Digital Commons Network^™

A Comparative Study Of Tooth Wear In Contemporary Us And Non-Us Populations To Evaluate The Validity Of Use In Estimating Region Of Origin, Amelie Marie Juneau

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Reconstructing Ancient Lives Using 3d Technology: A Case Study Of Pork And Doughboy Point, Belize, Jane Fiegel

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Two Ṭuruq: An Exploration Of Sufism In Morocco Through The Qādiriyya Budshishiyya And Tijāniyya, May Hu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this ISP is to explore the relationship between the esoteric dimensions of Islam in Morocco, as expressed through two examples ṭuruq: the Qādiriyya Budshishiyya and Tijāniyya in Morocco to explore power dynamics of Sufi ṭuruq in Morocco. The Qādiriyya Budshishiyya and Tijāniyya serve as apt case studies as two of the most prominent Sufi ṭuruq in Morocco. They also have interesting implications as the Qādiriyya Budshishiyya has in recent years seen an increase in clout and influence in Morocco as Ahmad Tawfiq, the Moroccan Minister for Habus and Islamic Affairs has affiliations with the ṭarīqah and …

Participatory Development And Menstrual Health Management In South Africa: A Case Study Of Project Dignity, Natalie Geismar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Menstrual health management (MHM) poses a significant public health concern in many South African communities. Though the national government is beginning to devote attention and resources to MHM, civil society organizations play a critical role in providing menstrual health products and education to female-bodied individuals who may otherwise lack access. This study examines the praxis and impact of Project Dignity, a nongovernmental organization which distributes washable, reusable sanitary pads and panties to students in public schools. The researcher collected qualitative data through participant observation as well as interviews and focus group discussions with Project Dignity’s staff and intended beneficiaries. Using …

The Mountain Stands: An Autoethnographic Inquiry Into Zulu Christians' Approaches To Spiritual Health, Makayla Lagerman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Spiritual health is a vital component of individual wellness that can be described in many ways; most commonly, it is thought of as the connectivity of the inner spirit to others, the world, transcendental beings, and more. From personal experience, I know that the state of my spiritual wellbeing can greatly impact my physical and mental health. For this reason, actively considered how to think about spiritual health for one of the first times in my life.

This project sought to explore Zulu Christians’ approaches to spiritual health in concurrence with my own. This was done by interviewing one Swazi …

What Lies In The Gray: Creative Analytic Pieces On The Formation And Evolution Of Beliefs In Masxha, Robin Mwai

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this project was to look at how members of Durban's Masxha township develop their belief systems and ideas about their world. This topic was developed out of a desire to better understand the factors that promote or inhibit individuals from changing their mind about topics relating to their community, society, and culture. I sought to gain a deeper understanding of the specific context of Masxha and the experiences and lives of those with whom I spoke.

To accomplish the goal of learning from lived experiences, this study employed a narrative inquiry approach. Using loosely-structured interviews involving eight …

Leisure In The “Land Of The Walking Dead”: Western Mortuary Tourism, The Internet, And Zombie Pop Culture In Toraja, Indonesia, Kathleen M. Adams

Anthropology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This chapter offers a critical analysis of the burgeoning cottage industry of cyber- and actual Toraja zombie tourism. Various studies have chronicled tourists’ fascination with cadavers, and with touring the purported haunts of the undead (c.f. Light 2009; Linke 2005; Stone 2011a), yet the ways in which new death-oriented leisure zones not only arise but become fetishized remain understudied. This chapter responds to the recent call for new research on the relationship between the media and dark tourism sites (Stone 2011b:327). Data derived from fieldwork in the Toraja highlands of Indonesia and web-based sources demonstrate the role of both the …

Investigación Arqueológica: Sitio Buen Suceso, Comuna Dos Mangas, Provincia De Santa Elena. Informe Preliminar., Sarah M. Rowe, Guy S. Duke

Anthropology Faculty Publications

Preliminary report on the 2017 excavation season at Bun Suceso, a Valdivia site located on the coast of Ecuador. Report submitted to the Region 5 Office of the Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural, Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Classroom Cannibal: A Guide On How To Teach Ojibwe Spirituality Using The Windigo And Film, Brady Desanti

