Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

“Happy Dancing Natives” Minority Film, Han Nationalism, And Collective Memory, Benjamin D. Shaffer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cinematic representations of China’s ethnic minorities have been prominent in Chinese visual culture and collective memory since the 1950s. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party led campaigns to classify China’s diverse range of ethnic groups. These social experiments inspired a number of documentary and narrative films about the ostensibly “exotic” and “colorful” non-Han peoples of China. The audience for these depictions of minorities in visual culture varied considerably. Some early documentaries fueled the rise of Han nationalism and political agendas within the Communist Party. Several narrative films had large audiences in mainstream Chinese …

“How To Change The World”: Writing An Online Sustainability Leadership Manual For Young Australians, Nina Sherburne

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Under the direction of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership (CSL) in downtown Melbourne, VIC, three articles were written for the CSL online manual entitled “How to Change the World”. These articles contain straightforward, easy-to-read answers to questions young people have regarding sustainability and leadership in their community. The three questions include: “Should I register my not-for-profit? If so, how do I?”, “How do I fundraise for my organization? And do I need to register as a Fundraiser?”, and “How to I sell the idea of sustainability (or change in general) to my boss?”.

This online manual will remove the barriers …

Masyarakat Tionghoa: Singaraja’S Chinese Community, Tammy Lew Lee Kreznar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Unholy Union: The Convergence Of Agendas Between The Gay Community And The Political Right-Wing In The Netherlands, Michael Wayne Perry

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The introduction of immigrants from traditionally Islamic countries has created a new dynamic within the Dutch social system. Seemingly clashing with the established facade of Dutch “tolerance”, this group of Muslim immigrants has logically found a natural enemy within right-wing political parties. However, on a more interesting level, we see that the political agenda of the gay movement has seemingly converged with the agenda of those right-wing groups. In a sense, this convergence of agendas seems odd considering the general association of the gay movement with leftist, more progressive political movements. This study intends to examine this convergence of agendas; …

The Politics Of Engagement: The Influence Of Identity On The Experiences Of Activists Involved With The Roma Community In Serbia, Becca Gardner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Debate and mystery surrounds the origin and culture of the Gypsies in Europe; however, there is no question that the space they inhabit today reflects their position of marginalization and discrimination. During the last five years, there has been a surge of activism and interest in the experiences of the Roma, largely due to the implementation of the Decade for Roma Inclusion . The Decade is a commitment among governments, intergovernmental, non-governmental organizations, and Romani civil society to address the inequality of Roma in Europe by focusing on employment, education, health, and housing within the specific context of each participating …

“Con Paciencia” : El Proceso Y Los Desafíos De La Textilería Mapuche, Julie Dorian

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Every culture boasts craftsmanship that reflects the philosophies, passions, interests, needs, and stories of its people. Such craftsmanship not only represents a culture, but also embodies many facets of the collective identity of that culture. In the case of the Mapuche, traditional craftsmanship holds an important place in their history as a people and the preservation of their culture in the modern world. However, the primary reason that artisans today continue to make their goods is the income it brings to their families. The problem that arises is that an artisan’s handmade goods cannot compete with the cheap, mass-produced products …

El Cobre Para Hoy Y Siempre : Hacia Un Futuro Menos Volátil, Más Sostenible Y De Mayor Valor Agregado En El Sector Chileno Del Cobre, Nicholas Anderson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Copper fuels the Chilean economy more than any other good or sector. But despite being Chile’s greatest resource, copper does very little for the average Chilean because most of the benefits are captured by mining companies and the government. Furthermore, the copper producing sector is volatile, subject to variations in the world price of copper, and not sustainable, as it depends on a nonrenewable natural resource. This paper establishes that there is room to deepen the copper sector with the goal of creating jobs and making the copper sector in Chile more sustainable and less volatile. This idea that there …

Atua Of The Aga: A Comparison Of Ancestor Worship In The Highlands Of Bali And Polynesia, Jamison Liang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study is to understand the practice of ancestor worship among the Bali Aga village of Sukawana and its relation to how its inhabitants trace their origins. When did their ancestors arrive in Sukawana and where did they come from? Did any of their descendents continue to migrate across Indonesia? And how do the Bali Aga practice ancestor reverence through the use of shrines and temples—tangible evidence—in their villages? The responses to these questions provided a platform for comparison to current anthropological, linguistic, and archaeological theories in order to understand how locally constructed truth in Sukawana related …

