<p> The implementation of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act in 2009 prompted the integration of electronic medical records into clinical operations. The HITECH Act contained requirements under the meaningful use program to offer tethered patient portal systems allowing patients to view health care information online. Utilization of these portals, however, has been low among the general population and its adoption among minority and non-English-speaking patients even lower. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Hispanics living in Texas, who often prefer Spanish as the primary language, access personal health care information online through the use of a patient portal. The study examined if the number of times a patient accessed the patient portal varied by demographic measures (gender, age, ethnicity, and insurance status), as well as average neighborhood income and language preference. The study also investigated differences in demographics and language preference between registered and non-registered patients. This quantitative, correlational study used archival data to analyze 500 randomly selected medical records at a medical clinic an academic medical center in Texas seen between January 2015 and June 2016. The dataset contained an equal pairing of registered (<i>n</i> = 250) and non-registered (<i> n</i> = 250) patient portal users drawn from the electronic medical record and the patient portal system. Data analyses included Pearson&rsquo;s r correlations, independent t-tests, multiple regression models, one-way ANOVA, and chi-square analyses. Results demonstrate significant differences between age and patient portal use with older patients accessing the patient portal more frequently than younger patients. Hispanics and non-English-speaking patients are less likely to register or utilize the patient portal. Future research should investigate solutions to overcoming access and language barriers in this population. Given that patient portal access is one measure of patient engagement, elucidating how to further involve non-English-speaking Hispanics in health care has the potential to improve individual health outcomes.</p><p>

<p> Guided by the overarching theoretical and conceptual framework from Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit), funds of knowledge (FOK), and pedagogies of the home, this qualitative study explores the experiences of eleven Mexican immigrant mothers as they raise their K-12 grade children in the United States. This study centers the experiences of the participants as they utilize their funds of knowledge, the pedagogies of the home, local resources, and networks to provide opportunities to advance their children academically. Drawing from an asset-based perspective, this study positions the mother as the primary source of transmitting cultural knowledge to her children. This research describes how Mexican immigrant mothers define their role within the family structure and explores mother-daughter relationships. Further, the study identifies the challenges participants endure while raising their first generation Mexican-American children, and the ways in which they use community resources and local networks as forms of support. The data reveals the participants use of FOK through <i> consejos, respeto</i>, and dialogue to promote higher education expectations and aspirations for their children. Lastly, based on data analysis, this study expands on the conceptual framework of strategic mothering by theorizing strategic (Mexican immigrant) mothering.</p><p>

<p> School-centric views of Latinx parent involvement value preexisting particular middle -class and Eurocentric forms of parent participation in the classroom and in the school. In contrast, there is a growing body of research that looks at Latinx parenting practices from asset-based perspectives. However, there are few studies that illustrate the Mexican immigrant mothers&rsquo; points of view. The purpose of this qualitative study was to document and understand what Mexican immigrant mothers perceived to be good approaches to parenting. The conceptual framework drew from Chicana/Latina feminist epistemology (Delgado Bernal, 1998) and community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005). The study was conducted using <i>pl&aacute;ticas</i> as a method and methodology. The following themes emerged (1) <i>consejos</i>, (2) faith/catholicism (3) <i> estar al pendiente</i> (4) <i>educaci&oacute;n</i>, (5) setting bounderies and being consistent, and (7) obstacles. Results showed that Mexican immigrant mothers are deeply involved and do a series of parenting practices that help their children be ready to learn.</p><p>

More often than not, in theoretical discussions about translation, there has been a predominance of Western thought (Tymoczko, 2006). This dominance has been reflected principally in the concentration on linguistic aspects of translation, as well as in the importance given to written texts over any other form of expression. This fact has led to skepticism about metaphorical or non-linguistic studies of translation and non-Western approaches to this field. Nevertheless, there is a growing belief in Translation Studies that translation does not always involve a textual or linguistic practice, but that it can also take place within only one language, and even more, without implying any text at all (Bhabha, 1994; Venuti, 1992; Douglas, 1997; Young, 2003). Moving in that same direction, this thesis offers a metaphorical approach to translation that attempts to expand the boundaries of Translation Studies and resist certain previous Western-oriented conceptualizations of translation. Through examination of the works and a body to remember with and Le pavillon des mirors, written by Carmen Rodriguez and Sergio Kokis, respectively, this thesis contends that their fictional characters may be considered as both linguistically and culturally "translated beings" (Rushdie, 1991). Throughout this discussion, the concept of metaphorical translation refers to the never-ending process of transformation and transculturation that Rodriguez and Kokis' fictional characters undergo in their migrant experience. In other words, this thesis examines Rodriguez and Kokis' literary representations of migrants and their experience with translation as a transformation process. The dislocation caused by migration takes the form of social, linguistic, cultural, and psychological disarticulations, which are typified through images and metaphors of translation. These images and metaphors represent the main focus of analysis in this study. Therefore, this thesis brings about a broader idea of translation than the explicit interlingual transference of meaning. Both migration and its subsequent cultural mingling produce complex situations that are discussed in the works analyzed. First, this thesis examines the spatial and temporal related images and metaphors of translation within Rodriguez and Kokis' works. The aim here is to determine how these characters manage to overcome the loss of their place after migration and how this fact affects their roots. Second, in an attempt to evaluate whether the metaphorical translation of Rodriguez and Kokis' characters symbolizes a successful or a failed translation, this thesis considers specific aspects in characters' identity construction throughout the stories. Finally, their discourses are evaluated to discuss the linguistic conflicts stemming from the tension between mother tongue and adoptive language.

