Digital Commons Network^™

Notes On The Future Possibilities Of Engaged Anthropological Research: Why Decolonizing Anthropology Needs Black Diasporic Feminist Theory And Methodologies, Meryleen Mena

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

While in the past decade there have been more ethnographic accounts that shed light on minoritized stories and demystify the specific challenges that women and femmes experience during their research, much is desired to prepare students and junior scholars from marginalized identities for fieldwork research. Reflecting on a moment of precarity in the context of pre-impeachment São Paulo, I explain why the integration of Black diasporic feminist thought, method, and praxis is critical to further decolonizing efforts in anthropology. Beyond reflection, this narrative calls for sustained politically active engagement to establish an anthropology of liberation.

Approach Of Biography Of Objects: A Passage From Profane To Sacred, Fierda Al Jahra, Irmawati Marwoto

International Review of Humanities Studies

This paper discusses the life journey of buildings through the Biography of Things approach taken through a case study of the Bouwploeg building which is currently the Cut Meutia Mosque. The change from an office building as a profane building to a mosque as a sacred building is the reason for the biography of things approach. This research uses the main data in the form of the Cut Meutia Mosque building, which is still standing in Menteng, Central Jakarta. The research method used in this research is based on the K. R. Dark framework which consists of data sources, data, …

Orality Inheritance Of Makalelon Wakan Song: Oral Tradition Of Tontemboan Minahasa, Arter Jodi Senduk

International Review of Humanities Studies

This research discusses about an oral tradition of Makalelon song of Tontemboan Minahasa ethnicity. This Makalelon Wakan is an originally traditional sub-ethnic song of Tontemboan Minahasa with lyrics in Tontemboan, Manado Malay and Indonesian, entitled 1) Minta Doa, 2 Tumembo Meko, 3) Di bawah Sinar, 4) Si Pisok Matelew-telew, 5) Sungguh Ibu, 6) Saaku Tumanei, 7) Bila Malam Tiba, 8 E Po’ok-po’ok, and 9) Saaku Cabow still continue being sung by the Minahasan people until now. From the research result, it is found that the Makalelon song has been the form of supplications and …

Sex Work, Antitrafficking, And Mobility, Simanti Dasgupta

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

With the HIV/AIDS epidemic gripping the world in the 1990s and the resurgence of the antitrafficking discourse in the 2000s, the sex work/abolitionist debate took center stage. Proponents of sex work uphold the labor and livelihood paradigm based on consent; the abolitionists, on the other hand, dismiss sex work as work to posit prostitution as the paradigmatic example of patriarchal violence toward women. The latter routinely conflate sex work with trafficking, and the former sharply demarcates them. Above all, this debate poses a stubborn ideological divide among feminists with serious policy implications for both the worker and the victim, nationally …

“I Had Time To Do My Research, Had Time To Think And Educate Myself”: Using Information Work For Nonbinary And Genderfluid Identity Self-Recognition During Covid-19 Isolation, Amy L. Stone, Alexandra Gallin-Parisi

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nonbinary and genderfluid adults did information work to discover their gender identities as they explored information on social media, online, and in person. Due to cisnormative restrictions, this information was necessary to identify and validate their gender identity as authentic. During the pandemic, more nonbinary people were able to self-recognize their own gender because there was more time for reflection and more access to nonbinary narratives online, including representations of nonbinary life that defied White, thin, androgynous ideals. By analyzing interviews with 22 U.S. adults who came out as nonbinary during the pandemic, this qualitative study …

Who Helps Tsimane Children And Adults?, Eric Schniter, Daniel K. Cummings, Paul L. Hooper, Jonathan Stieglitz, Benjamin C. Trumble, Hillard S. Kaplan, Michael D. Gurven

ESI Working Papers

We examine various forms of helping behavior among Tsimane Amerindians of Bolivia, focusing on the provision of shelter, childcare, food, sickcare, cultural influence, and traditional story knowledge. Kin selection theory traditionally explains nepotistic nurturing of youth by closely related kin. However, less attention has been given to understanding the help provided by individuals without close genetic relatedness. To explain who provides various forms of help, we evaluate support for several predictions derived from kin selection theory. Our results show that helpers who are most often closely related and from an older generation tend to provide more costly forms of help …

The Reddit Cannabis Subjective Highness Rating Scale: Applying Computational Social Science To Explore Psychological And Environmental Correlates Of Naturalistic Cannabis Use, Meredith C. Meacham, Alicia L. Nobles, Carlton ‘Cb’ Bone, Michael Gilbert, Johannes Thrul

