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Strategic Neighboring And "Beloved Community" Development In West Atlanta Neighborhoods, Cheryl L. Case Aug 2011

Strategic Neighboring And "Beloved Community" Development In West Atlanta Neighborhoods, Cheryl L. Case

Anthropology Theses

This study investigates the phenomenon of faith-motivated actors in blighted inner-city neighborhoods on the west side of Atlanta, Georgia. In merging community development literature with a framework of place, this research explores the role of faith in neighborhood transformation efforts. In particular, it examines the motivations and values of these actors that shape how they conceptualize their neighborhoods and in turn how these values are then inscribed into place. Fewer than 40 strategic neighbors are known to be active in Atlanta’s west side; of these 32 participated in the research through in-depth interviews, surveys, diaries and other qualitative research methods. …


Middle Bronze Age- Late Bronze Age Transitions In The Southern Urals (Russia). Case Study: Shifts In Settlement Patterns In The Kyzil Area, Chelyabinsk District., Denis Sharapov May 2011

Middle Bronze Age- Late Bronze Age Transitions In The Southern Urals (Russia). Case Study: Shifts In Settlement Patterns In The Kyzil Area, Chelyabinsk District., Denis Sharapov

Anthropology Theses

The following paper focuses on the transitional period between the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) and the Late Bronze Age (LBA) in the Southern Urals, Russia. GIS-based analysis of Bronze Age settlement patterns in the Kyzil Area points to a number of important findings. The study concludes the demographic impossibility of an autonomous development scenario of the Sintashta – Srubnaya-Alakul cultural transformation, rejects the presence of ‘proto-city’ or urbanization developments in the region during the Bronze Age, and points to the shift to a more collective form of control over natural resources during the LBA period. The study also examines the …


Volunteerism In The University Culture, Stephanie V. Blocker May 2011

Volunteerism In The University Culture, Stephanie V. Blocker

Anthropology Theses

This project examines how undergraduate and graduate students at a university in the Southern United States utilize and conceptualize volunteering at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, a time when volunteerism is on the rise despite a severe economic crisis. I was interested in taking an anthropological approach to explore the reasons that people volunteered as well as how their decisions about volunteering might be impacted by different aspects of their identity, including their ethnicity, gender identity, student status, and affiliation with student groups. Based on in-depth interviews and surveys conducted with five undergraduate and …


The Lacy Hotel Site: Gender Ideologies And Domestic Activities In A 19th Century Boardinghouse Context, Melissa Scharffenberg May 2011

The Lacy Hotel Site: Gender Ideologies And Domestic Activities In A 19th Century Boardinghouse Context, Melissa Scharffenberg

Anthropology Theses

The Lacy Hotel was a part of the "Great Locomotive Chase", a significant historical event in Kennesaw, Georgia during the Civil War (AD 1861-1864), yet little is known of this site. The Lacy Hotel was a boardinghouse that operated for roughly six years until General William Tecumseh Sherman burned it in 1864. This research utilizes historical records along with archaeological fieldwork in order to provide a more detailed analysis of daily life within the Lacy household. Dominant ideologies influence the roles of women concerning their activities and choices of consumption within the household. Although the results show that the boardinghouse …


Investigating The Ancient Maya Landscape: A Settlement Survey In The Periphery Of Pacbitun, Jennifer Weber May 2011

Investigating The Ancient Maya Landscape: A Settlement Survey In The Periphery Of Pacbitun, Jennifer Weber

Anthropology Theses

This thesis presents the results of research conducted at the ancient Maya site of Pacbitun. The site, located in the foothills of the Maya Mountains in the Cayo District of Belize, offered a unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between the site core and various caves located in its 9 km2 periphery. The landscape was a critical component of ancient Maya religion. The earth and all of its topographic features were considered to be alive and, as living beings, to interact in human affairs. Caves were seen as portals to the underworld and homes to deities. Pilgrimages to these …


