Anthropology Commons^™

The Annapurna Road: Development And Tourism On The Annapurna Circuit, Benjamin Skach

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Annapurna Circuit has oft been called one of the best treks in the world. Its popularity has brought countless trekkers to the region, resulting in a strong local dependence on tourism. In recent years, plan to develop rural regions of Nepal have resulted in extensive road networks being built along the route of the circuit. These roads have helped some locals and hurt others. This study investigates the implementation of the roads in Annapurna Conservation Area and the effects on both trekkers and locals. Further, it examines the New Alternative Trekking Trails that have been implemented along sections of …

The Ethnography Of Rhythm: Orality And Its Technologies [Table Of Contents], Haun Saussy

Literature

“Only Haun Saussy—with his historical range, theoretical breadth, and fine close-reading—could have pulled off this brilliant comparative history of ‘the perturbation caused by the idea of oral literature.’ The disciplinary range of this dazzling scholarly performance takes us from linguistics and philology to ethnography and religious studies, from physiology and psychiatry to the history of graphic and sound technologies. Be prepared to marvel—and learn.” —Linda Hutcheon, University Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature, University of Toronto

3d Scan Data For Caddo Ceramic Vessels From The George C. Davis Site (41ce19), Robert Z. Selden Jr.

CRHR: Archaeology

On June 8, 2015, the intact and reconstructed vessels from the George C. Davis site (41CE19) were scanned (3D) in advance of an analysis of 3D geometric morphometrics. These data were collected using a Creaform GoSCAN50 running VXElements via the scanner direct control function in Geomagic Design X. All data associated with this project are available in Zenodo under a Creative Commons Attribution license, where they can be downloaded for use in additional projects. These data have the capacity to augment numerous research designs in the digital humanities and ceramic studies, as well as a wide range of comparative research …

The Biosemiotics Of Aldo Leopold, Rebecca Potter

English Faculty Publications

Responding to Jean-Claude Gens’ article “Uexküll’s Kompositionslehre and Leopold’s ‘land ethic’ in dialogue,” which appeared in Sign Systems Studies in 2013, this article further develops a direct connection between Aldo Leopold’s approach to ecology and Jakob von Uexküll’s umwelt theory. The connection between Uexküll and Leopold is especially evident in Leopold’s descriptions of animal behaviour that he presents in the first part of his seminal work, A Sand County Almanac. In this work specifically, Leopold illustrates the biosemiotic processes described by Uexküll, and does so with a purpose: to reshape our understanding of the biotic community as a place …

Be Your Own Guru: Authoritarianism And The Problem Of The Guru In Conscious Evolution, Mcauley, Charles E.

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This paper is an exploration of the problematic nature of the guru/disciple relationship, specifically, in Western Society. It begins with a discussion of the nature of spirituality and the spiritual quest. To contextualize the process, I also discuss my own spiritual path based in Roman Catholicism, Taoism, Buddhism and my thoughts on the philosophy of Krishnamurti. I explore the topic of the authoritarian follower in some depth. Its connection is symbiotic to the existence of the authoritarian leader. This connection is demonstrated within this paper as well. Additionally, I look at the flaws in some well-known guru figures and how …

Mapuche Resilience: Environmental Justice In Chile, Hannah N. Lussier

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

This paper presents a close analysis of the Mapuche Conflict and its implications from an Environmental Justice perspective. It serves to outline the plight of the Mapuche, a South American indigenous group, in their continued struggle to gain the rights to autonomic control over their ancestral territory from the Chilean government. By utilizing a holistic approach to research, this paper serves to provide a background on the conflict as well as to incorporate claims to justice. It chronicles the depth and breadth of media attention on the issue by incorporating perspectives from scholarly articles, news sources and social media platforms. …

The Future Of Arabic Music: No Sound Without Silence, Nesma Magdy Khodier Vcuq

Theses and Dissertations

For centuries, Arabic music has been intrinsically linked to Arab culture and by extension bonded to the environmental landscape of the region, reflecting their emotions, moods, and behaviors. Numerous technological advancements in the latter half of the twentieth century, have greatly affected the rich legacy of Arabic music, significantly impacting the natural progression of traditional Arabic musical genres, scales, and instrumentation.

