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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Women Of African Descent: Persistence In Completing A Doctorate, Vannetta L. Bailey-Iddrisu Dec 2012

Women Of African Descent: Persistence In Completing A Doctorate, Vannetta L. Bailey-Iddrisu

Vannetta L. Bailey-Iddrisu

This study examines the educational persistence of women of African descent (WOAD) in pursuit of a doctorate degree at universities in the southeastern United States. WOAD are women of African ancestry born outside the African continent. These women are heirs to an inner dogged determination and spirit to survive despite all odds (Pulliam, 2003, p. 337).This study used Ellis’s (1997) Three Stages for Graduate Student Development as the conceptual framework to examine the persistent strategies used by these women to persist to the completion of their studies.


Begehrtes Gesteinsglas, Jirka Niklas Menke Dec 2012

Begehrtes Gesteinsglas, Jirka Niklas Menke

Daniel A. Contreras

Natürliche Ressourcen sind seit jeher Anlass für Kriege und Land­schafts­zerstörung. Humboldt-Stipendiat Dr. Daniel Contreras erforscht, wie die Menschen in den Anden einst mit solchen Quellen umgingen.


The "Tiny Islands": A Comparable Impact On The Larger Discipline?, Terence E. Hays Dec 2012

The "Tiny Islands": A Comparable Impact On The Larger Discipline?, Terence E. Hays

Terence Hays

This assessment by Terence Hays looks into the impact of the discipline of Anthropology. While the discipline has seen an evolution into increased topical specialization, of cultural anthropology by geographical location. Hays believes that many of the peoples studied are so well known in anthropology that specific peoples can be automatically thought of by their location, in the world.


Climate Change, Forest Privatization, And Apocalyptic Prophesies In Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jose E. Martinez-Reyes Nov 2012

Climate Change, Forest Privatization, And Apocalyptic Prophesies In Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jose E. Martinez-Reyes

Jose E. Martinez-Reyes

No abstract provided.


“No Cops, No Journos, No Anthropologists:” Fieldwork Challenges In Occupied Barcelona, Justin Ak Helepololei Nov 2012

“No Cops, No Journos, No Anthropologists:” Fieldwork Challenges In Occupied Barcelona, Justin Ak Helepololei

Justin AK Helepololei

No abstract provided.


Vernacular Names For Tubers In Irian Jaya, Terence E. Hays Nov 2012

Vernacular Names For Tubers In Irian Jaya, Terence E. Hays

Terence Hays

In this ethnobiographic study Terence Hays continues in the vein of Dutton's cultural vocabulary study of the Papua New Guinea languages. Hays specifically looks at the vernacular terms for tuberous food crops which are the "staple foods of contemporary Irian Jaya societies." Hays utilizes the research method of an ethnobiologist to gain prehistorical cultural knowledge by bringing to light information that was once unrecoverable. Hays also looks at different issues that can ffect the procedures and looks into the variables that affected and contributed to the people's language evolution and diffusion.


Interest, Use, And Interest In Uses In Folk Biology, Terence E. Hays Nov 2012

Interest, Use, And Interest In Uses In Folk Biology, Terence E. Hays

Terence Hays

In this work on folk biological taxonomy, Terence Hays the author, calls upon various works of previous field studies conducted over a long-term period including those by Bulmer, Everyman, Hunn, Brown, and Hymes. Hays looks back to works by Ralph Bulmer and his co-workers where taxonomies of five or six levels deep were not surprising. Hays points out that this is a stark contrast to Everyman, Alexander Portnoy's study regarding the simplicity of Westerners folk systems and then posits why "the folk" classify their environment in great detail. Hays brings to light that it has much to do with the …


Utilitarian/Adaptationist Explanations Of Folk Bioglogical Classification, Terence E. Hays Nov 2012

Utilitarian/Adaptationist Explanations Of Folk Bioglogical Classification, Terence E. Hays

Terence Hays

Attempts to explain the complexity of folk biological classification systems may benefit from utilitarian or adaptationist arguments, focusing on the utilitarian or adaptive value of the behavioral consequences of folk distinctions among organisms. To adequately assess such perspectives it is necessary to resolve a number of theoretical, methodological empirical problems, which are identified and outlined in this paper as a first step toward the construction of such theories of ethnobiological classification.


Some Cultivated Plants In Ndumba, Eastern Highlands Province, Terence E. Hays Nov 2012

Some Cultivated Plants In Ndumba, Eastern Highlands Province, Terence E. Hays

Terence Hays

This paper reports on the cultivation and uses of 47 species of minor food crops and other useful plants in Habi'ina village, a Tairora speaking community in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.