La Vida Online: The Parallel Public Sphere Of Facebook As Used By Colombian Immigrant Women In Atlanta, Michaelanne M. Dye Apr 2011

La Vida Online: The Parallel Public Sphere Of Facebook As Used By Colombian Immigrant Women In Atlanta, Michaelanne M. Dye

Anthropology Theses

This thesis examines how Colombian women within the city of Atlanta utilize Facebook as a parallel public sphere, a cultural phenomenon through which the silenced use mediums of popular culture to discuss private and public dilemmas (Dewey 2009). Through ethnographic research in Atlanta, I analyze how these young women use Facebook as they negotiate their identity through the multiple contexts of their everyday lives. Drawing from feminist critiques, I explore whether Facebook provides an alternative to the traditional public sphere, while also investigating how power structures influence freedom of expression online. Through an international network of friends, these women tackle …


Labor And Identity: Latina Migrant Women And The Service Industry Of Atlanta, Kaitlin E. Case Apr 2011

Labor And Identity: Latina Migrant Women And The Service Industry Of Atlanta, Kaitlin E. Case

Anthropology Theses

This thesis explores the work experiences and life histories of a group of Latina migrant women who work in specific sectors of the service industry in Atlanta, Georgia. I focus on janitorial/custodial as well as domestic labor in order to confront the social issue of the continued devaluation and exploitation of feminized wage work. This ethnography reveals how education and English proficiency tie into how migrant labor is viewed in the United States specifically, and asks how Latina migrant women might be able to achieve labor legitimacy in the future. My findings are based on in-depth interviews that I collected …


Aging Of The Lumbar Vertebrae Using Known Age And Sex Samples, April K. Smith Dec 2010

Aging Of The Lumbar Vertebrae Using Known Age And Sex Samples, April K. Smith

Anthropology Theses

The dimensions of the lumbar vertebrae are examined in order to determine if these measurements can be used to predict the age of an individual, and if the lumbar vertebrae exhibit sexual dimorphism. Various statistical techniques were utilized to analyze several dimensions of the lumbar vertebrae. Aging patterns in the lumbar elements are distinct between males and females, and females exhibit compression of the L3 element, which may be related to vertebral wedging. Some dimensions of the lumbar vertebrae are sexually dimorphic.


Small Finds From Chogha Gavaneh Site In The Islamabad Plain, Central Zagros Mountains, Iran, Firoozeh Forouzan Dec 2010

Small Finds From Chogha Gavaneh Site In The Islamabad Plain, Central Zagros Mountains, Iran, Firoozeh Forouzan

Anthropology Theses

This study examines small finds from the site of Chogha Gavaneh, Iran, including zoomorphic clay figurines, geometric-shaped objects, and sling bullets in order to deter-mine if they served an economic function during the Early Chalcolithic period (ca. 5000-4000 B.C.E.). A total of 104 animal figurines, sling bullets, and geometric-shaped objects have been found at Chogha Gavaneh. This research challenges previous archaeological interpretations of animal figurines that have interpreted them as being magical or lucky objects for hunting and religious rituals, or for use as game pieces, educational objects, or toys. Through the use of XRF (x-ray fluorescence spectrometry) analysis and …


Borders And Barriers: Perspectives On Aging And Alternative Medicine Among Transnational North Indian Immigrants, Kanan B. Mehta Dec 2010

Borders And Barriers: Perspectives On Aging And Alternative Medicine Among Transnational North Indian Immigrants, Kanan B. Mehta

Anthropology Theses

This study explores the practice of alternative medicine among a group of senior, transnational Indian immigrants. I analyze how cross-cultural ideologies influence aging and immigrant experiences in healthcare. I explore the ways in which transnational networks nurture social relations and aid in acquiring healthcare resources. This study also examines the developments that alternative medicine underwent during the colonial rule and how those developments affected the trajectory of biomedicine. I focus on the practice of alternative medicine as a significant contributor to immigrant health. Finally, I argue that we need to strive for a symbiosis between alternative medicine and Western biomedicine …


