Browsing by Author "DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee member"
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Item Open Access A mixed-methods investigation of the college-going experiences of first-generation college students(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Holliday, Chrissy, author; Anderson, Sharon K., advisor; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee member; McKelfresh, David, committee member; Kuk, Linda, committee memberCollege-going culture represents the development of college aspiration within individuals, and also the provision of guidance and support to prepare students for college application, enrollment, and success (Achinstein, Curry, & Ogawa, 2015; Corwin & Tierney, 2007). First- generation students are of particular research interest because they have lower college-going rates than their peers whose parents have degrees (Langenkamp & Shifrer, 2018), a reality that ultimately contributes to disparate educational outcomes with both individual and societal impacts (Serna & Woulfe, 2017; Trostel & Chase Smith, 2015). This mixed-methods case study provides greater insight into the college-going experiences of first-generation college students by answering the research question, "How did first-generation students attending an Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) experience the phenomenon of college-going culture in their high schools and communities?" The study also answered four secondary research questions: (a) "What similarities and differences exist among students graduating from high schools with different college-going cultures?"; (b) "What factors related to the theoretical frameworks selected for this study inform college-going culture for those students?"; (c) "How do those differences and informative factors converge and diverge by case profile?"; and (d) "What do the combined quantitative and qualitative data reveal about college-going culture that is not provided by one or the other alone?" Detailed analysis of survey and interview data provided insight into the student experiences and resulted in six assertions with practical implications for practitioners and future researchers.Item Open Access Disrupting systemic whiteness at a Hispanic serving institution(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Scott, Brandi L., author; Muñoz, Susana, advisor; Poon, Oiyan, committee member; Bell, Thomn, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberOver 65% of all Latinx students in higher education attend a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). HSI is a federal designation based on an institution having a minimum of 25% of the student population identifying as Hispanic. Despite the growing number of HSI designated institutions across the United States, these institutions have not always resulted in higher educational outcomes and success for Latinx students. Further exploring what contributes to an HSI's ability to support Latinx students is highly important to shifting cultural experience and outcomes for Latinx students. Specifically, this study explores how whiteness exists at HSIs and what role whiteness plays with institutional agents' ability to serve Latinx students. Critical whiteness studies, Garcia's (2017) Decolonizing Hispanic Serving Institutions organizational framework, and Ray's (2019) racialized organizations theory were used to inform this critical qualitative, exploratory case study conducted at a recently designated HSI four-year public university. Three themes were identified in this study a. "the rhetoric of all" is a tool of white supremacy, b. "taxation on the bodies" of People of Color, and c. whiteness through "good intentions." Recommendations for challenging whiteness are offered for HSI's, faculty, student affairs staff, and senior administrators.Item Open Access Examining the undergraduate student experience of transgender students at small, private, liberal arts institutions: a phenomenological analysis(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Newhouse, Ben J., author; Kuk, Linda, advisor; Carlson, Laurie, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee member; Miller, Lisa, committee memberAs the population of students who identify as transgender grows on college campuses, it is critical that higher education identify the ways in which institutions can more effectively serve the needs of this population, creating an environment that is supportive and inclusive. The literature demonstrates that campuses have fallen short of this goal. This study was designed to understand the lived experiences of seven transgender students who matriculated at small, private, liberal arts institutions in the south and southeast. By understanding their lived experiences, institutions that are truly committed to creating an environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive can understand common areas where institutions fall short and understand the ways in which participants experienced support and inclusion in meaningful ways during their time as undergraduates.Item Open Access Exploitation of power and the exclusion of other knowers(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Hannum, Dane Shade Brusuelas, author; Shockley, Ken, advisor; McShane, Katie, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberI argue that the relatively dominant political cultural and economic order of a given period produces, as a structural feature, relatively dominant epistemic frameworks that exclude certain methods of knowing. These methods of knowledge production are often represented by particular groups of knowers, and I argue that their exclusion is the