Digital Commons Network^™

The Beauty Of Hip-Hop Culture: Linguistic Connections Through Music, Poetry, And Literature, Aminah Patel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis enters the developing conversation in the linguistic domain about the culture and struggles of the Black community. It explores the collectivist perspective of the Black community in the 20^th and 21^st century through the umbrella of Linguistics and its subfields. Collectively, the literary and musical works in this study demonstrates the frustrations of the Black community—including its correlation to antebellum slavery—the lamentations of oppression, which showcases in a collection of poems and their syntactical aspects, and the Black pride emulating from the societies. Despite the clear correlation between Hip-Hop culture and literary works from the early …

Chemical Analysis For Phytochemical Residues On Ceramics From Cape Canaveral Archaeological Sites, Jacob Woodard

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study aims to contribute to the field of paleoethnobotany in Florida archaeology by presenting a novel approach to chemical residue analysis using UV-vis spectroscopy. The project's main goals are to develop a spectroscopic method for analyzing ceramics to identify phytochemical residues and present the findings of chemical analysis applied to ceramics from the Cape Canaveral archaeological mitigation project (CCAMP). The study focuses on two sites, the Penny site (8BR158) and Burns site (8BR85) in Florida's Indian River region.

While organic residue analysis (ORA) has been applied to various materials and regions, limited research ORA on has been conducted within …

Beauty In Sorority Life: An Anthropological Analysis Of Beauty Ideals And Body Modification, Delaney C. Mclinden

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Sororities are social organizations on college campuses categorized by selective membership and exclusive social events for active members. This research focuses on how sorority members' ideas about beauty relate to their appearance management behaviors in order to gauge how sorority culture contributes to their understanding of physical beauty. Ethnographic

data collection took place at a university in the southeastern United States. I conducted 17 semi- structured interviews with members of different sororities and participant observation at sorority

recruitment events. There's a common thread that connects every interview: beauty and appearance carry importance. Sorority culture encourages women to put "effort" into …

Diet Change Over Time In The Ais Community Of Cape Canaveral, Florida, Allyson Shenkman

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Diet change over time is assessed for a Malabar II period (900 C.E. to 1565 C.E.) Ais indigenous community in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the Penny Plot site (8BR158). To this end, 7,760 faunal fragments were examined, with 1,876 identified at the species, genus, or family level. Through identification and analysis of faunal remains, it can be concluded that, while the amounts of overall remains left behind as a whole increased, there were no significant changes in the types of fauna utilized or patterns of consumption. This suggests that the indigenous people who occupied this site managed their resources very …

Reconstructing Oral Health In Pre-Hispanic Peru: Antemortem Tooth Loss And Caries As Possible Evidence Of Dental Care In Túcume, Peru, Amy Rodriguez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Evidence of dental manipulation dates back several centuries and is identifiable through modification of human skeletal remains and the remnants of ancient tools. The act of caring for dental patients, on the other hand, is much more abstract and not as explicitly documented throughout history. Through the analysis of skeletal dentition of individuals from Pre-Hispanic Peru, this research aims to understand possible early forms of dental care practices. Specifically, by calculating the frequency of common dental pathology, I evaluated the possible presence of dental care in Túcume, Peru, during the Late Intermediate Period (1000 to 1500 AD) and what this …

"It's Still Easy To Get": An Anthropological Analysis Of Nicotine Activist Efforts And User Perspectives In Central Florida, Saoulkie Bertin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The absence of federal government consensus on various nicotine policy matters, such as the legality of menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes, gives rise to distinct agendas, policy landscapes, and public attitudes at the state and local levels. As a result, nicotine activist groups and interested stakeholders are actively engaged in shaping the future of nicotine policy and use. This thesis explores the culture of local activist groups in Central Florida to understand how they influence nicotine-related policy change and set the tone for nicotine use in their communities. Drawing on data collected through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with activist …

