Digital Commons Network^™

La Economía Solidaria: Las Limitaciones, Las Contribuciones, Y Los Valores Comunes De Una Respuesta Inherentemente Local Dos Estudios De Campo, Alissa Kimmel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Economía solidaria is an alternative method of development that has sprung up in the last two decades in Latin America as a response to the devastating effects of neo-liberal policies. The questions that I was interested in exploring with this investigation were: How is economía solidaria defined in theory? How does it manifest in practice? What explains this discrepancy, if one exists? What do these answers tell us about the limitations, potentials, and unique contributions of economía solidaria? To search for these answers I studied two organizations of economía solidaria, where I utilized qualitative methods of observation, interviews, review of …

The Complex Realities Of Indigenous Health Care Delivery, Megan Waterman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The indigenous population of Australia faces a life expectancy that is eighteen years lower than the general population. This study addresses this incredible disparity by exploring the historical, cultural and social forces that impact on health status, focussing especially on health care service utilisation. Qualitative methods of interviewing and participant observation have been used to examine the two sectors of Aboriginal health service delivery in urban Victoria: Aboriginal community controlled health organisations (ACCHOs) and mainstream organisations. Accounting for the complex forces and realities in health service delivery, this is a discussion of the important components of the current realities for …

Something Fishy: Cultivating Children’S Sense Of Place Through Literature, Anne Rone

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Environmental Education (EE) has become increasingly important in Australian public and governmental discourse in the past decade. In its most recent national environmental education statement (2005: 7) the Department of Environment and Heritage lays out a new model of sustainability education that is “about,” “in,” and “for” the environment. This governmental framework includes variety of programs for school children in and out of the classroom. Within the realm of EE, sense of place has re-emerged as an important issue. The study of place fosters a sense of wonder and appreciation for the environment in children and leads to concrete, transformative …

Antipodean Inscapes: Reflection Of The Land As A Young Man, Michael Kantor

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following paper contains a stand-alone piece of creative travel writing. ‘Cloud Juice’ is based on my interpretation of the experiences of the Fall 2006 Australia: Sustainability and the Environment semester. As it is my own personal interpretation it should not be placed in the category of non-fiction. Instead I have tried to write a story that presents the tone of my experience as honestly as possible, rather than simply telling the unbiased facts of the semester. My reason for writing this is to experiment with alternative methods of communicating the growth of an ecological ethic. By focusing on the …

Migrant Working Children In Ho Chi Minh City: Emerging Trends Between Economic Migrant And Runaway Child Workers, Paige Fern

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper studies the impact of doi moi on working children in Ho Chi Minh City. Doi moi, which was implemented in 1986, drastically changed Vietnamese society, economically, socially ad politically. These changes allowed a market economy to emerge, sparked remarkable economic growth, and reduced the overall level of poverty. The living standard of the entire population has improved as a result of these economic developments. Poverty reduction has not occurred equally across all regions of Vietnam. Since 1986, there has been a growing divide between rural and urban areas. Around 10 million children in Vietnam today, 30% of the …

Raising The Future: An Introduction To Three Organizations Caring For Orphans And Vulnerable Children Using The Cluster Foster Care Model In Kwa-Zulu Natal, Madelaine Colby-Newton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study is a brief introduction to the cluster foster care model of care for orphans and abandoned children as it is implemented at three organizations in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, including God’s Golden Acre, the Kenosis Community, and the Pietermaritzburg SOS Children’s Village. This study provides an over view of the histories of these three organizations, their structure and networking systems, the role of foster mothers and volunteers working in each organization respectively, the methods of education employed, medical services offered and prevalence of HIV, histories of abuse and neglect amongst the children being cared for, inclusion of Christianity …

The Missing Piece: Understanding Nairobi’S Traditional Medical Practitioners, Mufaddal Dahodwala

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Currently, there is a problem of access to biomedical health services to large portions of Nairobi’s population. Traditional herbal medicine has long been practiced in Kenya, and though studies have shown that traditional medicine has been effective against certain acute and chronic illnesses, it has been marginalized in the health service sector. By integrating traditional medicine into mainstream healthcare, a larger proportion of the Kenyan population will be able achieve access to adequate health services. However, there has not been enough discussion about traditional medicine from a holistic point of view. Without adequate discussion, traditional medicine will remain in the …

