Africana Studies Program

Permanent URI for this community

https://hdl.handle.net/1805/20222

Browse

Now showing 1 - 10 of 21

The politics of Cape Verdean American identity
(1997-01) Gibau, Gina Sanchez
In the United States, the idea of having a "choice" in the construction of identity is made problematic by the social constraints under which racial and ethnic minority groups live. One such constraint is the system of social classification that has historically polarized U.S. citizens and residents into aggregates of "Black" or "White," and more recently "White" and "non-White," through the hegemonic discourse of racial ascription. This discourse underlies the process of racialization whereby intragroup cultural differences are homogenized under the rubric of race. This phenomenon is most apparent in the contemporary ordering of Blacks, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans into culturally homogenized groups through the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Although the U.S. system of racial classification has become less static over time, the federal government continues to officially classify persons according to race and ethnicity. The following essay explores the impact of self-identification and outside ascription on Cape Verdean American identity formation, which can be interpreted as Diasporic and transnational in nature. Specifically, I am interested in the ways in which Cape Verdean Americans, especially those of second and third generation, construct themselves as members of both the Cape Verdean and African American communities of the United States. This construction of what I and others have called "Cape Verdeanness" is manifested in a range of experiences and practices that embody the historical memory, politics and everyday, lived experiences of this racial/ethnic group.
Cape Verdean diasporic identity formation
(2008) Gibau, Gina Sanchez
Diversifying biomedical training: A synergistic intervention
(2010) Gibau, Gina Sanchez; Foertsch, Julie; Blum, Janice; Brutkiewicz, Randy; Queener, Sherry; Roman, Ann; Rhodes, Simon; Sturek, Michael; Wilkes, David; Broxmeyer, Hal
For over three decades, the scientific community has expressed concern over the paucity of African American, Latino and Native American researchers in the biomedical training pipeline. Concern has been expressed regarding what is forecasted as a shortage of these underrepresented minority (URM) scientists given the demographic shifts occurring worldwide and particularly in the United States. Increased access to graduate education has made a positive contribution in addressing this disparity. This article describes the multiple pathway approaches that have been employed by a school of medicine at an urban Midwest research institution to increase the number of URM students enrolled in, and graduating from, doctoral programs within basic science departments, through the combination of R25 grants and other grant programs funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This article outlines the process of implementing a strong synergistic approach to the training of URM students through linkages between the NIH-funded "Bridges to the Doctorate (BRIDGES)" and "Initiative for Maximizing Graduate Student Diversity (IMGSD)" programs. The article documents the specific gains witnessed by this particular institution and identifies key components of the interventions that may prove useful for institutions seeking to increment the biomedical pipeline with scientists from diverse backgrounds.
Consuming Lines of Difference: The Politics of Wealth and Poverty along the Color Line
(2011) Mullins, Paul R.; Labode, Modupe; Jones, Lewis C.; Essex, Michael E.; Kruse, Alex M.; Muncy, G. Brandon
Commentators on African American life have often focused on poverty, evaded African American wealth, and ignored the ways genteel affluence and impoverishment were constructed along turn-of-the-century color lines. Documentary research and archaeology at the Madam CJ Walker home in Indianapolis, Indiana illuminates how the continuum of wealth and poverty was defined and negotiated by one of African America’s wealthiest early 20th century entrepreneurs. The project provides an opportunity to compare the ways in which wealth was defined and experienced along the color line in the early 20th century and how such notions of Black affluence shaped racialized definitions of poverty and materiality
STUDY OF AFIRCAN AMERICAN MALES IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE FACTORS THAT CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO POOR GRADUATING RATES
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Horne, Joshua; Henry, Ronda
With the steady decline of African American males in college and graduat-ing high school, the African American male is being under represented in high ranking roles and positions of power in our world today. Why are Afri-can American males not graduating high school and not eventually going to college? What factors are causing this lack of interest, dedication, or funds? There could be many different factors that could cause this to anyone, but why are African American males the ones who are largely affected? A leading factor I believe could be the lack of role models for African American males. If the only black men that are being seen by students are the rappers and “gangsters” on TV, then who will the kids look up to? I am going to find the-se factors that affect the African American male in higher education. Through my findings, I will be able to produce better ways and alternatives for the learning and teaching of the African American male. I will observe students in class, conduct surveys, and interview different students and teachers. Why can’t black males achieve greatness in our world without be-ing a rapper or song artist? I believe that black males should be able to see an educated, smart, polite African American male in their community every single day, which I believe will make a major difference in their lives. Edu-cating young black men needs to be done for our future to succeed.
RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN LIFESTYLE: EFFECTS ON INFANT MORTALITY
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Whitson, Tyra L.; Henry Anthony, Ronda
Compared to Japan, Spain, Canada, and other post-industrialized coun-tries, the United States has the highest infant mortality rate (IMR) reaching almost 7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. The rate for African-Americans is 13.63 while the rate for Caucasians is 5.76 and the gap continues to widen. The gap is even wider in Indiana, reaching 18.1 for African-Americans and 6.4 for Caucasians. A few determinants of infant mortality include maternal health, disorders related to short gestation, socioeconomic status, respirato-ry distress in newborns and inadequate prenatal care. High levels of stress also may pose some special risks for pregnant women. For example, stress may contribute to preterm labor by triggering the release of a hormone called corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). CRH, which is produced by the brain and the placenta, is closely tied to labor. This may cause premature birth and low birthweight, possibly resulting in death. Further research will be done to investigate if stress management differs among African-American women and Caucasian women and what affect the taboo of therapy among the African-American community has on managing stress related to preg-nant women. Research will also be conducted on the “Superwoman Syn-drome”. The purpose of this research is to provide information on how to de-crease the infant mortality rate of African-Americans in particular, and the United States IMR in general.
