Department of Ethnic Studies

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/100421

These digital collections include honors theses, theses, and dissertations from the Department of Ethnic Studies.

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Open Access
A feminist epistemological critique of conservation projects in Africa
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Jones, Octavius, author; Souza, Caridad, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, committee member; Laituri, Melinda, committee member
This study seeks to elucidate the roles that Western conservationists play in conservation's relationship with Indigenous communities and local ecologies within African countries. Employing a qualitative analysis of conservationist research practices, the study seeks to examine Western community-based conservation research approaches that value collaboration with the participants of study in order to ascertain whether and how conservationists incorporate women into their research. For the purposes of this thesis, the inclusion of women refers to local and Indigenous women in the communities where community-based conservation projects and research occur. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were conducted with five CSU faculty who work on ecological research in Africa to tease out the epistemic foundations of Western conservation research practices. Findings show that the adoption of community-based approaches to research do not necessarily coincide with increased incorporation of women and their knowledges into conservationist research practices in the field. Women in local communities remain marginal to research practices that purport to promote equity with Indigenous people in the field based on collaborative methods. Findings also indicate that conservation research practices continue to marginalize women in local contexts in ways that make Western conservation efforts detrimental to global ecological protection and sustainability.
Open Access
Acritical examination of non-Native pracitce of Native American religion
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Goar, Allison Marie, author; Vernon, Irene S., advisor; Black, Ray, committee member; Vigil, Patricia, committee member
This qualitative study examines the experiences and perceptions of non-Native American people who practice Native American religion. Semi-structured interviews with ten participants, all of whom identify as Caucasian or White, reveal a series of strategies to avoid or dismiss critiques of cultural appropriation. These strategies include, but are not limited to: neoliberal values, the practice of spiritual materialism, denial of spiritual agency, and racial stereotyping.
Open Access
Anarchism and ecological epistemologies in transpacific speculative fiction
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Kim, Anthony, author; Ishiwata, Eric, advisor; Sorensen, Leif, committee member; Souza, Caridad, committee member
This thesis examines works of transnational speculative fiction from across the Pacific for anarchist themes and the influence of ecologically-based epistemologies. Texts examined in this thesis include films by South Korean director Bong Joon Ho and works by writers and other creatives of color based primarily in North America.
Open Access
Chicanismo, indigenous identity and lateral violence: a qualitative study of indigenous identified individuals in Colorado
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Young, David Byron Atekpatzin, author; Sagás, Ernesto, advisor; Vernon, Irene, committee member; Aoki, Eric, committee member
This thesis research project examines the reported narratives of those individuals that identify as Indigenous, and contrasts the experiences of tribally enrolled and federally recognized individuals against individuals who are not federally recognized to gain a more comprehensive understanding of Indigenous identity, the Chicano claim to indigeneity and the relationship between these two communities. Qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty-three individuals--adults that are tribally enrolled and federally recognized and adults that identify as Indigenous but are not federally recognized--to examine how gringismo impacts and informs lateral violence in the Indigenous communities of Colorado. The findings of this study provide new insights to understanding how colonialism has shaped Indigenous identity, informed lateral violence and hostility, and undermined pan-Indigenous unity through desplazamiento--dislocation and dissociation--and susto heredado.
Open Access
Colorado State incorporated: a critical university study
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Bird, Brice D., author; Breaux, Richard, advisor; Sagas, Ernesto, committee member; Straayer, John, committee member
This critical university study examines the neo-liberal agenda's influence on Colorado State University. This study challenges the policies and decisions made by Colorado's legislation that have brought forth the need for outside interest like private corporations to cover the state's financial short comings. This study seeks to scrutinize the actions that institutions of higher learning like Colorado State make in order to administer public, non-profit universities like a privatized for-profit business. Furthermore, this thesis looks at the privatization of services, commoditization of students, the dismantling of tenured faculty and how neo-liberalism and market forces affect Colorado State University's students, faculty, and state-classified employees.