Stitching Together: An Exploration Of Women's Sociality Through An Urban Knitting Group, Gillian Barbara Ruland Apr 2010

Stitching Together: An Exploration Of Women's Sociality Through An Urban Knitting Group, Gillian Barbara Ruland

Anthropology Theses

The phenomenon of knitting groups is an increasingly widespread trend in urban settings. In this thesis, I argue that the resurgence of knitting groups in contemporary urban areas is the result of a nostalgic search for a sense of community within an otherwise complex and sometimes alienating urban landscape. Through ethnographic research in Atlanta, GA, I examine how women knitters whom I interviewed theorize their own interactions in the knitting community and the ways in which technology serves to facilitate these interactions. With lives revolving mainly around family and careers, the women who join knitting groups seek an escape from …


"Now I Turn The Remainder Of The Service Into The Hands Of The Pulpit": Leadership In An African American Church, Kaniqua Robinson Apr 2010

"Now I Turn The Remainder Of The Service Into The Hands Of The Pulpit": Leadership In An African American Church, Kaniqua Robinson

Anthropology Theses

The research study examines the influence of an African American religious preacher in organizing his congregation into a socioeconomic community. The research question is as fol-lows: How does the leadership performance influence (a) the social interaction of his congrega-tion, (b) the mobilization of congregates into members of a social group, and (c) the development of his congregation into an economic system? This study examines the Pastor, his role, influence, and management of power. Weber argued that there are three pure types of authority: rational, traditional, and charismatic. For an African American religious preacher, the authority would be considered to be …


Eating Disorder Narratives: Personal Experiences Of Anorexia And Bulimia, Veronica Ashley Przybyl Apr 2010

Eating Disorder Narratives: Personal Experiences Of Anorexia And Bulimia, Veronica Ashley Przybyl

Anthropology Theses

The following paper explores the ways in which we currently understand eating disorders, examining the current theory and literature as well as providing the stories of three women and one man with first-hand experience with eating disorders. Through the use of formal interviews, the paper focuses not only on the ways in which an eating disorder affects an individual’s life but also on the ways in which an individual’s life affects the manifestation of his or her eating disorder.


Human Cranial Growth And Shape Change: Are Fetal Rates And Morphologies Extended Throughout The First Year Of Life?, Dana J. Russell Apr 2010

Human Cranial Growth And Shape Change: Are Fetal Rates And Morphologies Extended Throughout The First Year Of Life?, Dana J. Russell

Anthropology Theses

Selection for increased encephalization in humans necessitated extensive brain growth after birth. To estimate changes in rates of growth and corresponding shape changes during gestation and infancy, chord and arc distances were obtained from the frontal, parietal, and occipital bones of 44 human fetuses, neonates, and infants (one year old and younger). Rates of growth in chord and arc measurements were calculated and compared using linear regression of log-transformed variables, followed by ANCOVA. Curvature of bone lengths and widths were estimated by chord/arc indices. Fetal rates of cranial growth were significantly slower while the fetal frontal and occipital bones were …


Analysis Of Osteoarthritis On Appendicular Joint Surfaces In Known Age And Sex Samples From The Terry And Spitalfields Collections, Michelle Lynn Webb Apr 2010

Analysis Of Osteoarthritis On Appendicular Joint Surfaces In Known Age And Sex Samples From The Terry And Spitalfields Collections, Michelle Lynn Webb

Anthropology Theses

Arthritis is one of the most common manifestations of aging and is the single largest cause of disability in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada among people age 30 years and older. Osteoarthritis of appendicular joint surfaces exhibits alterations of bony tissue in and around the joint surface. The degree to which osteoarthritis of articular surfaces occurs as a function of age and sex can be resolved with cemetery populations of known individuals, such as the Terry (19-20th century) and Spitalfields (17-18th century) collections upon which I report (n = 322; 162 males and 160 females). Using the five point …


