Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding The Environmental And Genetic Influence On Fluctuating Asymmetry And Developmental Instability In Primates, Ashly N. Romero

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored the impact of environmental factors on the development and perpetuation of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and sought to understand the role evolution may play in the FA exhibited in two primate populations: the free-ranging Cayo Santiago rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and the Southwest National Primate Research Center olive baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis). Demographic, ontogenetic, secular, external, and genetic factors were examined. Specifically, this dissertation investigated FA over all ontogenetic stages, across decades, between sexes, in association with ecological catastrophes, and with tooth pathology to try and tease apart factors that may influence FA and developmental instability. This dissertation …

Desalination And Development: Locating The Missing Masses In Dakar’S Water Network, Marina Riad

Scripps Senior Theses

The introduction of desalination technology to the water network in Dakar, Senegal marks a monumental change in how state and commercial interests aim to solve systemic problems using novel technologies. Desalination aims to transform the ocean surrounding Dakar into potable water, a vital resource in the growing metropolis. However, this desalination project must integrate itself within a network of social, historical, political, commercial, and ecological influences shaping the role of desalination in urban Dakar. With millions of dollars and an entire ocean mobilized towards solving Dakar’s water problems, it may come as a surprise that this project will only provide …

Platforms And Power: Transnational Guatemala, Eric Sippert

Doctoral Dissertations

Moving beyond studies of social movements and NGOs, this dissertation examines how grassroots groups in Guatemala use transnational flows of goods, ideas, and people to create new organizational forms and types of political action. This case study of an organization of returned migrants, former combatants, and indigenous youth demonstrates how marginalized groups create platforms that facilitate connections between disparate actors across nation-state and identity borders. Drawing on field research in Guatemala’s Western Highlands, I explore how these platforms emerged, threats to them, their effects, and what they can teach us about political organizing in crisis. I begin by tracing the …

The Banality Of Corporate Evil, Amina Dessouki

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis critiques the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) through tracing the multiple dynamics between a multinational corporation and a development consultancy working on a recycling project in collaboration with the Zabaleen in Mansheyet Nasser, Egypt. The thesis looks at the ways in which actors negotiate their different positions, the harmonies and discordances that unfold through various agendas coming together, the silences produced, and the ways in which structural violence is intensified under the guise of development. The thesis contrasts the detached efforts of corporate workers and development consultants with the lives of the zabaleen, who live in a …

Dietary Development And Nutritional Ontogeny In Gorilla Beringei : A Multi-Layered, -Omics Approach, Emma C. Cancelliere

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In species who consume folivorous diets, immature individuals must contend with the challenges of extracting nutrients from fibrous foods before dietary adaptations and strategies are fully developed. Additionally, immatures have distinct nutritional needs to support their stage-specific metabolic and biophysiological requirements. To meet these stage-specific needs, while constrained by underdeveloped feeding strategies and digestive capacities, immatures may adopt distinct diets better suited to their specific developmental context. However, where dietary modification is constrained by low dietary diversity or landscape homogeneity, it is unclear how immature individuals compensate through alternative strategies. In turn, little is known about the nutritional and life …

Apanola Atolan Pah Mollo At The Margin: Power, Development, And Ngo-State Relationship In West Timor, Indonesia, Yuda Rasyadian

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines how power operates within the NGOs and how NGOs’ agenda interacts with local forces that transform local civic life and their relationship with the state. Using critical ethnography as an approach and methodology, this study investigates the relationship between the agenda that was developed by an NGO-like institution named the UGM and the Mollonese’s local politics that in turn affected the NGO-state relationship in West Timor. This study uses ethnographic data from two separate fieldworks in the district of North Mollo, Timor Island. The first was conducted from January 2016 to January 2017, the second was from …

The Ontogeny Of Complex Tool Use Among Chimpanzees Of The Goualougo Triangle, Republic Of Congo, Stephanie L. Musgrave

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Various factors are hypothesized to have contributed to the flourishing of technology during human evolution, including high-fidelity social learning, a propensity for prosocial helping, and sex differences in foraging tool use. In this research, we examined the role of these factors on the development of complex tool-using skills among wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. These apes exhibit among the most complex tool behaviors of any nonhuman animal, including the flexible use of multiple tool types and the manufacture of tools from specific raw materials, according to a particular design. Specifically, we drew upon …

