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Although the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants American citizenship to any person born or naturalized in this country, subjective perceptions of who belongs in the country are driven by default assumptions that the prototypical American is White. This belief that Whites are somehow more American than members of other ethnic groups lies in sharp contrast to the widespread endorsement of multiculturalism in everyday life. Two studies provide evidence that these race-based beliefs about the prototypical American can produce discriminatory behavior against ethnic minorities in domains where patriotism is relevant, but not in domains where patriotism is irrelevant. Study 1 demonstrated that the more participants believe that the prototypical American is White, the less willing they are to hire highly qualified Asian Americans in national security jobs where patriotism is essential. Additionally, this effect was partially mediated by doubts about Asian Americans’ loyalty to thee country. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings by demonstrating that the more participants believe that the prototypical American is White, the less willing they are to hire highly qualified Asian Americans in national security jobs, but not in private business jobs where patriotism is irrelevant. Together, these studies demonstrate how race-based beliefs about the prototypical American can lead to discriminatory behavior against ethnic minorities, particularly in domains where national loyalty is important.

Two studies were conducted to explore the effects of the sociopolitical ideologies colorblindness and multiculturalism on perceivers’ (1) automatic awareness of race and (2) automatic racial stereotyping. Study 1 showed that a colorblind prime caused White perceivers to notice White targets’ race more compared to a no prime condition, although non-White perceivers were able to ignore race when primed with colorblindness. Multiculturalism, on the other hand, caused individuals to notice race no differently than the control. In terms of stereotyping, Study 2 showed that a colorblind prime did not change automatic stereotyping of Black or White targets. In contrast, multiculturalism increased automatic positive stereotyping of Black targets compared to the control condition, but did not affect stereotyping of White targets. Implications discussed include why colorblindness might affect White and non-White perceivers differently as well as whether or not decreased positive stereotyping of Whites (in the case of colorblindness) and increased positive stereotyping of both Blacks (in the case of multiculturalism) are beneficial ways to attain national unity.

The theory of liberal multiculturalism is based on a normative concept of liberalism leading to the implication of recognized cultural minority rights. However, there is no clear depiction of how liberal multiculturalism responds to the case of different cultural groups placing claims over one same excludable resource. In this thesis I analyze if there are any viable solutions to the uncertainties of conflicting cultural group claims within liberal multiculturalism. I use the practical case of Kven and Sami land claims to illustrate the consequences of the theory. Finding that legitimate claims to rights cannot be simply retracted, I provide two solutions involving sharing the resource in question. Both solutions resonate differently with the definition of culture and principles of liberal multiculturalism. The solutions involve cultural ownership. As we will see, this comes with certain infringements on the concept of the liberal self. I find that there is no unequivocal solution to the dilemmas described, however, I argue that collective ownership is the solution most consistent with liberal multiculturalism.

In the current environment of increasing cultural diversity, it appears vital that music therapists are trained to understand the issues involved in working with clients from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to examine professional music therapists' knowledge of and attitudes toward relevant multicultural issues. The study attempted to answer the question of whether there is in fact a need for multicultural training for music therapists, and if so, in what areas. A survey designed by the author was sent to 500 music therapists across the country, resulting in 298 usable responses. Analysis of the data revealed strong support for the underlying dimensions of multiculturalism, with weaker support for implementation of multicultural policies. Support for multiculturalism was correlated more strongly with attitude than with knowledge subscores. Data were also analyzed by age, gender, ethnicity, geographical location, and level of education. Significant differences in scores were found between respondents in the New England and the South Central regions of the country (p s .05). Significant differences in total and knowledge scores were found between respondents holding a Ph.D. and those with a Bachelor's degree. There were no significant differences between minority and majority culture groups. Females had consistently higher scores than males, but the differences were not significant. Also, with regard to age, results showed an improvement in attitude scores as age group increased. Results showed that 78.2% of respondents support multicultural training for music therapy students.

