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As the poverty level increases in Arizona, so does the opportunity gap between high- income and low-income students. We believe that all youth regardless of their zip code, the color of their skin, or their family background should see themselves as leaders and scholars in the community. Access to higher education, quite simply should be attainable for all students. The New American University charter that ASU has adopted is inspiring and groundbreaking. We believe this charter underscores the significance of equal access to education. The REACH program embraces the urgency of educational inequity, by enhancing the potential success of high school teenagers, who attend the Boys & Girls Club \u2014 Ladmo Branch in Tempe, Arizona. REACH empowers youth to develop stronger leadership skills, while becoming more involved in their community. We provide an opportunity for these teens to engage in leadership discussions, receive college mentoring/tutoring, and connect with the community and resources that Arizona State University (ASU) has to offer. It is our hope that every REACH teen is inspired to apply for college. REACH strives to provide any support the teens require to be successful throughout the college testing and admission process. REACH works with multiple communities at Arizona State University including the Pat Tillman Scholars, Devils' Advocates, Honors Devils, Changemaker Central, Barrett, The Honors College and W. P. Carey School of Business to organize and lead a group of teens through a remarkable curriculum that will shape the way they view cultural diversity, educational achievement, and leadership. The weekly meetings consist of discussions, creative team-building, critical thinking exercises, and cultural awareness experiences. Demonstrating to the teens, administrators, volunteers, mentors, and tutors the rich culture that Tempe has to offer and the skills and experience that they have to offer their community as well. In this thesis will we present our work developing and implementing the REACH program at the Ladmo Branch of the Tempe Boys and Girls Club from the Spring of 2013 through the Spring of 2015. We will describe the structure of REACH, our weekly leadership curriculum, our assessment and evaluation method, and the supplemental programs that we instituted (i.e., tutoring and mentoring). We will reflect on our successes and the challenges that we faced over the span of three years. We will conclude our thesis with a critical analysis of the program as a whole in order to provide advice for others who want to create and engage in a sustainable, student lead, community action organization.
ContributorsBurba, Monica (Co-author) / Smith, Jenna (Co-author) / Mokwa, Michael (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The Latino population is the fastest growing minority group in the United States (U.S Census Bureau, 2003). Such a rapidly changing demographic stresses the importance of implementing strategies into the community social framework to accommodate for cultural and language differences. This research paper seeks to answer: what factors influence the sense of community among Latino families in Phoenix? The following questions will help to assess the dynamic relationship between sense of community and literacy 1) what is the perceived importance of literacy among Latino families living in Phoenix? 2) How is language development reflected among the family dynamics within a predominantly collectivist culture? It is hypothesized that both collectivism and literacy are the main influences on sense of community among this population.
ContributorsBennett, Julie (Author) / Glenberg, Arthur (Thesis director) / Restrepo, Laida (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Across the world, nations manage their borders in various ways. Brazil and Uruguay share a non-militarized dry border, which creates a range of unique challenges and assets for that region. Through historical, linguistic, and cultural context as well as ethnography-inspired mixed method research, this paper demonstrates that the border region serves as an area of cultural blending. While elements of national affiliation are still present, at times, semiotic and linguistic elements are neither Brazilian nor Uruguayan, but have taken on their own identity.
ContributorsAraiza, Ulises (Co-author) / Desper, Tate (Co-author) / Escobar, Edward (Thesis director) / O'Connor, Brendan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Transborder Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Conducted in collaboration with the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, this project was a pilot survey of representatives at sexual violence organizations in Arizona and a best practices review of sexual violence organizations. It was carried out with the purpose of enhancing ACESDV's knowledge about sexual violence organizations so that the coalition will be able to offer informed and individualized support to these organizations in Arizona as it begins to pursue its new mission of addressing sexual violence.
