Master of Fine Arts, Miami University, 2022, English

Focused on alternate universes where you can get your car taxidermied, where you can be reincarnated as your neighbor's golden retriever, and where you have conversations with loved ones you've meant to all your life (but couldn't), In This Universe is a collection of branching what-ifs and cosmic could've-beens, a multiverse-jumping selection of short speculative personal essays, lyrical essays, and braided essays that challenges genre conventions and questions the idea of whether a single universe even exists that can accommodate multiple ways of being. Though it deals with many different subject matters, there is always the presence of an alternate universes working as a sort of metaphor for future-thinking and alternate ways of being. Written with the intention of providing a space for folks who don't see themselves as valid in this world, or who can't imagine possibilities for themselves in this world, In This Universe looks to reimagine embodiment and to reshape spaces and ways of being, so that we might discover for ourselves far grander, perhaps far stranger, and mostly hidden possible realities.

Committee: Daisy Hernández (Committee Chair); TaraShea Nesbit (Committee Member); Jody Bates (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Sociology

Remittances, the money that immigrants send back to recipients in their country of origin, are one of the most prominent types of transnational economic ties and provide many migrants with continued interaction with family and friends who remain in their origin countries. These transactions may prove to be beneficial or detrimental to migrant mental and physical health. Using the New Immigrant Survey (NIS), I assess whether remittance-sending has countervailing associations with migrant mental and physical health. I hypothesize that remittance-sending puts migrants at a physical health disadvantage by depleting already lower incomes. I also hypothesize that remitting migrants experience a mental health bonus through fulfillment of family roles. Overall, I find that remittances are associated with a physical health disadvantage and only provide a mental health bonus under certain circumstances. I also find that the composition of migrants who select into remitting is consequential for health outcomes. And for both physical and mental health, the type of remittance transfer (to extended or nuclear family) and the magnitude of the transfer conditions the overall health impact, particularly for mental health. My findings underscore the complexity of transnational ties, in terms of who selects into transnational economic behavior (i.e. remittance sending), the type of behavior (magnitude and type of remittance transfer), and the health consequences, both physical and mental, of that behavior.

Committee: Reanne Frank Dr. (Advisor); Kristi Williams Dr. (Committee Member); Cynthia Colen Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Demographics; Demography; Families and Family Life; Finance; Health; Health Care; Hispanic Americans; Individual and Family Studies; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Public Health; Social Research; Social Structure; Sociology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2024, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

Immigrant Latina survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) suffer disproportionately negative consequences from IPV and are less likely to seek formal help compared with non-Latinas. Despite these challenges, some sources of resilience for immigrant Latinas are close family ties and expectations of familial support. Family social support may also be one way of facilitating healing or posttraumatic growth (PTG) following an abusive relationship. Existing research into family support for Latina IPV survivors suggests, however, that not all families are supportive of IPV victims and may discourage formal help-seeking. In addition, there is limited research into PTG in IPV survivors in general and even less that includes Latina survivors in meaningful numbers, thus limiting knowledge of how familial support may impact PTG in this particularly vulnerable population. The current study sought to understand how adult family members of immigrant Latina IPV survivors influence survivors' well-being, ability to leave the relationship and/or seek formal help, and their healing or growth post-relationship. Eight immigrant Latina survivors of IPV, ages 31 to 50, participated in individual, semi-structured interviews in Spanish about familial impacts on their well-being, relationship trajectories, help-seeking, and healing. All participants reported severe physical and psychological IPV; three participants additionally reported sexual IPV. Participants chose an adult family member who was aware of the abuse in their relationship while the relationship was ongoing to focus on. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, anonymized, and translated into English in a two-step process. Data were analyzed using reflexive, inductive thematic analysis. Participants reported extensive effects of the abuse on their well-being, describing both physical and psychological injuries. Most sought help from at least one formal source, though this help-seeking was largely self-initiated (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarah Whitton Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Farrah Jacquez Ph.D. (Committee Member); Anjali Dutt Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2024, American Culture Studies

This thesis examines the portrayal of mother-child disconnection and family separation among undocumented African immigrant women in the United States, as depicted in the films Anchor Baby (2010) and Nanny (2022). Through an analysis of these films, the study highlights the socioeconomic challenges faced by these women within the U.S. sociocultural landscape. It investigates how the films depict family separation and mother-child disconnection in relation to the broader issues of socioeconomic hardship, cultural displacement, and housing instability. Additionally, the research explores how African cosmology interprets the immigrant experiences of the female characters in these films. The purpose of this analysis is to contribute to the discourse on the experiences of (un)documented African immigrant women in the United States, promoting further studies in this area. The study focuses specifically on the representations in Anchor Baby and Nanny, rather than attempting to generalize across all African communities. The thesis is structured into three chapters: the first outlines the motivation for the study, the ongoing migration of Africans to the United States, and provides a literature review and an overview of intersectionality as a critical framework. The second chapter offers a detailed analysis of the films, exploring themes of mother-child disconnection, family separation, dreams, survival, disillusionment, fear, uncertainty, hostility, and racism. The final chapter reflects on the key themes addressed in the study.

