Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2009, History

This thesis will tell the story of the Syrian-Lebanese immigrants and their children who lived in Toledo from 1881 until the 1960s. Through oral interviews, local newspaper articles, church and mosque records, and historical works on immigration and ethnicity in the United States, this thesis will chronicle their immigration to Toledo, their experiences with Americanization, and their endeavor to maintain their ethnic identity through community building and home-making efforts, as they made the United States their permanent home. This analysis will be accomplished by examining eleven steps that the Syrian-Lebanese people took to make the United States their permanent home. These steps were either assimilative, influenced by an external force, or a home making and community building effort, caused internally by the community to recreate a Syrian village-like atmosphere to make their stay in America pleasant. In eight decades, the community grew from a small Christian colony, to a large, well-respected, religiously diverse community. They successfully established families, business, and religious and cultural associations to preserve their ethnic identity, while actively participating in Americanization efforts that ensured their economic and social success. While this work only encompasses a brief period of the community's existence, it is a start, which must be expanded upon by future scholars.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2007, Graduate School

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Applied Geospatial Science

Food is essential to human survival. Therefore, one of the first things immigrants look for when they move to a new city or country is the availability of their native food. For instance, Nigerians in the diaspora appreciate seeing their native cuisines in their new foreign home cities or countries. This study is, therefore, specifically focused on the successes, challenges, and limitations of Nigerian immigrant restaurants in the US. This study utilized primary data from open-ended oral interviews and online surveys as well as secondary data from the US Census, Google, and ESRI Business Analyst. After finding that Houston has the highest metropolitan concentrations of Nigerian immigrants and restaurants in the US, the study proceeded to use Houston as a case study for in-depth exploration of the state of these restaurants. It found that Nigerians in Houston run a variety of restaurant businesses as a source of extra income that supplements income from their professional jobs. It also found that the major challenges facing Nigerian restaurants in Houston, if not the US, are lack of finances for operations and expansion and the high cost of Nigerian food ingredients in the US. Moreover, the growth of Nigerian restaurants in the US is limited because Nigerian food is still a niche product in the US.

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English

The dissertation focuses on neglected aspects of the history of immigration in the United States during the turn of the twentieth century. Reviving the writings of Edward Steiner, the dissertation also explores the representations of immigration in his fictional works, The Mediator: A Tale of the Old World and the New (1907) and The Broken Wall Stories of the Mingling Folk (1911) as well as his nonfiction book, On the Trail of the Immigrant (1906). In these works, Steiner interweaves his immigration experiences with those of his fellow immigrants. His first novel, The Mediator, shows that both the hybridity of religion and the combined role of ghettoization and other community structures in their hometown and New York's Lower East Side shaped the experiences of Eastern European Jewish immigrants. Relatedly, Steiner's short story collection, The Broken Wall, challenges assumptions about the turn-of-the-century immigrants' reactions to assimilation. Exploring what Steiner termed as “mingling,” the second chapter of this dissertation demonstrates that he envisioned the incorporation of immigrants into mainstream America as an individual, selective process tailored to the immigrants' choices and needs to adapt to their new home country. Examining On the Trail of the Immigrant, the third chapter contextualizes Steiner's critiques of and experiences with the immigration journey. This chapter reflects on Steiner's criticisms of the steamship lines' handling of the third-class travelers (commonly referred to as steerage), the admission process at Ellis Island, and his counterattacks on the Immigration Restriction League. This chapter also shows that Steiner's views of the turn of twentieth-century immigration lodged East European immigrants' experiences in the heart of America's race saga.