result of the exploitation of an unjust power differential. The exclusion of particular forms of knowledge production and their representative groups is a problem with both epistemic and moral import. In my first chapter, I focus on presenting the claim that scientific inquiry and the production of knowledge is never neutral and is always embedded within a set of political and cultural conditions. I provide examples of cases in which the influence of relatively dominant groups on frameworks for knowledge has resulted in unjust exclusion of certain knowers, and modes of knowledge production. In my second chapter I focus on the connection between specific groups of knowers and specific methods of knowledge production. In particular, I focus on practice-based knowledge possessed by politically or culturally marginalized groups as forms of knowledge which have often been excluded from the dominant framework. I argue that when particular groups of knowers are excluded this is a problem with both epistemic and ethical import. In my third and final chapter, I identify the unjust exploitation of power differentials as the cause of both the epistemic and ethical issue of exclusion.Item Open Access Fat-positive worldmaking in the body positive movement: queering, decolonizing, intersecting(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Otis, Hailey Nicole, author; Dunn, Thomas R., advisor; Gibson, Katie, committee member; Marx, Nick, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberThis dissertation uses a queer rhetorical approach augmented by a critical/cultural sensibility and autoethnographic performance to examine how body positive activists, influencers, and public figures carve out moments for fat-positive (queer) worldmaking within the online body positive movement. In particular, this project explores how body positivity shifts contextually from a set of depoliticized philosophies around self-love and positive body image to moments of worldmaking via radical body politics. The primary goal of this project is to examine how the body positive movement carves out possibilities for positive representation, humanization, and liberation for fat and otherwise non-normative bodies. To pursue this goal, I engage three distinct case studies of fat-positive queer worldmaking within body positivity after situating this project as joining and contributing to broader scholarly conversations around embodied social movement rhetoric as well as disciplinary perspectives on queer worldmaking. The first case study explores how two body positive social media influencers, @Sassy_latte and Melissa Gibson, use Instagram posts and the digital radio show format to develop radical, fat activist body politics around the notion of "body justice." The second case study focuses on hip-hop artist Lizzo and her role in the changing nature of body positivity in the current moment, analyzing how her social media, lyrics, and music videos engage in fat-positive queer worldmaking that recenters fat, Black femme bodies. The final case study takes on the character of autoethnographic performance in which I center my own body, my own journey with body positivity and fat activism, as well as grapple with the relationship between my role as a critic and my role as part of the rhetoric I analyze. In and through these case studies, I ultimately argue that it is through particular kinds of rhetorical labor—namely decolonial, intersectional, and queer forms—that body positive rhetors make possible moments of fat-positive queer worldmaking.Item Open Access Honor, la honra y la Iglesia, El: el caso de la opresión de las mujeres castellanas de los siglos XII y XIII(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Alvarado Xospa, Courtney Milia, author; del Mar López-Cabrales, Maria, advisor; Purdy, Andrea, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberOne cannot underestimate the impact that the 12th and 13th centuries had on the Castilian women of that time, and those of the future. Already considered dangerous and as a source of wickedness, various changes and events during those same centuries subjugated them even more. Under patriarchal and ecclesiastic control, women were immobilized without the possibility of being liberated until many centuries after. Within the changes and events that supplemented this oppression, those that stand out are the consolidation of the canonical judicial texts, the strengthening of the Church's power, the conversion of marriage into a sacrament, and the peak of Marianism. As slaves within their gender roles and the chastity honor code, created and maintained by the Castilian Monarch and the Catholic Church, married women lived in a discouraging world. It's time to shed light on their case and the forces that oppressed them to reveal the processes that managed to dominate them.Item Open Access Nationalizing same-sex marriage: assessing the effect of Baehr v. Lewin on the Federal Defense of Marriage Act(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Perez, Melissa L., author; Daum, Courtenay, advisor; Velasco, Marcela, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberSince the Defense of Marriage Act, the issue of same-sex marriage has dominated the political discourse of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender politics. Scholars claim that the litigation in Hawaii that took place in the 1990s was responsible for the subsequent political activity surrounding same-sex marriage in the United States, including the Defense of Marriage Act, but none has empirically tested this claim. This paper seeks to understand whether or not the litigation in Hawaii prompted congressional action that