Matching Items (34)
Description
In this dissertation I present data gathered from an eleven-month qualitative research study with adolescents living and working on the streets of Lima, Peru. Through the pairing of photovoice with participant observations, this work incorporates distinctive methodological and theoretical viewpoints in order to complicate prevailing understandings of street life. In this dissertation, I examine the identities that children and adolescents on the street develop in context, and the ways in which photography can be a useful tool in understanding identity development among this population. Through a framework integrating theories of identity and identity performance with spatial theories, I outline how identity development among children and adolescents living on the street is directly connected to their relationships with the urban landscape and the outreach organizations that serve them. The organizations and institutions that surround children on the street shape who they are, how they are perceived by society, and how they view and understand themselves in context. It is through the interaction with aid organizations and the urban landscape that a street identity is learned and developed. Furthermore, as organizations, children and adolescents come together within the context of the city, a unique street space is created. I argue that identity and agency are directly tied to this space. I also present the street as a thirdspace of possibility, where children and adolescents are able to act out various aspects of the self that they would be unable to pursue otherwise. Weaved throughout this dissertation are non-traditional writing forms including narrative and critical personal narrative addressing my own experiences conducting this research, my impact on the research context, and how I understand the data gathered.
ContributorsJoanou, Jamie Patrice (Author) / Swadener, Beth B. (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Committee member) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Approaches to Holocaust representation often take their cues from both academic and public discourse. General opinion demands serious engagement that depicts the full range of the brutality and inhumanity of the genocide and the victimization of targeted groups perpetrated by the National Socialists. Such a treatment is considered necessary to adequately represent the Holocaust for generations to come. The analysis of four texts will show that humor is not only appropriate but is also an important addition to Holocaust discourse. This study argues that humor plays an important role as a stylistic tool for discussing the Holocaust as well as for its remembrance and representation. Jurek Becker's novel Jakob der Lügner and Ruth Klüger's autobiography Weiter Leben: Eine Jugend are witness-texts by Jewish authors. Humor in these two works helps the authors engage and work their experiences. Klüger's autobiography also utilizes humor to critically engage in the discussion of Holocaust representation. This study also analyzes two non-witness Jewish texts: the stage play Mein Kampf by George Tabori and the feature film Mein Führer, die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler by Dani Levy. These two works utilize overt humor to challenge established Holocaust representations. Drawing on ideas from Mikhail M. Bakhtin, Julia Kristeva, Giorgio Agamben, the core argument of this study demonstrates humor performs two main functions in the Holocaust literature and film chosen for this investigation. First, it restores a potential loss of dignity and helps victims endure the incomprehensible. Second, it challenges the prevailing truth and the established order.
ContributorsMeirich, Hanni (Author) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Thesis advisor) / Ghanem, Carla (Committee member) / Holian, Anna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Ethno-nationalist politicians and criminals in Mostar espoused a discourse of ethno-exclusionist sociocultural relations as a superstructure for the public in order to establish ethnocratic kleptocracies where they concealed their criminal colonization of residential and commercial property through manipulating the pre-Bosnian War discourse on property relations. This is not to argue that some or most of these politicians and criminals did not believe in their virulent nationalist rhetoric, but instead that the effects of the discourse created well-used pathways to personal, not community, wealth. Elites used the Yugoslav economic crisis and perceived past grievance to enflame growing tensions between ethnicities and social classes. I use Mostar as an object of analysis to examine the creation of Bosnian Croat and Bosniak ethnocratic regimes in this divided city. However, I focus more on the Bosnian Croat regime in the city because it envisioned Mostar as its capital, making the city the site of its political competition among factions. Even though ethno-nationalist politicians and criminals still hold a level of power in Mostar, the IC did succeed in instituting a high level of property restitution, which does not necessarily imply return, because the IC was able to impose rule of law when it acted in an organized manner. Also, the ethnocratic regimes were weakened due to regional economic and political factors that undercut the regimes' hold over the population.
