abstract: The following dissertation provides perspectives on the social, political, economic, and academic influences on language use, and particularly heritage language use, within the Filipino American community. What is the nature of language in this community? In what ways does language exist or co-exist? The hypothesis that autochthonous Filipino languages in the United States cease to be spoken in favor of English by Filipino Americans was tested through mixed methods of research. Literature and databases were reviewed which provided information concerning statistics, issues, and policies relating to language in Filipino America. Field research and interviews were conducted in which language use was of key interest. Results varied individually and contextually. Language seems to exist within the Filipino American community on a dynamic continuum. Immigrant Filipino Americans appear to be bilingual and multilingual. Second generation Filipino Americans tend to be English dominant with a range of bilingualism. The California Department of Education (CDOE) appears to foster bilingualism / multilingualism through its World Languages Departments (secondary education level), by offering language courses, such as Tagalog-based Filipino. Efforts to maintain non-English, Filipino languages in Arizona are less conspicuous, but they do exist primarily in familial and entrepreneurial ways. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2011

abstract: This dissertation is a comparative study of three contemporary women filmmakers: Puerto Rican Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Chicana director Lourdes Portillo, and Brazilian director Helena Solberg. Informed by transnational theory, politics of location, feminism on the border, and approaches to documentary filmmaking, the study examines three filmic texts: Brincando el charco: Portrait of a Puerto Rican (1994), The Devil Never Sleeps/El diablo nunca duerme (1994), and Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business (1994). Each film is narrated by a female voice who juxtaposes her personal and transnational identity with history to tell her migration story before and after returning to her country of origin. An objective of the study is to demonstrate how the film directors vis-á-vis their female protagonists, configure a United States Latina transnational imaginary to position their female protagonists and themselves as female directors and as active social agents. Further, the dissertation explores how the filmmakers construct, utilizing the cinematographic apparatus, specific forms of resistance to confront certain oppressive forms. The theoretical framework proposes that transnational documentary filmmaking offers specific contestatory representations and makes possible the opening of parallel spaces in order to allow for a transformation from multiple perspectives. Through the utilization of specific techniques such as archival footage, the three directors focus on historical biographies. Further, they make use of experimental filmmaking and, in particular, the transnational documentary to deconstruct hegemonic discourses. Lastly, transnational cinema is valued as a field for cultural renegotiating and as a result, the documentary filmmakers in this study are able to reconfigure a transnational imaginary and propose an alternative discourse about history, sexuality, family structures, and gender relations. In sum, my dissertation contributes to Chicana/o and U.S. Latina/o, American Literature, and other Ethnic Literatures by focusing on migration, acculturation, and multicultural dialogue. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Spanish 2011

Dans le contexte actuel caractérisé par de multiples échanges économiques, politiques, sociaux, technologiques, la mobilité des scientifiques et autres travailleurs sénégalais qualifiés s’est accrue. Ces derniers, tout en vivant en France, maintiennent des relations avec leurs communautés d’origine, tissent des liens entre eux. Ils s’auto-organisent en réseaux et participent de plus en plus à des « investissements à distance » ou à des missions d’expertise au Sénégal qui leur permettent d’articuler « l’ici » et « le là-bas ». Ces nouvelles dynamiques migratoires (grande mobilité, relations interpolaires, associations multi-sites) permettent de revisiter le concept de diaspora. Ainsi, à la suite du « brain drain », « brain gain », du « retour des cerveaux », les notions telles que DKN (diaspora knowledge networks (diaspora du savoir) ou DST « diaspora scientifique et technique » émergent pour analyser les collectifs (associations ou réseaux) auto-organisés de migrants constitués sur la « base sociale de l’unité de compétence et de projet » et qui s’impliquent au développement de leur pays d’origine (Meyer 2008). Nous utilisons ce cadre d’analyse renouvelé du concept de diaspora pour étudier différentes formes de participation aux dynamiques de développement du Sénégal des migrants sénégalais hautement qualifiés en interrogeant ceux qui ont effectué des missions d’expertise dans le cadre du TOKTEN (Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriate Nationals), PAIDS (Programme d’Appui aux Initiatives de Solidarité pour le Développement) et ceux qui s’activent dans les associations qui mènent au Sénégal des activités dans les domaines socio-économiques et scientifiques / techniques. Les résultats montrent que les dynamiques de construction diasporique s’appuient sur des mécanismes institutionnels de mobilisation des experts qualifiés mais elles sont également fortement structurées par les parcours de vie et de migration des migrants qualifiés caractérisés à la fois par la sédentarisation et la mobilité ainsi que par le maintien de liens culturels et symboliques avec le pays d’origine. / In the current context characterized by multiple economic, political, social and technological exchanges, the mobility of scientists and other highly skilled Senegalese workers has increased. The latter, while living in France, maintain relations with their homeland and among themselves. They self-organize into networks and participate more in « distance investments » or expert missions in Senegal, which allow them to articulate « here» and « over there». These new dynamics of migration (mobility, interpolar relations, and multi-site organizations) allow reexamining the concept of diaspora. Thus, following the « brain drain» », « brain gain», the « brain reverse», concepts such as DKN ( diaspora knowledge networks) or DST (scientific and technical diaspora) emerge to analyze migrants’ self- organizations (associations or networks) based on the unity of competence and project (Meyer 2008) and which are involved in the development of their homeland. I use this renewed framework of the concept of diaspora to study the different forms of participation in the development of Senegal, by interviewing skilled Senegalese migrants who have carried out missions of expertise through TOKTEN (Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriate Nationals) and PAID (Program of Solidarity for Development) and those who are active in associations leading activities in Senegal in the socio-economic and scientific / technical field. The results show that the process of diaspora construction relies on institutional mechanisms which allow mobilizing skills; but they are also highly structured by the life story and migratory career of the skilled migrants characterized by settlement, mobility and maintain of cultural and symbolic links with the home country.