Toward An Agenda For Placing Migrant Hometown Associations (Htas) In Migration Policy-Making Discourse In Ghana, Thomas Antwi Bosiakoh Oct 2012

Toward An Agenda For Placing Migrant Hometown Associations (Htas) In Migration Policy-Making Discourse In Ghana, Thomas Antwi Bosiakoh

Dr Thomas ANTWI BOSIAKOH

Migrant hometown associations (HTAs) are arguably the most recognizable migrant institutions in migration destination countries. As institutions for the welfare of migrants and for the development of migrant home and destination countries, migrant HTAs have engaged the attention of migration scholars for a number of reasons. Their activities straddle across different spheres of endeavours, including adjustment and integration, development, promotion of peaceful co-existence, socio-cultural empowerment, and resolution of conflicts, among others. These activities of migrant HTAs are important in achieving co-development and therefore require policy focus. While it is important to commend Ghana for initiating a process for migration policy …


Digitalcommons@Umaine For Faculty, Kimberly J. Sawtelle Oct 2012

Digitalcommons@Umaine For Faculty, Kimberly J. Sawtelle

Kimberly J. Sawtelle

DigitalCommons@UMaine, the university's Institutional Repository (IR), offers a free alternative to faculty to disseminate research, scholarship, and creative activity as required by many departmental missions and federal granting agencies. The IR benefits faculty by increasing global exposure to research, scholarship, and creative output. This presentation features an overview of DigitalCommons@UMaine, a brief introduction to the program's essential tools, and concepts for uploading material.


White Snake, Black Snake Folk Narrative Meets Master Narrative In Qing Dynasty Sichuanese Cross-Stitch Medallions, Cory Willmott Oct 2012

White Snake, Black Snake Folk Narrative Meets Master Narrative In Qing Dynasty Sichuanese Cross-Stitch Medallions, Cory Willmott

Cory A. Willmott

The cross-stitch medallion in figure 1 was collected by my grandmother, Katherine Willmott, in the early 1920s when she was a missionary in Renshow, Sichuan Province, West China. Many years after I inherited it, I learned that it depicts a folk narrative called “White Snake; Black Snake” that was traditionally performed both on stage in the legitimate theaters and in Chinese shadow puppet dramas (Highbaugh n/d:6).

The story may be summarized as follows: There were two female snakes, White Snake and Black Snake, who were inseparable friends. They both changed into beautiful young women. White Snake got married and bore …


Faculty In The Mist: Ethnographic Study Of Faculty Research Practices, Marilyn R. Pukkila, Ellen L. Freeman Sep 2012

Faculty In The Mist: Ethnographic Study Of Faculty Research Practices, Marilyn R. Pukkila, Ellen L. Freeman

Marilyn R. Pukkila

A report on ethnographic research on college faculty research and teaching methods, with their use of information resources, library services, technology, and academic IT support.


Beyond Dogma: The Role Of "Evolutionary" Science And The "Embodiment" Of Archetypal Energies, Carroy U. Ferguson Aug 2012

Beyond Dogma: The Role Of "Evolutionary" Science And The "Embodiment" Of Archetypal Energies, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

At individual and collective levels (locally, nationally, and globally), humanity is currently entertaining many challenges and opportunities for growth. In my view, these challenges and opportunities are connected to Energy shifts that are taking place on the planet, and the inability of some to move beyond dogma in relating to these Energy shifts. By its pre- and proscriptive nature, dogma fosters limiting beliefs that often interfere with how best to relate to these Energy shifts as vibrational beings in an evolving, vibrational world. Here, I want to briefly identify some of the limiting effects of dogma, and the role of …


Geologic Framework And Glaciation Of The Central Area, Christopher L. Hill Aug 2012

Geologic Framework And Glaciation Of The Central Area, Christopher L. Hill

Christopher L. Hill

During the Late Pleistocene, the Laurentide ice sheet extended over the western interior Plains and Great Lakes region in the central of North America. This central area generally encompasses the northwestern interior Plains of North America, extending from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the western Great Lakes and Hudson Bay in the east (figs. 1-2). It includes parts of the Mackenzie River, Missouri River, and Mississippi River systems. Deglaciation of this region led to the development of landscape that were inhabited by Rancholabrean faunal communities including human groups.


Spatial Distribution Of Pleistocene And Holocene Faunal Remains, South Block Excavations, Christopher L. Hill, David C. Batten Aug 2012

Spatial Distribution Of Pleistocene And Holocene Faunal Remains, South Block Excavations, Christopher L. Hill, David C. Batten

Christopher L. Hill

The fossil remains of mammoth and other Pleistocene fauna found along and near the escarpment of the west shore of Lima Reservoir in Centennial Valley have been the subject of field investigations since the 1980s. Summaries or earlier studies conducted at the locality are presented in various published and unpublished sources including Albanese, Davis, and Hill (1995), Bump (1995), Davis and Batten (1996), Dundas (1989, 1990, 1996), Hill and Albanese (1996), and Hill, Davis, and Albanese (1995).