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Social media data provide unprecedented access to discussions of active, naturalistic, and often real-time cannabis use in an era of cannabis policy liberalization. The aim of this study was to explore psychological and environmental correlates of cannabis effects by applying computational social science approaches to a large dataset of unprompted reports of naturalistic cannabis use with corresponding self-reported numerical ratings of subjective highness. Post title text was extracted via the Pushshift dataset from N = 328,865 posts to the r/trees Reddit community, where posters self-assess and disclose how high they feel on a scale from 1 to 10 (M = …

Navigating University Of Denver As A Latinx Male-Identifying Undergraduate Student, Quisi Rodriguez-Oregel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students of color continuously persist at a lower rate than their white counterparts in higher education. Particularly for Latinx males, the number is lower than Latinx women. Universities have incorporated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategies to focus on their diverse student population and address issues of race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Despite these efforts, low retention rates for Latinx males persist. This study explores how Latinx male undergraduate students navigate a predominantly white institution as well as explore some of the challenges of DEI efforts at that institution. I conducted participant observations at the University of Denver (DU) and …

Interviews In Global Catholic Studies: Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska, Mathew Schmalz, Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Trends And Shifts: Migration, Reverse Missions, And African Catholic Priests In Iowa City, Usa, Kefas Lamak

Journal of Global Catholicism

This study uses ethnographic research to examine the work and self-conception of African-trained priests in a city in the American state of Iowa. This phenomenon is part of a broader trend and shift as African-trained priests take up positions as pastors and missionaries throughout Europe and America. The article argues that the movement of African priests to the West in recent years should be understood as “reverse mission” because of its similarities to Western missionary activity in third world countries in earlier historical periods. This study mainly focuses on Iowa City, where the researcher interviewed five African priests serving in …

Moral Economy Of The Frontiers: Precarious Healthcare In Malinau, Anwar B. Arifin

Antropologi Indonesia

The precarity of a nation’s healthcare system often shows its true colours in remote areas, including the frontiers. This lack of stability is also seen in Malinau, where inaccessibility due to inadequate infrastructure leads to a shortage of basic medicines and necessary medical equipment. Coupled with limited healthcare workers, doctors and nurses frequently encounter situations in which they are unable to take care of patients properly. This creates a specific form of moral economy that is inevitably shaped by medical infrastructure. While moral economy in healthcare does not break any new grounds, there is room to explore the dynamics of …

Building Trust: The Role Of Place-Based Consciousness In Vaccine Hesitancy, Ramsey W. Ash

Quantitative Social Science Undergraduate Senior Theses

Vaccine hesitancy poses a threat to public health initiatives of the 21st century. Following a stark divide in the rural/urban COVID-19 vaccine uptake and harsh disparities between these areas in COVID-19 moralities and morbidities, further understanding of the drivers of vaccine hesitancy are needed. This study makes use of the framework of place-based consciousness (PBC), pioneered by scholars of rural political science, such as Katherine Cramer, to explore this phenomenon as a mechanism by which to understand vaccine hesitancy. To examine this, an experimental survey was distributed to 300 Americans (150 rural and 150 urban) that inquired about their PBC, …

Usa Archaeology Museum Newsletter - June 2024, Archaeology Museum

Archaeology Museum Newsletters

In this edition of the museum's newsletter:

• Document the Historic Plateau/Africatown Cemetery?
• Giving to the Archaeology Museum

Beautiful Resistance: Nonfiction Theatre Rehearsal Processes, Politics, And Prefiguration In War, Ash Marinaccio

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Beautiful Resistance: Nonfiction Theatre Rehearsal Processes, Politics, and Prefiguration in War examines nonfiction theatre rehearsals and devising processes in and about conflict and war. I use the term “nonfiction” to refer to the vast body of collaborative theatre, facilitation, movement, puppet, and performance practices, knowledges, and techniques included under the capacious umbrella of “theatre of the real.” I propose that nonfiction theatre rehearsals are sites of prefiguration, possessing the potential to create a space where systemically oppressed communities can build alternative futures in the present. While there are multiple frameworks for understanding prefigurative politics, within this dissertation, I employ the …

Historical And Contemporary Representation Of Kava By Members Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Sione M. U. H. Funaki

Pacific Studies

In Oceania, kava, which is made from the root or stump of the kava shrub, is associated with traditional values such as sacrifice, loyalty, commitment, and chiefliness; it is especially linked with the importance of nurturing vā relationships with fonua—land and people (Kaʻili 2017: 74–75; Tomlinson 2020: 71, 74–75). Kava has also been demonized and mischaracterized since the early nineteenth century as a harmful substance detrimental to the spirit and physical body. The conflicting realities of kava as virtue and vice are expressly displayed in the relationship between kava and the Christian church. Specifically, this paper examines the dynamics between …

Vol. 47 No. 1 (2024): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 47, No 1-Jun 2024 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Autonomy And Creativity In ‘Epeli Hau‘Ofa And The Lo‘Au University Philosophy Of Education For Thinking, Siosiua F. P. Lafitani (LoʻAu VavangakitupuʻA)

Pacific Studies

The spirit of autonomy and creativity in Epeli Hau‘ofa’s writings that relate to the

philosophy of the Lo‘au University of education for thinking is explored here.

