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Working With The Remains In Cambodia: Skeletal Analysis And Human Rights After Atrocity, Julie M. Fleischman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This essay will discuss the research being conducted on Khmer Rouge-era human skeletal remains in Cambodia, and the implications of this work. First, the Cambodian project to conserve and analyze the remains at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Choeung Ek) will be briefly discussed. This exceptional undertaking was the first complete scientific analysis of human remains from a Cambodian mass gravesite. Second, the author’s independent research at Choeung Ek and a collaborative project at another mass gravesite will be reviewed. The author’s research focuses on the traumatic injuries and demographics of the remains at Choeung Ek, while also incorporating cultural …

Prehistoric Pathoecology As Represented By Parasites Of A Mummy From The Peruaçu Valley, Brazil, Karl Reinhard, Adauto Araújo

Karl Reinhard Publications

Paleopathologists have begun exploring the pathoecology of parasitic diseases in relation to diet and environment. We are summarizing the parasitological findings from a mummy in the site of Lapa do Boquete, a Brazilian cave in the state of Minas Gerais. These findings in context of the archaeology of the site provided insights into the pathoecology of disease transmission in cave and rockshelter environments. We are presenting a description of the site followed by the evidence of hookworm, intestinal fluke, and Trypanosoma infection with resulting Chagas disease in the mummy discovered in the cave. These findings are used to reconstruct the …

Dealing With Migratory Trauma: Mental Health Stressors And Coping Mechanisms Among Sub-Saharan Migrants In Rabat, Morocco, Dominique Defreece

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Interviews, surveys, and participant observation was used to study the mental health of Sub-Saharan migrants residing in Rabat, Morocco. These data collection methods were used to explore the various experiences migrants had pre-migration, during their migration journey, and post-migration. The migrants portrayed many negative, traumatic, and painful experiences. These experiences have caused a significant amount of pressure on the mental psyche of the migrants, manifesting itself in many physical and psychological problems. One common problem was a sense of disillusionment or lack of control over their bodies and situations. However, many of them do not seek the help of mental …

La Influencia Del Mercado En La Crianza De Alpacas En Las Comunidades Alto Andinas De Pucará, Jessica Casale

Student Publications

Using a social-anthropological approach, through first-hand experiences living in the field and speaking with the subjects of this study, this paper investigates how the global economic market of alpaca wool has had effect on the traditional cultural practices of alpaca herders in the high Andean communities of Pucará, Peru. The results reveal a loss of traditional Andean herder’s practices and beliefs in the face of modernization, the inequality and exploitation within the wool market, and the influence of western economic ideologies. To preserve cultural practices and enhance the conditions of an alpaca herder, I suggest educating the communities on more …

Assessing The Archaeoparasitological Potential Of Quids As A Source Material For Immunodiagnostic Analyses, Johnica J. Morrow, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

In the present study, quids from La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos (CMC) were subjected to ELISA tests for 2 protozoan parasites, Toxoplasma gondii (n=45) and Trypanosoma cruzi (n=43). The people who occupied CMC, the Loma San Gabriel, lived throughout much of present-day Durango and Zacatecas in Mexico. The known pathoecology of these people puts them into at-risk categories for the transmission of T. gondii and T. cruzi. Human antibodies created in response to these 2 parasites can be detected in modern saliva using ELISA kits intended for use with human serum. For these reasons, quids were reconstituted and …

Halgash, Rhonda (Fa 907), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 907 titled: "Wedding Beliefs." Project includes note cards with brief descriptions of beliefs about weddings from Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description, informant's name, and the informant classification.

Smith, K. Meleesa (Fa 906), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid for Folklife Archives Project 906. Project titled: “Superstitions in General.” Project includes note cards with brief descriptions of superstitions of informants from Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Note cards include a brief description, informant’s name, and the motif index number.

Kerce, Rosann (Fa 909), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 909. Project titled: “Popular Beliefs of Today.” Project includes note cards with brief descriptions of beliefs in Logan, Mercer and Oldham Counties in Kentucky. Note cards include a brief description of belief, informant’s name, and the motif index number.

Degen, Barbara (Fa 908), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 908. Project titled: “Student Beliefs at Western Kentucky University.” Project includes survey sheets and note cards with brief descriptions of students at Western Kentucky University from Kentucky and New Jersey. Sheets include a brief description of belief, informant’s name, and classification. Note cards include a brief description, informant’s name, and motif index number.

