Anthropology Commons^™

Understanding Sanitation Preferences: An Exploratory Study In The Sirohi District Of Rajasthan, Karen Mac

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Of all the countries in the world, India has the highest number of people practicing open defecation, causing adverse health outcomes from the unconfined spread of faecal matter. The Government of India is ambitiously aiming to end this practice through the construction of 12 million toilets by 2019, but historically, many toilets across India have gone unused. This study focused on understanding: (1) the reasons why people continue to openly defecate despite having toilets and (2) the requirements of a toilet that rural households would be willing to use. Along with 36 observations of household toilets, semi-structured group (n=8) and …

Women Of Leh Town, Ladakh: An Overview Of Perceptions Of Health, Health-Seeking Behaviors, And Access To Health Care, Sophia Marion

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following study seeks to investigate access to health care services and perceptions of health care among women residing in traditional farming communities around the Ladakh region, and to analyze perspectives on health, health-seeking behavior, and access to health care. This project was prompted by the fact that health care in this region is understudied. This study also focuses on marginalized communities including local women and immigrant women. Methods used for the collection of data were qualitative interviews conducted with 24 women, as well as an amchi worker, doctors, and informal and formal conversations with people from different nongovernmental Organizations …

When Knowledge Flows: A Case Study Of Village Health Workers’ Motivations In Jamkhed, Selaem Hadera

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Across the field of global health, there have been many attempts to cater to the health needs of the most marginalized populations. Community health workers (CHWs) are individuals that live in the communities they serve and are typically low-­‐income women with little to no formal education. After a period of training by their program, they enter their communities equipped as a bridge between the community and the health system. Although CHWs do play a substantial role in health delivery and education, the structure of CHW programs varies widely, but a common characteristic of these programs is that the CHWs are …

The Shifting Roles Of Dai Maas: An Intersection Of Healthcare And Female Empowerment In Rural Udaipur, Julie Morel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), known as dais in an Indian context, have historically served as women’s primary caregivers throughout their pregnancies and during childbirth in rural regions where access to formal healthcare institutions is nearly impossible. With a heavy reliance on traditional knowledge passed down through generations, dais have aided with home deliveries for millennia. Approximately 15 years ago, however, groups such as WHO, UNICEF, World Bank, and the UN began addressing India’s high maternal mortality rate (MMR), thereby instigating the discouragement of home deliveries in favor of the encouragement of institutional deliveries. Infrastructural changes were established to improve accessibility …

Ethical Business Practice, Accountability, And Quality Assurance: Primary Drivers For Sustainable Tourism Development In Iceland, Abigail Harrison

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The tourism industry in Iceland has grown exponentially in the last decade, causing changes to the natural landscape and drastically shifting revenue streams in the economy. This rapid growth coupled with the recent development of Iceland’s tourism industry makes it the perfect case study for how to effectively mitigate tourism influxes. This unprecedented rate of growth impels the creation of sustainability measures within this industry in order to ensure a lasting vision of Icelandic tourism in the future. Both the government and private sector have already begun to institute sustainability measures in society and in business. The primary aim of …

The Role Of Young Environmental Activists In Iceland And Furthering Youth Engagement With Environmental Issues, Story Schwantes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper looks at the role of youth environmental activism in Iceland and how these actors view their work in a country which has long held a reputation as one of the greenest in the world. Much of the credit for that distinction goes not to careful choices, sacrifice, or excellent stewardship but rather to its ideal geography providing massive geothermal energy which Iceland turns into electricity, a clean renewable source. So are there young environmental activists in Iceland, and if so what do they do? Short answer: yes, and they study and talk. The long answer is more complex. …

A Critical Examination Of The Climate Change Vulnerability And Adaptation Literature In Nunavut, Canada, Sarah Prentice

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper attempts to study the climate change vulnerability and adaptation literature in Nunavut, a province in the Canadian Arctic. The paper begins with a review of literature produced by Inuit organizations on colonization in the Canadian Arctic and Nunavut specifically, then systematically reviews the literature on climate change vulnerability and adaptation. Using a post-colonial analysis, this study found that while the climate change vulnerability and adaptation literature attempts to attend to colonial histories and legacies, it often falls short. Climate change vulnerability and adaptation literature had minimal representation of colonization, residential schooling, sanatoria, and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. This may perpetuate …

Rehabilitation And Reintegration Of Genocide Ex-Prisoners: Understanding The Correctional Role Of Prisons In Rwanda, Lulu Abdun