Paleoethnobotanical Investigation Of Pre-Columbian Archaeological Site 8br158, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida., Jennifer I. Moreno Palacios

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Starch grain residue analysis was conducted on 18 artifacts collected in 2021 from the archaeological site 8BR158 on the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This paleoethnobotanical analysis investigates plant use by the pre-historic inhabitants of the Central Coast of Florida where there is a lack of archaeobotanical research. The starches recovered from the archaeological artifacts were studied in order to identify plants used for culinary and/or medicinal purposes. Wild plants commonly found in Florida, such as acorn (Quercus), were identified in this study that were used for food resources. Domesticated plants such as maize and beans were also …

Evaluating Morphometric Analysis Of The Talus For Biological Sex Assessment In Ancient Maya And Egyptian Archaeological Populations, Melissa N. Marks

Honors Undergraduate Theses

When analyzing skeletal remains in bioarchaeology, the pelvis and skull provide the most accurate results for sex estimation; however, these are not always present or sufficiently preserved to provide quality data for this purpose. In addition, the amount of time spent analyzing human remains in field or museum collection contexts may be constrained. Therefore, alternate methods of sex estimation that also increase efficiency should be explored. This study aims to establish the minimum number of key measurements of the talus necessary to estimate biological sex with a level of accuracy comparable to published studies that are more time intensive in …

Exploring The Relationship Between Nutrition And Cribra Orbitalia: The Comparison Of Dietary Stable Isotope Comparisons Of Juveniles From Kuelap, Peru, Lissette S. Osorio

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A juvenile’s dependency on their caregiver is significant to the overall development of nutritionally related pathological lesions. However, not all skeletal pathology is caused by nutritional stress; despite anemia being the usual inferred cause, the origin of Cribra Orbitalia (CO) – lesions on the orbital roofs of the cranium– is undetermined. The purpose of this research is to compare the reconstructed diets of juveniles with and without CO and explore connections to dietary patterns (inferred from stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen). Rib bone samples of 79 juveniles with and without CO were sampled from the Kuelap archaeological site …

Seasonality And Lanscape Management In The Bolivian Amazon: Landsat Imagery Analysis Of The Quinato Wetland, Jackie Beery

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Quinato wetland, a remnant of a Pleistocene river course through northeastern Bolivia, has undoubtedly been the site of human landscape modification and domestication by pre-Columbian peoples. A 2021 study suggests that these modification practices, which have been tied to seasonal adaptation, were quite different between areas of the wetland. In response to these findings, the present study uses unsupervised classifications from the 50-year span of existent Landsat satellite imagery data, dating from 1972 to 2022, to create a chronological profile of the wetland. This record allows for the assessment of how yearly, seasonal changes to wetland growth and shrinkage …

Fish Weirs Et Alia: A Gis Based Use-Analysis Of Artificial, Pre-Columbian Earthworks In West Central Llanos De Mojos, Bolivia, Charlotte A. Robinson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study employed a GIS-based use-analysis on a network of recently mapped pre-Columbian earthworks lying on the west side of a Bolivian floodplain. This wetland region, called Llanos de Mojos, is home to many different types of artificial mounds that served different roles for the ancient communities who constructed them thousands of years ago. This new set of features, which was mapped by volunteers of the Proyecto Sistemas Informaticas Geograficas y Arqueologicas del Beni (ProSIGAB) was purported to be a network of fish weirs, linear earthworks built in rivers or floodplains that are designed to trap fish by exploiting seasonal …

Parallel Systems Of Health Care: How Grassroots Organizations And Health Care Practitioners Perceive Farmworker Health, Andrea Ocasio Cruz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Socioeconomic and citizenship barriers prevent farmworkers from accessing public health care; thus, grassroots organization members and health care practitioners collaborate to create community health clinics that provide care for farmworkers and low-wage immigrant workers. Such community clinics are known as parallel health care systems, yet the concept's existing literature lacks comprehensive studies on the parallel systems operating within farmworker communities. To fill this research gap, I conducted nine semi-structured interviews to collect the perceptions of key community stakeholders involved in providing accessible health and financial aid to farmworker communities in Florida. I analyzed the interviews through the qualitative grounded theory …

