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Choice Ideology And The Parameters Of Its Practice: Alternative Abortion Narratives In New Mexico, Abigail Rae Adams

Anthropology ETDs

The ideology of choice, embedded in the pro-choice, anti-abortion debate in the United States, is founded on Enlightenment notions that take the autonomous individual with perfect knowledge and rationality as the unit of analysis. The basic premise is that each woman 'chooses' from a variety of equally accessible options. Hidden in the political language of choice are the constraints all women face as they attempt to negotiate reproduction, especially if they wish to end a pregnancy. 'Choice' does not exist as an abstract freedom, but is situated within the realities of power and agency. This paper examines the ability of …

Re-Writing Culture In Taiwan, Edited By Fang-Long Shih, Stuart Thompson And Paul-François Tremlett, Marc L. Moskowitz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Comparative Studies And The South American Gran Chaco, Isabelle Combes, Diego Villar, Kathleen Lowrey

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

Ruth Benedict And The Study Of Thai Culture, Nicola B. Tannenbaum

Pacific Studies

In this paper, I place Thai Culture and Behavior in the context of Benedict’s work and life, American anthropology, and Thai studies. The paper begins with a summary of Benedict’s study and a critique of her Thai ethnography. This is followed with a discussion of its initial reception when it was first published and its later place in biographies about Benedict. Finally, I turn to my initial question of the role of Thai Culture and Behavior in Thai studies. Here I examine the two subsequent anthropological studies of Thailand: Embree’s seminal essay, “Thailand—A Loosely Structured Society,” the first field- workbased …

The Crisis Of Late Structuralism. Perspectivism And Animism: Rethinking Culture, Nature, Spirit, And Bodiliness, Terry S. Turner

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

The paper takes as its point of departure an assessment of the achievements and limitations of structuralism as exemplified by the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss, with particular attention to its applications to Amazonian ethnographic data. I attempt to identify the original contributions of structuralism, while explaining how it has distorted and misunderstood the Amazonian cultural structures and themes that it has sought to analyze by misapplying its own theoretical and methodological concepts, thus giving rise to what I call the “Crisis of Late Structuralism.” I then suggest how recent developments in Amazonianist anthropology, notably the rethinking of animism by Philippe …

Clyde Kluckhohn And The New Anthropology: From Culture And Personality To The Scientific Study Of Values, John S. Gilkeson

Pacific Studies

This essay examines Clyde Kluckhohn’s relations with Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, and Gregory Bateson in two contexts: the school of culture and personality, and the Conference on Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Their Relation to the Democratic Way of Life convened during the Second World War. Kluckhohn strongly identified with the Boasian tradition. Enlisting in the Boasian campaign to make Americans more “culture-conscious,” Kluckhohn joined Benedict and Mead as a public intellectual. In this capacity, Kluckhohn sought to clarify the concept of culture and to widen its currency, emphasized the affinity between anthropology and psychiatry, and, after 1945, searched for …

Ethnic Quilting Traditions In Magazine Articles 1900–1980, Colleen Hall-Patton

4th Biennial Symposium of the International Quilt Museum: Proceedings

Quilting, while often seen as a quintessentially American art form, has a long history throughout the world. Americans’ exposure to other traditions has been intermittent, but reflects other trends in the study of ethnic arts. In the 1950s, interest in folk art overlapped with interest in ethnic art as both create an exotic “other” to readers. Before 1960, that “other” was primarily Hawaiian and European. The 1960s added Cuna molas, and the 1970s saw an explosion of interest in worldwide quilt traditions from Tibetan to Amish.

This paper is a content analysis of quilting traditions referenced in magazine articles from …

Mental Health In Mali: An Analysis Of The Expression Of Major Depressive Disorder Across Different Cultures, Ashley Morris

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Introduction (excerpt) What other differences exist between illnesses across different cultures? Are the differences only found in the manifestation of symptoms or are there also biological differences? How does one conceptualize mental health issues, such as depression, here in Mali? Is there a stigma against mental health patients in Mali? What facilities, treatments, and medicines are available in Mali to treat mental disorder? After a little more background research I found that the topic of mental health in the developing world has been largely ignored until very recently. As cross-cultural studies in every academic discipline become increasingly more prevalent, anthropology …