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

After the Genocide Against the Tutsi in 1994, over 120,000 people were imprisoned in Rwanda for the perpetration of genocide. Twenty-three years after the Genocide, numerous genocide ex-prisoners have been released. Throughout their prison time and after their release, rehabilitation and reintegration programming has been available. This paper looks at the rehabilitation and reintegration programming available to genocide ex-prisoners, the success and challenges they currently face or have previously faced, and recommendations for reforms for the future prison/rehabilitation/reintegration process. This paper also examines the correctional role of prisons in Rwanda and how that contributes to successful reintegration. From interviewing genocide …

Eco-Anxiety At University: Student Experiences And Academic Perspectives On Cultivating Healthy Emotional Responses To The Climate Crisis, Anna Kelly

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research looks at the overall question of how planetary health impacts mental health and psychological welling. The central focus is eco-anxiety—mental distress caused by climate change and environmental degradation—and how it manifests in university students. In order to gather data for this research I collected 114 student survey responses, interviewed seven young adults (ages 20-25), and interviewed seven experts in the fields of psychology and environmental studies.

They survey results show high levels of general stress and anxiety, high levels of stress and anxiety related to climate change and the state of the world, and a very high level …

The Impact Of Program Structure On Language Acquisition And Intercultural Competence: A Comparative Study Of Study Abroad Programs In Kunming, China, Samantha Bergman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

According to the Project Atlas study conducted by the Institute of International Education, China is the world’s third most popular study abroad location. With over 390,000 international students currently studying in China, there are more opportunities for cultural exchange and mutual understanding than ever before. However, there is still relatively little existing research on how different study abroad program structures impact students’ Chinese language skills and cultural literacy.

This study examined the impacts of experiential learning and intensive language study abroad program structures on students’ language acquisition and intercultural competence development. Two study abroad programs based in Kunming, SIT China: …

The Disappearance Of Nyoman And Ketut, Laura Michelle Garvie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Discourses Of Psychiatry And Culture: The Interface Between Western And Traditional Medicine In The Treatment Of Mental Illness, Madeline Molot

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mental illness is a burden of disease that, in many countries, is neglected; South Africa is no exception. There are many reasons for this, including but not limited to a lack of specialized mental health personnel in primary care settings, a budget that favors South Africa’s communicable disease epidemic, and a continued stigma around mental illness. Whenever discussing the healthcare system in South Africa, however, it is important to note another parallel system of care, one with little to no budget or regulation: that of traditional healing. It is estimated that over 70% of South Africans have at some point …

Las Ofrendas A La Tierra En Un Mundo Global \ Offerings To Land In A Global World, Alison Wuensch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta investigación aborda si las ofrendas a la Pachamama en el Cusco responden a la desvalorización de las culturas andinas en un mundo globalizado por el turismo, la globalización, la modernización, y la urbanización. El turismo místico en el Perú ha crecido desde las noventas con la promoción del estado peruano de la cultura viva, y una de las ceremonias andinas más importantes es la ofrenda a la Pachamama. El objetivo era identificar y explicar los efectos del turismo, la globalización, la modernización, y la urbanización en las ofrendas a la Pachamama según los chamanes y la observación. Fui a …

Remembering Negdels: Nostalgia, Memory & Soviet-Era Herding Collectives, Maya Sutton-Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During the socialist period Mongolia’s nomadic herders were grouped into collective herding units called negdels. Today, over twenty years after Mongolia transitioned to democracy, herding has been privatized completely and negdels are a distant memory. This study explores the history of negdels by conducting twenty-five oral interviews with herders about their memories of collective herding. This study focuses on a soum in the Mongolian countryside, Bayandelger, while also incorporating interviews with people from Ulaanbaatar. Bayandelger is a unique location for this project because it was selected by the Soviets to receive assistance in an effort to make it a model …

Here There Be Herders: Comparative Archaeological Survey Of Bronze Age Monumental Landscapes, Charles Ronkos

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Within our global understanding of the human story, nomadic pastoralists are often featured as marginal, or at best ancillary, to a narrative on sedentary civilizations of increasing complexity. Research on these groups has been limited by this conception, and by a minimal signature in the archeological record. However, revolutionary technological and methodological advances in the field have allowed for increased complexity in current research on the emergence of pastoralists in antiquity. As a region with an extensive nomadic pastoral history, and as a nation reviving its interest in the past, Mongolia is ideal for such studies. However, for large swaths …

Pluralism And Religious Education In Bali: How Lack Of Implementation Of Educational Reform Threatens Indonesian Identity In The System Used To Construct It, Nikolai O. Birch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Indonesia’s education system was developed with the construction of the Indonesian as a cohesive people in mind. In doing so, the system adopted the practice of mandatory religious education as a means of developing the character of the Indonesian student through religion, a component imperative to the nation’s statehood. In the years and decades following, the education system, and subsequently its program of religious education, has been reformed and changed many times. This research attempts to look at how and why this changed system has struggled to implement these changes in the classroom, and why pluralism has been included in …