Geologic Framework And Glaciation Of The Eastern Area, Christopher L. Hill Aug 2012

Geologic Framework And Glaciation Of The Eastern Area, Christopher L. Hill

Christopher L. Hill

Late Pleistocene landscapes in glaciated eastern North America include changing ice margins, fluctuating lake and sea levels, and deglaciated physical settings that were inhabited by a variety of extinct (Rancholabrean) fauna. The glaciated East of North America consists of the mid-continent from Hudson Bay to south of the Great Lakes and extends eastward to the Atlantic coast. Glaciers were present along the Atlantic coast from southern New York north to Labrador.


Geochronology Of Merrell Locality Strata And Regional Paleoenvironmental Contexts, Christopher L. Hill Aug 2012

Geochronology Of Merrell Locality Strata And Regional Paleoenvironmental Contexts, Christopher L. Hill

Christopher L. Hill

An assessment of the age of the deposits and the fossils incorporated within them at the Merrell Locality is based on radiocarbon measurements from bone and tusk collagen and organic sediments (Table 3 and Figures 75-76), and luminescence measurements on sediments (Feathers, this report). Nine radiocarbon dates are available from the site; seven are finite and two are infinite. The finite dates range from ca. 49,000 to 19,000 14C yr. B. P. (Figure 75).


Late Tertiary To Quaternary Geology And Landscape Evolution Along The Snake River Plain, Southwestern Idaho, Christopher L. Hill Aug 2012

Late Tertiary To Quaternary Geology And Landscape Evolution Along The Snake River Plain, Southwestern Idaho, Christopher L. Hill

Christopher L. Hill

The geology of the Snake River Plain in the vicinity of Melba and Murphy, in southwestern Idaho, provides evidence for changes that have occurred over the last several million years, during the late Cenozoic. Here, the local and regional geology is described and interpreted within the context of events that have contributed to the present-day landscape.


Geology Of Centennial Valley And Stratigraphy Of Pleistocene Fossil-Bearing Sediments, Christopher L. Hill Aug 2012

Geology Of Centennial Valley And Stratigraphy Of Pleistocene Fossil-Bearing Sediments, Christopher L. Hill

Christopher L. Hill

This paper is based on stratigraphic studies conducted at the Merrell Locaility and other locations in Centennial Valley. The Merrell Locality is situated in southwest Montana, on the western end of Centennial Valley (Figure 30). It is notable for containing the fossil vertebrate remains of mammoth (Mammuthus cf. M. columbi), scimitar cat (a member of the sabretooths, Homotherium serum), horse (Equidae) and Yesterday's camel (Camelops cf. hesternus), as well as other plant and animal fossils of Pleistocene age (Dundas 1990; Dundas, Hill, and Batten 1996). Summaries and reports of research conducted at the locality include Albanese (1995); Albanese, Davis, and …


Geologic Framework And Glaciation Of The Western Area, Christopher L. Hill Aug 2012

Geologic Framework And Glaciation Of The Western Area, Christopher L. Hill

Christopher L. Hill

The geological framework for western North America consists of physical landscapes (geomorphic features) and stratigraphic sequences that can be used to provide a basis for understanding the chronologic and environmental context for Late Pleistocene human populations. The Western Area includes the region of North America from the Pacific coast to the Rocky Mountains and parts of the Great Basin and Colorado plateau (figs. 1-2).


Ambivalence And The Decision Tree, Kirby Farrell Aug 2012

Ambivalence And The Decision Tree, Kirby Farrell

kirby farrell

We are insolubly ambivalent creatures. Traditionally cultures have managed ambivalence by focusing on character and morality in motives. Freudian psychology recognized that cognitive conflict is insoluble and stressed equilibrium and grace in adaptation. Today technology's binary structure is complicating and sometimes superseding the traditional trope of character by organizing cognition around the trope of the decision tree.


Host Longevity And Parasite Species Richness In Mammals, Jason Kamilar, Natalie Cooper, Charles Nunn Aug 2012

Host Longevity And Parasite Species Richness In Mammals, Jason Kamilar, Natalie Cooper, Charles Nunn

scholarworks@library.umass.edu

Hosts and parasites co-evolve, with each lineage exerting selective pressures on the other. Thus, parasites may influence host life-history characteristics, such as longevity, and simultaneously host life-history may influence parasite diversity. If parasite burden causes increased mortality, we expect a negative association between host longevity and parasite species richness. Alternatively, if long-lived species represent a more stable environment for parasite establishment, host longevity and parasite species richness may show a positive association. We tested these two opposing predictions in carnivores, primates and terrestrial ungulates using phylogenetic comparative methods and controlling for the potentially confounding effects of sampling effort and body …


Gift Exchanges In Edo Castle, Cecilia S. Seigle Ph.D. Jul 2012

Gift Exchanges In Edo Castle, Cecilia S. Seigle Ph.D.

