Communicating the Gospel and Culture to the younger Vietnamese American generations comes with many challenges. There seem to be many Vietnamese parents living in the United States who are concerned with their children losing their distinctive family cultural characteristics while living in another culture. The younger generation themselves find it hard to adapt to the American and Vietnamese cultures where they are living here. How can these young generations adapt to their new culture and not lose some of their distinctive family cultural and Christian religious roots to balance their lives? How can we help to communicate the Gospel and the culture to the young generation of Vietnamese Americans who need to discern what can support and enrich their lives in living in both cultures, Vietnamese and America? This thesis holds that it is important to maintain the Vietnamese culture which defines their identity and expresses who they are but also make use of the divine opportunity to learn the values and the beauty of the American culture. Cultural adaptation helps balance the values of both cultures and enrich knowledge about living within a diverse world. The thesis further proposes that using Vietnamese Christianity as their asset, young Vietnamese Americans are capable of this cultural adaptation. The Church have to put a gospel presentation strategy in place, follow a seven step pastoral strategy plan, and establish less costly centers which will be devoted to training Vietnamese men and women as spiritual directors and religious educators to aid the priests in ministering to the young generation. Parents need to understand the dual cultures of these young people and accompany the young generation mindful of their duality and the centrality of the gospel values. The younger generation of Vietnamese Americans have to open themselves not only to the two cultures but above all to the Gospel message of Christ. Their openness to divine guidance and endowments, in addition to the worthy human direction and church guidance coupled with good structures and programs will produce fruitful integration.

In the United States, Chinese American students participate in public school string orchestras at a disproportionately high rate. With considerable changes in both mass media and social media landscape throughout their upbringing, as well as the rapid rise of anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic as they were becoming adults, the Chinese American music students in this study possessed unique sets of experiences that affect both their musical and cultural identities. The purpose of this narrative inquiry is to consider the influences of transnational contexts, the processes of Asianization, and Chinese parenting on musical identity and racial identity formation of seven Chinese American former middle school (grades 6 through grade 8) string orchestra students. My stories as an ethnically Chinese immigrant who studied and teach music in the United States are incorporated throughout, to provide perspectives and enrich my understanding of the seven participants’ narratives. I interwove the stories of seven young adult Chinese Americans and my own stories (warp threads) with the social and historical forces at play (weft threads) to create a narrative tapestry. All participants in this study reported being aware of the various Asian stereotypes since elementary school. This awareness had affected their decisions to start or stop playing their string instruments. Being in the string orchestra or playing string instruments and the self-perception of being Asian or Chinese are two factors that often influence one another. The Asianization stereotypes, transnational contexts, and Chinese parenting affected the participants’ sense of identity as Chinese Americans; in turn, the struggle to understand themselves racially affected their musical, social, and emotional lives. / 2025-03-31T00:00:00Z

The current study examines whether or not Asian American students who participate in Asian-focused student organizations are more "adjusted" (i.e., academically, emotionally attached to institution, feeling connected socially with others at institution), than Asian American students who are not members of ethnic-focused organizations. Among 117 Asian American college students, it was founded that students who were members of ethnic student organizations (ESOs) were more enculturated and students who were not members of ESOs were more acculturated. Analysis showed that ESO membership was associated with stronger levels of adjustment, which in turn was associated with lower levels of acculturative stress.

Deslanting the Lens examines the historical and sociological implications of how Asian men have been represented in popular American film. From the early days of “yellowface” to caricatures like Long Duck Dong, Asian men have been relegated to perpetual foreigner status in American cinema. This paper will explore why the portrayal of Asian men has been limited to very specific ideas about Asian and Asian Americans are in society. This analysis will also include how socio/political events have shaped and influence popular perceptions about Asians, that inform how Asian men continue to be depicted in film.

Master of Science / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Doris Wright Carroll / The college environment is often made up of a variety of people, fulfilling various roles throughout the campus climate. There are students, staff members, faculty, and administration. In examining the roles, students of Asian ancestry make up a part of a sub-category of students. In a campus population where students of different ethnic backgrounds come together to receive an education, Asian students have remained one of the minorities on a college campus. Even with a growing presence on campus, Asian American students have often been faced with additional struggles that their non-minority student counterparts face. The report will include a wide range of literature review looking at the different theoretical models, foundations, and outlines of ethnic identity development in higher education. The purpose of the report is to provide an outline of the different experiences of Asian Americans during their time at a university. The report will also acknowledge the differences, while drawing on similarities, to discuss potential outcomes for minority students. The final section of the report will include a review of recommendations and best practices for student affairs to implement in their work with Asian American students.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Nancy W. Muturi / This study examines Asian American practitioners’ career motivations, identity-related experiences, and their general perceptions of the public relations industry. Social identity theory serves as the theoretical background of the study, as identity is the core element in understanding practitioners’ working experiences in public relations. A qualitative, in-depth interview method was adopted by the current study. A total of 19 Asian American public relations practitioners were email-interviewed. The study has numerous findings based on the research questions and the emerging themes. In examining why practitioners entered the field of public relations, the study showed that personal interests, industrial attraction, and family influence are key issues in career motivations for practitioners. In examining practitioners’ identities, differences exist between Asians and Asian Americans, and between Asians of different nationalities, although practitioners generally agreed being identified as “Asian Americans”. Their identities had no direct effects on their daily work in public relations; however, subtle challenges and benefits were detected. Challenges facing practitioners were mostly based on stereotypical mindsets, including stereotypes in physical appearance, personality, language and culture. Benefits of being an Asian American in the public relations field included language and cultural advantage, contribution to diversity in the workplace, accessibility to minority organizations, and Asian American unique personal traits. Finally, the study found practitioners’ perceptions of Asian American in public relations were concentrated in the following areas: lacking Asian Americans in the public relations industry, wide opportunities for a career in public relations, professional skills for success in public relations, and increasing Asian American presence in public relations. The current study extends the literature on Asian American public relations practitioners, brings awareness to the subgroup of Asian Americans, and contributes to enhance the presence of Asian Americans to the public relations industry. Strategies of increasing Asian American public relations practitioners are also provided based on participants’ recommendations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-89).

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With few Asian American women executives, little is known of how they reach to the top leadership roles. The purpose of this study was to explore how Asian American women learned and unlearned to overcome barriers and additional activities they engaged in to achieve career upward mobility at large corporations. The study sought to answer three main questions: (a) how do Asian American women describe the challenges they face in advancing their careers; (b) how do they describe how they learn to overcome the challenges they face; (c) what other activities do they engage in to advance their careers. To achieve this purpose, the researchers employed a qualitative, embedded single-case approach drawing upon the career experiences of 26 Asian American women from financial and technology industries at Fortune 500 companies with three data collection methods: (a) a demographic inventory survey and an assessment of perceived bicultural self-efficacy, (b) semi-structured interviews, and (c) focus group. Three key findings emerged: (a) a majority of participants experienced perceptual, organizational and personal barriers in advancing their careers, with nuances in how they experienced them based on career stages, industries, and the immigration process; (b) through critical reflections, a majority of participants unlearned certain Asian cultural values or gender expectations and mastered the experiences and career mobility actions that helped them overcome barriers. They also exercised self-efficacy and received external validation to reinforce their learnings that contributed to career advancements; and (c) all participants enlisted efforts from professional and personal networks to advance their careers, while a majority found organizational activities helpful in their leadership development and career progression. The principal recommendations of this study have implications for Asian American women who are interested in pursuing executive roles, human resources professionals and leaders who are committed to improve organizational diversity and inclusion practices, and adult learning researchers who would like to expand the theory building of transformative unlearning.

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