Asina nos criaron': Contesting the Narratives and Claiming Space in the Atomic Age: 1912-1955 examines how the establishment of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories (LASL), on the Pajarito Plateau, affected ethnic Spanish-speaking residents of the adjacent Pojoaque Valley. This thesis traces the long-standing history of a rural population who resided in the Pojoaque Valley, generally considered to be vacant land prior to LASL. Although this work focuses mostly on the 1940s, it also outlines the shifts in land ownership. Additionally, this thesis traces the physical changes and cultural negotiations that allowed these long time residents to remain on their land. It is argued that the imposition of LASL's social and economic hierarchies altered the Pojoaque valley's traditional intracultural relationships, which led to the subjugation of the area's ethnic Spanish-speaking nuevomexicanos. As a result, this population resorted to altering its ethnic identity in order to combat the racism introduced and enforced by LASL.

Drawing on historical case study methodology informed by critical perspectives of education, this study examines the decision by Tucson United School District (TUSD) to ban its nationally recognized Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in 2012. Framing public education as a site of contestation for equality and democratization, the ban is examined within a five-phase historical context of the struggles of Chicanos for equity in the USA. The research questions address the dismantling of the program in terms of the ongoing historical disparities between the education of Chicanos and Anglo Americans in Tucson, diverse stakeholders’ perspectives on equality and inequality in the decision making, and the response of stakeholders who supported the program to the attempts to dismantle it. The theoretical framework of this study intersects Critical Race Theory and its corollary Latino Critical Theory, Critical Multicultural Pedagogy that centers Critical Pedagogy and Historical Discourse Analysis that focuses attention to the use of power in educational decision making. The interview data from nine study participants who were closely affiliated with the MAS program and selected historical documents and archival data were analyzed to uncover Anglo and Chicano perspectives on education for Mexican Americans in Tucson. The analysis revealed that the differences between Chicano and Anglo perspectives on equity and the role of education in facilitating equality for Chicanos laid the groundwork for the conceptualization of the MAS program by its supporters, and the rationale for its banning by its opponents. The interview data revealed that all participants contextualized their work in the MAS within the history of struggle for Chicano education, they represented a cohesive “Dream Team” committed to implementing a program grounded in critical and culturally relevant pedagogies, and that initial marginalization provided them the space for unimpeded development of the program. Participants’ responses further revealed evidence of the deep psychological toll, intellectual energy demands, and civic engagement required of MAS supporters in the face of this particular episode in the ongoing history of the struggle for Chicano educational equity. The implications for critical multicultural education programs operating within culturally hegemonic policy and social contexts are examined. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Background: The United States has pursued stricter immigration enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border, resulting in the deportation of approximately 2 million individuals over the past decade. This is significant in that deported persons are often caregivers of children, who are then placed at an elevated for developing mental health disorders (e.g. anxiety and depression). Mental health in youth of deported parents is a new topic to academic literature, and this study specifically examines mental health, coping strategies, and resilience in five adolescents of deported parents in Tucson, Arizona. Methods: This study employed mixed-methods, where participants completed two self-report surveys (the DASS-21 and brief COPE inventory) and a semi-structured interview with the researcher. Participant's survey responses and interviews were analyzed to assess their symptomology of depression, anxiety, and stress, exhibition of maladaptive and adaptive coping behaviors, and the factors that influence their resilience post-deportation. Results: The results of the DASS-21 found that participants experience symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, but in varying degrees. The data from the brief COPE inventory suggested that participants mostly refrained from maladaptive coping behaviors (e.g. substance use), but were not drawing from critical adaptive coping strategies like getting emotional support. The interviews revealed that certain risk factors (poverty, living instability, rapid transition to adulthood, and poor academic performance) and promotive factors (family networks, school, group activities, and future orientation) moderate their resilience following deportation. The qualitative data also revealed that participants desire and are not connected to mental health services. Conclusions: The study suggests that youth of deported parents are able to be resilient and avoid negative coping behaviors when experiencing the trauma of familial separation. However, given mild-extremely severe symptomology of depression, anxiety, and stress of participants, it was notable that none of the participants mentioned being connected to or seeking mental health services. Thus, this study's result underscore the need for a comprehensive school-based health system where mental health assistance can be provided on-site.

This study examines the manifold ways in which fifteen women of Mexican heritage actively participated in the secular, spiritual, and social spheres to improve conditions for themselves and their community in Douglas, Arizona during the first half of the twentieth century. Using interviews, newspapers, US census reports, ephemera, and secondary sources, it highlights the women's agency and the various ways they employed critical and innovative approaches to break through the economic, personal, and structural borders imposed by a corporate and industrial smelter town created by Phelps-Dodge and Company and the Calumet and Arizona Company. In this dissertation I ask, and seek to answer questions such as: why did these women of Mexican heritage choose to settle in Douglas; why did those who were born there remain; and what did this newly established town offer the women in this study that perhaps more established cities in the southwestern United States did not? Because Mexicanas are invisible in the archives and in the historical chronicles of Douglas Arizona, this dissertation employs an interdisciplinary methodology designed to highlight their actions and their contributions to their communities, city, and nation. Influenced by Chicana theorist Gloria Anzaldua, I seek to recover history, and what she refers to as la facultad, by relying on the words of the women and their families to offer answers and insight. Despite the challenges of living in the borderlands in a time of limited access to economic and social resources, these women's contributions to history confirm that Mexicanas were not passive subalterns.