Narratives Of Social Change In Rural Buryatia, Russia, Luis Ortiz-Echevarria Apr 2010

Narratives Of Social Change In Rural Buryatia, Russia, Luis Ortiz-Echevarria

Anthropology Theses

This study explores postsocialist representations of modernity and identity through narratives of social change collected from individuals in rural communities of Buryatia, Russia. I begin with an examination of local conceptualizations of the past, present, and future and how they are imagined in places and spaces. Drawing on 65 days of fieldwork, in-depth interviews, informal discussion, and participant-observation, I elaborate on what I am calling a confrontation with physical triggers of self in connection to place, including imaginations of the countryside and village, sacred and ritual spaces, landscapes, and the environment. I also explore how the anxieties embedded in narratives …


Body, Speech And Mind: Negotiating Meaning And Experience At A Tibetan Buddhist Center, Amanda S. Woomer Dec 2009

Body, Speech And Mind: Negotiating Meaning And Experience At A Tibetan Buddhist Center, Amanda S. Woomer

Anthropology Theses

Examining an Atlanta area Tibetan Buddhist center as a symbolic and imagined borderland space, I investigate the ways that meaning is created through competing narratives of spirituality and “culture.” Drawing from theories of borderlands, cross-cultural interaction, narratives, authenticity and material culture, I analyze the ways that non-Tibetan community members of the Drepung Loseling center navigate through the interplay of culture and spirituality and how this interaction plays into larger discussions of cultural adaptation, appropriation and representation. Although this particular Tibetan Buddhist center is only a small part of Buddhism’s existence in the United States today, discourses on authenticity, representation and …


Embodied Identities: Negotiating The Self Through Flamenco Dance, Pamela Ann Caltabiano Dec 2009

Embodied Identities: Negotiating The Self Through Flamenco Dance, Pamela Ann Caltabiano

Anthropology Theses

Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Atlanta, this study analyzes how transnational practices of, and discourse about, flamenco dance contribute to the performance and embodiment of gender, ethnic, and national identities. It argues that, in the context of the flamenco studio, women dancers renegotiate authenticity and hybridity against the backdrop of an embodied “exot-ic” passion.


Old Stories, New Narratives: Public Archaeology And The Politics Of Display At Georgia's Official Southeastern Indian Interpretive Center, Erin Leigh Andrews Apr 2009

Old Stories, New Narratives: Public Archaeology And The Politics Of Display At Georgia's Official Southeastern Indian Interpretive Center, Erin Leigh Andrews

Anthropology Theses

Presenting a case study of an American Indian exhibit at the Funk Heritage Center, I critically examine how this museum’s ideologies and preferred pedagogies shape public discourse about Southeastern Indians in the past and present. Using the methodology of Visitor Studies, this public archaeology project illustrates the benefits of incorporating applied anthropology into museological practice through collaboration with museum staff, volunteers, visitors, and American Indians. Operating within the theoretical frameworks of Charles R. Garoian (2001) and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (1991), my results imply that inserting archaeological narratives into institutional pedagogy alters a museum’s traditional “performance” of the past by challenging its …


A Prison Within A Prison: Segregation Of Hiv Positive Inmates And Double Stigma, Emily Hilyer Gaskin Apr 2009

A Prison Within A Prison: Segregation Of Hiv Positive Inmates And Double Stigma, Emily Hilyer Gaskin

Anthropology Theses

Although the majority of state prison systems have made the move away from segregated housing for HIV positive inmates, a few still continue this practice. The purpose of this study was to learn more about the experiences of women who have carried the double stigma of being HIV positive prisoners who were segregated within the prison system because of their illness. Drawing on interviews with HIV positive women who served time in a segregated facility and are now released, I was able to explore how double stigma and segregation affect identity and daily life. By asking these women questions about …


