Anthropology Commons^™

A Comprehensive Study Of Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, And Comparison, Per Maximilian Gasseholm

Social Sciences

Today complimentary medicine is being increasingly sought out. Ayurveda and TCM, are among the oldest systems of medicine and have been developed for over thousands of years in India and China respectively. This paper details the philosophies, medical theories, anatomy, diagnosis, and treatments of both of these systems, including a comparison. Both of these modalities of healing operate with a microcosm – macrocosm paradigm. This makes them fundamentally similar, and compatible with each other. Ayurveda uses Tridoshic theory to apply treatments ranging from diet, massage, meditation, yoga among other therapies to bring Vata, Pitta, and Kapha into balance. TCM is …

Cross-Cultural Cannibalism Throughout Human History, Melissa Cochran

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

"She Of Gentle Manners": An Examination Of The Widow Pomeroy's Table And Tea Wares And The Emerging Domestic Sphere In Kinderhook, New York, Megan E. Sullivan

Graduate Masters Theses

Following the American Revolution, the new gender ideologies of Republican Motherhood and the Cult of Domesticity gained in popularity that associated men with the public sphere and relegated women to the private domestic sphere. Women were now tasked with the important job of raising the future citizens of the fledgling Republic. The quality of family and home life took on extra importance, and the elaboration of meals and the ceramics used in these rituals changed accordingly. This thesis analyzes the table and tea wares from an archaeological assemblage located in upstate New York that dates to the turn of the …

Urbanism In The Northern Levant During The 4th Millennium Bce, Rasha El-Endari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The development of urbanism in the Near East during the 4thmillennium BCE has been an important debate for decades and with recent scientific findings, a revival of this intellectual discussion has come about. Many archaeologists suggested that urban societies first emerged in southern Mesopotamia, and then expanded to the north and northwest. With recent excavations in northern Mesopotamia, significant evidence has come to light with the finding of monumental architecture and city walls dated to the beginning of the 4th millennium BCE, well before southern Mesopotamian urban expansion. These discoveries reflect important administrative systems and stratified sociopolitical structures within these …

Transgressing Sexuality: An Interdisciplinary Study Of Economic History, Anthropology, And Queer Theory, Jason Gary Damron

Dissertations and Theses

This interdisciplinary thesis examines the concept of sexuality through lenses provided by economic history, anthropology, and queer theory. A close reading reveals historical parallels from the late 1800s between concepts of a desiring, utility-maximizing economic subject on the one hand, and a desiring, carnally decisive sexological subject on the other. Social constructionists have persuasively argued that social and economic elites deploy the discourse of sexuality as a technique of discipline and social control in class- and gender-based struggles. Although prior scholarship discusses how contemporary ideas of sexuality reflect this origin, many anthropologists and queer theorists continue to use "sexuality" uncritically …

How Do Latino Groups Fare In A Changing Economy? Occupation In Latino Groups In The Greater New York City Area, 1980-2009, Stephen Ruszczyk

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in New York City between 1980 and 2009 – particularly the Latino population.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Trends from 1990 continued in 2000, with numbers of Puerto Ricans in production dropping to only 14% of that group. More than a fifth of Puerto Ricans worked in management and professional …

University Scholar Series: Jan English-Lueck, Jan English-Lueck

University Scholar Series

Unique and Medically Diverse Health Culture in the Silicon Valley

On October 24, 2012 Dr. Jan English-Lueck spoke in the University Scholar Series hosted by Provost Ellen Junn at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. Dr. Jan English-Lueck is the associate dean of the College of Social Sciences and a distinguished anthropologist. She has written ethnographies detailing the lives of California's alternative healers and China's scientists. She is also the author of several books on Silicon Valley that explore how working in Silicon Valley shapes our communities, families, and bodies.

Babette's Feast And The Goodness Of God, Thomas J. Curry

Journal of Religion & Film

This article attempts to answer the preeminent question Babette’s Feast invites viewers to consider: Why does Babette choose to expend everything she has to make her feast? Of the critical studies made of the film, few have considered analytically crucial the catastrophic backstory of Babette, the violence of which is implied and offscreen. Appreciation of the singularity of Babette’s own personhood and the darker aspects of her experience, and not only how she might act as a figure of Christ, are key to understanding the motivating force behind her meal and its transformative effect: That through the feast Babette lays …

Faculty In The Mist: Ethnographic Study Of Faculty Research Practices, Marilyn R. Pukkila, Ellen L. Freeman

Faculty Scholarship

A report on ethnographic research on college faculty research and teaching methods, with their use of information resources, library services, technology, and academic IT support.

