Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
Browse
6 results
Search Results
Item Colonial Mentality and the Intersectional Experiences of LGBTQ+ Filipina/x/o Americans(2024) Pease, M Valle; Mohr, Jonathan; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)LGBTQ+ Filipina/x/o Americans have unique experiences due to being at the intersection of racial and sexual/gender marginalization in the United States as well as a complex history of colonialism. The internalization of colonial messages, or colonial mentality, has been linked to mental health in Filipino communities (David et al., 2022). Colonial ideologies include stigmatizing beliefs against gender and sexual diversity and thus have a particular significance for the oppression of LGBTQ+ people. However, no quantitative studies have examined colonial mentality or, more broadly, intersectional experiences in LGBTQ+ Filipino Americans. In a cross-sectional sample of 160 LGBTQ+ Filipino Americans (Mean Age = 26.4), the effect of intersectional discrimination on psychological distress mediated by colonial mentality and identity conflicts was examined, as well as the potential moderating effect of resistance and empowerment against oppression. Analyses found a significant serial mediation such that intersectional discrimination was positively associated with colonial mentality, which was positively associated with conflicts in allegiances, which in turn was positively associated with psychological distress (β = .01, 95% CI: [.0004, .03]). Resistance and empowerment significantly moderated the association between intersectional discrimination and both conflicts in allegiances and psychological distress, such that the impact of discrimination was non-significant for people at high levels of resistance and empowerment. This research has implications for understanding how different histories of oppression impact multiply marginalized groups, which can inform clinical work and efforts to advance decolonization and liberation for marginalized communities.Item Perspectives on Power Structures in U.S.-Funded Foreign Aid(2024) Bloom, Heidi Nicole; Lin, Jing; Ginsburg, Mark; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research explores U.S.-funded foreign aid policies and practices from the perspectives of foreign aid professionals, focusing on their views regarding the impact of neocolonialism, obstacles in decolonizing the sector, and power dynamics within crucial aspects of foreign aid practices. Historically, U.S.-funded foreign aid has prioritized national interests, reflected colonial dynamics, and perpetuated neocolonial legacies. Using a decolonial lens as its conceptual framework, the study examines the discursive construction of meanings and relationships within the foreign aid sector. Through a mixed-methods approach involving 91 survey responses, 15 interviews, and post-interview questionnaires conducted one year later, the research gathers diverse perspectives across various foreign aid sectors. The findings underscore neocolonial practices, stressing the importance of local consultation in program design and highlighting challenges in funding allocation and political imperatives. While positive shifts prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement suggest progress toward power redistribution and diversity initiatives, skepticism remains about their depth. The study concludes with a systems approach, advocating for interventions at individual, organizational, and governmental levels to disrupt neocolonial practices, promote anti-racism, empower local counterparts, and reform policies. This comprehensive approach aims to enhance equity and effectiveness in the foreign aid ecosystem through self-reflection and critical analysis from the perspectives of foreign aid professionals.Item SEARCHING FOR REFLECTIONS: THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF FILIPINO AMERICAN TEACHERS(2019) Castillo, Eleonor Grace; Hultgren, Francine H.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This hermeneutic phenomenological study explores the lived experience of Filipino American teachers in U.S. public schools. Grounded upon the tradition of hermeneutic phenomenology, the study is guided by philosophical works, including those of Heidegger, Gadamer, Merleau-Ponty, Arendt and Casey. Furthermore, I draw from Philippine and Filipino American scholarship, such as the writing of Enriquez, de Guia and David. In conducting this research, I follow van Manen’s methodological structure of six activities: turning to the phenomenon; investigating experience as we live it; reflecting on essential themes; writing and rewriting hermeneutically; maintaining a strong and oriented pedagogical relation; and balancing the research context by considering parts and whole. The eight Filipino American teachers in this study have served as elementary, middle and high school teachers. Through one-on-one conversations, a collective group dialogue and in their reflective writing, their lived experiences of being racially and culturally misunderstood and the loss of native language emerged as essential themes. These revelations reflect the existentials of lived body and lived relation within the lifeworlds of Filipino American teachers. In addition, the role of place, namely that of the distinct and limited presence of Filipino American teachers in U.S. classrooms and on school campuses, unveils the aspect of lived space upon their existence. The insights from this study can serve to inform teacher education programs, school districts and the Filipino American community. Recommendations call for incorporating the unique lived experiences of Filipino American teachers within curriculum and conversations regarding diversity, inclusion and teacher identity within colleges of education. In addition, the study asks for school district leaders and school site administrators to engage mindfully with and harken to the culturally silent voices of Filipino American teachers. Yet the call to listen deeply to Filipino American teachers is also directed towards the Filipino American community, as choosing to be a Filipino American teacher is an existence that is not readily embraced within Filipino American families and the community. Therefore, the study recommends that the dialogue on what it means to be a Filipino American teacher continues, with the aim of further moving forward our understanding of their lifeworlds.Item The Sword and the Pen: Life Writings by Militant-Authors of the Việt Minh and Front de Libération Nationale (FLN)(2016) Hoang, Phuong; Orlando, Valerie K; French Language and