Anthropology Commons^™

Law, Society, And Religion: Islam And The West, Paolo Davide Farah

Book Chapters

Law and religion are present in almost every society, where the predominance of one over the other can greatly vary, and, in some cases, they both contend for authority over the citizenry. From a historical standpoint, this resulted in a constant change in the relationship between law and religion. Globalization also had a role in this regard. In some instances, globalization exacerbates differences between religions instead of encouraging mediation; it seeks to fill the gap left by the diminishing role of religion in the West. Globalization also competes with religion; both are looking for ways to regulate conduct and push …

Orphaned Landscapes: Violence, Visuality, And Appearance In Indonesia, Patricia Spyer

Art & Visual Culture

Less than a year after the end of authoritarian rule in 1998, huge images of Jesus Christ and other Christian scenes proliferated on walls and billboards around a provincial town in eastern Indonesia where conflict had arisen between Muslims and Christians. A manifestation of the extreme perception that emerged amid uncertainty and the challenge to seeing brought on by urban warfare, the street paintings erected by Protestant motorbike-taxi drivers signaled a radical departure from the aniconic tradition of the old colonial church, a desire to be seen and recognized by political authorities from Jakarta to the UN and European Union, …

Religious Schism: A Case Study Of Social And Political Critique In Sāmoa, Alexis M. M. Zilen

Student Publications

Examining religious schism within Sāmoa in order to demonstrate that schism of Christianity within Sāmoa, of charismatic-Pentecostal churches from traditional mainline churches, represents a social critique. By unifying under a reformed church environment, which mimics existing religious and cultural systems, Sāmoans are challenging their economic, social, and political positionality, while upholding the traditional framework of the fa’aSāmoa, Sāmoan way of life. This work highlights how individuals within Sāmoa navigate increasingly complex social, political, and economic power dynamics. Much of the focus of explores how individuals exercise religious agency, formulated through a created Sāmoan cosmology, to challenge larger structures of oppression …

Mattingly, Alix, B. 1990 (Fa 1287), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1287. Student collection titled “We Walk By Faith” in which Alix Mattingly undertakes a genealogical exploration of her family’s personal connection to St. Ann Catholic Church and School in Morganfield, Kentucky. Mattingly’s paper examines how religion, segregation, and education intersect in ways that have a lasting effect on understandings of heritage and identity. The collection also contains photographs, a partial transcript, and a copy of the audio interview recording.

Mind Over (What Doesn’T) Matter: De-Stigmatizing Mental Health From Senegalese Women’S Perspectives, Jenna Marks

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As a matrilocal and collectivist society, Dakar is an urban space where the woman is at the center. With this in mind, it is possible to understand all the pressures women in urban Senegalese society face. Women are the center of the household, thus being responsible for the family, finances, and the social aspect of welcoming visitors. In addition to these factors, women in Senegal also deal with community expectations and responsibilities since there is larger emphasis on the community, rather than the nuclear family in Senegalese society. This paper examines how these two aspects of Senegalese society (matrilocality and …

Stewart, Karen (Fa 1273), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1273. Student paper titled “Negro Gospel Music at Barnes Chapel Methodist Church” in which Karen Stewart describes a singular all-day “singing” held at the church in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, in February 1971. Stewart offers a brief description of her fieldwork methods including research and recording and provides an abbreviated background on each of her musical informants. Stewart also recounts the songs that were sung and notes recurrent themes throughout the music. The paper also includes the words to each hymn, a black and white photograph of the performers, and two reel-to-reel audiotapes.

Ohio River Survey (Fa 656), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 656. Kentucky Folklife Program project titled: “Ohio River Survey,” which includes interviews, tape logs, photographs and other documentation of folklife along the Ohio River in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. Interviews may include a description of belief, traditional occupation, practice, craft, or tool, informant’s name, age, birth date, and address.

10. Education, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

As constituents of academia, our students are surrounded by educational systems and models. This module seeks to broaden their horizons regarding educational systems and the process of learning, ranging from individual to societal to global levels. Two leadership theories (transformational and situational) are observed in this module as well as how education and leadership can combine in an effective manner.

Intro To Folk Studies Oral History Project (Fa 1206), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1206. Collection consists of interviews conducted by students in Barry Kaufkins’ Introduction to Folk Studies (FLK 276) class at WKU. Students conducted interviews with various family members, friends, and coworkers. Topics include childhood memories, cultural traditions, professional responsibilities, and other issues relating to personal narratives. Collection also contains brief summaries of subjects covered in the interviews. Audio recordings of the interviews that were recorded and submitted are stored in the WKU Sound Archives.

