Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Queer Rural Youth Online: A Digital Ethnography, Joseph Robert Burns

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is based on digital ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2023 within Queer subcommunities on the social media sites Reddit and Twitter (now known as X) and data collected from interviews with Queer rural youth members of these communities. The data reveal that social media use directly influences the lives and actions of Queer rural youth, who use the space to build social connections, shape their personal identities, and seek advice pertaining to their in-person lives and decisions. By using these spaces, Queer rural youth build both bonding and bridging social capital, learn to subvert restrictions to their Internet access, …

Large-Scale, Collaborative Imagery Survey In Archaeology: The Geospatial Platform For Andean Culture, History And Archaeology (Geopacha), Steven A. Wernke, Parker Van Valkenburgh, James Zimmer-Dauphinee, Bethany Whitlock, Giles Spence Morrow, Ryan Smith, Douglas Smit, Daniel Plekhov, Multiple Additional Authors

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Imagery-based survey is capable of producing archaeological datasets that complement those collected through field-based survey methods, widening the scope of analysis beyond regions. The Geospatial Platform for Andean Culture, History and Archaeology (GeoPACHA) enables systematic registry of imagery survey data through a ‘federated’ approach. Using GeoPACHA, teams pursue problem-specific research questions through a common data schema and interface that allows for inter-project comparisons, analyses and syntheses. The authors present an overview of the platform's rationale and functionality, as well as a summary of results from the first survey campaign, which was carried out by six projects distributed across the central …

Human-Modified Landscapes Driving The Global Primate Extinction Crisis, Erik Joaquín Torres-Romero, Vincent Nijman, David Fernández, Timothy M. Eppley

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The world's primates have been severely impacted in diverse and profound ways by anthropogenic pressures. Here, we evaluate the impact of various infrastructures and human-modified landscapes on spatial patterns of primate species richness, at both global and regional scales. We overlaid the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) range maps of 520 primate species and applied a global 100 km2 grid. We used structural equation modeling and simultaneous autoregressive models to evaluate direct and indirect effects of six human-altered landscapes variables (i.e., human footprint [HFP], croplands [CROP], road density [ROAD], pasture lands [PAST], protected areas [PAs], and Indigenous …

A Content Analysis Of Social Media Discussions On Thc-Oacetate, Daniel J. Kruger, Amila Karahmet, Sydney M. Kaplan, Taylor Stacy, John Redfield, Vitush Agarwal, Mutaz Faqqouseh, Carlton Cb. Bone

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Novel cannabinoids require systematic research to inform policies and practices. There is a growing interest in semi-synthetic cannabinoids by consumers, manufacturers, and regulators. However, there is a scarcity of research on these substances. Online discussion forums can provide guidance for research questions when current knowledge is scarce. The current project investigates the topics and issues covered in a social media forum devoted to THC-O-acetate (THCO), a semi-synthetic cannabinoid with rapidly rising popularity. Reddit comments posted on the THCO subreddit from June 2021 through November 2021 were coded for major and minor themes by a team of five coders and a …

Confronting Web3 Technology: Opportunities, Challenges And Community Formation, Christopher-John Rogers

Dissertations and Theses

The emergence of blockchain technology created an entire industry of innovative new digital assets--or tokens--and diverse new fields of expertise founded on ideological aspirations of a new World Wide Web that reimagines digital value transfer through decentralization and disintermediation. Experimentation in the so-called "Web3" industry produces rich new fields of ethnographic study revealing the experiences of diverse individuals navigating novel technological capabilities which give way to new avenues of identity formation, community building, and ecosystem creation. These exciting new endeavors come with difficult challenges threatening the realization of ambitious visions for digital futures. Ethnographic research conducted through discourse analysis, participant …

"Where Is Your Accent From?": The Voice Of My Identity, Robert Northman

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

This essay probes the role of language in how it contributes to the construct of one's identity. The author discusses lived experiences centered on the the perceptions of accented English that is actually African American Vernacular English. The essay explores how these experiences were formed and how they developed over the course of the author's lifetime. The author also discusses ways in which language has caused both comfort and conflict, and provides a glimpse into a unique perspective that can contribute to a greater understanding of the power and importance of language.

