Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Where One Puts Wood On The Fire: The Political Economy Of P’Urépecha Urban Neighborhoods At The Site Of Angamuco, Michoacán, Kyle Ryan Urquhart

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to understand the political and economic relationships in the organization and use of neighborhood public space at the archaeological site of Angamuco in Michoacán, Mexico. Ethnohistoric sources describe multiple distinct social classes for the P’urépecha people at the time of European contact, but they are ambiguous about the exact political and economic relationships among them. There is some description of how these different interest groups articulated at the level of the city-state, but there is not much information on the internal dynamics of neighborhood or district-level subdivisions of the city-state. The discovery of the remains of a …

Into An Interference Zone: Childbirth And Care Among Mehinako People, Aline Regitano

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This article addresses issues of care and corporeality during gestation, childbirth, the postpartum period, and childcare through a case study conducted with Mehinako people. Among this Amazonian people, care forms the person, having an elementary function in the daily construction of kinship relations through means of affection. A recent trend has caused expressive transformations in the way women experience corporeality and the making of a person: the displacement of birth from the home to hospitals, motivated by women’s fear, desire, and curiosity. In the city, Indigenous women transit through medical institutions, which I propose may be read as interference zones …

Jean E. Jackson: A Pioneering Ethnographer In The Colombian Amazon, Patience Epps, Danilo Paiva Ramos, Flora Dias Cabalzar

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This essay celebrates the work of Jean E. Jackson, a pioneering female ethnographer who devoted most of her fifty-year career to the Indigenous peoples of Colombia. Her research, represented in an extensive set of publications from the early 1970s to the present, engages with themes of identity, stigma, and social inequality, manifested across a range of contexts. Jackson’s ethnographic contributions include her ground-breaking early work on Indigenous Tukanoan society in the Colombian Vaupés, focusing on the practice of linguistic exogamy (obligatory marriage across language groups) among the Bará people. Later, she expanded her focus to address Indigenous experiences in the …

Multilingual Pantanal And Its Decay, Gustavo Godoy, Kristina Balykova

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Historically, the Pantanal wetlands were inhabited by diverse ethnicities belonging to various linguistic groups, including Bororoan, Arawakan, Tupian, Gauicuruan, and Zamucoan, as well as some isolates and unclassified languages. Numerous ethnic groups disappeared without leaving any records of their languages, leaving behind only a list of ethnonyms. A point of confluence of different peoples that also circulated in other major South American areas, the Pantanal was a place with high linguistic diversity. Trade networks surrounded and permeated the area, as described in the earliest accounts by Portuguese and Spanish colonizers. As Indigenous groups were affected by colonial disputes over labor …

The Age Of The Onanya - Regarding The Spread Of Ayahuasca Use Throughout The Ucayali Basin, Carlos Suárez-Álvarez

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

The spread of ayahuasca shamanism throughout the Upper Amazon has become a matter of debate among scholars since, in 1994, anthropologist Peter Gow formulated the controversial suggestion that it could be a recent phenomenon in the Ucayali basin, usually considered the stronghold of a millenary tradition. Following Gow, Brabec de Mori argued that the Shipibo-Conibo people, a paradigmatic example of the antique practice of ayahuasca shamanism, adopted both the brew and the associated shamanic practices in a “relatively recent” past. Gow and Brabec pointed at the Maynas missions as the origin of this shamanic complex, and the mestizo and Cocama …

Introduction: Indigenous Multilingualism In Lowland South America, Patience Epps

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Recent decades have seen an exponential growth in our understanding of the indigenous languages of lowland South America – from their structures and interrelationships to the dynamics of their day-to-day use and the ways they are conceptualized by their speakers. These advances highlight not only the diversity of languages in lowland South America, but also the complexity of the dynamics of interaction among speakers in multilingual settings. The region is home to a range of interactive indigenous ‘regional systems’, such as the Vaupés, Upper Xingu, and other areas, where multiple languages have thrived alongside each other for generations, and interaction …

Language, Exogamy And Ethnicity In The Upper Rio Negro Region, Thiago Chacon, Luis Cayón

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

In this article we explore how languages interact with exogamous social units (e.g., clans and phratries) and descent ideologies (such as having a common mythical ancestor and emergence from the same mythical place) to help organize the multilingual and interethnic societies from the Upper Rio Negro region (URN) in the Amazon. We show that the expected alignment of language boundary, exogamous group and descent group is actually quite unusual. Complex social structures involving the aggregation of clans into larger ethnic groups or marriage alliances with other clans have important variations in the alignment of language, exogamy, and descent ideology. Existing …

