Digital Commons Network^™

Re-Cycling The Menstrual Cycle: A Multidisciplinary Reinterpretation Of Menstruation, Heather H. Rea

Masters Theses

This thesis offers a reinterpretation of the human female menstrual cycle that understands the process as positive, functional, and practical experience. Standard western definitions and understandings of menstruation use negative terminology and focus on menstrual blood as an indicator of failed conception. This view contributes significantly to the negative perception women have of menstruation in general, their own menstrual cycles, and ultimately of their femaleness. This fundamental, physiological process that symbolizes femaleness, the menstrual cycle, has been defined both, bio-medically and culturally, as a negative experience. I propose a reconceptualization of the menstrual cycle that is not only a tool …

The Morphometric Relationship Of Upper Cave 101 And 103 To Modern Homo Sapiens, Deborah Lenz Cornell

Masters Theses

Upper Cave 101 and Upper Cave 103 (UC 101 and UC 103), the much argued over Homo sapiens fossils from Zhoukoudian, China, figure prominently into discussions of modem human origins. Adherents to the Multiregional model see the Zhoukoudian fossils as exhibiting some of the same Asian characteristics that can be seen in modern Asian populations. On the other hand, proponents of the Out-of-Africa model see anything and everything but Asian features, frequently pointing out African characteristics which they claim are retentions of features from the initial exodus of modern humans.

UC 101 and UC 103 were compared to Howells' modern …

Community Empowerment And Social Policy Design: A Case Study Of The Creation Of A School-Based Health Center, R. Ian Costello

Masters Theses

Studies of community empowerment have shown the benefits of involving recipient communities in the process of designing and implementing social aid programs. One of these benefits is the empowerment of previously disenfranchised individuals and communities. Through qualitative ethnographic research, this thesis shows how residents of one low-income community in South-West Michigan have become more empowered through their involvement in the design and implementation of a school-based health center.

Latitudinal Gradient In The Body Mass Index (Bmi), And The Bmi's Geometric And Statistical Relationships To The Surface Area: Volume Ratio And Body Shape, Brandy Lea O'Neil

Masters Theses

The body mass index (BMI), weight/height² (W/H²), is currently the index of choice for assessment of nutritional status. Statements in the literature about the BMI as a potential expression of “cold adaptation” or “Bergmann’s Rule” beg the question: What does that BMI measure in terms of size, shape, and the surface area:volume (SA:V) ratio? Geometric modeling shows that the BMI captures both size and shape and is inversely related to the SA:V ratio. This admixture of size/shape information, combined with the unmeaningful absolute value of the BMI, preclude precise understanding of what it measures. A new weight-height-based …

Microscopic Enamel Defects In A Contemporary Population: Biological And Social Implications, Lise Marie Mifsud

Masters Theses

In this study, the frequency of microscopic defects in enamel, termed Wilson bands, are analyzed according to socioeconomic affiliation, the sex, and ethnicity of the individual. The sample consists of 193 anterior teeth collected from private practice and public health oral surgeon's offices. These defects have been studied in great detail by dental researchers, dental anthropologists, and bioarchaeologists to ascertain: etiology, morphology, inter- and intra- population differences, prehistoric diet and health, and dietary and morbidity conditions of underprivileged contemporary populations.

The results of this study are compared to results of previous researchers and similarities and differences in findings are discussed. …

Urban Slave Diet In Early Knoxville: Faunal Remains From Blount Mansion, Knoxville, Tennessee, Carey Lamar Coxe

Masters Theses

The vertebrate faunal remains recovered during excavations at the Blount Mansion Slave Cabin, located at Blount Mansion, Knoxville, Tennessee provide a rare opportunity to address the dietary refuse from an urban slave context in the Upland South region. The material was analyzed and data compared to faunal data from three other slave sites on Upland South plantations, Mabry, Locust Grove, and the Hermitage, and one Upland South yeoman farm site, the Gibbs House site. These comparisons revealed that the urban slaves at Blount Mansion appear to have consumed much more fish than rural slaves and farmers in the uplands. Also, …

A Biocultural Analysis Of Intentional Dental Modifications, Derek Christiaan Benedix

Masters Theses

When we consider how painful dental drilling is now in spite of the advances of science with respect to anesthesia and modern instruments, we cannot help but think how much those people must have suffered from the filing and dental preparations which were performed. (Fastlicht 1948:319)

Human teeth provide an excellent source of information about an individual's past. Because of this, scientists study the range of characteristics manifested in teeth. One such characteristic is dental modification. Modification of the human dentition has a long and varied history in numerous cultures (see Milner and Larsen 1991). This study explores the practice …

A Multiplicity Of Goals In A Migrant Household, Patrick James Maher

Masters Theses

This paper explores data collected on Mexican migrants who were living in southwestern Michigan during the Spring and Summer of 1994. Its purpose is to examine the role of the family among one migrant household and to determine whether the findings coincide with other studies completed on Mexican migrant families.

The data examined indicates two major problems in applying its findings to current migration literature. The first involves the concept of a 'united family unit' and the second relates to the notion of a 'common family goal.' The data suggests that the theory on which these concepts are based must …

"She Protects Her Girls": The Legend Of Mary Hawkins At Pemberton Hall, Margaret Allen-Kline

Masters Theses

The tradition of the legend of Mary Hawkins provides an example of how urban legends develop and circulate in a community. The legend is a part of a larger tradition of story telling and of urban legends such as "The Roommate's Death" which follow the same format. The legend is believed to be true, and many believe an actual event is the basis for the story. It is perpetuated by word of mouth, and like a ripple in a still body of water, it reaches beyond the campus and into the mainstream of the local community by means of the …