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Shifting From Damage Towards Desire At History Colorado: An Exploratory Case Study, Amanda Cali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the paradigm shift within the fields of anthropology and museum studies away from decolonization and towards indigenization through a case study of the changes in museological practices of the History Colorado Center in Denver, Colorado, and one of its community museums, the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose, Colorado. This thesis examines the changes in consultation and collaboration, the care and stewardship of collections, the implementation of the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials (PNAAM), and co-curation of exhibits. This thesis looks at the paradigm shift as a movement away from “damage-based research” within communities to “desire-centered research” …

Truth, Justice, And The American Way: Negotiating Identity Among Superhero Cosplayers At International Comic Book Conventions, James Scanlan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cosplay performances in convention spaces, and the increasing commercialization and commodification of both, remain largely unexplored domains that are rapidly expanding into global phenomena. The influx of capital internationally and the growing popularity of cosplay and conventions offers the opportunity to document and describe processes of performance, identity construction, and negotiation of the global phenomena within local contexts (“glocalization”) in non-Western spaces. I conducted ethnographic research at more than half a dozen research sites throughout Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and South and Central America, photographing convention spaces and cosplayers and conducting interviews with cosplayers. By focusing …

Inside The Walls Of The Asylum: Exploring The Lives Of Individuals In The Mississippi State Asylum (1855-1935), Savannah V. Logan

Master's Theses

The Mississippi State Asylum (MSA), established in 1855, was the first such institution in but has been largely forgotten about since its closure in 1935. The cemetery associated with the facility, which is located on the University of Mississippi Medical Center campus, was recently rediscovered with new construction. As part of the Asylum Hill project, the remains of seven of the 7000 burials along with their mortuary artifacts were analyzed and allowed these forgotten individuals to once again regain their voice and tell a portion of their life story through osteobiographies.

The sample, dating to 1855-1899, included five males and …

Beyond Peak Water Security: Household-Scale Experiential Metrics Can Offer New Perspectives On Contemporary Water Challenges In The United States, Wendy Jepson, Amber Wutich, Amber L. Pearson, Melissa Beresford, Alexandra Brewis, Alicia Cooperman, Jeremiah Osborne-Gowey, Jenny Rempel, Asher Y. Rosinger, Justin Stoler

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The U.S. has moved beyond peak water security. Infrastructural degradation, institutional inertia, and climate change are reducing the ability of households and communities to benefit from near-universal safe, adequate, affordable, sustainable water services. Yet, current supply-side research tools, that focus largely on system performance, are not equipped to measure the prevalence and lived experiences of household water insecurity, thus limiting the evidence available to policymakers, utilities, and communities to make decisions about water services. We discuss how demand-side metrics, such as household-level water insecurity scales validated for high-income contexts, such as the U.S., can help stakeholders to better identify local …

A Protocol For The Development Of A Validated Scale Of Household Water Insecurity In The United States: Hwise-Usa, Amber L. Pearson, Wendy Jepson, Alexandra Brewis, Jeremiah Osborne-Gowey, Amber Wutich, Melissa Beresford, Asher Y. Rosinger, Adam M. Enders, Justin Stoler, Ellis Adjei Adams, Linda Mendez Barrientos, Laura A. Bray, Alida Cantor, Jennifer S. Carrera, Alicia Cooperman, Laura Castro Diaz, Valerisa Magnon Joe Gaddy, Leila M. Harris

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background New metrics of household water insecurity have been validated for low- to middle-income countries, but it is unclear how these measurements apply to the experiences of people living in high-income countries. This project aims to develop and validate a novel metric for household water insecurity experiences in the United States (HWISE-USA) using a cross-sectional design and data from the Southwest, Midwest, and Western regions. Methods We outline the protocol for the development and validation of a novel household water insecurity scale for the United States to address this scientific need, including the following key steps: (1) item development through …

Arican - Anth24600 Middle Eastern And North African Societies And Cultures Syllabus, Alize Arican

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Research Proposal: Complex Relationship Of Religious Community, Psychological Health, And Socioeconomic Status Of Spanish Speaking Residents Ages 18-50 In Lynchburg, Va, Faith Park

NEXUS: The Liberty Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

Previous research has shown a clear quantitative correlation between socioeconomic status and religious gatherings as well as psychological health and religious gatherings. However, there have been few studies on the interconnectedness of mental health, socioeconomic stability, and religious identity and gathering. Research thus has not addressed the personal implications and the benefits of individual perspectives that can be offered through a qualitative methodology. Thus, this research proposes an ethnographic methodology which may provide insights that do not limit the subjectivity of mental health, religious experiences, and socioeconomic struggles.Through an integration of psychology, anthropology, and sociology, the proposed research hopes to …

