Anthropology Commons^™

Modernization, Sexual Risk-Taking, And Gynecological Morbidity Among Bolivian Forager-Horticulturalists, Jonathan Stieglitz, Aaron D. Blackwell, Raúl Quispe Gutierrez, Edhitt Cortez Linares, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan

ESI Publications

Sexual risk-taking and reproductive morbidity are common among rapidly modernizing populations with little material wealth, limited schooling, minimal access to modern contraception and healthcare, and gendered inequalities in resource access that limit female autonomy in cohabiting relationships. Few studies have examined how modernization influences sexual risk-taking and reproductive health early in demographic transition. Tsimane are a natural fertility population of Bolivian forager-farmers; they are not urbanized, reside in small-scale villages, and lack public health infrastructure. We test whether modernization is associated with greater sexual risk-taking, report prevalence of gynecological morbidity (GM), and test whether modernization, sexual risk-taking and parity are …

Anthropological Apologetics: A Proposal Of An Anthropological Compendium As Evidence For The Imago Dei, Jeffrey R. Dickson

Masters Theses

Evangelical scholarship has shown great admiration for the work of Gary Habermas and others in their contribution to Christian apologetics by validating the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ with a list of minimal facts generally agreed to by historical and biblical scholars. This thesis will explore the methodology of the minimal facts approach and appropriate it as a tool to explore the data within the field of anthropology which offers evidence for the biblical concept of the Imago Dei. This study will focus on Wolfhart Pannenberg in his critically acclaimed work demonstrating the importance of the theological perspective …

How Do Latino Groups Fare In A Changing Economy? Occupation In Latino Groups In The Greater New York City Area, 1980-2009, Stephen Ruszczyk

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in New York City between 1980 and 2009 – particularly the Latino population.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Trends from 1990 continued in 2000, with numbers of Puerto Ricans in production dropping to only 14% of that group. More than a fifth of Puerto Ricans worked in management and professional …

Review Of Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter And The Politics Of Sight. By Timothy Pachirat., Donald D. Stull

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

In June 2004, political scientist Timothy Pachirat went to work on the killfloor of an unnamed beef slaughterhouse in Omaha, Nebraska. He started out as a "liver hanger" in the cooler. There carcasses hang before being sent to the fabrication floor where "hundreds of handheld knives and saws reinvent chilled half-carcasses as steaks, rounds, and roasts that are then boxed and shipped to distributors and retailers around the world." For four days he worked in the chutes, driving cattle to the knocking box to be stunned, as required by the Humane Slaughter Act, before being turned into meat. Then for …

Creating Transformation Through Art The Role Of Community Arts In A Transitioning Society Ballymun, Dublin And Belfast Northern Ireland, Katherine Power

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper presents my findings from an Independent Study Project conducted over a three-­‐week period in Belfast on the role of community arts in a transitioning society, with a focus primarily on youth. I have found three themes concurrent with my research being that community arts can boost self-­‐confidence and build positive identity, they can be used as a tool for addressing difficult issues, and finally, that community arts can unify a community. The arts, as a cause of these themes, have the potential to help a society transition and transform from conflict.

Engendering The Classroom: A Look At Constructions Of ‘Gender’ And Empowerment Within Teachers’ Trainings In Northern India, Martha Snow

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Education for girls in India has been a crucial area of study for the past 20 years; however, the main focus of attention has been on issues of girls’ access to school only. This study moves beyond this, seeking to gain critical insight into how ‘gender’ is being understood within the classroom via teachers. Teachers’ trainings conducted by the government and by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were examined through interviews with teachers and coordinators of teachers’ trainings, along with experts on gender and feminism in Delhi and Jaipur, Rajasthan. These interviews focused on the content and quality of teachers’ trainings, and …

“Heaven And Earth” Samoan Indigenous Religion, Christianity, And The Relationship Between The Samoan People And The Environment, Grace Wildermuth

