Outsiders or Victims?: Addressing a Rural Community's Perceptions of Latino Migrant Workers

Across various communities in the United States, Latinos are increasingly settling in areas unaccustomed to an influx of immigrant or Latino residents. This demographic change can complicate typical problems surrounding enforcement of housing and public health code. Furthermore, perceptions and attitudes towards Latinos and immigrants can complicate the way a community responds to the new settlement of Latinos, making it especially hard to enforce any sort of intervention. In one rural setting, service providers and community leaders have struggled for almost five years to deal with one case dealing with a substandard housing complex owned by Latinos and rented to Latino migrant workers and their families. This project used public records, interviews with individuals, and neighborhood observations to understand how perceptions affected the way this case was dealt with. The perceptions data was then organized into either positive, negative, or neutral categories. The results showed that language barriers, perceived economic threat and criminal threat, and negative perceptions of racial minorities in general act as a barrier for Latino inclusion into the community but that exposure and empathy from service providers allow for prompt and effective interventions for Latino issues. Neutral perceptions were mostly due to unfamiliarity with Latino issues and the Latino community.Ope

Libros, lectores y lectura en la literatura infantil y juvenil: Personajes analfabetas y “abyectos”

The presence of books, readers and reading in children’s and young adult literature is more common than we think and yet books where the act of reading appears as something more than a tool to obtain information are in a minority. The presence or absence of these representations are indicators of the way in which society contructs the relationship between children and young people and reading. This article analysis a group of texts where the theme of becoming literate is linked to characters who can be described as “abject” according to the work of Julia Kristeva, in this case, children and young people who live on the margins of society, in the street or in the rubbish dump. The consequences of learning to read are not always those we imagine given they have the power to subvert oppressive authority. This article also refers to the Project “Reading Fictions” within which this study took place

Refugee. By Alan Gratz

Refugee . By Alan Gratz. New York: Scholastic Press, 2017. 338 pp. ISBN 978-0-545-88083-1

Libros, lectores y lectura en la literatura infantil y juvenil : personajes analfabetas y "abyectos"

La presencia de los libros, los lectores y la lectura en la literatura infantil y juvenil es más común de lo que pensamos y sin embargo, siguen siendo una minoría los libros donde aparece el acto de la lectura como algo más que una herramienta para obtener información. La presencia o ausencia de las representaciones son indicadores de la forma en que la sociedad construye la relación entre los niños y jóvenes y la lectura. Este artículo analiza un grupo de textos donde aparece el tema de la alfabetización en cuanto a personajes que pueden considerarse como "abyectos" según el trabajo de Julia Kristeva, en este caso, niños y jóvenes que viven en los márgenes de la sociedad, en la calle o en el tiradero. Las consecuencias de aprender a leer no siempre son las que nos imaginamos ya que tienen el poder de subvertir a las autoridades opresivas. El artículo se refiere también al Proyecto "Reading Fictions" dentro del cual se llevó a cabo este estudio.The presence of books, readers and reading in children's and young adult literature is more common than we think and yet books where the act of reading appears as something more than a tool to obtain information are in a minority. The presence or absence of these representations are indicators of the way in which society contructs the relationship between children and young people and reading. This article analysis a group of texts where the theme of becoming literate is linked to characters who can be described as "abject" according to the work of Julia Kristeva, in this case, children and young people who live on the margins of society, in the street or in the rubbish dump. The consequences of learning to read are not always those we imagine given they have the power to subvert oppressive authority. This article also refers to the Project "Reading Fictions" within which this study took place.La présence des livres, des lecteurs et de la lecture dans la littérature pour les enfants et les jeunes est plus courante que nous croyons, néanmoins, les livres dans lesquels l'acte de la lecture apparaît comme plus qu'un moyen d'obtenir d'information, sont dans la minorité. La présence ou l'absence des représentations sont indicatives de la manière dans laquelle la société construit la relation entre les enfants, les jeunes et la lecture. Cet article analyse un groupe de textes dont le thème de l'alphabétisme est lié aux caractères qui peuvent être décrits comme "abject" selon les idées de Julia Kristeva, ces enfants et ces jeunes qui habitent les bords de la société, la rue ou la décharge. Les conséquences d'apprendre à lire ne sont pas celles que nous pouvons prévoir parce qu'elles ont le pouvoir de subvertir l'autorité oppressive. Cet article se réfère aussi au Projet "Reading Fictions" dans lequel ces recherches avaient lieu.La presència dels llibres, els lectors i la lectura en la literatura infantil i juvenil és més comú del que pensem i no obstant això, segueixen sent una minoria els llibres on apareix l'acte de la lectura com quelcom més que una eina per obtenir informació . La presència o absència de les representacions són indicadors de la forma en què la societat construeix la relació entre els infants i joves i la lectura. Aquest article analitza un grup de textos on apareix el tema de l'alfabetització pel que fa a personatges que poden considerar-se com "abjectes" segons el treball de Julia Kristeva, en aquest cas, nens i joves que viuen als marges de la societat, en la carrer o al tiradero. Les conseqüències d'aprendre a llegir no sempre són les que ens imaginem ja que tenen el poder de subvertir a les autoritats opressives. L'article es refereix també al Projecte "Reading Fictions" dins el qual es va dur a terme aquest estudi

