Digital Commons Network^™

Muslim Women And United States Healthcare: Challenges To Access And Navigation, Dayna M. Seeger

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

This paper offers an analysis of the interactions of Muslim women in the US healthcare system in order to unpack challenges and propose potential accommodations. Islam may inform values or considerations in the context of other cultural factors or present Muslim women with specific challenges in seeking healthcare based on Islamic teachings or social constructs. This paper examines these factors by elaborating on an overview of Muslim interpretations of healthcare using religious authorities, text from the Qur’an, and social norms. It then delves into challenges faced by Muslim women in the US healthcare system and the implications of those challenges …

"Breaking Out Of The Bubble": Becoming Self-Reflexive In Community-Based Learning Classes At Swarthmore College, Natalia Choi , '15

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

In my Sociology/Anthropology and Educational studies thesis, I explore the processes of self-reflexivity in the context of community-based learning (CBL) classes at Swarthmore College. Drawing upon interviews with professors and students in CBL classes, written materials such as syllabi and students’ reflections, and participant observation in CBL classes, my findings suggest that professors have a critical role to play in supporting students’ process of becoming more self-reflexive. By pairing students’ experiences with critical reflection in the curricula and leading by example, professors can guide students to have profound learning experiences about themselves as well as other communities. Such engagement in …

The Effect Of Cultural Competence On The Acquisition Of French T/V Pronouns, Stacey C. Latimer

Open Access Theses

The appropriate use of Tu/Vous French pronouns in everyday situations proves to be an ongoing challenge not only for native speakers but also for learners of the language. The complexity of the use of these pronouns goes beyond grammatical conjugation as it necessitates a consideration of the sociolinguistic and pragmatic situation with which one is presented. As a result, students with less exposure to T/V pronoun usage in the French culture will consequently have more difficulty in understanding the proper use of these pronouns. ^ Although some studies have looked at students' use of T/V pronouns in online interactions (Belz …

Language As The Foundation Of Identity Among Sherpa Youth In Nepal, Joshua H. Ginder

Student Publications

This paper explores how young Sherpas in Nepal use their language as a tool for identifying themselves as uniquely Sherpa in a mutlicultural Nepal. By analyzing the way Sherpas use their language in social settings and at a radio station, the author suggests the Sherpa language is perhaps the only truly unique quality that delineates Sherpas from other Nepalis.

The Semantics Of Repression: Understanding The Continued Brutality Towards Lgbtqa Individuals In The Russian Federation, Joseph C. Recupero

Student Publications

This work serves to examine the linguistic style and choices used by Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin as it pertains to issues of the LGBTQA community in the country and the Anti-Propaganda Law. Using the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis, the author compares the speeches of Vladimir Putin to those of Western leaders Barack Obama and Ban Ki-moon, drawing conclusions as to why brutality towards LGBTQA individuals in Russia has been allowed to continue relatively unopposed. The author suggests that it may be Vladimir Putin's careful choice in words and speaking styles that allows the issue to persist.

Mapping Indigenous Self-Determination In Highland Guatemala, Patricia A. Mcanany, Sarah M. Rowe, Israel Quic Cholotio, Evelyn Caniz Menchu, Jose Mendoza Quic

Anthropology Faculty Publications

The challenges of building research partnerships around community mapping are critically reviewed in reference to the politics of heritage and identity among Indigenous Maya communities in highland Guatemala. This paper discusses how the goals and interests of archaeologists meshed with those of indigenous mappers in five communities that chose to participate in the mapping program. Based on responses to a survey about the mapping project, participants report joining in order to enhance self-determination, gain cartographic literacy, and improve life opportunities. Community authority over the project and a broad base of participation (including young and old, male and female) proved essential …

Genocide In Northeast Brazil: Dismantling Colonial Legacies Of Contemporary State Violence In Salvador, Kelsi Sleet

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The systematic use of violence by the police a lead me to the city of Salvador, Bahia, a city where 80% of the population is Afro-Brazilian. Using a framework of structural violence I develop a critical understanding of how contemporary manifestations of colonialism impact black people in Salvador, Bahia. Through this research I problematize the idea of the “racial democracy” to understand how black people are experiencing the direct use of violence by the Brazilian state in the form of anti-black genocide. I ask how Black Brazilian activists in Salvador resist and challenge state violence, specifically in the context of …

Myths And Miracles In Mexico City: Treatment Seeking, Language Socialization, And Identity Among Deaf Youth And Their Families, Anne Elaine Pfister

