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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
A Comparison Of Neo-Hobbesian Social Contract Theory And Anthropological Accounts Of Socio-Political Complexity, Benjamin Lee
A Comparison Of Neo-Hobbesian Social Contract Theory And Anthropological Accounts Of Socio-Political Complexity, Benjamin Lee
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Social contract theory continues to be a leading theoretical framework in political philosophy. It argues that an individual's moral and political obligations are generated by, and dependent upon, an agreement or contract between that individual and the other individuals within their society. Notable scholars who have championed this theory include Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Rawls, and Gauthier. This thesis focuses on reviewing the descriptive aspects of Hobbes’ social contract theory, by revising an already revised account provided by Gregory Kavka. Once this revision is complete, it will be argued that the descriptive aspects of Hobbes’ account of social contract are in …
Pompeiian Mill-Bakeries: Spatial Organization And Social Interaction, Madeleine Rubin
Pompeiian Mill-Bakeries: Spatial Organization And Social Interaction, Madeleine Rubin
Undergraduate Honors Theses
This thesis examines bread production and the daily lives of those who worked in mill-bakeries during the first century CE. Bread was the staple food across the ancient Mediterranean; however, there is little textual evidence about those who produced the bread that fed the Roman Empire. The most significant body of evidence relating to the lives of mill-bakers is the archaeological remains of mill-bakeries from the city of Pompeii, preserved by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. This thesis analyzes the spatial organization of bread production within these mill-bakeries and applies the methodologies of spatial syntax – a …
The Diy Ethic In Richmond, Virginia’S Underground Music Community, Calvin Sloan
The Diy Ethic In Richmond, Virginia’S Underground Music Community, Calvin Sloan
Undergraduate Honors Theses
This project seeks to examine Richmond, Virginia’s underground music community through the analytical perspective of sociocultural anthropology. I argue that Richmond’s underground music community is guided by a governing ideology I refer to as the “DIY ethic”. The application of the DIY (Do It Yourself) ethic helps to explain the community’s unique practices, including moshing and the formation of new, niche genres. This ethnographic approach includes interviews with community members and my own firsthand observations of music venues and other subcultural spaces. This research is part of my undergraduate honors project at the College of William & Mary.
Cultivation Through Excavation: Performing Community And Partnership In The Historic First Baptist Church Project, Eleanor S. Renshaw
Cultivation Through Excavation: Performing Community And Partnership In The Historic First Baptist Church Project, Eleanor S. Renshaw
Undergraduate Honors Theses
This thesis explores the relationships and partnerships developing around the First Baptist Church -- Nassau Street Archaeology Project in Colonial Williamsburg. Exploring the defining of "descendant community" and the contributions of tourists through the lens of Erving Goffman's stages and participant frameworks, this project looks at the past, present, and future of this project.
Asking For Forgiveness: Negotiating The Creation Of Memory Through Public Memorialization, Alyssa Castronuovo
Asking For Forgiveness: Negotiating The Creation Of Memory Through Public Memorialization, Alyssa Castronuovo
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The practice of spatializing culture, or “examining space through theories of embodiment, discourse translocality, and effect,” localizes the global and separates hegemonic narratives of space from how it is actually utilized by the people who interact with it. Setha Low argues that this perspective is especially useful to the anthropologist committed to challenging the discipline’s historically eurocentric approach to studying culture. She writes that a spatial focus “[draws] on the strengths of studying people in situ, producing rich and nuanced sociospatial understandings.” This project began with an interest in theorists such as Edward Soja, Michel de Certeau, and Henri Lefebvre, …
Silver, Ships And Soil: Gift-Giving In Medieval Icelandic Sagas, Emma Eubank
Silver, Ships And Soil: Gift-Giving In Medieval Icelandic Sagas, Emma Eubank
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Through applying anthropological theory to gift exchange in medieval Icelandic sagas, we can uncover a wealth of information about the construction and reinforcement of gender, power, and value. This study incorporates Mauss, Sahlins, and Graeber alongside other theorists to analyze how the narrators of Egil's Saga, The Saga of Grettir the Strong, and Gisli Sursson's Saga perceived a past Iceland.