For Hau‘ofa, the spirit of free thinking aids Moanan (Pacific people) to redefine

their identity in Moana (Oceania) and worldwide. The philosophy of education

for thinking is applied here to highlight that a degree of autonomy and creativ-

ity can be planted and grown in Moana. Free thinking ought to be central to

research projects that strive for autonomy and creativity if twenty-first century

Moanan people want their intellectualism to be a permanent …

Vol. 47 No. 1 (2024): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The

Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young

University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lā ‘ie, Hawai‘i 96762, but

responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone.

Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center

for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian

and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded

by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in

meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teach-

ing, …

Call And Response : Experiments In Storytelling, Deanne Fernandes

Masters Theses

Being part of RISD's inaugural Masters of Illustration cohort has been an immense honor. This journey has been nothing short of transformative and healing, as it has allowed me to unearth layers of self-discovery through my creative practice.

In my thesis, I introduce a fresh research methodology rooted in the principles of call and response, with adaptability, creativity, and storytelling as its foundational pillars. Through the lenses of visual storytelling, experimental animation, graphic journalism, and fictional world-building, I demonstrate how these techniques can effectively bridge the gap between theory and practice. This dynamic approach fosters meaningful connections among diverse perspectives …

Absence Leaves A Mark: Illustrating Filipino Migrant Stories, Nina Martinez

Masters Theses

From July to October 2023, I volunteered at Damayan Migrant Workers Association, a New York City-based grassroots organization run by Filipino im/migrant workers dedicated to combatting labor trafficking. Every meeting opened with the same reminder: stories shared in this room do not leave it. Illustration became a tool for respecting the privacy of the members, many of whom were undocumented. Avoiding faces, I copied down objects, places, maps, and handwriting.

Absence Leaves a Mark explores the idea of illustration as field note when working with migrant populations. Beyond depicting visual witness, illustrated field notes can contain findings from research and …

Women’S Routes: Gender, Mobility, And Knowledge Among The Makushi Of Southern Guyana, Lisa Katharina Grund

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

Exploring the journeys of some Makushi women, this article highlights the relevance of gender in the question of (im)mobility and female engagements with the world as central to contemporary Makushi life. Departing from the understanding that the category of space has proven crucial in the theoretical groundwork of the Guiana ethnographic area and drawing on the region’s classical ethnographies, it explores everyday practices of movement of the Makushi people who live along the triple frontier of southern Guyana. Rather than disruptive, these in and out journeys—collective or individual—prove to be crucial to the weaving of community. They are also central …

Replication And Growth In Cassava Cultivation And Uxorilocal Women’S Relations Among The Waiwai: A Mother's Reckoning With Death And Social Change, Laura H. Mentore

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

Through an ethnographic examination of the shared capacities of cassava and womanhood for what I term growth and replication, I argue that Waiwai sociality seeks to curtail the trajectory of life towards finite death through the intervening act of cutting and replanting or replicating life in a vegetatively inspired form of the “episodic present” (Strathern 2021). An extended vignette demonstrates how these features of Waiwai sociality take shape in mother-daughter and sister relations at the core of uxorilocal residential living, and in a senior woman’s reckonings with illness, death, and social change.

Propagating Conviviality: Waiwai Cultural Transformation Of Moral Depravity, George F. Mentore

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

This essay considers the problematics of anthropological translations when its responsibility to the codes of its modernist subjectivity persuades us to defer judgment on interpretations made of indigenous semiotics of life. It begins with this full disclosure before attempting to describe, from a translation of a Waiwai myth, how one can produce a guilty reading about their privileging of concern for conviviality. The Waiwai bodily feeling of well-being must be in place before relations of trust can be enacted. Transforming the vial aggressive feelings of strangers becomes a priority for hosting them. Maintaining feelings of conviviality within the community is …