Mame Coumba Bang: A Living Myth And Evolving Legend, Michelle Margoles

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper seeks to discover the story of the goddess Mame Coumba Bang, to examine her origins, and to analyze it as myth or legend. Through interviews, surveys, and few written documents, it investigates various aspects of the story of Mame Coumba Bang, including descriptions of the goddess, rituals, encounters, and manifestations of her existence. It also looks at the origins of the story and the ways it corresponds with Muslim beliefs. In analyzing the findings, it is found that Mame Coumba Bang is both a legend that is varied and evolving, as well as a myth that remains a …

Unemployment, Women, And Taxis: A Study Of The Taxi-Sister Program In Its Test Phase, Mackenzie Israel-Trummel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In May of 2007, the Senegalese Ministry for Family and Female Entrepreneurship in collaboration with a private car dealership, Espace-Auto, announced plans for the Taxi-Sister program, which introduced ten women into the taxi driving profession. The first ten women, who hit the streets in September 2007, are considered a test-run for the program, as the Ministry seeks to expand women’s roles in Senegalese society and presence in the economic sector. The program is considered to be both an effort to address women’s poverty and to establish a feminine presence in professions formerly reserved for men.

This study attempts to describe …

Memory, Place And Nation-Building: Remembering In The ‘New’ South Africa, Kate Ronan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this project was to look at memory and memorialization in Cape Town in order to better understand the role of sites of memory and memory initiatives in the making of the ‘new’ South Africa. This study focuses on connections between memory and place and memory and identity. It also looks at the Cape Town landscape, the ways in which it has changed over time and contestations over sites on this landscape. This project was conducted as a social analysis project over the period of one month. Visits to monuments and museums, interviews with people involved in memory …

Helping Women Help Themselves: Sex Work, Health, And Development In Mahajanga, Madagascar, Rachel Pryzby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Poverty is an inescapable reality in Madagascar, a force that permeates the lives of many Malagasy people. Approximately 75 % of the population lives below the poverty line, defined as one United States dollar per person per day . This poverty proves to be particularly cruel to women who are often illiterate, unmarried, and have children to support. In cases such as these, often the quickest and most lucrative type of work available is sex work. The proportion of sex workers (called makorelina in Malagasy and travailleuses de sexe in French ) in the city of Mahajanga is quite large—approximately …

Preludes To Violence: A Comparative Look At The Pre-Maquis Period And Contemporary Cameroonian Society, Mathew Welch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Union des populations du Cameroun (UPC) changed roles from a peaceful political organization to an underground militant one in late April of 1955. This study examines the reasons for which this revolution occurred, attempting to find modern parallels, with the goal of discerning the possibility of a future revolution in Cameroon. Extensive primary sources from the period were consulted, in addition to interviews with historians and sociologists for historical background, while periodicals, official studies, political scientists and economists were consulted for contemporary issues. Several individuals who were alive during the Maquis period were also interviewed. The study found that …

Structural And Financial Constraints For Arabica Coffee Planters, Chloe Wardropper

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Arabica coffee production in Cameroon is struggling. Coffee growers and their plants are aging rapidly due to a lack of incentives to continue production. The downturn in arabica production started in the 1980’s, with the drop in the world price of coffee and the privatization of formerly government-run programs and agricultural cooperatives. Financial problems continue today because there are no structures to replace those organizations which offered financial and technical support. This paper will examine the constraints facing arabica coffee growers today and the options available to them for the amelioration of their situation. This is achieved primarily through interviews …

People Moving Matters: Theorizing Tourism And Migration On The Nepali ‘Periphery’, Adam Linnard

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Many papers and presentations pertaining to tourism have started something like the following:

The World Tourism Organization in its 1996/97 report states that 255 million people are employed in the tourism-related industries, which is one in every nine people employed in the world, making it the world’s number one industry and larger than the oil, automobile or weapons industries. Tourism also contributed US$653 billion to the international economy in the form of different tourism-related taxes. There is an annual growth rate of 4% in the world’s tourism market. (Bajracharya & Shakya, 1998)

Now this one begins that way, too.

