Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Meat And Potatoes: Recipes For A Range Of Egalitarianism In Three Hunter-Gatherer Societies, Amy Vlassia Margaris

Honors Papers

Throughout most of human history our ancestors lived by hunting and gathering. Only within the last ten to fifteen thousand years have alternative forms of social organization developed, duly labeled by anthropologists and archaeologists: agricultural, pastoral, and complex state societies, lineal tribes, and a host of other terms which pass in and out of favor in our ongoing (and inescapably human) attempts to categorize our own kind.

Classification lies at the heart of science, and anthropology is certainly no exception. However, categorization of any degree (which requires generalization) runs the risk of obscuring important differences between cultural groups. The trick …

"Nyatiti Is My People": Music And The Reconstruction Of Culture Among The Luo Of Western Kenya, Ian Eagleson

Honors Papers

In this thesis I contend that experiencing music is a fundamental activity in the realization of cultural identity. Music reinforces cultural identity by enacting significant forms and practices that embody meaning, meaning particular to the identity of a culture. When people hear music that is significant in their culture it excites certain feelings in them which reinforce and regenerate their identity with that culture. Participation in music is a condition that evokes a vivid impression in the participant like no other activity in social life. Functionally, this impression may reinforce themes impressed on actors in other ways; however, the way …