Rachel Ida Buff, UW-Milwaukee
Kitrina Carlson, UW-Stout, and Rebecca Abler, UW-Manitowoc
Regan A.R. Gurung and Victoria Oxendine, UW-Green Bay
Amaud Johnson, UW-Madison
Stephen Kercher, UW-Oshkosh
Margo Kleinfeld, UW-Whitewater
David Krugler, UW-Platteville
Pao Lor, UW-Green Bay
Sandra Magaña, UW-Madison
Joshua Mersky and James Topitzes, UW-Milwaukee
Tanya Tiffany, UW-Milwaukee
Carmen Valdez, UW-Madison
William Vélez, UW-Milwaukee
Debora Wisneski and Raquel Oxford, UW-Milwaukee
Rachel Ida Buff, Comparative Ethnic Studies and Department of History, UW-Milwaukee - "States of the Unions: Intermarriage, Citizenship, and Hawaiian Statehood"
After WWII, Hawaii served as a disembarkation point for military families being transported home from Asia. Historically, Hawaii has been viewed as an actual and symbolic halfway point between Asia and America. This project looks at the question of Hawaiian statehood and how it connected to issues of race, marriage and immigration. Opponents of statehood characterized Hawaii as a dangerous cauldron of miscegenation, an incubator of dubious loyalties. Statehood advocates during the 1950s turned this discourse around to claim the territory as the site of model race relations and unmitigated Americanism that also held out the possibility of valuable links to Asia.
Kitrina Carlson, Department of Biology, UW-Stout, and Rebecca Abler, Department of Biological Sciences, UW-Manitowoc - "Evaluation of Medicinal Plant Use in the Hmong Population in Wisconsin"
This collaborative project between UW-Stout and UW-Manitowoc will identify plants used in the local Hmong community, screening these plants for potentially novel alkaloids, and screening these alkaloids for bioactivity. The need for this is multifaceted. Within the Hmong community, the art and science of cultivating and preparing plants for medicinal use are often not passed on to the younger generation due to the significant language barrier between Hmong elders and younger generations. The outcome of this work will include a database of medicinal plants and plant uses by the Wisconsin Hmong population and an assessment of the plants' medicinal potential.
Regan A.R. Gurung and Victoria Oxendine (student), Department of Human Development and Psychology, UW-Green Bay - "Exploring Ethnic Identity Development in Northeast Wisconsin: Links to Personality and Health"
This study presents a descriptive developmental approach to studying fluctuations in the formation of ethnic identity in different ethnic groups in Wisconsin. Specifically, it will focus on Latino, African American, First Nations peoples and severely understudied populations such as the Hmong. The study will use over 1,000 participants from the aforementioned diverse cultural groups and examine the trajectory of self-identification and its relationship with health, health behaviors, and well-being.
Amaud Johnson, Department of English, UW-Madison - "Darktown Follies: Poems"
Johnson's second collection of poetry, Darktown Follies, will examine the history of Black Vaudeville (1870-1920) and how humor exposes assumptions about race, gender, and sexuality. He will look at how blackface minstrelsy, first in theatrical production and later in film, created an anxiety around African-American identity that shaped cultural and political debates for the better part of the twentieth century. This multidisciplinary project will consider music, stage production, dance, comedy, race politics, and gender. The findings are intended to be a resource for artists, scholars, and activists.
Stephen Kercher, Department of History, UW-Oshkosh - " 'Do Your Thing': The 1968 'Black Thursday' Student Protests at Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh"
This project will reconstruct the struggle that African-American students waged against campus officials at Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh (WSU-O) in November 1968. To accomplish this, Kercher will pursue archival research at UW-Oshkosh and UW-Milwaukee, and, more importantly, engage in oral histories with several dozen former WSU-O students and faculty, as well as law enforcement personnel and other local citizens significantly connected to the "Black Thursday" demonstrations. This project will provide the first comprehensive account of one of the most significant episodes of racial conflict in the modern history of Northeast Wisconsin, and will challenge a wide readership to consider "Black Thursday's" historical significance and complicated legacy.
Margo Kleinfeld, Department of Geography and Geology, UW-Whitewater - "Who Are the Victims of Human Trafficking in Wisconsin? A Geographic Analysis"
This study seeks to identify the ethnic and racial characteristics of human trafficking victims in Wisconsin by developing and administering a survey for organizations who have or who are likely to encounter victims. The three areas that the survey addresses are: (i) the ethnic, racial and other demographic characteristics (e.g., gender and age) of populations currently served by organizations attempting to identify victims of human trafficking; (ii) the geography of those efforts (e.g., where organizations are targeting their efforts); and (iii) the extent to which organizations have encountered victims thus far. Analysis will include the production of a series of maps and associated reports.
