Anthropology Commons^™

Diversity And Homogeneity In American Culture: Teaching And Theory, Claudia Strauss

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

In teaching, as in any kind of cultural production, you can look at content, or you can look at reception. Here I want to talk about both: the content of what to say about diversity and sharing in U.S. culture, and how that may be received.

La Cultura Del Agua En Al-Andalus = The Culture Of Water In Al-Andalus, Natalie Lacy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I jump in the lake, moving through crisp liquid, opening my eyes to the clarity of sunrays dancing on the sandy bottom that expands itself to an indefinite line between shore and water; my hair flows softly behind me as I glide away from the surface of reality, releasing all tension within and absorbing the surrounding purity. I float towards the surface, leaving the silent world beneath, taking a breath: I am renewed. It is this sensation, swimming on the shores of Lake Superior, that inpsired my utter infatuation with water. Having grown up on an island, I have lived …

Real Time: Unwinding Technocratic And Anthropological Knowledge, Annelise Riles

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

“The Bank of Japan is our mother,” bankers in Tokyo sometimes said of Japan's central bank. Drawing on this metaphor as an ethnographic resource, and on the example of central bankers who sought to unwind their own technocratic knowledge by replacing it with a real-time machine, I retrace the ethnographic task of unwinding technocratic knowledge from those anthropological knowledge practices that critique technocracy. In so doing, I draw attention to special methodological problems—involving the relationship between ethnography, analysis, and reception—in the representation and critique of contemporary knowledge practices.

Eating Ethnicity: Examining 18th Century French Colonial Identity Through Selective Consumption Of Animal Resources In The North American Interior, Rory J. Becker

Masters Theses

Cultural identities can be created and maintained through daily practice and food consum.ption is one such practice. People need food in order to survive, but the types of food they eat are largely determined by the interaction of culture and their environment. By approaching the topic of subsistence practices as being culturally constituted, the study of foodways provides an avenue to examine issues of cultural identity through selective consumption. Eating certain foods to the exclusion of others is one method for establishing social distance between peoples and is simultaneously a reflection of this relationship and the types of interactions that …

The Fight For Political Representation In A Southern Suburb: The Use Of The Voting Rights Act And The Federal Court System By Black Plaintiffs In Henrico County, Virginia, Thomas J. Shields

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

There has been an abundance of written work on the historic fight for black political equality in southern urban areas. However, almost no scholarly work exists on the fight for black political equality in the rapidly expanding southern suburbs. This article analyzes the rise of the black population and its fight for political representation on the local governing board in Henrico County, a large suburb of Richmond, Virginia. The article details the increase in the black population in Henrico County from 1950 to 2000 and provides a descriptive analysis how black plaintiffs used the Voting Rights Act in a redistricting …

From Colombia To Japan: Anthropology In The Real World, Leandra Naranjo, Reimi Takeuchi, Peter Savastano, Cherubim Quizon

Petersheim Academic Exposition

2004 Petersheim Academic Exposition

The Effects Of Modernization On The Bedouin Populations Of Jordan, Peter Dicampo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Cultural Standing In Expression Of Opinion, Claudia Strauss

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

This article explores an underappreciated pragmatic constraint on the expression of opinions: When expressing an opinion on a topic that has been previously discussed, a speaker should correctly indicate the cultural standing of that view in the relevant opinion community. This Bakhtinian approach to discourse analysis is contrasted with conversation analysis, politeness theory (Brown & Levinson, 1987), and analysis of epistemic modality. Finally, indicators of four points on the cultural standing continuum (highly controversial, debatable, common opinion, and taken for granted) are illustrated with examples from American English usage.

Money That Burns Like Oil: A Sri Lankan Cultural Logic Of Morality And Agency, Michele Ruth Gamburd

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

New labor opportunities have drawn Sri Lankan women to work as domestic servants in the Middle East. Many migrants complain that their remittances "burn like oil," disappearing without a trace. The gendered discourse on burning remittances both draws on and contradicts an older cultural system that fetishizes money. The emerging logic provides symbolic resources for women to spend their remittances on advancements for the nuclear family, distancing themselves from other kin. (Migration, remittances, fetishism, Sri Lanka, Middle East)

Cross Burning, Cockfighting, And Symbolic Meaning: Toward A First Amendment Ethnography, Timothy Zick

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Pervasiveness Of Culture In Conflict, Pat K. Chew

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Answers To Frequently Asked Questions Concerning The Iqa Special Report On Adhesive-Containing Quilting Products, Janet Evenson, Patricia Cox Crews

International Quilt Museum: Resources

A supplement to the special report on THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT AND AGEING ON SELECTED QUILTING PRODUCTS CONTAINING ADHESIVES.