Hxrf Analysis Of Yugüe Obsidian, Jessica L. Clark

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Analysis was performed on a 31-artifact sample of Late Terminal Formative obsidian excavated in 2003 from the archaeological site of Yugüe in the Lower Verde Valley of Oaxaca. This analysis was performed to determine the geochemical sources of the individual obsidian artifacts and replicate a prior study of Yugüe obsidian performed by David T. Williams for his thesis at the University of Colorado. This earlier analysis determined that five obsidian sources were present. Sourcing was accomplished using a handheld X-Ray fluorescence instrument and bivariate plotting of relevant trace elements. Five sources of obsidian were found during analysis: Pachuca, Otumba, Paredon, …

Coffee Is Fluid: A Discussion On Coffee And Its Modernity, Emma L. Angell

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Coffee's worldwide popularity, and especially among Americans, has grown significantly over recent decades. This is credited to the rise of corporate coffee shops like Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, as well as the inescapable presence of coffee marketing on the internet and social media in our everyday lives. This thesis traces coffee's popularity from its early days as a facilitator in increased production rate in factories during the Industrial Revolution up to the popularity it has gained on TikTok and other social media platforms in the 21st century. My research examines the growth of coffee culture in America through participant observation …

An Anthropological Analysis Of Ancient, Historic, And Modern Anatolian Cities, Genevieve S. Hall

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis proposes a model for the comparison of cities as settlement patterns, based primarily on the works of Monica Smith, Michael E. Smith, and V. Gordon Childe. The Tripart Stage-Based Model proposed here examines city proportions, internal specialization, and external specialization, as well as variables within each characteristic. It is intended for use in both the individual study of a settlement's form and function as well as comparative analysis. The Tripart Stage-Based Model operationalizes Monica Smith's triaxial model and creates a progression of analysis beginning with the form of the city before moving through its individual and larger context. …

The Mobilizer And The Mobilized: An Exploration Of "Latinx", Marisa E. Norzagaray

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In this project, I endeavor to bridge the gap between these two by analyzing "Latinx" as a symbol that functions distinctly when employed as a personal or group identity. My argument for this thesis can be broken into two main parts: its significance as an identity, and its tangibility. As a group identity, I argue "Latinx" represents a social movement for liberation, visibility, and minority allyship. While this is not unconnected to its personal meaning, individual embodiment of the term involves the performance and realization of the intersectional. In other words, it gives those with overlapping queer and Latina/o identities …

Marked Membership: Anthropological Perspectives On North American Contemporary Tattooing, Rosalie A. Johnson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Tattooing has persisted across time and space, often developing across ancient civilizations, even before cross-cultural contact. With the current oldest verified tattoos on the mummified body of Ötzi, the 5,300-year-old Tyrolean Iceman, up to current-day tattooing, a variety of uses and meanings have been ascribed to the practice. A majority of anthropological research has been dedicated towards indigenous tattooing traditions, external perceptions of marked individuals, and tattooing's deviant associations. Only a marginal amount of work has been geared towards the internal perceptions and cultural structuring of tattoos within modern societies, especially in the West. Frequently, a ‘tattoo community' is assumed …

Traditional Healing Beyond The Homeland: Yezidi Shamanic Healing In The Diaspora, Sophia G. Griemert

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The goal of this qualitative study is to evaluate whether shamanism, practiced by koçeks and faqrya (the Yezidi terms for traditional shamanic practitioners), continues as a practice among diasporic Yezidis, and, if so, in what manner. I accomplish this through a series of oral, remote interviews with Yezidis living in Germany. The interview subjects comprise a cross-sectional sample that includes men and women from the three Yezidi castes (Sheikh, Pir, Murid). Through the multiple testimonies these interviews garnered regarding shamanic praxis in the context of Germany, I determine that, in spite of the disruptions of forced migration and geographical distance, …

