Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Enlightening The Bats: Sound And Place Making In Burmese Buddhist Practice, Andrew Dicks

Andrew Dicks

In Burma (Myanmar), the Abhidhamma, a rigorous and abstract soteriological treatise situated within the vast Pali Buddhist canon, is the focus of both monastic and lay practitioners’ close study and popular veneration. In particular, the Paṭṭhāna, the last and most complex volume of the Abhidhamma, is envisioned as a keystone in the long-term preservation of the Buddha’s teachings, which are also understood to inevitably disappear. As a result of these conditions and understandings, a popular ritualized and amplified recitation of this difficult text has developed in order to maintain the text’s presence in popular consciousness. This is a conscientious move …

Rethinking Combined History Departments: An Argument For History And Anthropology, Ageeth Sluis, Elise Edwards

Ageeth Sluis

Many opportunities for more integrated teaching that better capture the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary scholars' work and better achieve the aims of liberal arts education still remain untapped, particularly at smaller schools where combined departments are often necessary. The disciplinary boundaries between history and sociocultural anthropology have become increasingly blurred in recent decades, a trend reflected in scholarly work that engages with both fields, as well as dual-degree graduate programmes at top U.S. research universities. For many scholars, this interdisciplinarity makes sense, with the two disciplines offering critical theoretical tools and methods that must be used in combination to tackle …

Rethinking Combined History Departments: An Argument For History And Anthropology, Ageeth Sluis, Elise Edwards

Elise M. Edwards

Many opportunities for more integrated teaching that better capture the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary scholars' work and better achieve the aims of liberal arts education still remain untapped, particularly at smaller schools where combined departments are often necessary. The disciplinary boundaries between history and sociocultural anthropology have become increasingly blurred in recent decades, a trend reflected in scholarly work that engages with both fields, as well as dual-degree graduate programmes at top U.S. research universities. For many scholars, this interdisciplinarity makes sense, with the two disciplines offering critical theoretical tools and methods that must be used in combination to tackle …

Towards A Unified Theory Of Play: A Case Study Of Minecraft, James Hooper, Penny De Byl

Penny de Byl

Researchers in the fields of game design, childhood development, learning, and movement studies discuss the concept of play. However, the term has been frequently redefined resulting in a divergent understanding of the concept. This paper presents a Unified Theory of Play that aims to provide a holistic examination of the domain that will enhance understanding of play by delivering a tripartite framework for critical analysis of a variety of computer games. Minecraft is presented herein as a case study analysis using the proposed framework.

Whether It’S Coins, Fringe, Or Just Stuff That’S Sparkly': Aesthetics And Utility In A Tribal Fusion Belly Dance Troupe’S Costumes, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

As both a scholar and a belly dancer, I believe that belly dance is recognizable on aesthetic grounds. In addition to the movements that belly dancers typically perform—muscle isolations, undulations, graceful hand motions and turns, and lots of hip work—belly dancers wear costumes that are visually identifiable as belly dance costumes. While this description may seem tautological, there are recognizable standards both in the public sphere and among dancers for what constitutes the belly dance image—or images, as belly dance is a diverse phenomenon that encompasses teaching, learning, performing, watching, socializing, and costuming.

The Religification Of Pakistani-American Youth, Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher

Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher

This article describes a cultural production process called religification, in which religious affiliation, rather than race or ethnicity, has become the core category of identity for working-class Pakistani-American youth in the United States. In this dialectical process, triggered by political changes following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Muslim identity is both thrust upon Pakistani-American youth by those who question their citizenship and embraced by the youth themselves. Specifically, the article examines the ways in which schools are sites where citizenship is both constructed and contested and the roles that peers, school personnel, families, and the youth themselves play in …

Negotiating Work And Family: Lifestyle Migration, Potential Selves And The Role Of Second Homes As Potential Spaces, Brian Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

This article is based on ethnographic research conducted in the USA with migrants who use an act of relocation as a means of deliberately constructing identity as well as seeking greater ‘balance’ and ‘control’ in their lives. Specifically, it examines how ‘second’ homes can serve as a transitional or ‘potential space’ in the lives of these migrants not only between different geographic places but also what are taken to be distinct identities and ideals associated with these places and the lives lived in them. Such behaviour is not simply about coping and adapting to a new environment; rather, it is …