Your Trash Is Someone's Treasure: The Politics Of Value At A Michigan Landfill , Joshua Reno

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses scavenging and dumping as alternative approaches to deriving value from rubbish at a large Michigan landfill. Both practices are attuned to the indeterminacy and power of abandoned things, but in different ways. Whereas scavenging relies on acquiring familiarity with an object by getting to know its particular qualities, landfilling and other forms of mass disposal make discards fungible and manipulable by stripping them of their former identities. By way of examining the different ways in which people become invested in the politics of value at the landfill, whether as part of expressions of gender and class or …

Anthropology And Ethnography: Contributions To Integrated Marketing Communications, Claudia M. Wright

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Student Research

This paper explores the ways in which anthropological research, specifically ethnography, can be useful in an Integrated Marketing Communication approach. Starting from a brief description of the different ways in which the discipline of anthropology has studied consumption, the paper turns to review how it can serve effectively to understand both the corporate as well as the consumer culture. Furthermore, the role that the anthropological discipline plays for Integrated Marketing Communication strategies is presented along with some examples of how different firms have used it. This paper is an approach to understanding ethnography not only as a market research methodology, …

Toward A Dialogic Interpretation Of Psychological Belief In Spirits Among Gamei Of Ghana, Ebenezer Narh Yebuah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines central aspects of the ancestral tradition of the Gamei of Ghana which have not previously been investigated systematically from a psychological perspective. It is argued that Carl Gustav Jung and his intellectual descendants are the only Western psychological thinkers who have come close to formulating a conceptual framework that is helpful in this context, because Africa featured prominently in Jung's formulations of his influential psychological theories during his archetypal journey to Africa. Accordingly, core features of Jungian theory are examined in order to determine the extent to which a psychological investigation of Gamei cosmological perspectives, particularly perspectives …

Folklore And The Internet: Vernacular Expression In A Digital World, Trevor J. Blank

All USU Press Publications

Folklore and the Internet is a pioneering examination of the folkloric qualities of the World Wide Web, e-mail, and related digital media. It shows that folk culture, sustained by a new and evolving vernacular, has been a key, since the Internetýs beginnings, to language, practice, and interaction online. Users of many sorts continue to develop the Internet as a significant medium for generating, transmitting, documenting, and preserving folklore. In a set of new, insightful essays, contributors Trevor J. Blank, Simon J. Bronner, Robert Dobler, Russell Frank, Gregory Hansen, Robert Glenn Howard, Lynne S. McNeill, Elizabeth Tucker, and William Westerman showcase …

Water And The Mountains: Maya Water Mangement At Caracol, Belize, James Crandall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Water management techniques in the Southern Maya Lowlands are both regionally diverse and site specific. This thesis examines the water management strategies of the Classic Period Maya at the site of Caracol, Belize. While it is likely that elites at Caracol controlled the redistribution of resources, i.e. craft and agricultural products, it is probable that the production of agricultural resources and the maintenance of water resource acquisition took place on a more local level. In order to test this hypothesis, a sample of five reservoirs were examined through original research -- and situated in conjunction with past settlement studies -- …

Glossolalia Influences On Stress Response Among Apostolic Pentecostals, Christopher Dana Lynn

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study tests the hypothesis that long–term experience of Apostolic Pentecostal glossolalia or “speaking in tongues” reduces the reactivity of biological stress response to normal or "daily" stressors. Glossolalia is a form of religious dissociation. Dissociation is a universal capacity often conflated with “trance.” It refers to the partitioning of awareness associated with a variety of cross–cultural forms, from daydreaming and denial to possession trance, shamanic spirit journeys, and dissociative identity disorder. Dissociation is believed to reduce or filter stress by mediating evaluation of potential stressors and reactivity of the mechanisms of biological stress response. Previous studies have examined these …

Pubs, Punters, And Pints: Anthropological Reflections On Pub Life In Ireland, Jason Cucchiara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ireland is a country with a rich and unique cultural heritage. It is difficult to imagine that certain facets of Irish culture (e.g. Saint Patrick's Day, the Blarney Stone, or the Ring of Kerry) can ever be taken for granted since they are so widely recognized internationally. One common feature of Irish life that possibly warrants more scholarly attention is the public house or pub. Much has been written about pubs as quaint institutions in popular literature and fiction. Curiously, they remain largely overlooked as vital aspects of Irish culture by anthropologists and others in the social sciences. In many …