People And Power: Person-First Language Usage And The Criminal Justice System, Casey E. Orr

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

Language is power. Word choice and terminology, especially those referring to people, are expressions of societal norms and institutional power. Dehumanizing crime-first terms and labels are abundant and common in criminal justice contexts despite being protested by system-involved individuals and activists. Instead, many advocate for person-first terms wherein identifying language emphasizes an individual’s humanity. With a peace-focused anthropological framework, this paper presents the case for person-first language in criminal justice contexts. It is evident that adopting first-person language usage regarding the criminal justice system is necessary after analyzing and considering the multiple sources, such as the voices of those who …

Dancers Of The Book: Yemenite, Persian, And Kurdish Jewish Dance, Quinn Bicer

Anthós

Despite the cultural significance of dance in Jewish communities around the world, research into Middle Eastern Jewish dance outside of the modern nation-state of Israel is sorely under-researched. This article aims to help rectify this by focusing on Yemenite, Persian/Iranian, and Kurdish Jewish dance and explores how these dancers have functioned and been received within the societies they have been a part of. The methods that have gone into this article are a combination of analyzing primary source recorded dances and existing secondary source research into the dance of these communities. Through these methods, this article reveals how Yemenite, Iranian, …

Doings With Land: Process And Participation Through Indigenous-Led, Experiential Education In Saqáanpa (The Snake River In Hells Canyon), Clark Shimeall

University Honors Theses

In our rapidly unraveling world, the re-centering of Indigenous ways of being and knowing is more important than ever. This re-centering is based in cultural revitalization and transmission within Indigenous communities, and these processes are intimately tied to relationship with Land. This writing describes the "doing" of an Indigenous-led experiential educational program for Nez Perce and Cayuse descended youth -- the Saqáanma School -- which was conducted via whitewater raft on pik'uunin (the Snake River) through saqáanpa (Hells Canyon) in July 2021. The complex exchanges between people, culture, and Land embodied in this project are examined through Barker and Pickerill's …

Umm Huwaiwitat: A Neolithic Site Near Petra, Jordan, Daniel Plekhov, Cristiano Nicosia, Luiza Osorio G. Silva, Sarah Newman, Felipe Rojas

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Studies of the rural landscapes around the Nabataean/Roman city of Petra in Jordan have tended to assume a developmental trajectory based on that of the urban centre. Recent archaeological investigations at the site of Umm Huwaiwitat, however, shed light on the longer-term histories of human occupation and land use in the region north of Petra. Excavation has revealed Late Neolithic deposits formed by the burning of animal dung and the disposal of ash. These deposits underlie walls, today serving as agricultural terraces, which date to at least the Early Bronze Age. Umm Huwaiwitat therefore provides a microcosm of the long-lived …

Comparing True Maternal And Paternal Care In Pair-Living, Ex-Situ Varecia Rubra (Red Variegated Lemurs) Contextualized Among Other Primate Cooperative Breeders, Payton Elizabeth Zuver

Dissertations and Theses

Observations of variegated lemurs in the wild have revealed a cooperative breeding strategy including extensive male care to young, primarily in the form of infant guarding. This thesis presents an analysis of the first quantitative assessment of true paternal and true maternal care from pair-housed, ex-situ red variegated lemurs (V. rubra) housed at the Lemur Conservation Foundation’s Myakka City Lemur Reserve in western Florida. This study aims to answer specific research questions: How do paternal and maternal care compare when resources are abundant, and paternity is certain? Is male care instinctual? Is it driven by energetic necessity? If …

A Habitat Stronghold On The Precipice: A Call‐To‐Action For Supporting Lemur Conservation In Northeast Madagascar, Timothy M. Eppley, Cortni Borgerson, Natalie Vasey, Multiple Additional Authors

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The northeast of Madagascar is as diverse as it is threatened. The area bordering the Analanjirofo and SAVA regions contains six protected areas and at least 22 lemur species. Many applied research and conservation programs have been established in the region with the aim of ensuring both wildlife and people thrive in the long term. While most of the remaining humid evergreen forest of northeast Madagascar is formally protected, the local human population depends heavily on the land, and unsustainable natural resource use threatens this biodiversity hotspot. Drawing from our collective experiences managing conservation activities and research programs in northeast …

Legal Geographies, Caroline Griffith, Sarah Klosterkamp, Alida Cantor, Austin Kocher

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

This encyclopedia entry defines and discusses legal geography. Legal geography is an interdisciplinary area of scholarship that focuses on the intersections and co-constitution between law and space and place: that is, how law and legal processes produce space/place, and how particular places in turn influence law. Rather than thinking of law as an abstract, universal, a-spatial set of rules, legal geography examines the ways in which law is situated in place, and how places are shaped by legal practices and processes.