A presente tese trata sobre migrações irregulares entre a África Ocidental e a América do Sul. Trata-se de jovens em contextos urbanos que abordam navios de carga de forma clandestina nos principais portos dos centros comerciais da região. Eles partem sem um destino certo e sua viagem pode ter diferentes desenvolvimentos. Às vezes são devolvidos à terra mesmo antes da partida; outras, são achados pela tripulação durante a viagem, ou já no lugar de destino pelas autoridades do porto. Nesses casos, podem ser deportados ao país de origem ou qualquer outro da África, ou permanecer no lugar de chegada como refugiados ou migrantes. Também se registram casos em que os passageiros clandestinos são lançados ao mar à deriva, onde podem ser resgatados por outras embarcações. O trabalho se baseia na etnografia realizada na América do Sul - em Venezuela, Uruguai e Argentina - e na África Ocidental - Nigéria e Gana. Analisa-se esse tipo de migrações em relação a dinâmicas demográficas mais amplas, nos dois polos do percurso migratório. De uma perspectiva transnacional, se vinculam esses locais com outros possíveis destinos futuros onde imaginam dar continuidade ao processo migratório. Esses destinos se relacionam às formas em que os migrantes descrevem sua experiência de deslocamento como a possibilidade de continuar sempre em movimento. No local de origem se analisam as formas em que os jovens constroem seus projetos migratórios, em relação às variáveis de gênero e idade, que são determinantes para entender a posição que eles ocupam na comunidade. No local de destino, se analisam os processos de integração a partir das definições cotidianas e jurídicas em que eles se inscrevem e que lhes são atribuídas pela sociedade englobante. Dentro dessas categorias, as diferenças de cor, lidas como diferenças raciais, têm um lugar particular, como uma das formas mais violentas de classificação às quais se vêm expostos. Observam-se os processos migratórios em perspectiva, vinculando a experiência desses jovens com os conceitos de diásporas nacionais e diáspora negra. / This dissertation aims to study irregular migrations between Western Africa and South America. It analyzes young people in urban contexts who covertly approach cargo ships in the main trade ports of the Western Africa region. They depart without pre-defined destinations and their trip can result in unforeseen consequences. Sometimes they are returned home before they depart. Sometimes ship crews find them during the trip and sometimes local authorities find them at the final destination. Once they are identified, they can be deported to their home country or to any other African country, or they can stay at the destination country as refugees or migrants. There are also some cases of clandestine passengers who are left adrift at sea, where they can possibly be rescued by other watercrafts. This dissertation, based on an ethnographic research with a number of such migrants, was carried out in South America (Venezuela, Uruguay, and Argentina) and in Western Africa (Nigeria and Ghana). Their "irregular" form of migration is analyzed considering a wide range of demographic dynamics on both the origin and destination side of the migratory journey. The transnational perspective is useful for understanding the social environment in which these young people operate. They understand and describe their displacement experience as a perpetual search for another migratory opportunity. First, the characteristics of these young people's migratory projects are analyzed in relation to gender and age cohorts, which are determinant of their societal position in their original communities. Second, the migrants' social and legal integration are analyzed through the migrants' perception of themselves in the host society and the host society's perception of the migrants. Racial and ethnic differences, being one of the most violent forms of "categorization" faced by the migrants, play a significant role in these perceptions. These migratory processes are observed through the use of comparative lenses, linking the experience of these young people with the social concepts of the National and African Diaspora. / La presente tesis versa sobre migraciones irregulares entre África Occidental y América del Sur. Se trata de jóvenes en contextos urbanos que abordan los navíos de forma clandestina en los principales centros comerciales de la región. En diferentes situaciones, ellos parten sin un destino cierto y su viaje puede tener diferentes desarrollos. Algunas veces son devueltos a tierra incluso antes de la partida, otras encontrados por la tripulación durante el viaje o ya en el lugar de destino por las autoridades del puerto. En esos casos pueden ser deportados al país de origen, a cualquier otro país en África o permanecer en el país de destino, con refugiados o migrantes. También se registran casos en que los pasajeros clandestinos son lanzados al mar a la deriva donde son rescatados por otras embarcaciones. El trabajo se basa en la etnografía realizada en América del Sur - Venezuela, Uruguay y Argentina - y en África Occidental - Nigeria y Ghana. Se analiza este fenómeno específico en relación con dinámicas demográficas más amplias en los dos polos de trayecto migratorio. Desde una perspectiva transnacional, se vinculan esos dos lugares con otros destinos donde los migrantes imaginan dar continuidad al proceso, relacionados a las formas en que describen su experiencia, como una actitud de estar siempre en movimiento. En el lugar de partida se analizan las formas en que los jóvenes construyen el proyecto de migrar, en relación con las variables de género y edad, que son determinantes para entender la posición que ocupan en la comunidad. En el lugar de destino se analizan los procesos de integración a partir de las definiciones informales y jurídicas en que ellos mismos se inscriben y que les son atribuidas por la sociedad englobante. Dentro de esas categorías, las diferencias de color, leídas como diferencias raciales, tienen un lugar particular, ya que son vividas como una de las situaciones más violentas a las que se ven expuestos. Se observan los procesos migratorios en perspectiva, vinculando la experiencia de estos jóvenes con los conceptos de diásporas nacionales y diáspora negra.

