abstract: This study re-frames learning disabilities (LD) through the emotion-laden talk of four Latina/o students with LD. The research questions included: 1) What are the emotion-laden talk of Latina/o students about being labeled with LD? 2) What are Latina/o students' emotion-laden talk of the idea of LD? I identified master narratives, the "pre-existent sociocultural forms of interpretation. They are meant to delineate and confine the local interpretation strategies and agency constellations in individual subjects as well as in social institutions," (Bamberg, 2004, p. 287) within the following literatures to inform my research questions and conceptual framework: a) historiography and interdisciplinary literature on LD; b) policy (i.e., Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)), c) the academic and d) social and emotional dimensions of LD; and e) student voice research with students with LD. Interdisciplinary, critical ethnographic and qualitative research methods such as taking into account issues of power, etic and emic perspectives, in-depth interviewing, field notes were used. Total participants included: four students, three parents and three teachers. More specifically, descriptive coding, identification of emotion-laden talk, a thematic analysis, memoing and intersectional and cultural-historical developmental constructs were used to analyze students’ emotion-laden talk. Emotion-laden talk about being labeled with LD included the hegemony of smartness, disability microaggressions, on the trinity of LD: help + teachers + literacy troubles, on being bullied, embarrassment to ask for assistance from others and help as hope. The emotion-laden talk about the idea of LD included LD as double-edge sword, LDness as X, the meaning of LD as resource, trouble with information processing, speech, and silence, the salience of the intersection of disability, ethnicity and language and other markers of difference, struggles due to lack of understanding and LD myths. This study provides a discussion and implications for theory, research, policy, and practice. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2016

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This qualitative study focused on understanding the process immigrant Latina/o families in the greater Los Angeles area underwent when selecting a charter school for their children. Through narrative interviews, 13 participants shared their perspectives of how and why they chose a charter school, and detailed the factors they considered in their selection process. Through the theoretical framework of cultural community wealth, social and cultural capital, participants answered the research question why and how do immigrant Latina/o parents research and apply to charter schools, and what are the factors they consider in the decision-making process? Participants described social networks as connections to charter schools their children attended. They indicated reasons for selecting a charter school included a desire for a better educational opportunity than what they had encountered in the traditional public school environment. They viewed education as a vehicle for upward social mobility and understood the value of a quality education in helping achieve this outcome. Participants described their commitment to their children and families as a driving force behind their selection to actively search a better educational environment, which they found in charter schools. The primary factors parents considered when selecting a charter school were the school’s proximity and location, the attentiveness of teachers, the support of students’ learning needs and challenges, a welcoming community, the school’s leadership, staff who were able to communicate with parents in their native language as well as an active community of parents who demonstrated interest and involvement in the school.

In Mexico, as in other parts of the world, human rights violations have deep historical roots. In the forty years before this study, these violations had been increasing, especially with respect to excluded populations and vulnerable groups, such as women, indigenous peoples, migrants, and victims of repression (Center Prodh, 2013). To reverse or at least decrease these conditions, disenfranchised people needed to become aware of their rights within civil society. Toward that end, diverse non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had taken on the task of providing education and strategic practices to disenfranchised people and communities. The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) had contributed to this work. The defense of human rights was a fundamental task in any country that sought democracy. Recognized by international law, academics, and civil society, the growing field of human rights combined the ideas of liberal democracy with other traditions. This case study utilized a critical analysis to examine the outcome of the work of one NGO dedicated to the defense and promotion of human rights in Mexico: the Center of Human Rights Miguel Agustin Prodh Juarez (Center Prodh). Center Prodh was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1988 and has maintained a political presence within the field of human rights organizations in the region. The study utilized the characteristics of the social apostolate of the Society of Jesus and provided a critical conceptual framework for cultural democracy formulated by Darder (2003) to investigate the importance of a Jesuit social institution in theory and practice within the field of human rights. Apart from this critical process of analysis, an important objective of the study was to develop greater understanding of the Jesuit orientation to social action work in Mexico. A key aspect of this study was to examine the successes and limitations of the human rights approach utilized by Center Prodh in assisting individuals and communities to consolidate their collective agency toward a more just and participatory political process of social change.

