Digital Commons Network^™

“Praying And Eating”: The Preservation Of Jewish Food Traditions In The Wake Of Brexit Trauma, Angela Hanratty

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

This research examines the impact that Brexit, the Northern Ireland Protocol, and the Windsor Framework have had on the food traditions of the Jewish population of Ireland, through focusing on the lived experience of the Jewish communities of Belfast and Dublin and their collective memory. While there has been much debate on the lasting effect of the UK leaving the EU on industry and agriculture, the deleterious impact on the kosher observant in Ireland has been less documented, with specific challenges for the preservation of food traditions in a community with a history “full of praying and eating” (Maurice Cohen, …

Collective Memory, Culinary Continuity, And Solemn Repasts: Lagana, Itria And The History Of Pasta In Southern Italy, Anthony F. Buccini

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

Though today it is communis opinio that the Arabs introduced pasta, especially dried pasta, to Sicily and from there it spread to the continent, there is no evidence to support this theory (Buccini 2013, 2015b, 2024). There is, however, ample evidence both textual and linguistic that this food has been known in southern Italy at least since classical times. Here I argue that an examination of holiday foods, especially those of what I call “solemn holidays,” provides further evidence that pasta has been an integral part of southern Italian cuisine for a very long time.

An Urban Vegetable Garden: A Blooming For The Food Memory Of The Future, Cynthia Luderer

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

This work concerns an urban vegetable garden beyond 200 plots in Famalicão (northern Portugal) and aims to check out mnemic narratives circulating there linked to gastronomy and technical agricultural resources that have been used in the past. This research has been developed since last December/2022 and will check this environment for four seasons of the year. Its methodology is based on an ethnographic exercise, using flanerie dynamics and the application of interviews with open-ended questions. This analysis is supported by the Anthropology of Food, the concept of Collective Memory, by Halbwachs, and the Semiotics of Culture, by Iuri Lotman, approaching …

Between Memory And History: Irish Pubs As Sites Of Memory And Invention, Perry Share, Moonyoung Hong

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

The pub has been at the centre of Irish culture and identity for at least two centuries, has become a pillar of the Irish tourism “product,” and an export commodity as thousands of themed “Irish pubs” have been established across the world in the last number of decades, supplementing existing establishments that have served the global Irish community. This paper draws on key themes from the diverse material in our upcoming academic volume on the Irish pub, to be published by Cork University Press, later in 2024. The book brings together contributions from scholars of history, sociology, design, literature, culinary …

Forbidden Fruit: Mary Cassatt’S Mural Of “Modern Woman” At The World’S Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893, Tricia Cusack

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

This paper considers a large mural of “The Modern Woman” painted in France by the American artist Mary Cassatt for the Woman’s Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. It focuses in particular on the large central panel of the mural titled Young Women Plucking the Fruits of Knowledge or Science that depicts women and girls apple-picking. Cassatt’s mural drew on various traditions and myths. Apple harvesting was a common sight in America. Cassatt’s title though points to the story of Eve and forbidden fruit, in which Eve seeks knowledge, but is severely punished for it. Cassatt …

Bittersweet Spirits: Transnational Food Memory And The Persistent Production Of Non-Mainstream Alcohol In Trinidad, Shrinagar Indra Francis

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

Whether we perceive the process of food leaving its mark on our culture as a function of genetic or collective memory, or a combination, informs the ways we interrogate the continued existence of these foods and their practices across time and landscapes. Within the postcolonial context, the process of re-embodiment is an inherently bittersweet one in that it comes as a consequence of loss and rupture and is motivated by a desire to be remade. Prior to colonialism, the production of alcohol was a profound aspect of the lives of the many peoples of West and West-Central Africa. Descendants of …

An Anthropologist Goes Offshore, Or, Creating An Actor-Network Among Finance Elites, Samuel Weeks, Ma, Phd

College of Humanities and Sciences Faculty Papers

This article discusses the methodological implications of a recent study on Luxembourg’s offshore financial center. Insight from actor-network theory was essential in undertaking its ethnographic research with elites from the country’s state and financial institutions. My intention in documenting this approach is to provide a template for ethnographers studying other localized contexts of global politico-economic significance, in which elite actors usually seek to curtail the enquiries of investigators. With this actor-network from Luxembourg as an example, I demonstrate how elite and difficult-to-access milieus can be entered via “networking” coupled with outreach via interviews and email correspondence. As I show, by …

