Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Kanjirowa Blues: An Exploration Of Environmental And Climate Consciousness In Lower Dolpa, Nepal, Casey Greenleaf

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

It has been scientifically demonstrated that high altitude, mountainous regions such as the Himalayas are extremely susceptible to and at accelerated risk of the effects of climate change. The regions of Lower Dolpa discussed in this work, Juphal, Dunai, Chun, and Dapu, lie in a glacial watershed, and are at present risk of landslides, floods, wildfires, and rely on agricultural and transhumant livelihoods that are uniquely susceptible to the impacts of changing temperature and weather patterns. People in this region are being forced to incrementally adapt and reframe their understanding of their surroundings due to both aforementioned severe events as …

The Process Of Conducting Socioeconomic Research In Vietnam: An Internship With The Development And Policies Research Center (Depocen), Kira Le

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As Vietnam continues its rapid development, its government and people will be increasingly reliant on research organizations such as the Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN) to study the socioeconomic issues that demand to be addressed in the interest of the sustainable development of the country. DEPOCEN is an independent research organization that has studied issues ranging from poverty and gender equality, to business & investment environment and trade liberalization. Since its establishment in 2005, DEPOCEN has developed collaborative relationships with many other research institutions like Oxford Economics and the Korean Institute of Economic Policy, and has offered its services …

Shaped By Changing Space: Exploring Gender And The Discourse Of Empowerment In Sikles, Nepal, Rachel Yanover

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Development work as it relates to women in Nepal is an ongoing topic of debate and discussion that may never have a concrete end. In the late 1970’s Indian women took a stand in defending their livelihood against commercial logging operations with authorities. This event was known as the Chipko movement and is often cited within the history of women and development as it caused people to “engage the question of gender and gendered livelihoods in the Himalayas” (Gurarani and Berry, 2015). It was women who served as the backbone of this movement in organizing nonviolent demonstrations against commercial deforestation. …

Barriers To The Diffusion Of Renewable Energy Technology In Mongolia Lee, Madeline Academic Director: Sanjaasuren, Ulziijargal Claremont Mckenna College International Relations Mongolia: Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan, Salkhit, Hatgal Nomadism, Geopolitics, And The Environment Sit Study Abroad Spring, Madeline Lee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As the international community looks promote sustainable development in developing countries, many policies have focused on the introduction of renewable energy technology (RET). For Mongolia specifically, RET is both a viable and optimal option, considering the country’s vast natural resources and the unsustainability of the country’s existing energy system. However, Mongolia has faced challenges with the development of its RET sector and still largely relies on international assistance and funding to develop largescale projects.

This study analyzes the barriers that Mongolia faces to the effective diffusion of RET into Mongolian society. Over the course of four weeks, 10 individuals were …

La Creación De Crianza: Un Retrato De La Niñez En Martín Centeno, Sara Dean

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the ever-shifting landscape of rural Nicaragua, how do new developments affect the ways in which children make sense of their worlds and their identities? Taking place in Martín Centeno, a cooperative community near Río Blanco in the Department of Matagalpa that was founded in the 80s for families displaced by the war, the present study borrows the theoretical framework of children’s geographies. Through observation, interviews, and visual research methods, this study paints a portrait of childhood in Martín Centeno today, as well as highlighting ways it has changed over time. The study places particular emphasis on the role of …

Branches Above And Roots Below: Mothers’ Hopes For Their Children In Batoufam, Cameroon, Taylor Maxfield

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In order to delve into the desires that rural Cameroonian communities have for the future generation, this research project consisted of formally interviewing ten mothers in the village of Batoufam about what hopes they have for their children. This study highlighted on what they would like for their children, the way they raise their children to achieve their aspirations, and their opinions on the importance of preserving tradition for their children. The findings of this study are humble and rooted dreams of being able to care for one’s basic needs and the needs of a family. Batoufam mothers, along with …

Kilombo Do Kioiô: The Use Of An Artesanato Program As A Program Of Social Justice, Anna Losacano

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The women’s artisan group, Kilombo do Kioiô, part of the Ação Social da Paróquia Sao Bras (Sao Bras Parochial Social Action Group) in the neighborhood of Plataforma, Salvador, Bahia, works to insert poor Afro-Brazilian women into the economic market and wider society. This community of women is struggling to survive in a society in which they are marginalized by their gender, race and socio-economic position. They are also struggling to survive two types of violence that are pervasive in Plataforma: domestic violence and violence related to drug trafficking.