Two Multilingual Regions In Southwestern Amazonia, Hein Van Der Voort

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Southwestern Amazonia is one of the most linguistically diverse regions of the Americas. It is possible that traditional Indigenous small-scale multilingualism used to exist in two neighboring regions in what is now Rondônia, on the Brazilian side of the Guaporé River. Permanent contact with representatives of Western society from the beginning of the twentieth century onwards led to great demographic, social, cultural, and economic upheaval among the Indigenous societies in the Rio Branco-Colorado and the Apediá-Corumbiara river basins. Early ethnographic reports suggest that these societies were characterized by traditional small-scale multilingualism. In this article, I summarize the evidence for this …

“Letalidade Branca”: Antropologia, Educação E Universidade. Uma Entrevista Com Felipe Tuxá, Felipe Sotto Maior Cruz, Jeovângela De Matos Rosa Ribeir, Vinícius Santos Nonato, Raíza Padilha Scanavaca, Rychelmy Imbiriba Veiga, Amiel Ernenek Mejía Lara

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Esta entrevista realizada com Felipe Sotto Maior Cruz, ou melhor, Felipe Tuxá – antropólogo do povo Tuxá, da Aldeia Mãe de Rodelas, Bahia, primeiro professor indígena da Universidade Federal da Bahia e membro do departamento de Antropologia e Etnologia da mesma instituição – foi parte das atividades do curso “Antropologias Outras: antropologias indígenas”, ministrado no Programa de Pós-graduação em Antropologia da UFBA no segundo semestre de 2022. Conduzida por pessoas que cursaram a disciplina, a entrevista aborda o conceito de “letalidade branca” – cunhado pelo entrevistado –, se debruça sobre os desafios epistemológicos e práticos de uma antropologia indígena, reflete …

The Way Of Warriors: Annotated Narratives Of The Mebengokre (Kayapo) In Brazil, By Gustaaf Verswijver, John Hemming

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This is a review of The Way of Warriors: Annotated Narratives of the Mebengokre (Kayapó) in Brazil, by Gustaaf Verswijver. Turuti Books: Almería, Spain.

Vaupés Multilingualism And The Substance Of Language, Stephen Hugh-Jones

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

By focusing on ordinary conversational language, relying on a notion of “group” derived from unilineal descent theory, and neglecting mythology and ritual, studies of Vaupés Tukanoan multilingualism have inadvertently tended to reproduce a Western ideology of language as marking national identity and concerned with conveying meaning. This paper suggests that attention to musical, ritual, and shamanic contexts reveals multilingualism in a different light, with ritual speech acts as constitutive of social groups, names as vehicles of reproduction, and breath as a substance-like bodily element and source of vitality. The more esoteric, rhetorical, musical, or visual ornamentation is given to breath, …

Clever Animals: Naturalcultural Interactions In Karitiana Hunting Practices (Rondônia, Brazil), Felipe Vander Velden

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This article addresses hunting practices and human-animal relations among the Karitiana, a Tupi-Arikém-speaking indigenous people in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon, asserting that if humans can learn from animals in long-lasting hunting experiences in the forest, animals can also learn how to deal with their human predators as well as their knowledge and techniques. Furthermore, animals must be understood here as species and individuals. This is an almost natural conclusion drawn from Amazonian ethnography, which suggests that distinctions between humans and the nonhumans that we call animals are not classified according to a categorization in which human beings have resourcefulness and …

Applying Settlement Models Through Chemical Analysis In Bartow County, Georgia, Bryan A. Moss*

Symposium of Student Scholars

During the Middle Woodland Period (300 BC – AD 600), ceremonial centers began to rise throughout the Eastern United States. These centers were hubs for ritual feasting and religious activities related to the Hopewell Mortuary Cult of Ohio. This project will focus on the Leake site and its relation to the surrounding villages in Northwest Georgia, each of which contains Swift Creek sherds. The Swift Creek Complicated stamped pottery contains curvilinear lines which are not present in other decorations of the Middle Woodland period. Swift Creek pottery is prominent in Middle Woodland ceremonial sites and is integrated into the Hopewell …

Faith's Role In Patients' Approaches To Healthcare Decisions, Maeve Chawk, Colin Fitzgerald, Andrew Ganninger, Grace Sorrentino, Justina Zolikoff

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

This is a literature review focusing on faith’s role in breaking down financial and cultural barriers to healthcare.

Through our research and analysis, we have found that faith-based approaches to healthcare break down the barriers that deter people from seeking treatment. Although there are different types of barriers that communities face, they all prevent individuals from receiving the care they deserve. Through increased support from their faith community, individuals are more likely to seek out help without any reservation.