Living With An Altered Body: A Qualitative Account Of Body Image With Cancer Diagnosis And Its Treatment Among Women In Kolkata, West Bengal, India, Mehboobun Nahar Milky

The Qualitative Report

Cancer diagnosis and its treatments influence the body image of patients in addition to bodily functioning. This qualitative study explores cancer patients' experiences with their bodies following cancer diagnosis and its treatment. For this study, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with five female cancer patients were conducted in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The interviews were transcribed verbatim to include the insider’s perspective and then analysed using thematic analysis. The findings are divided into three major themes and eight sub-themes: the altered body (changed appearance, failing functional capabilities), emotional conflicts (feelings and emotions, loss of identity), and coping strategies (avoidance, clothing adjustments, social …

Sculpting Aesthetic Experiences Through Autistic Indigenous Knowledge, Manuel A. Sánchez Peña

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

The intersection between the autistic mind and the experience of aesthetic elements sculpts a distinct lens through which individuals could explain and appreciate the human experience. Differences between neurotypicals and autistics in terms of sensory experience, cognition and communication, combined with knowledge produced by the Philosophy, Psychology, and Anthropology fields in Aesthetics permit the application of the Neurodiversity Paradigm as a source to explain the perception of aesthetics in the collective. The complexity of these experiences in autistic people not only expands deeper comprehension on aesthetic experiences and all its relativisms, but also illustrates neurodiversity as a form of cultural …

Authorizing Violence: Spatial Techniques Of Citizenship Politics In Northeast India, Samarth Vachhrajani

Masters of Environmental Design Theses

Authorizing Violence: Spatial Techniques of Citizenship Politics in Northeast India studies the spatial and legal instruments through which Hindu Nationalism and its political front, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), operates in Northeast India. I document the means through which authoritarian power has been introduced into a democratic structure of governance. Emphasizing the role of architecture and spatial knowledge, I attend to how the violence of disenfranchisement and dispossession is legitimized under the force of law.

For this, Chapter 1, entitled 'Legislating Containment,' turns to the legal instrument of citizenship and studies the Goalpara detention center and multi-purpose criminal …

The Archeology Of Adoption: Tracing The Journey From Birth Through Adoption Using Pre-Adoptive Artifacts, Ellen Reeve

Educational Studies Dissertations

Adults adopted in childhood often face a heightened susceptibility to psychological and behavioral challenges compared with their non-adopted peers. Scholars examining this phenomenon associate various factors, including an adoptee’s sense of self as an individual within a complex adoption background. This qualitative study utilized a material engagement theory to explore birth through adoptive narratives among adults adopted in closed settings during childhood. Through participatory research, participants examined a range of artifacts related to maternal relinquishment, encompassing foster and adoption records, original birth certificates, letters, photographs, birthmarks, clothing, hair, scars, and DNA test results. The study focused on understanding these artifacts’ …

Playing With International Students From Asia: An Exploration Of Cultural Commonalities And Differences In Developmental Transformations (Dvt), Hazuki Okamoto

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Asian international students in the United States face a multitude of challenges such as language barriers, differences in cultural norms and behaviors, and identity confusion while navigating a foreign landscape. Developmental Transformations (DvT), a form of drama therapy, may apply to these challenges by enabling participants to explore different identities and express themselves creatively beyond the language barrier. This community engagement project was designed for Asian international students to be seen and heard by utilizing DvT. Within an in-person workshop, five participants played with their shared stories, and explored international and cultural roles in group DvT. Key takeaways from the …

Creative Resilience Against Racism Among Asian Americans: Development Of A Method, Janice Chen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The experience of racism is inevitable and can become internalized when racism is persistent. As an Asian American woman, I am interested in exploring how art can be used as a form of resilience against internalized racism among Asian Americans. Racism against Asian Americans and recent immigrants from Asia has always existed throughout the history of the United States. Systematic laws, institutional policies, and cultural norms have set rules and narratives to put Asian Americans at a disadvantage. In addition, Asian Americans may have difficulty opening the conversation about racism. Internalized racism can cause physical and mental harm. I used …

Work To Live Or Live To Work? How Work Culture Has Influenced Workers Rights In France And The United States, Noa R. Kukurudz

Senior Theses

Work culture is something that employees live through but don’t often think about. The basis of a work culture is rooted in the societies it is part of, most often associated with the countries where the work is based. There exists a strong relationship between work culture and the rights of workers. Workers rights aid in further emphasizing sentiments regarding work culture through legislation. A culture that places a heavy emphasis on work rather than on personal enjoyment outside of a work environment will have different labor laws than a culture that appreciates the finer things in life by making …