This thesis serves as an introduction to generative methods of music production, specifically music generated through gestures. Through generative music, and its unique ability to map gestures to different musical parameters, music can be produced using computer algorithms.

The …

Introduction: Foreign Films And Higher Education, Heba A.N. El Attar Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

No abstract provided.

Teaching About The Muxes In The United States: Cultural Construct Gender Identity, And Transgression In The 21st Century, Nohora V. Cardona Núñez Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

This study focuses on the manner in which gender identities challenge heteronormativity and are understood as a way to interpret the sexed body through culture in the documentary Muxes: auténticas, intrépidas, buscadoras del peligro (2005), directed by Mexican filmmaker Alejandra Islas Caro. In the context of a Gender Issues in Latin America course taught in a North American university, we explored how certain theories by thinkers such as Simone de Beauvoir, Pierre Bourdieu, and Judith Butler, among others, contend that sexual preference, gender orientation, and sexuality, can be built as a cultural constructs, contrary to popular beliefs on the subject. …

Approaches To Teaching Latin American Culture Through Film: Children’S Plight In Poverty- And Violence-Ridden Countries, Delia V. Galvan Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

Students at the beginning levels of foreign language study have many borders to cross and many challenges to negotiate. This paper reports the results of a preliminary study involving the use of full-length films to engender intercultural sensitivity and understanding among two groups of first-year students of Spanish. Both films depict hardships of children in Spanish-speaking countries—as a result of conscription or as a result of child labor. The paper discusses the contextualization of the films for the students, the students’ responses to questionnaires, portions of classroom discussion that indicate growth in the areas of focus, and implications of the …

Note On Special Issue, Antonio Medina-Rivera Ph.D., Lee F. Wilberschied Ph.D., Heba A.N. El Attar Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

No abstract provided.

El Paseo By Harold Trompetero: Approaching Popular Film From Colombia In A North American Classroom, Matias Martinez Abeijon Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

This article explores the manner in which popular films from Colombia—

specifically comedies, such as the movie El paseo, directed by Harold Trompetero in 2010, which has been the highest grossing movie to date in the history of movies produced in Colombia–may be used in the classroom in the context of a World Language, Literature, and Culture department in the United States. It is the contention of this study that such a choice is far from common due to diverse issues, which include the limited access to international distribution of the majority of the so-called “national film” or, in …

Understanding Arab Culture Through Cinema, Abed El-Rahman Tayyara Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

The article examines the use of cinema as a tool for teaching about Arab culture and assesses the process in which learners acquire a higher level of intercultural communicative competence. The essay draws primarily on multilayered class activities and students’ responses to pre- and post- screening surveys related to eight Arab films. The article reveals that the evaluation of the learners’ intercultural competence and their familiarity with Arab culture in particular is a long process that filled with misunderstandings, gaps, inconsistencies, and contradictions on the part of the learners. To successfully conduct this type of teaching, the article also points …

Can Films Speak The Truth? Mathieu Kassovitz’S La Haine (1995) And Philippe Faucon’S La Désintégration (2011), Annie Jouan-Westlund Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

La Haine, (Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995) and La Désintégration (Dir. Philippe Faucon, 2011), set in France’s urban periphery, depict the struggle of second and third-generation immigrants growing up in the housing projects and their desire to live like ‘other’ French young people. The analysis offers a comparative study of the films’ reception with a community of viewers made of American students in a Contemporary French Culture course. Following the three paradigms of exclusion (social, racial, and cultural); gender representation; and aestheticism and realism, this study demonstrates that, within certain limits, these cinematic propositions, of similar prophetic nature but different …

Intercultural Communicative Competence: Literature Review, Lee F. Wilberschied Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) is a cluster of capabilities that will become even more essential, not only to negotiate borders of many dimensions as globalization proceeds, but also to enhance the ability to maneuver one’s way in a world that changes by the minute. The process of developing ICC prepares the learner to manage and appreciate border crossings on many levels. This brief review of the literature offers a summary of the components of ICC, how it is similar to and different from other competences, and recommendations on how to assess it. This overview may be helpful when considering the …

Table Of Contents, Antonio Medina-Rivera Ph.D, Lee F. Wilberschied Ph.D., Heba A.N. El Attar Ph.D

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

No abstract provided.

