Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

All Under One Roof: An Ethnographic Commons In The Missoula Public Library, Caitlin Ervin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2021 the Missoula Public Library opened in a new state-of-the-art building to include a science museum, a research facility, a family resource center, and a media resource center in addition to the library facilities, all providing free and low-cost programs to the public. This establishment, internally dubbed All Under One Roof (AUOR), offers a window into the culture of Missoula and provides the community myriad resources in one, co-located model that has never been seen in the United States. Using ethnographic methods, this study provides insight into AUOR and the significance of its culture house model as the future …

A Patchwork Community : Exploring Belonging, Gender Roles, And God's Gifts Among Progressive American Mennonites, Christa D. Mylin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation demonstrates that progressive Mennonites in southern Pennsylvania struggle to find belonging within their congregations due to the fluid nature of Mennonite affiliations. Mennonites critically examined their institutions and relations with each other, and this critique often led to schism. This research addresses how a recent schism among progressive Mennonites led some people to experience nonbelonging and highlighted other conflicting values that people had within their conference. An overview of Mennonite history demonstrated that Mennonites have often formed separate fellowships when disagreements could not be resolved. However, this history also demonstrated that Mennonites have been adept at interpreting their …

Social Networks And Archaic Foragers In The Western Great Lakes: A Case Study In The Old Copper Complex, Robert Einar Ahlrichs

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the results of an investigation into the use of social networks by Old Copper Complex Middle and Late Archaic (5000 B.C. to 1000 B.C.) foragers in the western Great Lakes region to distribute copper. The research consists of an application of Social Network Analysis to data derived from two copper assemblages from Wisconsin, one from Lake Nokomis in northern Wisconsin, and the other from Lake Koshkonong in southeast Wisconsin. This dissertation critiques the current model of copper distribution, the Lake Superior Model (LSM), and then constructs a more nuanced model. In order to facilitate these research goals, …

Wilderness And The Geotag: Exploring The Claim That "Geotagging Ruins Nature" In The Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Wa, Mara Gans

All Master's Theses

This research explores the claim that “geotagging ruins nature” by quantifying and qualifying patterns in geotag use and visitors’ experiences in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, in Washington, United States. Many have raised concerns that geotags increase recreational visitation to public lands, which subsequently contributes to negative resource impacts. Others, however, claim that geotagging has made the outdoors more accessible to less privileged communities and raise concerns that condemning geotags will perpetuate the exclusion of certain groups from outdoor recreation. This debate is studied within federally designated Wilderness, which is legally defined as “untrammeled by man,” a definition rooted in problematic …

Social Processes Through The Lens Of Network Science In Spider Monkeys, Emily R. Boeving

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a series of empirical studies which aim to deepen and broaden what is known about social processes in spider monkeys. In recent decades, the burgeoning field of network science has brought a new perspective to many disciplines. Although network science has emerged in multiple content areas (e.g., neuroscience, economics), the application and utility of social network analysis to quantify social processes has seen great advances. Sociality and component processes have been described as mystifying and left many perplexed at the basic question, “What is social?” There is no easy answer to this question but one issue is …

Oral History Conversation With Rasto Ivanic (Groupsolver), Andreas Breitenberg-Scavuzzo, Courtney Abbassian, Devon Parikh, Majid Bouresli

Philosophy: All Student Work

Interview with the co-founder and CEO of Groupsolver, Rasto Ivanic. In the interview he answers questions about his early life and how he became involved in this social venture. He discusses some of the trials and tribulations associated with Social Entrepreneurship. Groupsolver is a service that collects feedback from customers/constituents and supplies it to the relevant party.

Mediating A Claims To Rights: The Role Of Activism In The Successes Of India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Vinita Kusupati

Honors Theses

This anthropological study aims to understand the role of activists in the day to day operation of the rights based policy, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), in India. MNREGA promises 100 days of employment to each household that makes a demand for such employment, providing an employment safety net for the large population of the Indian rural poor. Historically, government and local corruption in official and unofficial policy implementation structures have interfered with the efficiency of social relief and reform initiatives in India. Such systems of operation also impact the functioning of MNREGA. However, unlike previous …

Minds, Bodies, And Political Selves: Embodying Pro-Choice Activism, Samantha Leah Aisen

Honors Papers

The abortion debate in the United States is a contentious social issue. Within the past three years, legislators introduced abortion related restrictions in unprecedented quantities. Pro-choice activist organizations and individuals are responding to this influx of targeted legislation. My thesis is an ethnographic study of pro-choice activist habitus and the cultural capital shared among activists. I explore political activists' and clinic escorts'; shared rhetorical tactics and personal preferences regarding key pro-choice issues. First I discuss and analyze how gender inequality and gender identity is present in activists'; political abortion discourse and personal life choices. Second, I explore activist political and …

On The Island : Marginalized Residents Of A Single Room Occupancy Motel, Christopher Philip Dum

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

One consequence of the punitive turn in criminal justice policy has been an increase in residential instability among previously incarcerated individuals. For registered sex offenders in particular, residence restriction laws severely limit housing options. Many formerly incarcerated individuals find difficulties securing employment, which limits their ability to afford a stable residence.