How Science Education Impacts The Religious Beliefs Of Students, Sahithi Kunisetty, Alexa Neal, Benjamin Ravas

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

This is a literature review exploring the conflict between science and religion. It seeks to understand how a science education influences a student's level of religious beliefs. Furthermore, it provides reasons as to why one would have less access to a science education, and how religion can restrict one from learning about science.

2023 Program: Raymond A. Roesch, S.M., Social Sciences Symposium, University Of Dayton

Roesch Social Sciences Symposium Programs and Other Materials

No abstract provided.

Ethnicity, Identity, And Conceptualizing Community In Indian Ocean East Africa, Daren E. Ray

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

This volume explores how the people of littoral East Africa imagined and reimagined their communities over two millennia of engagement with Indian Ocean transformations—from the settlement of Bantu speakers near the coast around the first century CE to their participation in transoceanic commerce, imperial rivalries, colonial projects, and decolonization movements in the mid-twentieth century. Like other histories of the Indian Ocean, it emphasizes the circulation of people and ideas, but its cis-oceanic approach demonstrates how these littoral communities continued to integrate strategies from those in Africa’s interior as well as from people who traveled the ocean.

The book also clarifies …

Interviews In Global Catholicism: Dr. Petra Kuivala, Petra Kuivala

Journal of Global Catholicism

Interview with Dr. Petra Kuivala, University of Eastern Finland

Encuentros Y Variaciones Performáticas Entre El Larp Y El Cosplay. Algunas Claves Desde Las Teorías De Consumo (No)Narrativo, Laura I. Quiroz

Journal of Roleplaying Studies and STEAM

Tanto el larp (live-action role-play) como el cosplay (representación corporal de personajes de la cultura popular mediática) son manifestaciones dentro del amplio espectro de fenómenos del performance, entendido éste tanto escenificación como conclusión o reactivación de una experiencia. Ambas prácticas también están ligadas a hacer presentes, a través de los juegos de apariencia y la simulación corporal, universos narrativos ya sea completos, fragmentados o recombinados. La ponencia propuesta busca explorar estas relaciones y variaciones entre el larp y el cosplay a partir de las teorías de consumo narrativo y de la base de datos propuestas por Eiji Otsuka (2010, 2017) …

Taking Dominion To End Dominion: The Mennonite Influence On The End Of Russian Serfdom, H. Michael Shultz Jr.

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Serfdom in Russia was abolished in 1861, only 76 years after the first Mennonites were invited into Russia by Catherine II. By examining the lifestyle of the Mennonites who settled in the agriculturally productive “New Russia” (modern-day Ukraine), as well as the impact that the Mennonites had on the Imperial family, peasantry, and government, it is evident that the Mennonites played a recognizable role in bringing about the abolition of serfdom across the empire.

Interrogating Households In Anticipation Of Disasters: The Feminization Of Preparedness, Chika Watanabe, Celie Hanson

Critical Disaster Studies

It is now a maxim among scholars and policy-makers alike that disaster preparedness needs to involve community-based approaches in order to be effective. These include preparedness strategies in the household. But how do disaster preparedness policies and public discourses define “the household” in the first place? In this article, we explore how particular gendered notions of the household are reproduced in disaster preparedness policies and activities in Japan and the UK. Drawing on historical and cross-cultural analyses, we suggest that household preparedness efforts place the burden of labor on people coded as women—a phenomenon we call “the feminization of preparedness.” …

Testosterone Is Positively Associated With Coronary Artery Calcium In A Low Cardiovascular Disease Risk Population, Benjamin Trumble, Jacob Negrey, Stephanie V. Koebele, Randall C. Thompson, L. Samuel Wann, Adel H. Allam, Bret Beheim, M. Linda Sutherland, James D. Sutherland, Daniel Eid Rodriguez, David E. Michalik, Chris J. Rowan, Guido P. Lombardi, Angela R. Garcia, Daniel K. Cummings, Edmond Seabright, Sarah Alami, Thomas S. Kraft, Paul L. Hooper, Kenneth Buetow, Andrei Irimia, Margaret Gatz, Jonathan Stieglitz, Michael D. Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Gregory S. Thomas, Tsimane Health And Life History Project Teams

ESI Publications

Background

In industrialized populations, low male testosterone is associated with higher rates of cardiovascular mortality. However, coronary risk factors like obesity impact both testosterone and cardiovascular outcomes. Here, we assess the role of endogenous testosterone on coronary artery calcium in an active subsistence population with relatively low testosterone levels, low cardiovascular risk and low coronary artery calcium scores.

Methodology

In this cross-sectional community-based study, 719 Tsimane forager-horticulturalists in the Bolivian Amazon aged 40+ years underwent computed tomography (49.8% male, mean age 57.6 years).