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines Samoan indigenous religion and the relationship between Samoans and the environment before and after the introduction of Christianity. It looks at how Christian beliefs and the cultural perspectives of European missionaries affected Samoa’s environment. It then considers Samoan indigenous religious values that may be helpful to combat current environmental problems. Primary and secondary sources were used, including interviews with both theologians and environmentalists. Samoan indigenous religion promoted a sustainable relationship with the land but Christianity and the cultural lens through which it was delivered had negative environmental effects. Samoa retains a deep environmental knowledge in the memories …

Trafačka: Young Artists In An Alternative Space (Life Of D.I.Y.), Dora Novey-Buttfield

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper documents the functions and internal structure of Trafačka, an experimental arts space located in the Prague 9 district. There is very little research on the presence and significance of alternative culture in Prague today, and the term itself is difficult to define. Using personal interviews conducted by the author and some background research on Czech alternative culture and spaces, the study highlights the stories of the residents and artists of Trafačka in light of the debate on alternative culture.

The author explains how Trafačka is an example alternative space and describes the complexities of being separated from other …

Beauty In The Indigenous Pageant The Cultural And Social Relevance Of Miss Samoa, Mariko Hamashima

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper investigates the Miss Samoa pageant’s historical origins, cultural relevance and preservation, the ways in which it empowers women, the public’s perspective, and future development. Secondary sources on the pageant were limited to eight pieces, so interviews with judges, contestants, winners, and participants were sources of information. Sixty surveys were also conducted to gain the public’s perspective of the pageant. The study found Miss Samoa is more popular for its entertainment value than cultural relevance. The Miss Samoa pageant has been utilized as an agent of empowerment for individual women but is not necessarily influential on a larger social …

Manifestations Of Tibetan Buddhism In Pudacuo National Park And Its Effectiveness As An Environmental Education Tool, Ellen Martin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Pudacuo National Park in Shangri-la, Yunnan is mainland China’s first national park and comprehensive conservation and eco-tourism attempt. The Nature Conservancy worked with Yunnan provincial government to establish park guidelines and advocate for certain conservation measures. One of the important guidelines that The Nature Conservancy included was local cultural preservation. A primary goal of this experiment in US-modeled national parks is to ensure the longevity of traditional values and beliefs in the parkland area. Pudacuo National Park is not only attempting to conserve the local Tibetan Buddhist tradition but also is attempting to capitalize on the uniqueness of the experience …

Tibetan Guozhuang In Diqing Autonomous Prefecture: A Comparative Musical Analysis, Christina Du Breuil

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The song and dance traditions of the Tibetan peoples of Diqing Prefecture are numerous and varied. Of these traditions, Guozhuang is cited as one of the oldest and most centrally traditional pieces of folk heritage. However, Guozhuang varies even within Diqing Prefecture. This paper addresses the basic form and structure of Guozhuang as well as variations between Benzilan and Shangri-la Guozhuang, two places separated not only by geographical distance but also the encroachment of development on traditional culture.

Review Of White Man's Water: The Politics Of Sobriety In A Native American Community. By Erica Prussing, Paul Spicer

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Epidemiological evidence consistently emphasizes the challenges American Indian tribes of the Great Plains confront through excess alcohol consumption. Until Erica Prussing's recent book, however, we have lacked a detailed analysis of the social and cultural context in which these challenges unfold. With a focus on women's experiences across two generations, White Man s Water provides us with a careful description of the social and cultural world of contemporary Northern Cheyennes, coupled with an understanding of how individual experiences within the milieu vary, especially as a function of history.

White Man's Water is a truly significant book: the first book-length ethnographic …

The Implications Of Privileged Gay Politics On Queer Aberrations: Interrogating South Africa’S Nongovernmental Industrial Complex, Vijay Sachdev

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The phenomena to address and confront social issues as a career path has shifted the way communities experience the realm of activism. This research addresses the effort emphasized in gay and lesbian activism on the Nongovernmental Industrial Complex as a platform for social transformation. These structures have notably been co-opted by neo-liberalism and the State. In South Africa, the gay and lesbian movement have its roots dug into legal reform which becomes conservative and relies on the rhetoric of identity politics to gain recognition without addressing redistribution and systems of oppression. Through three case studies culminating in a comparative study …