Open Access
Crisis in whiteness: white workingmen's narratives and the American dream
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Morrison, Joseph J., author; Ishiwata, Eric, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, committee member; Souza, Caridad, committee member; Brinks, Ellen, committee member
This project examines the ways in which white working class men make sense of their own socioeconomic positioning in the contemporary U.S. economy. This is accomplished through the exploring of white workingmen's narratives of the American Dream, and how these narratives are informed by the race, class and gendered identities of the white working class men expressing them. Specifically, this project is a case study of five self-identified white working class men living in Upstate New York's Chemung, Onondaga, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties. Through this project's findings the researcher hopes to chart a new course for the field of Whiteness Studies into the twenty-first century.
Open Access
Drifting sands; shifting identities: reclaiming an identity through the looking glass
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Haghighi, Mehzad, author; Ishiwata, Eric, advisor; Daum, Courtenay, committee member; Souza, Caridad, committee member
The aim of this research is to introduce a different narrative, and thus the ways in which a new understanding of Middle East can emerge. Worldwide, corruption is endemic. In developing countries, the circulating capital surplus dividend subsequent to autonomy has not been widely shared. Services—protection, prosperity, health, and housing—are fundamental support pillars for the Social Contract between sovereign and citizen. Contrary to their anointed leader, populaces in developing countries are no longer willing to be complicit with sustaining Matured Democracies' nationalistic interests. This research, then, is a reasonable attempt to outline these multifaceted trends by disentangling history, economic, and politics of the region. The culturally specific logic to these localities, the forces of globalization, and the governmentality of the nation-state, has led to flawed ethnography of the Middle East as a delimited land and romanticized nomadism. In the Middle East, the Sykes Picot Agreement disrupted tribal composition, alliances, and politics in the region. The analysis will conclude with suggestions of how to avoid a verbal high-wire act, with fresh impetus on nationalism and patriotism encouraging identity as a continuum and not just a spectrum. Thus, we must begin by introducing different narratives, invert the scripts, alter the discourses, and directly engage and educate the Joe Six-Packs' of Matured Democracies.
Open Access
"Even machines get a rest": the commodification of the H-2A Indigenous sheepherder in Colorado's Western Slope
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Coenen, Shirley Man-Kin, author; Sagas, Ernesto, advisor; Souza, Caridad, committee member; Fernandez Gimenez, Maria, committee member
This project uses an exploratory, qualitative study to examine the ways in which the H-2A "guestworker" program in the United States is racialized and gendered as a temporary, state-controlled, foreign labor system. This project is accomplished through the exploration of testimonios of H-2A sheepherders in Colorado, and how these narratives are informed by race, class and the gendered identities of guestworkers. While there is significant descriptive work on labor and migration throughout U.S. history, there is a paucity of contemporary scholarship on guestworkers situated within a critical race and gendered lens. This work aims to bridge that gap by drawing from the conceptual frameworks within ethnic studies to integrate both race and gender. By analyzing patterns that emerge within the H-2A visa workers narratives, one can gain a perspective on the role of temporary guestworker programs in modern day transnational immigration practices. This leads to a basis for a theoretically grounded perspective on how race and gender influence modern guestworker labor practices.
Open Access
Fathering behind bars: testimonio and the Prison Industrial Complex
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Martinez, Ashley V., author; Bubar, Roe, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, advisor; Montoya, Fawn-Amber, committee member; Vigil, Patricia, committee member
Chicano boy and girls are twice more likely to go to prison than grow up with their fathers compared to their White counter parts. This is due to the Prison Industrial Complex, a term used to identify how government and industry work together to implement systems that oppress and marginalize "undesirable" citizens through surveillance, policing and confinement. The Prison Industrial Complex is a tool of power used to marginalize and displace Chicano men as fathers leaving over 2.3 percent of children of Latino descent to be raised with a father behind bars.' The research questions guiding this study are: 1) How does incarceration affect Chicano fathers and their relationships with their families/communities? 2) How does spirituality affect how Chicana/os experience incarceration and perceptions of fathering; and 3) How do Chicano fathers understand what experiences led to their incarceration? This research project utilized interviews in the form of testimonio and extensive document data in the form of personal correspondences to explore the experiences of incarceration for Chicano fathers. A non-probability (purposive) sample was used for the document data and the 4 semi-structured interviews of formerly incarcerated Chicano fathers. A basic qualitative design and approach was used to analyze the document data. The purpose of this project was to expose how the P.I.C. empowered by Governmentality works to displace Chicano men as fathers. To also facilitate a theory on fathering from "behind bars" and to validate the use of testimonio as methodology in this under-researched area. Finally, to challenge traditional means of parenting and to validate the different forms parenting from behind bars can emerge.
