Thesis--Chicago. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Chicago. / Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (University of Texas Digital Repository, viewed on Sept. 9, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-106).

Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of Political Science, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 230-243).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1947. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.

Mexican immigrant students are entering American schools in great numbers. Many of them come to high schools with a good educational background, but there is little knowledge about them and about the factors that contribute to their incorporation into social life in the United States. While the drop out rate of Mexican-American students in high school has remained the highest among all ethnic groups, recent immigrants are pressuring schools to meet their needs immediately. Failure to respond adequately to their needs may result in an increase in the already high drop out rate and a perpetuation of the cycle of poverty among the Mexican-American population. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that contribute to the incorporation of Mexican immigrant high school students to United States society. The design of the study is a qualitative multiple case study with a phenomenological perspective. Five Mexican immigrant high school students were selected according to specific criteria. Data was collected through in-depth, open-ended interviews, observations, and documentation. Special consideration were given to the role played by the high school in promoting the academic success of Mexican immigrant students and the contribution of native culture to the process of incorporation into United States society. This study makes contributions to knowledge about Mexican immigrant high school students that can help educators improve the services needed by this fast growing segment of the population. / text

In this piece of literature, storytelling is used as a method towards understanding, knowing, and validating the experience of the “other”, in this case Mexican immigrants of all shapes and colors, sexual preferences, and diverse socioeconomic standing. I would like to shift the discourse from their potential as socioeconomic assets towards a recognition of their essence as participating members of our community. Immigrants are artists, they are intellectuals, they are leaders. They are simply not given the space in American society to develop their potential without being chained down to the “immigrant” label. I would like to stress the recognition of fluidity and diversity within this marginalized group, in the sense that to assume a homogeneous experience for this population aggravates the gap of understanding, tolerance, acceptance, and celebration of this rich community. Hegemonic forces have kept immigrants in the shadows, blinded, and hidden from the rest of society. My ultimate goal is to promote an idea of fearless engagement in active, undisciplined, self-determined embracement of the hybrid culture that remains buried under layers of socially constructed self-disciplining forces of domination.

In my dissertation I show how the hegemonic power of the post-revolutionary state in Mexico utilized the figure of legendary Pancho Villa in literature and cinematography to create a national myth that represents a consensus in a mestizo patriarchal Christian society. I examine how the use and abuse of the image of Villa in post-revolutionary literary works and films caused this figure to acquire mythical characteristics and dimensions, and to become a key element in the construction of national identity and masculinity in Mexico. I argue that the figure of Villa is a confirmation of a traditional rather than a revolutionary proposal in gender terms. Equally important, I demonstrate how the literature and film of the Mexican revolution constitute instrumental devices for the formation of masculinity and the strengthening of a homo-social culture in the Mexico’s post-revolutionary stage, a process that would later determine the structure of the Mexican state. I also contend that in the construction of the mythical figure of Pancho Villa at least two sources of representation are participating: the Mexican state machinery on the one hand, and the American media on the other. By the same token, I show how the figure of Villa nurtures a national project and constitutes one of the most diffused perceptions of Mexican identity in the United States. / text