The Effects Of Light And Ageing On Selected Quilting Products Containing Adhesives, Janet Evenson, Patricia Cox Crews

International Quilt Museum: Resources

A quiltmaker’s choice of materials, including fabric, batting, thread and other materials influences the lifespan of a quilt. It is disappointing, and sometimes devastating, when components prematurely yellow, stiffen or weaken with age. Although conservators and conservation scientists have evaluated archival-quality adhesive products and determined which ones are acceptable for use in conservation treatments, there were no published results concerning the long-term performance of adhesive-containing products available to quiltmakers and home sewers. Consequently, they could not make informed choices. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether or not selected adhesive-containing products for quilters, specifically quilt basting sprays, …

Precious Red Coral: Markets And Meanings, Susan J. Torntore

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Beads and other ornamental items made of precious red coral have been utilized by various cultures worldwide for thousands of years. Depending on its properties and market context, this highly valued material has meant different things to different peoples through time. The current industry—based in Torre del Greco in southern Italy—reflects past traditions but also incorporates new ideas into the production of beads and jewelry for the three principal world markets: fashion, ethnic, and tourist. These reflect the historic trade and use of red coral beads in several West African, European, and American cultural settings. This article describes the Torrese …

Incised Dentalium Shell Beads In The Plateau Culture Area, Roderick Sprague

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Whole dentalium and segments of dentalium shell have been used as beads in the Northwest Coast and interior Plateau culture areas both prehistorically and ethnographically. Incised whole shells, and no more than five known examples of incised segments, have been recovered from the Plateau, limited to archaeological contexts. A review of the reported incising clearly shows the use of design elements typical of the Plateau Culture Area as often also used on bone, antler, wood, and historic copper in addition to dentalium. The Asotin site (45-AS-9), one of the few well-dated Plateau burial sites with incised beads indicates that this …

Beads: Journal Of The Society Of Bead Researchers - Volume 16 (Complete)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Bead Making At Murano And Venice, B. Harvey Carroll Jr., Jamey D. Allen

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

"Bead Making at Murano and Venice," by B. Harvey Carroll, Jr., is a rare eyewitness account of beadmaking in and around Venice, Italy, towards the end of the First World War and documents the technology of the time as well as what impact the war had on the industry. Carroll's report takes us through the various steps in the production of drawn or tube beads and also provides a historical perspective of the industry. Although the report presents much useful information, we now know much more about most aspects of glass beadmaking and endnotes provide much additional information and clarification.

Front Matter

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Reviews And End Matter (V. 16, 2004)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Gem and Ornamental Materials of Organic Origin, by Maggie Campbell Pedersen (2004), reviewed by Stefany Tomalin

World on a String: Parts One, Two, and Three, by Diana Friedberg and Lionel Friedberg (2004-2005), reviewed by Lois Rose Rose

Beads of Life: Eastern and Southern African Beadwork from Canadian Collections, by Marie-Louise Labelle (2005), reviewed by Margret Carey.

Table Of Contents (V. 16, 2004)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Taman Shamanism (Borneo), Jay H. Bernstein

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The "Many Mouths" Of Community Gossip And Social Interaction Among The Kelabit Of Borneo, Matthew H. Amster

Anthropology Faculty Publications

This paper considers the role of gossip and social interaction among the Kelabit of Sarawak, Malaysia Focusing on gossip in everyday life, the paper explores the tension between desires for individual privacy, concerns for group cohesion and, more broadly, desires to adopt a more modern style of living and social interaction. These tensions are vividly manifested in discourses about the problematic nature of gossip in the Kelabit community. Critical to this is a discussion of Kelabit styles of interpersonal interaction and conflict management, including the role of meditation. Offering a range of examples illustrating the social contexts of Kelabit gossip, …

