<p> The primary objectives of this thesis are to research the Conquest of Mexico and to integrate research to expand upon <i>Mexica</i>, a 125 page historical fiction screenplay that was started in 2008 about the 16th century invasion of Mexico by Hern&aacute;n Cort&eacute;s. Through quantifying and writing commentary on the revisions to reflect the integration of new research, the enhanced work is accompanied by a critical introduction essay that simultaneously serves as a literature review to determine how sources contributed to the dramatization. The critical introduction is in Spanish, the research was conducted in Spanish and English, and <i>Mexica</i> is in English, to better reach the target, mainstream American audience. The essay addresses schools of thought and theoretical frameworks on the conquest and how they have been accepted, rejected, dramatized and/or incorporated in the screenplay. By analyzing chronicles, literature, film and television relevant to the conquest, narrating experiences and creative license are demonstrated. The essay exhibits a historiographical review by examining myths, misconceptions and consensus on several themes relevant to this era of initial contact in the New World. The critical introduction of <i>Mexica</i> explains how the enhanced script better integrates the indigenous perspective through analysis of a variety of sources, with a non Euro-centric emphasis, to reflect compelling and multidimensional characters in the historical fiction genre. </p>

This investigation establishes a political and economic narrative of the La Reforma using documents detailing the rhetoric, executive action, and specific legislation that shaped La Reforma Guatemala. In addition to outlining the coming of late nineteenth-century Guatemalan Liberalism, it has presented the obstacles confronting Presidents Granados and Barrios and examined how the Revolutions' leaders employed rhetoric and executive action to achieve their similar but distinct brands of Liberalism. In detailing Presidents Granados' and Barrios' combined energies and examining some of their often overlooked efforts in an era of extensive economic and political reform, the study hopes to establish a revised, more accurate narrative of the Guatemalan Reform.

<p> This research stems from my questioning regarding the lack of research of precolonial archaeological sites and their almost complete absence in the new industry of tourism. I chose my field site on the city of Granada because of the historical importance in the economy of the country, its foundation as the first establishment of Spanish colonizers, and its centrality today in Nicaraguan tourism. Babb (2004) argues that the introduction to tourism industry provides the opportunity to the Nicaraguan government to remake its image to the outside. This remaking of the country&rsquo;s image will affect how Nicaraguans view themselves. In that sense my main question is: what are the effects of tourism on the identity of granadinos? I argue that the Nicaraguan government takes an active position in presenting tourists with a modernized (not indigenous or black) Nicaraguan community by silencing their past and present, and presenting to tourists only the European heritage of the country; such narratives gives a partial representation of the Nicaraguan identity to foreign visitors; at the same time it projects and naturalizes Nicaraguan identity as &ldquo;mestizo.&rdquo; I conclude tourism narratives are reinforcing a mestizo identity through the colonial heritage. Young mestizos as well as indigenous people continue to admire and emulate foreigners&rsquo; accents, clothing, sports, hairdo, etcetera.. I believed that the reason for these changes were rooted in the introduction of tourism and new cultural expressions, however, from this research I concluded that is rooted in the effects of the colonial period on the identity of the population. For centuries the Spanish crown and later the national governments eroded the foundation of the indigenous identity, thus the origins of mestizo identity as well. Thereby creating an identity crisis among both ethnic groups and a deep tension on the subject of identity, furthering the racialization of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. Mestizaje successfully silenced indigenous populations, and ignored the indigenous origin of mestizos. However, currently mestizos do participate in indigenous cultural expressions departing from the hegemonic concept of mestizo - as in complete opposition to indigenous identity -, although they deny or ignore and racialize indigenous people. I consider that the introduction of tourism has brought changes in the Nicaraguan population. The government narratives based on colonial identities create a new environment where colonial relationships are reproduced. In my opinion this is a negative impact of tourism, however, it may lead to new conversations about colonialist interactions, ethnic identity and racism that remain covert in the everyday lives of Nicaraguans. </p>

