Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Charge The Cockpit Or Die: An Anatomy Of Fear-Driven Political Rhetoric In American Conservatism, Daniel Hostetter

Senior Honors Theses

Subthreshold negative emotions have superseded conscious reason as the initial and strongest motivators of political behavior. Political neuroscience uses the concepts of negativity bias and terror management theory to explore why fear-driven rhetoric plays such an outsized role in determining human political actions. These mechanisms of human anthropology are explored by competing explanations from biblical and evolutionary scholars who attempt to understand their contribution to human vulnerabilities to fear. When these mechanisms are observed in fear-driven political rhetoric, three common characteristics emerge: exaggerated threat, tribal combat, and religious apocalypse, which provide a new framework for explaining how modern populist leaders …

An Ethnographic Exploration Of Pokémon Go, Ketzia Abramson

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The mobile app game, “Pokémon GO” became a worldwide phenomenon immediately following its initial release in the summer of 2016. Now, more than a year later, despite its fall from social domination and decline in popularity, POGO is still at the forefront for better understanding the future of communication and socialization in today’s ever growing digital age. This ethnographic study, aided by field research, observations, and literature review of both the app itself as well as the ‘Poké-verse,’ provides an in-depth analysis of how and why a mobile gaming app that utilizes no new forms of technology (augmented reality combined …

Chinese Communication Studies: Three Paths Converging, Wenshan Jia

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

This contribution presents the possibilities for anthropological and neo-Marxist media within the hugely expanding sector of Chinese communication studies. China has sourced mostly from the American positivist tradition but is increasingly ­taking on board European critical thinking but it also needs to absorb some of the depth and diversity of indigenous scholarship existing in Chinese.

Jia, Lu, and Heisey (2002) presented an influential meta-analysis of every ­example of communication studies in China at that time. The book chapter which talks about the rise of the discipline and scholarship of Chinese communication as an academic discipline (Jia et al., 2014) summarises …

The Mainstream Misrepresentation Of Muslim Women In The Media, Megan A. Mastro

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

I discuss the widespread misrepresentation of Islamic women in multiple sources of media and its subsequent effects on the general population's perception of this demographic as a whole.

November Uri Community Diversity Project 2010, Joseph A. Santiago, Riley Davis, Richard V. Travisano

November Diversity Project

November is National Novel Writing Month. For the first time at the University of Rhode Island November was a month for the URI community to share their stories, poems, art, and photos with the world. The Writing to Model Diversity project intends to connect individuals across cultural boundaries and borders by sharing the stories and experiences that challenge our everyday experiences and the dreams of the future. Built on the efforts of the World Voice series, URI presents a book that shares the stories and culture of the students, faculty, staff, and community members who embrace the idea of becoming …

November Uri Community Diversity Project 2010, Joseph A. Santiago Mr, Riley Davis Ms, Richard V. Travisano Mr

November Diversity Project

November is National Novel Writing Month. For the first time at the University of Rhode Island November was a month for the URI community to share their stories, poems, art, and photos with the world. The Writing to Model Diversity project intends to connect individuals across cultural boundaries and borders by sharing the stories and experiences that challenge our everyday experiences and the dreams of the future. Built on the efforts of the World Voice series, URI presents a book that shares the stories and culture of the students, faculty, staff, and community members who embrace the idea of becoming …

Holistic Medicine Not "Torture": Performing Acupuncture In Galway, Ireland, Kevin Taylor Anderson

Adjunct Faculty Author Gallery

This article examines how the aesthetic design of clinics and interactive discourse 5 and rituals construct the social reality of acupuncture sessions as a form of holistic medical therapy. Verbal and nonverbal interactions create an appealing medical environment but also help prevent the emergence of undesired counter-realities (e.g., pain, biomedical intervention). Based on observations of acupuncture sessions conducted in Galway, Ireland, I illustrate how 10 ambiance and aesthetic elements of clinics create a complex medico-cultural environment that balances oppositional associations (Western=non-Western, exoticism=convention, medical alterity=medical professionalism). Patients inter- viewed continually referred to acupuncture as a natural and non-invasive form of medical …

Picturing A Colonial Past: The African Photographs Of Isaac Schapera [Book Review], Nancy Howell, David Lee

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Altered States Of Embodiment: Spirit Possession In Ethnographic And Feature Films, Kevin Taylor Anderson

Adjunct Faculty Author Gallery

Possession and other forms of altered states of embodiment are represented in both feature and ethnographic films, yet result in divergent illustrations. Ethnographic films dealing with possession (a la Rouch, Deren, Adair, Asch) suggest that it is a therapeutic phenomenon, often framed as a means of resistance to dominant socio-political forces. Yet, in feature films the possessed body is rendered as a passive recipient of diabolical forces. In the former case, possession signals empowerment, in the latter disempowerment. In addition to its portrayal as a form of resistance, religious supplicants in such ethnographic films as Rouch’s Les Maitre Fous and …

Towards An Anarchy Of Imagery: Questioning The Categorization Of Films As "Ethnographic", Kevin Taylor Anderson

Adjunct Faculty Author Gallery

No abstract provided.

April 1938, William Preston Davies

W. P. Davies' Newspaper Column ('That Reminds Me')

No abstract provided.

December 1937, William Preston Davies

W. P. Davies' Newspaper Column ('That Reminds Me')

No abstract provided.