Blanton, Bob (Fa 910), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 910. Project titled: “A Collection of Ghost Stories.” Includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of ghost stories in the Bluegrass, Eastern Mountain and Penny Royal regions of Kentucky and Pennsylvania and Virginia. Sheets include a brief description, informant’s name, and the motif index number.

The Antipolitics Of Food In Middle-Class America, Neri De Kramer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation provides an ethnographic account of the food and parenting practices of a diverse group of middle-class families in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia. It starts from the basic premise that the economic pressures on the American middle classes find expression in family life around the socially reproductive work of choosing food and parenting.

The current economic climate marked with extreme and rising income inequality, low growth, high unemployment and stagnating wages has complicated the reproduction process for all parents in this study, regardless of income. Scholars have described how this concern for the future of the next …

Declining City, Born-Again Citadel: Faith-Based Organizations And The Reconstitution Of Inequality In Postindustrial America, Michael J. Boyle

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the context of the hegemonic neoliberalism of recent decades, faith-based organizations (FBOs) have flourished as mechanisms for addressing poverty and other varieties of social need. For all of the contributions of contemporary anthropological research to the study of FBOs, however, most analyses have stressed the potency of FBOs and elided the agency of recipients. The present dissertation aims, through a multisited study of Evangelical FBOs in the postindustrial American city of Plainfield, to focus on the latter theme. Owing to the traditional behaviorism of American culture and also its Evangelical reproduction in FBO settings, the pursuit of charity thrusts …

Left Of Maidan: Self-Organization And The Ukrainian State On The Edge Of Europe, Emily S. Channell-Justice

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the intersection of processes of Europeanization and decommunization in Ukraine during a time of war and upheaval. Through the lens of leftist and feminist activists, it explores how political action was renegotiated during and after the mass mobilizations of 2013-2014, known as Euromaidan or Maidan. I use the concept of “self-organization” to consider ways these activists have engaged with a dominant national ideology, which draws from specific political ideas about Europe and communism. I trace how self-organization has roots within socialist-era political forms, how it was enacted during the Maidan mobilizations, and its path since the end …

Discourses Of "Cruelty-Free" Consumerism: Peta, The Vegan Society And Examples Of Contemporary Activism, Andrea Springirth

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper draws upon the principles of critical discourse analysis in order to examine the production of capitalist and consumerist discourses within contemporary nonhuman animal rights activism. The analysis presents evidence to suggest that the discourses being produced via the websites of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and The Vegan Society are consistently being constructed through market-centric ideologies that treat activists mainly as middle-class consumers. This paper argues that the consistent presence of neoliberal discourse signals an instructive entanglement with broader sociopolitical issues. Specifically, there are concerns as to how this discourse relates to what is thought …

Mandated Anger Management From The Perspective Of Violent Offenders, Cory M. Feldman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Anger management is a mandated treatment for violent offenders (VOs) in Harlem, New York returning from prison under parole supervision. This dissertation asks VOs to describe their experiences with parole-mandated anger management (AM). The objectives of this research are to help illuminate the reasons why anger management is mandated for VOs and why, for some, mandated AM may be potentially harmful to their reintegration. To date, there have not been any studies exploring the role of AM for people on parole charged with violent offenses; the extant literature on AM provides neither formal evaluations nor long-term follow-up to indicate what …

Performing El Rap El ʿArabi 2005-2015: Feeling Politics Amid Neoliberal Incursions In Ramallah, Amman, And Beirut, Rayya S. El Zein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study is about politics in Arabic rap. Specifically, it is about affective dynamics and material negotiations during rap concerts in three cities in the Levant. I analyze Arab hip hop culture in the context of three different but related histories of cosmopolitan, middle class growth, and gentrification. Using an ethnomusicological framework rooted in participant observation and performance theory, I compare concert conditions, audience behavior, and accessibility of music production in Ramallah, Amman, and Beirut.

In Chapter One, I elaborate the discursive and theoretical frameworks that have pinned the political valences of Arab youth, Arab artists, and Arab rappers in …

Transnational Indigenous Migration: Racialized Geographies And Power In Southern Highland Ecuador, Victoria Stone-Cadena

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the shifting landscape of social and economic inequalities in the remittance-dominated region of southern highland Ecuador, focusing on the transformations brought about by increased international migration since the early 2000s. The broader question is whether or not transnational migration has facilitated political and social upward mobility among indigenous communities. More specifically I ask: in what ways does indigenous identity figure in contemporary international migration practices, how does transnational indigenous migration complicate bounded notions of rural indigenous life, and how might the strategies employed by indigenous migrants transform social and economic inequalities in two small towns in the …