Contextualizing Patterns In Short-Term Disaster Recoveries From The 2015 Nepal Earthquakes: Household Vulnerabilities, Adaptive Capacities, And Change, Jeremy Spoon, Drew Gerkey, Alisa Rai

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Disaster recovery is multidimensional and requires theoretical and methodological approaches from the interdisciplinary social sciences to illustrate short- and long-term recovery dynamics that can guide more informed and equitable policy and interventions. The 2015 Nepal earthquakes have had catastrophic impacts on historically marginalized ethnic groups and Indigenous households in rural locations, arising in the immediate aftermath and unfolding for years afterward. Analyzing factors that shape household recovery patterns can help identify vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities in addition to signaling potential future changes. We pursue this goal using survey data from 400 randomly selected households in 4 communities over 2 10-week …

Uncomfortable Yet Necessary: The Impact Of Ppe On Communication In Emergency Medicine, Jennifer Aengst, Grace A. Walker-Stevenson, Tabria Harrod, Jonathan Ivankovic, Jacob Neilson, Jeanne-Marie Guise

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: The efficacy of pre-hospital emergency services is heavily dependent on the effective communication of care providers. This effective communication occurs between providers as part of a team, but also among providers interacting with family members and patients. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a number of communication challenges to emergency care, which are primarily linked to the increased use of PPE.

Methods: We sought to analyze the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on Emergency Medical Service (EMS) workers and pre-hospital care delivery. We conducted focus groups and one-on-one interviews with fire-EMS first responders between Sept 2021 and 2022. Interviews …

Mobility Interrupted: A New Framework For Understanding Anti-Left Sentiment Among Brazil’S “Once-Rising Poor”, Benjamin Junge, Sean T. Mitchell, Charles H. Klein, Matthew Spearly

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

How do sequences of upward and downward socioeconomic mobility influence political views among those who have “risen” or “fallen” during periods of leftist governance? While existing studies identify a range of factors, long-term mobility trajectories have been largely unexplored. The question has particular salience in contemporary Brazil, where, after a decade of extraordinary poverty reduction on the watch of the leftist Workers’ Party (PT), a subsequent period of economic and political crises intensified anti-PT sentiment. This article uses original data from the 2016 Brazil’s Once-Rising Poor (BORP) Survey, using a 3-city sample of 822 poor and working-class Brazilians to analyze …

Factors Influencing Terrestriality In Primates Of The Americas And Madagascar, Timothy M. Eppley, Selwyn Hoeks, Colin A. Chapman, Joerg U. Ganzhorn, Katie Hall, Megan A. Owen, Dara B. Adams, Néstor Allgas, Multiple Additional Authors

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Among mammals, the order Primates is exceptional in having a high taxonomic richness in which the taxa are arboreal, semiterrestrial, or terrestrial. Although habitual terrestriality is pervasive among the apes and African and Asian monkeys (catarrhines), it is largely absent among monkeys of the Americas (platyrrhines), as well as galagos, lemurs, and lorises (strepsirrhines), which are mostly arboreal. Numerous ecological drivers and species-specific factors are suggested to set the conditions for an evolutionary shift from arboreality to terrestriality, and current environmental conditions may provide analogous scenarios to those transitional periods. Therefore, we investigated predominantly arboreal, diurnal primate genera from the …

Stoneware And Earthenware From The Beeswax Wreck: Classification Of The Dubé Collection And Discussion Of The Interpretation Of The Materials In Protohistoric Sites, Vanessa Renee Litzenberg

