With its 155 mile-per-hour sustained windspeeds, the near-Category 5 Hurricane Maria brought catastrophic devastation and destruction as it diagonally crossed the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from the southeast to the northwest on September 20, 2017. The official death toll estimate of 2,975 lost lives means this record storm became one of the most devasting hurricanes not only for Puerto Rico but for the U.S. Many of these deaths, as well as the prolonged human suffering, were attributed to what was described as inadequate disaster response and slow restoration of basic services (including running water, electricity, and the provision and distribution of food and medicine), and not to the direct impact of the hurricane itself. At the same time, Hurricane Maria made landfall when Puerto Rico had been confronting a severe economic crisis surging for over a decade. This crisis, referred to as La Crisis Boricua, was characterized by a significant loss of industry and jobs, a deteriorating infrastructure, record net outmigration, a shrinking and rapidly aging population, rising healthcare under-coverage, a bankrupt government, and federal legislation restricting fiscal policy decisions made by elected officials on the island. Thus, Hurricane Maria exacerbated the effects of La Crisis Boricua on the socioeconomic, health, and demographic outcomes affecting Puerto Ricans on the island and U.S. mainland. Bringing together scholars from a wide variety of disciplines (including economics, sociology, demography, health, psychology, disaster research, political science, education, the arts, and others), this volume represents one of the first interdisciplinary sets of studies dedicated to analyzing the effects of Hurricane Maria on island and stateside Puerto Ricans. Specific topics cover Hurricane Maria's impact on labor market outcomes, including wages and employment by industry; health implications, including mental health; changes in artistic expression; civic engagement; and disaster response and recovery. A common thread through many of the chapters was the destruction of Puerto Rico's electrical grid and the prolonged restoration of electricity and other essential services that resulted in the loss of thousands of lives.

The obesity epidemic has a disproportionate impact on communities that are hard-hit by social and economic disadvantages. In "Obesity Interventions in Underserved Communities," a diverse group of researchers explores effective models for treating and preventing obesity in such communities. The volume provides overviews of the literature at specific junctures of society and health (e.g., the effectiveness of preschool obesity prevention programs), as well as commentaries that shape our understanding of particular parts of the obesity epidemic and field reports on innovative approaches to combating obesity in racial/ethnic minority and other medically underserved populations in the United States. Authors make specific recommendations to policy makers which are designed to reverse the rising rate of obesity dramatically.

The thirty-one literature reviews, commentaries, and field reports collected here address obesity prevention and treatment programs implemented across a spectrum of underserved populations, with particular attention paid to children and adolescents. Aimed at students, clinicians, and community workers in public health and health policy, as well as family medicine and pediatrics, sociology, childhood education, and nutrition--and deeply informed by fieldwork--this book demonstrates the importance of taking a full contextual view, both historical and current, when considering the challenge of reversing upward obesity trends among ethnic minorities, impoverished people, and other underserved populations.

Toxic Ivory Towers seeks to document the professional work experiences of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in U.S. higher education, and simultaneously address the social and economic inequalities in their life course trajectory. Ruth Enid Zambrana finds that despite the changing demographics of the nation, the percentages of Black and Hispanic faculty have increased only slightly, while the percentages obtaining tenure and earning promotion to full professor have remained relatively stagnant. Toxic Ivory Towers is the first book to take a look at the institutional factors impacting the ability of URM faculty to be successful at their jobs, and to flourish in academia. The book captures not only how various dimensions of identity inequality are expressed in the academy and how these social statuses influence the health and well-being of URM faculty, but also how institutional policies and practices can be used to transform the culture of an institution to increase rates of retention and promotion so URM faculty can thrive.  

Toxic Ivory Towers seeks to document the professional work experiences of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in U.S. higher education, and simultaneously address the social and economic inequalities in their life course trajectory. Ruth Enid Zambrana finds that despite the changing demographics of the nation, the percentages of Black and Hispanic faculty have increased only slightly, while the percentages obtaining tenure and earning promotion to full professor have remained relatively stagnant. Toxic Ivory Towers is the first book to take a look at the institutional factors impacting the ability of URM faculty to be successful at their jobs, and to flourish in academia. The book captures not only how various dimensions of identity inequality are expressed in the academy and how these social statuses influence the health and well-being of URM faculty, but also how institutional policies and practices can be used to transform the culture of an institution to increase rates of retention and promotion so URM faculty can thrive.

Mexican Americans comprise the largest subgroup of Latina/os, and their path to education can be a difficult one. Yet just as this group is often marginalized, so are their stories, and relatively few studies have chronicled the educational trajectory of Mexican American men and women. In this interdisciplinary collection, editors Zambrana and Hurtado have brought together research studies that reveal new ways to understand how and why members of this subgroup have succeeded and how the facilitators of success in higher education have changed or remained the same. The Magic Key's four sections explain the context of Mexican American higher education issues, provide conceptual understandings, explore contemporary college experiences, and offer implications for educational policy and future practices. Using historical and contemporary data as well as new conceptual apparatuses, the authors in this collection create a comparative, nuanced approach that brings Mexican Americans' lived experiences into the dominant discourse of social science and education. This diverse set of studies presents both quantitative and qualitative data by gender to examine trends of generations of Mexican American college students, provides information on perceptions of welcoming university climates, and proffers insights on emergent issues in the field of higher education for this population. Professors and students across disciplines will find this volume indispensable for its insights on the Mexican American educational experience, both past and present.

It is well known that Latinos in the United States bear a disproportionate burden of low educational attainment, high residential segregation, and low visibility in the national political landscape. In Latinos in American Society, Ruth Enid Zambrana brings together the latest research on Latinos in the United States to demonstrate how national origin, age, gender, socioeconomic status, and education affect the well-being of families and individuals. By mapping out how these factors result in economic, social, and political disadvantage, Zambrana challenges the widespread negative perceptions of Latinos in America and the single story of Latinos in the United States as a monolithic group.

Synthesizing an increasingly substantial body of social science research much of it emerging from the interdisciplinary fields of Chicano studies, U.S. Latino studies, critical race studies, and family studies the author adopts an intersectional "social inequality lens" as a means for understanding the broader sociopolitical dynamics of the Latino family, considering ethnic subgroup diversity, community context, institutional practices, and their intersections with family processes and well-being. Zambrana, a leading expert on Latino populations in America, demonstrates the value of this approach for capturing the contemporary complexity of and transitions within diverse U.S. Latino families and communities. This book offers the most up-to-date portrait we have of Latinos in America today."

It is well known that Latinos in the United States bear a disproportionate burden of low educational attainment, high residential segregation, and low visibility in the national political landscape. In Latinos in American Society, Ruth Enid Zambrana brings together the latest research on Latinos in the United States to demonstrate how national origin, age, gender, socioeconomic status, and education affect the well-being of families and individuals. By mapping out how these factors result in economic, social, and political disadvantage, Zambrana challenges the widespread negative perceptions of Latinos in America and the single story of Latinos in the United States as a monolithic group.

Synthesizing an increasingly substantial body of social science research much of it emerging from the interdisciplinary fields of Chicano studies, U.S. Latino studies, critical race studies, and family studies the author adopts an intersectional "social inequality lens" as a means for understanding the broader sociopolitical dynamics of the Latino family, considering ethnic subgroup diversity, community context, institutional practices, and their intersections with family processes and well-being. Zambrana, a leading expert on Latino populations in America, demonstrates the value of this approach for capturing the contemporary complexity of and transitions within diverse U.S. Latino families and communities. This book offers the most up-to-date portrait we have of Latinos in America today."