Development, Expertise, And Infrastructure Between The Ohio River And Cincinnati Riverfront, 1895-Present, Raymond W. Pettit

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As the first major U.S. urban center located west of the Appalachian Mountains, Cincinnati’s early growth depended on the Ohio River, a vital route for the westward drive of U.S. settler colonialism in the first half of the nineteenth century. Over time, with the expansion of railroads and shifting trade routes, the river became less relevant to the success of the city. In this dissertation study, I pick up the history of Cincinnati’s relationship with the Ohio River after it had apparently declined in importance. Through a focus on how Cincinnati elites have advocated for different infrastructural projects along the …

"We Get Nothing" : An Ethnography Of Participatory Development And Gender Mainstreaming In A Water Project For The Bhil Of Central India, Indrakshi Tandon

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Through the close examination of a state-sponsored watershed project being implemented by Association for Integrated Social Development (AISD) in the district of Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, this dissertation project explores how current development approaches in water projects impact its intended targets, in this case the Bhil tribal community. A key aspect of this research is to analyze in detail how development narratives such as participatory or bottom-up approaches and gender mainstreaming often result in unintended consequences. With a focus on the gendered nature of participatory policies, I argue that popular development practices in India often lead to governing and managing target …

“There Is No Care Here”: The Conflictual Ethics Of Kin And Bureaucratic Care In Botswana, Arielle Justine Wright

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How do people make sense of “care” when it fails? My dissertation examines the ethical debates that are provoked by the limitations of care in the setting of home-based care and associated safety net programs in Botswana. The organization of care is negotiated across domestic and public domains, often incorporating concerns about kinship ties, dependency, and labor in the welfare state. Based on 16 months of ethnographic research, I demonstrate that the ethical evaluation of care varies between differently-positioned stakeholders engaged in providing chronic care. Economic conditions and socio-political ideologies shape the ethics of care by way of setting the …

Nowhere To Go : Informal Settlement Eradication In Kigali, Rwanda., Emily E Benken

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Following the new world order of the post-Cold War era, the rise of developmentalism stressed the moral necessity of installing capitalist models of growth in the global south. The reproduction of narratives of modernity and teleological progression were reproduced in numerous African cities and actualized in policies related to urban development. The consequent trend of urbanization has been the systemic eradication of informal settlements and large-scale displacement to make way for modern, productive urban areas.

One site of this pattern is Kigali, Rwanda. Since the turn of the century, official “vision projects” released by the Rwandan government have reimagined the …

Investing In Change: Illuminating Interactive Systems In Hiv Research, Communication Diffusion, And Financing In Lesotho, Sharon Elizabeth Watson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the field of HIV, more than 30 years into the epidemic, the need to ensure that what researchers learn makes its way into tangible actions in the real world is especially poignant. This dissertation addresses the critical divide between research production and its translation into practice. It advances ways to measure the investments of citizens and stakeholders in qualitative studies and offers new perspectives on the losses inadvertently caused by particular investments in health research and services. Unfortunately, many of the problems in how we practice and disseminate research are rampant throughout the health and development research sector. Therefore, …

Doing Good In Guatemala: Perceptions Of Voluntourism In San Juan Comalapa, Samantha Grace Hagan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of host community perceptions of volunteer tourism in the context of a small community in the highlands of Guatemala called San Juan Comalapa. Voluntourism acts as a bridge between development aid and traditional tourism and therefore voluntourism organizations should act as both roles in the community. In this research I found that voluntourism organizations, particularly one organization called Long Way Home, can lean more towards one role than another in the eyes of members of the host community. Based on these findings I recommend that these organizations embrace these dual roles and engage the community …

Gender Empowerment In The Development Economics Literature: The Language Of Choice, Preferences And Agency, Pranay Panday

Senior Projects Spring 2017

In my project, I try to trace how our present understanding of gender empowerment is formed, and how mainstream economics literature has accommodated feminist contributions to the concept. I look at neoclassical household models, feminist critiques of the same models, foundational ideas on gender empowerment, and finally the current development economics literature on empowerment. I find that the concept of choices and preferences, and in particular the formation of preferences, is central to understanding gender empowerment. I deduce that a) empowerment is both a process and an outcome, b) that the end goal of empowerment is the access to resources …

