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You Can’T Build A Canoe Online: Activism And Identity In Indigenous Taiwan, Adam King Hinden Jan 2022

You Can’T Build A Canoe Online: Activism And Identity In Indigenous Taiwan, Adam King Hinden

Senior Independent Study Theses

The Republic of China is the current government occupying the island of Taiwan –– a multiethnic land that has been populated by diverse groups for thousands of years. Today, these groups continue to face a range of adversities on behalf of the colonial government. Further, the island’s internet is dominated by Western social media platforms that exclude native modes of communication. Through ethnographic surveys and interviews, this study explores how indigenous Taiwanese activists understand their own identities, strategies of activism, and relationships to social media platforms to interrogate dominant postcolonial frameworks. It comes to two separate yet linked conclusions regarding …


Deep Roots In Eroding Soil: Building Decolonial Resilience Amidst Climate Violence And Displacement In A Louisiana Bayou Indigenous Community, Lia Mcgrath Kahan Jan 2022

Deep Roots In Eroding Soil: Building Decolonial Resilience Amidst Climate Violence And Displacement In A Louisiana Bayou Indigenous Community, Lia Mcgrath Kahan

Senior Independent Study Theses

The Pointe-au-Chien Indigenous community of coastal Louisiana is fighting for survival as climate change and socio-political factors threaten to displace them from their ancestral home. This project takes an ethnographic and historical approach to exploring how colonization and climate change have influenced Pointe-au-Chien tribal members’ ability to stay on their ancestral land. Climate projections estimate that the bayou this community has lived alongside of for generations will soon be unrecognizable, leading to potential displacement and devastating cultural loss. Due to the increasing severity of climate change, it is crucial to look to the experiences of frontline Indigenous communities to support …


Reconsidering The Late Woodland: A Critical Reassessment Of Perception And Periodization In The Ohio Valley, 400-1000 Ce, Devin A. Henson Jan 2021

Reconsidering The Late Woodland: A Critical Reassessment Of Perception And Periodization In The Ohio Valley, 400-1000 Ce, Devin A. Henson

Senior Independent Study Theses

The Late Woodland period in eastern North America has traditionally been conceptualized as a cultural hiatus between the region’s Hopewell and Mississippian traditions. As a drastic (though not complete) reduction in the practices of monumental architecture and art produced with nonlocal materials occurred during this time, the end of the preceding Hopewell tradition (and its related Interaction Sphere) has been depicted as a “collapse” or “devolution” by multiple researchers. However, the Late Woodland also saw a rise in population, intensification of agriculture, and technological innovation. Although the combination of these factors and the period’s architectural and artistic reduction appear contradictory, …


Signing In The Margins: Manifestations Of Professional Identity And Creative Agency In Viking Age Oval Brooches, Eleanor Howell Jan 2019

Signing In The Margins: Manifestations Of Professional Identity And Creative Agency In Viking Age Oval Brooches, Eleanor Howell

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.


Zero To Hero: Elite Burials And Hero Cults In Early Iron Age Greece And Cyprus, Alina M. Karapandzich Jan 2018

Zero To Hero: Elite Burials And Hero Cults In Early Iron Age Greece And Cyprus, Alina M. Karapandzich

Senior Independent Study Theses

Adulation of heroes, including the flawed, militaristic, authoritative men of Homeric epic, was an important feature of ancient Hellenic culture. This phenomenon is reflected in cults and shrines built in the Archaic period. How did these so-called “hero cults” form, and can Early Iron Age (EIA) elite burials form a connection between the tomb cults of the Late Bronze Age (LBA) and the hero cults of the Archaic and later Classical periods? The purpose of this study is to examine EIA burials whose elite goods and archaeologically visible tombs reflect the burial of a “heroic” person. In doing so, I …


All Hands On Deck: The Role Of Ship Burial Reentry In The Maintenance And Construction Of Narrative In The Vendel And Viking Periods, Gina Malfatti Jan 2017

All Hands On Deck: The Role Of Ship Burial Reentry In The Maintenance And Construction Of Narrative In The Vendel And Viking Periods, Gina Malfatti

Senior Independent Study Theses

Reentry of ship and boat burials was a widespread practice during the Vendel, Viking, and Medieval periods. Historically this phenomenon has been attributed to looting for economic gain, but that perception has recently been challenged. Using data from ship and boat burials from across Scandinavia, I suggest trends in reentry and the most likely motivation for reentry at each burial. I use GIS maps to display these trends and motivations across different regions and statistically analyze where there are hot spots of different practices. Using Neil Price’s (2010) model for mortuary drama in Viking Age burial practices, I explore the …


From Fried Bologna Sandwich To Butternut Squash Prosciutto Flatbread: Examining Food Culture As A Multivocal Dominant Symbol In The Wessex, Ohio Restaurant Foodscape, Clare T. Carlson Jan 2016

From Fried Bologna Sandwich To Butternut Squash Prosciutto Flatbread: Examining Food Culture As A Multivocal Dominant Symbol In The Wessex, Ohio Restaurant Foodscape, Clare T. Carlson

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study explores the restaurant foodscape in the rural city of Wessex, Ohio and examines how two different sets of restaurants in this foodscape identify themselves as emblematic of the city. Restaurants opened in Wessex over the last ten years that have been selected for inclusion on Wessex Food Tours comprise the first set of restaurants examined. These restaurants are a curated set of local businesses that Wessex Food Tours presents to visitors as representative of a rejuvenated, contemporary Wessex. The other set of restaurants examined are those restaurants that have existed in Wessex for over 50 years, but …


