Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Dropping In: The Emergence Of Skateboard Culture In Urban Nepal, Olivia Pincince

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since its inception less than a century ago skateboarding has epitomized youth counter culture. In recent years, this fringe sport has emerged in urban Nepal. Through in depth interviews with members of the skateboarding community and supplemental observational research, this study attempts to illuminate how social identity is realized for the skateboard community and how that conceptualization fits within the larger Nepali society. The following research suggests that skateboarding needs to overcome key economic limitations to truly become a cultural more in society.

An Analysis Of Opposing Feminist Views Of Sex Work: Is It The Woman’S Choice? In Kolkata, West Bengal, India, Julia Webster

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Sex work is an ancient profession that throughout history has been both socially stigmatized and socially sanctioned. Presently, there is conflicting discourse within the feminist movement about whether to support or combat the sex work industry. This study analyzes the current perceptions of sex work in Kolkata, India which is home to South Asia’s largest red-light district Sonagachi. It aims to answer the questions: Is sex work a respectable profession or forced labor? Are women sex workers as a result of choice or force? And are the answers to these questions determined by the sex workers themselves or by NGO …

Exploring Cape Malay Identity Through The Lens Of Food, Allyson Ang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the construction of Cape Malay identity through the lens of food. Made up of descendants of slaves from India, Madagascar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, and other places, “Cape Malay” is a very contentious identity. Although people who fall under the label of Cape Malay today are hundreds of years removed from their slave ancestors, there are still distinct remnants of these origins in Cape Malay culture. One of the ways in which this is most evident is Cape Malay cuisine. Cape Malay dishes such as bobotie, samosas, bredie, and beryani have become staples in South African …

Seeds Of Peace: Visible Cooperation Between Jews And Muslims In Morocco, Namratha Somayajula

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A carrefour in various contexts, Morocco stands in a unique position between the Arab world and Israel for several reasons. The country is unique due to the historical presence of Judaism in the region that, over the years, became a Muslim-majority Islamic kingdom. The members of Morocco’s Muslim and Jewish communities coexisted for centuries, albeit with minor hurdles, as did the Muslims and Jews of Palestine. However, political events around the world in the twentieth century led to the rapid departure of Jews from their Moroccan homeland. Today, with so few remaining in Morocco, “Jew” often becomes synonymous with “Israel,” …

Mari Et Femme, Sous Dieu: L’Évangile Du Genre Dans Le Mariage Chrétien Camerounais, Allison Aaronson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cette étude cherche à analyser les implications sur le genre d’une institution sociale influente, le christianisme, à travers l’optique des rôles conjugaux. Les interviews individuelles face à face étaient conduites en quatre semaines, avec pour objectif d’analyser ces rôles conjugaux chrétiens du genre dans l’espoir de mieux comprendre leur relation à l’émancipation désirée du genre. Ces interviewés ont inclut un échantillon divers des chrétiens mariés, des leaders religieux, et des membres de la société civile/ le gouvernement. Leurs réponses ont indiqué une influence forte d’un christianisme uniquement camerounais sur la conception des rôles conjugaux du genre. Ces rôles mettent les …

Meditating On Mountain Bikes, Sam Bowen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For a long time, Nepal has been an exotic destination for adventurers and spiritual wanderers. Geographically, there are no comparisons. “The country is vertical,” said Jagan Biswarka as he pointed across Phewa Lake to the snow-capped mountains. “You can see the 8000 meter from 800 meter. This will be one of the best playgrounds in the world. Nowhere in Nepal. Nowhere in the world.” Mads Mathiasen, a Danish expatriate agrees. “I think very few people realizes how big a contrast there is in Nepal from seventy-one meters above sea level – the lowest place in Nepal – to eight-thousand eight-hundred …

Witnesses To Revolution, Colleen Cassingham

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My documentary follows two families 4 years after the Tunisian Revolution. All members in the Daly family from Sidi Bouzid participated in the revolution, and the Laroussi family in La Goulette had two brothers martyred on January 14^th, 2011. The film explores the effects of the revolution – emotional, economic, and social – on all the various family members. As we get glimpses into the daily life of two main characters, we see that reactions to the revolution are diverse, although the notion of the ‘Tunisian exception’ is held up to scrutiny by the overwhelmingly negative reactions to …

The Social Institution And Inscription Of Child Marriage In The Terai Region Of Nepal, Alexandra Baer Chan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Marriage is typically considered to be one of the foundations of the family unit, and family is thought to be one of the pillars of society. Because marriage is such a primary social concept, its forms and functions may be taken for granted, despite the fact that it is culturally dependent. For example, the idea that one must be in love in order to get married may be more cultural ideal than universal idea—and is thus not true of many cultures. Arranged marriages are still performed in many parts of the world, and can be means of building kinship circles …