Moving Toward A Holistic Menstrual Hygiene Management: An Anthropological Analysis Of Menstruation And Practices In Western And Non-Western Societies, Sophia A. Bay

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Educating girls is not only their human right, but also proposed as one of the best investments for improving quality of life in developing countries (Montgomery et al. 2016, 2). Although menstruation is a universal, biological process, it is fraught with cultural stigmas and taboos throughout Western and non-Western societies. Menstrual-related absenteeism is believed to be a primary cause of missed attendance and early dropout rates, so the developing field of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is seeking to understand and evaluate what factors are contributing to these findings. After the analyzation of the current literature, a more holistic, nine-pronged approach …

E-Waste In Relation To Geopolitical Forces: A Case Study Of The United States - Mexico Border Region, Michael A. Hicks

Theses and Dissertations

Analysis deconstructs the electronic waste industry and its interconnectedness to geopolitical forces and economic development in the border region between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico. A symbiotic business relationship exists between informal e-waste collectors, non-profit collection sites, and for-profit recyclers. Fieldwork data is analyzed from a slow/structural violence perspective.

Philosopher's Stone: The Faustian Geist Of Development, Salikyu Sangtam

Dissertations

The present study juxtaposes scientific rationality with polyphonic rationality in respect to societal development. This is done to illuminate how scientific rationality provides a narrow and truncated view of development. In order to explicate the exclusion of polyphonic rationalities/knowledges in favor of scientific rationality, several development scholarships are examined along with an episode of developmental scheme and two episodes of development programs. This is done to expound (note: ‘→’ = influences) how scientific rationality → scholarships → organizational/institutional schemes, such as the MDGs → actual applications of development schemes, such as transmigration and compulsory villagization. The present inquest, …

'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 …

Afro-Colombians And The Encroachment Of Paramilitaries On The African Palm Oil Sector, Stacie Hecht

Anthropology ETDs

The African palm oil industry in Colombia has burgeoned in the last decade, with state-sanctioned promotions and new developmental productions for the expansion of these plantations seeking to provide economic stability for the country. In addition, with the passing of the Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Colombia in 2011, as well as deals with several European countries for the exportation of the product, comes an even greater demand than previously known for the industry. However, the continuation of this endeavor will lead to the devastation of the bio-diverse lands being used for economic gains. Furthermore, palm oil …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Beyond Donors And Dollars: An Ethnographic Case Study Of International Aid And Its Agents In Mozambique, Carly Amanda Santoro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Mozambique, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) work mainly in Mozambique's rural areas, with programs dedicated to the prevention of infectious diseases, education, access to food and clean water, gender equity, and many other concerns. Yet despite these efforts, Mozambican populations are critical of NGOs' missions and practices, and Mozambique remains one of the poorest countries in the world. To explore these issues concerning contradictions in aid in Mozambique, I employ the concept of cultural capital, which refers to cultural practices, perspectives, and beliefs in relation to one's ability to access symbolic and material goods. My thesis examines the degree to …

A Brief Exploration Of The Development Of The Japanese Writing System, Brianna Jilson

Anthropology

This paper is an introductory look at the development at of the Japanese writing system. I will explore the development of kanji, katakana and hiragana from their first introduction to Japan until modern times. My primary focus is on the mixed use of katakana, hiragana, and Chinese characters. I will also explore how the specific symbols used in the two kana syllabaries were developed. My goal is to provide a brief, general overview of the writing system’s development as a basis for further study.

The Tva Coal Ash Disaster And The Coal Calamity Continuum In Southern Appalachia, Erin Rae Eldridge

Doctoral Dissertations

Coal was once hailed as a means through which humans could free themselves from nature and enter a world of unending progress and growth. As a fuel for economic development, it has long been central to projects of capitalist modernity in the Appalachian South. It is also a resource that connects the central mining areas of the region to the development agendas of the Tennessee Valley. The 2008 disaster at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee represents one of numerous calamities along the life cycle of coal in the region. The deluge of coal ash …

Humanitarianism And The Anthropology Of Hunger, Kate Klein

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

While the early view of hunger as the product of a world population too large to sustain has largely been eliminated, and the mainstream international community has come to accept that food insecurity results from issues of distribution rather than an insufficient global food supply, the emphasis on biotechnology in agriculture, humanitarianism in international aid, and social justice in international human rights law in the contemporary era has contributed to other barriers that prevent hunger alleviation.