“You Can’T Change What You Were”: Liminality And The Process Of Role Exit Among Former Amish, Kathryn Foster Jan 2016

“You Can’T Change What You Were”: Liminality And The Process Of Role Exit Among Former Amish, Kathryn Foster

Senior Independent Study Theses

Aside from reality television, which often depicts former Amish as raucous partiers, many documentaries and memoirs portray ex-Amish as runaways, leaving in the night with nothing but the clothes on their back. As the gap between “the world” and the Amish closes, how accurate is this portrayal of leaving the Amish for the roughly 15% who choose to leave? How do ex-Amish negotiate the transition from Amish to English (non-Amish) life? This study, based on interviews with former Amish, explores the difficult decision to leave the Amish church as well as the challenges of transitioning into English life and negotiating …


Sacred And Mortuary Landscapes In Iron Age Cyprus: A Gis Analysis, James P. Torpy Jan 2015

Sacred And Mortuary Landscapes In Iron Age Cyprus: A Gis Analysis, James P. Torpy

Senior Independent Study Theses

During the Archaic period (750-480 BC) the island of Cyprus underwent a dramatic transformation as new city-kingdoms rose to dominate the political landscape of the island. This shift resulted in increased competition for resources, establishment of political boundaries, and emergence of a pronounced social hierarchy within the new polities. While many of the large settlements that became centers of power during this time have been thoroughly studied, the manifestation of the large scale changes of the Archaic in the periphery have not been as fully investigated. The rural site of Athienou-Malloura, surveyed and excavated by the Athienou Archaeological Project …


'You Are Who We Say You Are': The Politics Of Ethnicity In Post-Genocidal Rwanda And Bosnia-Herzegovina, Stephanie A. Sugars Jan 2015

'You Are Who We Say You Are': The Politics Of Ethnicity In Post-Genocidal Rwanda And Bosnia-Herzegovina, Stephanie A. Sugars

Senior Independent Study Theses

The establishment of peace in post-genocidal states is vital, as the experience of extreme division and violence can scar a population, contributing to violence and inequality moving forward. Existing literature on post-conflict transition and governance argues that two main systems are typically used: consociationalism and assimilationism. While consociationalism argues for heterogeneity in the state and assimilationism for homogeneity, both of these systems use the institutionalization of identity as a step in post-conflict recovery, through such means as proscribing or privileging particular identities. This study posits that this is inherently flawed, as attempts to institutionalize identity ignore its contextually fluid or …


Eat Until You're Full: The Pursuit Of Autonomy And Health Through The Adoption Of Organic Agriculture In Mae Ta, Thailand, Erin Jean Plews-Ogan Jan 2013

Eat Until You're Full: The Pursuit Of Autonomy And Health Through The Adoption Of Organic Agriculture In Mae Ta, Thailand, Erin Jean Plews-Ogan

Senior Independent Study Theses

This research explores the role that farmers' concerns about health and community autonomy play in the emergence of an organic agriculture movement in the village of Mae Ta in northern Thailand. In the midst of the push for export-oriented and urban-centered development, many rural people have migrated to urban areas for work or adopted contract farming of chemical-intensive cash crops. Yet farmers in Mae Ta chose a unique alternative: sufficiency-based organic polyculture. Why take on such a risk without solid policy and market support for organic agriculture in Thailand? I investigated these questions through six weeks of participant observation and …


Sailing On The Edge: A World-Systems Analysis Of Pirates And Privateers In The Atlantic And Caribbean In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries, Emily Butcher Jan 2012

Sailing On The Edge: A World-Systems Analysis Of Pirates And Privateers In The Atlantic And Caribbean In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries, Emily Butcher

Senior Independent Study Theses

Despite modern conceptions, pirates were not typically cruel, greedy, and dishonest men of the lowest social ranks, but often began as privateers for local navies. It was only when they attacked an unassigned target that their status changed to that of piracy in the eyes of their patrons. However, if the illegal attack was against an enemy, the Crown often allowed the action to continue. This created a fluid status between legality and treason. This study examines the nature of piracy in the Atlantic and Caribbean in a broader context, using Edward Teach as a key figure to place piratical …


Hello, I Love You, Won’T You Tell Me Your Name?: An Anthropological Investigation Of Naming, Haley Lisa Close Jan 2012

Hello, I Love You, Won’T You Tell Me Your Name?: An Anthropological Investigation Of Naming, Haley Lisa Close

Senior Independent Study Theses

This study investigates how parents select the names of their children. Anthropological research on naming is very sparse, despite the immense power of names to reflect cultural variables, such as: kinship, gender relations, socioeconomic class relations, and differences in taste and personal preference. I surveyed a sample of parents at three daycare facilities in a small town in the Midwest about their children’s names and how they chose those names. My findings indicate that kin naming plays a significant role, but many parents find a balance between choosing a name with “meaning” and choosing a name based on their personal …


Je Voulais Être Homme, Rien Qu’Homme: An Analysis Of The Intersection Of Communism And Masculinity Inthe Negritude Movement, 1930-1939, Kristen Weischedel Jan 2012

Je Voulais Être Homme, Rien Qu’Homme: An Analysis Of The Intersection Of Communism And Masculinity Inthe Negritude Movement, 1930-1939, Kristen Weischedel

Senior Independent Study Theses

The negritude movement of the 1930s was a political and social movement that sought to reclaim African identity and culture whilst rejecting the French expectation of assimilation. This presentation examines recruitment methods of political and social activism, such as the use of propaganda. These forms of activism used both masculine and communist ideologies to advance their goals which ultimately reveal their concerns collectively and as individuals.