Boys' Love And Female Friendships: The Subculture Of Yaoi As A Social Bond Between Women, Amy Ann O'Brien Nov 2008

Boys' Love And Female Friendships: The Subculture Of Yaoi As A Social Bond Between Women, Amy Ann O'Brien

Anthropology Theses

In this thesis I argue that the yaoi community addresses a gap in subculture studies through the ways in which women use the genre to socialize. Yaoi is a genre of Japanese animation and comics which focuses on romantic relationships between two men and is directly geared towards women. Through ethnographic research in the United States, I look at how the women I interviewed conceptualize their participation within the community and what yaoi means to them. The women within the yaoi community are not rebelliously opposing the mainstream as many subcultural theories suggest, but are instead carving out a social …


Being Italian American: Performing Ethnicity In Atlanta, Stephen Murray Nov 2008

Being Italian American: Performing Ethnicity In Atlanta, Stephen Murray

Anthropology Theses

What does it mean to be Italian American in Atlanta? While Italian Americans have lived in urban concentrations in parts of the United States for over a century, members of this ethnic group have been living in Atlanta only in small numbers and for a few decades. Considering theories of ethnicity and performance, this study investigates aspects of Italian American ethnicity in Atlanta. The thesis provides an ethnographic insight into what it means to be an Italian American in Atlanta.


The Effects Of Antiretroviral Access On The Creation And Maintanence Of Hiv-Seropositive Identity., Kyle Patrick Peplinski Jul 2008

The Effects Of Antiretroviral Access On The Creation And Maintanence Of Hiv-Seropositive Identity., Kyle Patrick Peplinski

Anthropology Theses

The study of identity based on the presence of disease has traditionally focused on landmark events, such as diagnosis or the introduction of treatment options. These events have been shown to significantly alter so-called “illness identities.” The project was undertaken in Atlanta, GA, which has a relatively high rate of HIV infection and a large number of HIV-related services and support mechanisms. This study contextualizes illness identities within a larger socio-political and economic paradigm, recognizing that individuals use multiple identities to inform their interactions and decisions, specifically those regarding the beginning and continuation of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. In addition, structural …


New Scenarios For Racial And Social Segregation In The Politics Of Public Space And Social Fear, Angela Klepach Apr 2008

New Scenarios For Racial And Social Segregation In The Politics Of Public Space And Social Fear, Angela Klepach

Anthropology Theses

This study investigates the politics of public space and social fear that work to create new scenarios for social and racial segregation in the processes of gentrification, such as privatization, fortification, and symbolism in public art in a major southern metropolitan city. The Public Art Program of Atlanta, Georgia is implementing public art projects at various sites, chosen based on being in depressed neighborhoods in the hope that it will bring new life to blighted urban areas and change the current use of space. Through an applied anthropological and multi-perspective approach, this study explores how middle and upper class residents …


Movement Against Disaster: An Ethnography Of Post-Katrina Volunteerism In The Lower Ninth Ward Of New Orleans, Louisiana, Patrick W. Huff Apr 2008

Movement Against Disaster: An Ethnography Of Post-Katrina Volunteerism In The Lower Ninth Ward Of New Orleans, Louisiana, Patrick W. Huff

Anthropology Theses

This thesis explores the experiences and practices of disaster relief volunteers. This thesis is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted over a period of fifty-three days in the summer of 2007 at the post-hurricane Katrina Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. Through innovative practices and a commitment to the principle of “solidarity not charity” volunteers produce not just material aid, but an ideology of social justice. This thesis is also an exercise in engaged scholarship in that the author directly participated in the disaster relief effort as a volunteer.