Dissertations and Theses

Over the past three centuries, items from the Beeswax Wreck have been discovered on Oregon's northern coastline near Manzanita, including stoneware and earthenware fragments. While the stoneware and earthenware were not noticed by beachcombers washing ashore until more recently, similar artifacts have been noted within Indigenous sites for decades. While most of the analysis of the artifacts found in protohistoric settings are used to provide proof of a wreck or potentially a marker of the start of the contact period, this study aims to provide some context to the stoneware and earthenware sherds related to the wreck. The goal was …

What Happened To The “New Middle Class”? The 2016 Borp (Brazil’S Once-Rising Poor) Survey, Benjamin Junge, Sean T. Mitchell, Charles H. Klein, David De Micheli

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research note provides a detailed account of the development and implementation of a household survey conducted in 2016 as part of a larger investigation into the lifeways and political subjectivities of Brazil’s “once-rising poor,” the demographic sector comprising poor and working-class people who experienced various forms of socioeconomic mobility in the early twenty-first century. After reflecting on the challenges of maintaining a critical perspective on class labels and relations that were intensely contested at the time, the article introduces the survey sample (n = 1,204), highlighting variables captured. It then establishes the demographic profile, mobility experiences, political values, attitudes, …

Shaping The Witch: A Visual Art Thesis, Amanda Cobb

University Honors Theses

This thesis is an exploration of the complex and interconnected nature of folklore, personal mythology, and re-enchantment as expressed through the lens of puppetry. I have drawn inspiration from the works of deeply reflective works concerning the psychological nature of mythologies of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, as well as the magical and beautiful work of artists Jim Henson, Brian and Wendy Froud, and Mercer Meyer. Through working in the medium of puppets, I have given consideration to the possibilities and limitations of these forms in expressing the complexity of narrative, personal mythology, the anxiety of disenchantment, lost and reclaimed …

The Cultural Dilemma Of The American Education System: An Observation Of How It Lives In Montessori, Amaya Varma

University Honors Theses

This thesis acts as a case study examining the culture of a Montessori school by highlighting major themes from a selection of interviews. The intention is not to measure the amount of diversity in this school, but rather to provide an observation of people's understanding of the concept. It intends to show the limits and contradictions of any schooling project which concerns the structural constraints of the American education system. It reveals an internal "culture of kindness" which is constructed in this school and argues that Montessori education could be amenable to instilling certain values which allow for students to …

Reduce, Reuse And Deny: How Sustainability Is Judged By Consumers, Madison E. Hill

Student Research Symposium

This research was an analysis of a series of interviews regarding what factors are considered when deciding if a given product is environmentally friendly or not. Participants were asked to select between products or practices as the generally more sustainable option, and were asked to explain their reasoning for that decision. Participants were encouraged to describe their reasoning behind each choice, but it was noted when certain choices were more challenging than others. Products that green-wash effectively generate trust between consumers trying to ‘do their part’ and industries attempting to capitalize on each side of environmental crises. Most sustainable practices …

“From The Beginning Of Time”: The Colonial Reconfiguration Of Native Habitats And Indigenous Resource Practices On The British Columbia Coast, Chief Adam Dick (Kwaxsistalla Wathl’Thla), Daisy Sewid-Smith (Mayanilth), Kim Recalma-Clutesi, Douglas Deur, N.J. Turner (Galitsimġa)

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Indigenous Peoples’ lives, cultures, and values are defined largely by their long-term relationships with the lands, waters, and lifeforms of their territories. Their stories, names, ceremonies, and connections with the plants and animals on which they have depended over countless generations are cornerstones of their knowledge systems, systems of governance and decision-making, traditions of intergenerational knowledge transmission, and values and responsibilities associated with natural and human domains alike. For First Nations of North America’s Northwest Coast, as for many other Indigenous Peoples, the arrival of European newcomers disrupted both the natural world and associated cultural practices in interconnected ways. The …

Madagascar Terrestrial Camera Survey Database 2021: A Collation Of Protected Forest Camera Surveys From 2007–2021, Erin M. Wampole, Brian D. Gerber, Jean Claude Razafimahaimodison, Mahandry Hugues Andrianarisoa, Claude Jacquot Ralazampirenena, Patricia C. Wright, C. Delaid Rasamisoa, Dean Gibson, Natalie Vasey, Multiple Additional Authors