Los Beneficios De La Educación Cultural Para La Rehabilitación, Samantha Thoma

Spain: Language, Community, and Social Change

In Fall of 2012, during my participation in the Spain: Language, Community and Social Change program, I volunteered at El Centro de Inserción Social “Matilde Canto Fernandez”, a center for inmates in the advanced stages of their reintegration. It is located in the center of urban Granada in order to make the reintegration into the social life of Granada easier. The center plays a residential role and offers intervention and treatment of activities, and social work.

The initial idea for my service was to conduct a “Cine-fórum” in which I would show a movie and lead a discussion where …

Issue 61, Autumn 2012, Society Of Bead Researchers

The Bead Forum: Newsletter of the Society of Bead Researchers

Bead Classification Methods: An Archaeological Case Study from a Shipwreck in Elmina, Ghana: Part I in a series of II articles, by Lisa Hopwood. • 2012 International Iroquois Beadwork Conference, by Karlis Karklins.

The Interdependence Of Gedi Ruins And The Giriama: A Study Of Ancestral Spirits, Jinn, And The Impact Of Islam, Tucker Deady

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Archaeological site, Gedi Ruins, is well known on the Coastal Province of Kenya as a place of great mystery. It is sacred to many for reasons of spirituality and appeals to both Swahili and Mijikenda, a group of nine tribes living on the coast, as a place of prayer. The Giriama make up one of these nine tribes and, as they have a large community surrounding the site of Gedi Ruins, are the focus of this study. The Mijikenda have a deep connection with their ancestral spirits as well as jinn. While their traditions run deep, there have, however, been …

The Costs Of Class: Private Schooling, Parental Choice, And Class Aspirations Among Kathmandu’S Working Poor, Andrew Chen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Over the last two decades, the ‘de facto’ privatization of educational services has emerged as a significant policy trend in Nepal’s educational sector; however, unlike earlier decades when private schools catered exclusively to the privileged classes, the expansion of low-cost ‘budget’ private institutions have begun to serve lower socioeconomic and marginalized classes of the population. This project examines parental perceptions and decisional contexts surrounding the choice of private school for children f the working poor in Kathmandu. Specifically, the study uses the lens of class to explore the rationale, anxieties, and aspirations of working poor parents as they navigate the …

Art As A Cure: Analyzing Healthcare Treatment For The Mentally Ill Through The Lens Of Art Therapy Programs In Dakar, Senegal, Sofia Porter-Castro

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mental illness is a malady that affects roughly 2.3 million people in Senegal ("Statistics by Country” 2012), but the wide and sometimes opposing range of healing practices suggests that the attitudes surrounding mental illness are still largely contested. This is especially true in Senegal’s capital, where advances in medicine in big city hospitals are growing while ties to traditional beliefs and practices remain strong. Alternative therapies, such as art therapy, provide an opportunity for practitioners to explore different techniques for treating the mentally ill while still integrating elements of the local culture. It is precisely this integration that this paper …

The Implications Of Privileged Gay Politics On Queer Aberrations: Interrogating South Africa’S Nongovernmental Industrial Complex, Vijay Sachdev

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The phenomena to address and confront social issues as a career path has shifted the way communities experience the realm of activism. This research addresses the effort emphasized in gay and lesbian activism on the Nongovernmental Industrial Complex as a platform for social transformation. These structures have notably been co-opted by neo-liberalism and the State. In South Africa, the gay and lesbian movement have its roots dug into legal reform which becomes conservative and relies on the rhetoric of identity politics to gain recognition without addressing redistribution and systems of oppression. Through three case studies culminating in a comparative study …