Open Access
Food systems among Native American peoples in Oakland, California: an examination of connection and health
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Vernon, Rachel Valerie, author; Cespedes, Karina, advisor; Souza, Caridad, committee member; Pickering, Kathleen, committee member
This thesis is a critical engagement with Indigenous communities and the reclamation of food sovereignty as a movement that heals Indigenous populations. The Indigenous food sovereignty movement stands in opposition to a history of colonialism and disenfranchisement that sought to deny Indigenous people of their autonomy by creating dependency on Western institutions. Reclamation of a food system stands to signify the healing of community through the honoring of relationships and interdependence. Contemporary scholarship and policy efforts addressing health disparities have focused the debate on Indigenous food and health around personal accountability, and personal choice in eating and exercising. Although these behaviors improve health for communities, and individuals, they do not account for systemic disparities forged out of a history of colonialism and current institutional racism. Moreover, this focus is deeply engrained in Western models of health, rather than promoting the power of communities to forge their own culturally appropriate solutions. These mainstream attempts by Western institutions are singular in nature, denying the complex interaction at multiple points of colonialism and racism. This thesis focuses on Indigenous food sovereignty, and in particular attempts at urban community production, to address the emancipatory act of reclaiming traditional knowledge and the right to feed oneself and one's community. Food sovereignty is an ideological, cultural, and political act that can transform Indigenous communities that are "dying to survive" and transform them into thriving communities. This Indigenous food justice movement honors native peoples as visionary survivors of catastrophe. Using Indigenous methodology and photovoice I provide an analysis of one urban community in Oakland California where participants have been engaged in reclaiming their food system since 2010. This project allows us to understand how empowerment (of self and community) as well as relationships are strengthened because of such projects.
Open Access
From raw-barbarian to Miss Beauty Queen: indigeneity, identity and the perception of beauty in Taiwan
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Lin, Hsiao-Ching, author; Kim, Joon K., advisor; Doe, Sue, committee member; Swensen, Thomas Michael, committee member
Using an auto-ethnographical method and sharing my own experience growing up in Taipei, Taiwan, this thesis discusses the association between Taiwanese indigeneity and the perception of beauty in contemporary Taiwan. For the purpose of this study, this thesis references the theory of beauty and indigenous studies to explore the affectability regarding the colonial history of Taiwan, body images, international influence, the eliminatory elements of colonial structures, and the modern pastiche of Taiwanese aesthetic. Furthermore, this thesis analyzes Chinese-settler colonial influence in Taiwan by discussing the media's impact and the artistic innovations in the biggest city, Taipei. Two major conclusions are drawn: first, Taiwanese indigeneity, infused in contemporary art, counteracts the forces of Chinese orthodoxy, international influence, and Taiwanese modern aesthetic. Second, Taiwanese indigenous characteristics often contain pastiche of Taiwanese aesthetics, a fixed beauty standard, which consists of various elements such as Chinese elegance/nostalgia, modern comfort/convenience, and the indigenous acceptance/sublimation.
Open Access
Historical trauma: the impact of colonial racism on contemporary relations between African Americans and Mexican immigrants
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Wright, Noah M., author; Ishiwata, Eric, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, committee member; Breaux, Richard, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee member
The purpose of this project is to examine tensions in present day United States between African Americans and Mexican immigrants. Hyper-violent incidents of interracial gang violence between these two communities are presented by mainstream media as signifiers of the existence of the tension. Latinos, as a whole, and African Americans, whether in gangs or civilians, are often portrayed to be in competition due to three conventional explanations. While scholars and media sources have validity in pointing out the significance of socioeconomic competition, struggles for political power and the problems that the language barrier create, these explanations are not complete. El sistema de castas or the caste system, a racial hierarchy created by the Spaniards in Latin America during their colonial efforts, established how people of African descent, both free and slave, were treated in New Spain. The caste system's continued influence can be seen with the denial of African heritage and the marginalized position of Afro-Mexicans in present day Mexico. Furthermore, these prejudices remain intact when Mexican immigrants enter the U.S. It is understood that Mexico's national identity is mestizaje, a racially mixed nation; however, racism existed and is also present today in Mexico. By combining a historical perspective with the three primary reasons, mentioned above, it is hoped that the complete picture will help resolve tensions. This thesis argues that colonization, influenced heavily by a racial hierarchy, has caused Mexican immigrants to carry with them prejudices towards African Americans that were learned in Mexico, showing that the issue is deeper than competition over resources in present times. In response to an influx of Latino immigrants, African American responses show parallels with historical nativist responses to immigrants. By combining the impacts of historical racism with conventional explanations for the existence of the tension it is hoped an understanding may develop that will help reduce conflict.