Committee: Timothy Messer-Kruse PhD (Committee Chair); Alberto Gonzalez PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Literature; African Studies; American Studies

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, Sociology

The significant influx of immigrants into the United States over the past several decades has transformed higher education. This growth is largely driven by immigrant parents who push their children towards this pathway, captured by such narratives as the “immigrant drive” and “immigrant bargain,” as well as parent-child interdependency most common among young adults with two immigrant parents, which can become a tension-creating process. Beyond intergenerational expectations, siblings may also be meaningful for educational mobility. Specifically, and in this thesis, I analyze whether intrageneration dynamics benefit younger siblings through, for instance, the sharing of knowledge about college, or undercut educational aspirations and attainment owing to resource dilution within families. My discussion draws upon prior work on immigrants, kinship ties, and brokering, and my analyses use data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS). Results provide more support for the resource dilution perspective. Specifically, the overall number of siblings and just having an older sibling negatively impact both aspirations during high school and eventual college going and completion. Such effects diminish somewhat once SES and family context are accounted for in the modeling. I conclude by discussing my most central findings and calling for richer data collection on immigrant populations—data collection that is more exhaustive in capturing key aspects of family, including sibling interaction, as well as educational experiences and vulnerabilities.

Committee: Vincent Roscigno (Committee Co-Chair); Rin Reczek (Committee Member); Reanne Frank (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Sociology

Historically and in the present, immigration looms large in the American consciousness. Today, we find ourselves in a challenging moment, struggling with political polarization alongside key questions about the causes and consequences of immigration. In this contemporary context, I explore the views that Americans hold about immigration, which may in turn impact immigrant integration. I then explore how first, second, and third-generation immigrants experience national and transnational social ties with attention to their health impacts. Broadly speaking, my dissertation seeks to understand how proximity to the immigrant experience is an important marker of group change. Since a large number of Americans are immigrants or have parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents who are or were immigrants, understanding variability in the ideas or stereotypes that Americans hold with respect to contemporary immigration is crucial to understanding how today's immigrants will be incorporated into the fabric of American life. To that end, I collect and analyze original survey data through the American Population Panel (APP) to first examine variability by generation in how Americans view immigrants in today's climate (Chapter Two). I find that generation is an important predictor of views towards immigration, but generation matters less for how individuals perceive diversity. Next, I use the commentary associated with my original APP survey to understand the thought processes and ideas that respondents invoke when presenting their views of immigration (Chapter Three). I find that oftentimes respondents cannot separate immigration from illegality, with politics, nationalism, and mistrust combining to create archetypes that respondents superimpose on immigrants broadly. Last, I conduct interviews with first, second, and third-generation immigrants in order to characterize the social ties that immigrants hold, how these ties inform their experiences in both the U.S. and in t (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Reanne Frank (Committee Chair); Tasleem Padamsee (Committee Member); Townsand Price-Spratlen (Committee Member); Cindy Colen (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Applied Mathematics; Asian American Studies; Asian Studies; Behavioral Sciences; Behaviorial Sciences; Demographics; Demography; Health; Hispanic American Studies; Hispanic Americans; Mental Health; Political Science; Public Health; Public Policy; Social Research; Social Structure; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, EDU Teaching and Learning

This study examines teachers' pedagogical practices that sought to affirm students' cultural and learning experiences. The work of cultural affirmation seeks to value students' involvement in education and home knowledge. During the time of crisis (i.e., the COVID-19 outbreak), low-income immigrant students and their parents did not have access to equitable schooling and faced severe economic and health challenges. Drawing upon Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy(CSP)and Critical Race Theory (CRT) as theoretical frameworks, this study sheds light on the importance of practicing cultural affirmation through ePedagogy (i.e., the implementation of affirming students' cultural and learning experiences during the time of crisis that captures emergency, electronic, equity, empathy) and examines teachers' rationale for engaging culture in teaching. Crisis Methodology was employed to understand the teachers' pedagogical practices.The participants included seven teachers with diverse cultural backgrounds who taught immigrant youth in an after-school program in the Midwestern U.S. area. During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers taught their students virtually to help them with their homework and meaningful lessons that sought to engage students in learning. The research utilized grounded theory and included online interviews, online FGD(Focus Group Discussion), and online observations. In addition, field notes, online journals, and classroom documentations were collected to obtain comprehensive data. The findings demonstrate that ePedagogy offers an advanced form of teaching and creative methods teachers employed in virtual settings. The study also explores teachers' agencies and commitment to support students that enable them to practice transformative approaches to teaching. Additionally, the study addresses how teachers recognize the isolating effects of online learning on mental health. Valuing cultural affirmation as a pedagogical practice, a recommendation to create online pr (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Binaya Subedi (Advisor); Adrian Rodgers (Committee Member); Michiko Hikida (Committee Member); Melinda Rhodes (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Multicultural Education

