American Indian Recruitment (AIR) is a student initiated, student run project sponsored by the American Indian Student Association at the University of California, Los Angeles that focuses on outreaching to Native students in Los Angeles and its surrounding areas. Founded in the 1990's, AIR is the culmination of decades of work by former students done on their own time and with their own resources. Since its establishment AIR has employed Native American undergraduate students at UCLA as recruiters on behalf of a university. This research examines the experiences of former Native American student recruiters, their understanding of the history of AIR in relation to their work, and how their work shaped their outlook as a student.

This dissertation draws on Indigenous research paradigms including Critical Indigenous Research Methodology, the 4 Rs, and Indigenous Storywork to explore the ways Indigenous student affairs professionals (SAPs) navigate the university. Conversational interviews and talking circles were the primary methods for gathering Indigenous SAPs stories of their experiences working at higher education institutions. A bottom up and top down approach was used to code the interviews and generate themes. Indigenous Feminisms was used analytic lens during the coding process in order to foreground how Indigenous SAPs experience the settler colonial history of universities. Participant profiles were crafted in order to further analyze the stories that were shared. Findings are presented in the form of story composites with researcher reflections interwoven between composites. Participants' stories showcase how Indigenous SAPs draw on their experiential knowledge to translate university admission policies with Indigenous students and communities. Their stories showcase the intellectual work Indigenous student affairs professionals engage in as they move between Indigenous communities and the university, or what I call cultural knowledge brokering. Learning from these Indigenous student affairs professionals can shed light on how to inform better university policy for Indigenous students and staff at public four-year institutions by creating a cultural knowledge brokering framework.

This doctoral dissertation is an interview-based study in which dance educators working in urban K-12 schools participated in a series of 3 dance-based Choreographic Interviews to discuss their theoretical, philosophical, and practical understandings of the role of the body in learning, and their relationship to movement and justice within the larger schooling system. The professional experiences and vision of dance educators brings a unique perspective to the role of the body in teaching and learning and contributes important ideas about the purpose of dance and education in urban schools – building towards an inclusive theory of embodied teaching and learning for K-12 urban schools.

Exploring the misrepresentations in the mass media of California Native Americans identifies the root of dehumanizing stereotypes: American Literature. With a historical context of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, this thesis explores the stereotypical misrepresentations that supported European colonizers’ genocidal actions against California Natives. As for misrepresentations impacting today’s educational institutions, examining Amah Mutsun elders’ academic experiences explains how biased ideals and stereotypes impact California Natives’ livelihoods. This thesis uplifts California Native voices through indigenous literature, oral history, and storytelling to highlight accurate representations that honor their ancestors and their modernity to combat misrepresentations. Meanwhile, oral history and storytelling empowers the Amah Mutsun community to nation-build and decolonize through cultural revitalization for self-determination to uphold sovereignty on their terms as a non-federally recognized tribe. Oral history also combines indigenous knowledge systems and education research, where oral history serves to prioritize the voices of participants.

Black women student affairs professionals are essential figures and play a vital role in the development and learning of students attending college (Jackson, 2003; Turrentine & Conley, 2001). While the presence of Black women students continues to rise on campus, Black women student affairs professionals continue to be disproportionately represented in comparison. Black women mid-level student professionals are underrepresented and face unique challenges while they are navigating the intersecting identities of race, class and gender while working in student affairs. This qualitative study examined the personal and professional experiences of ten Black women student affairs professionals at a public university. This research study utilized a conceptual framework developed from Intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989) and Black Feminist Thought-BFT (Collins, 1986, 2000, 2009) to guide this analysis to reveal the thematic elements of shared experiences. The findings highlighted six themes that illustrated the personal, professional experiences and challenges that these Black women mid-level student affairs professionals faced. The findings illuminated the tensions between their experiences and their social identities. The themes related to their experiences were: Black Woman-ness, Faculty Bullying and Incivility, Black Superwoman Syndrome, Quality of Life, Lack of Support and Community. These themes offered a nuanced view of their challenges and the mechanisms they utilized to survive and thrive while working at the university, showing the ways they navigated these tensions. Ultimately participants struggled with lack of support and sought community to enhance their quality of life. Recommendations for practice, policy and future research consisted of the institution being pro-active and intentional about building internal structures within the university to provide opportunities for Black women to be mentored. Further, institutions should encourage community by promoting affinity groups that cater to the development of Black women. Institutions must be more deliberate and strategic in the hiring and retention of Black women working in the academy, as well as implementing better institutional supports to encourage the success of Black women student affairs professionals.