Where Ethnography Breaks Down: The Ethics, Miscommunications, And Failures Of My Independent Study Project, Natasha Shannon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper will communicate a thick description and self-reflective critique of the research methods I used while conducting short-term ethnographic fieldwork at an NGO (non-governmental organization) in Rabat, Morocco. The research initially sought to answer the following question: How does the culture of a Moroccan NGO interact with the culture of its target client populations, and how does this impact the power dynamics of the NGO’s services? However, the ethical dilemmas of the research caused the question to shift to the following: What went wrong over the course of this short-term ethnography, and why? This paper will address my initial …

Impacts Of Migration On Mosuo Cultural Identity: A Case Study Of The Mosuo People In Lijiang, Isabel Ullmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

China is currently in the midst of the largest labor migration in human history and yet we know very little about the cultural impact on the migrants themselves. For many ethnic minorities, like the Mosuo, who have been isolated from urban, if not Han, influence for much of their history, this migration is sure to result in some cultural disruption. As a matrilineal culture defined by large extended families traced by the matriline, a distinct, non-exclusive sexual-reproductive system, a housing layout that reflects religious beliefs and social structure, and a fluid interplay of the local ddaba religion and Tibetan Buddhism, …

Definiendo La Concepción De La Salud Mental Y Espiritual: La Influencia De La Biomedicina Y La Religión Occidental En La Comunidad Mapuche De La Araucanía, Maya Salvio

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: In what ways has occidental religions and the biomedical health system influenced the conception of mental health in the Mapuche community in the Araucania?

Objectives: The general objective of this study is to identify the ways in which mental and spiritual health are conceptualized by the Mapuche community and identify the influences of occidental religion and biomedicine in Carahue and Saavedra. The specific objectives are to identify the conceptions of mental and spiritual health among the three predominant ideologies, characterize their perceptions of anxiety and depression (two occidental mental illnesses), identify the relationships between the three ideologies, and …

Nit Nitay Garabame: Analyzing Mental Illness And Art Therapy Within Dakar’S Atelier D’Ex-Pression Artistique, Alaina Orr

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As mental health issues are usually given low priority in countries of sub-Saharan Africa, including Senegal, mental illness continues to be an emerging topic of discourse (Rand 2015). In Dakar, the practice of art therapy has been used for decades to provide those living with mental illness or going through trauma with a method for selfexpression when words fail to articulate their situations or mental states. Situated within Hôpital Fann’s psychiatric hospital, Clinique Moussa Diop, is an art therapy workshop known as l’Atelier d’EX-PRESSION Artistique1, which provides the space, structure, and material for persons with mental illness to work with …

An Interpersonal Exploration Of Zen Buddhism: A Case Study Of Thiền Viện Trúc Lâm, Yuwen Michelson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Through ethnographic research, I plan to examine the institution of Zen Buddhist education. I study how the applied socio-cultural meanings of what it means to be a “Buddhist” affect individual and shared meanings of Zen Buddhism. I focus on how pedagogy and practice of Zen Buddhism influences personal interpretations of Buddhist thought and tradition.

Over the years, many Buddhist scholars have brought to light several methodological issues with the study of Buddhism via examination of the canon. These concerns range from issues of objectivity and intention to interpretation and creativity; while also including other complications regarding politics and power. Scholars …

Migrant Education In Morocco: Cross-Cultural Competence Favored Over Integrative Reform. An Analysis Of The Moroccan Government’S Migrant Integration Efforts Through Education., Ella Schoenen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In 2014 the Ministry in Charge of Moroccans Abroad and Migration Affairs, adopted the National Policy of Immigration and Asylum detailing efforts to realize an adaptive education system, sensitive to migrant education and inclusive of teaching and learning strategies directed towards children of foreign heritage. As migrant networks grow more and more fortified, and people all over the world experience improved mobility, destination countries are finding multicultural and inclusive education systems integral to the wellbeing of its new residents, and the tolerance of its native citizens. Based on the national strategy for immigration and asylum put forth by the Ministry …

The Road Into The Future Of Health Care: The Importance Of Addressing Access To Health Facilities In Transportation Infrastructure Investment Decisions, Nicola (Nikki) Van Den Heever

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Background: One school of thought argues that transportation infrastructure is not an ultimate end goal of development and therefore shouldn’t be addressed within development funding decisions while the other argues that transportation infrastructure is the crucial foundation from which all development efforts are based and therefore needs to be addressed within development funding decisions. Within this framework, there is a lack of academic and other research addressing how physical access to health care for pregnant women can better be addressed when making decisions regarding funding of transportation infrastructure projects.