This MA thesis presents the results of an investigation about the Hispanic Americans in Prague. Relying on a transnationalist theoretical approach, this research presents an empirical description about the existing ties between the transmigrants and their city of residence, analyzing the migration networks and the transnational practices that arise during the migratory experience. We wish to demonstrate the measure in which the transnational migration is going to foment the exchange of symbolic goods between the country of origin and the country of reception of the transmigrant, and how this exchange is often triggered by the feeling of nostalgia that is frequently associated with the transmigrants experience. To approach these problems in the thesis we focus on the portrait of the migration networks, and on various strategies adopted by migrants from Latin America. Thus we are able to discover the transnational practices of migrants, their integration strategies, and the tools which facilitate to keep the contact with their homeland, and native civilization/culture. The exchange of symbolic goods is one of the very important instruments. We discover them through the testimonies of the transmigrants, which constitute the frame of this investigation, and function as a window on the nature of the...

Current Cultural Situation of Transylvanian Saxons in Romania PhDr. Tomáš Drs Abstract The thesis deals with the current situation of the Transylvanian Saxons in Romania. Based on multiple field visits, it describes and analyzes the problems related to reconstructing the ethnic identity of the community, noting the minority's transnational situation and exploring the generational relations, the minority's position in the ethnically different environment or its political and revitalization activities. The thesis also attemps to reconstruct the actual historical development, looks into how memory is socially conditioned memory and lays out biographies of individual characters. Methodologically, the thesis draws upon the tradition of ethnographic research, working with theoretical concepts of ethnicity (Eriksen, Anderson), transnationalism (Werbner, Szaló) or memory studies (Halbwachs, Assmann, Nora). The aim of the thesis is to introduce the Transylvanian Saxons and other groups commonly referred to as Romanian Germans in the Czech environment. It lays out the history of Transylvanian Saxons, describes their negotiations with the state and the framing of their minority identity. Also, it seeks to answer whether the end of the numerically smaller ethnic minority of Transylvanian Saxons is inevitable and how...

