My research is an ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological analysis of Filipino martial arts (FMA) with data integration from ethnology, archaeology and museology. I will show findings that indicate that FMA practice reinforces identity formation processes through bodily craft. I will outline details to identity formation processes for FMA practitioners and compare immigrant and US born practitioners to those back in the Philippines using direct participant observation methodologies and guided theory. This work will include archaeological literature review investigating traces of FMA in the past, and will incorporate data from artifact analysis. I will record and catalog FMA materials from the Burke Museum categorically by utilitarian and aesthetic qualities, as well as the dating methodologies associated with each piece in order to generate a seriation model about the weapons’ changes over time and geography. The data will be collected by documenting various weapon’s dimensions, motifs, quality, properties, components, and complexity of manufacturing. Additional components to the research include photography and video documenting. The seriation model will serve to transform the frequencies of weapons' stylistic changes into graphical representations, which will then be used for visual explanation. The outcome of this research will fill the gap in cataloging details about the artifacts housed at the Burke while generating new questions about the archaeological past of Filipino warrior culture. My qualitative ethnographic research will offer an opportunity to understand the complexities of colonized identities over time within specific contexts while increasing its significance by marrying it to secondary archaeological data analysis.

This paper examines the best practices for working with youth coming from different ethnic backgrounds (Bosniak, Croat, and Serb) in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The end of the Bosnian War in 1995 left highly politicized ethnic divides and an increased sense of nationalism among the different ethnic groups. My research analyzes the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Bosnia-Herzegovina that are working to build interethnic cohesion among youth, as well as the types of impact assessment used to evaluate these peace-building efforts. I used previous research conducted by social psychologist Sabina Cehajic-Clancy, interviews I conducted and analyzed in Mostar and Sarajevo, and my own experience working with NGOs implementing interethnic cohesion programs in Sarajevo to support my analysis. I also performed a case a study of the Nansen Dialogue Center in Mostar, which focuses on building interethnic cohesion between Croat and Bosniak high school students. The result of this research shows that long-term, relationship-building contact with people from different ethnic backgrounds reduces nationalistic sentiments in young people and increases tolerance of other groups. I conclude that the best practice for youth-focused interethnic cohesion efforts in Bosnia is to focus on long-term programs that sustain normal, long-term interactions in conjunction with long-term impact assessments to appropriately document the results of the programs.

With one of the highest corruption rates of EU countries, Bulgaria has experienced economic turmoil and widespread political cynicism. Instead of emigrating, as many of their peers have done, the Ranobudnite Studenti, translated as ‘the Early Rising Students,’ protested against government corruption by occupying Sofia University and through street demonstrations during 2013-2014. The Ranobudnite Studenti demanded government transparency and a "true democracy" for the betterment of Bulgaria’s future, constructing a community of university students separate and distinct from the government. This ethnographic research of the Ranobudnite Studenti protest movement seeks to understand cultural formations and identity politics of post-communist Bulgaria as it struggles to become part of the European community. Through qualitative methods of semi-structured interviews with the Ranobudnite Studenti, participant observation of their group gatherings, and media and discourse analysis of social media, this research asked what are the ways the Ranobudnite Studenti exerted their agency, their ability to reshape the world around them. I analyze the events, practices, and symbolic-performative aspects of their protest movement, demonstrating how the Ranobudnite Studenti constructed and embodied a politically viable and authoritative identity in order to invoke the support of Bulgarian citizens. I divide this identity into two categories - today’s enlightened patriots and the children of the transition - through which the students asserted their role both as the leaders of the Bulgarian people and the future, the primordial heirs, of Bulgaria. The students constituted their constructed identity as the moral opposition to the government by representing politicians as illegitimate criminals and hypocrites who hinder Bulgaria from progressing towards Western standards of modernity. Through the construction of their identity, the students represent "the nation" and democracy as embedded in the people rather than the government.

Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, a wave of Vietnamese Refugees fled to America to escape the victorious Communist regime. In the U.S, these Vietnamese people were expected to adopt English and adapt to living in America in order to secure their livelihoods here. Despite access to economic and civic opportunities, Vietnamese people in the U.S. are still falling behind in acculturation as they fight to hold onto their language and traditional practices. Since many of the Vietnamese Refugees now have grown children (known as "1.5 or 2nd generation Vietnamese"), this research focuses on young adults (adults age 18-25) who either immigrated or have parents who have immigrated from Vietnam within the last 20 years. The purpose of this research is to understand whether or not they are consciously holding onto aspects of their parents' culture as they constantly face the dominant American culture, and how it influences how they identify themselves. It is also to understand how these generations are finding spaces where they belong, whether it is through the Vietnamese community based organizations, other community based organizations, friends, family, religious organizations, or something else entirely. Through autoethnographic work on myself as a second generation Asian American born to an (ethnically Chinese) Vietnamese Refugee mother and data collected from interviews of other second generation (including 1.5) Vietnamese young adults in Seattle, most notably on the UW campus, I hope to have a better understanding of how important it is to hold on to a non-dominant American culture in American society, understand their roots, and find a place of belonging in America.

Over the past two decades, thousands of Somali refugees have been resettled in Seattle. While multiple organizations in Seattle have worked to help these refugees adjust to life in a new community, factors that increase acculturation stress among recently resettled refugees in Seattle has not been addressed. In the present research, three Somali refugees and two caseworkers were interviewed to determine which factors of the resettlement process increase acculturation stress the greatest. In addition to the interviews, participant observation was conducted at a local resettlement agency as well as at Somali Health Board meetings. Preliminary results indicate that feelings of ostracism, a fear of losing one’s culture, and community dissociation are the key components that are attributed to acculturation stress. The broader implications of this research are to address current gaps in knowledge in terms of the impact of refugee resettlement in the Seattle area. In addition, the research will recommend that further studies be conducted to determine which aspects of the resettlement process, in terms of culutral orientation both abroad and locally, could be adjusted to better prepare refugees for life in the United States. 

Reunifying families was central to 1965 immigration policy. Federal immigration policy in the 1990s functioned to enforce the exact opposite and continues to do so today. Families are no longer the priority and deportations of undocumented parents have increased dramatically leaving citizen children behind. These deportations unfairly target Latinos and are becoming an increasingly important social and political issue. Recently, President Obama put forward an Executive Order relieving many undocumented immigrants from deportation, including undocumented parents of U.S. citizens through Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). However, there is widespread contention on this issue with many people wanting to reverse this Executive Order, effectively leaving many families in continued fear of being separated through deportation. Within this socio-political immigration policy there is an understudied and extremely important issue: what happens when undocumented immigrant parents are deported, and their U.S. born citizen children are left behind in the U.S.? This research project unveils the psychological and health issues that result from this traumatic parent-child separation and the oftentimes permanent impact it has on the life trajectory of the child. Using a qualitative analysis method, we reviewed previous research, scholarly journal articles, and published interviews, in the form of a literature review. We found a striking story. While the consequences of a disrupted parent-child attachment include things such as separation anxiety and ambiguous loss (or unresolved loss), there are other psychological and health issues that affect the child as a whole. These issues continue to influence the children throughout their life. We hope this research will spur continued thought and inquiry in this area to bring awareness into an issue that affects some of our own and most promising citizens.

Semiotics, the science of signs that make up images that we see countless times on a daily basis, was conceived of in the 1800’s by de Saussure and Pierce. This research performs a semiotic analysis on the controversial 2014 Ralph Lauren Holiday ad that prominently features Native Americans. The release of this ad campaign sparked intense controversy due to its depiction of Native Americans. Through synchronic analysis - examining the position of characters and objects within one frame - this work uncovers clear ideologies about people of color as a form of “Othering.” The Ralph Lauren 2014 campaign contains numerous stereotypes of Native Americans: especially as violent, stoic ‘primitives.’ Semiotic analysis reveals the troubling message of the civilization of the ‘savage’ through consumption. According to bell hooks, by seeing Native Americans as the Other we relegate all ethnicity other than White to being the “spice” that ”livens up mainstream White culture.” In addition, by taking certain historical and visual aspects of Native American assimilation out of context, Ralph Lauren turns people of color into yet another commodity in the marketplace for mainstream audiences. This research demonstrates how Stuart Hall’s idea of inferential racism and cultural adaptation results in unquestioned assumptions about race in the U.S., revisiting old tropes about the transformation of the dangerous savage to the noble savage through Western culture.