resulted in the introduction of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and if so, why. By using Kingdon's multiple streams framework as a guiding tool, this research evaluated different political participants and factors to understand how the litigation in Baehr v. Lewin (74 Haw. 530; 852 P.2d 44; 1993) connects to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. This paper finds that the litigation in Hawaii is the catalyst that prompted the subsequent activity that resulted in the Defense of Marriage Act by energizing a well organized coalition opposed to same-sex marriage to expand the political debate and move the issue of same-sex marriage from the state courts in Hawaii to Congress.Item Open Access One man's trash, is another woman's treasure(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Hamilton, Samantha, author; Lajarin-Encina, Aitor, advisor; Osborne, Erika, committee member; Ryan, Ajean, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberKitsch and related aesthetic sensibilities have a history of being undervalued and deemed flashy, sentimental, and "low-class." Kitsch aesthetics inspire "cheap" emotions contrary to the sophistication and control associated with an educated audience. Rasquachismo supposes a working-class sensibility, highlighting the hierarchy of materials and that these materials exist within systems of power and value. My work explores these aesthetic sensibilities by acquiring imagery from inherited or low-value sources such as thrift shops and transforming the second-hand or discarded objects I find into new artistic objects that conceptually reflect the materials used. References to gender, labor, utility, and mass production are evoked in my work through the use of found objects as the ground for the painting of second-hand floral patterns.Item Restricted Opening of absent(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Vogler, Brad, author; Beachy-Quick, Dan, advisor; Cooperman, Matthew, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberCollection of poems.Item Restricted Relations(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Marquez-Uppman, Julia, author; Vara, Vauhini, advisor; Candelaria Fletcher, Harrison, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberThis memoir-in-essays explores questions of family, grief, and identity through various formal innovations. The first few essays examine identity formation through the concepts of place, lineage, inheritance, and home. In the latter half of the collection, the essays then shift to deeper questions of relationality, interdependence, and art (storytelling, music-making) as modes of constructing the self.Item Open Access Testimonios of leadership: experiences of queer Chicana/Latina administrators in higher education(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Rivera, Carmen, author; Muñoz, Susana, advisor; Sisneros, Kathy, committee member; Washington, Jamie, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberThe purpose of this study was to examine the leadership experiences of out, queer, Chicana/Latina higher education administrators. These professionals are not only underrepresented numerically, they are also often the only one—or one of few—in their departments or divisions. Grounded in critical race theory, LatCrit, and Chicana Feminist Epistemology, this study conceptualized the ways in which the participants navigated and negotiated their experiences of oppression. The methods of testimonio and pláticas were used to gather the data in a way that also included my own experiences and perspectives as the researcher in a reflexive process. The findings not only reflected the real consequences of oppression for these participants, but the dynamic ways in which they consistently addressed the isms and phobias they faced. Using Anzaldúa's (2015) Coyolxauhqui Imperative as a guide, the two main themes identified were: (1) unmaking: the sources of fragmentation and (2) making and remaking. The sources of fragmentation themes illuminate the many ways in which the participants' lives and experiences were fragmented by oppression and the subthemes included: the labor of oppression parkour and consequences for living and leading from a place of authenticity. The making and remaking themes refer to how similar to the the Coyolxauhqui Imperative, these participants addressed the fragmenting experiences through rebuilding and the subthemes included: thriving in nepantla and intentional healing for nos/otras. The testimonios of the participants offer insights to how to create new, more equitable realities in higher education and leadership via their transformative and iterative process of critical liberatory praxis.Item Open Access The lesbian artist as a child(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Rudlaff, Barbara, author; Osborne, Erika, advisor; Flippen, Paul, committee member; Koskoska, Mary-Ann, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberMy thesis project is an artistic response to my experiences growing up as a feminist lesbian in the United States, England and Belgium in the 1970's and 80's. My monochromatic, childhood self-portraits reference some of the challenges I faced from western, hetero-centric patriarchy and my paper discusses how my identity as "Other" compelled me to discover, then determine, my place in society as well as in art history.Item Open Access The lived experiences of cisgender openly gay Latino males as mid-level administrators in higher education in the southwest region of the United States(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Valdez, Robert A., author; Kuk, Linda, advisor; Lynham, Susan A., committee