Mongolian migration to the Czech Republic has had a long tradition, since the beginning of a former political regime. Nowadays, there are more than six thousand Mongolian immigrants living on the Czech territory, nonetheless, we lack more valuable research done on integration of this minority. At the same time the Czech society is not very well aware of this number of foreigners of Mongolian origin and they are more often assumed to be Vietnamese or Chinese. Since the early 1990s, studies on transnationalism have explored the empirical patterns of migrants' transnational practices and observed whether they coexist with indicators of integration. The research on Mongolian integration presented in this master's thesis was carried out as a case study focusing on analysis of transnational behavior of immigrants (sending remittances, mobility and regular contact with family and friends in a country of origin). Based on the results coming out of completed interviews, this thesis tries to find whether this behavior has an impact on immigrants' process of integration. It also seeks to find other potential factors that might have a significant influence. The results of this research reveal quite high rate of transnational practices, yet it does not seem to be the only determinant of a successful or...

A presente dissertação constitui um estudo etnomusicológico do musicar de artistas imigrantes haitianos no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. O trabalho etnográfico contemplou a observação-participante de eventos do grupo diaspórico haitiano, apresentações musicais, sessões de gravação, entrevistas e apresentações de programas de rádio feitas por e/ou com diversos artistas haitianos. A pesquisa foi fundamentada em trabalho colaborativo e participativo, no qual exerci uma função de mediação e tornei-me ator social dentro do próprio fenômeno, e incluiu trabalho netnográfico em redes sociais e de comunicação. Através de um olhar voltado à autonomia da migração, o objetivo do trabalho foi analisar na produção e atuação musical de artistas imigrantes haitianos as dimensões e fluxos transnacionais, as questões de cosmopolitismo inerentes à condição diaspórica de haitianos enquanto imigrantes negros no Brasil, a manutenção e reposicionamento de identidades socioculturais assim como tensões ligadas à religião e a processos de construção de alteridade racial. / The present thesis constitutes an ethnomusicological study of the musicking of Haitian immigrant artists in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The ethnographic work consisted in participant-observation conducted in events of the Haitian diasporic group, musical performances, recording sessions, interviews and radio broadcasting, done with/by various Haitian artists. The research was based in a collaborative and participative work ethos, in which I exercised the role of mediator and social actor within the actual phenomenon studied, and included virtual fieldwork in social and communication networks. By means of an autonomy of migration gaze, the purpose of this work was to analyze, through the music of Haitian immigrant artists: transnational flows and dimensions, issues of cosmopolitanism inherent to the Haitian condition as black migrants in Brazil, the maintenance and repositioning of sociocultural identities, as well as anxieties regarding religion and processes of racial othering.