Experiences Of Limited English Proficiency (Lep) Patients In Healthcare, Javier Cintron

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As the US becomes increasingly more diverse, the presence of non-English speaking individuals also increases. With healthcare being a vital aspect of most individuals’ lives, it is drastically affected by any gap in communication, especially when a language barrier is present. For this investigation, I conducted a research study to examine the experiences of limited English proficiency (LEP) patients in healthcare using anthropological methods. The aim was to understand how having LEP affects patients. The primary form of data collection for this project consisted of Semi-structured interviews with a sample of individuals with LEP. In addition to interviews, I analyzed …

"It’S Just A Bad Period" And Other Ways Of Dismissing Women's Pain: An Ethnographic Look Into The Experience Of Endometriosis, Selina Hays

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis uses online ethnographic methods to analyze the impact of patriarchal values on the illness experiences of women with endometriosis. Current literature suggests that negative impact on patients with endometriosis with regard to cultural discourse surrounding menstruation and chronic illness. Utilizing a combination of critical discourse analysis and constructivist grounded theory, the results of this research demonstrate that patients engage in a form of performance that is reactive to normalization and dismissal of pain by doctors and wider social support due in part to cultural stigmas of menstruation and chronic pain, as well as the inherent power imbalance in …

Ob/Gyn Women In A #Metoo World: Unraveling Agency, Gender Bias, And Gender Inequity In The Workplace, Corey L. Bazemore

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research explores the visibility of women physicians, specifically in gynecology and obstetrics. It focuses upon their perspectives of gender inequity and sexual harassment within their broader profession and individual daily workplace. This study explores the medical and STEM women’s awareness and understanding of sexual and gender microaggressions within their professions by interviewing six women physicians. I analyze these narratives in relation to the #MeToo movement and how this movement gives visibility to the voices of women across workforces, including medicine, STEM, and other academic areas. This study shows the ongoing need to develop deeper conversations and interventions about women …

"The Milk Is Love": Understanding Mothers' Emotional Attachment To Breastmilk, Chandel M. Perez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Mothers are known to have an emotional attachment to their infant; however, some mothers also experience an emotional attachment to their own milk. Exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding with complementary solids are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization. Some mothers produce enough surplus milk to donate to a human milk bank. This thesis considers the emotional attachment to milk experienced by women who donate milk to a milk bank. This research is based on participant observation in a human milk bank in Florida and interviews collected …

Social Change And Games Of Chance At The Site Of Gallon Jug, Nicholas C. Kopp

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During the 2019 field season of the Chan Chich Archaeological Project (CCAP)/Belize Estates Archaeological Survey Team's (BEAST) work in northwestern Belize, excavations commenced at an elite household at the site of Gallon Jug, named Courtyard B-1. Excavations revealed intriguing details about the lives of the inhabitants through the presence of burials, ceramics, architecture, and – as is central to this research – Patolli boards. Patolli, a prehistoric game of chance played throughout Mesoamerican, is a relatively under researched topic within the field of archaeology. In this thesis I argue that the patolli boards at Gallon Jug portray evidence of elite …

Sex Education Or Self Education? Lgbt+ Experiences With Exclusionary Curricula, Karli Reeves

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Though much research exists on LGBT+ exclusion from school-based sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education, the strategies used by LGBT+ individuals during their search for knowledge regarding the subject are not as widely documented. Using the ethnographic research method of semi-structured interviews, this research explores the experiences of young LGBT+ adults with formal sexual and reproductive health education and examines the self-education methods employed by this population in the context of exclusionary and cisheteronormative curricula. This project also functions to contribute to existing literature in the field of anthropology and other social sciences regarding the subject of SRH education, particularly …