American schools are becoming increasingly diverse. With the increasing diversity in school enrollment, professionals are faced with the challenge of providing culturally sensitive services in all areas, including crisis intervention planning. Additionally, language differences also affect help-seeking behaviors and may serve as a strong barrier to effective service delivery. Taking into account individual school and district demographics, schools must consider strategies to best meet the needs of students and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. As a starting point, this thesis provides an overview of the literature on school crisis response. Current demographics in U.S. public schools, the perceptions of school safety, and crisis intervention planning will be discussed. Cultural perspectives of trauma will be addressed, considering community resources, help-seeking behavior, and language barriers. Interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with 10 Spanish-speaking parents. Questions were based on the following categories: parents' overall views of schools safety, help-seeking behaviors, and perceptions of school crisis planning. The discussion section reviews the resulting themes. Themes drawn from parents' interviews will inform this particular school's crisis intervention planning and improve supportive services for Spanish-speaking families. Although this research focused on one particular school, information is discussed in a broader sense, offering suggestions to improve cultural sensitivity and reduce language barriers in school-based crisis planning efforts.

This thesis explores why readers insist on interpreting Zehra Çirak's texts in light of her Turkish German background when she claims that her texts have little to do with her Turkish heritage and are more universally applicable. While readers can interpret her texts without considering the author's biography, thereby obtaining insights into their own personal identity, I suggest that it also makes sense for readers to interpret her texts with the author's biography in mind because of current events and the history of Turkish migrant labor in Germany. To explore different possible interpretations of her texts, I have categorized Çirak's poetry, found in four of her volumes of poetry, Vogel auf dem Rücken eines Elefanten (1991), Fremde Flügel auf eigener Schulter (1994), Leibesübungen (2000), and In Bewegung (2008), into two broad groups. First, I look at the few poems in which Çirak overtly addresses alterity by discussing the alienation of Turks. In these texts, the speakers use Turkish words or images that link the texts to Çirak's biography. Then I turn to look at poems that can only metaphorically be interpreted as addressing Turkish German integration into mainstream German society and discuss how even though the figurative language Çirak employs make her texts applicable to other situations or interpretations, the texts lend themselves to being read in light of multiculturalism. In both of these categories of poetry, Çirak uses metaphor to address alterity without pandering to stereotypes or setting categorical limits on Turks, Germans, or other members of her readership.

Native American and First Nations (hereafter referred to as indigenous) women college students are faced with a challenge to balance both their culture and the demands of the dominant Western culture in family, school, and work/employment roles. The presence of indigenous women in higher education and in the work force has increased since World War II. While there is an abundance of literature on work-family balance and work-family conflict, with some focus on the perspectives and expectations of college-aged students, there is a dearth in both of these areas with regards to indigenous populations. In order to begin to explore the experiences and perspectives of work and family, this study analyzed unstructured qualitative interviews of 11 Native American and 9 First Nations female college students. Themes resulting from the hermeneutic analysis of texts that describe the tensions around career, family and education were (a) honoring indigenous culture and community, (b) living in two worlds, (c) pursuing individual fulfillment and goals, and (d) acknowledging the importance and influence of family. This paper was later published in the Journal of College Student Development. You can access the paper here.

Det ingår i skolans uppgift att främja demokrati och mångfald och läromedlen spelar en viktig roll i detta arbete. Samtidigt visar forskning på att styrdokumenten för moderna språk har en tendens att hålla fast vid en konservativ kulturuppfattning som inte har anpassats tillräckligt till det globaliserade samhället. Hur påverkar detta kulturinnehållet i läromedlen? Vilken bild av de spanskspråkiga ländernas människor och kulturer kan eleverna tänkas få med sig efter att ha studerat spanska på gymnasienivå? Finns målspråksländernas kulturella mångfald representerad i läroböckerna i enlighet med ett demokratiskt förhållningssätt? Detta är några av de frågor jag söker svaren på i denna undersökning. / The aim of this essay is to explore the way Spanish-speaking cultures and peoples are presented in Upper Secondary language textbooks of Spanish. The study is carried out in the context of globalization and its effects on culture, identity and language teaching. Postcolonial theory and a constructivist perspective on culture provide the framework for the textual analysis which is divided into two main parts. The first part is a statistical overview of the geographical areas/countries of the Spanish-speaking world that are presented in the textbooks. The second part seeks to establish who, i.e. what type of individual, is representing the Spanish-speaking peoples in the texts. The concluding discussion revolves around whether the textbooks reflect a progressive multicultural approach, or if the colonial heritage of ethnocentrism still lingers in the view of culture conveyed.