ContributorsPignotti, Arthur (Author) / Batalden, Stephen K. (Thesis advisor) / Von Hagen, Mark (Committee member) / Holian, Anna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The contemporary architectural pedagogy is far removed from its ancestry: the classical Beaux-Arts and polytechnic schools of the 19th century and the Bauhaus and Vkhutemas models of the modern period. Today, the "digital" has invaded the academy and shapes pedagogical practices, epistemologies, and ontologies within it, and this invasion is reflected in teaching practices, principles, and tools. Much of this digital integration goes unremarked and may not even be explicitly taught. In this qualitative research project, interviews with 18 leading architecture lecturers, professors, and deans from programs across the United States were conducted. These interviews focused on advanced practices of digital architecture, such as the use of digital tools, and how these practices are viewed. These interviews yielded a wealth of information about the uses (and abuses) of advanced digital technologies within the architectural academy, and the results were analyzed using the methods of phenomenology and grounded theory. Most schools use digital technologies to some extent, although this extent varies greatly. While some schools have abandoned hand-drawing and other hand-based craft almost entirely, others have retained traditional techniques and use digital technologies sparingly. Reasons for using digital design processes include industry pressure as well as the increased ability to solve problems and the speed with which they could be solved. Despite the prevalence of digital design, most programs did not teach related design software explicitly, if at all, instead requiring students (especially graduate students) to learn to use them outside the design studio. Some of the problems with digital design identified in the interviews include social problems such as alienation as well as issues like understanding scale and embodiment of skill.
ContributorsAlqabandy, Hamad (Author) / Brandt, Beverly (Thesis advisor) / Mesch, Claudia (Committee member) / Newton, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
In the middle of the 20th century, juried annuals of Native American painting in art museums were unique opportunities because of their select focus on two-dimensional art as opposed to "craft" objects and their inclusion of artists from across the United States. Their first fifteen years were critical for patronage and widespread acceptance of modern easel painting. Held at the Philbrook Art Center in Tulsa (1946-1979), the Denver Art Museum (1951-1954), and the Museum of New Mexico Art Gallery in Santa Fe (1956-1965), they were significant not only for the accolades and prestige they garnered for award winners, but also for setting standards of quality and style at the time. During the early years of the annuals, the art was changing, some moving away from conventional forms derived from the early art training of the 1920s and 30s in the Southwest and Oklahoma, and incorporating modern themes and styles acquired through expanded opportunities for travel and education. The competitions reinforced and reflected a variety of attitudes about contemporary art which ranged from preserving the authenticity of the traditional style to encouraging experimentation. Ultimately becoming sites of conflict, the museums that hosted annuals contested the directions in which artists were working. Exhibition catalogs, archived documents, and newspaper and magazine articles about the annuals provide details on the exhibits and the changes that occurred over time. The museums' guidelines and motivations, and the statistics on the award winners reveal attitudes toward the art. The institutions' reactions in the face of controversy and their adjustments to the annuals' guidelines impart the compromises each made as they adapted to new trends that occurred in Native American painting over a fifteen year period. This thesis compares the approaches of three museums to their juried annuals and establishes the existence of a variety of attitudes on contemporary Native American painting from 1946-1960. Through this collection of institutional views, the competitions maintained a patronage base for traditional style painting while providing opportunities for experimentation, paving the way for the great variety and artistic progress of Native American painting today.
ContributorsPeters, Stephanie (Author) / Duncan, Kate (Thesis advisor) / Fahlman, Betsy (Thesis advisor) / Mesch, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
South Sudan claims the position of being the newest state in the world, formed by a referendum on separation from Sudan held in 2011. The referendum comes after a half a century of fighting, which led to the displacement of an estimated four million South Sudanese and the death of two million. The massive numbers of displaced people fled to Northern Sudan or surrounding countries, crossing borders and becoming refugees. A comparatively small number were repatriated into countries of second asylum, such as the United States. Arizona, a state with relatively cheap cost of living and a large amount of low-skilled jobs became a favored state for resettling refugees. In 2013, the South Sudanese population in the greater Phoenix area was estimated to be around 4,000. This paper is an exploration of the how South Sudanese refugee youth identify themselves, and find their place in a new country, and in Phoenix, without losing their roots. This paper concludes that South Sudanese refugee youth have a hyphenated identity. They identify as both proud South Sudanese and as American citizens. This identity is formed by strong ties to the South Sudanese community and education by parents on the one hand, and integration in American schools and norms on the other hand. Having a hyphenated identity also affects the work that these South Sudanese do and their relationships with South Sudan. This research also highlights the difficulties with theorizing immigration and identity, by placing discussions of integration and transnationalism in concert with the voices of actual immigrants. The findings in this paper are developed from 12 oral history interviews of South Sudanese in conjunction with existing scholarly literature on refugees, South Sudan, and identity.