This thesis explores the resurgence of anarchism in the current context of Santiago through the use of ethnographic work. Research focuses on anarchism among university students and anarchists that did not grow up in the dictatorship, but either during or after the establishment of democracy. I argue that in conjunction with reflecting a larger trend of increased popularity of anarchism worldwide, anarchists in Santiago also are positioned to make a specific critique of authoritarianism and the continuities of state oppression between dictatorship and democracy. Interviews with anarchists from varied backgrounds and perspectives on anarchism provided an array of differing views on pertinent social and political concerns, but the common threads woven through contemporary anarchism in Santiago are formative experiences within the context of an emerging democracy that has fallen short of reinvigorating many Chileans with faith in the state. Anarchism provides a meaningful critique of the state as an institution that upholds oppression, regardless of who controls it. This provides a framework to understand the continuities anarchists view between Chilean dictatorship and Chilean democracy. Of particular note in this work is the use of the anti-terrorist law by the state to imprison anarchists. The law was passed under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet to prosecute political dissidents, and has been expanded upon after the shift to democracy in 1990. The use of the anti-terrorism law is of interest in this work both because it is a direct legal continuation of the practices of state repression from the dictatorship, and because its use against anarchists seems to have given credence to anarchist claims about the function of the state independent of what its current articulation may be. By analyzing the politicization of anarchists, their critiques of the current state of politics, and state use of the anti-terrorist law a more thorough understanding of political repression, the contradictions of democracy, and contemporary Latin American resistance movements can be attained.

<p> This study expands upon Geert Hofstede&rsquo;s theory that employees in high power distance societies will prefer and accept direction from their workplace superiors. Hofstede&rsquo;s first two dimensions of national culture, power distance and uncertainty avoidance, are based in the results to questions related to hierarchical relationships. This and other studies into power distance orientation reveal significant country differences, but no previous research exists into power distance among Puerto Rican workers who have relocated to the continental United States. This dissertation addresses that gap with a qualitative, phenomenological study into the research question of whether there exists anecdotal evidence of high power distance orientation among Puerto Rican employees living and working in Pennsylvania. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Pennsylvania with 15 hourly employees originally from Puerto Rico. In answer to the research question, no evidence of high power distance orientation is indicated through the analysis. Implications of this study include the potential for cultural shifts over time as a result of economics, politics, and technology. From the anecdotes, emerge themes of the importance of family and leisure time over status, the desire for respect and organizational justice, and a sense of comfort and familiarity with current supervisors and managers.</p>

<p> Employee turnover and retention is a common issue among many corporate organizations. Although companies invest time and money to increase workforce diversity, results of existing research suggest a lack of effective retention strategies for Hispanic employees in large corporations. This qualitative phenomenological study focused on exploring the lived experiences of Hispanic employees as these experiences related to the retention efforts of their current or former <i>Fortune</i> 500 employers. Conceptually, the study was framed around the idea of turnover and retention in order to understand the factors that influence turnover, to examine the factors that relate to retention, and to evaluate multiple retention strategies and incentives. The data collection process consisted of in-depth interviews of ten participants who identified themselves as being of Hispanic (or Latino) origin and who were current or former employees of <i>Fortune</i> 500 companies. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and imported into NVivo for organization and ease of data management. The analysis of extracted key words, phrases, and blocks of statements from the transcription subsequently led to the identification of prevalent themes. When it came to the experiences of Hispanics currently or formerly employed at <i>Fortune</i> 500 companies, participants felt that <i>company culture, training, compensation, management</i>, and different types of <i>incentives</i> were factors that played vital roles in retention efforts. The results of the study provided a clearer understanding of the strategies and incentives that corporate leaders can use in order to retain Hispanic employees in the corporate workforce.</p>