Foodways (Fa 1202), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1202. Collection of papers written by students in Professor Barry Kaufkins’ Foodways class (FLK/ANTH 388) at Western Kentucky University. While a majority of the papers focus on Easter traditions, other topics of note include immigrant foodways traditions, fundraising efforts, community organizations, tailgating, and sorority life. Papers also include photographs taken by students.

Wright, Curtis William (Fa 1159), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1159. Student folk studies project titled “Amish” which includes survey sheets with a brief description of Amish life in Howard County, Indiana. Sheets may include an interview, brief description, informant’s name, and address. The project also includes “A Story of Isaac S. Miller” by O. G. M.

Warren, Kaye (Fa 1150), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1150. Student folk studies project titled “From Slavery to Freedom for the Negro Race in Logan County [Kentucky]” which includes survey sheets with a brief description of African American life in Logan County, Kentucky. Sheets may include interviews, written records, photographs, informant’s name, age, and address.

Selection Perception: Views On The Theory Of Evolution Among Residents Of Moshi, Tanzania, Robin Waterman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The theory of evolution is a major tenet of biological science and has many practical applications, particularly in agriculture, medicine, and conservation. Nevertheless, there is significant opposition to the theory and its incorporation into school curricula, largely on religious grounds. This disconnect between public opinion and scientific opinion has been studied at length in the US and to some extent in other industrialized nations, but little is known about the issue in other communities around the world. This paper will use the town of Moshi, Tanzania as a case study in community views and knowledge about the theory of evolution. …

Monstrous Maternity: Folkloric Expressions Of The Feminine In Images Of The Ubume, Michaela Leah Prostak

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ubume is a ghost of Japanese folklore, once a living woman, who died during either pregnancy or childbirth. This thesis explores how the religious and secular developments of the ubume and related figures create a dichotomy of ideologies that both condemn and liberate women in their roles as mothers. Examples of literary and visual narratives of the ubume as well as the religious practices that were employed for maternity-related concerns are explored within their historical contexts in order to best understand what meaning they held for people at a given time and if that meaning has changed. These meanings …

Faith Development Beyond Religion: The Ngo As Site Of Islamic Reform, Nermmen Mouftah

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Anthropological field studies of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in their unique cultural and political contexts. Cultures of Doing Good: Anthropologists and NGOs serves as a foundational text to advance a growing subfield of social science inquiry: the anthropology of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Thorough introductory chapters provide a short history of NGO anthropology, address how the study of NGOs contributes to anthropology more broadly, and examine ways that anthropological studies of NGOs expand research agendas spawned by other disciplines. In addition, the theoretical concepts and debates that have anchored the analysis of NGOs since they entered scholarly discourse after World War II …

Cosgrove, John (Fa 1111), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of the paper (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 1111. Student folk studies project titled: “The Process of Basket Making” which includes survey sheets with descriptions of the traditional basket making process in Edmonson County, Kentucky. Sheets may include a brief description of pictured equipment, traditional practice, tale, and belief.

Mcdonald, William Rush, B. 1951 (Fa 1090), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project FA 1090. Student folk studies project titled: “Singing Schools,” which includes survey sheets describing the traditions and practices of singing schools in Hart County, Kentucky. Sheets include informant’s age and address, memory, and text classification along with names and photos.

Spiritual Journeys: A Study Of Ifá /Òrìṣà Practitioners In The United States Initiated In Nigeria, Tony Van Der Meer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study is to understand the culture of one of the newest branches of traditional Yorùbá Ifá/Òrìṣà practice in the United States from practitioners born in the United States that were initiated in Nigeria, West Africa.The epistemology of the Ifá/Òrìṣà belief system in the United States has been based on the history and influence of Regla de Ocha or Santeria that developed out of Cuban innovation and practice.This is an ethnographic and auto-ethnographic study that pulls from participant observation, field notes, interviews, and photos as data.The central question of this dissertation is what are the challenges and …

Taylor, Stephen (Fa 927), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Collection 927. Paper titled: “A Collection of Gravestone Art in Western Kentucky.” Includes introduction of gravestone art and designs in western Kentucky.