Kita Vai À Kwamalasamutu, Fabio Ribeiro

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

No contexto de uma série de encontros entre pessoas zo'é e tiriyó na região da fronteira Brasil-Suriname, o presente artigo aborda a experiência de Kita, jovem zo’é que em 2010 viajou com alguns chefes e pastores tiriyó e permaneceu na aldeia Kwamalasamutu, no sul do Suriname, por alguns meses. A partir de dois relatos de Kita, procuro seguir as múltiplas conexões por ele mobilizadas e articulá-las a problemas relevantes da etnologia das Guianas. Seguindo a proposta metodológica de S. Oakdale (2007) no sentido de ancorar a “economia simbólica da alteridade” em autobiografias ameríndias, o objetivo é imbricar a crônica de …

Povos Indígenas Nas Guianas: Etnografias Contemporâneas, Luísa G. Girardi, Leonor Valentino, Virgínia Amaral

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

Na introdução a este número especial da Tipití, dedicado a etnografias recentes realizadas junto a povos indígenas na Amazônia guianense, sobrevoamos as principais tradições antropológicas que posicionaram a região no centro dos debates da etnologia amazonista. Alternativamente definida como “área linguística”, “área cultural” ou “área etnográfica”, a região das Guianas é compartilhada por coletivos indígenas falantes de idiomas da família Caribe e, em menor medida, de línguas Aruaque, Tupi, Yanomami, Sáliva e Warao, e está associada a algumas das monografias que inauguraram o período moderno da reflexão etnológica sobre o parentesco na Amazônia, além de influentes sínteses comparativas a …

Don’T Come Crying To My Funeral, Charlotte Hoskins

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

In this article, I describe a Makushi wake in Guyana, where an opposition was drawn between people in mourning and their perception of others who appeared to them to be much more like partygoers. This opposition in affective states was made evident through the enactment of associated oppositions in bodily practices: feeding and eating, speaking and singing, and forms of social availability. Rather than consider the divergence in affective states as a form of moral disorder, I argue that an affective divide allows grief to be expressed by the mourners and safely circumscribed by their still-living community, who continue to …

Indigenous Peoples In The Guianas: Contemporary Ethnographies, Luísa G. Girardi, Leonor Valentino, Virgínia Amaral

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

In the introduction to this special issue of Tipití, dedicated to recent ethnographies conducted among indigenous peoples in Guianese Amazonia, we offer an overview of the main anthropological traditions that have placed the region at the center of debates in Amazonianist ethnology. Alternatively defined as a "linguistic area," "cultural area," or "ethnographic area," the Guianas region is shared by indigenous collectives of the Cariban family and, to a lesser extent, Arawak, Tupi, Yanomami, Sáliva, and Warao-speaking groups, and is associated with some of the monographs that inaugurated the modern period of ethnological reflection on kinship in Amazonia, as well as …

Sedimented For The Future: Can Technology Sustain Tradition?, Nihal Bursa

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

Turkish coffee is unique in its brewing technique and deeply rooted in the culture developed throughout the Ottoman geography since the sixteenth century. The knowledge, skills and rituals of Turkish coffee are transmitted to new generations through observation, participation and practicing. Be it an elaborate ritual at the Ottoman court or a modest peasant pleasure, Turkish coffee requires dedicated time, manual skills and decorum. The pace of industrialization and urbanization in the twenty-first century forced people to acquire new lifestyles. This has put Turkish coffee service in jeopardy especially in public spaces. Owing to the Turkish coffee machine designed by …

The Little Black Book: When Recipes Tell Stories, Cordula C. Peters

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

In post-war Germany in the 1950s my grandmother used to collect recipes from magazines, newspapers, and the backs of food packaging that she neatly cut out and saved. Other recipes were carefully copied with pen and ink. At some point, when my mother was still a child and my grandmother still alive, she and her sister compiled all these recipes and tidily pasted them into a black notebook for safekeeping. Growing up many of the recipes from this book became much-loved dishes prepared by my mother and expected by my siblings and I almost religiously for important holidays such as …

Creating A Gastrolinguistic Space: Food In Language Learning Materials Of Jesuit Missionaries During The Sixteenth To The Eighteenth Centuries, Zhongyuan Hu

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

This article investigates the intersection of language and gastronomy in European Jesuit missionaries’ language learning materials in China during the late sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Through the analysis of three key texts, the article emphasizes the significance of food-related content in fostering linguistic and cultural understanding. It provides a thorough examination of how these texts facilitated cultural exchange, highlighting the role of food in creating a space for dialogue between European and Chinese cultures. This article introduces gastrolinguistics, the combination and interaction of food and language, to explore how missionaries adapted to and learned about Chinese culture and introduced …