Journal of Religion & Film

This paper is intended as a pedagogical guide on how to teach elements of Ojibwe religious and philosophical beliefs using the windigo and its depictions in the films Wendigo and Ravenous. The windigo complex is exceedingly complex and remains an enduring component to the cultures of Ojibwe and several other Algonquian-speaking communities in the United States and Canada. While the windigo enjoys exposure in a variety of popular entertainment sources, film remains one of the most useful methods to incorporate in the classroom to help students comprehend how an anthropophagus “monster” directly relates to Ojibwe ideas of personal balance, …

The Multi-Vocal Trailscape Of The Natchitoches Trace: A Trail Of Tears, Trade And Transformation, Jade L. Robison

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

This paper demonstrates how individuals have inscribed the Natchitoches Trace trailscape with meaningful narratives via oral traditions, historical accounts and material evidence, and considers how descendent populations curate their heritage in such a landscape. Beginning at the mouth of the Missouri River near St. Louis, the Natchitoches Trace stretches southwest through the Ozark region in Missouri and Arkansas, and onto Natchitoches, Louisiana. Created by pre-Columbian groups for trading purposes, the trail was later utilised by early European pioneer families for westward expansion. The 1830 Indian Removal Act forced the repurposing of the trail as a route of exile for displaced …

Leading From The In-Between: Disability, Leadership, And Identity, Xochitl Mendez

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

The daily lives of individuals challenged with physical disabilities shed light on the intersections, as well as the friction, between the identities we forge as individuals, and the social identities of the public space. In this interdisciplinary presentation, I will explore the fault lines between the social concepts of disability and the personal realities and specifics of biology and adaptation.

Exploring my own experiences with disability, pedagogy, and art, I will further delve on how the social realm (Arendt, 1958) evaluates and judges identity from expected modes of interaction that are often not available to the disabled person. Further, using …

Archbold, Annie And Barbara Dubczak (Fa 379), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 379. A reel-to-reel audiotape recording of a program titled “Documents in Sound: A Sample in Folk Arts,” which was sponsored by the Barren River Regional Arts Council with funds from the Kentucky Folklife Foundation. According to the tape summary, the program includes five separate features, which can be played as individual vignettes or as a full 29-minute program. Features include traditional artists and cover topics such as woodworking, broom making, basket making, weaving, and drawn work.

Analysis Of Marine Sediment By Chemical Signatures And Loss-On Ignition To Discover Evidence Of Ancient Maya Activities At Site 74, Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize, Kobi Weaver

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis, archaeological sediment chemistry, loss-on ignition and microscopic analysis of marine sediment are used to study Site 74 of the Paynes Creek Salt Works in southern Belize. Site 74 was once an ancient Maya salt work. Due to sea-level rise, sea water and mangrove peat now cover the site. Sediment from the site was exported under permit to the Louisiana State University Laboratory. I prepared and delivered the samples to the Louisiana State University Agricultural Chemistry Laboratory for inductively coupled plasma- atomic emission spectroscopy testing (ICP-AES). ICP-AES measured the amount of 20 elements in the sediment. Maps showing …

Collins, Sara (Fa 1134), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1134. Student paper titled “Ghost Stories on a College Campus” in which Sara Collins gathers together tales of the supernatural. Collins places the stories into four main categories: “true” (classic), “memorate” (personal experiences), “regional” (local), and “other campuses.” Stories were collected by Collins from friends and fellow classmates.

Rain Rituals As A Barometer Of Vulnerability In An Uncertain Climate, L. Jen Shaffer

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Researchers and aid agencies, seeking to improve their understanding of local climate change responses, adaptation, and vulnerability, frequently interact with communities around the world who strongly emphasize their religious beliefs and practices. Dismissal and misunderstandings of these local perspectives can slow assessments of local climate vulnerability and development of adaptive capacity. In this paper, I show how analysis of rain ritual failure exposes the multiple stressors Ronga communities in southern Mozambique face, and as such, serves as a proxy measure for climate vulnerability at the local level. Oral histories and targeted interviews with participating elders, local chiefs, and community members …

Maffenbeier, John, 1905-1978 (Sc 3199), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3199. Correspondence of John Maffenbeier, Newark, New Jersey, relating to collecting and selling Native American artifacts. Some of the correspondence is related to Lost City, an archaeological tourist site in Logan County, Kentucky.