<p> <i>A Mexican State of Mind: New York City and the New Borderlands of Culture</i> examines the cultural productions of Mexican migrants in New York City within the context of a system of racial capitalism that marginalizes Mexican migrants via an exploitative labor market, criminalizing immigration policy, and racialized systems of surveillance. I begin by juxtaposing three images: "Visible Border," from filmmaker Alex Rivera's The Borders Trilogy; the Brookes Ship, which still powerfully recalls the business of transatlantic slave trade and has been significant for visual artists working from the 1960s to the present; and "la Bestia" ("The Beast"), a freight train running the length of Mexico and frequently used by immigrants on their travels. Although Mexican migrants rarely cross the border in containers, shipping container consumerism is what has allowed for the re- commodification of brown bodies, post-slavery. As such it is not ironic that the original purpose of the Beast was to move standardized containers across the US-Mexico border, yet ended up as a tragic symbol of migrant desperation. Here, as in <i>The Borders Trilogy</i>, I find a through line to understanding the connection between traditional border crossing and historical Mexican settlement in the southwest and Chicago, and the development of Mexican migration to New York City in a post-NAFTA, post-9/11 world.</p><p> Inspired by a dialogue of the landmark works of Paul Gilroy and Gloria Anzald&uuml;a, I develop an analytic framework which bridges Mexican diasporic experiences in New York City and the black diaspora, not as a comparison but in recognition that colonialism, interracial and interethnic contact through trade, migration, and slavery are connected via capitalist economies and technological developments that today manifest at least in part via the container. This spatial move is important, not just because Mexican migration is largely understudied in a New York--East Coast context, but because the Black Atlantic also emphasizes the long history and significance of New York as a capital of the slave trade. As the unearthing of the African burial ground in lower Manhattan in 1991 demonstrates, the financial center of New York is literally built on the bodies of black labor. Since the 1990s, it has been built on the backs of Mexican migrant labor.</p><p> As a result of these interventions, I find a rich and ever evolving movement toward creative responses to the containments of labor, illegality, and racial and anti-immigrant prejudice. In five chapters, I present a rich archive of both individual and collaborative expression including arts collectives, graffiti, muralism, hip hop crews, through which the majority young male Mexican population form social networks to cope with this modern-day form of "social death." The first chapter, "Mexican Manzana: The Next Great Migration" introduces the context of Mexican migration to New York City since the 1980s, focusing on the economic changes undergone by the city because of the adoption of the shipping container from an industrial economy to one focused on finance, real estate, and service. It also discusses NYC as an immigrant destination and outlines the characteristics of Mexican migrants and the conditions that greet them in their new destination. Particularly iconic to New York City is the restaurant industry for which the Mexican presence is both vital and largely invisible. Thus. Chapter two, "Solo Queremos el Respeto: Racialization of labor and hierarchal culture in the US Restaurant Industry," uses that industry as a case study of Mexican migrant containment, to explore active forms of resistance. Chapter three, "Hermandad, Arte y Rebeldia: Art Collectives and Entrepreneurship in Mexican New York" focuses on the development of arts entrepreneurship and successful collectively owned businesses such as tattoo parlors that double as arts spaces. The next chapter, "Yo Soy Hip Hop: Transnationaiisrn and Authenticity in Mexican New York," employs lyrical analysis of Mexican hip hop to explore alternative forms of identity making. The final chapter "Dejamos una huella: Claiming Space in a New Borderlands," describes the way Mexican migrants are claiming space and performing a politics of anti-deportation via the aggressive visibility of graffiti. Consequently, in loosening the bounds of border and <i> mexicanidad</i>, I find new identities that take surprising shapes. And following my subjects on the long journey to and within the Atlantic Borderlands, they teach me the significance of blackness in Mexican lives as well as black scholarship in Chicano/a and migration studies. Here, there is so much more than comparison &ndash; rather it is a rich flow of ideas that no border could ever impede.</p><p>

