Emma Wolf’s novels, written from 1892 to 1916, reflect the complexities of assimilation and orthodoxy among Jewish Americans in American society. Further marginalized as a disabled person, Wolf positioned her work on Jewish American experience as part of larger cultural discussions of middle-class femininity, national belonging, and developments in American literature. As American society navigated an influx of immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century, modern social and economic concerns, such as assimilation, intermarriage and emerging women’s roles, particularly challenged orthodox traditions of American Jews. These concerns underpinned Emma Wolf’s experience in Northern California during the early 1900s and permeated her fiction. Although widely read during her time, Emma Wolf’s novels and short stories have been largely forgotten. Recently reissued with detailed introductions by Barbara Cantalupo and Lori Harrison-Kahan, Wolf’s novels Heirs of Yesterday and Other Things Being Equal have received little critical attention. My research project applies intersectional critical methods to Wolf’s literary works and limited personal archive in order to identify and develop her contributions to an emerging West Coast literary scene, to recover a lost Jewish writer and change the popular narrative surrounding Jewish American literature, and to claim her arguments as an anticipation to identity issues that emerged in twentieth century literature.

“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world” - Malala Yousafzai “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today” - Malcolm X “Change is the end result of all true learning” - Leo Buscaglia These are quotes from well-known scholars and activists around the world. Apparently education is a immense part of political participation and activism. The classroom has the innate ability to shape a nation and its beliefs, starting with youth groups and future generations. This research project explores whether a more gender-equitable curricula (a curriculum that represents both women and men’s achievements equally) can influence political participation and civic engagement on the basis of gender equality. It further discusses and analyzes whether female history and knowledge of female trailblazers in the field of politics, biological, mathematical, and physical sciences and will impact future civic engagement among youth groups. The civic engagement and political participation measured in this project, focuses on gender politics including likelihood of participating in women's’ rights organization and protests along with civic engagement on the purpose of gender equity. The goal of this project is to discuss the importance of historical education of women and political activity regarding the advancement of women. The methods included using surveys of UC Berkeley students and recent graduates as a sample size to examine a correlational test between knowledge of women within certain fields and likelihood of political participation. I hypothesize positive correlation between the two.

Jose Carlos Mariategui was a central Modernist writer in Peru, recognized internationally by the Avant-Garde community. Between 1926 and 1930, Mariategui created his own modernist magazine, the “Amauta,” as a form of resistance to the colonial nationalism occurring in Peru. Mariategui was a revolutionary writer who, both in theory and practice, contributed to Marxism. His literary criticism addressed the division of classes within Peruvian society, specifically how it affected the Indigenous community of Peru. A key source of inspiration for Mariategui was James Joyce and his revolutionary novel, “Ulysses.” James Joyce first made public view of his work in 1914 through a well-known European magazine named “The Egoist.” Joyce’s outspokenness and vulgarity in “Ulysses” frames a new storytelling style, especially with breaking traditions within writing and social constructs. My research explores how the publication of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” within “The Egoist” influenced the activism of Jose Carlos Mariategui when creating his modernist magazine, the “Amauta,” through archival research. I utilize discourse and aesthetic analyses to reveal transnational connections within the Avant-Garde movement, the nature of artistic resistance to oppression, and document unlikely convergences between the two magazines. Despite the difference between the spoken languages of Ireland and Peru, Joyce and Mariategui inspired a new narrative of independence and liberation. By bridging the cultural gap between Ireland and Peru, one can see how despite both writers facing alienation and censorship, their experiences with publication can be used as inspiration when bringing diversity—further revealing change in expressive literature.

How much influence does the publishing industry have on authors of color? Young Adult Literature has become a prominent staple in the high school curriculum throughout the United States. The effort motivates representation within literature that can resonate with adolescents. Nevertheless, taking a look at young adult novels written by authors of color that are distributed through major publishing companies carry many similar plot elements. Considering these comparable plot elements to be a problem, young adult authors of color are being manipulated by the publishing industry to produce the same book with a pre-approved formulaic approach.