Analyzing Human - Nonhuman Primate Conflict Mitigation Techniques In Mto Wa Mbu, Northern Tanzania, Lil Adams

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Human-wildlife conflict is a widespread challenge faced by those living in regular contact with wildlife that can have profound impacts on livelihood outcomes for humans, wildlife, and their shared environment (Barua et al., 2013; Blackie, 2023). Human – non-human primate conflict is particularly crucial due to primates’ high capacity to live among human populations (Chapman & Chapman, 1990; Alberts & Altmann, 2006; Reader et al., 2011; Sinha & Vijayakrishnan, 2017), and is currently on the rise due to increasing contact between human and non-human primates (Hockings, 2016; Uddin et al., 2020). To characterize and analyze techniques currently being used to …

A Ritual Of Institutions: The State Industrial School In Golden, Colorado And The Shaping Of American Youth, Cyndal Groskopf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the Colorado State Industrial School as a ritualistic institution that influenced boys aged 7 to 19 through Americanization practices between 1881 and 1930. By employing primary documentation, drone imagery, and LiDAR technology, the study examines how cultural and physical activities, along with personal statements, described and maintained the ritualized nature among these incarcerated youth. The findings reveal how institutional routines and activities reinforced narratives of American identity, particularly in relation to themes of personal identity, conformity, and agency. These rituals played a crucial role in institutionalizing cultural ideals and shaping the identities of marginalized youth. The research …

Culture And Environment: The Calling Lakes Ecomuseum As A Community Sustainability Initiative, Kace N. Anders

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Located in Saskatchewan, Canada, the Calling Lakes Ecomuseum, CLEM, is a community-based organization focused on water management and sustainability. Ecomuseums are holistic organizations that occupy landscapes, are responsive to community needs, conserve in situ heritage, and incorporate sustainability along with community development. The ecomuseum movement came from a need for holistic heritage management that disengaged with conventional museology and created space for communities to engage with their heritage in ways that promote community identity. This thesis analyzes the Calling Lakes Ecomuseum and how it utilizes the ecomuseum concept alongside environmental sustainability. Both semi-structured interviews and place-based field observations were used …

Pilgrimage, Trade And Empire: A Gis Investigation Of Pre-Hispanic Roads In The Ocoña And Chorunga Valleys Of Peru, Geri Evilla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines Inca imperial expansion into the Ocoña and Chorunga Valleys, through an investigation of precolonial roads and trails. It focuses on the Middle to Late Horizons (700 BCE-1534 CE), with specific attention to the last 100 years, when the region was occupied by the Inca state and experienced a rapid increase in population and architectural development. Data collected in excavations, and pedestrian, and drone surveys were used in geographic information systems, to map pre-Hispanic road systems. A combination of Least Cost Path and viewshed analyses were used to investigate land use patterns and tie this region into the …

The Role Of Imagination In Archaeology: Linking Contemplation And Method At The Amache National Historic Site, Sami Zepponi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Archaeology is both a science and an interpretative process, blending material discovery with imagination to reconstruct past experiences. This research, conducted through the 2024 University of Denver Amache Field School, explores the archaeological imagination and the creative and cognitive engagement that shapes historical interpretation. Using Amache, a WWII Japanese American incarceration site, as a case study, this thesis examines how material culture, landscape modifications, and reflection inform archaeological understanding. This study explores how imagination connects tangible findings to cultural narratives by integrating community-based archaeology, place and landscape theory, and contemplative inquiry. Findings highlight imagination as essential to archaeology, enabling deeper …

E Ho’Omau Mākau, We Will Continue: The Living Sovereign Entities Of Contemporary Hawaiian Songs, Kēhaulani Lagunero

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the relationship between contemporary Hawaiian mele (songs) and Hawaiian ea (sovereignty), focusing on how mele acts as sovereign living entities representing cultural resilience, identity, and resistance to settler-colonial influences. Through semi-structured interviews with Kānaka Maoli, participant observation at cultural events, and close analysis of mele, I identify that these songs are not only expressions of cultural memory, but also living embodiments of ea—sovereignty because they are alive, and they are alive because they are ea. Drawing from the frameworks of cultural survival, survivance, symbolic power, and defiant indigeneity, I explore how mele actively engage …

Vol. 48 No. 1 (2025): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Napela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 48, No 1-Jun 2025 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

What Modren Dental Dna Sequencing And Tooth Analysis Combined With Historical Context Can Tell Us About The Human Experience, Brynn Butko