Entrepreneurship And “Conscientious Capitalism”? Economic Solidarity Within The Banco Palmas Network, Caroline Whistler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Capitalism is often thought of as a struggle between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. Although the very nature of the economic system is to reward innovative ideas that can survive competition and the ‘free market’, many ‘have-nots’ do not have the same opportunities to succeed as those born with economic resources. The gap between those with capital and those without has gradually widened into a gaping hole that few can cross. While there are certainly enough resources in Brazil to keep all citizens above the poverty line, the reality is that economic survival has been replaced by one of the most …

“¿Quién Le Compró La Tierra A Dios?” El Conflicto Territorial Entre Los Mapuches Y Las Empresas Internacionales En La Patagonia, Lauren Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Patagonia region in southern Argentina manifests the clash of the traditional and the modern worlds. In the same region there are poor indigenous communities and some of the world’s richest men both seeking to utilize its many natural resources for very distinctive aims. For the Mapuche people, the land is part of them, and they are part of the land. For the foreigners that have bought millions of hectares in the area, the land is rich with natural resources that can be utilized for profit and export. With the influx of foreign investors, the minority rights of the indigenous …

Climbing The Limitless Mountain: Daoism And The Internal Martial Arts, Sophie Kerman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Of the many religions practiced in China, Daoism is the only one which is indigenous to the country - yet it is one of the least written-about and least understood of the world’s major religions (Wang, 1). The term “Daoism” can, in fact, be misleading, because it can be used to refer to two different practices: Daoist philosophy, daojia, and Daoist religion, daojiao. Although the two are often taught and practiced side by side, daojia and daojiao have separate roots. Daoist philosophy is studied and followed by many who know little about daojiao; and Daoist religion includes a multitude of …

Wild Bird Banding And Testing For Avian Influenza In The Plain Of Reeds, Vietnam, Kyle Campbell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus H5N1 presents an incredible threat to human and animal health throughout the planet. Little is known about the prevalence of this virus in wild bird populations; however it is evident that the virus has spread throughout most of Asia, Eastern Europe and North Africa through well established migratory flyways. Although H5N1 was first detected in central China, Vietnam has been hit the hardest by this virus, with nearly one hundred human cases to date (World Health Organization, 2006) and one hundred twenty million dollars lost in their poultry industry (Gov. of USA, 2005). Even …

Searching For A Path: Evangelicals In Nicaraguan Politics, Jacob Siegel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Evangelicals now comprise approximately 20-25% of the Nicaraguan population, but the Nicaraguan political system has remained dominated by the specter of the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, in the 1990s, some evangelical leaders, including ones who had previously been vocal opponents of political involvement, sought new outlets for political participation. I claim that the evangelical political movement has drawn on three justifications: a struggle against political marginalization, a crusade for “traditional moral values,” and a fight for economic betterment.

Here, utilizing interviews with 18 Nicaraguan Protestants involved in Christian political or social movements, I trace evangelical political parties though …

The Art Of Politics: Portraits Of Ethiopian Emperors Throughout History, Anna Barrera

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study seeks to uncover the significance of painted portraits of Ethiopian emperors within the Ethiopian culture. By evaluating artworks throughout Ethiopian history and interviewing the art community and scholars, the author has attempted to draw a relationship between power, religion and art. In doing so, this study reveals how emperors have historically legitimized their power within the context of religious imagery. It follows this pattern until the decline of the monarchy and the rise of realism in the twentieth century. This transition highlights the tension between tradition and modernity as well as the ideological changes which caused them.

“I Don’T Hate Them, They Hate Me”— A Study On The Perceptions Of Homeless People In Melbourne And The Implications Those Perceptions Have, Devin Arthur

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project examines the general public’s perception of homeless people and what impact (if any) those perceptions have on the policies or services available to homeless people. The project also examines what affect (if any) gender, age, level of formal education, annual household income and/or suburb may have on the public’s various attitudes. The project’s focus is on the perceptions towards and from homeless people, the definition of homelessness, and the policies affecting homelessness. The project’s data was collected from the central business district of Melbourne in addition to two inner suburbs, Toorak and Footscray. Much of the qualitative information …

Nutrient Recycling: Rural On-Site Wastewater Disposal And Treatment In Can Tho City, Viet Nam, Micah Johnson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In order to research a topic a holistic perspective is important. Often experiments are performed absent from the environment that is being observed. It is like thrusting one’s hand into an ocean to grope around for a specimen, extract it, and examine it apart from its native habitat. Although this is possible and often primarily the method, to immerse oneself into where one is studying is to increase one’s ability to obtain a more holistic perspective. I have come to believe that the more practical and accurate scientific experiments are a combination of laboratories and on the field. Not only …