Bradley, Peggy And Dianah Logsdon (Fa 883), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Collection 883. Paper titled: “Negro Religious Beliefs.” Project includes survey sheets with descriptions of religious beliefs and practices of African Americans in Kentucky. Sheets include a description and informant’s name.

Introduction: A Legacy Of Raised Expectations, Leif Stenberg, Christa Salamandra

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Occupy Judaism: Religion, Digital Media, And The Public Sphere, Ayala Fader, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This article provides an analysis of Occupy Judaism, an explicitly religious expression of Jewish protest, which occurred simultaneously with Occupy Wall Street, the direct-democracy movement of 2011. Occupy Judaism, like Occupy Wall Street, took place both in physical spaces of protest in New York City and digitally, through mobilizing and circulating debate. The article focuses on the words and actions of Daniel Sieradski, the public face and one of the key founders of Occupy Judaism, supplemented by the experiences of others in Occupy Judaism, Occupy Wall Street, and Occupy Faith (a Protestant clergy-led initiative). We investigate what qualified as religion …

Community Scholars Program - Harlan County, Jackson County, And Laurel County, Kentucky (Fa 734), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 734. This collection contains information and documentation about the Community Scholars Program’s workshops held in Harlan County, Jackson County, and Laurel County, Kentucky during the fall of 2009. The collection features projects conducted by participants of the various programs.

An Historical Archaeological Investigation Of The Indianola Prisoner Of War Camp In Southwestern Nebraska, Charles A. Flowerday

Anthropology Department: Theses

Peacebuilding in Colombia and Peru following their late-20^th and early 21^st century civil wars is a challenging proposition. In this study, it becomes necessary as indigenous peoples and peasants resist domination by extractive industries and governments in their thrall. Whether they protest nonviolently or rebel in arms, they are targeted for human-rights violations, especially murder, disappearance and displacement. The armed actors, state, insurgency, paramilitaries or drug traffickers, destroy civic institutions (local or regional government) and the civil (nonprofit) sector and replace them with their own authoritarian versions. Therefore, peacebuilding has emphasized rebuilding civic institutions, civil society and local …

The Enchanter's Spell: J.R.R. Tolkien's Mythopoetic Response To Modernism, Adam D. Gorelick

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

J.R.R. Tolkien was not only an author of fantasy but also a philologist who theorized about myth. Theorists have employed various methods of analyzing myth, and this thesis integrates several analyses, including Tolkien’s. I address the roles of doctrine, ritual, cross-cultural patterns, mythic expressions in literature, the literary effect of myth, evolution of language and consciousness, and individual invention over inheritance and diffusion. Beyond Tolkien’s English and Catholic background, I argue for eclectic influence on Tolkien, including resonance with Buddhism.

Tolkien views mythopoeia, literary mythmaking, in terms of sub-creation, human invention in the image of God as creator. Key mythopoetic …

Interview With Thomas Lengal About His Ethnic Background (Fa 601), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview conducted by Elizabeth Mosby Adler with Thomas Lengal for an oral history and cultural project titled EthniCity: Contemporary Ethnicity in the Inner Bluegrass.

Interview With Thomas Lengal About His Ethnic Background (Fa 601), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview conducted by Elizabeth Mosby Adler with Thomas Lengal for an oral history and cultural project titled EthniCity: Contemporary Ethnicity in the Inner Bluegrass.

Interview With Hazel Forsythe About Her Ethnic Background (Fa 601), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview conducted by Elizabeth Mosby Adler with Hazel Forsythe for an oral history and cultural project titled EthniCity: Contemporary Ethnicity in the Inner Bluegrass. The interviewee discusses her multi-cultural background in Guyana and how it has affected her connection to music, food and the people around her.

Interview With Veena Bonsal About Her Ethnic Background (Fa 601), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Oral Histories

Transciption of an interview conducted by Elizabeth Mosby Adler with Veena Bonsal for an oral history and cultural project titled EthniCity: Contemporary Ethnicity in the Inner Bluegrass. Interviewee discusses her life in India and the U.S. as it relates to traditions of language, family, food, clothing, body art, etc.

Mitchell, Eleonore Beck (Fa 71), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 71. “Pre-Lent Celebrations: Shrovetide and Carnival. An Annotated Bibliography.” This collection consists of an annotated bibliography complied by Eleonore Beck Mitchell for a folklore genres class at Western Kentucky University. The collection offers a brief historical account of Shrovetide and Carnival and their connection to Catholicism. The bibliography contains a total of 168 bibliographic entries and annotations for 97 of those entries.