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Criminal Justice

This dissertation seeks to understand how national origin and legal migration status of noncitizen defendants in federal criminal courts shape incarceration and sentence length decisions. Using the annual United States Sentencing Commission Monitoring of Federal Criminal Sentences datasets (2011–2016), this study examines the impact of defendant's (1) national origin, (2) legal versus illegal migration status, (3) gender, and (4) race/ethnicity on incarceration and sentence length decisions in federal criminal courts. For its theoretical basis, I use Focal Concerns theory and Racial/group threat arguments. Findings indicate that, for the incarceration decision, noncitizen defendants have higher odds of incarceration than U.S. citizens, net of other factors. However, these effects are less consistent in the sentence length decision. These relationships systemically differ across national origin and legal migration status. In regards to gender, the noncitizen disadvantage in incarceration appears to exist for both men and women, however, the prison sentence length analysis shows no consistent effect for both male and female defendants. Lastly, in regards to race/ethnicity, when the defendant's race/ethnicity aligns with the most prominent race/ethnicity from their country of origin (e.g., Hispanics from Latin American countries and Mexico; Black defendants from African countries), defendants have particularly high odds of incarceration. However, outside of this pattern, there did not appear to be other consistent race/ethnicity effects. In conclusion, punishment disadvantages based on one's citizenship are particularly pronounced for defendants from Mexico, Latin America, and Africa and especially for those with “illegal” migration status. As noncitizen populations continue to grow in federal courts and in the United States more broadly, understanding and addressing these citizenship disparities in punishment will be increasingly important.

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2022, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

Latin American countries tended to access mental health treatment at lower rates than their non-immigrant counterparts. There appeared to be limited to no studies that focused on male Mexican immigrants. Most studies focused on mental health treatment engagement and barriers that fell under the proxy variable of the Latino culture. This could aid in researchers failing to understand specific Mexican-cultural aspects in their research. Therefore, this qualitative descriptive study aimed to describe the experiences of male Mexican immigrants who had immigrated to the United States and explore barriers to treatment engagement they encountered to experiencing depression. Being guided by cultural identity theory, this study collected data from six participants via semi-structured interviews, where male Mexican immigrants described their perceptions and experiences on treatment engagement and any identified barriers when experiencing depression. Four themes emerged from the dataset that included: (a) Mexican culture shapes experiences of depression, (b) depression is experienced as restrictive to daily life, (c) culture is a significant barrier to treatment engagement, and (d) family and faith assist in overcoming treatment barriers toward engagement. The results of this study highlight the importance of clinicians to examine cultural aspects of depression in their Mexican patients. Clinicians need to understand the role that family and faith play in depression and how culture can shape treatment engagement and the success of managing symptoms. This can assist them in building appropriate treatment plans that align with their culture versus that of mainstream society. Additionally, language alone is not the only alignment many treatment providers can offer. Aligning practices with the culture strengthens treatment plans by concentrating on the client's combined lifestyle, culture, and experiences. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura/antioch (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Applied Geospatial Science

This study describes the spatial distribution of Nigerian immigrants in the Toledo Metropolitan Area and their socioeconomic characteristics including income, education attainment, housing, and occupation. Moreover, the study examines the socioeconomic contributions of Nigerian immigrants to the region, USA, and Nigeria. Using US Census and survey data, the study finds that Nigerians in the US have high Socioeconomic Status (SES) and are concentrated in specific cities, regions, and states of the US. The study also finds that Nigerians in the Toledo MSA have a clustered geographic distribution pattern, an impressive socioeconomic profile, and have contributed immensely to the socioeconomic life of the region, the US, and Nigeria. Data for this research were obtained from an online survey as well as from secondary sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau. The data were analyzed using various qualitative and quantitative techniques and were further analyzed and mapped using ESRI ArcMap 10.3.