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Madagascar is a threatened global biodiversity hotspot and conservation priority, yet we lack broad-scale surveys to assess biodiversity across space and time. To fill this gap, we collated camera trap surveys, capturing species occurrences within Madagascar into a single standardized database. This data set includes nine distinct protected areas of Madagascar and encompasses 13 subprojects, 38 camera arrays, and 1156 sampling units (independent camera site per survey) within two important biodiversity eco-regions: western dry deciduous forest and eastern humid rainforest. Camera surveys were conducted from June 2007 to January 2021. The final data set includes 17 unique families of mammals …

Coming To Know The Local Environment: Children's Experiences In Rautamai Gaunpalika, Nepal, Elsie Nicole Love

Dissertations and Theses

This qualitative research, conducted over three months from late monsoon season into early fall of 2018 with twenty-six children and thirteen adults, explores how children in the hills of Rautamai Gaunpalika, Province 1, Nepal come to know their local environment. Semi-structured interviews with children, their family members, and teachers, and participant observation with children as they worked and played in forests, fields, and streams, suggest that outside of school, children come to know their local environment in the following ways: through participation in and application of knowledge to subsistence practices; through collaborative learning and teaching in mixed-age groups; through relationships …

Looking Back, Looking Forward: Resilience And Persistence In A Klamath Tribal Community, Thomas J. Connolly, Christopher L. Ruiz, Douglas Deur, Perry Chocktoot Jr., Jaime L. Kennedy, Dennis L. Jenkins, Julia A. Knowles

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The process of human culture entails a perpetual negotiation between the familiar and the new. In the Americas, this process was much accelerated and amplified within Native communities by the historical processes of colonization. We use the record of the Beatty Curve archaeological site in south-central Oregon to examine how members of the Klamath Tribes and their ancestors selectively adopted, adapted, or repurposed introduced materials and practices most compatible with traditional lifeways and values while also maintaining many traditional practices, both overtly and covertly. Transformations from pre-contact to reservation life, and through Termination and Restoration in the 20th century, are …

More Than Words: Articulating The Multisensory Experiences Of Protected Area Visitors In Southern Nevada, Sara Nicole Temme

Dissertations and Theses

The complex sensory experiences of visitors to U.S. protected areas are not well understood. Previous research investigates visitor activities, motivations, and the ways place attachment cultivates support for conservation activities and other pro-environmental behavior. However, it is unclear how protected area visitor sensory experiences contribute to these behaviors. This study aims to articulate the multisensory experiences of visitors to the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex and the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area in southern Nevada, U.S.A. Specifically, it demonstrates the complexity of these experiences as present, intertwined, and embodied in all visit phases: before, during, and after. Utilizing a mixed-method …

Linking Conservation And Environmental Justice: Exploring Relationship-Building Between A Land Trust And Four Pacific Northwest Tribes, C. Noel Plemmons

Dissertations and Theses

Conservation organizations around the world are addressing exclusionary policies and implicit biases that have alienated segments of society from both the conservation movement and natural places. Native American tribes make up one segment of society with a particular interest in and deep ties to land and resources. Vancouver, Washington-based Columbia Land Trust recognizes tribes' special relationships with their ancestral lands and resources thereon, but has struggled to develop policies that involve tribes in conserved areas and conservation plans. The conception among mainstream scientists that western conservation science is better equipped than Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) to determine best practices is …

Recovering Salmon: Zooarchaeology And Oral Tradition In The Documentation Of Extirpated Cultural Keystone Species In The Upper Klamath Basin, Douglas Deur, Perry Chocktoot Jr.

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

As this special issue attests, Dr. Virginia Butler and her students have made significant and lasting contributions to the study of human-environment relationships over deep time in the Pacific Northwest. Beyond this, their contributions suggest the potential of archaeological research to engage the public and to address pressing natural resource issues of our time. Their investigations of Pacific salmon harvests in the Klamath River Basin are an important case in point. Applying the methods of zooarchaeology to the study of anadromous fish in the Upper Klamath Basin, Butler and her students provide clear corroboration of Tribal oral tradition. In turn, …

Reflections On The State Of Northwest Archaeology: Essays In Honor Of Virginia Butler: Introduction, Shelby L. Anderson, Jeremy Spoon

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction to the Fall 2021 issue of Journal of Northwest Anthropology. Essays in Honor of Virginia L. Butler, Portland State University.