Sex Determination Using Discriminant Function Analysis Of Carpals From Maya Sites In Belize From Pre-Classic To Spanish Colonial Period, Michelle D. Labbe

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The sexing of human skeletal remains is important for identification and demographic purposes. It is made more difficult when elements such as the skull and pelvis are not recovered or are in too poor of a condition to assess. Previous studies have used carpal (wrist) bones of contemporary populations to assess the viability of these skeletal elements exhibiting sexual dimorphism, as these bones are small, compact elements that are usually recovered in good condition. This study evaluates the use of carpal bones recovered from an ancient Maya population from Belize to determine the biological sex of individuals. The study sample …

Experiences Of Young Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Latinx People In Healthcare, Caleb Hernandez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Latinx lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) queer community members have unique health needs compared to non-Latinx heterosexual patients, including sexual and mental health issues, and challenges in ability to access healthcare. But research is unclear whether LGB Latinx patients may also face double stigma related to their sexual orientation and race. This study examined this issue in experiences of queer and Latinx adults with healthcare providers. I conducted semistructured in-depth interviews with 13 LGB Latinx adults between November 2018 and February 2019. Interviews were audio-recorded, and transcribed. Transcripts were coded, and data analyzed for themes using the Grounded Theory approach. …

Crystal Healing Practices In The Western World And Beyond, Kristine D. Carlos

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Humans have been using crystals for various healing and ritual reasons for centuries. Both geographically and culturally, a diverse range of groups have turned to crystals and gemstones to address diverse needs over the millennia. While the oldest legends of crystal magic date back to the mythical ancient continent of Atlantis whose people allegedly used crystals for telepathic communication (Raphael 1985), it is believed that the crystal customs continued to perpetuate in Egypt, South America, and Tibet over subsequent centuries. Over recent decades, a renewed interest in crystals and gemstones has emerged in various New Age and mainstream contexts. In …

Whose Sustainability? An Analysis Of A Community Farming Program's Food Justice And Environmental Sustainability Agenda, Sarah Davenport

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As the 1960s Environmental movement has grown, sustainability and justice discourses have come to the fore of the movement. While environmental justice discourse considers the unequal effects of environmental burdens, the language that frames "sustainability" is often socially and politically neutral. This thesis critically examines sustainability initiatives and practices of an urban farming organization in Florida. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in 2017, I explore the extent to which these initiatives incorporate race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class when working to provide sustainably grown food in diverse communities. I argue that the organization's focus on justice for the environment, rather than for …

"Back" To The Future: An Evaluation Of Morphological Integration In Kyphosis, Kristyna L. Ceuninck

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Morphological integration refers to the interdependence of two or more phenotypic structures. The morphological integration concept is based on the fact that parts of complex organisms do not vary randomly and instead display degrees of non-independence that are thought to occur from shared genetic or developmental origins, and/or functional demands. Integrated traits may develop, evolve, and be inherited together. One instance of morphological integration can be found between the vertebral column and the skull. Due to the position of the skull resting atop of the vertebral column, posture may influence skull development and overall craniofacial morphology. Morphological integration within or …

Ceramic Analysis At Ike's Cut, Bahamas Compared With Ft. Liberte, Haiti And El Mango, Cuba, Melissa A. Kays

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis compares pottery from Ike's Cut, Inagua, Bahamas with assemblages from the site of El Mango, Cuba, analyzed by Ashley Brooke Persons and the site of Ft. Liberte, Haiti, analyzed by Irving Rouse.

The Ike's Cut site was a seasonally occupied location on the largest bank on Inagua, and was utilized for its access to marine resources. The migrants living here brought with them Meillacoid ceramics that were manufactured somewhere in the Greater Antilles. The objective of this research was to evaluate whether the ceramics at Ike's Cut share more in common with either the Hispaniolan or Cuban assemblages. …