A Resistance, Remembered? Remembrance, Commemoration And The Parallel System In Prishtina, Kosovo, Conner Gordon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Though the 1999 war that liberated Kosovo from Serbian control is over fifteen years in the past, memories of the 1990s still remain in a state of chaos. This paper approaches the development of these collective memories through interviews with Prishtina residents about the memories and legacy of Ibrahim Rugova’s parallel structures in the 1990s. Though they draw from similar narratives as memories of the Kosovo Liberation Army’s armed resistance, memories of the nonviolent resistance play a vastly different and largely underrepresented role in current Kosovar Albanian public discourse. Through competing deployments of resistance memories, disproportionate memorialization of Kosovo’s violent …

Theravada Buddhism And Dai Identity In Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, James Granderson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This ethnographic field project focused upon the relationship between the urban Jinghong and surrounding rural Dai population of lay people, as well as a few individuals from other ethnic groups, and Theravada Buddhism. Specifically, I observed how Buddhism manifests itself in daily urban life, the relationship between Theravada monastics in city and rural temples and common people in daily life, as well as important events wherelay people and monastics interacted with one another. This research was intended to fulfill a need to observe how Theravada Buddhism influences Dai lives on the mundane level.This involved a several week study period in …

Child Marriage: Addressing The Challenges And Obstacles In The Post-2015 Agenda, Valeria Pelayo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the progress of child marriage eradication over the last forty years in order to identify the weak points of implementation as well as how these are being incorporated in the post-2015 agenda. An assessment of current rates by geographic region and several other demographic factors is included along with future projections for these affected areas. The shortcomings identified include a lack of program evaluation, negligence towards married children, a shortage of data on sub-national legislation efficacy, and minimal attention paid to child marriage in the context of slavery and human trafficking. The scope of the problem is …

From Laws To Last Names: Examining Popular Opinions Of Adoption In Morocco, Margaret Liston

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As international adoption is becoming a much more common reality for many orphans and abandoned children worldwide, it is an important time to consider the implications of attitudes regarding adoption in Morocco—an Islamic state which defines adoption in a very specific but different way from the Western world. Despite the abundance of literature analyzing the historical and legal aspects of adoption in Morocco, there is a notable absence of research that examines the opinions of Moroccans removed from the adoption process on the institution itself. This study seeks to highlight potential trends in attitudes regarding adoption by examining the views …

The Effect Of Refugees On Jordanian Identity, Max Yenkin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Jordan has become known as the home for refugees from the crises that have occurred along its borders. Several waves of large groups of refugees have come to Jordan: 1948, 1967, 1991, 2003, and 2011-present, with copious amounts of refugees coming from different surrounding countries to Jordan. The Hashemite Kingdom is ruled through keeping relations between the Bedouin tribes that have lived in the area from the founding of the country. This has led to the denial of equality for former refugees who obtained citizenship as well as the other refugee populations in areas such as work and education. As …

Huggies, High-Fives, And Huismannen: Exploring The Masculinity And Everyday Experiences Of Dutch Stay-At-Home Fathers, Courtney C. Grey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This qualitative research study explores Dutch stay-at-home fathers, or “huismannen,” and their everyday experiences with their role and their own masculinity. There has been much research conducted on stay-at-home fathers within other countries and cultures, but the current research significantly lacks the perspective and voices of those within the Dutch culture. To gather these voices, oral history interviews were conducted with five Dutch huismannen, and the collected data were analyzed using gender theory focused on masculinity and current relevant literature. This analysis led to the conclusion that Dutch stay-at-home fathers create and conform to a complicit masculine identity. …

Gender And Sexuality In Nepal: The Experiences Of Sexual And Gender Minorities In A Rapidly Changing Social Climate, Sophia Greene

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Gender and sexuality in current day Nepal is at the crux of a societal revolution, as the deeply ingrained patriarchal society framed against the emergence of new ideas results in a shifting social climate in which old and new clash. As modernization and economic development permeate Nepal, they bring with them individualistic ideals which gradually infiltrate society, altering long held social attitudes toward marriage, gender, and sexuality. However, despite societal change and even changing legislation for the rights of women and members of the LGBTI community, both of these minorities still face overwhelming discrimination and prejudice in Nepali society. Sexual …