Literature; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines four life writings by militant-authors of the Việt Minh and Front de la Libération Nationale (FLN): Ngô Văn Chiêu’s Journal d’un combattant Viet-Minh (1955), Đặng Văn Việt’s De la RC 4 à la N 4: la campagne des frontières (2000), Si Azzedine’s On nous appelait fellaghas (1976), and Saadi Yacef’s two-volume La Bataille d’Alger (2002). In describing the Vietnamese and Algerian Revolutions through the perspectives of combatants who participated in their respective countries’ national liberation struggles, the texts reveal that four key factors motivated the militants and led them to believe that independence was historically inevitable: (1) a philosophical, political, and ideological framework, (2) the support of multiple segments of the local population, (3) the effective use of guerrilla and psychological warfare, and (4) military, moral, and political assistance provided by international allies. By fighting for the independence of their countries and documenting their revolutionary experiences, the four militant-authors leave their mark on the world using both the sword and the pen.Item A Sequential Mixed Methods Approach to Identifying and Understanding Indigenous Ways of Evaluating Physical Activity Programs(2015) Roberts, Erica Blue; Green, Kerry M; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Physical activity has been identified as a strategy for addressing the disproportionate prevalence of diabetes and obesity among American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN). Despite the importance of evaluation to improve programs, there is a lack of evaluation among AI/AN physical activity programs. While the absence of evaluation broadly in Indian Country has been attributed to the disconnect between Western and Indigenous ways of knowing and the negative history of research among AI/ANs, barriers to and experiences with evaluation have not been explored in the context of physical activity. To address this gap, this dissertation used an exploratory sequential mixed methods design to explore AI/AN physical activity program evaluation. In-depth interviews were conducted with staff at AI/AN organizations conducting externally funded AI/AN physical activity programs (n=17), transcripts were thematically analyzed, and the findings were used to create and pilot test a survey designed to assess the prevalence of the qualitative findings among the target population. Through the interviews, the following themes emerged regarding barriers to evaluation: (1) measuring desired physical activity related constructs in ways that are scientifically and culturally sound is a challenge; (2) a lack of resources and support prevents AI/AN organizations from evaluating their physical activity programs; (3) collecting evaluation data is challenging due to the unique culture and experiences of AI/ANs and the context of physical activity programs; and (4) the lack of alignment between the evaluation requirements set by the external funding source and the evaluation desired by the AI/AN organization and community being served creates a barrier to meaningful evaluation. The following themes emerged explaining the perception of and interest in Indigenous evaluation: (1) Indigenous approaches to evaluating AI/AN physical activity programs are perceived as narrative and holistic; (2) Indigenous knowledge is used in AI/AN physical activity program decision-making but sometimes is not acknowledged as evaluation; and (3) there is not a universally desired way to evaluate AI/AN physical activity programs. Findings from this study contribute to the knowledge base of physical activity program evaluation in the context of AI/AN programming, and informs the practice of culturally responsive evaluation with AI/AN communities.Item Reading Between the Lines of Rights: A Critical Analysis of International and National Discourses (De)marginalizing Indigenous and Minority Rights to Higher Education(2015) Sattarzadeh, Sahar D.; Stromquist, Nelly; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In UNESCO’s World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century: Vision & Action it is emphasized that access to higher education for disadvantaged groups “must be actively facilitated, since these groups as collectivities and as individuals may have both experience and talent that can be of great value for the development of societies and nations.” Underrepresented groups across the globe, including minorities and indigenous peoples, traditionally endure the most unequal, inequitable, low quality educational opportunities. Discourses regarding this reality at the tertiary level is often overlooked and nearly non-existent, however. This dissertation, therefore, guided by an interdisciplinary theoretical framework relevant to higher education, international human rights law, and decolonial theory, highlights the cases of three specific minority and/or indigenous populations— Afro-Brazilians in Brazil, Bahá'ís in Iran, and Mäori in New Zealand. This study is guided by two questions: 1) How are indigenous peoples and minorities’ rights to higher education accounted for in international instruments and national laws and policies?; and 2) How do international and national-level discourses compare regarding equal and equitable access to quality higher education for these underrepresented groups? To answer these questions, a mutually-reinforcing critical discourse analysis and interpretive policy analysis approach was applied to study texts specific to minority groups and indigenous peoples’ access to “equal” and “equitable” higher education that meets “quality” standards. The language and culture of legislative and policy measures at the national level (Brazil, Iran, and New Zealand) are compared to international human rights instruments (“binding” and “non-binding”) adopted by entities within the United Nations System. State and international texts selected are specifically relevant to minority groups, indigenous peoples, and the right to education and higher education. Interestingly, there are some parallels between national and international regulations and policies, and in other instances, there are clear-cut contradictions, and much has to do with evident weaknesses and/or strengths across comparisons. The sociocultural, historical, economic, and political contexts of the three countries are also reflected in the language and content of their legislative measures and policies as well as in the states’ attitudes towards standards of education and identities and recognition of underrepresented groups in international law.