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Linguistic Relativity And Multilingualism, Nicholas M. Casorio Dec 2015

Linguistic Relativity And Multilingualism, Nicholas M. Casorio

HIM 1990-2015

Over the last decade, linguistic relativity has seen a resurgence in research and discourse on thought, language, and culture. One particular facet of this research, multilingualism, has been relatively sparse in comparison to the wealth of research available focusing on individual languages and monolingual speakers. This study represents a preliminary investigation that enters this arena by focusing specifically on how speakers of English as a second language use English basic color terms in respect to monolingual speakers. This is done by using a modified methodology from the World Color Survey as a comparative model of a speaker’s division of colors. …


Playing With Fire: An Ethnographic Look At How Polyamory Functions In The Central Florida Burner Community, Maleia Mikesell Aug 2015

Playing With Fire: An Ethnographic Look At How Polyamory Functions In The Central Florida Burner Community, Maleia Mikesell

HIM 1990-2015

This thesis asks the question as to whether polyamory functions as a community glue or solvent for the Central Florida Burner Community. It explores the definition of polyamory and how it relates to the Burner counter-culture. This thesis explores what polyamory's effects are on the individual and community levels for those who participate in it. The findings concluded that overall the participants reported a perceived positive impact on both the individual level and on community cohesion in this case. The participants also revealed that the environment Burning Man provides is generally open and welcoming of polyamory.


The Performance Of Health? Motivations Behind University Students' Decisions To Wear Athletic Attire, Shannon Payne Aug 2015

The Performance Of Health? Motivations Behind University Students' Decisions To Wear Athletic Attire, Shannon Payne

HIM 1990-2015

"Athleisure" is a relatively new term to the American lexicon, a portmanteau used to describe athletic clothing used for leisure purposes. Recent studies show a disconnect between consumers' desire to purchase athletic attire and the percentage of Americans considered "active to a healthy level and beyond." While athletic wear sales skyrocket, reported levels of inactivity have slowly increased in recent years. These trends indicate a phenomenon in which consumers prioritize ownership of athletic wear over athletics. In this research, I set out to answer the following research questions: How do university students interpret and understand the purchase and wearing of …


Understanding Gender Identity Among Women Cosplayers Of The Gotham City Sirens, Amber Morrison May 2015

Understanding Gender Identity Among Women Cosplayers Of The Gotham City Sirens, Amber Morrison

HIM 1990-2015

As popular culture has an increasing presence in America, so do its various sub-cultures. One of such sub-cultures is the world of comic book fans known as cosplayers. Cosplayers dress-up and emulate characters at comic book conventions throughout the United States and the world—a practice known as cosplay, also described as costume-play. Despite the growing popularity of cosplay, little is known about this population. In this research, I set out to answer the following research question: why are women choosing to dress-up and embody these characters (the Gotham City Sirens) when they are often viewed as oversexualized. In order to …


Stable Isotope Evidence For The Geographic Origins And Military Movement Of Napoleonic Soldiers During The March From Moscow In 1812, Serenela Pelier May 2015

Stable Isotope Evidence For The Geographic Origins And Military Movement Of Napoleonic Soldiers During The March From Moscow In 1812, Serenela Pelier

HIM 1990-2015

In 2001, 3269 unidentified individuals were found in a mass grave on the Northern part of Vilnius, Lithuania. Artifactual context indicates that these individuals were likely soldiers that were a part of Napoleon’s Grand Army. Stable oxygen isotope analysis was performed on bone apatite from 9 femoral bone samples to determine whether or not these individuals were Lithuanian locals and to test ratio variation. If individuals were foreigners, then geographical origins were approximated utilizing percentages of C4 plants from Holder (2013) and δ18O values that were extracted from bone apatite. The carbonate oxygen isotope compositions (δ18Ocarbonate) of bone apatite from …


"What We Eat Matters": Perspectives On Food And Health In The Mexican Im/Migrant Farmworker Communities In Indian River County, Florida, Hugo Puerto Jan 2015

