My current research is focused upon how Italian Americans perceive and interpret white ethnicity and ethnic identity. I am conducting fieldwork within an Italian American social club in Las Vegas to obtain a better understanding of how boundaries are formed within this category as well as the complexity of intertwining factors (culture, socioeconomic status, gender) that present individuals with the continuous reformatting of “whiteness.” The simplicity presented in all encompassing, convenient terminology such as “Caucasian” or “white” obscures many factors that influence the constant negotiation involved in identity formation. I am also researching how space (Las Vegas) facilitates the construction of identity, the media’s role in the establishment of ethnic identity and also the presentation and influence of language ideologies in popular culture.