<p>This ethnography examines the relationship between mass-mediated aspirations and spiritual practice in Los Angeles. Creative workers like actors, producers, and writers come to L.A. to pursue dreams of stardom, especially in the Hollywood film and television media industries. For most, a “big break” into their chosen field remains perpetually out of reach despite their constant efforts. Expensive workshops like acting classes, networking events, and chance encounters are seen as keys to Hollywood success. Within this world, rumors swirl of big breaks for devotees in the city’s spiritual and religious organizations. For others, it is in consultations with local spiritual advisors like professional psychics that they navigate everyday decisions of how to achieve success in Hollywood. As Hollywood attracts creative workers, the longstanding spiritual economy in its shadow attracts spiritual practitioners from around the world, some of whom seek to launch high-profile spiritual careers for themselves by advising other dreamers in Los Angeles.</p><p>At stake is how contemporary spiritual organizations and media industries co-create mass aspirations that circulate globally and become lucrative projects in the pursuit of their fulfillment in Los Angeles. Taking up Hortense Powdermaker’s famous description of Hollywood as a “dream factory,” I call attention to the “dream refinery” at work throughout Los Angeles. Through attention to spirituality, I examine how mass-mediated aspirations become embodied by individuals and then made into local projects that can be refined, influenced, and transformed. Hollywood has long been closed for ethnographic access. My work shows that Hollywood and its global influence can be accessed through para-industries to Hollywood. In the shadow of Hollywood, many people and industries work on the dreams of aspirational individuals. By foregrounding spirituality in Los Angeles as a spiritual economy made up of interconnected industries, I examine the historical and contemporary proliferation of spiritual groups, practitioners, and professionals in Los Angeles. Tracking the work of professionals like psychics who work on the dreams of their clients, I follow the dreams and struggles of aspirational individuals in Los Angeles. I examine the consequences that turning to spirituality can have on dreams, the worlds that emerge out of imbuing aspirations with spirituality, and various forms through which spiritual industries appeal to aspirational populations. Based on longterm ethnographic fieldwork with professional psychics, spiritual practitioners, media professionals, and Hollywood hopefuls, my research examines the spiritual economy of Hollywood dreams in Los Angeles.</p> / Dissertation

Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Estudios de Género y Cultura en América Latina / Esta investigación tiene por objeto realizar un análisis crítico del discurso con perspectiva de género, acerca del disciplinamiento de los cuerpos de mujeres encerradas por diagnóstico de locura en la Casa de Orates de Santiago, primera institución psiquiátrica del país. Espacio donde se aplica un saber-poder que limita su desarrollo como personas, que las convierte en objetos donde ejercer la dominación. Es decir, se presenta un estudio crítico acerca de las relaciones de poder ejercidas sobre estos cuerpos que no llegan a ser sujetos, sino objetos de un disciplinamiento psiquiátrico. Desde la perspectiva de los estudios de género, la casa de Orates representa una manera de normativizar la sociedad, de disciplinar los cuerpos perturbados. Esta casa albergaba a una cantidad de mujeres enajenadas que aumentaba año a año, quienes sobrevivían hacinadas en pabellones pequeños, todas con algún diagnóstico que les impedía volver a convivir con sus familias. Esta aglomeración de mujeres alienadas da cuenta, en un primer nivel de entendimiento, cómo se ejercían diferentes mecanismos de poder para mantenerlas sometidas. Develando las normativas que existían en la institución junto con los ordenamientos de una sociedad típicamente patriarcal; hablo de Santiago de Chile en el tránsito del siglo XIX al XX. En conclusión, esta investigación cuestiona y reflexiona en torno a los poderes y disciplinas que subyugan el cuerpo de las mujeres enajenadas dentro del psiquiátrico, para finalmente develar a través de sus memorias la existencia de una identidad escindida.

This thesis aims to increase our understanding of how the drought and water shortages between 2013-2017 were framed locally in Los Angeles City. The main focus is the mandatory water conservation policy put forth by Los Angeles City in 2016. The method being used is a frame analysis with three guiding questions as an analytical framework. Those three questions are; -       if the definition of water and users of water is the same as in Ostrom’s research on common pool resources -       if climate change is part of the discourse in policy and -       what frames are being used to persuade citizens to comply with policy on water conservation.   This study shows that Los Angeles City does not share the definitions of water and users of water with Ostrom, climate change is not mentioned in the policy on Emergency Water Conservation and penalties and the police force is used to get citizens to comply with water conservation policy. However, mandatory restrictions on water use are needed, according to the Mayor of Los Angeles City, in order to avoid a public disaster or calamity.

Thesis. 1975. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Political Science. / Bibliography: leaves 635-655. / Ph.D.

abstract: Los Angeles long served as a center of technological and scientific innovation and production, from nineteenth-century agriculture to twentieth-century aerospace. City boosters used spectacle-filled promotional strategies to build and maintain technological supremacy through industry. Evaluating the city’s premier industry-focused science museum, the California Science Center, is therefore a must. The California Science Center is one of the most-visited museums in the United States and is in the historic Exposition Park. Yet, no thorough analysis has been done on its influential history. This dissertation is an interdisciplinary study of the California Science Center, from its 1870s beginnings as an agricultural fairground, to the construction of the world’s fair-inspired State Exposition Building in the 1910s, to its post-World War II redesign as the California Museum of Science and Industry. It uses regional history, design history, and museum studies to evaluate the people behind the museum’s construction and development, how they shaped exhibits, and the ideologies of progress they presented to the public. This dissertation builds on established historical components in Los Angeles’ image-making, primarily boosterism, spectacular display, and racism. The museum operated as part of the booster apparatus. Influential residents constructed Exposition Park and served on the museum board. In its earliest days, exhibits presented Anglo Los Angeles as a civilizing force through scientific farming. During the Cold War, boosters shifted to promote Los Angeles as a mecca of modern living, and the museum presented technology as safe and necessary to democracy. Local industries and designers featured centrally in this narrative. Boosters also used spectacle to ensure impact. Dioramas, Hollywood special effects, and simulated interactive experiences enticed visitors to return again and again. Meanwhile, non-white residents either became romanticized, as in the case of the Mexican Californios, or ignored, as seen in the museum’s surrounding neighborhood, primarily-African American, South Central. Anglo elites removed non-whites from the city’s narrative of progress. Ultimately, this dissertation shows that the museum communicated city leaders’ ideologies of progress and dictated exhibit narratives. This study adds nuance to image-making in Los Angeles, as well as furthering regional analysis of science museums in the United States. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation History 2018