A presente tese trata sobre migrações irregulares entre a África Ocidental e a América do Sul. Trata-se de jovens em contextos urbanos que abordam navios de carga de forma clandestina nos principais portos dos centros comerciais da região. Eles partem sem um destino certo e sua viagem pode ter diferentes desenvolvimentos. Às vezes são devolvidos à terra mesmo antes da partida; outras, são achados pela tripulação durante a viagem, ou já no lugar de destino pelas autoridades do porto. Nesses casos, podem ser deportados ao país de origem ou qualquer outro da África, ou permanecer no lugar de chegada como refugiados ou migrantes. Também se registram casos em que os passageiros clandestinos são lançados ao mar à deriva, onde podem ser resgatados por outras embarcações. O trabalho se baseia na etnografia realizada na América do Sul - em Venezuela, Uruguai e Argentina - e na África Ocidental - Nigéria e Gana. Analisa-se esse tipo de migrações em relação a dinâmicas demográficas mais amplas, nos dois polos do percurso migratório. De uma perspectiva transnacional, se vinculam esses locais com outros possíveis destinos futuros onde imaginam dar continuidade ao processo migratório. Esses destinos se relacionam às formas em que os migrantes descrevem sua experiência de deslocamento como a possibilidade de continuar sempre em movimento. No local de origem se analisam as formas em que os jovens constroem seus projetos migratórios, em relação às variáveis de gênero e idade, que são determinantes para entender a posição que eles ocupam na comunidade. No local de destino, se analisam os processos de integração a partir das definições cotidianas e jurídicas em que eles se inscrevem e que lhes são atribuídas pela sociedade englobante. Dentro dessas categorias, as diferenças de cor, lidas como diferenças raciais, têm um lugar particular, como uma das formas mais violentas de classificação às quais se vêm expostos. Observam-se os processos migratórios em perspectiva, vinculando a experiência desses jovens com os conceitos de diásporas nacionais e diáspora negra. / This dissertation aims to study irregular migrations between Western Africa and South America. It analyzes young people in urban contexts who covertly approach cargo ships in the main trade ports of the Western Africa region. They depart without pre-defined destinations and their trip can result in unforeseen consequences. Sometimes they are returned home before they depart. Sometimes ship crews find them during the trip and sometimes local authorities find them at the final destination. Once they are identified, they can be deported to their home country or to any other African country, or they can stay at the destination country as refugees or migrants. There are also some cases of clandestine passengers who are left adrift at sea, where they can possibly be rescued by other watercrafts. This dissertation, based on an ethnographic research with a number of such migrants, was carried out in South America (Venezuela, Uruguay, and Argentina) and in Western Africa (Nigeria and Ghana). Their "irregular" form of migration is analyzed considering a wide range of demographic dynamics on both the origin and destination side of the migratory journey. The transnational perspective is useful for understanding the social environment in which these young people operate. They understand and describe their displacement experience as a perpetual search for another migratory opportunity. First, the characteristics of these young people's migratory projects are analyzed in relation to gender and age cohorts, which are determinant of their societal position in their original communities. Second, the migrants' social and legal integration are analyzed through the migrants' perception of themselves in the host society and the host society's perception of the migrants. Racial and ethnic differences, being one of the most violent forms of "categorization" faced by the migrants, play a significant role in these perceptions. These migratory processes are observed through the use of comparative lenses, linking the experience of these young people with the social concepts of the National and African Diaspora. / La presente tesis versa sobre migraciones irregulares entre África Occidental y América del Sur. Se trata de jóvenes en contextos urbanos que abordan los navíos de forma clandestina en los principales centros comerciales de la región. En diferentes situaciones, ellos parten sin un destino cierto y su viaje puede tener diferentes desarrollos. Algunas veces son devueltos a tierra incluso antes de la partida, otras encontrados por la tripulación durante el viaje o ya en el lugar de destino por las autoridades del puerto. En esos casos pueden ser deportados al país de origen, a cualquier otro país en África o permanecer en el país de destino, con refugiados o migrantes. También se registran casos en que los pasajeros clandestinos son lanzados al mar a la deriva donde son rescatados por otras embarcaciones. El trabajo se basa en la etnografía realizada en América del Sur - Venezuela, Uruguay y Argentina - y en África Occidental - Nigeria y Ghana. Se analiza este fenómeno específico en relación con dinámicas demográficas más amplias en los dos polos de trayecto migratorio. Desde una perspectiva transnacional, se vinculan esos dos lugares con otros destinos donde los migrantes imaginan dar continuidad al proceso, relacionados a las formas en que describen su experiencia, como una actitud de estar siempre en movimiento. En el lugar de partida se analizan las formas en que los jóvenes construyen el proyecto de migrar, en relación con las variables de género y edad, que son determinantes para entender la posición que ocupan en la comunidad. En el lugar de destino se analizan los procesos de integración a partir de las definiciones informales y jurídicas en que ellos mismos se inscriben y que les son atribuidas por la sociedad englobante. Dentro de esas categorías, las diferencias de color, leídas como diferencias raciales, tienen un lugar particular, ya que son vividas como una de las situaciones más violentas a las que se ven expuestos. Se observan los procesos migratorios en perspectiva, vinculando la experiencia de estos jóvenes con los conceptos de diásporas nacionales y diáspora negra.

abstract: This dissertation takes the material culture of New Orleans’ Spiritual Churches as its point of the construction and application of academic categories in studies of religions of the African diaspora. Because I am interested in what emic explanations reveal about scholarly categories and methods, a dialogic approach in which I consult practitioners’ explanations to test the appropriateness of academic categories is central to this work. Thus, this study is grounded in an ethnographic study of the Voodoo Spiritual Temple, which was founded and is operated by Priestess Miriam Chamani, a bishop in the Spiritual Churches. The Spiritual Churches first emerged in the early twentieth century under the leadership of Mother Leafy Anderson. Voodoo, Pentecostalism, Spiritualism, and Roman Catholicism have been acknowledged as their primary tributary traditions. This study examines the material culture, such as statues and mojo bags, at the Voodoo Spiritual Temple as it reflects and reveals aspects of Temple attendees’ world views. In particular, material culture begins to illuminate attendees’ understandings of non-human beings, such as Spirit and spirits of the dead, as they are embodied in a variety of ways. Conceptions of Spirit and spirits are revealed to be interconnected with views on physical and spiritual well-being. Additionally, despite previous scholarly treatments of the Spiritual Churches as geographically, socially, and culturally isolated, the material culture of the Voodoo Spiritual Temple reveals them to be embedded in transnational and translocal cultural networks. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Religious Studies 2016