This thesis examines how characters in adolescent Latina/o literature use and reflect on both English and Spanish languages, bilingualism and how language use informs a character’s identity. In this thesis a particular emphasis is placed on code switching as a literary device in adolescent Latina/o literature. Investigations on code switching point to this, that many authors use code switching as a way for authors and characters to show the difficulties of living between two cultures. I examined the works of three accomplished authors of Latina/o adolescent in this investigation: Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2012), Julia Álvarez’s Before We Were Free (2002) and the Tía Lola Series (2009), and Pam Muñoz Ryan’s Esperanza Rising (2004) and Echo (2015). The struggle to find one’s identity as an immigrant in the United States can emotionally compare to the struggle of an adolescent trying to balance their struggles of identity and this similarity of identity definition can be seen in all of these works. I argue that these authors use code switching and discussions on bilingualism as a device that helps articulate the exploration of the protagonist's search for identity into adulthood. Code switching and bilingualism are used to juxtapose the childhood and adult stages of the characters. These serve as ruptural elements that defy the generation of the parents and the cultural expectations. Code switching further serves as a mechanism through which protagonists reject and accept aspects of their identity development, from homosexuality to economic status. In a parallel way, I explore the importance of adolescent Latina/o literature as a referential axis for Latina/o youth in their process of development. This genre plays a role in development by showing strong, non-stereotypical characters who can help shape Latina/o identity for the next generation in the United States. Because adolescence is the stage in life where the individual goes through a time of questioning identity and development, this thesis shows that adolescent Latina/o literature may be best suited to show the process of growing up as compared to mainstream adolescent literature and gives a concrete metaphor for the challenges that many adolescents face. / Master of Arts / This thesis examines the importance of language use in adolescent Latina/o literature through three different authors of this genre: Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Julia Álvarez, and Pam Muñoz Ryan. It focuses most especially on how code switching or inserting Spanish in predominantly English texts is used by these authors to show the process of identity formation that happens during adolescence.

This thesis is an analytical case study of three music videos, "Pa'l Norte" by Calle 13, "Sueño Americano" by Los Rakas, and "Ice El Hielo" by La Santa Cecilia. It explores the visual and lyric narratives of these works and their role in critiquing anti-immigration rhetoric towards Latino immigrants in the United States in a post-9/11 context. Through critical analysis, this thesis argues that their work is vital in dismantling the dehumanizing and criminalizing language prevalent in legal and popular discourse, as well as challenging the manifestations of everyday "illegality."

To challenge the dominant Mexican narrative of racial democracy that traditionally invisibilizes and delegitimizes those who have been affected by racism, it is imperative to deconstruct the discourse on mestizaje as a central component of Mexican national identity. The notion of México as a racial democracy is accepted throughout México, and is most evident in the nation’s culture and politics. To acknowledge that racism exists in México is essential, since it is impossible to work with a claim that people do not see, dismiss, or do not believe exists. Mestizaje has long been the promise of racial equality, but this uncritical and unexamined positioning of mestizaje ignores or trivializes the colonial and present day baggage that accompanies the term. The uncritical celebration of mestizaje needs to be supplanted with a reexamination of colonialism and capitalism, both of which influenced ideological theories and racial formation from the late sixteenth century through the twentieth century in the Americas.

In an attempt to narrow a perceived gap between two literary fields, this thesis provides a comparative analysis of Luis Alberto Urrea’s The Humminbird’s Daughter, and Leslie Marmon Silko’s Almanac of the Dead. I explore and critique the ways in which Luis Alberto Urrea mobilizes mestizaje and Chicana/o nationalist rhetoric. I argue that mestizaje stems from colonial representations that inscribe indigenous people into a narrative of erasure. Furthermore, I address Leslie Marmon Silko’s critique of mestizaje within Almanac of the Dead. / text

Neoliberal has bee largely responsible for the creation of a narcoestado. As the Mexican state abandon its previous cultural projects such as education, employment, and social services, economic void increased. Narco-traffickers have increasingly filled this vacuum. Arguably, the weaken pillars of Mexican society allowed narco-trafficking to penetrate the areas once fulfilled by the state. It has led to the recruitment of economically dislocated farmers and citizens to turn to narco-trafficking for financial stability. Although, the state and narco-traffickers at times compete with each other to fulfill some of these functions, they also at times co-exist and merge into what has been referred to as narcoestado. This metamorphosis between the state and narco-traffickers has been responsible for the increasing impunity of violence and crime in México. It is also a factor in the continuous disenfranchisement of the rights Mexican citizens. The ubiquitous violence and fear have altered the ways Mexicans negotiate their rights. It has led to many resistance efforts and organizing across the country with the most notable example of autodefesas.

This thesis explores the relationship between colonialism and the environment through a study of hurricanes in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Because hurricanes do not discriminate between international borders, they reveal much about the influences of political, economic, and social structures on vulnerability to hurricanes, hurricane preparation, and hurricane relief efforts. The Caribbean is a region that has been disproportionately impacted by hurricanes. It is also a region that has been wholly shaped by colonization. Prior to Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Caribbean, natives on islands like Puerto Rico and Cuba built and structured their societies around hurricanes and other catastrophes. Different aspects of colonialism altered the relationship between Puerto Ricans and Cubans and their respective environments. Though Puerto Rico and Cuba share incredibly similar histories, competing trajectories have emerged on both islands as they have undergone processes of decolonization and independence. An examination of Cuban and Puerto Rican history prior to Hurricane Irma and Hurricane María in 2017 provides a deeper understanding of the divergent histories of both islands. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that the legacy of colonialism continues to impact the identities and security of Cuba and Puerto Rico today.