of training, which had a small positive effect; and the teacher turnover rate, which to a degree had a negative impact on student achievement.</p>

<p> Parent income and educational attainment (EA) influence children&rsquo;s eating behaviors (EB). Psychological distress and socioeconomic disadvantage can trigger maladaptive EB that cause obesity (Hemmingson, 2014). Associations between Latino and African American (AA) parents&rsquo; income and EA with the child&rsquo;s EB and psychological distress were explored. Baseline data for 79 AA and Latina 8-11 year old girls were collected via self-report surveys and 24-hour recalls; parent data was derived from demographic forms. T-tests, one-way independent ANOVA, and correlations assessed relationships. Children&rsquo;s total fat intake differed by EA (<i>p</i>=.001) and income (<i> p</i>=.022). Total sugar intake (<i>p</i>=.011) differed by income. Fruit intake differed by income level <i>F</i>(2, 47)=4.93, <i> p</i>=.011. Number of fruit servings was inversely correlated with children&rsquo;s depressive symptoms (DS; <i>p</i>=.009) and trait anxiety (TA; <i> p</i>=.018). Emotional eating (EE) was positively related to DS (<i> p</i>&lt;.001), TA (<i>p</i>&lt; .001), and perceived stress (PS; <i>p</i>&lt;.001). Findings indicate that higher parent EA and income are associated with higher fat intake in children; higher income was associated with higher sugar intake. Fruit consumption seems to decrease with lower income, and higher DS and TA. Further, increased DS, TA, and PS are related to increased EE. Findings are contrary to expectations that poverty and low-education are associated with poor eating habits.</p>

<p> The problem that undergirds this study is the communication and understanding gap that exists between parents of Long Term English Language Learners (LTELL) and educational institutions. The purpose of this qualitative study was to uncover what Latino parents of LTELLs understood about their children&rsquo;s language development as well as their academic standing. Using focus groups and interviews, the study examined how five parents of LTELL students communicated with their children&rsquo;s schools and what understanding they held about the educational programs and policies in the district. The study included gathering parents&rsquo; ideas for how to improve the current system of communication between parents of LTELLs and the schools. </p><p> By exploring parents perceptions, through counter-story telling, of what was communicated to them about their children&rsquo;s linguistic progress and academic placement, they made sense of current practices and determined future expectations between them and the school. Additionally, the study helped parents understand the academic trajectory and linguistic development of their children and the impact they can create by having their voices heard. </p><p> The analysis revealed four overarching themes. First, parents moved to the U.S. because they <i>desired for a better future</i> for their children. Second, the notion of <i>education versus la educaci&oacute;n </i> was explored, where parents expressed cultural and linguistic teaching expectations at home and at school. Third was the theme of <i>self-blame, </i> where parents tended to blame themselves, rather than the system, for their children&rsquo;s lack of language proficiency. Finally, parents highlighted <i>communication,</i> which they described as the core cultural and linguistic barrier at home and school. </p><p> Although the parents of LTELLs may unintentionally experience being uniformed and overlooked, they are highly concerned about their children&rsquo;s English language proficiency and academic placement. Their collective voices expressed the hope for a good education leading to a successful future.</p>

abstract: If different societies encode their communication according to their socio-historical context, it makes sense to postulate that satire resides in the no-man's-land that sprawls between what an individual claims to be and the reality revealed by his actions. Thus, satirical caricature, as graphic and scenic art, results in the indictment of collective or individual vices through irony, sarcasm and farce. This study examines the Spanish-American War of 1898, and the "disaster" brought about by the defeat of Spain and the loss of its colonial empire, through the lens of the caricatures published by three satirical magazines—Don Quijote (Madrid), La Campana de Gracia (Barcelona) y El Hijo de El Ahuizote (Mexico)—between January and December, 1898. These magazines provide a many-splendored set of facets depicting a scathing and hard-hitting campaign supporting the war and the demonization, management, and suppression of the other through the use of symbols. While in the peninsular press Spain is represented as a raging bull, a lion, or a virgin maiden, Cuba as an empty container or a black and ignorant peasant and the United States as imperialist pigs and a treacherous thieves, the Mexican magazine views the Spanish as the usurpers, pirates and traitors, the United States as liberator, and the annexed populations as respectable and noble societies to be freed from the Spanish colonial yoke. Whether motivated by internal ideological confrontations or in opposition to external threats, the use of graphic representation as a political weapon considerably enriches the meaning of symbols. Satirical caricature represents a categorical instrument for the definition of national identity. The creation and dissemination of unified stereotypes—images assumed to be identical for all recipients—generates the development of a powerful national imaginary, both abstract and highly accessible to the reader, fomenting the manufacture of "public opinion". It is precisely here where its great semiotic power lies, because caricature achieves its maximum expression when it veers toward the symbolic rather than the discursive, delivering its content in an abstract and unlimited fashion, and spreading its effects through time and all the different socio-cultural contexts it may find along the way. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Spanish 2019

abstract: This work explores the blurring and eradication of boundaries – whether the boundaries are musical, social, cultural, linguistical, or political. I wanted to create a work that would explore the boundaries of my own dual identities, such as Mexican or American, or masculine or feminine, and that of my varied interests, such as popular, jazz, and European art music. After half a year of work, Sueño-Vibrant is the dazzling, whirlwind of a result (“vibrant” is pronounced just as it is in English). I worked with poet Marco Piña because we share many similarities in our artistic philosophies, owing to our mutual identities as bilingual Chicanxs. Considering the poems themselves, for me, “Bastardized Spanglish Translations” reveals an individual recovering from the end of a romantic relationship, whereas “Night Song” is about the self-discovery of one’s identity. By pairing these two poems, I create a polarity between the texts themselves, to highlight that the shaping of identity is both an internal and external process. In the cantata, we travel from the mourning and mysterious “Do My Eyes Lie” to the Mexican folk-styled “Ya me voy;” the arduous and painful “Ban Me From Balancing;” the indie- and jazz-inspired “Soon I’ll Be Home;” the introspective choral work “Night Song;” and the dissonant and disoriented “This Song Keeps Skipping.” I complete the work with “Adiós, Amor,” where these seemingly disparate feelings, genres, ideas, and identities are tied together and explored to fruition through a variety of styles and genres, from the salsa, to the opera chorus. With this work, I invite audiences to consider their own identities and those of others, and to embrace the social dissonances that happen both within us and around us. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Composition 2019

abstract: My dissertation topic engages in the trajectory of Roma/Gitano culture and flamenco and its implications for Chicanx culture in New Mexico. New Mexicans have the reputation amongst US Chicanx as referring to themselves as Hispanic and aligning culturally with a Spanish sensibility. Historically in the larger US Chicanx community this type of popularity for flamenco would be described as typical of New Mexico’s wavering Chicanidad that yearns to be connected to a Spanish colonial past more than to its indigenous Mexican roots. However, I believe the reality is a bit different. What makes New Mexican Chicanx different from the larger US Chicanx community is that they utilize flamenco and its Gitano roots as a cultural example of their Chicanidad. There is scant research on how Chicanidad as a historical movement has been influenced by the flamenco culture that exists in New Mexico. This dissertation will begin a conversation that places flamenco and the precarious identity of Chicanx, Gitanos and Nuevomejicanos in dialogue through the body, the art form, and the cultural stylings of flamenco rooted in the Flamenco Festival Internacional de Albuquerque (FFI). / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Theatre 2019