“I Am More Than My Addiction”: Perceptions Of Stigma And Access To Care In Acute Opioid Crisis, Heather D. Henderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to analyze the stigmatization of opioid addiction within the framework of emergency care from an ethnographic perspective. Interviews with those who have been swept up in the current opioid epidemic indicate that stigma, or a shame or dishonor, and socioeconomic insecurity emerge often as common themes in their emergency care experiences. In many cases, socioeconomic insecurity most intensely translates into a lack of access to healthcare and emergency rooms across the country often function as primary care for uninsured populations. The central field site selected for this study was the emergency department of an …

Thomas, Fonda (Fa 1133), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1133. Student paper titled “Tombstone Motifs” in which Fonda Thomas documents cemeteries in southern Warren County—specifically Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church, Hardshell Baptist Church, and Old Union Missionary Baptist Church—to describe popular carvings found on gravestones. Thomas, who has familial ties to two of the church cemeteries, describes motifs such as rosebuds, doves, and variations of hands and offers possible theories as to the meaning of each. The collection also includes crayon rubbings of tombstones, which have been placed in a folder separate from the paper.

Ethnicity, Climate, And House Types As Mortality Factors In The New Orleans' 1878 Yellow Fever Outbreak, Gabriele Richardson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The following study is first a demonstration that even incomplete health data from 1878 New Orleans’ yellow fever outbreak can be used with modern epidemiological methods and achieve useful and revealing results. Accordingly, this research examines three possible associations between New Orleans’ population exposed to yellow fever and the environment they lived in, using 4,755 yellow fever cases, derived from the New Orleans Board of Health report, Cemetery Burial records, Hospital, Asylum, and prison registers, and New Orleans obituaries. The first relationship addresses the vulnerability to yellow fever for people born in Italy, France, Great Britain, and the German Empire, …

Nicks, Sarah Elizabeth (Fa 1132), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1132. Student paper titled “Quilting: Past and Present” in which Sarah Nicks details the components of traditional quilt making. Nicks discusses piecing together patterns and the various motivations behind quilting. Information was collected by Nicks from family and friends. The collection contains color photographs of handmade quilts, a questionnaire related to quilting practices, and a sample piece of a quilt patch.

Honoring The Dead: Digitizing Abuse & Neglect At The Asylum For Insane Indians, Kennedi Ford

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Perhaps because of the nature of the asylum and the relatively short length of time in which it was open, documents and records pertaining to the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians are hard to come by.

Approximately 1,000 files have been gathered and are in the process of being edited and published online. My participation is part of a Capstone project for Dakota State University’s General Beadle Honors Program. During my work with the Honoring the Dead digital archive project, I have edited, uploaded, transcribed, and gathered metadata for 6 documents. In addition to digitizing, I analyzed the documents for …

Being And Naughtiness: An Account Of Being An Ethnographic-Insider Studying White, Working Class Gym-Users, Andreas Giazitzoglu

The Qualitative Report

In this work, I reflexively outline my experiences of researching white, working class British male gym-users as an ethnographer. During my research process, I adhered to the definition of a level three ethnographic insider, articulated by Giazitzoglu and Payne (2018, forthcoming). Two broad questions guide this article. First, how did I managed to create a third-level insider position in the field, especially through my own embodiment and gym practices? Second, what can others learn from my experiences; particularly in relation to the practicalities of research ethics, data analysis and the emotional consequences of leaving a research-field where one has belonged?

Community Heritage Day - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Fa 1130), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1130. Collection contains flyers and digital photographs taken at the Community Heritage Day event held on 4 November 2017 at the Kentucky Building in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The event—sponsored by the Kentucky Folklife Program, WKU Library Special Collections, the Kentucky Museum, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage grant—invited the general public to bring in items that were “significant to your family or our community story.” Materials were digitized, uploaded onto flash drives, and given to participants for personal, long-term accessibility. Note that Item 29 and Item 30 are duplicate images.