D.U.Quark

Dental DNA extraction and visual analysis of teeth are subjects that aid many different research fields. Odontal analysis, specifically combined with forensic science and anthropology, allows for age and sex estimations, the identification of remains, and an in-depth historical account of human history. Because tooth analysis is utilized in various fields, a lack of uniform protocol for handling, analyzing, and extracting teeth persists. This review will explore the methods of dental analysis, the individual dental characteristics that identify age and sex in remains, and a depiction of the past through tooth evaluation. Creating a standardized protocol for the process of …

Wildfire And Decomposition: A Taphonomic Analysis Of Thermal Alterations And Decomposition, Ashley Novak

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Within the field of forensic anthropology, practitioners may be faced with remains that have been thermally altered by thermal alterations caused by wildfire. Within the field, very little research has been conducted examining how these thermal events impact rates of decomposition. While research has been conducted generally on the effects of thermal alteration on decomposition, these studies do not look through this lens and provide answers to the question of how do thermal alterations caused by wildfires affect rates of decomposition? This research examines the effects of thermal alteration caused by wildfire on the rate of decomposition. A decompositional study …

Who Was Skull #0025336? A Forensic Anthropological Analysis Of Human Remains, Evelyn R. Wendland

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Biological anthropology identifies human remains to learn more about the individual or the ancient community from which they originate. Two subdisciplines of biological Anthropology that focus on osteology—the study of bones— are Forensic Anthropology and Biorchaeology. Forensic anthropology is the study of human remains associated with the legal process. They specifically analyze remains from post-1950. Biorchaeology also looks at human remains but in a historical and/or archaeological context. As osteologists analyze human remains, they typically try to create a biological profile. The biological profile includes classifications of ethnicity (ancestry), age, sex, and stature, as well as aspects of pathology and …

Kentucky History Is Native History: Decolonizing Native Portrayals In Kentucky Museums., Mandala Gupta Verwiebe

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Utilizing prominent decolonial museums scholarship, interviews conducted with anthropology and museum professionals, and Kentucky museum exhibitions, this research explores the history of Kentucky’s public institutions’ Indigenous representation and recommends guidelines to improve their portrayal of Native people. Through a historical analysis, this research finds factors that influence Kentucky institutions’ portrayals of Native history, such as early harmful grave looting of Indigenous ancestral remains, the prominence of the Myth of the Dark and Bloody Ground, and a weakened state governmental Native American Heritage Commission. After considering both decolonial theory and the experiences of Kentucky heritage professionals, this research recommends three methods …

Examining Stable Isotope Variation Of Herbivores In South Luangwa Valley In The Context Of Anthropogenic Influences, Taylor Hubbard

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stable isotopes are an effective tool for inferring mammalian behavior. Though there are multiple factors that can influence mammalian diets, anthropogenic influence is one that is often overlooked. For example, it is important to consider how wildlife living in areas where there are frequent, documented human-wildlife interactions will modify behavior. National Parks (NPs) are a great example of this because of the common misconception that since there are protections in place, that means it is devoid of anthropogenic influence. South Luangwa National Park contradicts this misconception. Though there are protections for wildlife in place within the park, it is unfenced …

The Missing Void: Lack Of Pockets In Womenswear And Its Effect On Daily Life, Clare Bolon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Pockets give power to people who possess them. Yet, an estimated half of the U.S. population —women— frequently wear garments lacking useful pockets. Why? Womenswear is molded by beauty standards. This study brings an anthropological perspective on gender inequality in the U.S. by examining modern clothing and the differences in pocket access by gender. 127 participants were recruited for a mixed methods survey, most from a medium-sized university in the Mountain West region. Survey questions explored the attitudes and experiences of people who wear women’s clothing regarding pockets (or the lack thereof) and its impact on their daily lives. Open-ended …

Navigating Nagpra: Respecting The Indigenous Ancestors, Anjuli Latchmansingh, William Kennedy

Transformations: Presentation Slides

In this presentation we explain the importance of NAGPRA federal legislation and its critical importance regarding how institutions of research and learning interact with Indigenous peoples and their cultures in the United States. We then describe, in narrative format, the initial investigation process that is required, in accordance with NAGPRA law, if an institution possesses anything that may potentially be considered sacred to Indigenous ancestors. We will outline what we learned through this experience, and demonstrate how institutions of research and learning can use this legislation to acknowledge the past and ongoing offenses against local Indigenous populations, and strengthen relations …

Painting Stories And Filming Change, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Contributions to Books