member; Aragon, Antonette, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberThe purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to explore the stories and experiences of openly gay Latino males who serve as mid-level administrators in higher education. This study focused on narrative stories of personal and historical context of the participants' intersecting identities that have implications for their daily interactions in an institutional environment. This study is significant in four ways. First, In the United States, gay Latinos have been subject to social oppression, invisibility, and misrepresentation throughout history. This lack of recognition and support stifles gay Latinos the ability to develop a sense of belonging. Narrative inquiry was used to increase awareness of the lived experiences of gay Latinos as administrators in higher education and gives them an opportunity to share their experiences. The key findings from the participants' narratives were the influences of family expectations, support systems, fear of discrimination or homophobia, and lack of representation in higher education. The struggles and achievements from these stories are valuable and can raise visibility for more inclusive leadership practices, mentorship, and equitable policies in higher education.Item Open Access The Paw Pout Deh: an autohistoria from the Burmese diaspora(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Telling, Thazin Su, author; Sagas, Ernesto, advisor; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee member; Didier, John, committee memberThis study seeks to make sense of my first-hand experience witnessing and experiencing the Burmese diaspora both from within and as an outsider. The title Tha Baw Pout Deh is a Burmese phrase that describes the process of reaching an understanding of a complex subject. It is a compound phrase made up of Tha Baw (mind set) and Pout Deh (explode), much like the English phrase 'to blow your mind'. My Tha Baw Pout Deh began with my experience living and working with Burmese refugees on the border between Burma and Thailand. Theories I was exposed to subsequently as a formal student of Ethnic Studies, both at the University of Colorado at Boulder and at Colorado State University, helped me comprehend fully my experience in the borderlands and my prior experience as a child of mixed race in a predominantly white and extremely affluent Boulder. It is from the collision of my border experience, my own up-bringing, and Ethnic Studies theories and accounts through which chapters of this thesis were produced. I use these chapters to illustrate the central message of my thesis, which is that a contribution of three factors was needed to reach my Tha Baw Pout Deh. These are an autobiographical experience, first-hand observation of the experience of others, and a theoretical framework learned from the Ethnic Studies literature.Item Open Access The role of perceptions on effective judicial access for the gay and lesbian and environmental social movements in Chile and Argentina(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) King, Mariah Dawn, author; Mumme, Stephen P., advisor; Hochstetler, Kathryn, committee member; Daum, Courtenay W., committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberThe frequent gap between de jure and de facto arrangements within South American judicial systems suggest that an institutional focus is not enough to understand effective access. This dissertation uses a constructivist approach to measure judicial access for the environmental and gay and lesbian social movements in Chile and Argentina through examining the effect of societal, individual justices' and social movement activists' perceptions on the social movements' level of de facto judicial access. I find that while individual justices' perceptions of the social movement seeking rights can certainly affect the outcomes of cases, it is the external cultural variable of societal perceptions that more directly influences activists' own perceptions about using the judicial system. Societal perceptions (public opinion) can affect activists' decisions when choosing which political avenues, if any, they should use to gain rights - hence expanding or contracting their level of de jure judicial access.Item Open Access Writing to act: developing activist writing curricula for LGBTQQIA community centers(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Becker, Stephanie L., author; Sloane, Sarah, advisor; Jacobi, Tobi, committee member; DeMirjyn, Maricela, committee memberRelying on the scholarship of Harriet Malinowitz, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and Jonathan Alexander, among others, this thesis develops a theoretical framework that can inform curriculum designed for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Ally (LGBTQQIA) activist writing groups. The framework synthesizes scholarly and activist writing on queer pedagogy and community literacy and explores how this scholarship realizes some of the goals of queer activism. After a discussion of the author's positionality and chosen terminology, the thesis uses close textual readings and these theoretical syntheses to develop a new theory and stance that will guide or shape a writing curriculum that can be adapted to the needs and goals of specific LGBTQQIA writing groups. The thesis also includes interviews with two local activists, whose perspectives demonstrate the complicated and rhetorically situated nature of activist methods. Ultimately, this thesis suggests some ways that queer pedagogy can be translated into new activist potential in community-based writing groups using a sample activist curriculum.