ContributorsDooling, Carmel Inez (Author) / Holian, Anna (Thesis director) / Gallab, Abdullahi (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This project is a critical look at Chicano artist Vincent Valdez's 2002-2004 series Stations. The theoretical framework for this work is the concept of cultural citizenship, which refers to a variety of ways in which marginalized groups of people create, fight for, and retain space, identity, and rights within American society through acts of daily life. This research considers how the ten large-scale charcoal drawings that comprise Stations contribute to the construction and representation of distinct and unique Latino spaces and identities. Valdez establishes space in the sense of belonging and community engagement that his work allows. Within this context, thoughtful attention is paid to the cultural meaning of the artist's subject choices of boxing and religion. This research considers the significance of these subject choices and how the connections between the two create unique spaces of shared experience and consciousness for a viewer of the work. However, the parallels that Valdez draws between the Christ figure and his boxer also allow for a careful examination of the representations and contradictions of contemporary constructions of masculinity that are present in the series. Within this project, the work of Gloria Anzaldúa is critical in understanding and discussing the fluid nature of Chicano identity. This study also considers how in the tradition of Chicana writers, Valdez expresses and affirms identity through autobiographical methods. Further, the artist's use of charcoal to create these large scale drawings is considered for its narrative qualities. This study concludes that Valdez's series Stations is an act of cultural citizenship.
ContributorsStemm Patel, Shannon (Author) / Malagamba-Ansótegui, Amelia (Thesis advisor) / Mesch, Claudia (Committee member) / Sweeney, Gray (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
The Indian princess began as an imposition, a Eurocentric conception based in preconceived notions of cultural structures and gendered power roles - a mixture of noble woman and provocative demure maiden - created by Anglo men to epitomize an idyllic image of otherness and womanhood. This analysis begins by exploring the history of the icon that was first conceived through sixteenth century explorer's tales of exotic queens then traces her progression through the romantic idealizations of the Indian woman Pocahontas. Research then explores how the character, comprised of a mixture of feathers, beads, and buckskin, was implemented into performance, and discusses how her flesh and blood enactment became critical to her survival. Drawing on the theories of contemporary critics, final examination turns to twentieth century perceptions of the Princess and reactions to her by contemporary Native artists whose manipulations of the character opens alternative dialogs about the stereotype to offer reconstructions of her historic discourse.
ContributorsHanawalt, Tammi Jo (Author) / Duncan, Kate (Thesis advisor) / Fahlman, Betsy (Committee member) / Malagamba-Ansótegui, Amelia (Committee member) / Mesch, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This dissertation discusses the findings of an ethnographic exploratory study of Turkana nomadic pastoralist children's sociocultural practices of their everyday lifestyles and science curriculum and instruction in Kenyan early childhood curriculum. The study uses the findings from Turkana elders to challenge the dominant society in Kenya that draws from Western education ideology to unfairly criticize Turkana traditional nomadic cultural practices as resistant to modern education. Yet Turkana people have to rely on the cultural knowledge of their environment for survival. In addition, the community lives in abject poverty caused by the harsh desert environment which has contributed to parents' struggle to support their children's education. Cultural knowledge of Turkana people has received support in research demonstrating the role cultural lifestyles such as nomadic pastoralism play as important survival strategy that enable people to adapt to the harsh desert environment to ensure the survival of their livestock critical for their food security. The study documented ways in which the Kenya national education curriculum, reflecting Western assumptions about education, often alienates and marginalises nomadic children, in its failure to capture their cultural Indigenous knowledge epistemologies. The research investigated the relationships between Turkana children's sociocultural practices of pastoralist lifestyles and the national science curriculum taught in local preschools and first grade science classrooms in Kenya and the extent to which Turkana children's everyday life cultural practices inform science instruction in early childhood grades. Multiple ethnographic methods such as participant and naturalistic observation, focus group interviews, analysis of documents, archival materials, and cultural artifacts were used to explore classrooms instruction and Indigenous sociocultural practices of the Turkana nomads. The findings from the elders' narratives indicated that there was a general congruence in thematic content of science between Turkana Indigenous knowledge and the national science curriculum. However, Turkana children traditionally learned independently by observation and hands-on with continuous scaffolding from parents and peers. The study recommends a science curriculum that is compatible with the Indigenous knowledge epistemologies and instructional strategies that are sensitive to the worldview of nomadic children.
ContributorsNg'asike, John Teria (Author) / Swadener, Beth B. (Committee member) / Luft, Julie (Committee member) / Tobin, Joseph (Committee member) / Brayboy, Bryan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
I have conducted a creative that captures the power of women through an artistic perspective. The title of the creative project is “A Tribute to the Women Among us,” because this project’s purpose is to express gratitude for the women that fought for the rights I have today, and for the women I encounter in marches, continuing the fight. I have taken photographs of women and children at women's marches in the United States and in France, yielding a total of 10 photographs I will be presenting at my defense, and printing out to sell. All the profits made from the photographs will be donated to planned parenthood.
ContributorsMiss Ozuna, Alejandra Miss (Author) / Anand, Julia (Thesis director) / Mesch, Claudia (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05