In this thesis, I argue that these previous contemporary developments have had the capacity to hide hunger. My analysis of technology and humanitarian aid …

Growing Up Tamarin: Morphology, Reproduction, And Population Demography Of Sympatric Free-Ranging Saguinus Fuscicollis And S. Imperator, Mrinalini Watsa

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The Callitrichidae are family of small New World primates with a suite of distinctive morphological and behavioral adaptations that set them apart from other primates. Of primary interest is their reproductive system that includes compulsive twinning: ≥80% of births) and cooperative care of offspring by individuals other than biological parents: termed alloparenting). Further, hematopoietic tissues in callitrichids display signals of both self and sibling DNA, due to an exchange of stem cells early in gestation that renders twin callitrichids as cellular mosaics of each other. This phenomenon is known as genetic chimerism, which increases genetic relatedness between individuals and is …

Tu Envidia Es Mi Progreso: An Ethnographic Account Of The Development Of Squatter Settlements In San Juan De Miraflores, Lima, Peru., Brandon E. Rouleau

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The following dissertation explores the past 60 years of self-help housing in Lima. Specifically, it looks at the uneven development that has occurred in parts of a municipality called San Juan de Miraflores. I argue that self-help housing is part of a larger modernization project that aims to encourage the emergence of a self-regulating individual. Pro-development literature creates a selective history of marginal neighbourhoods, effectively silencing the histories of working class Miraflorinos. The aim of this ethnographic study is to destabilize official histories and representations about development in marginal communities. The bulk of the dissertation looks at the history of …

Community Arts In The Lives Of Disadvantaged African American Youth: Educating For Wellness And Cultural Praxis, Mabel Sabogal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the role and potential of community arts programs and organizations in improving the lives of disadvantaged African American youth, through the creation of a participatory video project and the internal evaluation of the same; using applied anthropological methods, and cultural praxis (an innovative educational design), and following the recommendations of expert community arts programs evaluators. The study responds to the need identified in the community arts literature to offer robust program evaluations that explain the benefits of such programs. The lack of evidence seems to derive not only from the difficulties …

Turning Water Into Wine: The Political Economy Of The Environment In Southern California's Wine Country, Jason Simms

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines questions of water sustainability in contexts of wine production and state-led neoliberal development in the Temecula Valley, southern California, where wine tourism is at present being harnessed as an engine of economic growth. Natural and anthropogenic forces, such as global climate change, desertification, urban development, and the marketization and commodification of natural resources, affect the distribution and availability of water throughout the globe. As a result, the use of water, and associated political and environmental processes and consequences, in the production of global commodities, including wheat, citrus, and coffee, recently have come under increased scrutiny. Given wine's …

Shifting Landscapes: The Social And Economic Development Of Aqaba, Jordan, Kimberly K. Cavanagh

Theses and Dissertations

In my dissertation, 'Shifting Landscapes: the Social and Economic Development of Aqaba, Jordan', I examine the role of the global in (re)defining the local by considering the anticipated impact of the planned large-scale urban development within Aqaba. I contend that the identities of the citizens change as the city itself undergoes `renovation' through political adjustments, globalization, tourism development, and commercialization. I argue that these transformations provide opportunities of empowerment, albeit often limited, for marginalized populations who attempt to broaden the dominant local identity by taking advantage of new economic opportunities and increasing their agency within the city. This research provides …

Developmental Adaptation Hypothesis : Aerobic Capacity, Submaximal Arterial Saturation And Pulmonary Volumes In Peruvian Quechua Natives, Melisa Kiyamu Tsuchiya

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Quechua populations have inhabited the Andes for hundreds of generations. The ability to thrive in this hostile environment, leading an active and healthy life has generated research questions about the special phenotype of Andean highlanders compared to their sea-level counterparts, such as their higher pulmonary volumes and their outstanding work capacity in spite of the challenge of oxygen transport and delivery in hypoxia. In high altitude natives, there have been two main explanations for the origins of the aforementioned traits: genetic adaptation through natural selection and developmental adaptation through the exposure to hypoxia during growth.