Results

Coronary artery calcium levels were low; 84.5% had no coronary artery calcium. Zero-inflated negative binomial models …

Before Showtime, Amy Kaler

The Goose

In this piece of creative nonfiction, I reflect on the experience of having time on my hands in peri-urban spaces that are characterized by transience, liminality, and contingency, while waiting for performance time at youth cheerleading competitions. I describe walking around these places, specifically Las Vegas and Abbotsford (BC). I connect my experience to other accounts of aimless wandering, such as the "derive" of psychogeography, and note the ways in which the exercises of power and potential world-ending catastrophe are present, but latent, in these landscapes. In particular, I consider the historic cold-war threat of a nuclear bomb as well …

It’S Not Paradise For The Dogs And Shelter Workers: Dog Welfare And Occupational Stress In Animal Shelters In Hawaii, Lynn Morrison

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Dog welfare and occupational stress of animal shelter workers at two sites on Hawaii Island were examined. The east side had higher euthanasia rates than the west side. The two sites are in locales that differ culturally and economically. The goal of this study is to (1) elucidate how dog culture differs at the two sites and how those differences affect the health of dogs, and (2) assess the stress levels of shelter workers who must simultaneously care for the dogs while often having to euthanize them. Interviews and cortisol were obtained from the shelter workers and cortisol was obtained …

How Film Influences And Reflects States Of Consciousness - Through Films Of Julian Sands, Leila Kincaid

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Film, as a multivalent art form, uses archetypal themes and symbols that have the power to affect the consciousness of its viewers. The stories that play out on the screen through plot, setting, character, and the elements of storytelling through film carry rich and deep archetypal meaning for our culture and our psyches. This is how film can impact us on deep, subconscious levels and influence and change our consciousness, for good or ill. A look at two key films with the actor Julian Sands illustrates the way we, as viewers, experience a shift and even transformation in consciousness through …

Interspecies Relations In The Midst Of The Russia–Ukraine War, Tanya Richardson

Anthropology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Bolting The Landscape: An Ethnography Of Yosemite As A Significant Climbing Destination, Vanessa Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Yosemite Valley is a transformative landscape that helps to shape climbers’ identities and fosters a unique sense of community, which continually reinforces its status as a renowned and evolving climbing destination. The historical influence of Yosemite Valley on rock climbing began in the 1950s and has since defined itself as a prominent destination for climbers worldwide. This ethnographic research analyzes how climbers forge a meaningful connection with the Valley by forming a deep sense of place that intertwines with their personal identities as climbers and investigates the intricate relationship between climbers’ identities and the Yosemite landscape. This research also explores …

Putting It Gently: The Other Side Of A Peace Corps Volunteer Experience, Nicole Jacobson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Peace Corps is a transformative experience for many young Americans. The majority of volunteers have worthwhile services they remember fondly; however, these experiences are not always positive. The Peace Corps is a Cold War initiative that uses soft power techniques to further American exceptionalism, capitalism, and the modernization theory of development. The goal of this project was to understand what factors led to the negative experiences of Peace Corps Volunteers. I conducted an ethnography that focused on online communities, semi-structured interviews, Peace Corps memoirs, and news articles to understand Peace Corps Volunteers’ experiences and the organizational culture where they …

Air Pollution Associated With Perception Of Increased Health Risks For People Living With Disabilities In Utah, Bosede Adejugbe, Gabriele Ciciurkaite, Sydney O'Shay, Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad

Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP)

Air quality is one of the top environmental concerns for Utahns today¹. Health risks associated with air pollution can range from mild physiological impacts to death from cardiovascular and respiratory disease^2-4. Little is known about the ways that environmental risks impact people with disabilities because they are often excluded from clinical and social science research⁶. Gaining a more robust understanding of air pollution’s impacts on people living with disabilities (PLwD) is particularly important considering that PLwD comprise about 32.2%⁵ of the U.S. population and 22% of Utah’s population, the latter of which is …

Author Exchange, Sushmita Pati, Mukulika Banerjee

Popular Media

Anthropologist Mukulika Banerjee and political scientist Sushmita Pati have a conversation about their recently published books set in rural Bengal and Delhi’s urban villages, respectively. They situate their analyses of the intersections between democracy, capitalism, urbanization, and globalization in events, relations, and cultures of the everyday. Their exchange offers important insights for how political subjectivities and social ties are differently constituted or, to use Banerjee’s term, “cultivated” in these two settings. The two books offer a fine-grained view of how active citizenship in rural and urban India is refracted through distinct social and institutional structures. India is home to some …