The Interdependence Of Gedi Ruins And The Giriama: A Study Of Ancestral Spirits, Jinn, And The Impact Of Islam, Tucker Deady

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Archaeological site, Gedi Ruins, is well known on the Coastal Province of Kenya as a place of great mystery. It is sacred to many for reasons of spirituality and appeals to both Swahili and Mijikenda, a group of nine tribes living on the coast, as a place of prayer. The Giriama make up one of these nine tribes and, as they have a large community surrounding the site of Gedi Ruins, are the focus of this study. The Mijikenda have a deep connection with their ancestral spirits as well as jinn. While their traditions run deep, there have, however, been …

Accessing Justice, Evaluating Agency: How 12 Women In Cape Town Perceive Their Local Police Services With Respect To Their Race, Class, Gender, And Geographic Location, Ellen Moore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Policing in South Africa has a long, twisted history that is still evident in some current police practices and especially in the public’s perceptions of the police. In addition to historical factors such as colonial rule and apartheid, people’s perceptions of the police are also affected by their race, class, gender, and geographic location. Although these factors’ can be considered to have an individual effect on perceptions, it is through a complex understanding of how they relate to one another that a true understanding of a person’s perception can be reached. The inspiration for this study stemmed from these concepts …

The Expansion Of Early Buddhism In Yunnan: The Grottoes Of Shibaoshan, Audrey Pazmino

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The expansion of Buddhism from India into China followed several different routes, one of which was the Southern Silk Road. The cosmopolitan nature of this crossroads between India, the Tubo Empire of Tibet, the Nanzhao Kingdom in the Erhai region, and the Tang dynasty in China greatly impacted the types of Buddhist sites constructed during this time period.

Buddhism also took on new characteristics from the local ethnic groups in the Erhai region, particularly the Bai ethnic minority. The grottoes of Shibaoshan are one of these early Buddhist sites in Yunnan that reflect the integration of traditional Indian and Tibetan …

Changing The Very Fabric Of Society: A Case Study Of The Fundación Entre Mujeres Holistic Empowerment Model, Briana Frenchmore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The women of rural northern Nicaragua live in a context that is shaped by the inequalities of gender and class that originate in machista culture and the dominant economic system. To confront this reality, the non-government organization, Fundación Entre Mujeres (FEM) works from the “Gender and Development” (GAD) approach using a model of holistic women’s empowerment. To create social change, FEM’s programs focus on ideological, economic, and organizational empowerment. This investigation seeks to understand how FEM carries out its holistic empowerment model within communities, while reflecting on the strengths of their methodology and the challenges they face in creating social …

The Israeli Defense Forces In The 21st Century: Humanitarian Complier Or Human Rights Violators? An Assessment Of Ihl Compliance In The Second Lebanon War And Operation Cast Lead, Skyler Scoggan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My reasons behind writing this paper are very personal and its conclusion will have a direct impact on my future. I am Jewish by blood and have always have had a strong connection with the tradition even though I do not consider myself religious. I have respected more so the traditions and culture that have come from the faith of my mother. The fact that my grandfather, great grandfather, and the dozen more before him, carried on these same rituals that I carry out on Shabbat or on the high holidays, is beyond the realm of being special. Many cannot …

Why Do Women Have More Children Than They Want? Understanding Differences In Women's Ideal And Actual Family Size In A Natural Fertility Population, Lisa Mcallister, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Jonathan Stieglitz

ESI Publications

Objectives—We develop and test a conceptual model of factors influencing women’s ideal family size (IFS) in a natural fertility population, the Tsimane of Bolivia. The model posits affects of socioecology, reproductive history, maternal condition, and men’s IFS. We test three hypotheses for why women may exceed their IFS despite experiencing socioeconomic development: (H1) limited autonomy; (H2) improved maternal condition; and (H3) low returns on investments in embodied capital.

