This study addresses common assumptions about women of the borderlands while embracing a transformative consciousness in understanding, making, and reclaiming the meaning of citizenship for Mexican American women from the Rio Grande Valley. This critical ethnography recognizes Chicana Feminist epistemologies as a form of knowledge. Therefore, this…

Today's modern landscape of leaders fails to accurately represent societal diversity. This inequity, as in all inequities, is not accidental, but instead the results of socially constructed norms that begin in childhood. In this dissertation, I question how internalized norms of white supremacy and patriarchy perpetuate racial and gender aligned…

In this convergent mixed methods research project, I address the question of why large numbers of college students take women's studies courses yet are reluctant to major in the field. Using availability bias and intersectionality as my theoretical framework I hypothesized that the reluctance to declare women and gender studies as a major stems…

Power relationships are a central premise in children's literature, especially traditional fairy tales and modern feminist fairy tales. This is seen in many fairy tales where the main female character is in some distress, her Prince Charming rescues her, and they live happily ever after. Modern feminist fairy tales are understood to be a forum…

Transgender college students face discrimination, harassment, and oppression on college and university campuses; consequently leading to limited academic and social success. Current literature is focused on describing the experiences of transgender students and the practical implications associated with attempting to meet their needs (Beemyn,…

African American women maintain distinctive social locations at the intersection of race, gender, and class (Crenshaw, 1991; Collins, 1986; 2000; Wing, 2003). However, their voices, interpretation of experiences, and concern with the use of formal education as a mechanism for racial uplift have not been priorities in feminist movements (hooks,…

This study explores how academically talented Black girls read, write and narrate their lived experiences while attending a predominantly white, selective admissions urban high school. Black girls in these types of settings often experience feelings of isolation and silencing, unjust treatment, and underrepresentation in the curriculum (Carter,…

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of African American mothers of children with an autism diagnosis as they negotiated an urban district special education system. Beginning with the question, "How do the dual oppressions of race and disability impact African American mothers of children with autism and their relationship…

This basic interpretive qualitative study used individual semi-structured interviews to explore and understand the experiences of seven self-identified Latina participants, who reside in Northeast Ohio and belong to a volunteer organization promoting professional Latinas. The study used Latina Critical Race theory and feminist perspectives to…

This project stands at the juncture of modern Chinese literature, post-socialist studies, cultural history of divorce, and critical studies about global middle-class cultures. Employing analytical tools mainly from literary studies, cultural studies and feminist theories, I examine stories, novels, films and TV dramas about divorce produced…