Seeing Community Values And Resistance In The Grave: Burial Practices At Terre Haute African Cemetery, Annabelle Julia Lewis
Seeing Community Values And Resistance In The Grave: Burial Practices At Terre Haute African Cemetery, Annabelle Julia Lewis
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
This thesis examines a group of 114 burials found within the Terre Haute African Cemetery in Midlothian, Virginia, using gender and resistance as frameworks through which to understand the relationships that members of the historically Black Huguenot Spring community had with the American funeral industry as it developed parallel to the cemetery’s use history from roughly 1800 to 1934. The movement for the beautification of death and increasing emphasis on material goods for funerary commemoration beginning in the nineteenth century did not occur in a vacuum; this work explores the ways in which Huguenot Springs community members chose to participate …
"It's Not Meant For Us": Exploring The Intersection Of Gentrification, Public Education, And Black Identity In Washington, D.C., Shea Winsett
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
This dissertation discusses themes of racial identity, meaning of space, and class through an exploration of the intersection of gentrification and public education in Washington, D.C. Through analysis of middle-class responses to gentrification I argue, 1) that the public education system is a site of gentrification, as it has become a site of capitalistic development and Black displacement; 2) that the American concept of race, including race relations, is not an aberration of typical American society, but a defining cultural feature; and 3) the best way to understand race and class in America is to use theory constructed from the …
Canary Red: Preserving Cochineal And Contrasting Colonial Histories On Lanzarote, Sarah Mattes
Canary Red: Preserving Cochineal And Contrasting Colonial Histories On Lanzarote, Sarah Mattes
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
Nineteenth Century Enslaved African Americans' Coping Strategies For The Stresses Of Enslavement In Virginia, Allison Michelle Campo
Nineteenth Century Enslaved African Americans' Coping Strategies For The Stresses Of Enslavement In Virginia, Allison Michelle Campo
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
Afro-Barbadian Foodways: Analysis Of The Use Of Ceramics By Freed Afro-Barbadian Estate Workers, Camille Lois Chambers
Afro-Barbadian Foodways: Analysis Of The Use Of Ceramics By Freed Afro-Barbadian Estate Workers, Camille Lois Chambers
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
Inviting The Principle Gentlemen Of The City: Privacy, Exclusivity, And Food Complexity In Colonial Taverns, Lauren Elizabeth Gryctko
Inviting The Principle Gentlemen Of The City: Privacy, Exclusivity, And Food Complexity In Colonial Taverns, Lauren Elizabeth Gryctko
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
Dealing In Metaphors: Exploring The Materiality Of Trade On Virginia's Seventeenth Century Eastern Siouan Frontier, Madeleine Ailsworth Gunter
Dealing In Metaphors: Exploring The Materiality Of Trade On Virginia's Seventeenth Century Eastern Siouan Frontier, Madeleine Ailsworth Gunter
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
'Tavern' By The Saltpan: New England Seafarers And The Politics Of Punch On La Tortuga Island, Venezuela, 1682-1782, Konrad A. Antczak
'Tavern' By The Saltpan: New England Seafarers And The Politics Of Punch On La Tortuga Island, Venezuela, 1682-1782, Konrad A. Antczak
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
Honoring The Ancestors: Historical Reclamation And Self-Determined Identities In Richmond And Rio De Janeiro, Autumn Rain Duke Barrett
Honoring The Ancestors: Historical Reclamation And Self-Determined Identities In Richmond And Rio De Janeiro, Autumn Rain Duke Barrett
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
This dissertation focuses on how history is made meaningful in the present. I argue that within the United States and Brazil, historic narratives and sites are employed in legitimizing and contesting past and contemporary social inequity. National, regional, and local narratives tell the stories of how communities and their members came to be who and where they are in the present. Social hierarchies and inequity are naturalized and/or questioned through historic narratives. Formative education includes telling these stories to children. Commemorative events and monuments tell and re-tell stories to community members of all ages. Enculturation of historical identities, the positioning …
The Technique Of The Poquoson-Style Log Canoe, David Andrews Moran
The Technique Of The Poquoson-Style Log Canoe, David Andrews Moran
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
From Kaolin To Claymount: Landscapes Of The 19th-Century James River Stoneware Industry, Oliver Maximilian Mueller-Heubach
From Kaolin To Claymount: Landscapes Of The 19th-Century James River Stoneware Industry, Oliver Maximilian Mueller-Heubach
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
This dissertation will examine the James River stoneware tradition, which encompasses parts of Henrico, Dinwiddie, Prince George, and Charles City Counties, south and east of the Falls of the James at Richmond, Virginia. This area has one of the richest histories in American ceramics. The essential elements of stoneware production will be examined. This dissertation will provide the only comprehensive overview of this regional industry with in depth descriptions of the relevant potteries, potting families and their environment. Detailed description of ceramic forms and decorations specific to individual potters will be provided. The archaeological research done at the potting sites, …
"A Medley Of Contradictions": The Jewish Diaspora In St Eustatius And Barbados, Derek Robert Miller
"A Medley Of Contradictions": The Jewish Diaspora In St Eustatius And Barbados, Derek Robert Miller