Cecilia S Seigle Ph.D.

The Japanese love of gift-giving was firmly established during the Edo period, specifically under the fifth shogun Tsunayoshi. This study was done as part of inquiry into the institution of Ooku, and I remark on the significance of gift exchanges as substitute social activities for the women of Ooku.


Runx2 Tandem Repeats And The Evolution Of Facial Length In Placental Mammals, Jason Kamilar, Marie Pointer, Vera Warmuth, Stephen Chester, Frédéric Delsuc, Nicholas Mundy, Robert Asher, Brenda Bradley Jun 2012

Runx2 Tandem Repeats And The Evolution Of Facial Length In Placental Mammals, Jason Kamilar, Marie Pointer, Vera Warmuth, Stephen Chester, Frédéric Delsuc, Nicholas Mundy, Robert Asher, Brenda Bradley

scholarworks@library.umass.edu

Background: When simple sequence repeats are integrated into functional genes, they can potentially act as
evolutionary ‘tuning knobs’, supplying abundant genetic variation with minimal risk of pleiotropic deleterious
effects. The genetic basis of variation in facial shape and length represents a possible example of this phenomenon. Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), which is involved in osteoblast differentiation, contains a functionally important tandem repeat of glutamine and alanine amino acids. The ratio of glutamines to alanines (the QA ratio) in this protein seemingly influences the regulation of bone development. Notably, in domestic breeds of dog, and in carnivorans in general, the …


Phonetic Variation And Speaker Agency: Mexicana Identity In A North Carolina Middle School, Phillip Carter Jun 2012

Phonetic Variation And Speaker Agency: Mexicana Identity In A North Carolina Middle School, Phillip Carter

Phillip M. Carter

No abstract provided.


'In Unity Lies Our Strength': Exploring The Benefits And Entitlements In Nigerian Migrant Associations In Accra, Ghana, Thomas Antwi Bosiakoh May 2012

'In Unity Lies Our Strength': Exploring The Benefits And Entitlements In Nigerian Migrant Associations In Accra, Ghana, Thomas Antwi Bosiakoh

Dr Thomas ANTWI BOSIAKOH

This paper explores the benefits and entitlements due to members of three Nigerian migrant associations in Accra, Ghana. In doing this, the paper first attempts (re)tracing Nigerian presence in Ghana, and then discusses recent developments in Nigerian migration to Ghana. In the discussion on Nigerian migrant associations in Accra, Ghana, two specific issues are highlighted, namely, the profiles/activities of the associations and the benefits and entitlements due to association members and leaders. The discussions on the benefits and entitlements are grounded within the social capital framework. A number of conclusions have been reached based on the evidence of the empirical …


The Cinematic Griot, Peter S. Allen Apr 2012

The Cinematic Griot, Peter S. Allen

Peter S. Allen

In the Sahel, a griot is a bard who collects and recounts local history. He is the "custodian of society's traditions... linking past and present" and "master of the word" in a society where words are revered and "endowed with occult power" (p. xvi). For the Songhay of Niger, Jean Rouch is a griot, a cinematic griot who preserves on film essential aspects of Songhay history.


A Genealogical And Historical Study Of The Mahas Of The "Three Towns," Sudan, Richard A. Lobban Jr. Apr 2012

A Genealogical And Historical Study Of The Mahas Of The "Three Towns," Sudan, Richard A. Lobban Jr.

Richard A Lobban

The Mahas (a Nubian ethnic group) in the central Sudan have made a fundamental contribution to the Islamization and urbanization of this Afro-Arab nation. Their building of the first permanent structures in the "Three Towns" (Khartoum area) may be claimed as the start of the modern process of Sudanese urbanization. The Mahas leaders who became teachers and advisors to the Funj state were also centrally responsible for the spread of Islam along the Blue and White Niles at their confluence at the "Three Towns" in communities which have been occupied continuously for about five centuries.


Arab Society, Richard A. Lobban Jr. Apr 2012

Arab Society, Richard A. Lobban Jr.

Richard A Lobban

Having studied the Arab world for three decades, I have noted the contemporary gridlock on many pressing regional, social, economic, and religious issues. This has often generated a parallel intellectual paralysis. So, I picked up the edited work by Hopkins and Ibrahim with some hesitation. How could there be any fresh insights? For a reviewer this sense of cynicism was not good.