Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Migration On Gender Norms And Relations: The Post-Repatriation Experience In Bor, South Sudan, Marybeth Chrostowsky

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

My dissertation research was a 14-month ethnographic study of the post-repatriation experience of forced migrants in South Sudan. It was designed to determine if alterations to gender norms and relations that refugees experienced during asylum differed as a function of the asylum environments and if these modifications remained intact upon the refugees’ return. The forced migrants in my sample, the Dinka of Bor from South Sudan, encountered two different asylum environments and experiences: Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya and Khartoum, in northern Sudan. After 10-15 years in asylum, these forced Dinka Bor migrants returned to South Sudan. I compared …

Late Archaic To Early Woodland Lithic Technology At The Knob Creek Site (12hr484), Harrison County, Indiana, Kyle E. Mullen

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This study examines bifacial technology change at the Knob Creek site (12HR484) in Harrison County, Indiana, from the Late Archaic to Early Woodland periods. Through a statistical and attribute analysis of 2,620 lithic flakes it was possible to detect changes in the lithic reduction process over time. The analysis demonstrates that soft-hammer percussion becomes more prevalent during the Early Woodland component of the site. This is a significant change from the hard-hammer percussion industry of the Lower Late Archaic. The Terminal Archaic Riverton component in this study offers one of the few detailed flake-by-flake analyses for this poorly understood lithic …

Missing "Links": Investigating The Age And Gender Dimensions Of Development, Conservation, And Environmental Change In A Southern Zambian Frontier, Allison Harnish

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This dissertation focuses on the lived, material realities of rural women, men, girls, and boys struggling to make a living in the context of changing national development priorities and changing environmental conditions in Southern Province, Zambia.

Over the last 20 years, Gwembe Tonga migrants living in the frontier farming area of Kulaale have witnessed significant declines in non-cultivated “bush” resources due to the conversion of forest and grassland to agricultural uses. This dissertation seeks to understand how women, men, boys, and girls differently experience these declines according to local gender- and age-based divisions of subsistence labor. Drawing on a variety …

Manufacturing Ceramics: Ceramic Ecology And Technological Choice In The Upper Cumberland River Valley, Melissa Ramsey

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Ceramic material culture recovered from archaeological sites has more to offer the researcher than placing the site or strata into a cultural historic timeline. By examining the characteristics of ceramics manufactured during the Woodland Period in southern Kentucky, this thesis answers questions related to the behavior of the potters who lived and worked there. Using the theoretical basis of ceramic ecology and technological choice, this thesis examines the choices made by the potters of two sites, the Long (15Ru17) and Rowena (15Ru10) sites, located along the Cumberland River in Russell County, Kentucky. The two sites are also compared to one …

Advice, Influence, And Independence: Adolescent Nutritional Practices And Outcomes In Belfast, Northern Ireland, Jennifer L. Williams

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

The goal of this dissertation is to discuss relationships between the sociocultural environment and nutritional status outcomes in an urban industrialized city with high rates of poverty. The purpose is to highlight the complex web of factors shaping nutritional status outcomes and move beyond cause and effect approaches to nutrition in an environment where obesity is a central nutritional concern. To accomplish this goal, I examine a range of factors that relate to adolescent nutritional practices and nutritional status outcomes in a sample population of adolescents living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I discuss connections between social locations such as age, …

The Cultural Politics Of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders And The Diagnosis Of Difference, Travis H. Hedwig

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This dissertation is based on an ethnographic study of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and the racial, cultural and political considerations that shape the meaning of diagnosis for Alaska Native individuals and families in Anchorage, Alaska. During the period from August 6, 2010 to through August 5, 2011, I worked with foster families and extended natural families living with and supporting individuals diagnosed with FASD. Documenting the experiences of families in their interactions with clinical, state, tribal and non-profit institutions, I sought to understand how a diagnosis of FASD structures opportunities, outcomes and everyday life experiences across several critical life …

The Health Consequences And Healthcare-Seeking Strategies For South American Immigrant Careworkers In Genoa, Italy, Patti A. Meyer

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This research on healthcare strategies of home-based, low-wage, immigrant careworkers contributes to the ways medical anthropology, migration studies and social science understand human-economy-family care relationships and health and carework as commodities in today's global economy. It reveals the consequences for workers as they defray the costs of care for the Italian government and contribute to their home economies. This research was conducted in Genoa, Italy, which has the largest percentage of people over the age of 70 in any city of its size in the world and a tradition of sending and receiving immigrant workers. The main question was: Under …