This research project studies how working as artisans affects the participants’ social …

Sacred Work: Transforming Spirit And Community In Lucena, Paraíba, Jenny Schneider

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

There has not been a great amount of research that has been conducted on Santo Daime. As such, my research will make a significant contribution to the body of knowledge available to those who are curious about the church, its practices, and their social implications. There is much stigma, prejudice, and even persecution of Santo Daime. Hopefully a more intimate look at the social ramifications of work with Santo Daime will ease these preconceptions.

Santo Daime is the only completely Brazilian religion: a unique syncretism of indigenous Amazonian traditions, Portuguese Catholicism, African spiritualism, and Kardecist Spiritism, whose convergence reflects Brazil’s …

Molding Memory: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Representations Of Candomblé In Public Places Of Memory And The Afro-Brazilian Community, Lauren Hobby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Over eighty-five percent of the population of Salvador, Brazil is of African descent, creating a rich history of cultural, political and social development. Nevertheless the majority of the museums in Salvador have historical spoken very little of this culture and its relationship to the city. In 1982, the Museu Afro-Brasileiro opened, introducing a small museum focused solely on the cultural exchange between Africa and Brazil as well as the development of Afro-Brazilian religiosity. Thinking critically about the importance of museums in the construction and dissemination of awareness, knowledge and respect for cultures as well as the current debates over the …

‘Everything Is For Him’: Mothers Of Autistics As Agents Of Social Change At Casa Da Esperança, Alexandra Levin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project explores mothers of children with autism as social actors. I conducted the research at Casa da Esperança, which is school and therapy intstituion, and social organization, for autistics in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. A group of mothers founded Casa da Esperança based on a policy of inclusiveness towards autistics and their families. Casa da Esperança’s structure reflects its collective and communal philosophy, as demonstrated by the family program. Many mothers of autistics participate in this program on a daily basis when they stay at Casa da Esperança while their children are in class. Casa da Esperança is a …

Combating Educational Inequalities: Afro-Brazilian Youth & The Bahia Street Project, Kimberly Menendez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In her article entitled “Inequity and Human Rights of African Descendants in Brazil,” Lucila Beato insists that Afro-Brazilian rights are violated everyday. Those who experience this violation the most are Afro-Brazilian, or Black, women who are considered to be at the bottom of the social hierarchy. These women are a double minority who are condemned for being both Black and women. Many women, as do men, drop out of school early in life in order to help their families, who live below the poverty line and struggle to make ends meat. Many girls turn to prostitution, pornography, and even sexual …

Fortaleza’S Feminisms: Searching For Feminist Theory In The Centro De Referência Da Mulher And The Delegacia De Defesa Da Mulher, Paige Sweet

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study attempts to focus on the issue of how violence against women is combated in Brazil through interviewing the women who work at the Delegacia de Defesa da Mulher and the Centro de Referência da Mulher. I attempt to compare and contrast the policies and procedures of these two institutions, as well as the opinions of the women who work there, to understand how they reflect and/or resist feminist theory values. As the basis of this analysis, I am using feminist domestic violence theory, which states that the cause of domestic violence is rooted in sexism and patriarchal power …

Baguncaco Cleans Up The Bagunca Of "Racial Democracy", Afro-Brazilian Consciousness And Racial Identity In Alagados, Salvador, Bahia, Monica Mugure

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The 2001 Brazil census reports that of Brazil’s 150 million people, 53 percent of them are Afro- Brazilians and 47 percent are white. Of these, Afro-Brazilians hold a 28.5 percent illiteracy rate compared to the 11 percent held by whites. Income distribution indicates that the poorest 20 percent of the population owns only 2.6 percent of national wealth, while the wealthiest 10 percent command 48.1 percent. These facts are prime examples of the skewed distribution of wealth across Brazil and offer insight to the reality experienced by Afro-Brazilians who are most affected by this disparity. Together with the assumption commonly …

Acceso Limitado A Educacion Y Los Efectos En La Experiencia Familiar Por Los Jovenes Aymaras Traslado, Adaptación Social Y La Identidad En Arica, Kate Mooney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This work, completed during the month of May 2008, characterizes the experience of rural Aymara families and the experiences of their children, who migrate from their pueblos in the Andean high plains to the city of Arica in the first region of Chile for educational reasons. The study consists primarily of qualitative analysis of interviews with youth who currently reside in Arica while studying, their caretakers in the city, their mothers in the pueblos and directors of educational organizations in both Putre and Arica. Principally, the study seeks to understand the perceptions of the city held by rural youth, their …

Surfistas For Change: Building New Identity And Community In Poor Brazilian Communities Through Sport And Education, Stephanie Miller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of my research was to test the hypothesis that sports can be a preventative method for youth risk behaviors such as gang membership. My hypothesis was that sports could provide some of the same benefits as gang membership and other risk behaviors, but in a more healthy and productive way. To test this thesis, I spent three weeks researching the work of ARCA, the Associaçao Recreativa e Esportiva para Crianças e Adolescentes in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. While I studied all the projects of ARCA, I focused my research on their Escola do Surf, in the poor beach community …