Lack of accessibility to healthy foods is a factor associated with the increase in obesity, diabetes, and other negative health consequences. While programs such as WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) provide supplemental nutritional access to healthy foods, few organic food items are included in the WIC authorized food list. Government programs and policy makers that provide to the most vulnerable populations are concerned about equal availability of healthy foods. The purpose of this study was to compare variability and cost of organic food items in 24 large chain grocery stores located in high- and low-income areas. The theoretical concepts of social production of disease and political economy of health guided the study. The study used a quantitative research design to investigate the relationship between neighborhood income level and the consumer nutrition environment. Organic food scores were compared by neighborhood income level using t test and ANOVA. There were significant differences in availability and variability scores of healthy organic foods between high- and low-income neighborhood stores. Organic food items, specifically 15% fat content ground beef, peanut butter, apple juice, and eggs were priced significantly higher than conventional items (p < 0.05). Pricing of organic foods varied and no significant pricing trends were noted between neighborhood income levels. This study may contribute to social change by enhancing the conversation on organic food availability and affordability. Social change may be promoted through identification of the need to expand WIC authorization of organic food items and increasing produce voucher amount to allow WIC participants to purchase higher amounts of organic produce.

Svetlana Fortner-Henderson grew up experiencing abuse, sexual assault, and drug and alcohol abuse within the home. She suffered hearing loss as a child, which impacted her education. She went to college, attended graduate school, and worked in the field of environmental toxicology and regulatory compliance. She volunteered in many capacities that influenced her calling to become an educator. She agreed to teach were she was ‘called,’ as she considers that as the implementation of ministry of social justice through science education. She teaches in a high-trauma, deep inner-city setting, where students have experienced similar types of trauma that she experienced. She follows the lives of three students that derive from various backgrounds. These backgrounds contribute to the assets, strengths, and opportunities for growth socially and academically for these students. Svetlana is able to use the tools inherent and applied to educate the three students to benefit other students that have similar opportunities for educational and social/emotional growth. Svetlana deeply reflects on the impact she has made with her students and opportunities she sees for continued personal development within the profession. During her ethography, she modifies and massages her techniques in order to extact quality and usable content, as she seeks to be an effective teacher within a high trauma and high risk school and community. She also modifies her techniques as she believes in continuous improvement of herself and the students she has chosen to work with.

Los Angeles stands as the largest city in the United States without comprehensive street vending regulation. Over the span of ten years, between 1984 and 1994, street vendor activists challenged Los Angeles to regulate street vending through the work of the Street Vendors Association. Within the same ten years, the city hosted the Olympics; the city introduced broken windows policing; immigration from the global south increased; and, a riot broke out. This thesis explores how Los Angeles’ ambition as a “city of the future” and its Mexican “past” impacted the politics of street vending during this span of time.

Youth who have experienced maltreatment (abuse, neglect, exposure to violence) typically exhibit worse life outcomes (lower graduation rates, higher incident of substance use, unplanned pregnancies, etc.). Effective therapeutic interventions are important to combat these negative effects. Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) is a popular and growing field. Anecdotal evidence abounds on the efficacy of AAI, however, there is a lack of quantitative and qualitative research and evidence-backed models of treatment particularly with youth. This study sought to increase the amount of quantitative evidence on AAI by specifically focusing on evaluating the Power Tools for Living Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) model with youth who have experienced maltreatment. This study analyzed secondary data collected from Special Spirit Inc., an equine therapy center. Three groups of youth placed in out-of-home care at residential treatment facilities in Los Angeles County participated in the Power Tools for Living EAP program. Prior to and after the intervention the youth’s guardian or clinician filled out a Youth Outcomes Questionnaire (YOQ). This data was analyzed but no statistical significant associations were yielded from the analysis. Analysis of the data does provide suggestions for further study that may potentially establish the Power Tools for Living EAP model as an effective intervention for youth who have experienced maltreatment, particularly younger participants and those with higher YOQ scores prior to treatment.

The child welfare sector has been dealing with the issue of turnover for many years and it has yet to implement effective solutions to mitigate the problem. In this study, the researcher used a post-positivist approach to examine contributing factors that affect job longevity in child welfare. The researcher reviewed literature as well as used motivation and organizational support theory to determine what potential factors influence job longevity among child welfare social workers. The researcher gathered demographic information and qualitative data from ten interviews with child welfare social workers employed by the County of Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) with five or more years of experience. The researcher conducted a content analysis of the data and identified three common themes that influence job longevity; supervisor support, self-gratification as a child welfare social worker, and self-care. Results showed that the impact of longevity at DCFS is strongly influenced by supervisor support and self-gratification suggesting a strong desire of child welfare social workers to willingly want to do the job and that supervisor support is one contributing factor to longevity. In addition, nearly all the participants identified self-care as having a positive impact on child welfare social workers. These findings suggest that child welfare social workers need additional training's, individual time with their supervisors, and self-care to increase longevity.