Kentucky Women In Agriculture (Mss 611), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Project 611. Minutes, financial records, conference handouts, and newsletters related to Kentucky Women in Agriculture, an awareness and support group for women farmers in the Commonwealth. Also includes interviews with members and digital images of members.

Book Review: Race And Upward Mobility: Seeking, Gatekeeping, And Other Class Strategies In Postwar America, Marisela Martinez-Cola

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

From the Talented Tenth to Tio Tacos, the language of race and upward mobility has always been complicated, particularly for Black and Brown communities in the United States. As I began to read Román’s engaging book about how race and upward mobility are depicted in novels, plays, films, and TV sitcoms (hereinafter “cultural texts”), the theme song from The Jeffersons kept ringing in my head as well as George Lopez’s observation of how Mexican Americans respond to successful family members. This may have been her intent as she begins her book by comparing George Jefferson and George Lopez. The comparison …

Improving Canadian Indigenous Health: Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease, Sukhmeet S. Sachal

Western Research Forum

Background:

This abstract explores improving health outcomes for Canada’s Indigenous peoples. The increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes in this population makes this a public health problem because diabetes has long-term complications that affect the cardiovascular system and can result in disability and premature death.

Methods:

A literature review using specific search terms was performed to find 36 relevant articles. Search databases for the primary and secondary information were CINAHL and PubMED, respectively.

Results:

The results were classified into five groups: (1) Previous Genetic Protection; (2) Current Day Risk; (3) Diet; (4) Barriers in Developing and Maintaining …

Providing Information And Public Outreach Across Three U.S. State Archaeology Offices During The Age Of Open Access, Samuel Thomas Ayers

LSU Master's Theses

Archaeology in the United States has been transformed into a mainstream, practical science over the past fifty years by Cultural Resource Management (CRM) and the federal regulations imposed by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966. However, this form of archaeology has been plagued with criticisms since the NHPA’s enactment including issues of access and use of data maintained by state site files. State archaeology is publicly funded yet state and federal legislation often exempts CRM data from freedom of information laws. To mitigate this contradiction and stem the growing body of “gray literature”, new open-access (OA) technologies are …

State Immigration Policies: The Role Of State Compacts And Interest Groups On Immigration Legislation, Erin Trouth Hofmann, Paul D. Jacobs, Peggy Petrzelka

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

US states are active in enacting immigration policies, which vary widely and have substantial impact on the lives of immigrants. Our understanding of what produces these divergent state laws remains limited. Qualitative research demonstrates the importance of a 2010 immigration compact, supported by a powerful religious organization, in shaping immigration policies in Utah, and the Utah Compact was held up as a model for other states. But is the experience of Utah applicable across other states? We test the effects of compacts and interest groups on immigration policy adoption across all 50 states between 2005 and 2013. Our findings suggest …

A Spatial Analysis Of Ceramics In Northwestern Alaska: Studying Pre-Contact Gendered Use Of Space, Katelyn Elizabeth Braymer-Hayes

Dissertations and Theses

Activities and production among ethnographic Arctic peoples were primarily divided by gender. This gendered division of labor also extended to a spatial segregated pattern of the household in some Arctic cultures. Other cultures had a more gender-integrated spatial pattern of the household. There have been very few archaeological studies of gender in the Arctic, and even fewer studies of gendered use of space.

In this thesis, I evaluated the existence of this gendered use of space in pre-contact Northwest Alaska. I also evaluated the existence of discrete activity spaces. I drew from both ethnoarchaeology and gender/feminist archaeology to both construct …

Preliminary Analysis Of Hieroglyph And Iconography Placement On Freestanding Monuments At Copán, Honduras, Elizabeth Koenen

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This paper analyzes the placement of hieroglyphs and iconography on freestanding monuments at the ancient Maya site of Copán, Honduras. Preliminary spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) highlight two potentially important findings. First, stelae in the main civic-ceremonial precinct (Principal Group), while erected in the most centralized and public location in the city, are not always placed to allow for public viewing of their fronts. Second, differences may exist in the number of logographic and syllabic glyphs used on a object depending on the type of object and its location. Further research and data collection are needed in order …