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
During the 17th and 18th century a number of Jews settled on the English island of Barbados and the Dutch island of St. Eustatius. The Jews on both islands erected synagogues and a number of key structures essential for a practicing religious community. Although they had strong connections that spanned across geo-political boundaries, the synagogue compounds on each island became key places for the creation and maintenance of a Jewish community. I argue that these synagogue compounds represented diasporic places that must be understood through a tri-partite model that explores the relationships between the Jewish community and its hostland, other …
Community Building After Emancipation: An Anthropological Study Of Charles' Corner, Virginia, 1862-1922, Shannon Sheila Mahoney
Community Building After Emancipation: An Anthropological Study Of Charles' Corner, Virginia, 1862-1922, Shannon Sheila Mahoney
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
The half-century marked by the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War I was a critical period of cultural, social, and economic transition for African Americans in the southern United States. During the late nineteenth century, while African Americans were rebuilding communities and networks disrupted by enslavement and the ensuing Civil War, several settlements developed between Williamsburg and Yorktown on Virginia's lower peninsula. One of the settlements, Charles' Corner, is an optimal case study for understanding the gradual process of community building during a particularly challenging period of African American history dominated by systemic racism and …
The Nottoway Of Virginia: A Study Of Peoplehood And Political Economy, C.1775-1875, Buck Woodard
The Nottoway Of Virginia: A Study Of Peoplehood And Political Economy, C.1775-1875, Buck Woodard
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
This research examines the social construction of a Virginia Indian reservation community during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Between 1824 and 1877 the Iroquoian-speaking Nottoway divided their reservation lands into individual partible allotments and developed family farm ventures that mirrored their landholding White neighbors. In Southampton's slave-based society, labor relationships with White landowners and "Free People of Color" impacted Nottoway exogamy and shaped community notions of peoplehood. Through property ownership and a variety of labor practices, Nottoway's kin-based farms produced agricultural crops, orchard goods and hogs for export and sale in an emerging agro-industrial economy. However, shifts in Nottoway …
Derogatory To The Rights Of Free-Born Subjects: Racialization And The Identity Of The Williamsburg Area's Free Black Population From 1723-1830, Rebecca Anne Schumann
Derogatory To The Rights Of Free-Born Subjects: Racialization And The Identity Of The Williamsburg Area's Free Black Population From 1723-1830, Rebecca Anne Schumann
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
Ontological Blackness: A N Investigation Of 18th Century Burial Practices Among Captive Africans On The Island Of Barbados, Brittany Leigh Brown
Ontological Blackness: A N Investigation Of 18th Century Burial Practices Among Captive Africans On The Island Of Barbados, Brittany Leigh Brown
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
"A Dress Of The Right Length To Die In": Mortuary And Memorial Practices Amongst Depression-Era Tenant Farmers Of The Piedmont South, Zoey Alderman-Tuttle
"A Dress Of The Right Length To Die In": Mortuary And Memorial Practices Amongst Depression-Era Tenant Farmers Of The Piedmont South, Zoey Alderman-Tuttle
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
Sexual Indiscretions In Virginia's Colonial Capital, Sarah Rebecca Schmidt
Sexual Indiscretions In Virginia's Colonial Capital, Sarah Rebecca Schmidt
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
To And From Places Beyond: Examining Low-Fired Coarse Earthenwares And Informal Trade Networks Among Enslaved Bermudians In The 18th And 19th Centuries, Sarah Helen Zimmet
To And From Places Beyond: Examining Low-Fired Coarse Earthenwares And Informal Trade Networks Among Enslaved Bermudians In The 18th And 19th Centuries, Sarah Helen Zimmet
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
Booze At The Brothel: Alcohol-Related Artifacts And Their Use In Performance At The 27/29 Endicott Street Brothel, Amanda B. Johnson
Booze At The Brothel: Alcohol-Related Artifacts And Their Use In Performance At The 27/29 Endicott Street Brothel, Amanda B. Johnson
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
I'M Really Just An American: The Archaeological Importance Of The Black Towns In The American West And Late-Nineteenth Century Constructions Of Blackness, Shea Aisha Winsett
I'M Really Just An American: The Archaeological Importance Of The Black Towns In The American West And Late-Nineteenth Century Constructions Of Blackness, Shea Aisha Winsett
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
"I Will Commence With My News": Elite Youth Culture And Communities Of Knowledge In Early Nineteenth Century Williamsburg, Holly Nicole Stevens
"I Will Commence With My News": Elite Youth Culture And Communities Of Knowledge In Early Nineteenth Century Williamsburg, Holly Nicole Stevens
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
Dietary Bioarchaeology: Late Woodland Subsistence Within The Coastal Plain Of Virginia, Berek J. Dore
Dietary Bioarchaeology: Late Woodland Subsistence Within The Coastal Plain Of Virginia, Berek J. Dore
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.
Heavy Metal Archaeology: A N Examination Of Lead's Significance For The Interpretation Of Archaeological Bone, Peter Andrew Regan
Heavy Metal Archaeology: A N Examination Of Lead's Significance For The Interpretation Of Archaeological Bone, Peter Andrew Regan
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects
No abstract provided.