Open Access
HIV/AIDSneeds and concerns of immigrant Latinas in San Miguel County: an exploratory study
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Gonzales Garcia, Karla Giovanna, author; Vernon, Irene, advisor; Souza, Caridad, committee member; Griffin, Cindy, committee member
Working on creating paths to end gender, class and racial health inequalities in the U.S, this qualitative study explores the perspectives of immigrant Latinas on knowledge, cultural understandings, and access and barriers to HIV/AIDS services in San Miguel County, CO. Following a community based participatory research process through the use of intersectional lenses and transnational multiracial feminism, this research process seeks to further augment the literature on prevention intervention on HIV/AIDS, as well as to contribute to the construction of policies and recommendations based on their lived experiences. Grounded theory was used for data analysis to maintain women’s voices as the center of the research, where theory was constructed continuously based in their lived experiences and realities. Within this study, the interlocking relationship found between neoliberalism, transnationalism, U.S health care system and legal status, and the major themes such as, barriers to health care, HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination, Machismo, Latina sexuality, and knowledge of community resources, provides the context in which the epidemic of HIV/AIDS operates among immigrant Latinas.
Open Access
"I feel, therefore I can be free": Black women and Chicana queer narratives as differential consciousness and foundational theory
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Middleton, Kianna Marie, author; Cespedes, Karina, advisor; DeMirjyn, Maricela, advisor; Breaux, Richard, committee member; Thompson, Deborah, committee member
This thesis is a literary analysis of queer Black women and Chicanas within the fictional and semi-autobiographical texts of "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" (2003) by ZZ Packer, What Night Brings (2003) by Carla Trujillo, "Spice" (1997) by Mattie Richardson, "La Ofrenda" (1991) by Cherríe Moraga, "Mamita te extraño" (1991) by Karen T. Delgadillo, and Corregidora (1975) by Gayl Jones. This is an assessment of dislocation, of trauma within relationships both matrilineal and otherwise, and how status as outsiders affects and heightens senses which moves queer women of color in these narratives into deeper levels of consciousness and allows for them resistance and freedom that is independent from binaries and is differential and disidentified in composition. I build this work upon the varying ways in which violence and erasure occur towards Black and Chicana lesbians in literature. This includes physical violence, sexual violence, emotional violence and also literary violence and invisibility. Through revealing the sources of pain and abjection within narratives I discuss how these queer women gain empowerment and freedom by maintaining differential and creative consciousness as they navigate the world. And finally, I offer the practice of reading and writing narratives through lived experience as a basis on which new queer women of color theories can be imagined.
Open Access
International development in two rural Kenyan villages: a transnational feminist approach
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Marweg, Abby Christina, author; Bubar, Roe, advisor; Souza, Caridad, committee member; Bruyere, Brett, committee member
This qualitative study explores the perspectives and stories of the women who live in the villages of Umoja and Unity in the northern Samburu region of Kenya and the impacts of Western driven international development projects in their communities. Through semi-structured interviews conducted in the villages of Umoja and Unity this thesis outlines the complexities of international development organizations and their relationship to the women, their access to resources, and the economic structures affecting their lives. This study augments transnational feminist theory with that of international development and economy to argue that the current system of development is inadequate. This study will show that this insufficiency in development initiatives is due to a failure by the Global North, global feminists, and development organizations to address the structural intersectionality that affects the women in Umoja and Unity and their lives.
