Anthropology Commons^™

Rebuilding Houses, Rebuilding Ukraine: Peacebuilding Through Youth Service-Learning, Katherine Tremont

Capstone Collection

In order to successfully transform conflict in a complex situation such as Ukraine, it is critical to examine projects designed by Ukrainians themselves that support and reflect Ukrainian attitudes towards conflict and peace. Lviv Education Foundation is one such Ukrainian-run organization developing and implementing peacebuilding projects between the east and west of Ukraine. From interviews with Lviv Education Foundation personnel, this paper examines the feasibility of two important peacebuilding interventions through the lenses of positive and negative peace, basic human needs, and conflict transformation through ritual. This project finds that Lviv Education Foundation’s programs encourage peacebuilding in all three of …

Exploring Cape Malay Identity Through The Lens Of Food, Allyson Ang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the construction of Cape Malay identity through the lens of food. Made up of descendants of slaves from India, Madagascar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, and other places, “Cape Malay” is a very contentious identity. Although people who fall under the label of Cape Malay today are hundreds of years removed from their slave ancestors, there are still distinct remnants of these origins in Cape Malay culture. One of the ways in which this is most evident is Cape Malay cuisine. Cape Malay dishes such as bobotie, samosas, bredie, and beryani have become staples in South African …

Historical Perspectives On A National Heroine: R.A. Kartini And The Politics Of Memory, Amber Woodward

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

R.A. Kartini is an Indonesian national heroine, considered Indonesia’s founding feminist. Because of her inherently political status as a woman, a Javanese subject of Dutch colonialism, and an aristocrat, her memory has been used in diverse ways throughout history. In this paper I examine four main periods in which Kartini’s image has been dictated due to current political and social climates: Dutch imperialism, Indonesian independence, the New Order, and the present day. This paper is based on three weeks of research and fieldwork, including eight interviews with eleven informants, who had a diverse range of educational backgrounds and knowledge of …

The Making And Re-Making Of Dolpo Identity: A Case Study Of Do-Tarap, Lin Zhu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The unbelievably harsh environment in Dolpo forces people to be self-sufficient based on agriculture and husbandry, two sectors that complement each other very well. The condition also requires plentiful communal works for survival. Dolpo’s geographical isolation on the one hand, limits Dolpo-pas from encountering others, and on the other hand, prevents the presence of the central government. Before the 1960’s, Dolpo still remained as a politically autonomous region under the Kingdom of Nepal. However, based on interviews conduced with both local villagers and outsiders such as governmental officials and Nepalese, the paper argues that, starting from the 1960’s, Dolpo-pas began …

Giving A Voice To The Powerless: Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation As A Tool For Inclusive Development Through Microfinance, Evan T. Burke

Capstone Collection

The greatest experts on the situation of the marginalized peoples of the world are the marginalized communities themselves. This paper explores how participatory monitoring & evaluation can be a powerful tool for giving voices to marginalized communities, ensuring that the voices of beneficiaries and local stakeholders are heard and inform sustainable project design. It analyzes a participatory monitoring and evaluation methodology implemented for women’s credit cooperatives in Gujarat, India by the Human Development & Research Centre, and examines lessons to be learned to design evaluations facilitating inclusive development.

Strategies for the monitoring and evaluation of microfinance have evolved along with …

Genocide In Northeast Brazil: Dismantling Colonial Legacies Of Contemporary State Violence In Salvador, Kelsi Sleet

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The systematic use of violence by the police a lead me to the city of Salvador, Bahia, a city where 80% of the population is Afro-Brazilian. Using a framework of structural violence I develop a critical understanding of how contemporary manifestations of colonialism impact black people in Salvador, Bahia. Through this research I problematize the idea of the “racial democracy” to understand how black people are experiencing the direct use of violence by the Brazilian state in the form of anti-black genocide. I ask how Black Brazilian activists in Salvador resist and challenge state violence, specifically in the context of …

La Vida Es Un Conflicto, Pero Hay Que Llevar Soluciones: La Resolución De Conflicto En Comunidades Rurales De San Ramón Nicaragua A Través De Facilitadores Judiciales Rurales Y Mediación, Marlee Raible

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In rural parts of Nicaragua historically there has not been a lot of access to the justice system. Conflicts have been going unresolved for years leading to a high amount of violence as people take justice into their own hands. The recent implementation of the Rural Judicial Facilitators Program (RJFP) is an effort to provide access to justice directly in rural communities. These facilitators are trained to use mediation as their principal method to resolve conflict.

This study exposes perceptions of mediation and the RJFP from community members, facilitators, and judiciaries. It discusses the key role of the facilitator in …

“Doce Pasos” En La Dirección Correcta: La Adaptación Cultural De Prácticas Terapéuticas En Un Centro De Rehabilitación Para Hombres Ecuatorianos, Jason Tinero

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este proyecto se trata de cómo un centro de rehabilitación ha adaptado sus prácticas terapéuticas para hombres de la cultura ecuatoriana. El programa de tratamiento está basado en el programa norteamericano de los Doce Pasos, asociado con Alcohólicos o Narcóticos Anónimos. Según el marco de la psicología cultural, las prácticas terapéuticas no pueden generalizarse interculturalmente; entonces, hay que corresponder las terapias para la sociedad misma. La cultura ecuatoriana está marcada por tres rasgos sobresalientes: la religión católica y la espiritualidad, el machismo y la intimidad de la familia nuclear. A través de observaciones de terapias, entrevistas con terapistas y usuarios …

Deterritorialización Y Resistencia En El Sur De Buenos Aires: El Qué, El Por Qué Y El Cómo De Preservación De La Identidad En El Barrio De Barracas En Una Era Del Cambio Y Inversión Por Parte Del Gobierno. / Deterritorialization And Resistance In The Southern Barrios Of Buenos Aires: The What, Why And How Of Identity Preservation In The Neighborhood Of Barracas In An Era Of Change And Outside Investment., Paige Moody

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following study explores the processes of change in Barracas, a neighborhood in the southern zone of Buenos Aires. Barracas is the oldest neighborhood of the city, steeped in a rich history and comprised of a population that holds a strong collective identity. In the past couple of decades there have been extensive urban renewal projects applied to the area, bringing with them a struggle for the residents to maintain their identity and control over the future of the neighborhood. The questions this investigation seeks to answer are: What are these changes that have recently come to Barracas? Why were …