Post-Apartheid Citizenship And The Politics Of Evictions In Inner City Johannesburg, Anthony Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, this ethnographic study examines the phenomenon of eviction within the context of the post-apartheid constitutional right to housing and legal protections against evictions. Rather than view evictions as a singular event, evictions are treated as a lived experience intrinsically linked to the historical, political, and economic life of inner city Johannesburg and more broadly South Africa. I address how South Africa’s constitution creates both a platform for housing advocates to contest evictions and also allows property owners to evict tenants. To analyze evictions, I collected data through participant observation, media sources, archives, interviews, and legal …

Mccardell, James (Fa 905), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 905. Project titled: “Fishing Beliefs.” Project includes note cards with brief descriptions of fishing beliefs in Indiana, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Note cards include a brief description and informant’s name.

Eakles, Elaine (Fa 902), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 902. Project titled: “Folk Remedies and Cures From Plants.” Project includes note cards of folk medicine beliefs from the Penny Royal Region in Kentucky. Note cards include a brief description, informant’s name, and the motif index number.

Perkins, Larry (Fa 903), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 903. Project titled: “Farm Implements and Hand Tools.” Project includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of non-mechanized farm implements in Barren County, Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description, informant’s name, and a photo of the implement or hand tools.

Harmon, Mike (Fa 901), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 901. Project titled: “[Moonshine]” Project includes information by two anonymous informants about moonshining in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. Interviews include a brief description of informant’s basic life history, terms, tales, songs, and an illustration of a still.

Berry, Diana R. (Fa 904), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 904. Project titled: “Christmas Folk Beliefs.” Project includes note cards with brief descriptions of Christmas beliefs in Jefferson County and Warren County, Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description and informant’s name.

Higginbotham, Rudy (Fa 896), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 896. Project titled: “Collection Project of Traditional Farm Implements.” Project includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of non-mechanized farm implements in Russell County, Kentucky. Sheets include tool name, brief description, informant’s name, and a photo of the implement.

Long, Sandra Kay (Fa 898), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 898. Project titled: “A Study of Old Watermills in Taylor County.” Project includes survey sheets with descriptions of watermills in Taylor County, Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description, location, mill terms, informant’s name, and a photo or illustration of the watermill.

Dailey, Jan, B. 1950 (Fa 899), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 899. Project titled: “A Collection of Mormon Folklore.” Project includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of stories, jokes, anecdotes and songs gathered from members of the Mormon Church living in Maryland. Sheets include a brief description and informant’s name.

Caswell, Galena (Fa 900), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 900. Project titled: “[Folk remedies]” Project includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of folk remedies of the Penny Royal region in Kentucky. Note cards include a brief description, informant’s name, and motif reference.

Phillips, Charolette (Fa 897), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 897. Project titled: “The Barns of North Central Taylor County.” Project includes brief descriptions of different types of barns in north central Taylor County, Kentucky. Descriptions include barn type, location, and barn function.

Commodifying Indigeneity: How The Humanization Of Birth Reinforces Racialized Inequality In Mexico, Rosalynn A. Vega

Anthropology Faculty Publications

This article examines the humanized birth movement in Mexico and analyzes how the remaking of tradition—the return to traditional birthing arts (home birth, midwife‐assisted birth, natural birth)—inadvertently reinscribes racial hierarchies. The great irony of the humanized birth movement lies in parents’ perspective of themselves as critics of late capitalism. All the while, their very rejection of consumerism bolsters ongoing commodification of indigenous culture and collapses indigeneity, nature, and tradition onto one another. While the movement is quickly spreading across Mexico, indigenous women and their traditional midwives are largely excluded from the emerging humanized birth community. Through ethnographic examples, the article …

Cardiovascular Disease And Type 2 Diabetes In Evolutionary Perspective: A Critical Role For Helminths?, Michael D. Gurven, Benjamin C. Trumble, Jonathan Stieglitz, Aaron D. Blackwell, David E. Michalik, Caleb E. Finch, Hillard Kaplan

ESI Publications

Heart disease and type 2 diabetes are commonly believed to be rare among contemporary subsistencelevel human populations, and by extension prehistoric populations. Although some caveats remain, evidence shows these diseases to be unusual among well-studied hunter-gatherers and other subsistence populations with minimal access to healthcare. Here we expand on a relatively new proposal for why these and other populations may not show major signs of these diseases. Chronic infections, especially helminths, may offer protection against heart disease and diabetes through direct and indirect pathways. As part of a strategy to insure their own survival and reproduction, helminths exert multiple cardio-protective …