Digital Commons Network^™

Losing Louisiana: Race, Techno-Science, And The Disappearing Geographies Of The Lower Mississippi River Delta, Monica Patrice Barra

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Based on eighteen months of ethnographic and historical research in southeast coastal Louisiana (USA), this dissertation explores the racial histories, engineering and scientific practices, and geophysical processes that have shaped land loss and coastal restoration in the lower Mississippi River Delta. Rather than treating land loss simply as a natural process or matter of environmental restoration, this ethnography examines its cultural, material, and political dimensions, especially for communities of color that have already experienced long histories of loss — of property, livelihood, and political rights. A focus on the geophysical transformations of the river - dictating land growth, sinking, and …

Resisting Industrial Food Systems On The Web: How Non-Profit Organizations Use Digital Technology For Sustainability Education, Aleksandr Segal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the link between how community-based organizations use digital tools with the fundamentally resistance-based philosophy that these organizations have at the core of their mission. It aims to uncover how non-profit organizations (NPOs) that work in community development through food and agriculture use digital tools, and how their digital communication strategies relate to issues of resistance to neoliberalism and industrialization in the food and agriculture sectors.

Using a foundation of existing literature on food and agriculture, climate change and waste management, critical theory, and technology in pedagogy, this thesis will contextualize how non-profits resist neoliberal regimes of de-traditionalization …

Cultural Heritage Preservation In The Context Of Climate Change Adaptation Or Relocation: Barbuda As A Case Study, Martha B. Lerski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This case study introduces an arts camp methodology of engaging communities in identifying their key cultural heritage features, thus serving as a meta study. It presents original research based on field studies on the climate-vulnerable Caribbean island of Barbuda during 2017 and 2018. Its Valued Cultural Elements survey, enabling precise identification of key tangible and intangible art forms and biocultural practices, may serve as a basis for further studies. Such approaches may facilitate future research or planning as climate-vulnerable communities harness Local or Indigenous Knowledge for purposes of biocultural heritage preservation, or towards adaptation or relocation. I report on findings …

Being Ethnic On The Eurasian Steppe: Civic Nation-Building Discourse In Kazakhstan And Russia, Nathan P. Jones

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Civic nation-building as a concept has emerged within the political discourses of various post-Soviet states, particularly in relation to the status of ethnic minorities in Russia and Kazakhstan. This dissertation investigates the institutional efforts to establish civic nations in these states among their non-titular populations. My primary ethnographic sites are the various institutions producing and serving the discourse of civic nation-building to understand how the transmission of concepts and behaviors relevant to the civic nation operate in the context of daily interactions. I demonstrate the institutional dependence upon what I identify as “ethnicness” within the discourse and procedures of civic …

The Functional Morphology Of Ingestion In The Platyrrhine Sclerocarpic Harvesters (Platyrrhini, Primates), Zachary Stoffel Klukkert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The identification of anatomical correlates of diet and feeding behavior in nonhuman primates is an important area of research in biological anthropology. The morphology of the jaws and teeth reflects the phylogeny and adaptations that distinguish taxa and their different ecological niches. Studying the form-function relationships of jaws and teeth in modern species provides a framework for interpreting the diets of extinct species and for inferring the ecological pressures that may have contributed to the evolutionary diversification of primate craniodental morphology. Previous work on modeling primate jaw mechanics has focused largely on the functional context of a closed jaw. Little …

Environments Explored: An In-Depth Analysis Of Soil Movement In Northern Iceland, Lauren Welch O'Connor

Graduate Masters Theses

The initial colonization of Iceland in the late 9th century had a profound impact on the fragile environment of the North Atlantic island. Settlement and the introduction of livestock resulted in widespread erosion and the replacement of woodlands with meadows and heaths. Changes in the environment are assumed to have played a role in determining settlement patterning and subsistence strategies. While marginal highland areas were most seriously affected, resulting in farmstead abandonment, the nature of changes in lowland areas and their impact on the productivity of individual farms is poorly understood. Local patterns of landscape change in Iceland could be …

Set In Stone: Recontextualizing The Lithic Assemblage Of A Seventeenth-Century Storage Cellar In Charlestown, Massachusetts, Anna M. Greco

Graduate Masters Theses

Feature 43 is a domestic structure that belonged to the wealthy seventeenth-century merchant community of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and was excavated in the early 1980s as part of the Maudlin Archaeological District. The extant collection has remained in storage for the last thirty years, demanding a recontextualization of the site, both in provenience and in historical context. Primary sources portray an image of a predominantly European settler household; however, a counter-narrative emerges from lithics found within the assemblage. While the ultimate goal is to analyze the patterns of lithic sourcing and production in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the findings hinge on …