"What We Eat Matters": Perspectives On Food And Health In The Mexican Im/Migrant Farmworker Communities In Indian River County, Florida, Hugo Puerto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dramatic increase of type-2 diabetes within the Latino community is of great concern in the U.S., especially among Mexican im/migrant farmworkers. Anthropological scholarship shows that health issues within im/migrant groups in the U.S. are poorly understood from a sociocultural and local perspective. In Indian River County, Florida, farmworker leaders created a community garden in response to health problems in this community. This initiative was launched to educate families about the health and economic benefits of growing their own food. The Indian River County Health Department and the local leaders are working collaboratively to inform the community about the risks …


Exploring Social Identity Through Stable Isotope Analysis In The Kellis 2 Cemetery, Kaitlin East Jan 2015

Exploring Social Identity Through Stable Isotope Analysis In The Kellis 2 Cemetery, Kaitlin East

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The material remains of ancient Egypt provide extensive and wide ranging data about the empire throughout its history. However, little evidence is available from ancient Egypt, or any past culture, with which to rebuild an image of social identity or individual experiences. This is especially problematic when the dominant narrative ignores experiences of minorities and minimizes the variation existing throughout the empire. Stable isotope analysis has the potential to reveal variability in lived experience of past peoples by acting as a proxy for behavior that can be analyzed from bone. Such an approach has been applied on individuals from the …


Settlement History And Interaction In The Manialtepec Basin Of Oaxaca's Central Coast, Victoria Menchaca Jan 2015

Settlement History And Interaction In The Manialtepec Basin Of Oaxaca's Central Coast, Victoria Menchaca

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the focus of over 70 years* of archaeological research, Oaxaca, Mexico, is one of Mesoamerica*s best understood regions. Yet, despite the volume of work in Oaxaca, information about one of its key resource areas, the central Pacific coast, remains limited. Specifically, the ambiguous role of Oaxaca*s Central Coast in interregional relationships during pre-Hispanic times to the sites of Monte Alban and Tututepec has been a chronic problem and major source of debate for decades. The purpose of this thesis is to begin clarifying the role of Oaxaca*s Central Coast in interregional networks and its pre-Hispanic history. Analysis utilized surface …


Regional Affiliation: An Examination Of Rio Viejo Middens As Evidence For Scaled-Up Practice At Surrounding Sites., Carlo Lucido Jan 2015

Regional Affiliation: An Examination Of Rio Viejo Middens As Evidence For Scaled-Up Practice At Surrounding Sites., Carlo Lucido

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research project analyzes 5 middens from the Lower Rio Verde valley sites of Río Viejo and Yugüe, Oaxaca, Mexico, during the Terminal Formative period (150 BC to AD 250). The middens are analyzed to further our understanding of socio-political events in public spaces at both sites during this time. The study suggests a greater distinction in use of public spaces between the two sites than within Río Viejo. Frameworks established by Dietler and Hayden for the analysis of feasts do not seem to apply well to the middens analyzed here. Although I argue that evidence from Rio Viejo's middens …


An Examination Of The Progression Of Fracture Propagation In Long Bones During The Postmortem Period In Central Florida, Ashley Green Jan 2015

An Examination Of The Progression Of Fracture Propagation In Long Bones During The Postmortem Period In Central Florida, Ashley Green

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The forensic anthropologist is often tasked with analyzing skeletal trauma and determining time since death. Differentiating between perimortem and postmortem fractures can be difficult when bone retains fresh characteristics in the postmortem interval. As a result, it is important to conduct research that investigates timing of injury in the postmortem period by observing fracture characteristics created at known postmortem intervals. Investigation into the timing of injury was undertaken in this study over a four month time period. By fracturing bones using a custom impact device, specific morphological characteristics that are typically used in trauma analysis were created for analysis. Long …


Community Identity And The Archaeological Complex Of Túcume, Perú: A Synthesis Of Cranial And Dental Nonmetric Variation, Wesley Garrett Jan 2015

Community Identity And The Archaeological Complex Of Túcume, Perú: A Synthesis Of Cranial And Dental Nonmetric Variation, Wesley Garrett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The archaeological complex of Túcume was once a regional center of political and religious importance on the north coast of Perú (ca. AD 1000-1532). Previous research into the identity of the individuals interred at the site has yielded conflicting results. Within this intrasite biodistance analysis, community identity as reflected in the cranial and dental nonmetric variation and burial patterns is examined. This research also addresses methodological issues in nonmetric biodistance studies by examining the utility of combining cranial and dental nonmetric datasets. The sample examined (n=161) includes male and female crania from five distinct burial locations within Túcume. Gower's coefficient …