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research investigates the experience of deafness among deaf youth, adults, and their families in Mexico City, Mexico. Deaf children cannot fully access the spoken languages of their hearing families and mainstream society. Hence, participating families embarked upon extensive treatment-seeking pilgrimages, encountering myths about deaf lifeways and the promise of miracle cures that formed Mexico City's cultural system for coping with childhood deafness. This ethnography uncovers persistent misconceptions in medical and mainstream discourse, including strong recommendations against exposure to sign language, which directly impacted participants' access to relevant communities of practice, the social networks that proved most significant to …

Moisés Sáenz: Vigencia De Su Legado (English Translation), Edmund T. Hamann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This book mainly offers the biography of Moisés Sáenz (1888-1941), founding architect of Mexico's system of public schooling and former student of John Dewey, describing in particular his roles in creating rural schools, initiating bilingual education (for Mexico's indigenous populations), and experimenting with linkages between schooling and community development. The volume also includes the author's reflection on the relevance of learning about Profr. Sáenz for his own intellectual trajectory (which includes studying the movement of students between Mexico and the US) and reflections by Mexican educators Humberto Leal Martinez and Juan Sánchez García.

Identification Of Whole Mitochondrial Genomes From Venezuela And Implications On Regional Phylogenies In South America, Esther J. Lee, D. Andrew Merriwether

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Recent studies have expanded and refined the founding haplogroups of the Americas using whole mitochondrial (mtDNA) genome analysis. In addition to pan-American lineages, a number of studies have identified specific variants that show higher frequencies in restricted geographical areas. In order to further characterize Native American maternal lineages and specifically examine local patterns within South America, we analyzed twelve maternally unrelated Yekuana whole mtDNA genomes from one village (Sharamaña) that include the four major Native American haplogroups A2, B2, C1, and D1. Our study proposes a reconfiguration of one subhaplogroup A2 (A2aa) that is specific to South America and identifies …

Mitochondrial Dna Suggests A Western Eurasian Origin For Ancient (Proto-) Bulgarians, D V. Nesheva, S Karachanak-Yankova, M Lari, Y Yordanov, A Galabov, David Caramelli, Draga Toncheva

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Ancient (proto-) Bulgarians have long been thought to as a Turkic population. However, evidence found in the past three decades show that this is not the case. Until now, this evidence does not include ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. In order to fill this void, we have collected human remains from the VIII-X century AD located in three necropolises in Bulgaria: Nojarevo (Silistra region) and Monastery of Mostich (Shumen region), both in Northeast Bulgaria and Tuhovishte (Satovcha region) in Southwest Bulgaria. The phylogenetic analysis of 13 ancient DNA samples (extracted from teeth) identified 12 independent haplotypes, which we further classified …

Evaluation Of Desiccated And Deformed Diaspores From Natural Building Materials, Tamas Henn, Robert Pal

Biological Sciences

With the increasing sophistication of paleoethnobotanical methods, it is now possible to reconstruct new aspects of the day-to-day life of past peoples, and, ultimately, gain information about their cultivated plants, land-use practices, architecture, diet, and trade. Reliable identification of plant remains, however, remains essential to the study of paleoethno-botany, and there is still much to learn about precise identification. This paper describes and evaluates the most frequent types of deformed desiccated diaspores revealed from adobe bricks used in buildings in Southwestern Hungary that were built primarily between 1850 and 1950. A total of 24,634 diaspores were recovered from 333.05 kg …

Animals As Neighbours: The Past And Present Of Commensal Animals By Terry O'Connor, Derek Woods

The Goose

Review of Terry O'Connor's Animals as Neighbours: The Past and Present of Commensal Animals.

The Changing World In Microcosm: The Dying Languages Of Liberia, Sierra Leone, And Guinea, George Tucker Childs

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Observers have become increasingly aware of how the world is changing due to the forces of globalization, be it in the form of neo-colonialism, the scramble for natural resources, or the various extractive industries. The recent alarm over Ebola illustrated another pernicious fallout of increased communication and travel. The effect of globalization has also been great on indigenous peoples and their cultures, in particular on what many consider to be an integral component of culture, the local languages.

I report on recent research devoted to the documentation of endangered languages in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia (the Ebola countries). Most …

Care And The Self: Theorizing The Significance Of Food In Rural Yucatan, Lauren Wynne

Anthropology and Sociology Faculty Publications

In this essay, the author describes her dissertation fieldwork, focusing on human relationships with food, in rural Yucatan, Mexico.

Archaeological Survey Of A Proposed Copano Ngl Services (Markham), Llc, 2.8-Mile Pipeline, Matagorda County, Texas, James W. Karbula, Deidra A. Black

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Report Title: Archaeological Survey of a Proposed Copano NGL Services (Markham), LLC, 2.8- mile Pipeline, Matagorda County, Texas

Report Date: January 2015

Report Number: WSA Technical Report No. 2015-02

Agency: Texas Historical Commission (THC).