An analytical approach to human rights violations in Egypt from the start of the revolution to present day
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Bickel, Susana S.; Gelic, Matea; Curtis, Edward E., IV
There are so many current issues that are in violation of Human Rights around the world and the purpose of my research is to address the ones being violated specifically in Egypt from the beginning of the protests to what is currently taking place. Not only will we attempt to find out the numerous human violations in Egypt, but also try to explain why action was not taken and what should have been done instead. Egypt is one of the countries in the Middle-East that has had the most progression through the Arab Spring, but whether the outcome is good or not is still too early to tell. We hope to begin our research with the examination and better understanding of the country’s internal politics and its treatment of human rights throughout history. We plan to utilize a multitude of sources such as international law documents, domestic and foreign articles from the time period of the revolution, interviews with participants of the revolution and experts on Egypt, and multimedia sources including Facebook and Twitter. With this research, our goal is to achieve a better understanding of the human rights situation during the Egyptian revolution and its impact on the country’s progress.
THE MONUMENT CIRCLE PROJECT: CURATING DIGITAL HISTORY FOR COMMUNITY DISCOURSE
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Schmidt, Maggie; Labode, Modupe
Digitized museum and library collections have transformed the knowledge landscape. The Internet enables audiences to explore high-resolution images of primary documents from around the world with a click of a button. Yet in spite of increased accessibility, many online collections remain concealed by inadequate search terms and incon-sistent citation methods. Under the guidance of Modupe Labode, Assistant Professor of His-tory and Museum Studies at IUPUI, I curated Monument Circle Project, an online collection of primary documents, annotated research materi-als and an interpretive blog to frame E Pluribus Unum, a controversial public art proposal, within a historical context. In 2007, contemporary artist Fred Wilson proposed to re-appropriate a figure of a freed slave from the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Community outreach meetings revealed that broader perspectives of social and racial con-ventions from late nineteenth-century Indianapolis – the time in which the monument was constructed – were key to understanding the con-troversy surrounding the proposed artwork, yet were missing from public discourse. The art project was cancelled in December 2011. Using analyses of monuments by Austrian writer Robert Musil (1880-1942) and art historian Kirk Savage as an intellectual frame-work, I utilized Flickr.com, an image hosting and online community fo-rum, and WordPress.com, an open source blogging tool, to curate and interpret primary documents from archives across the country. I de-veloped standards to organize and manage these documents with the goal of increasing public visibility on life in Indianapolis during the turn of the twentieth century. Monument Circle Project demonstrates how digital history can add valuable and rich commentary to contemporary issues.
MULTCICULTURAL TEACHING PRACTICES: STUDENT PERSPECTIVES ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MULTICULTURAL TEACHING PRACTICES
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Taylor, Alexis; Redden, Janalee; Ashburn-Nardo, Leslie
As the world makes strides toward globalization, the demand for improved methods of multicultural teaching (MT) at the university level has dramatically increased. With growing diversity on campus, the demand for more multicultural teaching is at an all time high. Although the demands for MT practices are high, a recent survey at IUPUI revealed that many faculties continue to refrain from multicultural teaching due to a fear of backlash from both the students and other faculty members (Khaja, Springer, Bigatti, Gibau, Whiteland, & Grove, 2011). In an effort to evaluate IUPUI’s goal to incorporate more diversity, a survey on the university’s MT practices was distributed online to students that attend various schools on campus (N=4000, primarily juniors and seniors). The 466 respondents that took the survey were asked to respond to open-ended questions about their perception of multicultural teaching practices on campus. They were also provided with an opportunity to offer ideas on how the university could advance in the area of teaching diversity. The open-ended questions were quantified by creating coding categories which were pulled from common themes from the responses. Preliminary analyses suggest that the overall reactions to partaking in multicultural teaching practices are being viewed as being beneficial to student’s future endeavors. The analyses could alleviate some of the current concerns of the faculty and increase the percent of faculty that choose to participate in Multicultural Teaching.
HEALTH DISPARITIES: THE GENETIC CONTRIBUTION IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Ho-A-Lim, Kimberly T.; Henry-Anthony, Ronda C.
Since the completion of the Human Genome Project, it has been found that genes and their function play a role in 9 out of 10 of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Some of these causes such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes are significantly prevalent in the African American community. African Americans often experience the largest differences in health risks when compared to their White counterparts. This research project will examine how mutated genes and their function, contribute to health disparities in the African American community. The population for this research project will only include individuals of African ancestry born in the U.S. A brief survey will be conducted to inquire about participants’ knowledge of genetics and its influence on disease inheritance. The data collected will be interpreted as a representation of average African Americans’ knowledge of genetic influences on disease inheritance. Additionally, data will be obtained from facilities that offer genetic testing services. Specifically, I hope to obtain information on the racial populations who utilize these services, primarily, those with higher occurrences of genetic disorders. Coupled with the survey’s data, I will use the testing centers’ information to determine whether a correlation exists between the following variables: knowledge of genetics, use of genetic testing services and prevalence of inheritable diseases. I expect a strong correlation between afore mentioned variables. My hypothesis is that this correlation will prove undetected gene mutations when inherited, contribute to health disparities in the African American community.

Browse

Browsing Africana Studies Program by Issue Date

Results Per Page

Sort Options