Ivan Miranda Ortega - American Popular Culture and Consumerism
After graduating, Ivan shifted career interests and began exploring software development at various creative organizations. Currently, Ivan is pursuing a post-bacc in computer science at Oregon State University, with a goal to apply to an MBA program. Deeply passionate about American popular culture, Ivan hopes to leverage his insights and explore the intersection of design, technology and culture within emerging technologies.
Area of Concentration Courses
UGBA 195A - Entrepreneurship
Chicano Studies 135C- Latino Documentary Film Since 1990
American Studies 101 - The Teen Age
History 124B - Recent US History Since World War II
Sociology C167- Virtual Communities/Social Media
- LS 105
- UGBA 195A
- CHICANO 155C
- AMERSTD 102
- AMERSTD 101
- SOCIOL C167
- HISTORY 124B
Thesis
Looking at Mental Health Through the Eyez of T.H.U.G L.I.F.E: Understanding Depression and Anxiety Through the Content of Rap Music Among Urban Men of Color
Ivan’s thesis explored the social context in which rap music emerged from and its implicit and explicit connection to mental health both for artists and their Black and Brown male audiences. By conducting qualitative content analysis of various rap songs and the use of an infrastructure political framework, Ivan expands the site-of-resilience theoretical analysis and introduces street mental health, a framework that places street life as the context within the lived experiences of marginalized communities. Through the historical mapping and development of rap music as a form of Hip Hop culture, Ivan identifies explicit connections to mental health, poverty, violence, survival, substance use, and mental health awareness within two case studies. Throughout his findings, Ivan suggests that the change of references to mental health throughout its growth in popularity reflects the increased awareness of mental health through cultural movements, public health campaigns, and popular figures.