Mind Within The Body The Presence And Importance Of Mental Health Within Traditional Tibetan Medicine, Reta Flynt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this Independent Study Project was to identify aspects of mental health within the traditional Tibetan medical system that are both taught in the classroom and carried out in clinical practice, with a primary focus on the importance of maintaining mental health. Throughout the research process, aspects of illness etiology, diagnosis, treatment processes, and influence from Tibetan Buddhism were found to be deeply connected in maintaining mental health within patients of Traditional Tibetan medicine. As well, much emphasis was found on the mind's influence on the physical wellbeing of an individual, suggesting that mental and physical health are …

Learning How To Fly The Intersectionality Of Religion, Culture And Gender Of The Samoan Baha’I Community, Detmer Yens Kremer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Samoan Baha’i community balances their multiple identities in a society where they are a minority. Their cultural, religious and gender identities are all essential to their expressions as human beings, and this research aims to explore how Samoan Baha’i reconcile their multiplicity of identities. Information was gathered through a wide range of primary and secondary resources consisting of interviews, other forms of personal communications and participatory observation. An expansion of the notion of intersectionality in a Pacific context contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of cultural change, globalization and social justice. As the Baha’i religion does not believe in …

“He Venido A Servir A Mi Gente” El Liceo Guacolda Y La Educación Intercultural En Chile / "I Have Come To Serve My People " The Liceo Guacolda And Intercultural Education In Chile, Jake Highleyman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The concept of intercultural education is present in many countries worldwide: it’s the idea of learning through the lenses of more than one culture, not just the Western or dominant one. In Chile, intercultural education is most commonly associated with the mapuche, the largest indigenous group in Chile. Since 1993, Chile has had a federal Bilingual Intercultural Education program (EIB). However, almost all of the implementation is left up to individual schools. The schools that do apply the program at a high school level only do so in an elective-based manner. That is, only students who elect to take a …

“All Women Talk”- A Study Of Beauty And Female Identity In Senegalese Culture, Arden Haselmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The idea of Beauty is defined cross culturally, and is rooted in surrounding environment and larger values presented in the community. This study explores collective and individual understandings of beauty and its relationship to female identity. My hope with this research was to explore various attitudes that existed around beauty and understanding the motivations behind why Senegalese women are willing to put so much effort in altering their physical appearance in such extreme ways.

Adult Third Culture Kids: Does Their Concept Of Home Have An Impact On Their Career Paths?, Kelly B. Wisecarver

Capstone Collection

For decades, social scientists have been conducting studies about Third Culture Kids (TCKs). TCKs are children who have been raised outside of their passport countries as a result of their parents’ professions abroad. One sociologist refers to TCKs as “prototype citizens of the future,” citing their backgrounds a playing a role in today’s increasingly globalized world. How have TCKs’ multicultural backgrounds and experiences shaped them? What types of professions are they prone to? What qualities and characteristics do they commonly share and why are they an important group to study? My capstone aims to address these questions.

The combination of …

Dharma And The Free Market: Reconciling Buddhist Compassion With A Market Economy In Post-Socialist Mongolia, Yazmeen Mendez Nuñez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this inductive ethnographic study, I explore the unique social and theological pressures placed on Mongolian Buddhists after the wake of free market transition in Mongolia. It utilizes the Buddhist virtue of compassion as a lens by which the study might examine how Mongolians balance their spirituality and commitment to Buddhist ethics with new roles as rational agents in an emergent free market. In this study I draw on narratives from thirteen subjects as well as extensive participant observation to examine the ways that Mongolian market reform has guided social paradigms of ethic that present ethical contradictions with Buddhist dharma, …

Adapting & Appropriating Art From Afar: Negotiating A Global Identity Through Popular Culture, A Study Of Salsa In The Senegalese Context, Elizabeth Bockenfeld

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following study is essentially an attempt to explore cross-cultural exchange and the resulting (re)creation of different forms of cultural expression. In its broadest sense it aims to explore the quotidian, cultural sides of globalization. It takes for its focus the re-appropriation of salsa music in Dakar, Senegal. Through interviews and participant observation in a number of salsa venues, I explore the various meanings Senegalese salseros put into salsa music and dance. Senegalese salsa is rooted in a very concrete historical background, while also holding meaning for the present. In short, the appropriation of salsa into the Senegalese context serves …

Cape Town Performance Poetry: The Activist’S Pen Is Mighty, Kelsey Rae Brattin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Beginning with a look back to historical Xhosa oral traditions and then examining the role of performance poetry in resistance during Apartheid, this paper explores the existence of contemporary Cape Town performance poetry in a setting that has been a home to poets for centuries. Specifically, this project is a look into the space, mental and physical, that exists within Cape Town’s current performance poetry scene for themes of resistance and activism. Through the observation of public poetry performances in local bookstores and coffeehouse, and through interviews with poets and audience members, contemporary attitudes of writers and community members toward …