ContributorsHarrach, Meagan L. (Author) / Bodman, Denise (Thesis director) / Dumka, Larry (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
On December 28th 2012, immigration authorities arrested my father and mother while grocery shopping. As soon as they stepped outside, immigration officers stopped them to be questioned. Jeopardizing my university graduation, I took on the challenge to fight court and petition my parents to not be deported. As a first generation born American, I have the power and the right to petition for the freedom of my parents. I was fortunate to be born in this country as a citizen and take advantage of all the opportunities given to me. Up until today, my family and I have done nothing but participate as good citizens. What I failed to realize is that one day our family would become deportation victims of the broken immigration system. There are currently between 11 to12 million undocumented people living in the United States with no pathway to citizenship. My father and mother were humiliated in jail, separated from the family for three months and suffered from emotional distress. It is imperative for me to share our family experience so others know the reality about illegal immigration. In this paper I aspire to leave the reader with knowledge and understanding about illegal immigration. The main purpose of my thesis is to retell my family's experience and the struggle we are still currently facing. The fate of my family was decided on March 25th 2013, and my family has been forever changed. We learned the valuable lesson that as Latinos in the community, we need to fight for freedom and speak on those that are undocumented and afraid.
ContributorsCalderon, Rudy (Author) / Larson, Elizabeth (Thesis director) / Ovando, Carlos (Committee member) / Sanchez, Marta (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Identity has an important role in each individual. It determines what a person will do for the rest of her life and also how she is perceived by others. It is the person's qualities, beliefs, personality and expressions that define the person or the group the person belongs to. When identity is regarded as something psychological — something that is related to an individual’s self-image and self-esteem — it can affect a person negatively or positively, depending on how that person sees herself. Despite that, identity development occurs throughout different stages of one’s life, adolescence is the stage where individuals begin to analyze their identity because they are more self-conscious of the changes that are happening in their lives. Therefore, adolescents are more vulnerable when it comes to the struggle with different aspects of identity. For example, they grapple with decisions like choosing a career path, political beliefs, relationships or their ethnicity label. There’s confusion causing the inability to commit to one path because of the forces that surround and influence a person's decisions. Anyone can struggle with finding their identity, but it’s young people who are torn between two or more cultures who often find themselves more confused because they believe they have to make a choice of either assimilating to one culture or the other. Diana Calderón, a local Phoenix artist, shared the story of her journey to find her identity as a Latina woman through art. She argues that her method, a form of art known as “interdisciplinary,” can be used as a tool to help others like herself explore their identity.
Interdisciplinary art allows artists to design their careers without restrictions because it lets them merge different types of art such as painting, sketching, crafting and anything else that may represent art to them. Interdisciplinary artists invent new media, with their own techniques. In doing so, they allow others the freedom to create and interpret their creations without feeling pressured to follow conventions and guidelines, eventually providing a space to explore talents.
Calderón, who was born in Mexico and later moved, felt she was caught between embracing the culture of the United States and perpetuating her family's identity, which mixes the ideas of being Latino and American at the same time. Factors such as traditions, values, language and social experiences are what constructed Calderón’s identity; these are the same factors that make all of our identities. But as Calderón started expressing her identity through artwork, she was able to represent her true self as a Latina woman without feeling that she had to disregard either of the cultures she grew up with.
This thesis will explore the way that Latino artists like Diana Calderón use interdisciplinary art as a tool to help others – especially Latinos in between two or more cultures – discover their identity, even as they are being pressured by societal factors that impose what an individual should do or be.
Keywords: identity, interdisciplinary art, Hispanic/Latino, Diana Calderón
Website:
https://medium.com/@ekarina796/hispanic-latino-mexican-american-exploring-identity-and-labels-through-art-b420af0e2df8
Interdisciplinary art allows artists to design their careers without restrictions because it lets them merge different types of art such as painting, sketching, crafting and anything else that may represent art to them. Interdisciplinary artists invent new media, with their own techniques. In doing so, they allow others the freedom to create and interpret their creations without feeling pressured to follow conventions and guidelines, eventually providing a space to explore talents.
