<p>This study helps address gaps in knowledge concerning the lives of Indo-Fijian immigrant women in California and offers a space for their voices to be heard. The subsequent chapters investigate the lives of five Indo-Fijian immigrant women and their experiences upon migrating to Modesto, California. Using a qualitative research approach, data were collected through participant-observations, semi-structured in-depth interviews and informal conversations. The data are presented as anthropological silhouettes, a form of life-writing (the recording of events and experiences of a life), which explores each individual woman&rsquo;s experience with life in Fiji to her eventual migration and transition to life in California. The study reveals heterogeneity amongst the women&rsquo;s experiences and perspectives as well as commonalities that arise in their collective experiences as Indo-Fijian immigrant women residing in the city of Modesto. Overall, the anthropological silhouettes reveal that migration has led to shifts in the women&rsquo;s identities and their prescribed gender roles. Furthermore, despite some of the challenges that came with immigrating, the women have experienced social, political and economic mobility since arriving to California. All five women have accepted the United States as their adopted homeland, and as a result, have no plans of re-migrating to Fiji. </p>

<p> As a Buddhist female from Japan who has lived in the United Sates for 15 years, I examine how Buddhist spirituality and aesthetics influence religious inspiration through woman&rsquo;s eyes; in other words, from a feminist perspective to the &ldquo;practice&rdquo; of justice based on Buddhism. Hence, the driving questions of this dissertation are, how can we define beauty and spirituality from a feminist perspective so that they empower women&rsquo;s voice through art, and what kind of contribution can this study provide to feminist scholarship in the West? </p><p> The study&rsquo;s significance lies in its illustration of the concept of feminist aesthetics that nurtures spirituality based on Buddhism, Taoism and Asian traditional thought which are not well known to the Western world. Thus, through using art and feminist- based research, as well as symbolic interactionism as a perspective, principles for a feminist aesthetics theoretical model as a dimension of spiritual and religious education are generated based on Eastern thought. </p><p> The use of symbols and their interpretation are crucial to understanding the relationship between art and human perception which fosters awareness for social justice. Therefore, this study addresses the following questions: (1) What does Buddhist feminist aesthetics mean? (2) What are the characteristics of feminist ecology in Eastern thought? (3) How does Buddhist or Eastern feminist aesthetics contribute to eco-justice in the context of religious education? (4) In what ways can a theoretical model of Buddhist or Eastern feminist aesthetics enhance and contribute to foster spirituality as dimension of religious education in the West? </p><p> The dissertation has five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the study, while chapter two reviews art as a source of creating imagination. The third chapter describes Rima Fujita&rsquo;s artistry based on an Eastern perspective of aesthetics. Chapter four reviews feminist theological aesthetics and suggests how a Buddhist feminist perspective can make a contribution to Western scholarship. The final chapter proposes educational application, in particular to interreligious education, which fosters spiritual growth. Drawing deeper insights from these and other scholars, a new perspective, which incorporates and contributes to Western scholarship is proposed.</p>

<p> This thesis examines the use of two depth psychological techniques, somatic active imagination, known as authentic movement, and dream work in aiding a woman to embody elements of the Great Mother archetype within her psyche. These techniques act to unearth unconscious material, providing access to archetypal symbology. They help identify and explore the boundless archetypal content within, drawing it from the unconscious into consciousness for psychic integration. Dreams and authentic movement sessions are used to demonstrate how one might assist a woman in developing an embodied relationship with the Great Mother archetype and the archetypal Feminine as it exhibits within her psyche. The process is analyzed from a Jungian perspective and uses a heuristic methodology, contemplating the Great Mother archetype as an avenue for psychic transformation.</p>

<p> Descended from Celtic goddesses and the fairies of folklore, the literary character of Morgan le Fay has been most commonly perceived as a witch and a one-dimensional villainess who plagues King Arthur and his court, rather than recognized as the legendary King&rsquo;s enchanted healer and otherworldly guardian. Too often the complexity of Morgan le Fay and her supernatural abilities are lost, her character neglected as peripheral. As a literary figure of imaginative design this thesis explores Morgan le Fay as a unique &ldquo;window&rdquo; into the medieval mindset, whereby one can recover both medieval understandings of magic and female magicians. By analyzing her role in key sources from the twelfth to fifteenth century, this thesis uses Morgan le Fay to recover nuanced perceptions of the supernatural in medieval England that embraced the ambiguity of a pagan past and remained insulated from continental constructions of demonic witchcraft.</p>

<p> African American women leaders positively influence the college experiences of students at predominately White institutions (PWI), but the retention of those women leaders remains an issue. At the time of this study, limited research informed race and gender issues that intersect the career advancement of African American women serving in midlevel leadership positions at PWIs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the intercultural and career advancement experiences of these women. Critical race theory, critical race feminist theory, and intercultural communications theory were used as a framework to understand the participants&rsquo; intercultural and career advancement experiences, perceived influences, and mentorship experiences. A snowball sampling approach with members of a national African American women&rsquo;s organization in higher education led to 9 participants who met the criteria. They were each interviewed twice to generate data to understand their experiences. Results from an inductive exploratory process of data analysis indicated that race and gender influenced their perception of career advancement potential and relationship building in the PWI workplace. Themes that emerged from their experiences were limited advancement opportunities, the effects of intersectionality, intercultural relationship challenges, and the benefits of locating and having a mentor. Support and guidance were paramount to their job satisfaction and retention. This study contributes to social change by providing insight to personnel at PWIs about the experiences of African American women leaders on those campuses and the needed improvement in the environment for retaining current and future women of color.</p>