Postindustrial Societies, Brian Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

The term postindustrial society presupposes categorizing society based on an economic means of classification. Its use rests on assessing the relative status of manufacturing industry as an economic sector. Significant adjustment in sectoral location and nature of employment precipitated by late-twentieth-century deindustrialization in the developed world led many social theorists and critics to predict broad changes throughout domains of everyday life. Some began to speak not only of sectoral transformation but also of an emergent ‘ postindustrial society. ’ Following earlier agrarian and industrial ‘ revolutions, ’ postindustrialism suggested yet another revolution that would again transform how societies were organized.

Queer Precarity And The Myth Of Gay Affluence, Margot Weiss, Amber Hollibaugh

Margot Weiss

Bdsm (Bondage, Discipline, Domination, Submission, Sadomasochism), Margot Weiss

Margot Weiss

Queer Economic Justice: Desire, Critique, And The Practice Of Knowledge, Margot Weiss

Margot Weiss

Theorising The ‘Fifth Migration’ In The United States: Understanding Lifestyle Migration From An Integrated Approach, Brian Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

This chapter is an empirically-informed discussion of relevant social theory for examining the phenomenon of lifestyle migration in the United States in both rural and urban settings. Specifically, the chapter explores key explanatory models born of research into so-called non-economic migration occurring since the early twentieth century—models that may be characterized as primarily either production or consumption oriented in their emphasis—as a context for outlining an integrated approach. The author then highlights changes in how some Americans appear to calculate personal and collective quality of life as engendered by an emerging economic order—based on principles of flexibility and contingency—whose affects …

Lean In Or Lean Back: Reproducing Sustainable Livelihoods In The Transnational Indigenous Art Market, Blaire Gagnon

Blaire Gagnon

No abstract provided.

The Color Of Christ In Haiti, Elizabeth Mcalister

Elizabeth McAlister

Police-Building And The Responsibility To Protect: Civil Society, Gender And Human Rights Culture In Oceania, Charles Hawksley, Nichole Georgeou

Nichole Georgeou

Forthcoming: This book examines how the United Nations and states provide assistance for the police services of developing states to help them meet their human rights obligations to their citizens, under the responsibility to protect (R2P) provisions. It examines police-capacity building ("police-building") by international donors in Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea (PNG). All three states have been described as "fragile states" and "states of concern", and all have witnessed significant social tensions and violence in the past decades. The authors argue that globally police-building forms part of an attempt to make states "safe" so that they can adhere …

Odnos Žrtve I Milosti U Oblicima Obožavanja I Postizanja Mira, Matija Kovačević

Matija Kovačević

Roy Rappaport, Brian Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

Roy Abraham Rappaport, an American anthropologist recognized as a key figure in ecological anthropology and the study of religious ritual in human evolution.

“On Marriage Equality” (Review Of Jay Cee Whitehead's The Nuptial Deal: Same-Sex Marriage And Neo-Liberal Governance [University Of Chicago Press, 2011]), Margot Weiss

Margot Weiss

’Reinvigorating The Queer Political Imagination’: A Roundtable With Ryan Conrad, Yasmin Nair, And Karma Chávez Of Against Equality, Margot Weiss

Margot Weiss

Intellectual Inquiry Otherwise: An Interview With Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Margot Weiss

Margot Weiss

Silent Subversions, Derek Dubois

Derek M Dubois

Explores the concept of spectatorship in relation to gender in the earliest period of film history in the United States known as the silent era. Argues that a new mode of spectatorship emerges for women during the 1920s, which employs to advantage the extra-diegetic components of spectacle in theater design, new customized genres for female filmgoers, fandom, and exotic male film stars, such as Rudolph Valentino. Focuses primarily on feminist film theory and on cultural studies as methodological models.