With An Eye On A Set Of New Eyes: Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Kette Thomas

Journal of Religion & Film

This article focuses on how, Beasts of the Southern Wild, represents both divergence and transgression from paradigmatic structures that determine how certain visual representations are to be used. Specifically, the cinematic detours taken by the filmmakers, Lucy Alibar and Behn Zeitlin, do not lead to alien places for most viewers; on the contrary, ancient myths, legends, heroes and prehistoric references are recalled in total isolation from current social and political discourse. In this way, Beasts of the Southern Wild, effectively, highlights mythological structures operating in contemporary American society. Mircea Eliade, Roger Caillois and G.S. Kirk define mythology as a …

Beyond Hippies And Rabbit Food: The Social Effects Of Vegetarianism And Veganism, Anna Lindquist

Honors Program Theses

Depending on the actors involved and the environment, vegetarians and vegans may either be met with acceptance, tolerance, or hostility when they divulge their dietary practices. By interviewing vegetarians and vegans about these social interactions, this study has sought to conceptualize the subjects’ treatment as well as their feelings and actions. Throughout the study ethnographic methods have been used, as well as identity and social deviance theory, and historical information about the evolution of vegetarianism. All this has led to a better understanding of how vegetarians and vegans balance their alternative lifestyle with mainstream social norms.

Beyond Hippies And Rabbit Food: The Social Effects Of Vegetarianism And Veganism, Anna Lindquist

Sociology & Anthropology Theses

Depending on the actors involved and the environment, vegetarians and vegans may either be met with acceptance, tolerance, or hostility when they divulge their dietary practices. By interviewing vegetarians and vegans about these social interactions, this study has sought to conceptualize the subjects’ treatment as well as their feelings and actions. Throughout the study ethnographic methods have been used, as well as identity and social deviance theory, and historical information about the evolution of vegetarianism. All this has led to a better understanding of how vegetarians and vegans balance their alternative lifestyle with mainstream social norms.

Concluding Thoughts On The Finger Lakes National Forestarchaeology Project, James A. Delle

Northeast Historical Archaeology

This is a conclusion to the research compiled in this issue. Delle impresses the importance of GIS for this research as a burgeoning technology with much potential in this field of study.

Spatial Analysis And Archaeological Resources In The Fingerlakes National Forest, Thomas W. Cuddy

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The objective of this article is to' test how some of the more sophisticated analytical capabilities of GIS can be applied to the data set of the Hector Backbone site in the Finger Lakes National Forest. In doing so it demonstrates how GIS can be used to model the spatial characteristics of the data compiled from the site.

H. M. Chauke Research Of African Hlengwe People, Happyson William Matsilele Chauke, Tillerman Houser

ATS Digital Resources

This is a collection of historical and cultural research works about the vaHlengwe people of Zimbabwe, created by Happyson Chauke before his untimely death by a hit and run driver in 2009. It was compiled by his friend Tillman Houser, who spent 35 years as a missionary to Zimbabwe under the Free Methodist Church. The bulk of the collection is comprised of the book entitled: "The miracle of Lundi Mission: lest we forget."

China- Tibet Conflict, Allen Gnanam

Allen Gnanam

China- Tibet tensions are continually growing, as Tibetans are protesting for total independence from China, despite condemnation from their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who is only seeking a sense of autonomy for Tibet (Sinder, 2008). As Tibetan protests are becoming violent and aggressive, the Dalai Lama has also threatened to resign as Tibet’s government in exile (Sinder, 2008), however, his rhetoric is not being exposed to the Tibetan people, due to government censorship in China. Therefore the Dalai Lama, an exiled institutional entrepreneur, has to find new methods that will enable his influential message, to be received by the …

A Social And Semantic History Of The Concept Of Minority With Particular Reference To The Coptic Question, Mariam Aziz Kirollos

Archived Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of the research are to provide: a semantic analysis of the sociological concept of 'minority' in both English and Arabic, a historical analysis of the use of the concept in both western and Arab social contexts, an analysis of the specific discourse on Copts and minority in the Egyptian context and the examination of the underlying ideological positions, and to use this particular case to raise questions about comparability and cross-cultural analytical validity of such a concept. The method used in the thesis is a review of literature dedicated to define and analyze the concept of minority in …

Religion And Healing The Mind/Body/Self, Meredith B. Mcguire

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

In order to understand the linkage between religion and healing, we must go well beyond the theme of body regulation. Although religion does involve body regulation and control, and although these functions are reflected in healing practices, there are many other ways by which religion is linked with human bodies. We will arrive at a far richer appreciation of this linkage if we start with a broad sociology of the human body, its illnesses and healing, and ask the expanded question: How is religion involved in these complex processes?

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 …

On The Power Of Language And The Language Of Power, Ian Malcolm

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.