Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Factors Related To The Marital Satisfaction Of Malian Women In Polygamous Marriages, Lauren E. Troy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In anthropological research, polygamy is typically defined as “a marital relationship involving multiple wives” (Kottak, 1978 cited in Low, 1988, p. 189). The term polygamy, however, includes three different types of relationships. The first, polygynandry, is characterized by a group marriage in which multiple wives are married to multiple husbands, while the second, polyandry, refers to a wife married to two or more husbands. The third form, and that which is explored in this study, is polygyny. Hereafter referred to as polygamy, it is the marriage of one husband to two or more wives and is the most common form …

Reviving Ancient Traditions: A New Approach To The Emancipation Of Malian Women, Claire Crowley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Being immersed in a Malian family for over three months has given me an opportunity to observe and experience certain dynamics of the culture not afforded to the average traveller. It was this very experience which served to inspire this project, a diversion from my original research topic of polygamy. While the textbooks focused on the compliance and submission of Malian women, each day spent immersed in the culture and my family hinted at something more. My family’s lifeline and backbone are the women who manage the household; particularly my Maman and sister. While many acknowledge that Malian women carry …

Samoa: A Truly Religious Place? Views Toward Religion In Samoa, Angelica Saada

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The goal of this study was to explore the ‘religiosity’ of Samoa. Specifically, this study attempted to understand how ‘religious’ the average Samoan is, as well as examine the implications of being ‘religious’ in Samoa. It also sought to investigate the plurality of religions in Samoa, the existence of individuals moving between churches, and attitudes towards religious plurality. In addition, this study explored differences between the religiosities of younger and older generations and attitudes toward Samoan youth. Based on the results from interviews and surveys, it was concluded that Samoans view themselves and their country as ‘very religious.’ Being ‘religious’ …

A Portrait Of Perseverance: A Glimpse Into The Life Of One Family In Edehara, Tunisia, Kathryn Graves Tindell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Excerpt from Introduction:

What follows is a short story providing a glimpse into the life of Naïma and her family. The entire story is based on fact, each person is real in every detail and each event described occurred; however, the sequence of events is fictionalized. For example, I did not see the pottery made from beginning to end, but rather saw different steps of the process throughout the course of my seven days. In total, I did view every step except for retrieving the clay from the mountains, but as they told many stories about this, I have a …

Traditions In Transition: A Musical Perspective In A Changing, Developing Samoa, Colin Kiley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper was compiled during November 2008. It was a research project that sought out the perspectives of various diverse musicians in Samoa at that time. These musicians included music school instructors, Peace Corps volunteers, Samoan orchestra composers and conductors, traditional Samoan composers, traveled Samoan musicians as well as contemporary Samoan artists. The paper examines how the purposes of music in Samoan society have shifted, altered or changed from traditional times to current-day Samoa in the face of development, a growing economy and increased contact with outside influences. Although the music of Samoa, its purposes, values, uses and aesthetics have …

Faith And Freedom: A Profile Of The Religious Environment In Mongolia’S Emerging Democracy, Jeffrey Sinick

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mongolia is a rapidly globalizing nation that became both democratic and capitalistic after their 1990 revolution. In its history Mongolia has always had a strong religious influence coming mainly from Buddhism, which prevailed throughout Mongolia before the 70-year long socialist period that preceded the democratic revolution. The socialist period destroyed much of the traditional religion in Mongolia and left a spiritual and political vacuum in Mongolia after 1990. Economic hardships and religious tolerance brought forth numerous Christian religious groups and social organization that have profoundly affected the new religious environment in Mongolia, while Buddhism struggled to rebuild and retain a …

Mivumba In Kampala: Tracking The History, Trade, And Perceptions Of A Global Commodity In Local Culture, Claire Walsh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

One surprisingly unstudied and little documented aspect of the present-day African market system– almost impossible to ignore when one is walking the streets of Kampala and bombarded by its presence– is second-hand clothing. This study investigates the history, systems, and perceptions of the second-hand clothing market in Kampala, Uganda. Combining an ethnographic analysis with historical research, this paper details how a western commodity is changed, both in meaning and form, and interacted with on a local level– adding to anthropological literature that analyzes how local cultures interact, and not passively react, to globalization.

The emergence of the large second-hand clothing …

El Legado De Al-Andalus En La Gastronomía Granadina Y La Influencia Actual (The Legacy Of Al-Andalus In The Gastronomy Of Granada), Elizabeth Leibinger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Caldereria, the street is officially named, but it is known as the Calle de las Teterias. One crowded, narrow market street, leading tourists and locals alike up into the Albaicin, overflows with Arabic themed shops and products. But most noticeable, and most attractive to me, are the Arabic arches of the lavishly decorated teterias, tea houses, scattered among these little shops. Inside is the aspect of Granadian culture most basic to life here and a living remnant of the Moorish occupation – food! I came to Granada with the clear knowledge that I would find many windows into its …

The Moving Landscape: Perspectives On Place, Emily Goughary

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The discourses of place, identity, and modernity have been thoroughly nuanced in development literature, though perhaps not through the lens that I am proposing to view them. My aim in conducting research on identity of place and by what processes they might be constructed is to examine the cultural knowledge and perception by which places are rendered meaningful. An important aspect of this type of research includes observing what processes of place and of the world outside a place influence the construction of the perceptions of modernity or progress. The nature of this research demands that it be done on …

Present-Tense Tradition: The Conflict Over Commodification In Sauraha, Nepal, William Litton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In one broad stroke, this is a study of 'modern man's' loss of 'nature' and 'tradition,' and the bizarre things he does to reclaim and reinvent them. My study takes place in the town of Sauraha, situated just by the entrance into Nepal's Royal Chitwan National Park, where, in the past 30 years, the tourist industry has expanded significantly. The industry offers consumers a unique commodity: the chance to re-commune with and marvel at 'true nature and tradition,' both inside the park proper, which boasts rhinos and tigers and bears (oh my!), and, of particular interest to me, in the …

A Culture Seen Through Cuisine: Traditional Zanzibari Recipes, Lizzie Resta

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Zanzibari cuisine was studied through the collecting of traditional and typical recipes. Along with the ingredients and cooking methods, further information about Zanzibari culinary traditions was gathered, such as historical origins of certain dishes, their special religious and ceremonial uses, as well as any superstitions or beliefs surrounding particular foods. All of this information was then compiled into a cookbook.

On Est Ensemble: A Participatory Study Of The Jembe Tradition As Preserved By The Griots Of West Africa, Joel Rowe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this study, I examine how a culture’s values are reflected in a specific pedagogical process through participant observation; in essence, I endeavor to examine first-hand the anthropology of pedagogy. The jembe, in truth, is comparable to a window into both the teaching model of a Senegalese master drummer and the cultural values reflected in his pedagogical method. In learning to play the parts of seven jembe rhythms with fluidity and recording their cultural significances, I discover the elements of criticism and sacrifice deeply inlaid in the tradition of this instrument. Relative to the communal setting of the griot family …