It …

Leprosy: A Study Of Identity Through A “Marginalized” Population, Aarti Bhatt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

People of all different cultures use identity as a way of mediating with surrounding institutional structures and personal communities. Identity however, is not a concrete idea but a multidimensional and dynamic condition. For communities of so called "marginalized people" an identity perceived or created from the outside and imposed can have drastic implications on a person's capacity to act as an agent. Stefen Ecks argues for the value of ethnographic study from the point of view of the marginal people, going on to say that "this is of critical importance since marginality puts health most under stress when it is …

The Price Of Gold: The Environmental Impacts Of Toxic Chemicals In Gold Mining, Adam Goetz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The role of mercury and cyanide in gold mining has become a hot topic in Mongolia in the past few years. In the past few months, the government has launched a crackdown on the illegal use of these chemicals in response to the contamination of Khongor soum’s drinking water which resulted from an illegal mining operation. However, there are many more sites throughout the country that are in need of cleaning as a result of the illegal use of these chemicals by small companies as well as individual miners.

This paper examines the role of a variety of different views …

Valorar Lo Nuestro Para Fortalecer El Futuro: Etnoturismo Mapuche En La Ix Región, Ashleigh Martin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The mapuche people have lived a history of struggle. Today it seems they are faced with the impossible choice of being poor and without the resources to maintain their culture, or succumbing to the pressures of a world imbued with globalization and equally changing what is fundamentally theirs. As a unique solution to this problem, many mapuche individuals and communities have opted to develop “turismo mapuche”, or ethnic tourism programs—part of a recent trend toward a more responsible form of tourism. These programs strive to provide tourists with the opportunity to experience cultures different from their own. The primary aim …

Vecinos Indiferentes: Chile, Bolivia Y La Gas Natural, Daniel Hodges-Copple

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this investigation is to analyze the relationship between Chile and Bolivia with respect to the issue of natural gas exportation and importation. For various historical, political and cultural reasons, Bolivia chooses not to export any of its large natural gas reserves to its neighbor, Chile. This paper will demonstrate and analyze the current energy situation of both countries, the obstacles that prevent cooperation, the efforts being made to correct them, and suggestions for resolving the issue to the benefit of both countries in the context of regional integration.

Policing The Police: Democracy And Effective Methods Of Accountability In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Alaina Varvaloucas

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study seeks to explore the extent and effectiveness of systems of criminal accountability of the police force in South Africa. More specifically, it explores the pros and cons of existing organizations mandated to deter police from acting criminally and punish them when they do, and the need to strengthen them. The study first takes a look at such organizations as the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD)—which is an independent civilian oversight body—and the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) internal disciplinary system and assesses their strengths and limitations in providing a culture of accountability. The study then focuses on police culture …

Une Division Ambiguë: L’Immigration Et La Société Civile En France, Kristen Johnson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Struck by the overwhelming debate and cultural emphasis on the issue of immigration in French society, I decided to explore the complex relationship between the non-profit organizations that give social services to various immigrant communities and the government. Through eight interviews with non-profits, government agencies, and political organizations, I concluded that the non-profits compensate for the faults of the French government by more accurately addressing the social issue of immigration. Beyond the non-profits, though, it is civil society in general that has the legitimacy of discourse over the State through its championship of universal rights and international integration. The paradox …

Watered Down: The Intersection And Integration Of Tourism Development And Water Resource Management In Marrakech, Morocco, Alison Maassen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Khal: An Exploration Of The Language Around Blackness In Morocco, Rachel Leigh Johnson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Morocco has been described as a melting pot. While various ethnicities, religious beliefs, and languages merge and intermingle within the country, the language in the majority of Moroccan homes is Darijaa. The language itself is a mixture of the Amazigh language and classical and popular Arabic with some European elements. Additionally, Darijaa is the language through which the majority of Moroccans have come to understand the world and the people around them. It is also through this language that I will explore conceptions of blackness and black identity in Morocco. Through evaluating the words for “black” in Darijaa, I hope …