Doctor of Education, Miami University, 2019, Educational Leadership

In 2012, Ohio's Governor, John Kasich, signed into legislation Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee. The law required that schools use the state reading test performance of third graders as a gatekeeper to promotion to 4th grade. For the last five years, thousands of 3rd grade students across the state have repeated their third grade year because of their performance on the state reading test. While research on retention at various levels and various contexts has been conducted in abundance, Ohio has yet to study their own mandate and reflect on the impact of the law. The parents in one large suburban Southwestern, Ohio school district, who had children retained due to the state mandate for 3rd grade retention in 2018, were contacted to share their experience. Those who chose to participate were all non-English-speaking immigrant parents. Their stories about their children's retention help to create a narrative and fill part of the gap in research regarding Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee. Four prevalent themes emerged from their stories: helplessness, shame, concern for social stigma of their child, and hope. The results of this study also bring attention to the children of immigrants and their experience in American schools. Mitigating the negative feelings associated with the law falls on the shoulders of schools and communities. Using and improving prevailing family engagement frameworks to be inclusive of the needs of families that do not speak English as their first/primary language might allow future research to focus on positive themes associated with immigrant schooling. This study revealed that social-emotional support for families and students experiencing mandated retention can be incorporated through expansion of Epstein's (1995, 2004) Family Engagement Process to include cultural awareness both by schools and families. Schools must acknowledge that the expectancy-value parents communicate to their children and that schools communicate (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lucian Szlizewski (Advisor); Joel Malin (Committee Chair); Sherrill Sellers (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Elementary Education; English As A Second Language; Families and Family Life; School Administration

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2017, Educational Leadership

Educational researchers are beginning to investigate the lived experiences of African immigrants in the United States. Very few studies documenting the experiences of West African immigrant women are available. Thus, existing literature on West African immigrants is not representative of all immigrants from this part of Africa. By exploring Togolese immigrant women's migration and educational experiences in the United States, this study expands that literature. Using narrative inquiry methodology and feminist theories of gender identity and intersectionality, I explore the experiences of five Togolese immigrant women who recently pursued post-secondary education in colleges and universities in the United States. The study highlights the strategies Togolese immigrant women create and employ to navigate the patriarchal terrain in U.S. society as African women, as well as the educational system as Black women. This project offers insight to educators interested in improving the educational experiences for diverse students in their colleges and universities. The findings of this study offer guidance to African female immigrants and specifically Togolese female immigrants on how to navigate gender expectations about education and family in the United States. Given that Togolese immigrant women are not well represented in immigration literature, this study gives voice and visibility to an underexplored population.

Committee: Lisa Weems (Advisor); Denise Taliaferro Baszile (Committee Member); Thomas Poetter (Committee Member); Gwendolyn Etter-Lewis (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2017, Marriage and Family Counseling/Therapy

The purpose of this research study was to explore if family functioning as perceived by immigrant adolescents (N = 1849), moderates the relationship between felt discrimination and well-being outcomes, through the lens of Structural Family Therapy (SFT). The baseline wave data from Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study was used to conduct the study. Exploratory research questions were analyzed prior to analyzing the moderating role of family functioning: a t-test to analyze the difference in well-being based on discrimination status; a cluster analysis to ascertain family functioning in terms of boundary categories; a t-test to explore the difference in well-being based on boundary category membership. The moderating effect of the perception of family boundaries, was determined with a regression analysis. The SFT family functioning concept was operationalized in order to quantify it. Analysis for exploratory research questions produced significant results. It was found that immigrant adolescents who reported discrimination also reported lower quality well-being, than those who did not report feeling discriminated. Two clusters of family functioning were detected, suggesting two categories of clear and unclear family boundaries. Further, it was found that participants who reported unclear family boundary also reported higher depression scores, than participants in the clear boundary cluster. Lastly, a moderating effect was found between discrimination and well-being outcomes.