Making The Scene: An Investigation Of The Rock And Roll Scenes Of Nashville, Tennessee, And Athens, Georgia, Kevin Jones Murphy

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Making the Scene: An Investigation of the Rock and Roll Scenes of Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia, takes a look at the ways in which both the identities of a music scene and the individuals taking part in that scene are created and maintained. Issues of identity are addressed by examining the roles performed by various members of the scene (musicians, soundmen, club owners, etc . . .), by focusing on the influence of landscape, and looking at the ways a scene’s members identify with the cultural region that surrounds their particular scene (in this case both scenes are located …

Music Education In Remote Aboriginal Communities, Graham Chadwick, George Rrurrambu

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

These papers deal with some of the complex cultural and pedagogical issues involved in the delivery of a secondary-school music education program to remote Aboriginal communities. The papers outline the history of the program, the challenges in its delivery and some of the prospects for its future.

Hunter-Gatherers In Jackson Hole, Wyoming: Testing Assumptions About Site Function, Kenneth P. Cannon, Dawn R. Bringelson, Molly Boeka Cannon

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The settlement-subsistence pattern of hunter-gatherers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has been viewed historically as an economic system organized around the altitudinal distribution of seasonally ripening food crops and has come to be known as high country adaptation (HCA). Although this study does not take issue with the basic tenet of the modelhunter- gatherer movement through altitudinal zones for the exploitation of seasonally available resources-we critically assess the normative functional interpretations presented by previous investigators. We examine artifacts in three lithic assemblages from southern Jackson Hole in terms of the organization of technology as a means to investigate each locale's function …

Solving Meno's Puzzle, Defeating Merlin's Subterfuge: Bodies Of Reference Knowledge And Archaeological Inference, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

THE MIND OF Lewis Binford is nimble and constantly evolving. In part, one can map Binford's prodigious intellectual growth by looking at the research trajectories of his students, who often continue on paths they began under his tutelage. In my case, certainly, this is very true. When I arrived at the University of New Mexico in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Binford was exploring the nature of the archaeological record: how to understand past human organization at a supra-ethnographic scale, what we might learn from bones and site structure, and how to reliably give meaning to the archaeological record. …

Resisting Marriage And Renouncing Womanhood: The Choice Of Taiwanese Buddhist Nuns, Hillary Crane

Faculty Publications

The traditional Chinese perception of Buddhist monastics is that they choose to renounce the world out of desperation — after failing in the world such that their only options are suicide or the monastery. That this perception of the monastic life persists in Taiwan today is evident in monastics’ own descriptions of their families’ responses to their choice as well as in several recent scandals related to monastic life. Despite the widespread negative perception of monastics, increasing numbers of women are choosing this life. Drawing on extensive fieldwork with relatively new monastics, the author explores the choice Buddhist nuns make …

Sibyl 2004, Otterbein University

Otterbein University Yearbooks

No abstract provided.

Poison Hunting Strategies And The Organization Of Technology In The Circumpolar Region, Alan J. Osborn

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

INUPIAT ESKIMO WHALERS are allowed to kill up to 50 bowhead whales every year in the arctic waters off Barrow, Alaska. Some of the older bowheads are more than 20 m in length and weigh more than 50 tons. Since 1981 the Inupiat have found at least six lance and harpoon end blades embedded within the thick blubber that insulates these magnificent mammals (Raloff 2(00). These archaeological weapon points included projectiles fashioned from chipped stone, ground slate, ivory, and iron. Wildlife biologists have suspected that whales may live to be quite old. One can only imagine their surprise, however, once …

Niche: A Productive Guide For Use In The Analysis Of Cultural Complexity, Lewis R. Binford

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

THIS CHAPTER EXPLORES some of the interpretative implications of a failure to consider the potential causes for organized variability among cultural systems. The niche concept is considered useful when exploring organizational similarities and differences among cultural systems and central to a productive discussion regarding the differences between living systems that are biologically as opposed to culturally organized. Some interesting issues regarding systems complexity are focused upon through a discussion of mutualism and what is implied by the term when students of cultural systems use the idea.