Master of Arts in History, Youngstown State University, 2008, Department of Humanities

This thesis, relating the vicissitudes and experiences of Italian immigrant women in the Mahoning Valley, between 1880 and 1930, aims at giving them their rightful place in the history of Italian emigration. The three chapters that compose this project put light on three significant stages of the history of Italian immigrant women in this area: their arrivals, their entrances into the job world and, eventually, their adaptations into a completely new society. Throughout the chapters other important features of Italian immigration to the United States emerge. For example, the analysis of two different typologies of emigration, temporary and permanent migration, provides many other aspects that deeply shaped and affected the entire process of transplantation from Italy to the New World. On the bases of local important sources, such as the articles in the Italian language newspaper, Il Cittadino Italo-Americano, oral histories, letters and the census data, from 1880 to 1930, I have reconstructed the everyday life of Italian women in the microcosm of the Mahoning Valley. Although the thesis has a strong local focus, it continuously offers comparisons between the steeltown Youngstown and the big North American metropolises, such as New York and Chicago. These comparisons highlight not only how the United States affected Italians, especially women, but also how Italian women, belonging to the first as well as to the second generation of immigrants, molded the United States. The voices and the histories of women mentioned in the following chapters demonstrate that Italian women played a key-role in the project of emigration.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2009, ED Teaching and Learning (Columbus campus)

In this study, I look at the Turkish immigrant parents and their children at the intersection of schooling, culture, and identity. The study particularly emphasizes the ways Turkish children negotiate their cultural identity in schooling, Turkish parents' experiences with their children's schooling, and the ways Turkish parents and children negotiate their bilingual and bicultural identities. Sociocultural theories, specifically hybridity theory (Bhabha, 1994; Soja, 1996; Moje et al., 2004) and transnational studies (Basch, Glick Schiller, & Szanton Blanc, 2008) framed this study. The findings suggest that Turkish parents and children collaborate to create a third-space in home and community contexts where American, Turkish, and Muslim identities and Turkish and American cultural and educational practices co-exist. The creation of these third spaces moves the parents and children beyond the limitations of Turkish and American geographical, cultural and educational contexts.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2009, Rural Sociology

This dissertation builds from a longstanding sociological question: to what degree and in what manner do immigrants adapt to the new society of the United States. In particular, it examines Somali immigrants' ways of relating to both their original and the new mainstream American culture concerning gender roles and relationships. This study addresses three central questions: first, how do Somali immigrants negotiate their gender notions and practices between those maintained from the Somali culture and those adopted from the American mainstream culture; second, to what extent do immigrants' understandings of Islamic gender texts shape the negotiation process- and in turn, how does the integration process shape their understanding of Islamic gender discourse; and third to what extent do resultant gender perceptions and practices reflect transnational/heterolocal integration and reconciliation between cultures.This study broadens the model of heterolocalism by focusing on Islam and gender to understand the integration behavior of Somali immigrants. It also participates to the gender and immigration literature by focusing on the household and by shedding light on how gender functions in Muslim cultures. Results of this study contribute to Islamic studies by describing how ijtihad can facilitate Muslim immigrants' incorporation into dominantly non-Muslim societies in the West. Results of this study are useful in designing integration programs for Muslim and Somali immigrants, whose numbers are increasing in the United States. Heterolocalism is the theoretical foundation this study is built on. In response to the shortcomings of both the classical assimilation and the pluralism models in explaining the behavior of new immigrants, heterolocalism, established by Wilbur Zelinsky and Barrett Lee (1998), explains the relationship between spatial dispersion of new immigrants and the social cross-border networks that help preserve ethnic and religious identities without residen (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2004, East Asian Languages and Literatures