Through Women’S Eyes The Development Of Lijiang And Nakhi Cultural Change, Wyatt Gordon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper is an analysis of the current state of Nakhi minority culture as practiced by Nakhi women living in the city of Lijiang and its surrounding areas. This analysis presents a historical assessment of the cultural, economic, historical, and political factors that have lead to the creation of the Lijiang Old Town that we see today and the current state of Nakhi culture surrounding that development. As well, this paper presents a field assessment of the current state of Nakhi cultural practice in light of the internalized discourses of the Chinese state and the indigenous discourses of the Nakhi …

How Is The Most Segregated City In The Country Addressing Disproportionate Minority Contact With A Juvenile Burglary Restorative Justice Program And What Implications Exist For Community Based Restorative Circles? : Conflict Analysis And Recommendations, Lauren Thrift

Capstone Collection

Milwaukee, Wisconsin is considered the most segregated city in the country and has the most disproportionate rate of minorities in Wisconsin’s juvenile justice system. The State of Wisconsin recognizes disproportionate minority contact (DMC) is a product of both differential offending by minorities and the racist differential processing by the juvenile justice system. Milwaukee’s residents are locked in a conflict about the role of racism in the high rates of minority crime and whether to address DMC with more stringent punishment or increasing alternatives to incarceration. The entrenched segregation between African American and Caucasian neighborhoods and social groups reinforces polarization, increasing …

Beauty In The Indigenous Pageant The Cultural And Social Relevance Of Miss Samoa, Mariko Hamashima

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper investigates the Miss Samoa pageant’s historical origins, cultural relevance and preservation, the ways in which it empowers women, the public’s perspective, and future development. Secondary sources on the pageant were limited to eight pieces, so interviews with judges, contestants, winners, and participants were sources of information. Sixty surveys were also conducted to gain the public’s perspective of the pageant. The study found Miss Samoa is more popular for its entertainment value than cultural relevance. The Miss Samoa pageant has been utilized as an agent of empowerment for individual women but is not necessarily influential on a larger social …

Whose Gay Town Is Cape Town? An Examination Of Cape Town’S Gay Village And The Production Of A Queer White Patriarchy., Mollie Beebe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My ISP works to illuminate the diversity of LGBTQI experiences and lives in Cape Town. I do this through discussing the privilege necessary to "come out" in Cape Town and, subsequently, have access to The Pink Village, Cape Town's gay district. By Bringing in theory on "coming out" as a white experience and the queer movement as re-centering white normativity, I work to openly discuss how a history of exclusion has lived on in Cape Town's gay district and pushed the more marginalized gay communities out of the city center. Through academic research, participant observation in both the gay village …

The Life Of A Child: Learning, Imitating, And Interacting Among Children In The Northern And Ashanti Regions, Annie Alexander

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During the time of independent study, I split my time between the Northern and Ashanti Regions. I lived in a village by the name of Gumo outside of Tamale and in the Ashanti Region; I stayed in Benim located near Ashanti Mampong. While my home was in each respective village, I traveled to surrounding areas to expand the scope of my research and provide conclusive evidence. I spent my time among the children observing, learning, and recording their interactions. Living in the village gave me the chance to experience the daily lives and actions of the children. Using participant and …

The Continuously Changing Self: The Story Of Surinamese Creole Migration To The Netherlands, Jenise Ogle

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper is the result of a month long study on how the process of migration affects the sense of Self of middle-classed Creole Surinamese migrant women who first migrated to the Netherlands in the 1960’s or 1970’s. All data was obtained from semi-structured oral history interviews analyzed with a historical and theoretical framework focusing on the influence of colonialism upon the three steps of the migration process: before migration, migration, and after migration. It is concluded that colonialism and its legacies have conferred, reconfigured and dismantled migrant women’s sense of Self throughout the entire migration process. Recommendations for future …

A Berber In Agadir: Exploring The Urban/Rural Shift In Amazigh Identity, Thiago Lima

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Arab Spring has seen North African and Middle Eastern youth organizing against the status quo and challenging what they perceive as political, economic, and social injustices. In Morocco, while the Arab Spring may not have been as substantial as in neighboring countries, demonstrations are still occurring nearly everyday in major cities like Rabat as individuals protest issues including government transparency, high unemployment, and, for specific interest of this paper, the marginalization of the Amazigh people. The Amazigh, also popularly referred to as Berbers in most Western academia and literature, are regarded as the original inhabitants of Morocco and the …