David Krugler, Department of Social Sciences, UW-Platteville - "America, 1919: The War at Home"
This research revisits 1919, one of the most tumultuous years in U.S. history. The book will first explain how nativism and prevailing theories of race led the Justice and War Departments to identify Russian and European immigrants as radicals and secretly monitor them. Second, it will re-examine the attacks on African Americans in order to explain the connections between the reassertion on white supremacy and wartime anti-radicalism. Third, the book will explain how African Americans, who could not rely upon state power to protect them, mobilized to defend themselves from the attacks, helping to create the "New Negro" of the 1920s.
Pao Lor, Professional Program in Education, UW-Green Bay - "Life and Times of Hmong Principals: Exploring, Discovering and Examining the Journey, Challenges, Satisfactions and Visions"
Grant funds will support an ongoing qualitative study exploring, discovering and examining the journey, challenges, satisfactions and vision of current Hmong school principals in the United States. The framework of the research will be guided by three main research questions: (i) What key life experiences led them to choose a career as a principal?; (ii) What are the challenges and satisfactions of being a Hmong school principal?; and (iii) What is their vision for current and future Hmong principals?
Sandra Magaña, School of Social Work, UW-Madison - "Latino Families of Children on the Autism Spectrum"
This study focuses on understanding the experience of Latino family members who have a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism is being diagnosed at increasing rates, with services for children with autism expanding. However, there is some evidence of disparities in rates of diagnosis and service utilization for Latino children as compared to non-Latino white children. In-home interviews with families will be utilized to investigate barriers to service use for Latino children and their families, cultural interpretations of autism for these families, and maternal vulnerability and resiliency factors.
Joshua Mersky and James Topitzes, Department of Social Work, UW-Milwaukee - "Paths to Success in Adulthood: Exploring the Resilience of Urban Minority Youth"
This project includes a series of studies that explore resilience in a sample of urban minority adults. Using data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, an ongoing, prospective investigation of more that 1,500 participants raised in low-income neighborhoods throughout Chicago, the authors will examine the predictors of, and pathways to, adult well-being across a range of salient outcomes (e.g., education, employment, mental health).
Tanya Tiffany, Department of Art History, UW-Milwaukee - "Art and Ethnicity in Seventeenth-Century Spain: The Paintings of Diego Velázquez"
This project considers Africans in seventeenth-century Spain as depicted in Velázquez's paintings. Offering a new approach to a key figure in the history of Western art, Tiffany locates Velázquez's works within a world of racial tensions and ethnic contrasts. Grants funds will be used to purchase photographs required for the publication of her work. These images will be included in her book manuscript, Diego Velázquez's Early Paintings and the Culture of Seventeenth-Century Seville, and in a forthcoming article in a scholarly journal.
Carmen Valdez, Department of Counseling Psychology, UW-Madison - "Promoting the Well-Being of Latino Families Affected by Parental Depression"
This project aims to linguistically and culturally adapt the Keeping Families Strong (KFS) program to Latino families affected by parental depression. KFS is a family intervention designed to increase understanding about depression and build parenting competence and child coping. Partnerships with community stakeholders and scholars in Latino mental health will guide methodologically-driven adaptation activities, including information gathering, program development, and program pilot implementation. In this non-experimental, pre-post design project, 24 families will participate in the clinic-based intervention. Proximal and distal outcomes will be measured, including child coping, family functioning, parental depression, and acculturative stress.
William Vélez, Department of Sociology, UW-Milwaukee - "The Socioeconomic Incorporation of Puerto Ricans in Central Florida"
The aim of this project is: (i) to model the economic incorporation of Puerto Ricans in Central Florida and compare it to the experiences of Puerto Ricans in other regions of Florida and the South by calculating multivariate models using IPUMS data, and (ii) to explore the possibility that Puerto Rican entrepreneurs have established a niche in Central Florida of sufficient size and impact to compare it to the one developed by Cubans in Miami. Vélez will analyze the 1997 Economic Census Data and interview business leaders and business owners in Central Florida to begin exploring the processes behind the accumulation of capital, skills, and connections necessary to gain a competitive edge in the area. In addition, income from owned businesses will be compared across regions for Puerto Rican respondents found in the IPUMS data.
Debora Wisneski and Raquel Oxford, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, UW-Milwaukee - "Supporting Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners through Early Childhood Teacher Development"
This research will examine the process of improving the culturally responsive efficacy of teachers within the city of Milwaukee who educate young Latino children in early childhood education programs. All teachers involved will be part of a professional development course that focuses on acquiring some ability to use the Spanish language and learning more about the social and cultural lives of young Latino children and families. Additionally, interviews and classroom observations will be conducted to document changes in the participants' learning and application of effective strategies for use with English language learners.
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