This thesis examines rap music in Aotearoa, demonstrates its popularity, and explores its presence as a cultural commodity, particularly among Polynesian youth. I show how analysis of a popular musical phenomenon can be used to illustrate other social facts such as identity, political awareness, and alliance. American rap's history, musical characteristics, misogyny, profanity, racial implications, associations with deviance, and nihilism are explored, outlining multiple levels of meaning and intention, not excusing its occasional harshness, but presenting perspectives from within rap and critical race theory discourses. From interviews with school students, teachers, rappers, adults involved with young people and persons in the media industry, I show that, in Aotearoa, it is the Polynesian youth who have embraced rap, both as fans and as performers, from breakdancing in the early 80's to the latest surge of "Pasifika Hip Hop". Through observation and collection of videos, CD's, sales charts, magazines and news articles I conclude that American rap has had a strong presence in the media and popular music history of Aotearoa, with many local rap artists and songs having local chart successes. Through musical and lyrical analysis I summarise and compare the themes and musical influences of both American and Aotearoa rap and discover that Aotearoa rap is used to assert and construct local identities exploring race, culture and history. The thesis begs the question: Why is rap so popular particularly among Polynesian youth? Four responses are explored: a) The rappers themselves cite a similar socio-economic and historical circumstance to African Americans; b) Rap is a popular globalised popular cultural form, possibly representing a generalised trend in Americanisation and homogenisation, (which I refute on the basis of rap's inherent "blackness" arguing that hip hop is rather a voice of opposition); c) Rap as a genre has kaupapa [philosophy] and presents an ideal tool for the exigencies of Polynesian youth's exploration of identity and community and for the communication of political and pride; and finally d) The Polynesian youth of Aotearoa feel a spiritual connection to rap and hip hop, hearing something of themselves in it, and have taken to it like it was already theirs. I offer that rap has been a Turangawaewae [place to stand] for the rangatahi [youth] and they have injected this fertile African American popular music genre with their own culture and ideology. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

This thesis examines the cultural identity of Franco-American teenagers living in Berlin, New Hampshire. Many questions lie at the core of the research: Do these adolescents speak French? If so, in which context do they speak it? How do they interpret their French roots? How do they identify themselves in regards to the Franco-American community? These questions are answered by closely looking at the roles played by language, culture and milieu in cultural identity. In November 2000, a questionnaire was distributed to 342 teenagers attending Berlin High School. Interviews of leaders of the Franco-American community were conducted to determine their views on Berlin's Franco-American youth. The teenagers revealed many interesting details about family members who speak French, the contexts in which French is spoken, their own attitudes towards the French language, their interest for the French culture, the key elements, in their view, that comprise Franco-American culture and the way they chose to identify themselves. The majority of the teenagers have "symbolic" Franco-American identities that are no longer rooted in the knowledge of the French language. Their parents represent Berlin's last generation who know and speak French. As a result, a cultural divide lies between the teenagers, of whom many speak only little French, and their parents, who identify much more with the French culture and of whom many still speak French.

The events and aftermath of the September 11th attack on the United States had profound effects on Canadians and Americans alike. For some however, the implications are deeply personal. Afghan-Canadians, particularly young men suddenly found themselves defined as "risky" in official discourses (i.e. legislation), in state practices (i.e. airports, borders), in the media and in social interactions. Ten in-depth interviews with Afghan-Canadian men where conducted in order to examine how they experience and manage this newly ascribed identity. Foucauldian governmentality and "risk" theories were employed to make sense of the structural stigma, its genesis and its impact on the lives of this minority group. In addition Goffman's symbolic interactionism approach provided the lens through which to understand Afghan-Canadian males' experiences of symbolic stigma and their stigma management techniques during personal interactions. The combination of these theoretical frameworks allows us to situate the individual within broader social, regulatory and discursive frameworks while attending to their subjectivity and recognizing their engagement with (and resistance to) regulatory discourses/practices. The accounts of my Afghan-Canadian participants affirm the experiences of structural stigma at governmental sites of regulation (i.e. borders & airports) and interpersonal stigma during social interaction. It also revealed these men to be active agents who, although intimidated, nonetheless challenged the dominant discourse through multifaceted alternate discourses and practiced "everyday acts" of resistance.

The flow of immigrants to Canada continues to increase steadily. Questions regarding identity are thus unavoidable in order to understand how diasporic identities are constructed within a multicultural Canada. An important contribution to this debate is embedded in the cinematographic expressions that immigrants produce. Such cultural products serve not only as mean to represent themselves, but also to negotiate their positions in regards to Canadian society, as well as their countries of origin. The Latin American community is an interesting example, as multiple cultures, nations, histories, and identities are included within it. This study critically analyzes how identity is represented in the films produced by Latin Americans in Quebec. The analysis takes into account the films, the filmmaker's perspective and the conditions these documentaries were produced in. Given these elements, this research looks at how a Latin American identity is constructed from the diaspora, and what kind of cinematographic strategies the filmmakers use to articulate such an identity.