Purpose: To demonstrate the importance of considering access to health care …

A Preliminary Study Of Intergenerational Differences In Masxha Regarding Practice And Attitudes Towards Zulu Traditions During Pregnancy And Birth, Momoko Oyama

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the Zulu culture, several traditions and rituals are practiced during a woman’s pregnancy and perinatal period. However, as urbanization spreads and western influences strengthen, these rituals risk being lost. This project aims to capture existing knowledge of these traditions and to assess the intergenerational changes in practice and attitudes towards practicing the rituals.

Information on Zulu traditions practiced during a woman’s pregnancy and perinatal period was collected through two interviews and a focus group consisting of three elderly women in Masxha, a Black township in KwaZulu-Natal. Following the interviews and focus group, 32 Masxha residents were recruited to complete …

Give A Man A Fish: A Narrative Approach To A Case Study Of Soup Kitchens In The Wentworth Community, Evelyn Shen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study uses a narrative approach to explore the role of soup kitchens in the predominantly Coloured and English-speaking Wentworth community. Many of the community’s churches1 and non-profit organizations host soup kitchens regularly, rotating so that there is a meal available each day of the week.

Qualitative data was gathered through volunteering with the soup kitchens as a participant observer and having conversations and open-ended interviews with soup kitchen guests and hosts. Institutional context was provided by interviews with the Convener of the War Room and the Ward Councillor, and representatives of three non-profits in the community. In order to …

Do Africans Support English Football Teams And Neglect Local African Teams: An Interrogation Of Eight Black African Men In Cape Town, Eddie Mungai

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project unravels the various reasons why black African men have such a strong attachment to English football teams belonging to the English Premier League. It works to find the answer to the hypothesis, which states that black African men exhibit greater fan support for English football teams and neglect the support of the local African teams.

Eight black African men from East, West, Southern, and Central Africa, describe the manifestation of their soccer fandom for the English team they support as well as their favorite local African club team. Based on the observations gathered through participant observations and interviews, …

“Always A Double-Edged Sword”: How Women And Health Care Providers Navigate Issues Of Contraception In Differing Senegalese Communities, Angelina Strohbach

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines how women and health care providers in two distinct Senegalese settings—Dakar and Mouit, a village located within the Gandiol region-- navigate contraception as both a social and medical good. Contraception is an invaluable tool in terms of advancing women’s right to reproductive health, but major discrepancies in its usage exist across a variety of social lines in Senegal, including level of education, marital status, occupation, age, and living in a rural versus urban setting. What socially constructed thought processes and lived experiences contribute to these discrepancies? In a cultural context heavily based upon tradition and Islamic faith, …

Shelo Yigamer L’Olam: La Construcción De Identidades Compuestas En La Comunidad Judía De Iquitos, Perú / Shelo Yigamer L'Olam: The Construction Of Composite Identities In The Jewish Community Of Iquitos, Peru, Beatrice Waterhouse

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este informe trata de la comunidad judía en Iquitos, Loreto, Perú, y como compara al marco estándar de la identidad judía como diseñado por Simon Herman (1977) y Altman, Fine, Ritter, Inman, y Howard (2010). A través de observación a primera mano y entrevistas con una muestra de participantes en la comunidad organizada, analiza varias facetas de la identidad judía: etnia, religión, relaciones con la comunidad no-judía, nacionalidad, y sentimientos sobre el Estado de Israel. Este estudio de caso encuentra que la comunidad de Iquitos generalmente sigue ese marco con algunas diferencias claves, especialmente con referencia a la prominencia de …

Humanity Balancing On A Turtle’S Back: Perceptions And Values Of Sea Turtle Conservation Among Different Demographics At Four Sites In The Bocas Del Toro Archipelago Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Roxanne Hoorn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Being the ancient, world traveling, iconic mega-fauna they are, sea turtles have found their way into cultures and traditions around the world, often holding great prestige. Along with their mystical qualities, sea turtles have also been intricately intertwined in the livelihoods of cultures around the globe, utilized for food, jewelry, income, and more recently, scientific research. The ways in which humans around the world perceive the value of this species varies greatly, often causing conflict between those who wish to protect and conserve sea turtles, and those looking to continue using turtles as either a source of income or food. …

Dealing With Migratory Trauma: Mental Health Stressors And Coping Mechanisms Among Sub-Saharan Migrants In Rabat, Morocco, Dominique Defreece

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Interviews, surveys, and participant observation was used to study the mental health of Sub-Saharan migrants residing in Rabat, Morocco. These data collection methods were used to explore the various experiences migrants had pre-migration, during their migration journey, and post-migration. The migrants portrayed many negative, traumatic, and painful experiences. These experiences have caused a significant amount of pressure on the mental psyche of the migrants, manifesting itself in many physical and psychological problems. One common problem was a sense of disillusionment or lack of control over their bodies and situations. However, many of them do not seek the help of mental …