After the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, Haiti was a hot topic in American news outlets. Soon after, there was footage released of Haitian migrants attempting to cross the border while border patrol agents on horseback charged at them, whipping them and shouting obscenities. Following this event, Donald Trump went on Fox News announcing old stereotypes about Haitians bringing AIDs to the US. He degraded Haiti similarly to how he did in his 2018 comments from an oval office meeting, when he stated that their country was a “shithole.” Following these comments and events, Haitian migrants were being refused Temporary Protected Status “TPS,” and being deported back to Haiti - the treatment they received was as congresswoman Alexandia Octavio Cortez described, in “stark contrast,” to that of the Ukrainian refugees who were automatically being granted TPS at the time. This thesis analyzes the history of Foreign Relations between the US and Haiti in order to understand the US’s involvement and responsibility for Haiti’s current state. I start with a historical analysis of American Occupation of Haiti in 1914, and continue through the Duvalier dictatorship, NGO involvement in Haiti, up until Haiti’s current political state, in order to give the socio-political context for the image portrayed of Haitians in American news, social media, film, and TV outlets. My thesis contends that racist stereotypes have been used in media and government alike to dehumanize Haitians and justify exploitative foreign policy.

Durante el siglo XIX, y hasta la primera mitad del siglo XX, Europa fue el escenario de una emigración masiva hacia las Américas. En ese mismo siglo, numerosos países de lo que posteriormente sería América Latina y el Caribe lograban sus independencias y se ostentaban como naciones libres. Lugares como Brasil y Cuba, donde anteriormente la principal fuerza laboral estaba compuesta por esclavos, fueron algunos de los principales destinos en la emigración europea. Esta investigación se enfoca en las fotografías de tres archivos que documentaron tanto la emigración, como la inmigración, en este contexto geopolítico y que actualmente forman parte de proyectos de humanidades digitales relacionados con la memoria y la identidad. Estos son el archivo iconográfico del Museu da Imigração do Estado de São Paulo , la Biblioteca Digital Hispánica de la Biblioteca Nacional de España y la Memoria Digital del Principado de Asturias . La hipótesis es que las imágenes de estas fotografías pueden estar contribuyendo para fomentar y/o reforzar un discurso colonialista basándose en la imagen del blanco/europeo en las Américas integrados en proyectos de nación decimonónicos y que forman parte de narrativas fundacionales. Para este análisis, construyo una mirada a partir de la teoría decolonial, la cual propone desvincularse de las bases eurocéntricas del poder que llegaron con el colonialismo, así como de la lógica de la modernidad y otras epistemologías basadas en estos principios. Esta mirada es consciente de los afectos y la forma en la cual estos operan en el cuerpo, así como de la conformación de sociedades afectivas. A partir de esta mirada, es posible determinar cómo la historia oficial construyó narrativas que siguen perpetuando mecanismos de poder basados en una estética imperialista. Los estudios sobre la migración hacia América Latina y el Caribe se han consolidado como un importante medio para extender e incentivar el diálogo sobre las conformaciones identitarias y su repercusión en la cultura. Actualmente, con el surgimiento de nuevas formas de comunicación y expresión cultural en plataformas electrónicas, resulta oportuno, si acaso necesario, analizar el posible impacto de las imágenes utilizadas en la virtualidad, cómo son vistas, cómo se presentan y bajo qué narrativas están insertas. Más aún, ¿cómo afectan emocionalmente a las sociedades afectivas?

This paper explores the psychological experiences of domestic workers in three contemporary Latin American films: Roma (Mexico, 2018), Crímenes de familia (Argentina, 2020) and Que Horas Ela Volta? (Brazil, 2015). Specifically, the motherhood of these three protagonists is explored and analyzed using psychological research that pertains to motherhood, trauma, and the relationships between domestic workers and the families that employ them. This paper reveals that contemporary Latin American cinema portrays domestic workers as having negative experiences of motherhood as a direct result of their occupation and proposes for further protections, policy change, and psychological research to take place for domestic workers in Latin America and beyond.

This dissertation proposes a re-evaluation of the films of Caliwood—a close-knit group of film fanatics who produced socially-minded independent cinema in Cali, Colombia—and the group’s contribution towards a national film industry. Focusing primarily on the works of Luis Ospina and Carlos Mayolo during the period ranging between 1971 and 1991, this study analyzes six key films—Oiga vea! (1972), Cali de Película (1973), Agarrando Pueblo (1977), Pura Sangre (1982), Carne de tu carne (1983)—which showcase the evolution of the group’s production from experimental documentaries to pseudo-documentaries and fictional films. Additionally, It All Started at the End (2015) is analyzed because it is the last film produced by Luis Ospina and it showcases the history of the group from his own perspective. In totality, these films represent a political stance derived from the tenets of the Third Cinema movement—a call for a revolutionary cinema which reverberated throughout Latin America—which denounces neocolonialism, the capitalist system, and the Hollywood model of cinema as mere entertainment for profit. Furthermore, this comprehensive analysis of Caliwood’s films covers a representative sample of their film legacy, as well as their critique of socio-political and cultural issues in Colombia. The reflections yielded from this study propose a reframing of Colombian film history and acknowledges the importance of Ospina’s and Mayolo’s contribution to the development of a “national” film tradition in Colombia.

El presente estudio aborda aspectos de la monstruosidad desde una perspectiva integral y transdisciplinaria que combina los estudios poscoloniales, postmodernos, queer pero sobre todo postfeministas en el campo de la producción cultural latinoamericana. Esta combinación permite poner en perspectiva la posibilidades de resistencia al tiempo y espacio en que coaccionan los personajes protagónicos de las obras a analizar: los filmes La teta asustada (2009) de Claudia Llosa y la ópera prima de Rosario García Montero, Las malas intenciones (2011); de igual forma se trabaja con la colección de cuentos Falo de Mulher (2002) y el cuento "Mãe o cacete" (2004) de Ivanna Arruda Leite; y por último, un estudio de la leyenda de la X’tabay perteneciente al sureste mexicano junto con un análisis discursivo de la cobertura de los feminicidios por parte de la prensa yucateca. La monstruosidad al interior de este trabajo será entendida como una posibilidad de aesthet(h)ical encounter, el cual combina, como su nombre lo indica, poéticas, estéticas, políticas y éticas al respecto de sujetos/personajes que se encuentran en resistencia en cuanto al acceso de la subjetividad y en contraposición a, lo denominado como, el tiempo y el espacio del monstruo.

This paper seeks to propose a new accelerated French course within the School of International Letters and Cultures at Arizona State University for students who are previously fluent in Spanish. French and Spanish are both Romance languages and exhibit many lexical and structural similarities. Students learning French with a Spanish background would be able to draw on prior knowledge to learn their target language faster and with fewer credits. This paper serves as a preliminary proposal offering background research on third language acquisition as well as the rationale for the course. French for Spanish speakers would present numerous benefits to both students and the university. Students would gain access to increased fast-paced French learning, which can offer career opportunities and cognitive benefits later in life. Furthermore, the School of International Letters and Cultures would be able to use this innovative course to draw students into French programs. Research was conducted regarding the current environment of language courses offered at Arizona State University to show how this new course would fit in. Additionally, the two existing cases of French for Spanish speakers courses offered in the United States were considered in creating this proposal. Also included in the paper are the following specific course suggestions: a textbook to be used in a flipped classroom setting, pre-requisite courses, as well as proficiency expectations for the end of one semester taken from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. If implemented, Arizona State would become the third university in the country to offer this innovative course, which could be highly successful.