La Reconstrucción De Identidad A Través Del Proceso Migratorio: Una Exploración La Experiencia Migrante En El Norte De Chile Para Los Jóvenes Adolescentes Del Países Andinos Fronterizos En Aportación De Espacios Trans-Fronterizos De Expresión Identitaria, Allison Ipsen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This investigation explores the lived experience of youth of indigenous Aymara ancestry migrating to the north of Chile from its Andean border countries, specifically that of four Bolivian grade school students living in the pueblo of Putre. My central objective in this project was to understand their experience and contribute to a safe space of conversation that strengthens the development and expression of their identity. I aimed to create this open, collaborative space so that they could take a step back from their current situation in which they have had to reconstruct their identities, and holistically consider their realization of …

Harmony Or Mere Toleration? Examining Inter-Religious Relations In Amertasari, Keller Hawkins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

When I was first told about a small village in North Bali where Hindus and Muslims live in harmony with one another, I was immediately intrigued. A month and a half later, our group was driving on the windy roads that take one from the southern part of Bali through the mountains into North Bali. We arrived in the village of Pegayaman and listened to some of the more distinguished village members tell us about life in Pegayaman. Because the village is known for being an example of religious harmony between Hindus and Muslims, this was the main topic of …

Christianitea: The Evolution Of A Religious Identity On Tea Plantations In Darjeeling, Traci Spacek

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study investigates the evolution of a religious identity that stems from the broader identity of “migrant tea worker” on tea plantations in the hill areas of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India in November of 2012. The study was conducted in the villages of three tea gardens in the Darjeeling Himalaya: Singla valley on the North Tukvar Tea Estate, Mineral Springs, and Liza Hill Tea Plantations. Religion is present in the lives of all inhabitants of the Darjeeling Hill areas and has a long and complex history with migration that has resulted in an undocumented and always evolving group of religious …

Engendering The Classroom: A Look At Constructions Of ‘Gender’ And Empowerment Within Teachers’ Trainings In Northern India, Martha Snow

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Education for girls in India has been a crucial area of study for the past 20 years; however, the main focus of attention has been on issues of girls’ access to school only. This study moves beyond this, seeking to gain critical insight into how ‘gender’ is being understood within the classroom via teachers. Teachers’ trainings conducted by the government and by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were examined through interviews with teachers and coordinators of teachers’ trainings, along with experts on gender and feminism in Delhi and Jaipur, Rajasthan. These interviews focused on the content and quality of teachers’ trainings, and …

The Expansion Of Early Buddhism In Yunnan: The Grottoes Of Shibaoshan, Audrey Pazmino

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The expansion of Buddhism from India into China followed several different routes, one of which was the Southern Silk Road. The cosmopolitan nature of this crossroads between India, the Tubo Empire of Tibet, the Nanzhao Kingdom in the Erhai region, and the Tang dynasty in China greatly impacted the types of Buddhist sites constructed during this time period.

Buddhism also took on new characteristics from the local ethnic groups in the Erhai region, particularly the Bai ethnic minority. The grottoes of Shibaoshan are one of these early Buddhist sites in Yunnan that reflect the integration of traditional Indian and Tibetan …

Tibetan Guozhuang In Diqing Autonomous Prefecture: A Comparative Musical Analysis, Christina Du Breuil

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The song and dance traditions of the Tibetan peoples of Diqing Prefecture are numerous and varied. Of these traditions, Guozhuang is cited as one of the oldest and most centrally traditional pieces of folk heritage. However, Guozhuang varies even within Diqing Prefecture. This paper addresses the basic form and structure of Guozhuang as well as variations between Benzilan and Shangri-la Guozhuang, two places separated not only by geographical distance but also the encroachment of development on traditional culture.

Traditional Wild Protein Collection Techniques Of The Naso People: On The Verge Of Change, Caldwell Rohrbach

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I studied the traditional wild protein collection techniques of the Naso people in the Syellick community Naso Territory, Bocas del Toro for 15 days during the end of November. The goal of this research was to record the various hunting techniques used by the Naso and determine whether those practices will disappear after the passing of this generation. I used informal and unstructured interviews as well as participant, objective, and passive observation (Master of Business Administration).