The alarming numbers of Latino/a students graduating from four year institutions continues to be low and while access has improved there still lies an issue in that the number of students graduating has not increased (Otero, Rivas & Rivera, 2007; Watkins, Labarrie & Appio 2010; Jones, Castellanos & Cole 2002) Latina/o undergraduate students are positioned in relation to the White dominant student population at Predominately White Institutions (PWIs), which, in many ways silences their voices and thus maintains an educational space of Whiteness. The purpose of this study is to understand and highlight the experiences of Latina/os, particularly the ways in which they navigate through PWIs. Testimonio, a narrative of marginalization, has been recognized as a way to collect qualitative data from students. Through this genre and a Critical Race Theory and Latina/o Critical Race Theory framework, the author examines and shares student experiences to do what? (Delgado & Stefancic, 2012; Peréz Huber & Cueva, 2012). Testimonio is used as a methodology to co-conduct a research process that engages the researcher, and 10 students as the participants to share educational experiences. Students positioned themselves as distant from the university and understood educational spaces of Whiteness to be spaces of financial access and white student serving. As such, Latina/o students navigate the spaces through community support and avoiding unwelcoming spaces throughout the larger institution.

This case study provides empirical evidence of the master and counternarrative described by Critical Race Theory (CRT) and seeks to understand the impact of these narratives in educational policy and practice. In 2010, Arizona passed A.R.S. §15-112, a law that was designed to eliminate the Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in the Tucson Unified School District. Utilizing the literature on culturally-relevant pedagogy and leadership, this case study uses a CRT theoretical framework and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) methodology to analyze the narratives of 26 participants. While the program was under investigation by the State for violation of A.R.S. §15-112 all of the teachers involved in MAS participated in qualitative interviews. In addition, this case study analyzes the narratives of two student focus groups, school administrators, and district governing board members well as the written findings of two former State Superintendents of Public Instruction both of whom found the program in violation of the law. By specifically focusing on the styles and genres described in a CDA methodology the findings provide evidence of both the master and counternarrative but also a spectrum of discourse in which other forms of narrative reside. Implications from this research include a more complex theory of discourse beyond the dichotomy of the master and counternarrative, the application of a new methodological tool in CRT, and recommendations for educational leaders and policy makers interested in advocating for a culturally relevant approach.

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

abstract: ABSTRACT As a response to the banning of Ethnic Studies in the Tucson Unified School district and other oppressing forces within the movement the students fighting HB 2281 created a Sacred Xicana Space. In this thesis I will examine the role that protest art has in the fight against HB2281. I will also analyze its role in cultural expression, identity and representation. The research question guiding this research is What role does protest art have in social justice? Specifically I will analyze the cultural production of protest art against HB 2281, the ethnic studies ban in Tucson Arizona, and its role in cultural expression, identity and representation. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights 2014

The recent attacks on ethnic studies programs both in Arizona with house bill 2281 and locally at the University of Central Texas serve as an urgent call to address how ethnic studies programs impact the educational trajectories of students. Additionally, research done on ethnic studies programs has largely focused on high school programs, overlooking programs in higher education. Therefore, this study addresses the following question: In what ways does being a Mexican American Studies major influence the experiences of Latinas at a predominately White institution (PWI)? Using Chicana feminist thought and Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model as theoretical perspectives this study seeks to; 1) understand an educational approach (ethnic studies) that has shown success with students of color, 2) fill in the gap in the literature of ethnic studies programs in higher education, and 3) look at the gendered experience of Latinas at PWIs. Through a thematic analysis of six in depth interviews and a focus group conducted with six Latina undergraduates the author finds that Mexican American Studies represents a site or process of reclaiming and redefining. Four major themes are identified and discussed; reclaiming knowledge, the self, and space(s) and redefining la mujer. The findings suggest that there is a relationship between student retention and ethnic studies programs, adding epistemic and mestiza capital to Yosso’s community cultural wealth model, and using ethnic studies programs as models of how to best support students of color at PWIs. The author concludes with the suggestion that more research is needed on the experiences of other undergraduate students (White, African American, men, etc.) that are ethnic studies majors in order to further understand the impact, importance, and wealth of potential in these programs. / text

As intolerance against Mexican Americans and Mexican migrants persists in the United States-- apparent in the passage of Arizona State Bill 1070, Arizona House Bill 2281, and multiple English-only laws-- Chicanas and Mexicanas continue to resist by sustaining relationships and knowledge through storytelling. This dissertation employs a floating borderlands framework to explore how Chicanas and Mexicanas in the United States-Mexico borderlands use storytelling in oral and written traditions to keep cultural and regional knowledge. Floating borderlands is an interdisciplinary framework that reveals survivance, that is, survival as an act of resistance, through cultural maintenance, agency, and creativity in lived experiences. Drawing upon concepts and research from disciplines that include Mexican American Studies, American Indian Studies, Gender and Women's Studies, and Education, floating borderlands reveals how storytelling helps Chicanas and Mexicanas maintain an understanding of home and homelands that facilitates resistance to obstacles such as racial and gender discrimination and challenges to their right to be in these spaces. This dissertation acknowledges multiple forms of knowledge keeping by Chicanas and Mexicanas throughout the last two centuries; recognizes intersectionality; and complicates or creates multiple layers in narratives of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. This project is directly informed by narratives of Chicana and Mexicana life in the borderlands. It centers oral and written traditions, including my original poetry. Key words: Chicanas, Mexicanas, border, borderlands, floating borderlands, survivance, oral traditions, written traditions, home, homelands, migration, identity, cultural maintenance, poetry, story.