Campesinas En Resistencia: Estrategias De Sobrevivencia Para Construir Una Cultura De Paz, Camia Crawford

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This essay speaks of the rural Nicaraguan woman, survival, and the development of strategies of "resistance" to construct a Culture of Peace. It discusses how society creates and reinforces the oppression of this woman, and how this woman confronts (resists) this oppression. This is a paper that documents the struggle of the woman that looks to access power from her impoverished and gendered condition from the time of the revolution until the present. Through a process of formal and informal interviews with rural women over a one month period in Paiwas Nicaragua, the goal of this project was to investigate …

Volviéndose Rebelde: Participación Política Juvenil La Historia De Participación Política De La Juventud Nicaragüense: 1975-2006 Recurring Rebellion: Youth Political Participation In Nicaragua, Julia Beaufait

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Youth act as both reflections of and protagonists within history and society. This is even more apparent in Nicaragua, where the 1979 triumph of the Sandinista revolution was sustained by the high levels of youth participation. In the following two and a half decades, youth have continued to play a defining role both following the example of and rejecting the proceeding models of participation. This essay is an exploration of the history of youth political participation in Nicaragua in the years between 1975 and 2006: from the insurrection to the most recent elections. I work under the assumption that the …

“Sou Doméstica:” Construções De Identidade E Saúde Das Trabalhadoras Domésticas Salvador, Bahia Brasil, Jenny Fauci

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

O mundo do trabalho doméstico é um mundo invisível de discriminação, desvalorização e exploração. No Brasil, existem milhões de trabalhadoras domésticas, na sua maioria mulheres, negras e que vêm de histórias pobres. Essas trabalhadoras domésticas enfrentam uma agressão profunda contra a dignidade, direitos, saúde, e identidade delas.

Nesta pesquisa, perguntamos sobre a relação entre identidade e saúde. Como é que a identidade afeta a saúde? Qual é a natureza desta relação? A motivação para esta pergunta vem da invisibilidade das condições de saúde—como uma expressão do corpo e da mente-- desta população e também o reconhecimento que a identidade duma …

Samoanizing My Fa’Apalagi : The Indigenization Of Language In Samoa, Cheryl Nunes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since its arrival in the 1830s, the English language has been an increasing presence in the minds and mouths of native Samoans. It winds its way within the schools, onto the streets, and into the offices of modern Samoa. This constant exposure to English, however, does not necessarily entail a loss of the Samoan language or culture. Quite the contrary, as Samoans have not only embraced the English language, but have furthermore indigenized it to their own advantage. Using education and exposure as tools, Samoans readily weave innovative mixtures of English and Samoan into various aspects of their lives, including …

What Is Available Vs. What Is Accessible: An Evaluation Of Resources For Kwazulu Natal Diabetics Based On The Data Of Kwazulu Natal Experts And Cato Manor Diabetics, Mollie Gurian

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this study was to learn about the resources available to a diabetic and the actual ability of diabetics to access these resources. I found that two ideal paradigms of care were consistently mentioned by experts in KwaZulu Natal and at the World Diabetes Congress (WDC), the international conference on diabetes that I attended in Cape Town. The first is self-management of the disease and a patient centered approach to care. The second is a collaborative team approach to treating diabetics which involves a number of experts besides a physician. These two concepts are connected in that a …

Knowledge And Social Movements: Promotoras Populares And Social Transformation Beyond The Classroom Of Grupo De Mulher Maravilha (Gmm), Shanna Devine

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I spent approximately one month researching the relation of Projecto Promotoras Legais Populares (PPLP) with its Subjects, Promotoras Legais Populares (PLP). It is a course aimed to foster political growth amongst marginalize groups in society through the exploration of their Rights. I explored the methodology used by PPLP in order to address the local needs of its Subjects --mainly black women with a poor/working-class background. How did this methodology facilitate the creation of a political space where they can voice these needs? I then looked at how this spread of legal knowledge has impacted Brazil’s most marginalized people in minimizing …