<p> The tumultuous period of the 1960s reflect an era of change and renegotiation of the power dynamics in the United States. While forging an ethno-nationalist identity, the historical agents of the Chicano Movement also struggled with some of their identifying characteristics and those characteristics impact on their activism. The most notable internal conflict with the Chicanos&rsquo; construction of identity was the role of their faith and its physical manifestation: the Catholic Church. Through the external movements of notable leaders, such as C&eacute;sar Ch&aacute;vez, Ricardo Cruz, and Reies Lopez-Tijerina, the role of religion in a movement that is typically considered secular was notable. These leaders questioned the use of resources by the Church on behalf of the Chicanos and demanded that the Church serve, along with the movement, in their pursuit for equality. Chicano leaders established a precedent for internal changes via Chicano priests and religious Chicanas within the Church. As criticism of the Catholic Church by external forces allowed for ample space for internal members of the system to advocate for change on the basis of the protests. Members of the movement pressured the Catholic Church to support its Chicana constituents were necessary to elicit change from the Catholic Church in its support of Chicano constituents. Each group within the Chicano political movement shared demands of the Church to utilize native clergy, reconsider the use of their resources, and serve their constituents&rsquo; physical and not just their spiritual needs. Aside from this reciprocal relationship, these Chicanos political leaders forced the Catholic Church to act on the declarations of Vatican II by relying on liberationist concepts. These concepts sought to establish a focus on the impoverished and to treat the spiritual needs and earthly needs of the poor simultaneously. The Chicano Movement demanded that the Catholic Church become involved with issues of social justice and provide the Chicano Movement with a greatly needed moral justification.</p><p>

<p> The last five decades have seen the population of Hispanics in California rise from 16% to 39% (California State Data Center, 2013). As the number of Hispanics has grown, so has the number of Hispanics responsible for heading public organizations in the State. As more Hispanics obtain leadership positions, they face the same challenges that many other leaders&rsquo; face; to do more with less and to operate under the scrutiny of the citizens they represent (Kettle, 2009). The pressure to deliver effective and efficient services is further complicated by the hierarchical structure of public organizations; and the ideals of the old public administration, new public management, and new public service that shape how public administrations function today. The purpose of this study was to determine the best-practices that Hispanic leaders employ to make them successful in leading a public organization. This descriptive phenomenological study utilized a purposive sample of 10 participants who currently provide direct or indirect leadership to a public organization in their role as an elected official. Data was collected through semi-structured interviewed utilizing an eight-open ended question interview protocol. As a result, 6 key findings were identified. One notable finding was that Hispanic leaders of public organizations indicated that key components to their success included; (a) collaboration, (b) communication skills, and (c) continual engagement of internal and external stakeholders. As a result, this study identified current best-practices of Hispanic leaders in public organizations, which help inform current and future Hispanic leaders on what is required to lead a successful organization. It addition, it provides the components to develop a toolkit of diverse leadership skills and abilities that may assist Hispanic leaders navigating through the bureaucracy that engulfs public organizations. </p><p>

