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Full-Text Articles in Sociology of Culture
The Seven Spices: Pumpkins, Puritans, And Pathogens In Colonial New England, Michael Sharbaugh
The Seven Spices: Pumpkins, Puritans, And Pathogens In Colonial New England, Michael Sharbaugh
Michael D Sharbaugh
Water sources in the United States' New England region are laden with arsenic. Particularly during North America's colonial period--prior to modern filtration processes--arsenic would make it into the colonists' drinking water. In this article, which evokes the biocultural evolution paradigm, it is argued that colonists offset health risks from the contaminant (arsenic poisoning) by ingesting copious amounts of seven spices--cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, vanilla, and ginger. The inclusion of these spices in fall and winter recipes that hail from New England would therefore explain why many Americans associate them not only with the region, but with Thanksgiving and Christmas, …
Sherpa Inc. The Cultural Commoditization Of The Sherpa Identity, Melissa Mittelman
Sherpa Inc. The Cultural Commoditization Of The Sherpa Identity, Melissa Mittelman
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
This study examines the ways the Sherpa identity has been commoditized for a Western audience, the Sherpa responses to such a process and the repercussions it creates when understanding Sherpa cultural “authenticity.” Located in Kathmandu and the Solukhumbu district of Nepal, the findings were acquired through interviews with various members of the Sherpa community, discourse analysis and observation. This research concludes that the Sherpa community views their cultural commoditization as both a source of discredit and honor, creating difficulty in rationalizing how it both de-authenticates and re-asserts their Sherpa culture.
A Berber In Agadir: Exploring The Urban/Rural Shift In Amazigh Identity, Thiago Lima
A Berber In Agadir: Exploring The Urban/Rural Shift In Amazigh Identity, Thiago Lima
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
The Arab Spring has seen North African and Middle Eastern youth organizing against the status quo and challenging what they perceive as political, economic, and social injustices. In Morocco, while the Arab Spring may not have been as substantial as in neighboring countries, demonstrations are still occurring nearly everyday in major cities like Rabat as individuals protest issues including government transparency, high unemployment, and, for specific interest of this paper, the marginalization of the Amazigh people. The Amazigh, also popularly referred to as Berbers in most Western academia and literature, are regarded as the original inhabitants of Morocco and the …
Fair And Lovely: Standards Of Beauty, Globalization, And The Modern Indian Woman, Rebecca Gelles
Fair And Lovely: Standards Of Beauty, Globalization, And The Modern Indian Woman, Rebecca Gelles
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
With the expansion of globalization in the modern era, ideas from individual cultures are more easily able to spread to other parts of the world. One set of cultural standards that may be spreading to India is that of beauty, where a media with an increasingly Western style shares television space with advertisements from corporations that are often foreign in origin. This study seeks to examine exactly what influence this globalized media has on its viewers, and, in particular, on their perspectives on beauty. In addition, since the ability to conform to cultural standards affects how people view themselves, this …