A Historical Background To Anthropology In The Papua New Guinea Highlands, Terence Hays

Terence Hays

This work is a historical background of the early days of how and why anthropological fieldwork was conducted and includes the viewpoints of those who were actually there. Hays, like many others, made his region choice of the Papua New Guinea Highlands based on his imense interest and literature reviews of which happened to be in the literature of the Highlands with works by L.L. Langness, Kenneth E. Read, and James B. Watson. Hays also called upon conversations he had with David Cole and Kerry Pataki-Schweizer for his precise location choice. Hays discusses the early ethnographers during the colonial period …

Folktales From Habi'ina, Katnantu District, Eastern Highlands Province, Terence Hays

Terence Hays

The people of Habi'ina village live on the northern slopes of Mount Piora in the Dogara Census Division of the Kainantu District, Eastern Highlands Province. Like other Papua New Guineans, they possess a rich oral literature and tell each other stories for a wide variety of reasons. All stories are called huri, but several different types can be distinguished.

A Pacific Island Collection In Rhode Island, Terence Hays, Mary Conaway, Susan Yeaw

Terence Hays

Collections of artifacts and specimens from Pacific Island cultures are found throughout Rhode Island. The largest and most systematically collected is in the Museum of Natural History in Roger Williams Park, Providence. The items were acquired by Rhode Island citizens over about a 150 year period from the early 1800's to the 1950's. They are from the 3 culture areas of the Pacific: Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. All form of matter including wood, shell, fiber, bone and skin, ivory, pottery, stone, and human hair are part of the artifact assemblage. The specimens (not studied for this project) include birds, lava, …

America And Political Islam, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

I received this book before 11 September 2001 and am reviewing it in the aftermath of that day. One could not imagine a more intense crucible in which to view a work on political Islam. Under the glare of the fiery collapse at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and with bombs falling on Taliban and al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, the work of an author and a reviewer requires even greater scrutiny.

War Clouds On The Horn Of Africa, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

To review a book published five years ago describing a region in great turbulence is a great challenge. As one of those who has also written on aspects of the Horn of Africa it is tragically clear that the region's hostilities have brought misery and death for thousands. Resting with their remains are countless prophecies and predictions which had sought to analyze the latest events. These remarks may sound like defensive apologies of the author of this book, but I will defend him by assessing the difficulty of interpreting a dynamic and volatile region in the paroxysms of radical change.

Identifying Self-Perceived Hiv-Related Stigma In A Population Accessing Antiretroviral Therapy, D. Tzemis, J. Forrest, C. Puskas, W. Zhang, Treena Orchard, A. Palmer, C. Mcinnes, K. Fernandes, J. Montaner, R. Hogg

Dr. Treena Orchard

No abstract provided.

How Do We ‘See’ Occupations? An Examination Of Visual Research Methodologies In The Study Of Human Occupation, L. Hartman, A. Mandich, L. Magalhaes, Treena Orchard

Dr. Treena Orchard

This article argues that visual research methodologies have potential to contribute to the study of occupation. The use of visual research methodologies is quickly growing in a number of disciplines and can help researchers to access information and reasoning not accessible through interview, log or survey. The reflexive, reflective, engaged process of creating and analysing visual materials allows for rich representations on behalf of participants, and immersion in the data on the part of researchers. This paper explores photovoice, body mapping and textual analysis of visual materials to understand how they can contribute to occupational science research. These methods were …

La Aplicación De Reconstrucciones Digitales Para La Conservación De Patrimonio: Aportes Preliminares Sobre El Caso De Chan Chan, Patricia Chirinos Ogata

Patricia Chirinos Ogata

Available informatic resources contribute to the archaeological process allowing to have a more detailed register of the evidence and leading to an efficient information management. Digital reconstruction of sites, as developed all over the world, can be helpful to iconographic research, data massification and especially for the preservation of cultural heritage. In this article, a proposal for a virtual reconstruction of Chan Chan in the peruvian North Coast is made. This paper presents a brief summary of the project development, giving the outlines, research phases and the possible contributions and perspectives.

Vampire Island, Anastasia Tsaliki

Anastasia Tsaliki

Participation in this documentary directed by Julian Thomas and produced by Electric Sky for History Channel International.

"The legend of blood sucking vampires has captured peoples’ imagination for generations. Mysterious tales of the undead rising from their coffins to terrorise the living and drain their blood are the stuff of horror movies and novels. But a crack team of archaeologists and forensic scientists have uncovered hard evidence for the existence of the legend – a legend that continues to haunt communities in the present day…"