<p> The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended Spain&rsquo;s colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere, and represented the symbolic pinnacle of U.S. imperialism throughout the Caribbean and the Pacific. During this historical juncture, the U.S. launched the invasion of Puerto Rico and established itself as the governing power. My analysis of this defining event in Puerto Rico&rsquo;s history focuses on the &lsquo;discursive&rsquo; and &lsquo;representational&rsquo; practices through which the dominant representations and interpretations of the Puerto Rican campaign were constructed. In revisiting the U.S. &lsquo;imperial texts&rsquo; of &rsquo;98, most of which have not been studied extensively, it is my intent to approach these narratives critically, studying their ideological and political significance regarding the U.S. acquisition of Puerto Rico as a colony. </p><p> The &lsquo;War of &rsquo;98&rsquo; has been typically represented as an inter-metropolitan conflict, thus relegating to a secondary place the contestatory discourses produced within the colonies. It is the purpose of my dissertation to examine &lsquo;dialectically&rsquo; the cultural counter-discourse produced by the Puerto Rican Creole elite alongside the U.S. official discourses on Puerto Rico, concerning its colonial past under Spanish domination, the military occupation of the island, and its political and economical future under the American flag. With this purpose in mind, I chose to study four post-1898 Puerto Rican novels, specifically Jos&eacute; P&eacute;rez Losada&rsquo;s <i> La patulea</i> (1906) and <i>El manglar</i> (1907), and Ram&oacute;n Juli&aacute; Mar&iacute;n&rsquo;s <i>Tierra adentro</i> (1912) and <i> La gleba</i> (1913), all of which have been underestimated and understudied by literary scholars. </p><p> As a gesture of resistance in the face of the disruption of the old social order (that is, the old patterns of life, customs, traditions and standards of value) caused by the U.S. invasion and occupation of Puerto Rico in 1898, the island&rsquo;s intellectual elite&mdash;most of which were descendant of the displaced coffee <i>hacendado</i> families&mdash;responded by fabricating an ideology-driven national imaginary and iconography that proposed a hispanophile, nostalgic, and romanticized rendering of the late-19th century coffee landscape (i.e. the pre-invasion period) as an idyllic <i> locus amoenus</i>, thus becoming an emblem of national and cultural identity and values against American capitalist imperialism, the &lsquo;Americanization&rsquo; of Puerto Rico&rsquo;s economy and political system, and the rapid expansion of U.S. corporate sugar interests. </p><p> This dissertation has two distinct yet complementary purposes: first, it examines critically the imperial/colonial power relations between the United States and Puerto Rico since 1898, while questioning the hegemonic discourses both by the Americans and the Puerto Rican cultural elite regarding Puerto Rico&rsquo;s historical and political paths; secondly, it is an attempt to do justice to the literary works of two overlooked Puerto Rican novelists, approaching them critically on several levels (historical, literary, and ideological) and bringing their works out of the shadows and into today&rsquo;s renewed debates around Puerto Rico&rsquo;s unresolved colonial status and U.S. colonial practices still prevalent today.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the lived experiences of underrepresented tenured Latina faculty in one four-year university in the southeast area of the United States to identify barriers towards achieving tenure. Eight tenured Latina faculty with experience of 7 to 20 or more years in a tenured position provided their perceptions and experiences of the challenges and support they encountered in their pursuit of tenure. A snowball sampling technique produced eight participants from an initial recruitment from an online search. Semi-structured interviews via in-person and audio-video conferences offered rich descriptions of the Latina faculty&rsquo;s experiences for coding and analysis. The NVivo for Mac software supported the coding and analysis process of the participant&rsquo;s responses. Five main themes emerged from the patterns found in the analysis. The five findings included: organizational exclusionary practices against Latina faculty at the university; white male-oriented culture where resources are used to benefit white males; demoralizing micro-aggressions towards Latina faculty from white faculty; the university leadership&rsquo;s lack of action and accountability to address diversity and inclusion challenges; and the lack of support networks and mentoring to help guide Latina faculty. These findings described an exclusionary academic environment, where the Latina faculty often felt insulted, isolated, and underappreciated with little to no opportunity to advance or contribute equally to the university. This study contributed to the literature by addressing various reasons higher educational institutions need to actively remove barriers that negatively affect Latina faculty seeking tenure.</p><p>

<p> This project proposes to re-conceptualize the city of Buenos Aires through the works of three Argentine authors. This work will move away from a univocal understanding of the city, and will re-think Buenos Aires as a confluence of meanings that subjects navigate and negotiate daily to destabilize metanarratives of urban space. In this work, the tropes of the (in)visible and performance/movement will bridge the three chapters, challenging us to distance ourselves from the oversimplified understandings that rely heavily on the visual. As such, urban space will be seen as under construction because it is always conditioned by the presence and performance of the subject. </p><p> Chapter one will work through Roberto Arlt&rsquo;s <i>Aguafuertes porte&ntilde;as.</i> It will highlight his attacks on institutions like the <i>Escuelas normales</i> and the <i>Sociedad Argentina de Escritores</i> (SADE) that looked to homogenize culture under the banner of <i>argentinidad,</i> and argue how his aguafuertes contest a dogmatic system of signs while serving as a critical starting point in the emergence of the margins in the city. Chapter two will interrogate Carlos Gorostiza&rsquo;s play, El puente (1948), written during Per&oacute;n&rsquo;s first presidency (1946-1955). It will focus on one figure in particular &ndash; the Madre &ndash; and show how performativity of this newly-mobilized subject destabilizes and recasts notions of the city by contesting normative behaviors reified by the upper classes during the 1930s and early 1940s. Chapter three reads C&eacute;sar Aira&rsquo;s novel <i>La villa,</i> incorporating the concepts of topography and topology as instruments to illuminate the <i> villa miseria&rsquo;s</i> impact on modern representations of urban space during Argentina&rsquo;s political shift from neoliberalism to neopopulism at the turn of the 21^st century.</p><p>