The Effects Of Western Medicine On The Livelihood Of Zulu Traditional Herbal Healers In South Africa, Holly K. Bahamonde Jan 2015

The Effects Of Western Medicine On The Livelihood Of Zulu Traditional Herbal Healers In South Africa, Holly K. Bahamonde

HIM 1990-2015

The majority of South African citizens experience inadequate healthcare due to underfunding, mismanagement, staff shortages, and infrastructure problems. Before a healthcare system was created, the sick turned to traditional herbal healers for care. South Africa’s Zulu healers possess specialized knowledge of local plants and medicine thought to have physical and spiritual healing properties. The country’s increasing reliance on Western biomedicine has created a current concern from indigenous medicine conservationists regarding the future of this kind of knowledge. In order to assess the effects of Western medicine on traditional healing practices, I collected data on the various uses of traditional medicine, …


Practical Use Of Ground Penetrating Radar: A Survey Of Coastal Historic Cemeteries In Brevard County, Florida, William Boynton Jan 2015

Practical Use Of Ground Penetrating Radar: A Survey Of Coastal Historic Cemeteries In Brevard County, Florida, William Boynton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) research conducted in coastal environments is one area that is lacking in archaeology. Surveys conducted in this type of environment afford the opportunity to evaluate the practical use GPR under field conditions. Coastal environments are effective for this evaluation because they offer a host of conditions that GPR surveys do not normally encounter at one time. The relationship of the land to the coast, sub-surface conditions and reliable survey areas create a "perfect storm" to test how practical the use of GPR is in coastal environments. This research is a study of homestead cemeteries situated within …


Garden Soils: Reviewing The Viability Of Soil Phosphate Analyses In The Archaeological Identification Of Ancient Maya Kitchen Gardens, Cheryl Foster Jan 2015

Garden Soils: Reviewing The Viability Of Soil Phosphate Analyses In The Archaeological Identification Of Ancient Maya Kitchen Gardens, Cheryl Foster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of ancient Maya intensive, intra-site agricultural systems, such as kitchen gardens, has gained new interest in recent years as a valuable way of interpreting numerous aspects of the ancient Maya's daily life (e.g. subsistence and settlement patterns, population growth, diet and nutrition, gender roles). However, while contemporary Maya kitchen gardens can often be easily identified and studied by cultural anthropologists and archaeologists, ancient kitchen gardens are usually much harder to identify by traditional archaeological techniques because of their lack of architectural structures and other identifying features. To compensate for this limitation, various forms of chemical testing (primarily phosphate …


Chetumal's Dragonglass: Postclassic Obsidian Production And Exchange At Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, Max Seidita Jan 2015

Chetumal's Dragonglass: Postclassic Obsidian Production And Exchange At Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, Max Seidita

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Obsidian is one of the most common materials preserved in the archaeological record of Mesoamerica. Because of this and obsidian's unique chemical properties, it has become one of the most common means by which to explain ancient exchange and production. Northern Belize has largely been absent from discussions of Postclassic Mesoamerican economies. The limited amount of obsidian research that has been done is unable to draw comparisons to the region's primary site during this period, Santa Rita Corozal. This thesis remedies this by exploring the importation, production, and distribution of obsidian at the Postclassic Maya primary center of Santa Rita …


The Crypt People From The Cathedral Basilica Of Saints Stanislaus And Vladislaus, Vilnius, Lithuania: Reconstruction Of Life Histories Using Stable Isotope Analysis, Kaylee Schotten Jan 2015

The Crypt People From The Cathedral Basilica Of Saints Stanislaus And Vladislaus, Vilnius, Lithuania: Reconstruction Of Life Histories Using Stable Isotope Analysis, Kaylee Schotten

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stable isotope analyses of multiple tissue types have been used to reconstruct life histories of individuals from past populations. This thesis presents the life history reconstructions of a unique population recovered from a 16th to 18th century cathedral crypt located in Vilnius, Lithuania. The sample consists of 23 individuals (21 males, one possible female, and one juvenile). Stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope analyses were performed on bone and dentin collagen, and on bone and enamel hydroxyapatite, resulting in eight isotope values per individual, providing both childhood and adult dietary and migration information. For bone collagen the average δ13C isotope …


