Sociology 2012 Senior Thesis Writers beyond the Tiger Mom: Differences in Academic Experiences between Chinese- American and White-american Students

DIGGING DEEPER: AN EXAMINATION OF THE FUNDAMENTAL ORIGINS OF HIVRELATED STIGMA AMONGST ZULU YOUTH My thesis is a qualitative analysis of the origins of HIV-related stigma amongst the Zulu youth population in Durban, South Africa. Using data collected through interviews and focus groups with Durban youth and health educators, I challenge Erving Goffman’s microsociological work on stigma, proposing that rather than describe how stigma is manifested on a small scale, we must look at the bigger picture to determine what the origins of stigma – HIV-related stigma, to be exact – are. HIV-related stigma amongst the Zulu youth population has become a major deterrent for HIV-testing, safe sex practices, and HIV status disclosure, and examining its root causes provides insight as to how to combat and reduce it. Considering the theoretical refinements on health-related stigma of Bruce Link and Jo Phelan and Mitchell Weiss and Jayashree Ramakrishna, I put forth a new framework for studying the origins of HIV-related stigma, arguing that structural and cultural specificities of particular locations and around particular diseases must be taken into account. In other words, the origins of HIV-related stigma are not universal but rather deeply embedded in the unique structures, belief systems, and relationships of power in a given society. I also acknowledge the mutually informative nature of structure and culture and incorporate a discussion of how they influence and shape one another to produce HIV-related stigma. In terms of the Zulu youth population in Durban, I have found that the national political structure, the structure of health education, and elements of the Zulu cultural script all lay at the root of HIV-related stigma. WHITNEY DONALDSON ADVISOR: MARY-JO DELVECCHIO GOOD ABSTRACT LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE: MIXED-RACE IDENTITY AND ACADEMIC EXPERIENCESLIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE: MIXED-RACE IDENTITY AND ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES The past ten years since the Census first allowed respondents to choose more than one race, the numbers of Americans identifying as more than one race has increased impressively. Yet, there is a large gap in sociological literature investigating the outcomes of this growing population. I investigate how variations in mixed-race identity among a sample of 15 Boston-area college students are associated with academic experiences. Using data gathered from in-depth, semi-structured interviews, I sort respondents into identity groups based on Rockquemore and Brunsma’s mixed-race identity typology to demonstrate how variations in identity and validation experiences are related to educational experiences ranging from relationships with institutional agents to intellectual pursuits. I uncover clear trends of variation in educational experiences associated with key dimensions of racial identity. VICTORIA ELYSE HARMAN ADVISOR: TIMOTHY NELSON ABSTRACT A POLITICS OF BLOOD: MARKING THE BOUNDARIES OF RACE, CLASS, GENDER AND NATION IN ONLINE WHITE SEPARATIST DISCOURSEA POLITICS OF BLOOD: MARKING THE BOUNDARIES OF RACE, CLASS, GENDER AND NATION IN ONLINE WHITE SEPARATIST DISCOURSE This thesis tests the limits of the theory that American whites across the political spectrum draw upon similar discourses when engaging in race-talk that can be collapsed into one overarching white racial frame. Utilizing the newly emergent method of virtual ethnography, I conduct qualitative analysis of white separatist discourse on the Opposing Views forum at Stormfront, an English-language white separatist web forum where white separatists and their opponents actively engage in boundary construction along lines of race, gender, and nation. I find that the unifying element in white separatist discourse is the idea of a white genocide, which coalesces anxieties surrounding the decline of white working-class men in the United States at work and at home, assigning them a racialized meaning that allows white separatists to make sense of them. Simultaneously, defending their race, their families, and their nation from a white genocide allows white separatists to reassert their claims to dominance as whites, as men, and as patriotic Americans, which gives their chaotic lives meaning and salvages their sense of dignity and pride in the wake of changing structural conditions. KERI HARTMAN ADVISOR: JENNIFER SILVA ABSTRACT A SPIRITUAL HOME AND A SPRINGBOARD FOR ACTION: SPACE, CONSENSUS, AND REPERTOIRES OF CONTENTION IN OCCUPY BOSTONA SPIRITUAL HOME AND A SPRINGBOARD FOR ACTION: SPACE, CONSENSUS, AND REPERTOIRES OF CONTENTION IN OCCUPY BOSTON Politicians, the media and the American public have grappled with the question of the Occupy Movement, its meaning and its importance since the movement’s inception in September 2011. I propose that a sociologically analysis of the movement’s two most important repertoires — occupation and consensus democracy — can shed some light on why the movement achieved some degree of success and why it has subsequently declined. I analyze interviews of 30 Occupy Boston participants about how and why they chose to engage with the movement. My results show that protesters believed that occupation was a successful tactic; it called media attention to dissatisfaction about inequality, it activated people who were not previously activated, and most importantly it created a public forum for voicing grievances. Since the loss of its public space in December 2011, the movement has had to make tactical changes, and now actions like marches and demonstrations have become more important. However, the consensus decision-making process that Occupy uses lends itself to inaction. Members of the movement who want to see action cope with this problem through innovation in their tactics, such as staging so-called “autonomous actions” that are not subject to the consensus process. I conclude that the study of repertoires can be a useful tool for understanding the development of social movements. EMILY JOAN HOGAN ADVISOR: GENIECE CRAWFORD ABSTRACT FIGURE SKATING IN HARLEM?: THE POTENTIAL AND VIABILITY OF SPORTSBASED YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN HARLEMFIGURE SKATING IN HARLEM?: THE POTENTIAL AND VIABILITY OF SPORTSBASED YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN HARLEM This thesis explores the impact of sports-based youth development programs on the youth and communities they serve. Many young people in underprivileged areas fall prey to the lure of crime and gangs, but given the opportunity, these youth can make positive decisions and overcome their socioeconomic status. Since the 1990s there has been a push toward positive youth development through program-based initiatives. Sports-based youth development programs (SBYDPs) use sports as a means for positive youth development. In this thesis, I look at the intersection of sports and education in these programsspecifically how these build upon each other—by examining data I collected through observation and in-depth interviews. This paper presents three case studies of different sports-based youth development programs in Harlem, NY. My work will contribute to the field of sports-based youth development programs in three ways: providing an exploratory and in-depth view of what sports-based youth development programs are and how they run, the benefits the programs deliver to the youth who participate, and the impact these programs have on the larger community. The findings in this study could have a large impact on the future of youth development, and change the focus of public funding for after-school programs. EMILY ANNE HUGHES