Outgroup Prejudice From An Evolutionary Perspective: Survey Evidence From Europe, Serdar Kaya Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

This study investigates the root causes of outgroup prejudice. The literature explains prejudice primarily as a result of the perception of threat or the lack of optimal intergroup contact. The literature also emphasizes that individuals who are prejudiced against one outgroup are more likely to be prejudiced against other outgroups as well. This study does not react to these established theories. Instead, it argues from an evolutionary social psychological perspective that the root cause of outgroup prejudice is an activated sense of distrust and caution. In ancestral environments, higher levels of distrust and caution helped humans better protect themselves and …

Being Muslim, Being Cosmopolitan: Transgressing The Liberal Global, Chad Haines Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

The practices and concepts of Muslim cosmopolitanism are rooted in Islamic ideas, providing the foundations for informal “comings together” that foster new kinds of ethical communities. Muslim cosmopolitanism transgresses global normative aspirations of the liberal West that attempt to impose a singular way of being a global citizen. The informal, ethical communities that are inherent to a Muslim cosmopolitan vision also reject the absolutist visions of Islamists, such as those promoted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which, like Western liberal aspirations, attempt to impose a singular vision of the global. The article traces Muslim cosmopolitan ethics in …

Is Political Evolution Over? An Anthropological Analysis Of The Twentieth Century, Robert Bates Graber Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Why did human societies grow from small bands and villages into highly populous nations and empires? This process, termed political evolution, is explained by one major strand of anthropological theorizing as having resulted from population pressure, warfare, and conquest. War is seen as having been essential because polities do not willingly surrender autonomy. The 20th century apparently brought both an increase in population pressure (the ratio of humans to the available resource base) and a considerable amount of war, but only a modest increase in political evolution as measured by the average population of nations. One interpretation of this is …

Acharya, Amitav. Constructing A Security Community In Southeast Asia: Asean And The Problem Of Regional Order, 3rd Edition, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2014., Allesandro Uras

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Alatas, S. Applying Ibn Khaldun: The Recovery Of A Lost Tradition In Sociology. London And New York: Routledge, 2014., Ahmed Nabil

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Wan, Ming. The China Model And Global Political Economy – Comparison, Impact, And Interaction. New York: Routledge, 2014., Hee-Young Shin Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Ferguson, J. Give A Man A Fish: Reflections On The New Politics Of Distribution. Durham And London: Duke University Press, 2015., A. Peter Castro Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Chang, Gordon H. Fateful Ties: A History Of America’S Preoccupation With China. Boston: Harvard University Press, 2015., Brian Arendt Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Ford, Michele, Lenore Lyons, & Wilem Van Schendel. Labour Migration And Human Trafficking In Southeast Asia: Critical Perspectives. London: Routledge, 2012., Christina Pomianek Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Legg, Stephen. Prostitution And The Ends Of Empire: Scale, Governmentalities, And Interwar India. Durham And London: Duke University Press, 2014., Jessica Namakka Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Khatib, Lina, Dina Matar, & Atef Alshaer. The Hizbullah Phenomenon. Politics And Communication, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014., Aurélie Daher Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Pietz, David A. The Yellow River: The Problem Of Water In Modern China. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press, 2015., Chris A. Georges

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Dayley, Robert A. & Neher, Clark.D. Southeast Asia In The New International Era, 6th Edition. Boulder: Westview Press, 2013., William Jones, Matthew P. Copeland Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Kingston, J. Critical Issues In Contemporary Japan. New York And London: Routledge, 2014., Douglas M. Miller

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.