This study is about how Harlem--an ethnically diverse community regarded by many as a primary site of the African American Experience--is represented in the online tourism domain. More specifically, it is about identifying loci of value in the content of online tourist reviews which contribute to a color-blind and politically sanitizing discourse about Harlem that reinforces a neoliberal understanding of Harlem as an underdeveloped economic frontier. Tourism has been identified by New York policy makers to be a way to generate revenue in culturally diverse, low-income areas, and especially in Harlem. In order for tourism to be successful, a neighborhood needs to be considered a place that can offer tourists a valuable experience. Online reviews, particularly those on social media sites, are becoming increasingly influential within the tourism industry because of their influence with consumers, who regularly consult them to guide purchasing decisions. This study examines online reviews of a prominent Harlem tourism company as a way to analyze the valuating discourse needed to keep tourists coming back to the community. What do reviewers find valuable during the tour? And what elements of the tour are responsible for producing value for tourists? These questions are investigated using a four-step qualitative approach to analyzing online tourist reviews on TripAdvisor.com posted about Harlem Heritage Tours. / Master of Science

In this research consumer acculturation was investigated to explore the relationship between shopping orientations of ethnic consumers and their involvement in the acculturation process. A consumer acculturation model was proposed which described the entire process of learning consumer behavior across cultural boundaries and discovered the relationships among the variables. A survey was conducted among 400 Chinese consumers residing in Tucson. Factor analysis and multiple regression were employed to derive common factors and test hypotheses. The results suggested that most shopping orientations, as well as acculturation variables were influenced by individual characteristics such as individuals' ethnicness, language ability, lifestyle activities, length of stay in the U.S., and willingness to stay. Individuals' demographic characteristics such as sex, age, income, marital status, and student/employment status, however, had less influence on shopping orientations and acculturation variables.

This qualitative case study investigates key reason(s) for Korean language loss among Korean-American children raised in mixed-race military families where the mother is a Korean immigrant of middle school or lower educational background and the father is an American Serviceman. A secondary purpose is to discover some effects of Korean language loss on the participant's identity (cultural and social) and effects on relationships between children and mothers. This study focuses on four Korean-Americans---three biracial participants, and one monoracial, adopted participant (ages 21 to 28). I record the phenomena of language loss, using the participants' voices. The three data sources include: interviews, follow-up discussions, and field notes. Major findings show: (1) that the decision to drop Korean language maintenance was made deliberately by one or both parents based on what the father considered best for the welfare of the child in U.S. schools. (2) The participants most traumatized by Korean language loss found it hard to identify with any group socially. (3) Those participants not consciously traumatized by Korean language loss claimed a Korean social identity. (4) All participants' mothers preferred to isolate themselves in the family or among Korean friends who spoke little English. (5) All participants noted frustrations in the mother-child relationship. (6) The children recognized it was easier to communicate with their absent military fathers even if they did not necessarily "get along" well with Dad once he returned home.

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceived quality of life of a group of Mexican-American adults with diabetes mellitus. Quality of life was assessed by the diabetes quality of life (DQOL) instrument and was described in relation to satisfaction with self, impact generated by diabetes, and worry about anticipated effects of diabetes. A convenience sample of 40 subjects was recruited from the community. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, t-tests, and Pearson product-moment correlation. Results indicated that this group of Mexican-American adults with diabetes were moderately satisfied with themselves, seldom impacted by diabetes, and seldom worried about anticipated effects of diabetes. Subjects treated with insulin reported significantly more frequent impact of diabetes and worry about anticipated effects of diabetes than subjects not treated with insulin. Nursing implications included cultural adaptation of assessment and promotion of quality of life for the Mexican-American client.

As a result of the allotment of Indian reservation land during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, land on reservations today is severely checkerboarded and fractionated, making its productive use virtually impossible. Complicating productive land use is the status of land tenure on reservations, which may be classified into as many as seven tenures: Indian trust land; Indian fee land; tribal trust land; tribal fee; non-Indian land; federal trust land, and state land. Congress has attempted to reconcile fractionation and checkerboarding for the past eighty years, yet with little success. In 1983, Congress passed the Indian Land Consolidation Act (ILCA) to enable tribes to consolidate their land holdings and reduce fractionated land parcels. However, this act has failed to accomplish its goals. Rather than eliminating fractionation and checkerboarding, the act has succeeded only in complicating the devise and descent of Indian lands.

The purpose of this research was to examine aspects of Indian higher education with a focus on Indian and native studies programs in the United States and Canada. The academic dimension of the study centered on the intellectual discussion, credibility, and stature of the field, as well as, perceptions prevalent in mainstream academia. This thesis compared and contrasted Indian higher education in the United States and Canada, and provided analysis of mainstream and tribal college Indian and native studies programs. Institutions studied were Sinte Gleska University, Trent University, University of Arizona and Saskatchewan Indian Federated College. A theoretical framework was created with essential criteria for Indian and native studies program development including: (1) Administrative Structure; (2) Program Purpose and Goals; (3) Mission Statement; (4) Governance; (5) Relationship to Tribal Community; (6) Curricula; (7) Staffing/Faculty; (8) Student Services; and (9) Community Outreach.