<p> The mobile telecommunications industry continues to experience global growth, as manifested through the number of global mobile subscriptions. There are 6.8 billion mobile subscriptions globally and 3.4 billion mobile customers. The telecommunications industry is liberalized and considered one of the most competitive industries in the world. In the highly competitive mobile telecommunications industry, customer retention, not customer addition, is the focal point of business leaders. The general business problem was the continued inability of some business leaders to retain customers in a highly saturated market, which results in revenue erosion. The specific business problem was the limited knowledge of some telecommunications business leaders about effective strategies on how to retain telecommunications customers in a highly saturated market. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory, multicase study was to explore effective strategies on how to retain telecom customers in a highly saturated market. During the data collection, 25 cognitive interviews were conducted with selected participants from Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago, a telecommunications company that operates in the highly saturated market in Trinidad and Tobago. In this study, the plan was to explore specific attributes that affect the retention of mobile phone customers in a highly saturated market. The top two customer retention considerations for telecom business leaders were value and customer service quality. Telecom business leaders should employ these two findings because they are the most effective strategies for customer retention in highly saturated telecommunications markets. This study on customer experience was the first part of a four-part study. Further research into the other three parts of this study, which are competition, the organization, and the environment, is necessary to provide a comprehensive holistic approach to customer retention in highly saturated telecommunications markets.</p>

<p> My dissertation investigates the role of women activists in the construction of peace in twenty-first century Colombia, combining a social movement studies framework with feminist, antimilitarist political economy. It is a a multi-method, feminist ethnography of three networks of women&rsquo;s peace organizations founded in Colombia in the mid-1990s: Ruta Pac&iacute;fica de Mujeres, the Movimiento Social de Mujeres Contra la Guerra y Por la Paz, and the Red de Mujeres del Caribe Colombiano. In it I show that by directing material and symbolic claims at the key structural foundations of armed conflict, women&rsquo;s peace activism is fomenting a unfying, counterhegemonic social movement voice in the country. The dissertation is divided into two parts. The first traces the history of the women&rsquo;s peace movement, and finds that it arose from a feminist movement born into armed conflict and have never had a safe space to operate. Since the 1990s the Colombian women&rsquo;s movements have been joining to form national-level networks and gaining transnational legitimacy and visibility. Nonetheless, activists continue to face persistent challenges from within and without, beyond the persistence of war: notably, the concentration of movement resources among urban elites and the exclusion of feminists of color who live in outlying regions. Despite this, my dissertation argues that women peace activists are subverting many of the presumptions inherent to Colombia&rsquo;s conflict and its longevity. In the second section, I identify four key personae on the stage of war and its discourse: confusion, victimhood, the body, and peace. I argue that each has played an important role in perpetuating and strengthening the patriarchal, militarized capital accumulation at the heart of the conflict, and that the activists under study are appropriating and reinterpreting these personae in such a way as to destabilize the foundations of war in the country. Using data gathered with several qualitative methodologies, including ethnographic observation, semistructured interviews, and archival research, I conclude that their organizing represents a potentially counterhegemonic, unifying social movement force that has the potential to play a transformative role in Colombia&rsquo;s new reality.</p>

<p> The study presented here focuses on development activity in several communities across two districts of rural Costa Rica. The remainder of this introductory chapter provides a brief description of the study location and elaborates a brief statement about the motivations of this research. A review of relevant literature is provided in Chapter 2, followed by a discussion of the research approach, questions, and study methods in Chapter 3. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)</p>

<p> David Lamelas&rsquo;s life-long research projects have included examinations of social phenomena. The artist takes interest in the dynamics of mass communication and media, urban mundane activities, and documentary films. He employs the element of time often in the structure of his art as an innovative approach by which to study his subjects. </p><p> I argue that in pairing the element of time with social phenomena, Lamelas exposes how people&rsquo;s perceptions, both the visual experience and the thought processes impacted by these experiences, tend to work, therefore leading viewers to consider systems of knowledge and their own accumulation of knowledge. His artwork provokes viewers to open their minds to new ways of seeing and thinking, stimulates self-awareness, and challenges their concepts of knowledge.</p><p>