Mithila Art has helped illuminate various aspects of the relationship between gendered Maithil social roles and Maithil women’s narratives in connection with a feminist participatory action research project conducted primarily in 2016-2017 in and around the northern Bihari town of Madhubani. While participatory action research philosophically and methodologically attends to process as much as product, Mithila Art played a role in the process and product of making a documentary film and in our capacity to understand and communicate with varied audiences about shifting Maithil gender norms. The research and filmic project provided insight into the complex relationship among the stories …

The Man, The Myth, The Mothman: Cryptid Folklore And West Virginian Identity Formation, Bailey South

Munn Scholars Awards

“Cryptids” as a theme within Appalachian (more specifically West Virginian) folklore has gained increased interest in recent years, yet limited scholarly attention has been paid as to why. Along similar lines, many West Virginians have reclaimed the West Virginia regional identity. In this study, I collected and analyzed the opinions of West Virginians on the West Virginia identity and on cryptids to argue that the popularity of cryptids within folklore (a reclamation) has coincided with the reclamation of the West Virginian identity. I surveyed a demographic of mainly students through an online survey to analyze their perspectives, gathering demographic data …

From Bones To Bias: Exploring Demographic Gaps In The West Virginia University Osteological Collection, Ren Kully

Munn Scholars Awards

Osteological collections are essential to forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology but often refl ect historical biases. Analysis of 26 individuals from West Virginia University’s osteological collection revealed disproportionate representation: 46.2% Asian/Native American, 34.6% African American, and 19.2% European American, with a skew toward middle-aged adults. Sex estimations varied, with 26.9% indeterminate. These imbalances stem from unethical collection practices, such as grave robbing and using unclaimed bodies. Addressing these issues requires transparency, provenance research, and ethical sourcing. This study underscores the need for equitable representation, ethical stewardship, and revised methods to mitigate bias in osteological teaching and research.

“To Ponder And Dream”: Gettysburg’S Conflict Heritage And Cultural Constructions Of History In Its Museums, Camryn Counsil

Student Publications

After providing brief historical context and a review of relevant literature, this paper analyzes four overarching concerns that inform the work of Gettysburg’s museums and historical organizations: ensuring commercial success, including underrepresented stories without alienating visitors, balancing scholarly and emotional approaches, and acknowledging the larger political implications of their choices. Using an anthropological approach, this work shows how these larger economic, social, and political concerns influence the construction of history and memory in a conflict heritage site like Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Protegiendo La Antártida En El Antropoceno: Bioseguridad Como ‘Ritual’ Turístico, Clare A. Sammells, Vuochnea Taing

Faculty Conference Papers and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Naḥal Tut (Site Viii): A Fortified Storage Depot From The Late Fourth Century Bce (Pp. 131–189), Yardenna Alexandre

'Atiqot

Excavations at the site revealed a large building complex, comprising casemate walls built on bedrock around a large central courtyard with corner towers. It was a well-planned and well-fortified complex, located at a strategic point. The complex was occupied for a brief period of time, at the very end of the Persian (Achaemenid) period and the very beginning of the Hellenistic period (c. 350–325 BCE). It was destroyed by a violent destruction, which claimed human victims. The destruction was dated by a single bronze coin of Alexander III to 336–323 BCE. The pottery finds at the site were homogenous, including …

Curricular Changes Proposed For 2025-2027 Morris Catalog, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

The Persian-Period Necropolis In The French Hospital Compound, Yafo (Jaffa): Case Study And Overview (Pp. 225–242), Yossi Nagar

'Atiqot

The human skeletal remains retrieved from the Persian-period (fifth–fourth centuries BCE) burial caves in the French Hospital Compound represent at least 37 individuals. The anthropological examination yielded important data concerning the demographic profile of the interred, comprising infants, children and adults of a wide age range and of both sexes, which is typical of a civilian population. Some of the tombs were used for a single burial, while others housed 2–8 individuals. All the individuals were placed on their backs, in an east–west orientation, as customary in other Persian-period cemeteries along the Israeli coastline and northern valleys. These burial practices …

A Late Bronze Age Ii Cist Grave At Tel Qana In The Sharon Coastal Plain (With Contributions By Sariel Shalev And Sana Shilstein; Alexander Tsatskin) (Pp. 67–84), Edwin C.M. Van Den Brink

'Atiqot

Excavations at Tel Qana, situated in the Naḥal Ha-Yarqon basin, revealed a Middle Bronze Age II occupation horizon, a cist grave dating to Late Bronze Age II and two winepresses dating from Iron Age II. The present report focuses on the large LB II cist grave, which contained the remains of a primary burial of a single individual, probably male, who was interred with several ceramic vessels and three metal weapons. The cist’s walls and floor were uniquely plastered with thick layers of high quality, waterproof white lime plaster. This burial seems to indicate a shift from multiple cave burials …