Immigrant And Minority Student Visual Narratives Of High School Dropout In Atlanta, Anahita Modaresi Aug 2007

Immigrant And Minority Student Visual Narratives Of High School Dropout In Atlanta, Anahita Modaresi

Anthropology Theses

This thesis is about the Reading and Writing for Filmmaking Afterschool program, an extracurricular focus group centered around engaging urban immigrant and minority working-class high school students in a discussion about high school dropout using participatory video as a methodological tool. The program was created under the assumption that, (1) within 'free spaces' students who are encouraged to express themselves and explore their social realities through innovative methods will reveal their understanding of high school dropout and the factors contributing to it, and (2) the way these students conceptualize and talk about high school dropout is significant to understanding this …


Taxon, Site And Temporal Differentiation Using Dental Microwear In The Southern African Papionins, Darby Proctor Apr 2007

Taxon, Site And Temporal Differentiation Using Dental Microwear In The Southern African Papionins, Darby Proctor

Anthropology Theses

The evolutionary history of the South African papionins is a useful analog for the emergence of hominids in South Africa. However, the taxonomic relationships of the papionins are unclear. This study uses low-magnification stereomicroscopy to examine dental microwear and uses the microwear signals to explore the existing classification of these papionins. The results from the species and site level analyses are equivocal. However, the genera and time period results show clear evidence for a dietary change between the extinct and extant forms of Papio and Parapapio. This adds an additional tool for distinguishing these two groups. The dietary changes witnessed …


Museums In The Age Of Neoliberalism: A Multi-Sited Analysis Of Science And Health Museums., Taren Laine Dailey Dec 2006

Museums In The Age Of Neoliberalism: A Multi-Sited Analysis Of Science And Health Museums., Taren Laine Dailey

Anthropology Theses

In this thesis, I explore the variety of ways museums operate in a neoliberal, global economy. I describe interactions between museums, people, governments and money. These articles examine the different dimensions and connections between these discursive relationships, such as the ways in which museums work for and also work with governments, schools, tourists and local citizens in their communities. Additionally, I discuss my experiences as an anthropologist who is studying institutions controlled by elites. I use Larua Nader's (1969) theory of "studying up," to describe how anthropolotists must be increasingly flexible when researching museums in the age of neoliberalism. I …


Paleoecological Reconstructions Of The South African Plio-Pleistocene Based On Low-Magnification Dental Microwear Of Fossil Primates., Brian D. Carter Dec 2006

Paleoecological Reconstructions Of The South African Plio-Pleistocene Based On Low-Magnification Dental Microwear Of Fossil Primates., Brian D. Carter

Anthropology Theses

Cercopithecines are common in hominid producing deposits and are a useful proxy for determining the ecological context of the early hominids. For this study, dental microwear is examined through low-magnification stereomicroscopy and used to reconstruct the diets of sampled primates. Those from the earliest sites, predominantly Parapapio, are primarily frugivorous while the incidence of gramnivory increases in the later Dinopithecus, Gorgopithecus, and Papio individuals denoting a general cooling and drying trend over the South African Plio-Pleistocene with a distinct pulse between 1.9-1.8 million years ago (mya). Australopithecus is reconstructed as a primary gramnivore which indicates that hominids adapted early in …


Agency And Transnationalism: Social Organization Among African Immigrants In The Atlanta Metropolitan Area, Felicia Chigozie Anonyuo Aug 2006

Agency And Transnationalism: Social Organization Among African Immigrants In The Atlanta Metropolitan Area, Felicia Chigozie Anonyuo

Anthropology Theses

Immigrants live transnational lives when they maintain transborder social ties, participate simultaneously in multi-local social relations, and engage in self-transforming identity negotiations that also impact their host societies and their communities of origin. Their social organizations manifest identity construction as agency, with their objectives reflecting particular culture production activities. This native ethnography of Atlanta’s sub-Saharan African immigrants combines 115 surveys of the general population, and 13 in-depth interviews of their organization leaders and members, to examine the potential problem solving instrumentality of social organizations. Study results show that organizational objectives do not reflect top community problems, but prioritize projects that …