“We Party As A Form Of Survival”: Clubbing During Economic Crisis In Beirut, Lebanon, Saumya Grover

Senior Theses

2020s Lebanon is wrought by a banking crisis, a refugee crisis, infrastructural issues, border conflict, and an unstable government—yet its nightlife scene is thriving. This has been the case since the onset of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) when discotheques and nightclubs emerged in the region despite the decimated infrastructure and beleaguered nation. Although that war period has drawn considerable scholarly attention, there is limited scholarship on the persistence of the clubbing scene during the nation’s troubles of the 2020s. This project studies the vibrant Lebanese nightlife scene in contrast with the various crises the country is experiencing. Rendering my …

Hafekasi: The History, Identity & Cultural Perspectives Of Multi-Ethnic Tongans, Katrina Nt Tu'akoi

Master's Projects and Capstones

Tongans are a Polynesian people similar in identity to their close cousins in neighboring Samoa, Hawai’i, New Zealand, and Tahiti. Tonga is the last surviving Polynesian kingdom in the Pacific. It is a nation comprised of over 170 islands which are both coral and volcanic. The islands were also called “The Friendly Islands” by British Captain James Cook in the 1700s because of their warm and welcoming people. Tongans have intermarried for many centuries, more so than ever before in recent decades. They have intermarried amongst other Polynesians like Samoans. The first official mixing across racial lines occurred with Fijians …

Exploring The Evolution Of Altruistic Punishment Using A Pde Model For Multilevel Selection, Daniel Cooney

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Shaming State: How The U.S. Treats Citizens In Need, Steve Matthewman

Critical Disaster Studies

Salman’s book centers two different constituencies, in two different locations, in the 2010s, who have been impacted by two different disasters. The first group are Iraqi refugees who have been resettled in Wayne County, Michigan. Trying to start again over half a world away, they are trapped in the transit lounge of life, never able to move on, never able to properly belong. They found a state in recession, the automobile industry collapsing, the city of Detroit bankrupt. Their particular county had higher unemployment than the state’s average and a poor median income as well. Economically speaking, ‘Michigan fared worse …

The Influence Of Preventive Dental Care And Its Role On The Patient-Provider Relationship, Maria Figueroa

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Queer Rural Youth Online: A Digital Ethnography, Joseph R. Burns

Student Research Symposium

This presentation is based on digital ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2023 within Queer subcommunities on the social media sites Reddit and Twitter (now known as X) and data collected from interviews with Queer rural youth members of these communities. The data reveal that social media use directly influences the lives and actions of Queer rural youth, who use the space to build social connections, shape their personal identities, and seek advice pertaining to their in-person lives and decisions. By using these spaces, Queer rural youth build both bonding and bridging social capital, learn to subvert restrictions to their Internet access, …

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Prosperity: Harnessing Traditional Ecological Knowledge To Revitalize Australia's Economy, Environment, And Human Wellbeing, Annabelle L. Baulch

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper explores the traditional knowledge of Australia’s Indigenous people and how it can improve Australia's environment, health, and economic prosperity to shape a more sustainable future. Indigenous Australians managed the land for thousands of years; however, being forced off the land following European colonization resulted in terrible cultural, social, and environmental disruption for Aboriginal Australians and made conservation efforts difficult. Wildfires, imported species, mining, and agriculture is steadily destroying the Australian ecosystem, contributing to climate change, species extinction, and gaps in our cultural and ancestral knowledge. Chapter One overviews Australia's environmental issues; it uses quantitative data to explore the …

Review Of Tales Of Dionysus: The Dionysiaca Of Nonnus Of Panopolis, Dominic Greenlee

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

No abstract provided.

Egyptianization: Tackling Faulty Narratives With Respect To Ancient Nubian And Ancient Egyptian Relationships, Antony Schultz

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

The study of Ancient Nubia has been beset by barriers to accurate information. One such barrier, Egyptocentrism, negatively impacts the narrative of Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Nubian relationships by solely placing focus on Egypt without regard to Nubia. Egyptocentric thought, such as the idea of “Egyptianization”, and the theory of Egypt in a vacuum are two of the most poignant narratives perpetrated by scholars. Egyptianization implies the assimilation of Egyptian traits and downplays Nubian identity, agency, and culture. It suggests that Nubians lacked a distinct culture of their own and relied upon Egypt for their identity and ability to nation …