Adopting Change: Relational Flexibility As Vice And Virtue On Mota Island, Vanuatu, Thorgeir Storesund Kolshus

Pacific Studies

On the island of Mota in the Banks Islands, children and adults frequently have their matrilineal and even matrimoiety affiliation, and consequently kin relations, altered and multiplied through various forms of adoption. Most of the 850 Motese count themselves as belonging to several kin groups. This creates personalized kin inventories for each individual. Consequently, an element of choice concerning which relation to emphasize is intrinsic to the Motese kinship system. In this paper, some of the reasons and motivations for these choices are outlined. The traditional flexibility of social relations, with their associated transfer of rights and obligations, also proves …

On Measuring Progress In Animal Welfare, James A. Serpell

Assessment of Animal Welfare Collection

Improvements in the welfare of animals arise from two primary sources: Changes in public attitudes and beliefs regarding what constitutes acceptable treatment of animals, and mandatory changes in behavior toward animals imposed by governments and regulatory authorities. During the last 30-40 years, public and political support for improvements in animal welfare has increased dramatically in many countries. Funding from both governmental and non-governmental sources continues to grow, and the relatively new field of animal welfare science has emerged and expanded to support and inform these efforts. Many experts in the field recognize, however, that there is still a distinct gap …

Books Noted: Recent Pacific Island Publications: Selected Acquisitions, January 2006-June 2006, Riley Moffat

Pacific Studies

This list of significant publications relating to the Pacific Islands was selected from new acquisitions lists received from Brigham Young University Hawai'i, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, University of Auckland, East-West Center, University of South Pacific, National Library of Australia, Melanesian Studies Resource Center, Center for Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Nijmegen, University of California San Diego, Secretariat of the Pacific Community Library, Center for South Pacific Studies, University of New South Wales, Macmillan Brown Library at University of Canterbury, and the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau's Center for the Pacific Development Training. Other libraries …

Issue 52, Spring 2008, Society Of Bead Researchers

The Bead Forum: Newsletter of the Society of Bead Researchers

Hidden Histories Project at the Petrie Museum of Egyptology in London.

The Fierce Tribe, Mickey Weems

All USU Press Publications

In this ethnography that documents the folk nature of popular culture, Mickey Weems applies interdisciplinary interpretation to a subject that demands such a breakdown of intellectual boundaries. The Circuit, an expression of gay culture, comprises large dance events—gatherings, celebrations, communions, festivals. Music and dance drive complex, shared performances—electronic house music played by professional DJs and mass ecstatic dancing that engenders communitas. Other performances, from drag queens and concerts to contests, theatrics, and the individual display of muscular bodies are part of the festivities.

Body sculpting through muscle building is strongly associated with the Circuit, and masculine aggression is both displayed …

The Gendered Altar: Wiccan Concepts Of Gender And Ritual Objects, Jesse Sloan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many ethnographic accounts within the annals of anthropological literature describe the religious beliefs and magical rituals of peoples throughout the world. Fewer scholars have focused on the relatively young Neo-Pagan religious movement. "Neo-Pagan," explains Helen Berger in Voices from the Pagan Census (2003), "is an umbrella term covering sects of a new religious movement, the largest and most important form of which is…Wicca" (Berger et al. 2003: 1). This thesis examines the relationship between practice and ideology by analyzing the material culture of Wiccan altars as used by Wiccans in Central Florida, USA. Particular attention is paid to beliefs …

A Transnational Conversation On French Colonialism, Immigration, Violence And Sovereignty, Miriam Ticktin, Ruth Marshall, Paolo Bacchetta

Publications and Research

This conversation was transcribed from a panel discussion that took place at The Scholar & Feminist Conference XXXII, “Fashioning Citizenship: Gender and Immigration,” held on March 24, 2007 at Barnard College.