Permit Number: Texas Antiquities Permit 7079.

Project Description: William Self Associates, Inc. (WSA), conducted cultural resources agency coordination and an archaeology survey for a proposed new 2.8-mile (4.5 kilometer [km]) segment of the 12-inch Copano NGL Services (Markham), LLC (Copano NGL), pipeline in Matagorda County, Texas. Coordination with the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and the archaeology survey were conducted consistent with the requirements of the Texas …

Intensive Archaeological Survey Investigations Of A Proposed New 20-Mile, 12-Inch Copano Ngl Services (Markham), Llc (Copano Ngl), Sweeny Pipeline Lateral In Matagorda And Brazoria Counties, Texas, James W. Karbula, Deidra A. Black

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Report Title: Intensive Archaeological Survey Investigations of a Proposed New 20-Mile, 12-Inch Copano NGL Services (Markham), LLC (Copano NGL), Sweeny Pipeline Lateral in Matagorda and Brazoria Counties, Texas.

Report Date: February 2015

Report Number: WSA Technical Report No. 2015-05

Agency: USACE Galveston District, State Historic Preservation Officer

Permit Number: none

Project Description: William Self Associates, Inc. (WSA) conducted cultural resource coordination and archaeological survey investigations for a proposed new 12-inch Copano NGL Services (Markham), LLC (Copano NGL), Sweeny Pipeline Lateral in Matagorda and Brazoria Counties, Texas. WSA conducted intensive Phase I pedestrian survey with shovel testing and backhoe trenching of …

Cultural Resources Survey Of Pleasant Valley Road From Richfield Drive To Old Miles Road, Garland, Dallas County, Texas, Christopher Goodmaster, Arlo Mckee, Tanya Mcdougall

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This report presents the results of an intensive cultural resources survey conducted by Versar, Inc., under subcontract to Civil Associates, Inc., for Grantham and Associates, Inc., and the City of Garland Engineering Department in support of a U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Section 404 permit for the proposed widening of Pleasant Valley Road and replacement of two bridge structures over Rowlett Creek and Old Rowlett Creek in northeastern Dallas County. During the current investigation, two historic-age structures (one culvert and one bridge) were recorded in the project area. Neither of these structures is recommended eligible for inclusion in the …

An Intensive Archeological Survey Of The Proposed Us 59: From Sh 71 To Business 59 North Of El Campo, El Campo, Yoakum District Wharton County, Texas, Melanie L. Nichols, Brandy Harris

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

At the request of the Texas Department of Transportation, an intensive archeological survey was conducted by Atkins North America, Inc. (Atkins) for the proposed road improvements for U.S. Highway (US) 59 from State Highway (SH) 71 to Business 59 north of El Campo, Wharton County, Texas. The proposed project will extend from the intersection of US 59 and SH 71 to the intersection of US 59 and Business 59 north of El Campo. It will have a total length of roughly 3.1 miles (5.0 kilometers) and range from 320 to 1,370 feet (98 to 417.5 meters) in width. The proposed …

Beads: Journal Of The Society Of Bead Researchers - Volume 27 (Complete)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Putting A Price On Zen: The Business Of Redefining Religion For Global Consumption, Joshua A. Irizarry

Anthropology Faculty Publications

Over the past several decades, Zen has become a mark of global cosmopolitanism. Largely divorced from its religious context, the word “zen” appears in many languages with a remarkable diversity of accepted meanings and usages. In this paper, I outline the historical and cultural factors which have contributed to the dramatic semiotic transformation of Zen in the popular imagination and international media over the past century. I demonstrate that ideas about Zen have evolved through strategic cultural and linguistic associations, and show how the resulting polysemy has led to Zen becoming an ideal marketing byword—one that is freely …

Curating Ali`I Collections: Responsibility, Sensibility, And Contextualization In Hawai'i-Based Museums, Halenakekanakalawai`Aomiloli`I Ka`Ili`Ehu Kapuni-Reynolds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the curation of aliʻi collections in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum and the Lyman House Memorial Museum. The aliʻi were once the ruling class of Hawai'i, whose chiefly ranks and statuses reflected their prestigious and complicated moʻokūʻauhau (genealogies). Although the aliʻi are no longer a visible social class in Hawai'i, their moʻokūʻauhau (genealogies) and moʻolelo (stories) are continually honored and preserved within the walls of museums. Through the use of a research design that draws from multiple museologies, indigenous epistemologies, and anthropological theories and methods, I examine the physical care, storage, exhibition, and interpretation of aliʻi collections, …