“Oye: Words are One Big Mind” A Collection of Poems

Oye: Words Are One Big Mind. A Collection of Poems comprises forty poems arranged into three sections. It is preceded by a critical introduction in which the author discusses: 1) the childhood provenance of his love for language; 2) how his Latino linguistic, religious and cultural roots from South Texas set him on the path of poetic discovery and contextualized his poetic style 3) the influence of early Chican@ poets upon his poetry; 4) commonalities of Latin American poetry in his own work; 5) the convergence of spiritual, social, religious, mystical, and universal issues in his work

Synthesis, characterization, and reactivity studies of iridium complexes bearing the ligand diphenylphosphidoboratabenzene

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemistry, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-32).The synthesis, structure, and reactivity properties of three iridium square planar complexes bearing the anionic phosphine ligand diphenylphosphidoboratabenzene (DPB) are described. Reactivity studies show a rate enhancement for the oxidative addition of a substituted benzyl bromide and Me₃SnBr with DPB as a ligand in place of triphenylphosphine. Two products from the oxidative addition of p-chlorobenzyl bromide have been isolated and structurally characterized.by Luis Arizpe.S.M

The wordless picturebook: challenging attitudes about literacy and language learning in multilingual contexts

No abstract available

Cultural interventions through children’s literature and arts-based practices in times of disaster: a case study of reading mediators’ response to the Mexican earthquakes (September 2017)

Recent natural disasters have challenged current models of crisis management and intervention, demanding speedy, flexible and emergent social actors to respond at multiple levels. To provide a comprehensive response, top-down models have incorporated the critical role played by citizen-volunteers in assisting communities in distress. However, few post-crisis response models have identified new social actors who can contribute with creative, coordinated, and sustainable solutions. In this article, we present the case study of the 2017 Mexican earthquakes and the post-disaster activities developed by an emergent group of social actors — reading mediators. We argue for the critical role of mediators and their use of children’s literature and arts-based practices as essential instruments for community reconstruction. Drawing upon a case study methodology, we share the mediators’ post-disaster activities and experiences in four stages: immediate recovery, stabilisation, development and consolidation. We argue that such cultural interventions are essential in assisting communities recover and build resilience and, more importantly, new social actors such as reading mediators need further formal and institutional support. In this sense, el Protocolo, the cultural protocol developed in response to the mediators’ work, stands as an exemplary model that complements the emergent and distributed actions of reading mediators. As a whole, the Mexican cultural response provides a unique comprehensive approach that could be modeled in other contexts to address the needs of all citizens in vulnerable post-disaster circumstances