Senior Seminar Class 2010 Pre-Celebrates Thesis Finishings

Corks popped to celebrate the end of the thesis journey for the sociology senior seminar class of 2010 on Tuesday 14 December.  It was one day before manuscripts were due -- making these smiles all the more amazing.  Not a drop of "one-day-to-go anxiety" in the house!

L to R Kerri Thorp, Dawn Liu, Charli Prete, Lili Mano, Dan Ryan, Meredith Wensel,
Melody Sage, Erika Honan.  Back: Sarah Martin, Kali Berg, Ariunaa Thomas

After champagne, (no real pain for this crowd), crostini, pizza, and salad it was time to blow out a symbolic candle on a cake that featured a very real Hayward fault running right through the middle. Consensus was reached that this crack in the cake was symbolic of absolutely nothing.  The titles and abstracts of theses submitted so far appear below.  Congrats to members of the class of 2011 (and especially to those who are December grads : Kerri! and Melody!).

MONGOLIAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE BAY AREA
A STUDY OF GENDER ROLE AND THE ASSIMILATION PROCESS

Ariunaa Baatarkhuu Thomas

This is a qualitative study which explores Mongolian immigrants’ experience living in the United States by using in-depth interviews to generate narratives. These in depth interviews were conducted between October and November 2010 with 10 (5 female and 5 male) Mongolian immigrants who live in the Bay Area. The participants were recruited by using the “snowball sampling” method. The main focus of the project is to reveal the importance of gender role differences in the assimilation process. The participants were asked about the topics ranging from family, occupation and their immigration experience. I hypothesized that Mongolian women would experience easier assimilation than Mongolian men because of the residual effects of Mongolian traditional patriarchal society. However, the immigration experiences described by my ten participants suggest that there is only a slight difference between Mongolian women's and men's assimilation.

TWO WAYS TO RECLAIM AND RE-IMAGINE RADIO: A COMPARATIVE ETHNOGRAPHY OF RADIO ARCO IRIS AND FREE RADIO SANTA CRUZ

Melody Sage

This research is a comparative ethnography of two Free Radio stations, one in Santa Cruz, CA, USA and one in Jalapa Del Marquez, Oaxaca, Mexico. In light of mass corporate consolidation of radio stations on a global level, Free Radio stations have arose to re-imagine radio as a community tool. Compared here are the philosophies, goals, programming, and organizational structure of two such stations. The data were collected using a collaborative, public interest ethnography method.

TODAY’S MEDICINE: A LOOK AT MODERN AND ALTERNATIVE CHOICES

A Study of Motivation and Medicine 

Erika Honan

This paper deals with the differing worlds of alternative and modern, scientifically based medical treatment.  Using the scientific method, modern day medical treatment has cured and treated multitudes of disease.  Even with all of the advances in the modern world, doctors and scientists, can, at times fall short of satisfying the needs and desires for wellness and comfort.

MEDICALIZATION OF CHILDBIRTH:

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN A DIALECTIC STRUGGLE

Lillian Mano

Childbirth is a battleground. This research examines female participation and interactions with medicalization and the ultimate medical outcomes through the lens of childbirth. Included is discussion of the historical transition from midwife and female dominated childbirth practices to the medically dominated and professionalized childbirth practices experienced today. This research challenges the generally accepted notion that male domination and the exclusion of women from medical knowledge is the root cause of this shift. The contest waged between women and medicine has been a dialectical struggle which has ultimately defined each transition in childbirth.

A QUALITATIVE COMPARISON OF LESBIAN AND HETEROSEXUAL FEMALE CROSS-PLAYERS
WITHIN THE BOYS’ LOVE COMMUNITY

Meredith Wensel

This study focuses on a recently formed subculture that has developed around a genre of Japanese animation and comic books popularly known boys’ love (BL). Scholarly and popular writings about BL usually examine the evolution of the genre and theorize about its meanings for women; I chose to focus on cross-play and role-play, two of the BL community’s central activities. I compared the interests and activities of heterosexual and lesbian participants to determine whether sexual orientation would predict differences between them. The data that I collected from BL community participants did not support my original hypothesis that there would be some significant variation between the two groups. Using respondents’ coded data to analyze the intersection of cross-play and role-play, I identified four ideal types of cross-players: informal, performance, part-time, and full-time players. While this was empirically interesting, the only verifiable comparison that I can make about my two groups based on the data is that lesbian cross-players in the BL community are more likely to role-play than their heterosexual counterparts.

NEW ROLES: FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

A Study of Families of Multiple Children with Disabilities and Role Theory

Dion “Charli” Prete

This study analyzes the parental and sibling roles, changes of self-identity, and the impact of stigma and social identity in families of children with disabilities in the immediate family unit. First, this study focuses on the basics of the sociology of the family. Second, it explores the general knowledge, history, and statistics of disability in the United States. Finally, it concludes with an analysis of the sociology of families of children with disabilities and the impact on parents and siblings. Our analysis will include how stigma, Goffman’s Impression Management Theory and Social Identity Theory play an important role in understanding the family dynamics of children with disabilities. This study uses secondary analysis of data collected in previous research on family dynamics, roles and structure of families of children with disabilities. These studies focus on all types of disabilities, chronic illnesses, complex and continuing health needs.