Methods—Women’s reproductive histories and prospective fertility data were collected from 2002 to 2008 (n = 305 women). Semistructured interviews were conducted with Tsimane women to study the perceived value of …

Maine Folklife, Vol. 17, Iss. 1-2, Maine Folklife Center

Maine Folklife Center Newsletter

The Maine Folklife Center has embarked on an ambitious project to digitize the entire collection of the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History. To that end, the University of Maine has contracted with George Blood L.P. of Philadelphia to provide audio digitization services to create a digital preservation master of each of our sound files for the Library of Congress and the University of Maine from our original copies of analog tapes (reel to reel, cassettes, and VHS). George Blood L.P. was chosen from a group of companies who responded to a request for proposals because his company was …

Ua12/2/30 Poster, Wku Saudi Student Club

Student Organizations

Poster advertising Saudi National Day sponsored by the WKU Saudi Student Club.

Callis, Mariah (Fa 583), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 583. Illustrated paper by Mariah Callis titled “Grave Decoration in a Bowling Green Cemetery: An Analysis of Children’s Grave Adornment.” This illustrated project provides a brief yet detailed description of the author’s first field work experience. The work, an analysis of children’s grave adornment, provides information specific to Fairview Cemetery, Bowling Green, Kentucky, and categorizes the types of ornamentation placed on children’s graves and the frequency of such decoration. The project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Faytullayeva, Shamira A. (Fa 584), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 584. Illustrated paper by Shamira A. Faytullayeva titled “A Great Tailor in My Family.” This illustrated project describes the economic benefits of the tailoring skills of a Russian emigrant, Samisiya Faytullayeva. Samisiya’s mother taught her to sew when she was a child, and the skill has provided an income for her family in the years since her husband’s death and their subsequent immigration to the United States. This project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Hopkin, Rachel Claire (Fa 581), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 581. Illustrated paper by Rachel Hopkin titled “A Reel in a Bottle: The Bottle Art of Chris Wood.” This illustrated project provides insight into the art of creating bottle art, or bottle whimsies. Folk artist Chris Wood’s path from observer to artist is detailed and includes his interpretations of the work of several historical and modern artisans within the genre. The project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Hopkin, Rachel Claire (Fa 586), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid and full text paper (Click on "Additional File" below) for Folklife Archives Project 586. Independent study project conducted by Rachel Hopkin on George R. Gibson, a banjo player from eastern Kentucky. The project, contained on two DVDs, includes photos, audio interviews and transcripts, a paper, bibliography, and field notes. Participating in the interview are Gibson and musicians John W. Haywood and Kevin C. Howard, who describe Gibson’s influence on them. This project was executed for the folk studies program at Western Kentucky University.

Chappell, Katherine (Fa 582), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 582. Illustrated paper by Katherine Chappell titled “Fine, Folk, or Functional? The Art of Mark Whitley.” This illustrated project provides insight into the art of furniture making and the distinctions between the artistic formation of furniture and mass production. The project details the journey of one craftsman, Mark Whitley of Warren County, Kentucky, from one who makes furniture, into an artist whose work is practical, functional, and enduring. The project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Spraggins, Cody (Fa 585), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 585. Video by Cody Spraggins titled “The Community of Dungeons and Dragons Players as a Folk Group.” The video is a compilation of interviews with three individuals who participate in the role playing fantasy game. The focus of the video is the sentiment that the “gamers” have created distinct folk groups within their community of play. Typescript of abstract only. The project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Bolick, Molly (Fa 579), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 579. Illustrated paper by Molly Bolick titled “Embodied Art: Identity, Adornment, and Style in Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby.” Analysis of the artistic process of choosing a derby name and the assemblage of dress elements and adornment in the context of the body as a canvas. This project was submitted for the 2011Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Wynn, Katie (Fa 580), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 580. Illustrated paper by Katie Wynn titled “The Art of Cake Decorating: An Examination of the Art of Callie Christian.” A detail account of the process of baking and decorating a cake, with an emphasis on cakes for celebratory events such as birthdays. Discusses the influence of popular culture on cake decorating themes. This project was submitted for the 2011Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Morningstar, Cora Eliza (Gossom), 1866-1926 (Sc 2578), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2578. Christmas diary kept by Cora Eliza (Gossom) Morningstar, Bowling Green, Kentucky. Notations describe the weather, the Christmas dinner menu, and gifts received by Cora and her son Roy.