Comales And Colonialism: An Analysis Of Cuisine And Ceramics On A 17th-Century New Mexican Estancia, Adam C. Brinkman

Graduate Masters Theses

The archaeological site of LA 20,000 is an early colonial Spanish estancia, or ranch, in New Mexico that was occupied between A.D. 1630 to 1680. Spanish estancias became the homes and work spaces for people with a wide range of cultural backgrounds. In this thesis, the author analyses the ceramics and ground stone assemblage of LA 20,000 to understand the daily practice of cuisine on this rural frontier. Cuisine has important symbolic components related to an individual’s identity. Through the practice of cuisine, inhabitants consumed foods that fit conceptions of acceptability, enacted preparation and cooking methods that were taught intergenerationally, …

Dental Age Estimation Of A Southern Nevada Hispanic Non-Adult Population Employing The London Atlas To Evaluate Archival Orthodontic Cone Beam Computed Tomography (Cbct) Images, Haley Buchanan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Age estimation is of societal importance for legal, forensic, and clinical reasons. The London Atlas of Human Tooth Development and Eruption, hereafter referred to as the London Atlas, was introduced as an improved method for determining dental age estimation. The London Atlas was developed from panoramic images of 528 living British Caucasian and Bangladeshi males and females aged 2 to 24 years and panoramic images of 176 archival human skeletal remains, aged 32 in utero to 2 years old, from two specimen collections (AlQahtani, Hector, & Liversidge, 2010). Further investigation is warranted to determine validity of the atlas’s use in …

Effects Of Intention Status And Social Support On Parental Investment, Kayla Downs

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

According to life history theory, human mothers rely on assistance from others for childrearing help. Studies have shown that mothers who have insufficient support often report having unwanted or mistimed pregnancies. In turn, unwanted pregnancies may lead to reduced parental investment. This study is the first to analyze the interaction between pregnancy intention status and social support to better understand parental investment. Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study of the U.K. which includes over 18,000 respondents, this study examines how planned pregnancy and social support variables – measured as assistance from a partner, family, or friends – is associated …

Variation In The Configuration Of The Middle Snake River And Its Relationship To Prehistoric Fishing Site Locations, Joseph Wardle

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The configuration of the various elements of a river system can have significant impacts on the availability, abundance, and nutritional profitability of aquatic organisms utilized as food by groups of human foragers. These factors may have influenced the location and timing of prehistoric fishing along the Middle Snake River in southern Idaho during the Late Archaic when use of fish as a resource increased (beginning approximately 1500 B.P.). Previous work has established a relationship between physiographic features of the Middle Snake River channel and the presence of fishing sites. To improve on future studies of this type, it is important …

The Unsung Hero Character: A Harbinger Device Of Misfortune, Eutimio Talavera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis introduces an obscure storytelling device, The Unsung Hero character, as one way of examining how movies function as stories. This character is often overlooked, as it frequently cloaks its idiosyncrasies, thus it lacks any apparent signs of internal conflict. This analysis foregrounds the character’s overall functionality, found only in rare instances and typically in the story of a movie. With effective implementation in a story, as a functional harbinger device, brief appearances of The Unsung Hero character demonstrate flashpoints or disclosures of a forthcoming misfortune in the story. This movie analysis shows how The Unsung Hero character functions …

Maize And Bone: An Evaluation And Expansion Of A Proposed Model For The Differential Diagnosis Of Pellagra In Human Remains, Myra G. Miller

Master's Theses

This study attempts to test and expand a previous study to establish a differential diagnosis of pellagra in human remains (Paine & Brenton, 2006a). Seven individuals with documented pellagra and nine individuals randomly selected for comparison from the Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection were evaluated for caries, alveolar bone loss, periostitis, osteoporosis, cribra orbitalia, and porotic hyperostosis. Results indicate that the pellagra sample had lower rates of caries and alveolar bone loss, and higher rates of periostitis of the tibia and fibula in relation to the comparison sample. No osteoporosis, cribra orbitalia, or porotic hyperostosis was found in the pellagra sample. No …

Ancient Maya Obsidian Trade: Frenchman’S Cay, Belize, Emily Cook

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Chemical Composition Of Preclassic-Period Maya Slips: Analysis And Interpretation Of Flores Waxy Ware And Paso Caballo Waxy Ware Sherds From Holtun, Guatemala Using Pxrf Spectrometry, Anna Kebler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Slip, a fluid suspension of clay that is applied to the surface of a piece of ceramic, allows for increased control over the functional and aesthetic properties of a finished vessel. The potter can select a slip to provide a more appealing color, texture, and/or luster to the vessel's surface, while maintaining the favorable functional qualities of the paste. Though slip color has long been used as an attribute for classification in the Maya lowlands, only recently have the raw materials of slips been used to inform studies of production and exchange, with much of this work using Late and …