Uma Doença Esquecida: A Falta De Conhecimento Da Hanseníase No Brasi, Anders Gustafson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hansen’s Disease is one of the world’s most misunderstood and stigmatized illnesses. Its patients are often discriminated against, and marginalized from society. This study examines what role a fault in information regarding technical knowledge plays in perpetuating this prejudice. Data is based on interviews collected from patients, family members, and persons from the most affluent sections of society, all from the city of Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil. In addition, medical professionals provide their input. This information is referenced against sociological theory and historical precedence, to examine the role society and government have played in formulating the situation today. The study concludes …

Sydney’S Public Sculpture, Gabriel Strader-Brown

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study is to observe the involvement that the city of Sydney has with the public arts attraction. Furthermore, the study will hopefully shed light on the importance of public art in Sydney and how it is an important aspect of cultural heritage. In addition to this, the analysis will cover the methods in which its venue is made accessible to the public through financial means and through aesthetic appeal. In order to uncover these objectives, the function and history of Sculpture by the Sea will be studied as well as the policies and or stance that …

Malo Le Folauga Brain Drain: A New Perspective, Mirna Carrillo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The migration of people is a prominent issue in Samoa. According to statistics, Samoa has a high emigration rate compounded with a small yet significant brain drain (Docqueir and Marfouk 2006: 174, 188). More and more skilled Samoans are going abroad for greater economic attainment and career advancement. However, the term brain drain implies that the migration of skilled professionals is a severe loss to the Samoan nation; it does not take into consideration the benefits of migration. The objective of this study is to qualitatively measure the accurateness of the term brain drain when describing the international movement of …

‘Like A Parrot Screaming In Its Cage’ Activism And Empowerment In Nepal’S Bhutanese Refugee Community, Elena Phoutrides

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper will look at empowerment in the Bhutanese refugee community from a number of angles. First of all, it will examine issues of representation. Refugees are often represented to media sources and agencies by Bhutanese political leaders who do not always represent the variety of needs and views present in the 100,000-person plus refugee community. Second, this paper will discuss camp management and the ways in which participation is encouraged and discouraged by agencies involved in providing for refugees. The refugee community is far from silent on issues of participation and representation; thus this paper will look at several …

Dai Medicine: Preservation Of And Changes In Ancient Healing Practices, Geoffroy Fauchet

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent study project discusses the general concept and theories of Dai medicine and focuses on the conservation of and transformation that both, the traditional and modern Dai medical system have undergone over time.

Making Space For Critical Discourse: The Daily Resistance Of Acampamento Luiz Carlos, Nicholas Detlef Salmons

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the implementation of MST’s pedagogy of conscientização (conscientization) within Acampamento (camp) Luiz Carlos in order to better understand the role that dialogue plays in raising the collective consciousness of peasants newly engaged in the occupation of the land. The approach I took to understanding this process was heavily influenced by Paulo Freire’s works on literacy and revolution, as well as James Scott’s theories of the quotidian resistance of peasants and other subordinate groups. Due to his theories and the subsequent realities encountered in the field, the focus of the study was expanded to include a better understanding …

Accès Aux Médicaments À Madagascar : L’Etat, La Pharmacie, Et L’Usager, Peter Olds

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

“Ahora Tenemos Una Voz”: Transformaciones En La Vida Cotidiana De Mujeres Piqueteras En La Provincia De Buenos Aires = We Now Have A Voice”: Transformations In The Daily Life Of Piquetero Women In The Province Of Buenos Aires, Claudia L. Romeu Mejía

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The piquetero movement was born in the late nineties among many transformations in the Argentine economic system. It was a result of neoliberal policies which did not take into consideration the needs of the working class. The result was a society marked by poverty and lack of job opportunities. Groups of unemployed people opted to organize and made roadblocks to obtain social plans and other benefits from the government. Most of the people who compose these movements are women. This investigation analyzes the changes that have occurred in piquetero women’s daily life after their initiation in the social movements. It …

La Medicina Mapuche: Cosmovisión E Identidad, Pérdida Y Recuperación, Claudia Grace Lesser

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Perceptions of health and illness vary depending on culture, tradition, history, ethnicity and identity. As cultures change and construct their stories, the practices and belief systems surrounding health also shift, develop and are expressed in different ways. With these patterns in mind, the purpose of this essay is to examine the traditional medicine of the Mapuche people of southern Argentina and focus on how aspects of this medicine have been lost, re-shaped, sustained and recuperated. The role that traditional medicine plays in the lives of Mapuches today in the context of modern medicine is explored specifically through practices surrounding maternity …