The present study uses quantitative methods to investigate the relationship among heritage language maintenance, acculturation level and ethnic identity of 1.5 generation Chinese and Korean immigrants who belong to same pan-ethnic group of Asian Americans. This study defines 1.5 generation Chinese and Korean immigrants as those who immigrated to the United States while they were attending elementary school in their homeland. A total of eighteen college students participated in this study. The participants are eight Chinese (five male and three female) students whose parents are native speakers of Mandarin and ten Korean college students (five male and five female). To measure their Chinese/Korean language maintenance, the linguistic task asks participants to give cooking instructions to their mother. The questionnaire assesses their level of acculturation and perception of Chinese/Korean identity. The results of this study show that Chinese and Korean 1.5 generation immigrants do not have correlations between heritage language maintenance and acculturation/Identity. There is a similarity between these both groups: their Language Use and Lifestyle have a correlation. There are no differences in the frequency of Chinese/Korean Language Use, the degree to which they like Chinese/Korean Lifestyle, and their perception of Chinese/Korean Identity. However, for Korean 1.5 generation immigrants, Lifestyle and Identity are correlated. Korean 1.5 generation immigrants show higher level of heritage language proficiency than Chinese 1.5 generation immigrants. These differences suggest that there is a possibility that Chinese and Korean 1.5 generation immigrants use a different process in developing their ethnic identity despite of their cultural similarities. One possible reason for the differences may be due to sub-ethnic identity of Chinese 1.5 generation immigrants. Another possible reason is that participants came from two different political, economic, and cultural unities (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2007, Telecommunications (Communication)

This dissertation describes an attempt to understand the complex process of how Indonesian Muslims in New York City negotiate their cultural identities. This dissertation gravitates around the concept of transnationalism, which perceives that contemporary immigrants form and maintain multi-stranded social and cultural transnational links to the societies of the country of origin, chiefly thanks to advancement of media, communication and transportation technologies. Applying the non-obvious multi-sited ethnography approach (Marcus, 1999), I explore the dynamic process of how the deterritorialized Indonesians strive to reterritorialize their culture in the new cultural context, such as manifested in the establishment of the Indonesian mosque with its various Islamic activities and the reenactment of Indonesian cultural practices. Subsequently I explain how various forms of media are produced, circulated, and consumed in the Indonesian Muslim community. The study concludes with several important points. First, media (ranging from the printed to electronic media to the Internet) have not played a central role, largely due to the small number of Indonesian Muslim community members. The negotiation of identity and transnational ties preservation take place in various forms of “smaller media,” such as personal videos and cassettes, photographs, the public gatherings of ethnic and religious associations. Second, instead of using Habermas' (1989) unitary and singular public sphere, it is more useful to describe the sphere created by media and other venues as, following Gittlin (1989), multiple and fragmented public sphericules, in which the transnationals find their voice, maintain connection with the homelands, and express the struggle against marginalization. Third, the strength of the centripetal force of Indonesian and ethnic identities lead to my questioning of the heuristic ability of the widely used notion of hybridity. Lastly, I conclude that despite the centrality o (open full item for complete abstract)

MA, Kent State University, 2007, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

In 2006, the United States was faced with new legislation regarding immigration, midterm elections, an increasingly unpopular war on terror, a “Day without an immigrant” protest and the election of a new Mexican president. These events paved the way for questioning how the increasing population of Mexican immigrants was portrayed in print media throughout that year. The author also posited that print media framed Mexican immigrants within the context of the war on terror. That is, the author was concerned with whether the newspapers surveyed framed Mexicans as threatening to the United States, specifically in regards to terrorism. This study is a qualitative frame analysis of how Mexican immigrants were portrayed in 2006 in three United States newspapers: The Columbus Dispatch, The Houston Chronicle, and The San Diego Union-Tribune, in a census of N=462 articles. Frames of Mexican immigrants discovered include: [threat to the] status quo, criminal, desperate, alien, pathetic and cash cow, as well as a small number of articles relating Mexican immigrants to potential terror threats. The thesis concludes with a discussion of limitation and suggestions for future research.