In Search Of Blood-Stained Earth: A Consideration Of Battlefield Archaeology's Applicability To Pre-Historic Conflict In The Eastern And Central Regions Of North America, Andrew P. Mcfeaters

Nebraska Anthropologist

During the last twenty-four years archaeologists have proven that we are now able to investigate a previously inaccessible part of the archaeological record: the battlefield. These fields of conflict, once inaccessible due to their nature, have become accessible to archaeologists through the use of metal detectors, the global positioning system (GPS), remote sensing, historical documents, maps, photographs (aerial and period), and the geographic information system (GIS), among the traditional methods used in archaeological research, such as surface surveys and excavation. However, battlefield archaeology's current scope is limited to those conflicts recorded by history. Is it possible for battlefield archaeologists to …

Atua Of The Aga: A Comparison Of Ancestor Worship In The Highlands Of Bali And Polynesia, Jamison Liang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study is to understand the practice of ancestor worship among the Bali Aga village of Sukawana and its relation to how its inhabitants trace their origins. When did their ancestors arrive in Sukawana and where did they come from? Did any of their descendents continue to migrate across Indonesia? And how do the Bali Aga practice ancestor reverence through the use of shrines and temples—tangible evidence—in their villages? The responses to these questions provided a platform for comparison to current anthropological, linguistic, and archaeological theories in order to understand how locally constructed truth in Sukawana related …

Merits And Motivations Of An Ashéninka Leader, Hanne Veber

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Recent approaches to life history studies emphasize the power of biography in processes of social construction, highlighting the individual—storyteller and social being—as creative and created in relation to others. Situated in collective meaning systems and their dynamics, autobiographical narration is transformed into agency as it provides definitions of situations and encodes models for action. This essay discusses alternative interpretations of the autobiographical narrative of an Ashéninka leader, Miguel Camaiteri, in Peru's Upper Amazon, focusing on the exposition of his motivations for becoming an indigenous activist and contemplating the way his self-presentation is contingent upon the political agenda he is pursuing …

A Critical Analysis Of The Current Status Of The Fijian Language, Stephanie Roberts

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As the country of Fiji strives to keep up in the throws of modernity of the 21st century, it simultaneously attempts to grip onto its culture that distinguishes it from the rest of the world. Linguistically, Fiji is categorized into three general divisions (although each being greatly influenced since the 19th century). English, Fijian and Hindi serve as the three “official” languages of Fiji; as components of one country, they play significant roles in the formation of national identity. Language is a necessary element of culture, and was therefore studied in order to promote cultural identity for the people of …

Tumuge' Påpa' (Writing It Down): Chamorro Midwives And The Delivery Of Native History, Christine Taitano Delisle

Pacific Studies

This essay explores the evolving significance of the Chamorro phrase tuge' påpa'—"write it down"—as both a command and a cultural imperative in the life of a Chamorro woman and scholar. Anchored in personal history and critical scholarship, the essay examines how writing becomes a medium for engaging with, preserving, and reshaping Chamorro identity, history, and resistance in the face of colonial narratives. Drawing from research on i pattera siha—prewar Chamorro nurse-midwives trained under U.S. Naval Administration—this work blends ethnography, historiography, and family memory to challenge dominant American colonial discourse. Using the motif of “working hands,” it underscores the …

A Wave Of The Magic Wand: Fairy Godmothers In Contemporary American Media, Jeana Jorgensen

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The increased personification of fairy godmothers in contemporary American media corresponds to an aspect of the American worldview that emphasizes "magical" quick fixes and solutions. The two fairy-tale pastiche works informing this study are a novel, The Fairy Godmother, by fantasy author Mercedes Lackey, and a movie, Shrek 2. Both of these works feature fairy godmother characters that depart from canonical folktale and fairy-tale depictions. Associated with fate and wisdom, fairy godmothers act much as folklorists do by rewarding traditional behavior with gifts. Recent fairy godmother roles are hybrid and multivocal, illuminating ideologies and power structures in both society and …

Navigating Hiv, Pregnancy, And Childbearing In South India, Cecilia Van Hollen

Anthropology - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Conducting Cross-Cultural Research In Teams And The Search For The “Culture-Proof” Variable, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Objective: Cross-cultural research must always deal with the problem that meaning systems and behaviors cannot be readily compared from one culture to the next because the sociocultural context can vary so widely.
Design: The organizers of Project AGE: Age, Generation, and Experience, a multicultural study of aging, recognized this problem and devised instruments for studying age that allowed for cultural variation as well as comparability at higher levels of abstraction. The principal investigators of Project AGE and the individual researchers made every effort to gain an emic understanding (understanding based on categories recognized by the local respondents) of people’s attitudes …