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The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of Afghan women refugees in community colleges. Using Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth theory, the study explored Afghan women's motivation for attending college, the experiences that brought them to the college, the challenges they experienced while navigating the institution, and the resources that helped them persist. Qualitative research with a narrative approach was conducted with four Afghan women who came to the United States as refugees. Participants' narratives revealed their deeply held belief in education with its origins in the women's families, culture, community, lived experiences in Afghanistan, and a motivation to earn a degree. Findings revealed the challenges the participants experienced in Afghanistan prior to immigrating and in the US while settling in as newly arrived refugees. Analysis of the narratives also revealed the resources, including their families, community, and the college, that play a role in their support systems and contribute to their persistence. The participants' unique personal strengths surfaced during the data analysis. The women sharing their voices in this study are positive, highly motivated, intelligent, persistent, and giving. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

My dissertation Sea-ing Words: An Exploration of the Maritime in Contemporary Caribbean and Latino/a Literature analyzes how writers from the Spanish-speaking islands and their diaspora have moved past the ever elusive Pan-Antillean quest for unity, rooted in the acceptance of a foundational Trauma (with a capital T). The writers I examine venture to humanize the basin, highlighting the routes, exchanges, and negotiations that currently distinguish the region. In doing so, the idea of one edifying Trauma is displaced by the existence of multiple and individualized iterations. As marginalized discourses infiltrate the center, the flow of the conversation is altered, opening up spaces for new interactions. Through their uses of the maritime, these writers transform the sea into a stage from which new perspectives on Caribbean and Latino/a literature emanate., Romance Languages and Literatures