PHD, Kent State University, 2006, College of Education, Health, and Human Services / Department of Adult, Counseling, Health and Vocational Education

The purpose in conducting this research was to examine the acculturation of separated Macedonian immigrants in the United States, attitudes towards mental health services, and perceptions about seeking help. The participants in the study were 6 Macedonian male, immigrants between the ages of 45 and 65. The results of study demonstrated that these participants had preserved their culture, maintained a strong Macedonian ethnic identity, and felt a sense of accomplishment and success. The results suggested that the participants were reluctant to seek out mental health services from mental health professionals. They preferred to seek out help from God, family, close friends, or a medical doctor. The act of seeking help was perceived as monetary, physical, and short term. These results have implications for both counselor educators and counseling practitioners.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2007, Sociology/Population Studies

Whether new Asian immigrant groups assimilate into American divorce culture the longer they stay in the U.S. is not well studied, nor is it clear how marital dissolution patterns change across immigrant generations. My research goal is to examine current trends and patterns of marital dissolution among Chinese and assess whether Chinese in the U.S. have more stable marriages than Chinese in China. The specific analyses conducted are designed to test hypotheses based on the assimilation, selection and abruption effect frameworks (Singley and Landale 1998). Several datasets, including China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) and China 1990 Census, were used to examine the complexity of marriage and divorce in China. For Chinese immigrants in the US, the 1990 and 2000 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) were used. Overall, despite much speculation about rising divorce rates in China, the rates remain relatively low. In general, my findings show that Chinese immigrants, especially the newly-arrived female immigrants from China, are more likely to divorce/separate. This suggests that U.S. society has given women more leverage to choose their spouse and to be less tolerant of bad marriages. There was some evidence of an abruption effect among the less-educated Chinese male immigrants as they displayed even lower divorce rates compared to their male counterparts in China. Also, there is some weak evidence for the assimilation hypothesis among Chinese men over the generations, but not among Chinese women. Moreover, there is no evidence for the segmented assimilation hypothesis, as divorce rates among the highly educated Chinese are not similar to the upper middle class Americans, and divorce rates among the less-educated Chinese do not resemble the divorce patterns of working class Americans either. Furthermore, mixed marriages involving Asians are less stable than Asian endogamous marriages. For Chinese, (open full item for complete abstract)

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2025, Antioch Seattle: Counselor Education & Supervision

This study sought to understand the mental health of Korean-American elderly immigrants using the theoretical frameworks Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development and Interpersonal Psychotherapy Theory (IPT). To achieve this purpose, this study incorporated a qualitative thematic analysis and conducted in-depth interviews with 10 elderly Korean immigrants living in the United States. From these interviews, eight themes were identified: (a) multifaceted immigration experiences, (b) immigration challenges, (c) complex language barriers, (d) personality constructs impacting experience, (e) the importance of relationships, (f) limited information and access to support, (g) life satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and (h) advice for future immigrants. These themes indicate that the participants endured numerous challenges after immigrating and embarking on a new life in the United States and relied on mental positivity, relationships with family and friends, and support from a wide range of sources to survive and persevere, which is important for mental health counselors to understand. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2008, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1925, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2006, Graduate School

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2024, Antioch Seattle: Clinical Psychology

Mental health has been a topic that is slowly gaining more acknowledgement and awareness over time. However, despite the elevation in awareness, there are many cultures where mental health issues remain subject to stigma, which discourages an individual from seeking, or even acknowledging, mental health treatment and services. This study focuses upon varying perceptions of mental health by exploring in-depth the perception of mental health within the Punjabi community and how Punjabi culture affects such perceptions. Specifically, this research study examines how young adults who immigrated from Punjab, India to British Columbia (B.C.) perceive and respond to mental health concerns. This study uses a qualitative approach through the lens of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) that aims to provide a detailed examination of personal lived experience. Participants included five young adults who recently immigrated from Punjab to British Columbia within the past five years. Stigma and shame, relationships, international student status, and cultural awareness were the four superordinate themes generated from the interviews. All participants shared the importance of establishing a sense of community and having a support system that fostered feelings of understanding and acknowledgment. Participants also shared the criticality of working with a competent mental health professional who understands the specific experiences and struggles that immigrants face. Providing support, resources, and mandatory mental health information sessions as immigrants arrive to B.C. would be beneficial as they navigate through the complexities of the health care system. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).