The Naso people complete at least one form of wild protein collection every day. The given technique is directly related to the weather on …

“Heaven And Earth” Samoan Indigenous Religion, Christianity, And The Relationship Between The Samoan People And The Environment, Grace Wildermuth

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines Samoan indigenous religion and the relationship between Samoans and the environment before and after the introduction of Christianity. It looks at how Christian beliefs and the cultural perspectives of European missionaries affected Samoa’s environment. It then considers Samoan indigenous religious values that may be helpful to combat current environmental problems. Primary and secondary sources were used, including interviews with both theologians and environmentalists. Samoan indigenous religion promoted a sustainable relationship with the land but Christianity and the cultural lens through which it was delivered had negative environmental effects. Samoa retains a deep environmental knowledge in the memories …

Accessing Justice, Evaluating Agency: How 12 Women In Cape Town Perceive Their Local Police Services With Respect To Their Race, Class, Gender, And Geographic Location, Ellen Moore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Policing in South Africa has a long, twisted history that is still evident in some current police practices and especially in the public’s perceptions of the police. In addition to historical factors such as colonial rule and apartheid, people’s perceptions of the police are also affected by their race, class, gender, and geographic location. Although these factors’ can be considered to have an individual effect on perceptions, it is through a complex understanding of how they relate to one another that a true understanding of a person’s perception can be reached. The inspiration for this study stemmed from these concepts …

Chogyal's Sikkim: Tax, Land & Clan Politics, Hong Tran

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During the Chogyal (Tib. chos rgyal1) reign, the first and last monarchy in Sikkim, land and various forms of taxes derived from land ownership were powerful instruments of the ruling class, namely the Chogyal family, the aristocratic clans, and the royal lamas. It is the objective of this paper to examine the institution of land ownership and taxation as a reflection of the deeply seated and potent clan politics of Sikkim. Through available records and literature as well as interviews with head lamas, monastic affiliates and the Sikkimese public, using a combination of narratives and analysis, this author hopes to …

Review Of White Man's Water: The Politics Of Sobriety In A Native American Community. By Erica Prussing, Paul Spicer

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Epidemiological evidence consistently emphasizes the challenges American Indian tribes of the Great Plains confront through excess alcohol consumption. Until Erica Prussing's recent book, however, we have lacked a detailed analysis of the social and cultural context in which these challenges unfold. With a focus on women's experiences across two generations, White Man s Water provides us with a careful description of the social and cultural world of contemporary Northern Cheyennes, coupled with an understanding of how individual experiences within the milieu vary, especially as a function of history.

White Man's Water is a truly significant book: the first book-length ethnographic …

Review Of Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter And The Politics Of Sight. By Timothy Pachirat., Donald D. Stull

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

In June 2004, political scientist Timothy Pachirat went to work on the killfloor of an unnamed beef slaughterhouse in Omaha, Nebraska. He started out as a "liver hanger" in the cooler. There carcasses hang before being sent to the fabrication floor where "hundreds of handheld knives and saws reinvent chilled half-carcasses as steaks, rounds, and roasts that are then boxed and shipped to distributors and retailers around the world." For four days he worked in the chutes, driving cattle to the knocking box to be stunned, as required by the Humane Slaughter Act, before being turned into meat. Then for …

Trafačka: Young Artists In An Alternative Space (Life Of D.I.Y.), Dora Novey-Buttfield

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper documents the functions and internal structure of Trafačka, an experimental arts space located in the Prague 9 district. There is very little research on the presence and significance of alternative culture in Prague today, and the term itself is difficult to define. Using personal interviews conducted by the author and some background research on Czech alternative culture and spaces, the study highlights the stories of the residents and artists of Trafačka in light of the debate on alternative culture.

The author explains how Trafačka is an example alternative space and describes the complexities of being separated from other …

Authenticity And Identity-Making In A Globalized World: Capoeira In Boston And New York, Madeline L. Bishop

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Africans In A Country “Without Blacks”: Challenges And Accomplishments Of The Integration Of Recent African Immigrants In Argentina - Africanos En Un País Donde “No Hay Negros”: Los Logros Y Desafíos De La Integración De Los Recientes Inmigrantes Africanos En La Argentina, Stephan Grabner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For nearly two centuries, Argentina has constructed a national identity which manages to remain culturally and ethnically homogeneous by ignoring the vibrant community of Afro-Argentineans and their rich contributions to society. However, recent waves of African immigrants and the growing self-awareness of the Afro-Argentinean community are raising questions about what it means to be Argentinean in the context of increasing global mobility. The new focus on human rights visible in Argentine politics over the past decade has brought about changes which seem to indicate a transition towards a more multicultural society. Despite widespread ignorance and racism which permeate all levels …