Children Of A One-Eyed God: Impairment In The Myth And Memory Of Medieval Scandinavia, Michael David Lawson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using the lives of impaired individuals catalogued in the Íslendingasögur as a narrative framework, this study examines medieval Scandinavian social views regarding impairment from the ninth to the thirteenth century. Beginning with the myths and legends of the eddic poetry and prose of Iceland, it investigates impairment in Norse pre-Christian belief; demonstrating how myth and memory informed medieval conceptualizations of the body. This thesis counters scholarly assumptions that the impaired were universally marginalized across medieval Europe. It argues that bodily difference, in the Norse world, was only viewed as a limitation when it prevented an individual from fulfilling roles that …

The Yosakoi Festival And Rural Revitalization In Kōchi Prefecture, Japan, Amy L. Kostka

Senior Honors Projects

Japan has been experiencing a population decline in rural areas since post World War II. Rural prefectures including Kōchi have been participating in nationwide efforts as well as local efforts to maintain population and hopefully attract more people to these areas. These efforts have been collectively categorized under the term rural revitalization. Rural revitalization has many aims: to encourage pride in local cultural practices, to attract tourists and new residents, and to boost local economies. In this study I examined how a festival might assist in rural revitalization efforts. Exploring the literature involving revitalization efforts provided the scaffolding for my …

Analysis Of Spheno-Occipital Synchondrosis (Sos) Fusion In A Contemporary Southern Nevada Subadult Hispanic Population Using Archival Cone-Beam Computerized Tomography (Cbct) Images, Megan Baker

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study employs the three-dimensional visualization capability of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) to investigate the relationship between chronological age and timing of fusion of the spheno-occipital synchondrosis in a male/female subadult Hispanic population of Southern Nevada. The sample includes cross-sectional data of 374 orthodontic patients (166 males and 208 females) aged 8-20 years. The SOS is scored by a four-stage scoring system as completely open (stage 0), less than half fused (stage 1), more than half fused (stage 2), or completely fused (stage 3) as visualized in the midsagittal plane in the CBCT image. The relationship between SOS fusion stage …

Identity And Sense-Making Through Narrative Processes On Social Media Platforms, Brenda Mandel

Anthropology

This paper provides an overview of existing research into narrative processes, sense-and identity-making, and digital social medias for the purpose of analyzing how social media platforms facilitate individual production of self under the framework of narrative. General aspects of narrative and how individual producers consciously and unconsciously adhere to those frameworks when representing themselves on virtual spaces are a central focus. This discussion further examines specifically how virtual and non-virtual spaces relate in terms of how social media platforms enforce and reinforce existing social structures in positive and negative ways. I also aim to stimulate further discussion on the implications …

The Formation Of Queer Consciousness In Gay, Latin, Men: How Experiences Affect The Lives Of Queer Latinos, Daniel Leon-Barranco

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

I am interested in investigating the question: How does experience, in a Latinx environment, affect the “coming out” process for queer, Latinx, men? Additionally, the aim of this research is to discover whether Queer Latinx peoples retain their cultural identity/consciousness or abandon it. This project is relevant to analyze whether Latinx culture impacts peoples to abstain from or retain their cultural identity/consciousness. I also hope that this research can prove whether an amalgamation of standpoint theory and Situated Knowledge can come together to affect the process of (re)claiming identity; as the Latinx man claims their sexual identity. This research aims …

Asian American Representation On Social Media Platforms, Ashley Lee

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

YouTube is a popular social media platform where anyone can make an account and post any kind of content. When YouTube launched in 2005-06, it has since allowed minorities easier access to create stories in an industry that has a history of exclusion and whitewashing, specifically speaking about Asian Americans. Asian American content creators, such as Wong Fu Productions, Michelle Phan, Ryan Higa, and many others use YouTube as an outlet to adapt existing stereotypes into entertainment while resisting whitewashing in Hollywood. By analyzing their large influence online, we try to better understand who consists of their target audience, either …

Rediscovering Brazil: The Marajoara Style In Modernist Art And Design, Alyson Brandes

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

During the Portuguese rule of Dom Pedro II until 1889, through the years of the First Brazilian Republic (1889-1930) and into the First Vargas Regime (1930-1945), Brazil struggled to solidify a strong national identity that would finally unify the country and legitimize its rich cultural heritage. The discovery and excavation of Marajó Island in the 1870s provided evidence of a great, ancient civilization, and inspired Brazilian Art Deco and early Modernist artists. Polychrome ceramic urns, vessels, and tangas (female pubic covers) were among the most abundant archaeological finds, many with zoomorphic and geometric motifs that show the cultural importance of …