Calderón, who was born in Mexico and later moved, felt she was caught between embracing the culture of the United States and perpetuating her family's identity, which mixes the ideas of being Latino and American at the same time. Factors such as traditions, values, language and social experiences are what constructed Calderón’s identity; these are the same factors that make all of our identities. But as Calderón started expressing her identity through artwork, she was able to represent her true self as a Latina woman without feeling that she had to disregard either of the cultures she grew up with.
This thesis will explore the way that Latino artists like Diana Calderón use interdisciplinary art as a tool to help others – especially Latinos in between two or more cultures – discover their identity, even as they are being pressured by societal factors that impose what an individual should do or be.
Keywords: identity, interdisciplinary art, Hispanic/Latino, Diana Calderón
Website:
https://medium.com/@ekarina796/hispanic-latino-mexican-american-exploring-identity-and-labels-through-art-b420af0e2df8
ContributorsEspinoza, Karina (Author) / Fernandez, Valeria (Thesis director) / Ruiz, Vanessa (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The Constructivists were a prominent group of Avant Garde artists that began to work in the years preceding the Bolshevik revolution and continued to work prominently until Stalin came to power. As other Avant Garde movements became prevalent throughout Europe, Constructivism became the Modernist movement that encapsulated Russia’s Socialist future. Constructivist artist-workers embraced the idea that objects of art must be useful in the daily life of a Soviet worker as well as representative of the future for which communists were working. As such, they aligned with the new national ideals aesthetically by illustrating national and political goals in a functional way. Constructivists wanted to create objects that would signify and enable future Soviet life through their usefulness and their ideological intensity. This thesis argues that Constructivist objects served a third purpose as productive agents of community.
Each chapter of this thesis closely studies a different object of a different medium to trace relationships between Constructivist objects and Soviet community. El Lissitzky’s PROUN Manifesto illuminates the creation of an artistic community. Alexander Rodchenko’s print Propaganda communicates between a state and its people. Varvara Stepanova’s Sportswear designs facilitate a society of workers. Alexandra Exter’s Marionettes combine common everyday objects and children’s theater. Vladimir Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International, envisions the ideal Soviet society as place in which socialists could convene. And Liubov Popova’s Painterly Architectonics relates the functional and aesthetic goals of Constructivism from Russia to the international art world. Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities, Bruno Latour’s Reassembling the Social, and Pierre Bourdieu’s Distinction each provide the framework for discussing the intersections of art objects and community. Anderson explores nationhood through the lens of language and print media, Latour studies how social interaction on an individual basis might rely upon the physical objects around them, whereas Bourdieu addresses hierarchies in distinguishing objects of art in class-based societies by outlining the conflicts between cultural capital and tastemaking in the analysis of objects.
Through the exploration of each Constructivist object, this thesis explores individual, national, and international communities while considering their changing political, social contexts.
Each chapter of this thesis closely studies a different object of a different medium to trace relationships between Constructivist objects and Soviet community. El Lissitzky’s PROUN Manifesto illuminates the creation of an artistic community. Alexander Rodchenko’s print Propaganda communicates between a state and its people. Varvara Stepanova’s Sportswear designs facilitate a society of workers. Alexandra Exter’s Marionettes combine common everyday objects and children’s theater. Vladimir Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International, envisions the ideal Soviet society as place in which socialists could convene. And Liubov Popova’s Painterly Architectonics relates the functional and aesthetic goals of Constructivism from Russia to the international art world. Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities, Bruno Latour’s Reassembling the Social, and Pierre Bourdieu’s Distinction each provide the framework for discussing the intersections of art objects and community. Anderson explores nationhood through the lens of language and print media, Latour studies how social interaction on an individual basis might rely upon the physical objects around them, whereas Bourdieu addresses hierarchies in distinguishing objects of art in class-based societies by outlining the conflicts between cultural capital and tastemaking in the analysis of objects.
Through the exploration of each Constructivist object, this thesis explores individual, national, and international communities while considering their changing political, social contexts.