Internationalization: Utilizing The University Museum, Adrienne Turnbull-Reilly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A review of the literature on the nature of international education in the United States reveals that although most international students want to engage socially and academically with their peers, many encounter cultural, linguistic, and institutional obstacles. Using this information to guide interview questions and format workshops, the author explored the question of how university museums can contribute to a more holistic and enriching educational experience for international students on American campuses, using the University of Denver as a case study. Findings from workshops and interviews conducted by the author reveal similar obstacles (cultural, linguistic, and institutional) when engaging students …

“Souls Under The Altar”: The ‘Soul’ And Related Anthropological Imagery In John’S Apocalypse, Larry L. Lichtenwalter

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

A Fair Day's Wages: Liberty, Legality, And Liability Among Denver's Day Laborers, Camden Ryan Bowman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Day laborers occupy an essential position in Denver’s booming construction industry. Day laborers make up a highly flexible, highly effective workforce able to respond to market changes. For day laborers, informal day-labor gathering points provide increased control over working hours and employee-employer relationships when compared to traditional wage labor. Still, recent legislation and policies around irregular migration has forced large numbers of workers who may have benefited from the stability of full-time regular employment into the informal sector. The day laborers’ flexibility also exposes them to employers constantly inventing ways to deny them the wages and benefits they are owed. …

Constructing ‘Farmer’ And ‘State’ Identities In Moral Discourses About Semi-Subsistence Agriculture In North-East Brazil, Karen E. Pennesi

Anthropology Publications

Anthropological analysis elucidates how discourses about agriculture in one North-east Brazilian community reflect relational roles of citizens and the state, the position of farmers in society, and the relationship of individuals to their work. In these discourses, farmers are positioned as moral, hard-working, autonomous citizens, justifying their participation in low-paying activities. The declining numbers of agricultural workers is explained as a result of individual laziness or government irresponsibility. In using these discourses to take stances publicly on agricultural issues, speakers assign responsibilities and moral status to agents. In constructing rural identities, such moral discourses emphasise the symbolic value of subsistence …

Perspectivas Culturais Na Comunicação Climática (Cultural Perspectives On Climate Communication), Karen E. Pennesi

Anthropology Publications

Este artigo considera que a previsão climática deve ser interpretada dentro de contextos sociais, culturais e linguísticos. Dentro de uma perspectiva antropológica baseada em entrevistas, observações e um questionário, será investigado como mudanças no meio-ambiente são entendidas por diferentes indivíduos, e transformadas em previsões que são comunicadas a diversos públicos. A linguagem utilizada e a maneira como a previsão é comunicada depende da experiência e dos objetivos do previsor, enquanto que a interpretação e a avaliação da previsão por outros são influenciadas por seus diferentes objetivos, atitudes, conhecimento e práticas. Esta etnografia da comunicação enfatiza o processo da comunicação das …

The Development Of Statives In Colonial Valley Zapotec, George Aaron Broadwell

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

This paper describes the semantics of the Colonial Valley Zapotec aspect prefix WA- (orthographic hua- ~oa-) and its diachronic development in modern Valley and Isthmus Zapotec.

"Fighting Over A Shadow?": Hellenistic Greek Cities And Greco-Roman Cities As Fora And Media For Multi-Level Social Signaling, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The cities of Hellenistic western Anatolia and Roman Asia Minor served as fora for complex social, economic, and political transactions. This chapter introduces social signaling theory in which these transactions are considered as social signals emitted by individuals (i.e., citizens) and groups (i.e., cities) and emphasizes the different qualities of these signals, especially their materiality and differential costliness. Social signals convey information about the otherwise difficult-to-assess capabilities of individual and groups; only some have the talents or resources to emit a high-quality signal. At the individual level, the nature, location, and possibly size of a civic benefaction signal’s an individual’s …

Ceramics And Glass Beads As Symbolic Mixed Media In Colonial Native North America, Gregory A. Waselkov, David W. Morgan, Billie Coleman

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Native Americans rarely adorned ceramic objects with glass beads, despite the millions of beads introduced by Europeans through trade. Bead-decorated ceramics have been reported from only nine sites in North America, perhaps due to a tendency for archaeologists to overlook or misclassify bead-inlaid pottery. The 40 artifacts represent widely divergent ethnic groups separated from each other culturally, as well as by great distances in space and time. Yet they display a remarkable consistency in the pattern of bead arrangement and use of color. Colored glass beads stand in for human eyes in effigy smoking …