Open Access
Islamicodes: the post 9/11 racialization of counter-terrorism
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Kamandy, Jamal, author; Kim, Joon, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, committee member; Hempel, Lynn, committee member
After 9/11, a conceptual conflation between Islam and terrorism occurred within American culture and public spheres, forming a new epistemology, Islamicodes. In order to understand how Islamicodes have influenced U.S. Counter-terrorism efforts, this thesis analyzes American culture and the judicial system through discourse, semiotics, and power/knowledge. This article will argue that the conceptual conflation of Islam and terrorism, through the usage of language, symbols, and institutional practices, severely limits the Constitutional rights and life chances of Muslims in America.
Open Access
"It's just a cross, don't shoot": white Supremacy and Christonormativity in a small midwestern town
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Eleanor, Kate, author; Souza, Caridad, advisor; Bubar, Roe, advisor; Daum, Courtenay, committee member
This paper, guided by poststructuralist and feminist theories, examines public discourse that emerged in response to a controversy over whether a large cross should be removed from public property in a highly visible location in Grand Haven, Michigan. Situating the controversy within the context of the election of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, this thesis seeks to answer the inquiry: How do the events and discourse surrounding the controversy over a cross on public property in a small, Midwestern city shed light on the Trump phenomenon? A qualitative study using document data was conducted, using grounded theory method to analyze 152 documents obtained from publically accessible sites on the internet. Three conceptual frameworks, Whiteness, Christian hegemony, and spatiality were utilized in evaluating the data. Findings reveal a community that sits at the intersection of White and Christian privileges. So interconnected are these privileges that they create a system of "codominance," in which they cannot be conceptually separated from one another, and together constitute the necessary criteria for full inclusion in the community. This qualitative study paints a compelling picture of the ways in which racial and religious privilege affect the underlying belief systems of many members of an overwhelmingly White, Christian community. Results provide valuable insight into the mindset of a Trump supporting community in the period immediately preceding the 2016 election.
Open Access
Like father, white son: exploring the intergenerational transfer of whiteness and white supremacy within a white working-class father-son relationship
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Adams, Brent R., author; Bubar, Roe, advisor; Ishiwata, Eric, committee member; Aoki, Eric, committee member
Through the lens of a white working-class son's personal experience, this project examines how a white working-class father participated in the construction of his son's identity as white and white supremacist as a practice of fathering in the United States. This is accomplished through the autoethnographic exploration of personal narrative written by the son on being taught whiteness and white supremacy by his father over the course of his growing-up. This qualitative project employs racial formation theory as an overarching lens to consider white working-class fathering as a racial project. Emergent themes from this research include A (white) Man's Home is his Castle; Teaching the White Desire to Dominate; and Privileging and insulating white male relationship. Through this project's findings, the researcher hopes to suggest new ways for intervening in the unconscious and usually private reproduction of whiteness and white supremacy for white working-class males in the U.S.
Open Access
Little blue
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Friar, Keiko, author
This work is an undergraduate student honors thesis project, "Little Blue," a children's first chapter book (aimed at ages 9-11 years old) offering affirmations of worthiness. Purpose is to reach and affirm the experiences of children and readers with marginalized identities, since matrices of oppression manifest in everyday messaging that they are less than, invalid or unworthy in some way. "Little Blue" acts as a tool to get the conversation started on mental and emotional health at a young age.
Open Access
Living in ambiguity: the mixed race experience at Colorado State University
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Olsen, Carl Izumi, author; Kim, Joon, advisor; Vernon, Irene, committee member; Ahuna-Hamill, Linda, committee member
This study analyzes the experiences of mixed race students at Colorado State University by using semi-structured interviews of nineteen students. The interviews reveal that multiracial students exhibit different forms of racialization as compared to monoracial students. Despite some commonalities, the study also demonstrates that multiracial students are not monolithic group. In an effort to highlight the uniqueness embedded in the diversity of multiracial students, the study analytically identifies three main clusters based on how they are perceived. These include: Non-White Mixed Race, In-Between Mixed Race, and White-Identified Mixed Race. The interviews also show that the three dominant themes mediate their multiracial identity: perception, self-identification and connection to culture. Finally, the participants in this study all point to the inability of the existing cultural centers in meeting their specific needs and call for the establishment of multiracial center that would provide resources for education, outreach and retention issues for multiracial students.