“Share The Wealth” A Critical Analysis Of Private Sector Development In Uganda’S Rural And Urban Settings, Michael Roscitt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Privatization and private sector development have been primary methods of development throughout Uganda and Africa for the last 20 years. These two valuable tools, however, have been plagued by corruption as many former State Owned Enterprises are being divested into the pockets of political cronies and influential foreigners. If State Owned Enterprises were instead divested amongst a broad section of the population, local entrepreneurs with limited capital could participate in the privatization process. If responsibly divested, private sector development would then be able to have more far reaching effects because the enterprises being helped would be owned by the people. …

Permission To Change: The Role Of Culture And Cultural Tourism In Development, Heather Houser

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Batwa are an indigenous people living throughout areas of central equatorial Africa. In Uganda, they constitute a small minority and live in parts of the West and Southwest, primarily in the districts of Bundibugyo, Kabale, Kisoro and Kanungu. This study was conducted in Kisoro District and the data deals primarily with the Batwa that live there. Many of the Batwa’s ancestral homelands were declared national parks in 1991. The Batwa were forced to leave and were given no compensation. As a result, many of them are now squatters and have been forced to beg for a living. Several organizations …

An Observational Analysis Of Psychosocial Behaviors And Caregiver Responses In The Durban Children’S Home, Sarah Young

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In South Africa, many children find themselves in at risk situations arising from issues like HIV, abuse, and poverty, which highly impact their mental well being by forcing them into unlivable situations. The Durban Children’s Home, located in Glenwood, Durban, works to tackle this problem, providing facilities, meals, and care for 75 homeless, abused, terminally ill, and/or poverty stricken children. Yet in coming from situations where children no longer have support of their primary caregiver or environment, these children require quality psychosocial attention in the Home. However when basic needs of so many children must be met in an institutional …

The Learning Organization In A Post-Development Era: A Case Study On Orgnizational Development At The Valley Trust, Justin Haruyama

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the past two decades, the rise of Post-Development theory has witnessed the questioning of the core assumptions of development. Post-Development theorists point to the failures of “development” to create significant decreases in poverty or inequality worldwide. Meanwhile, other theorists call for radical transformations of conventional practice. This paper seeks to grapple with these questions, using the example of The Valley Trust, a development NGO in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, as an entry point into the debate. Research was conducted over a four-week period through a mixture of participant observation and formal interviews with staff members of The Valley Trust. An …

You’Ll Never Silence The Voice Of The Voiceless: Critical Voices Of Activists In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Kate Gunby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this research has been to explore how and why former liberation activists have continued to speak out against the government since the African National Congress (ANC) transitioned from a liberation movement to a ruling party. These individuals highlight the importance of having a voice, and making that voice heard by the government. They also provide a plurality of opinions that are just a sampling of the sentiments held by South Africans today. The objective of my research is to better understand what is wrong with the ANC and South Africa, possible causes, and how they can be …

Kaya Hip-Hop In Coastal Kenya: The Urban Poetry Of Ukoo Flani, Divinity Lashelle Barkley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the global world of the 21st Century, music is one of the few things that has the ability to cross physical as well as cultural borders, which is why my Independent Study Project (ISP) focuses on the role of hip-hop music in the youth culture in Kenya’s largest coastal city, Mombasa. Throughout history, music has proven its artistic power; inspiring people to resist oppression, challenge inequality, and even claim salvation.

This enduring characteristic of music is central to my ISP which explores the emergence of hip-hop in Kenya as well as the evolution of Ukoo Flani, one of the …

No Shelter: Unesco’S Efforts To Save Lalibela’S Culture, Kellen Mcclure

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The eleven rock-hewn churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia have existed for almost a millennium. Cut directly from the volcanic rock of the area, the churches have attracted foreign attention for over fifty years to an area that still remains extremely rural. Recently, new attention is being given to the churches in an attempt to save them from deterioration that threatens both the structural integrity of the buildings and the priceless artwork inside. Leading the effort is the United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO, with help from the European Union, has launched a new project to build metal shelters …