Folklore And Zooarchaeology: Nonhuman Animal's Representation In The Historical Narrative, Nicholas Miller

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

It has been argued before that archaeology and folklore go hand-in-hand, with a variety of scholarship and studies focusing on landscapes and monuments in reference to this pair; however, this research argues for a different approach. As the title suggests, this paper engages with folklore topics and zooarchaeological data to argue that faunal remains (along with landscapes and monuments) are intertwined and cannot be separated from the historical narrative. While faunal evidence helps provide scientific explanations of the natural interconnectedness of humans and nonhuman animals, folklore aids in creating and developing cultural understandings. By exploring the relationship between humans and …

Characteristic And Defining Markers Of Pcos, Chawki A. Belhadi

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most frequently occurring endocrine disorders in women. The syndrome is diagnosed through a heterogeneous combination of androgen excess, anovulation, and ovarian dysfunction and is characterized by a host of resulting markers. This paper will paint the overall diagnostic picture of the condition and review a number of these markers to build an essential picture of PCOS. It will concentrate first on its principal metabolic markers then describe its physical, neurological and psychobehavioral markers. Each section will then abstract an essential picture from the data it presents. Finally, the review will conclude with …

Juvenile Play Behavior In Cohabitating Captive Siamangs (Symphalangus Syndactylus) And Orangutans (Pongo Abelii), Jo Gansemer

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

This research looks at the social play habits of a juvenile orangutan and juvenile siamang housed together at the San Diego Zoo, hypothesizing that the juvenile apes would prefer heterospecific juveniles as play partners over conspecific adults in the absence of conspecific juveniles. Using the San Diego Ape Cam for ten hours of focal animal sampling, the activity budgets for the juveniles were assembled, with emphasis on the rates of social versus solo play. The study confirmed, in this specific context, that the apes preferred heterospecific juvenile play to conspecific play with adults.

One Day At A Time, Four Decades Apart: An Analysis Of The Doxic, Mimetic, And Diagnostic Performances In The Original And Rebooted Pilots Of The Classic Norman Lear Show, Katrina Frank

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

In the modern era, it has become easier than ever to watch serial shows, whether they air on primetime television or are released on subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. However, the lack of Latinx representation in these shows is severely lacking. This is why shows like the rebooted Norman Lear classic One Day at a Time are so important to the audiences it reaches. Shows with Latinx actors and storylines can impact the way their Latinx audience members view themselves and break the stereotypes associated with them (Contreras 2021).

By analyzing several scenes from both the 1975 and 2017 pilot episodes …

The Question Of Design In The Context Of The First Australian Nations: Designing Reparations Through Decolonial Architecture, Eli Abamonte

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Forget about tourist postcards and picture-perfect landscapes. Australia's true heart beats in the ancient stories of the Indigenous communities that tell them, their vibrant cultural tapestry woven beneath the surface. My research dives into this tapestry, not as an Architect with blueprints imposing my own vision, but as a student with an open ear and collaborative spirit. Australia’s vastness holds countless stories, but my research led me deep into the heart of East Arnhem Land, where ancient legends whisper in the wind and the Yolngu people dwell. Anthropologists like Bruno Descola shattered my singular view of the world, revealing a …

Mexican Money Laundering In The United States: Analysis And Proposals For Reform, Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, Charles Lewis, William R. Yaworsky

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article explains some of the mechanisms through which corruption by high-level Mexican politicians and other organized crime members is facilitated in the United States through money laundering operations. The analysis is based on information contained in court records related to key money laundering cases, as well as in news articles and reports from law enforcement agencies. These materials highlight the interrelationships among U.S. drug use, cartel activities in Mexico, human rights abuses, Mexican political corruption, and money laundering in the United States. This work demonstrates the pervasive use of legitimate businesses and fronts in the United States as a …

Evaluating Neanderthal Depopulation With Direct Neanderthal And Châtelperronian Radiocarbon Data, Thomas K. Lyman

Honors Thesis

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) inhabited Eurasia approximately 350,000 years ago before experiencing population decline and disappearing from the archaeological record around 40,000 years ago (Yaworsky et al. 1). Radiocarbon dating has played a major role in establishing the timing of the last Neanderthals by both dating their skeletal remains and animal bones associated with their material culture. Widely discussed in the context of the last Neanderthals are the Châtelperronian stratigraphic layers as they possibly contain the last of Neanderthal material culture in regions of France and Spain. Whether the Châtelperronian should be attributed to Neanderthals or Anatomically Modern Humans (AMHs) …