<p> This research study offers a revisioning of Black women&rsquo;s rage, which is typically viewed as a destructive emotion offering no value to modern society. Through the use of multiple methodologies&mdash;alchemical hermeneutics, literary textual analysis, and a focus group&mdash;and examined through the theoretical lenses of depth psychology, mythology, Black feminism, and Black women&rsquo;s literature, this dissertation presents a new understanding of rage, freeing it from the shadows of the ideal feminine, cracking it open, and presenting it as an agent for personal and global change. </p><p> Scholars have examined rage as an emotional expression; however, minimal psychological research has focused on the rage felt specifically by Black women. Depth psychologists must look deeper at rage as a result of racism, sexism, patriarchy, and white privilege, and the experiences of Black women in particular and how their experiences are expressed or silenced. This study uses a focus group as a research tool to witness the lived experiences of Black women and re-vision rage&rsquo;s manifestation as useful. </p><p> The study employs Singer and Kimbles&rsquo; theories of the cultural complex and the myth of invisibility, which evolved from C. G. Jung&rsquo;s theory of complexes. Culminating with the literary artistry of Black women&rsquo;s literature by authors hooks, Morrison, and Naylor, this study argues that &ldquo;the systematic devaluation of black womanhood&rdquo; (hooks, 1981) has taken its toll on the potentiality of all Black women born in Western societies. </p><p> The angry Black woman is a myth that continues to be rehashed using stereotypes to perpetuate the oppression of Black womanhood. Depth psychology offers an opportunity to see through the stereotypes and into the experience of Black feminine rage.</p>

<p> This study examines how women are portrayed in <i>Pillow Talk</i> and <i>When Harry Met Sally,</i> two iconic romantic comedies from different time periods, 1959 and 1989, respectively. The analysis relies primarily on three film scholars, Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Mark Rubinfeld, and Hilary Radner. With the sex comedy <i>Pillow Talk</i> and the neo-traditional comedy <i>When Harry Met Sally</i> highlighting different time periods, and reflecting a society&rsquo;s desires, anxieties, and assumptions, these different romantic comedy subgenres deliver male and female gazes, which lead us on a historical journey. The romantic story is comically entertaining, while supporting traditional gender roles, family values, and a patriarchal ideology. Through an examination of the narrative elements, an overriding theme emerges in both time periods; females are seeking fulfillment through marriage. Contributing factors in both plots are race, social class, work, friendship, male/female communication, intimacy, and sexual mores. This work creates a paradigm for analyzing other romantic comedies and genres of film in order to understand what they say about social values.</p>

<p> Latinas experience disproportionate rates of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Continued research efforts are necessary in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the factors associated with this condition among Latinas. To date, a significant amount of research has been conducted examining intrapersonal predictors of GDM. The aim of this study was to explore potential, broader-level, correlates of GDM among Latinas (N = 5,440) in California. Results from unadjusted logistic regression analyses indicated both interpersonal and community-level variables are significantly associated with GDM among Latinas. In the nested logistic regression analyses including community, interpersonal, and intrapersonal variables, one interpersonal variable (i.e., difficulty understanding the doctor) remained significant in the final model. Moreover, results suggested intrapersonal variables may mediate the relationship between community-level variables and GDM. Future research should aim to identify additional correlates, as well as examine causal mechanisms.</p>

<p> Previous research has confirmed that neighborhood level social factors (e.g. crime, safety) present chronic stressors that increase risk for depression in residents of economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. U.S. Latinos experience higher levels of poverty and thus are more likely to live in poor neighborhoods. In this study it was hypothesized that adult Latina women who reported (1) higher levels of worry regarding the general safety of their household children in the neighborhood, (2) higher levels of worry regarding influence of bad friends on their household children, and (3) higher levels of worry regarding their household children being exposed to drugs and alcohol, would also report higher levels of depression after controlling for the individual level characteristics of level of acculturation, education, age, income and marital status. This study used a cross-sectional survey design and a convenience sample of 136 Latina women. Depression was measured using the CES-D Spanish version. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the first step consisting of control variables was significantly correlated with depression, <i>R</i>² =.14, F (5,130) =4.261, p = .001. In step two, after entering the neighborhood level variables, the resulting <i> R</i>² increased significantly, <i>R</i>² = .21, F (1, 129) = 10.937, p &lt; .001. The relationship between depression and each CES-D subscale was also explored. Understanding both micro and macro level factors that contribute to depression is essential for developing complex multi-level explanatory models and designing effective interventions. This study contributes to an emerging critical framework that illustrates how public policy influences the more proximal mechanisms that contribute to mental health and health problems.</p>

<p> This phenomenological feminist study aimed to describe the lived experiences of Black female faculty in leadership positions in higher education. Black female academic leaders find it challenging to celebrate their individual leader development, work effort and success independent of historical marginalization, Affirmative Action, stereotypes, and tokenism among other stigmas. The group of faculty that was interviewed consisted of two deans and one associate dean, two department chairs who were also full professors, four full professors, five associate professors, two assistant professors, two faculty specialists, and two long serving adjunct professors. The group responses were used as the data that was then coded and emerging patterns were categorized into themes. In response to the research questions and from the findings, using the recurrent themes of challenges, gender and racism, success, mentoring and coping strategies, three conclusions were drawn: exclusion and discounting cause stress levels to rise and also contribute to lowered self-confidence and increased self-doubt; in the long term, the definition of success evolves and becomes less about academic expectations and more about authenticity and personal values; and having a mentor in higher education contributes to better chances of being appointed to leadership positions. Recommendations to specific departments include rewarding and recognizing as part of faculty evaluation the extra service Black female faculty add to their heavy workloads as they serve and mentor Black and minority students.</p>