Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

(Re)Conceptualizing Death: Examining Attitudes Toward Death At The Anthropological Research Facility, Kiley Nicole Compton

Masters Theses

The Anthropological Research Facility (ARF), commonly known as the “Body Farm,” provides a unique research setting in which researchers work intimately with human remains in various stages of decomposition. While the ARF, and forensic anthropology, is well documented in popular culture, little academic research has been conducted to investigate the sociocultural phenomena associated with working with human remains.

This thesis investigates the reactions and attitudes toward death of those involved in operational and administrative duties at the ARF focusing on how these attitudes influence and are influenced by involvement at the facility. This research also provides a point of departure …

Green In A Sea Of Pink: Environmental Reframing Of Mainstream Breast Cancer, Amy Elizabeth Scanzillo

Masters Theses

As a contested illness, breast cancer has mainstream and alternate narratives that vie to shape related scientific research and legislative policy. The mainstream breast cancer movement (MBCM) shapes the dominant discourse of breast cancer risk, prevention, and cure through the utilization of the conventional biomedical model of knowledge. The environmental breast cancer movement (EBCM) contests the mainstream breast cancer narrative because EBCM activists argue that it supports an unequal power dynamic and does not adequately reflect breast cancer risk and prevention. Through the incorporation of citizen science and the precautionary principle into breast cancer research and policy, EBCM activists reframe …

Chenopodium Berlandieri And The Cultural Origins Of Agriculture In The Eastern Woodlands, Daniel Shelton Robinson

Masters Theses

The development of agriculture in the New World has been a topic of prominent historic interest, but one that has ignored some regions in favor of others. The woodlands of Eastern North America have felt this bias in the investigation of agricultural origins, but this has not prevented the development of theories to explain the emergence of a complex of indigenous agricultural plants in the region. Data collection and technological advances have in large part validated these theories, creating a model for domestication. By emphasizing farming over other cultural practices, however, these theories lack explanatory power with regards to the …