Committee: Karen Jordan Ph.D. (Advisor); Wondimu Ahmed Ph.D. (Committee Member); David Tefteller Ph.D. (Committee Member); Heather Katafiasz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Boyle Rebecca Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychotherapy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services

The biggest educational attainment gap between any two groups is seen between English Language Learners (ELL) and non-ELL students. Of ELL students, the largest majority by far are immigrant students. Because school counselors are in a unique position that enables them to provide essential services to promote immigrant students' well-being, development, and success, it is important to explore school counselors' experiences and perceptions of their work. The purpose of this Phenomenological qualitative research study was to explore: (a) school counselors' perceptions of their competencies and what resources they utilize to develop their competencies in working with immigrant students and families, (b) school counselors' beliefs and attitudes toward being a social justice advocate and how these beliefs and attitudes affect their support and services to immigrants, and (c) school counselors' perceptions of their impact on linguistically diverse families' language policies (FLP) and their perceptions of how FLP influences student outcomes. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews from 13 school counselors who work at schools that have five percent or greater of immigrant students in the state of Ohio, in the United States of America. Seven major themes emerged from the data: (1) They feel competent in addressing immigrants' needs and challenges; however, their personal identities and experience impact their self-perceived competence level, (2) they believe that their training did not include counseling immigrants and was not sufficient for working effectively with immigrants, (3) they learn best about how to provide counseling services by willingly and intentionally leaving their comfort zones in order to seek out diverse experiences, (4) they need more professional development, language assistance, and collaboration with key stakeholders to improve their work, (5) The more they learn about immigrant students and families, they develop greater awareness of (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Colette Dollarhide (Committee Chair); James Moore (Committee Member); Sarah Gallo (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Education

PHD, Kent State University, 2014, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

The purpose of this study was to understand and to describe how Chinese families’ home literacy practices support their children’s bilingualism as well as maintain their heritage language in U.S. mainstream society. This qualitative research took the form of a multiple case study in which five purposefully selected Chinese families’ home literacy practices were investigated in one Midwest community in the US. The study sheds light on the Chinese families’ sociocultural literacy practices and strategies they adopted to interact socially with their children to promote the achievement of biliteracy (Chinese–English listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Data collection and data analysis were based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. The results of the study show that Chinese parents who live in the US play important roles in the maintenance of their children’s heritage language (Mandarin Chinese) and in their learning of the English language. Several major findings revealed that first, parenting styles among Chinese immigrant parents explain their strategies. Second, parents have unique perspectives on the value of Mandarin Chinese or English or both. Third, Chinese families living in the US practice home-based involvement to promote children’s learning in school. Fourth, parents’ languages experiences impact efforts to enhance children’s acquisition of biliteracy. Fifth, social environment has more impact on the development of children’s biliteracy than physical environment. Sixth, diverse strategies implemented in informal and formal literacy practices are useful in predicting children’s oral ability in Mandarin. Seventh, dynamic relationship between beliefs and practices shapes the different roles parents play in Mandarin Chinese and English informal and formal literacy practices. The findings of this study provide suggestions and strategies for other families wh (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Martha Lash (Advisor); Kenneth Cushner (Committee Member); Vilma Seeberg (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Early Childhood Education; Literacy

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2005, Sociology/Population Studies

Although the U.S. student population has grown increasingly diverse both in terms of ethnicity and immigrant generational status since the late 1980s, schools have become more racially and ethnically segregated. Data also reveal that Latinos, the nation's largest minority, have become increasingly segregated over the last 30 years, with their segregation levels surpassing those of blacks. In this dissertation, I investigate the effects of school racial composition on Latino adolescents' academic achievement. The primary reason for focusing on Latinos adolescents is that they consistently account for the highest high school dropout rate among the nation's major ethnic groups. Previous research suggests that academic achievement is a function of both individual and family level characteristics. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data I examine the interplay of school racial and socioeconomic composition, school social capital, family social capital, ethnic origin, and immigrant generational status on measures of school success, such as school grades and standardized test scores, while controlling for individual (e.g., sex, age) and family (e.g., family structure, SES) factors. The longitudinal Add Health data possess a hierarchical structure such that the individual-level factors are viewed as nested within the school-level factors. Hierarchical linear modeling is used as an appropriate statistical procedure for examining these nested data. I found that school racial composition has little, if any, effect on Latino students' academic achievement, but school socioeconomic composition does. Importantly, family social capital is likely to mitigate harmful influences of attending a low-SES school. I also found school social capital, as measured by peer network homogeneity and density, to be positively associated with Latino achievement. More than any other Latinos, Cuban-American adolescents were shown to have higher achievement in sch (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jennifer Van Hook (Advisor) Subjects: Sociology, Demography