ContributorsBrown, Theodora Circe (Author) / Hoogenboom, Hilde (Thesis director) / Hedberg Olenina, Ana (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The purpose of the study was to learn more about the Albanian-American community in Arizona and questioned Albanian-American participants on the reasons for migrating to Arizona, their feelings towards their identity, how they remain connected with their heritage, and how/if they are ensuring that future generations of Albanian-Americans will maintain their culture. The study carried out a qualitative ethnography. I interviewed 15 Albanian-American participants living in Arizona. The term “Albanian-American” was defined as someone who identifies ethnically as an Albanian but lives in the United States. Participants in this study who identified as ethnically Albanian were either born and raised in or have parents who were born and raised in Albania or Kosovo, meaning they were either first-generation Americans or second-generation Americans. The written work is an oral history of these 15 participant’s personal experiences and stories, which also includes photographs to provide imagery to each participant’s account. The study found that the Albanian-American participants came to the United States for either economic, social, or political reasons. It also noted similar patterns and themes that have been separated into chapters on the Albanian value of hard work, the Albanian value of altruism, and the Albanian-American dual identity. The Conclusion summarizes the various ways in which the Albanian-American community in Arizona is ensuring the preservation of the heritage among younger generations who are becoming more Americanized. I conclude with two main ways that the Albanian-American community in Arizona are preserving their heritage: through Albanian language education initiatives, and cultural preservation initiatives and events hosted by the Albanian-American organizations of Arizona.
ContributorsJames, Tatum Lenore (Author) / Brown, Keith (Thesis director) / Sivak, Henry (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The attainment of a meaningful existence is a one of the most fundamental human desires. While the pursuit for a meaningful existence is universal, the path to achieving it looks different for all people. An important aspect in achieving a meaningful existence is personal enlightenment that is attained through not only a profound understanding of one's own identity through reflection but also an awareness of the environment that has shaped that identity. The purpose of reflection should not be to attach blame or find excuses for the aspects of one's life that are unfavorable or shameful; rather, it should be to achieve the sense of inner peace that is integral in making informed and rational progress towards realizing aspects of an individual's life that bring meaning and happiness. The purpose of the following two sections is to demonstrate how an understanding of group-specific challenges regarding identity and upbringing may help those that identify with Chinese American or immigrant culture in their pursuit of a meaningful and satisfying existence. The first section provides a profile on some of the common issues facing Asian Americans, particularly how an immigrant approach to parenting can affect the degree of acculturation, mental health, and identity of immigrant children. The second section provides a personal backdrop to some of the themes discussed in the first section through an autoethnographic account from a Chinese American student. The purpose of the autoethnographic account is to demonstrate that leisure activities, such as music, can address issues regarding acculturation and identity that Asian Americans commonly face.
ContributorsWen, Charles H (Author) / Mantie, Roger (Thesis director) / Libman, Jeff (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Activist burnout theory has produced minimal but meaningful literature and research that explores the dynamics of burnout culture, movement in-fighting, marginalized identities, and dimensions of burnout symptoms. Black feminist visionaries and writers such as Audre Lorde and bell hooks have developed theories of love, self-care and community as central to resistance that have informed my research approach. Thus, my study aims to investigate activist burnout from a perspective that marries popular activist burnout theory with these frameworks of self-care and community. I conducted a survey of Arizona State University student organizers and activists (N=34) to address the following research questions: What are the causes and symptoms of burnout for Arizona State University activists and organizers? How have self-care and community played a role in their work and countered burnout? Can working conceptions of self-care and community serve as resistance in ways that feel meaningful to activists? The survey was broken into three dimensions: “Demographics and Experience,” “Burnout,” and “Self-Care and Community.” The results reinforced prior findings on established toxic cultures and burnout symptoms but introduced complications to working theories, such as the connections between cycles of burnout and the cyclical nature of electoral politics along with the roles of chronic and mental illness. Respondents largely demonstrated conceptions of self-care and community as resistance but also demonstrated personal and professional barriers to putting these conceptions into practice.
ContributorsKittridge, Rebecca (Author) / Lee, Charles (Thesis director) / Boyles, David (Committee member) / Krysik, Judy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2023-05