Diagenetic Changes In Long Bones In Central Florida: A Preliminary Macro- And Microscopic Comparison Of Sun And Shade Microenvironments, Mikayla Overholtzer Jan 2015

Diagenetic Changes In Long Bones In Central Florida: A Preliminary Macro- And Microscopic Comparison Of Sun And Shade Microenvironments, Mikayla Overholtzer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In forensic investigations, the estimation of time since death is of utmost importance when examining decomposing bodies and skeletal remains. Current methodology typically focuses on the gross and macroscopic changes to human remains. Surprisingly, microscopic analysis of diagenetic change has not been fully researched in regards to time since death. The current study involved the analysis of diagenetic change in 15 pig (Sus scrofa) long bones from two microenvironments (sun and shade) in the subtropical environment of Central Florida. While the control bone was not placed in the field, seven bones were placed in the sun microenvironment and seven in …


Childhood Diet And Mobility At Medieval (1240s Ad) Solt-Tetelhegy, Hungary As Reconstructed From Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, And Oxygen Isotope Analysis, Ariana Gugora Jan 2015

Childhood Diet And Mobility At Medieval (1240s Ad) Solt-Tetelhegy, Hungary As Reconstructed From Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, And Oxygen Isotope Analysis, Ariana Gugora

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Between 2005 and 2009, archaeologists excavated more than 100 skeletons from the medieval (1240s AD) Hungarian site of Solt-Tételhegy. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted on dental enamel and dentin from 24 individuals to examine their childhood diet. Although previous stable isotopic research has described the diet of medieval European peoples, this is the first such study on a medieval Hungarian population. The enamel ?13C values range from -14.4‰ to -8.6‰, with a mean of -11.1‰, while the dentin ?13C values range from -19.4‰ to -14.9‰, with an average of -17.4‰. These data indicate that C3 plants were …


Evaluation Of An Early Classic Round Structure At Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, Rachael Kangas Jan 2015

Evaluation Of An Early Classic Round Structure At Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, Rachael Kangas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Round structures in the Maya area are an architectural form that is not well understood, in part due to the relatively few examples recovered through archaeological excavations. The site of Santa Rita Corozal, Belize offers one of the few examples of an Early Classic Period round structure (Structure 135) in the Maya region, one that is distinctive in its timing and architectural form. This thesis seeks to compare Structure 135 with the patterns of round structures identified in the Preclassic and Terminal/early Postclassic Periods, when there are comparatively more examples and to pinpoint the multiple construction periods evidenced in the …


Urban Agriculture Within The Valley Of Oaxaca: Investigations And Implications Of Agricultural Terracing At Monte Alban, Oaxaca, Anthony Tricarico Jan 2015

Urban Agriculture Within The Valley Of Oaxaca: Investigations And Implications Of Agricultural Terracing At Monte Alban, Oaxaca, Anthony Tricarico

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The implementation of geographic information systems for the analysis of Late Classic (500-800 C.E.) terraces at Monte Albán, reveals a spatial pattern not visible through prior pedestrian site surveys. The Valley of Oaxaca Settlement Pattern Project concluded that nearly all of the 1,464 Late Classic terraces at Monte Albán were used for residential purposes. Spatial analysis tools reveal a greater human-ecological complexity. The goal of this study was to use ArcGIS to map the 1,273 terraces near Monte Albán's ceremonial center and combine them with individually identifiable data sets. Analysis of each terrace, particularly based upon water availability, ceramic distribution, …


Spatial Patterns Of Raised Fields And Linguistic Diversity In Mojos, Beni, Bolivia, Elimarie Garcia-Cosme Jan 2015

Spatial Patterns Of Raised Fields And Linguistic Diversity In Mojos, Beni, Bolivia, Elimarie Garcia-Cosme

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout Amazonia, earthworks are found in areas of diverse linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. The distribution of these earthworks within various linguistic and ethnic areas suggests a multiethnic or multilinguistic network, in which interaction between these diverse groups occurred, creating diverse communities. Movement and communication within Amazonia along river networks allowed for this interaction. Interaction between groups in Amazonia may have also influenced the different methods of landscape modification. This thesis presents a GIS-based spatial analysis of raised fields, a type of agricultural earthwork found throughout the Llanos de Mojos (Mojos), located in the Beni Department of Bolivia. The distribution of …