Creating Dreams, Fighting For Rights: A Study With Centro De Cultura Negra Do Maranhão, Brazil, Laura Jenks

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The history of race in Brazil is a long and complicated one which has resulted in a contemporary racial climate fraught with hidden racism and the systematic oppression of the entire black population. Because of this complex history, black movements in Brazil have struggled to gain political power and unified support from the black population. Today, the black movement is made up of many independent organizations, working in their own way to fight racism and inequality within Brazil. This research project looks at the work of one such organization of the Brazilian black movement, the Centro de Cultura Negra in …

Black Identity Formation As Racial Politics In São Luis, Maranhão, Brazil, Ariel Sloan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

What is Black identity in São Luis, Maranhão and how does the Centro de Cultura Negra do Maranhão use Bloco e Banda Afro Akomabu and Grupo de Dança Afro Abanjá to construct black identity with Afro- descendants in São Luis, Maranhão, Brazil? Through active participation in Bloco Afro Akomabu and Grupo de Dança Afro Abanjá rehearsals and performances, interviews with Bloco Afro Akomabu and Grupo de Dança Afro Abanjá leaders and participants, and interviews with CCN leadership, the process of black identity formation encouraged by CCN through its two cultural projects emerged as a definite progression. This progression includes the …

Spectator To Actor To Multiplier: Edisca’S Humanizing Methodology, Hannah Mcdowell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Augusto Boal, a Brazilian theater theorist and practitioner, transferred the means of production of theater to the oppressed. The oppressed, formally passive spectators filled by the elites’ images of the world, became liberated participants in the creation of dramatic action. Through “people’s theater,” Boal encouraged participants to critically analyze their relationships with the world and in the world through onstage action. EDISCA (Escola de Dança e Integração Social para Criança e Adolescente [School of Dance and Social Integration for Children and Adolescents]), located in Fortaleza, Brazil, introduces artistic languages to children and adolescents from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The youth then …

Living In The Margins: The Male Homosexual Experience In Salvador, Silvano Gonzalez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Gay men across the world suffer through a reality of discrimination, violence, and hate. Academic literature supports this to be the case in Brazil, considered among many to be the world champion in the number of gay, lesbian and transsexual murders each year. Looking at the specific community of Salvador, Bahia, I have found this same homosexual reality to be the case. Though not experienced as directly as in other locations throughout Brazil, due in large part to the cities vast population and political activism, the effects of homophobia and prejudice are clearly demonstrated in this community.

My goal in …

Struggle, Revolution, And The Mst: Reflections On The Meaning Of Resistance, Andrew Cole

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following is an ethnographic account of the motivations, attitudes, and ideology of several residents of Lenin Paz II, a Brazilian land-reform settlement in the northeastern state of Ceará. The particular focus of the study is on the reasons these individuals decided to get involved with the social movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) that brought them to the settlement after a 2-3 year process of land occupation. Theoretically, the paper focuses on the development of a collective sense of social or class consciousness amongst the landless who were interviewed, drawing heavily on James Scott’s theory of resistance outlined …

El Movimiento De Mujeres Y Anamuri: Un Estudio De Caso, Stephanie Roberts

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the past century, societies around the world found themselves confronting the cultural and political double standards that existed (and still do) with respect to women’s rights and participation. While many countries have tried to include women equally and without bias, the truth is that women’s participation continues to be below mark. In Latin America, as well as many other regions of the world, women fulfill an interesting double role—on one side, the very center of society itself, on the other, an underrepresented and often ignored majority. This essay investigates the role that women’s organizations play in Chile, focusing on …

Knowledge And Social Movements: Promotoras Populares And Social Transformation Beyond The Classroom Of Grupo De Mulher Maravilha (Gmm), Shanna Devine

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I spent approximately one month researching the relation of Projecto Promotoras Legais Populares (PPLP) with its Subjects, Promotoras Legais Populares (PLP). It is a course aimed to foster political growth amongst marginalize groups in society through the exploration of their Rights. I explored the methodology used by PPLP in order to address the local needs of its Subjects --mainly black women with a poor/working-class background. How did this methodology facilitate the creation of a political space where they can voice these needs? I then looked at how this spread of legal knowledge has impacted Brazil’s most marginalized people in minimizing …

Contemporary Slavery In The Amazon Of Maranhão: Reality And Response, Landen Romei