By Proxy: A Radiocarbon Perspective On Prehistoric Mobility Using Summed Probability Distributions And Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions In Wyoming And Montana, Anastasia M. Lugo Mendez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Stone circles are among the most common and understudied archaeological features in the Rocky Mountains and High Plains. Their widespread availability coupled with increased archaeological research accompanying oil and natural gas exploration in the region has expanded the availability and size of the region’s radiocarbon database. The dates as data approach uses radiocarbon ages as variables from a larger sample. This thesis compiles radiocarbon ages associated with tipi ring sites in Wyoming and Montana and creates a summed probability distribution from these ages to serve as a proxy for prehistoric mobility. The distribution is corrected for taphonomic bias, or data …

Death Ends A Life Not A Relationship: The Embodied Mourning And Memorializing Of Pets Through Material Culture, Gemma N. Koontz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many individuals develop strong bonds with their pets, viewing them as close “furry” friends or family. When these beloved companions die, both their relational and physical absences are deeply felt. Lacking socially recognized rituals to mourn and memorialize their pets, owners turn to and adapt traditional “human practices,” primarily that of keeping meaningful or significant items of the deceased.

Using both personal experiences and perspectives from multiple fields, this thesis discusses the life-cycle of the human-animal bond, examines the types of items owners keep or create, and how these are used to facilitate both mourning (the outward expression of grief) …

Exploring Living Heritage Conservation: An Ethnography Of Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, Adriana Trujillo

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Taos Pueblo, a Northern New Mexico Pueblo, is designated as a World Heritage Site that continues to engage in traditional cultural practices. Because it is a living community practicing traditional customs, it is considered a living heritage site. Living heritage refers to the continuity of tangible and intangible heritage that is maintained by the core-community. Western conservation approaches have rarely integrated community-based strategies when protecting dynamic cultural sites. The purpose of this research is to explore conservation strategies at Taos Pueblo and how they reflect a living heritage approach. Using Rapid Ethnographic Assessment Protocol (Taplin, Scheld, & Low, 2002), I …

Disruptive Innovation: The Rise Of The Knowledge-Sharing Market In China, Yaqing Lan

International Studies Honors Projects

Innovation is a major subject of international political economy, but mainstream discussions focus on scientific research and development and detach innovation development from their social contexts. In response to this view, this project reveals the importance of cultural and social factors in influencing innovation development by examining the rise of the knowledge-sharing market (KSM) -- a social-network-site-based economy in China. It suggests the KSM is a disruptive innovation not only because it is pioneered by a latecomer in the global innovation market, China, but also because its emergence from the changing Chinese consumer demands disrupts the mainstream thinking of innovation.

Neoliberalism And Reconfiguration Of The Diaspora In Contemporary Indonesia, Inditian Latifa

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

In most studies on globalization and transnationalism, diaspora is positioned in a conflicting and antagonistic relationship with the nation-state regime. Nevertheless, the global ascendancy of neoliberalism as a market-based mode of governing populations has brought certain changes to the relationship between the diaspora and home countries which call for further research. This essay investigates the implications of neoliberalism for diasporic kinship ties by examining emergent discourses in contemporary Indonesia that constitute an elite-led project on diasporas known as the Indonesian Diaspora Network (IDN) Global. Based on a social constructionist analysis of data gathered from activities, media reporting, and promotional materials …

Terjemahan Beranotasi Dongeng Le Fils À La Recherche De Sa Mère Ke Dalam Bahasa Indonesia, Elyan Wijaya

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Annotated translation is a study that provides annotations or notes on the chosen equivalents of a number of translated words as a form of translator’s accountability. Using a comparative model, this qualitative study aims to describe the problems that were encountered when translating the source text and finding the right translation strategy to be used for addressing the existing translation problems. In this research, the source text is a children literature (tale) titled Le Fils à la recherche de sa mère by Senegalese author. The problems that were encountered when translating this tale were issues related to language and culture, …

Kebijakan Pembangunan Tol Laut Dan Potensi Dampaknya Pada Tinggalan Kapal Asing Bersejarah Yang Karam Di Wilayah Perairan Indonesia, Hutomo Putra

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The construction of sea toll roads is one of the manifestations of President Jokowi’s superior program for strengthening Indonesia’s identity as a maritime country and to develop Indonesia as a whole from west to east. The necessity for sea toll road construction aims to improve the distribution of goods and trade commodities, particularly for the purpose of balancing the economic gap between the western and eastern regions of Indonesia. On the other hand, the construction of sea toll roads could possibly have an impact on archaeological objects, especially the remains of historic shipwrecks that have sunk and spread in several …

Anugerah Sri Maharaja: Kumpulan Alihaksara Dan Alihbahasa Prasasti-Prasasti Jawa Kuna Dari Abad Viii–Xi., Nasha Bin Rodziadi Khaw

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

No abstract provided.