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project addresses the reality of contemporary slavery in the Amazon of Maranhão. Through observations at the Center of Defense of Life and Human Rights (CDVDH) in the municipality of Açailândia, it gains a sense of the combat against the usage of slave labor today. Interviews with staff members at the Center and its Cooperative explain their objectives and methods in this struggle. In addition, interviews with former slaves allow for a deeper understanding of the day-to-day life of a modern slave. Over the course of three weeks of field research, the hypothesis of the gravity of slavery and …

Making Space For Critical Discourse: The Daily Resistance Of Acampamento Luiz Carlos, Nicholas Detlef Salmons

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the implementation of MST’s pedagogy of conscientização (conscientization) within Acampamento (camp) Luiz Carlos in order to better understand the role that dialogue plays in raising the collective consciousness of peasants newly engaged in the occupation of the land. The approach I took to understanding this process was heavily influenced by Paulo Freire’s works on literacy and revolution, as well as James Scott’s theories of the quotidian resistance of peasants and other subordinate groups. Due to his theories and the subsequent realities encountered in the field, the focus of the study was expanded to include a better understanding …

Não Sou Sua Puta: An Examination Of Preconceptions Of Sex Work In Salvador, Bahia, Charmaine Bee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“For Black women ceding control over self - definitions of Black women's sexualities upholds multiple oppressions. This is because all systems of oppression converge, " Patricia Collins. The system of Slavery is essential in any conversation around various systems of oppression which black women encounter, as many idealogies that support systemic racism were constructed during slavery. Black women face the intersectionality of multiple oppressions on a daily basis, one of these oppressions being sexism. Because of these various oppressions and definitions of black female sexuality by those in power the diversity of black female sexuality and self -definition has been …

What About Sustainable Improvement? Current Efforts And Challenges In The Work Of The Municipal Government To Improve The Rights Of The Garbage Pickers In Fortaleza, Brazil, Shehzia Valiulla

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The government programs seek to improve the condition of the oppressed and the poor, but very few truly have a sustainable positive impact on the lives of the poor. This research, through a case study of a program, Pilot Project of Selective Collection in Jangurussu, run by municipal officers for the benefit of garbage pickers (catadores do lixo in Brazil), attempts to define what characterizes and ensures the sustainable improvement in the work-related rights of catadores in Fortaleza, a city in Northeast Brazil, through seeking perspectives from two important stakeholders, the catadores and the municipal officers. Organizing catadores into legal …

Casa Da Mulher Do Nordeste: Feminist Visions Of Development, Sarah Frazer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study presents the unique approach of Casa da Mulher do Nordeste to rural women’s empowerment and sustainable development. Their approach focuses on three main areas: 1) raising collective consciousness about unequal gender relations; 2) providing technical skills and assistance to in the areas of production and commercialization; 3) providing institutional support to the networks created in the occupation of economic and political spaces. CASA intimately links women’s empowerment to movements of agroecology and economic solidarity, thus extending the vision of equality between women and men to equality between human beings and the Earth—an ultimate definition of sustainable development. Their …

Luta: The Story Of The Movimento Dos Atingidos Por Barragens In The Valley Of Jaguaribe, Rachel Wood

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This is a paper about communities of share-croppers, landless families, and often-illiterate subsidence farmers who organized themselves to fight for their human rights after they were displaced by a dam. By organizing themselves with the national Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens, they were able overcome their marginalized position and demand changes that would protect their culture, protect their community, give them better access to education, access to work, and access to safe drinking water. What’s more, they are fighting for their right to participate in politics and in decisions about their own lives, and by promoting participation, promoting education, and …

From Quilombo To Bairro: The Maintenance Of A Permanent Afro-Brazilian Underclass, Calisha Myers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Inequalities in access to education, as a result of institutionalized racism and social exclusion, are contributing to the maintenance of a permanent Afro-Brazilian underclass. Beiru, a community that sits on the periphery of Salvador, Bahia is an example of what the results of this physical and social marginalization is doing to Afro-Brazilian communities all over the Northeast. In my research, I sought to gain an understanding of what the young Afro-Brazilians that attend secondary school at the Escola Estadual de Zumbi dos Palmares and youth in the community are getting from these schools (in terms of what they are learning, …

Learning To Fight: The Mst’S Escola Nacional And Its Pedagogy Of Resistance, Marisol León

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

O Movimento de Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, or Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST), has accomplished extensive land occupations and other socioeconomic and political gains by interjecting a class struggle in its agrarian reform platform. Thus, connected to its physical fight and demand for land, the MST from its inception has engaged in the political formation of sem terra—a process that “refers to learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality” (Freire 35). For the MST, this political formation is critical in the construction of an alternative socialist “nation that …