Anthropology Commons^™

Transforming Through Power: Teachers And The Negotiation Of Authority In Schools, Madhu Narayanan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Schools are unique institutions where structural and cultural dynamics shape the actions of humans. Teachers work within structures of power to establish themselves as legitimate figures of authority worthy of the right to command respect. Such efforts are complicated by the multi-faceted and swirling relationships of power that exist everywhere in schools, defining and guiding individuals. In this study, I interview and observe the practice of seven secondary teachers working in New York City public schools. All in their third year of teaching, they were at an interesting time in their development, not novice teachers and not quite veteran. Using …

Sedimenting Territory: A Political Geology Of Oil, Earth, And Spatial Politics In Turkey, Zeynep Oguz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Building on the recent turn to the material and earthly aspects of resources and political power in environmental anthropology and political geography, this work historically and ethnographically examines the kinds of territorial politics that oil’s materiality, geological qualities, and infrastructures have generated in Turkey. Despite being surrounded by oil-rich neighbors in the Middle East, Turkey’s domestic oil reserves supply only 7 percent of the country’s oil, all of which has been drilled in the Kurdish provinces of Batman, Diyarbakır, and Adıyaman in Turkey’s southeast, where the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) has been fighting the Turkish state since 1984 for cultural …

Afro-Cuba Transnational: Recordings And The Mediation Of Afro-Cuban Traditional Music, Johnny Frias

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation analyzes the way audio and video recordings and the internet have impacted, shaped, and helped create a transnational Afro-Cuban music scene. My focus will be on the most popular and widely-recorded genres of Afro-Cuban music—rumba and the religious repertoire of Santería, particularly batá drumming—both of which I also perform regularly with other Cuban musicians in Miami. Incorporating interviews, online ethnographic research, and participant-observation as a musician, my research has three main arguments.

First, recordings of Afro-Cuban music helped create a transnational Afro-Cuban music scene by increasing the popularity of these traditions outside of Cuba, including their amateur performance …

Claiming The Remains Of The Past: The Return Of Cultural Heritage Objects To Colombia, Mexico, And Peru, Pierre Losson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My research explores the reasons why three Latin American states (Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) claim the return of cultural heritage objects from holding institutions in the Western World, such as museums and universities. The literature on returns and restitutions, which focuses on questions of ownership and possession of objects, opposes two conceptions of cultural heritage: on the one hand, the internationalists argue that the location of a cultural object must be decided according to the interests of science and education, for the benefit and in the name of humankind; on the other hand, the nationalists consider that cultural heritage is …

Anthropology's Science Wars : Insights From A New Survey, Mark Horowitz, William Yaworsky, Kenneth Kickham

Anthropology Faculty Publications

In recent decades the field of anthropology has been characterized as sharply divided between proscience and antiscience factions. The aim of this study is to empirically evaluate that characterization. We survey anthropologists in graduate programs in the United States regarding their views of science and advocacy, moral and epistemic relativism, and the merits of evolutionary biological explanations. We examine anthropologists’ views in concert with their varying appraisals of major controversies in the discipline (Chagnon/Tierney, Mead/Freeman, and Menchú/Stoll). We find that disciplinary specialization and especially gender and political orientation are significant predictors of anthropologists’ views. We interpret our findings through the …

Commmunity, Ecology, And Modernity: Faunal Analysis Of Skútustaðir In Mývatnssveit, Northern Iceland, Megan Hicks

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the archaeofaunal remains from Skútustaðir, a middle to high-status farm in Mývatnssveit, Northern Iceland, to understand the experience of rural communities and their ecologies during Iceland’s transition from regulated colonial exchange to a capitalist economy during the 17^th through 19^th centuries. Archaeofaunal analysis is used to reconstruct changes in the ways that people herded, hunted, and fished, providing insights into how they managed their local environments for subsistence and novel contexts of exchange. In addition to archaeofaunal analysis, primary textual sources are explored to assess how the Skútustaðir household and its rural community mobilized long-term …

Waiting: History, Fear, And Healing In Ballynafeigh / The Upper Ormeau Road Of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Molly J. Hurley-Depret

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Based on fourteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in one neighborhood of Belfast called Ballynafeigh / the upper Ormeau Road in 2006–2007, I argue we need to pay closer attention to the “inconspicuous transformations” that may have been occurring in parallel to the official peace process. Walter Benjamin notes that “refined and spiritual things” do “make their presence felt in the class struggle. They manifest themselves in this struggle as courage, humour, cunning, and fortitude.” Benjamin states that “the past strives to turn toward that sun which is rising in the sky of history. A historical materialist must be aware of …

Dios En Carne: Rastafari And The Embodiment Of Spiritual Blackness In Puerto Rico, Omar Ramadan-Santiago

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In my dissertation, I examine how the Rastafari community in Puerto Rico constructs, reshapes, imagines and embodies blackness as a personal, political, and ideological identity. I argue that my interlocutors refuse non-black privilege and choose blackness, an act that is understood as identification not with subjugation but with power. I consider their identification with blackness and enactment of this identity as a performance. My analysis, based on 22 months of ethnographic research, and utilizing ethnography, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews, explores how my interlocutors claim blackness as a spiritual identity. In doing so, they demonstrate the metaphysical nature of race …

Unstitching The Borders: Color, Class And Consumption In Queens, New York, Cassandra R. Barnes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The following thesis is a comparative multipart examination into the ways in which globalization, translocality, and gentrification influence communities and their inhabitants through the lens of fashion. Political and social forces drive processes of consumption. In the Corona and Jackson Heights sections of Queens, New York, several waves of migration and immigration have given rise to an extremely diverse yet socially complex area. Historically, four major shopping districts: Roosevelt Avenue, 74^th Street, 82^nd Street, and Junction Boulevard developed in the two towns and reflected much of the demography within. Currently these districts are physically accessible to anyone able …

Poems To Open Palms: Praise Performance And The State In The Sultanate Of Oman, Bradford J. Garvey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation traces the musical constitution of moral, economic, material, and social relations between rural communities and the state in the Sultanate of Oman. I argue that communities embedded within the authoritarian state hegemony of the Sultanate form and affirm social relations with the state through its embodied proxy, Sultan Qābūs bin Ṣa‘īd Āl Bū Ṣa‘īd, via the reciprocal exchange of state-directed giving and praise poetry responses. The circuit of exchange catalyzes the social production of political legitimacy and ensures continued generous distribution by mythopoetically presenting such cyclicity as resulting from elite and non-elite mutuality. This praise poetry is rendered …

Reimagining The Flute Masterclass: Case Studies Exploring Artistry, Authority, And Embodiment, Sarah Carrier

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This work explores the flute masterclass as an aesthetic, ritualized, and historically reimagined cultural practice. Based on fieldwork that took place between 2017 and 2019 in the United States, in Italy, and on the social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, I argue that the masterclass—an extension of the master/apprentice system that dominates learning in the classical music tradition—is characterized by embodied qualities of artistry and authority. These qualities are not inherent, but are perceived through subjective, social, familied, and affective bodies.

Chapter One outlines the main themes and the research design. Chapter Two is a case study that analyzes …

Oldowan Tool Behaviors Through Time On The Homa Peninsula, Kenya, Emma M. Finestone

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The adaptive significance of tool use to genus Homo is a central theme in human origins. However, what we know from the early Oldowan sites suggests that persistent technology may have begun as an opportunistic behavior with minimal investment, rather than a habitual and widespread adaptive revolution. This dissertation seeks to investigate investment in Oldowan tool production on the Homa Peninsula, Kenya, considering raw material selection, transport, and lithic production at two newly discovered Oldowan localities: Nyayanga (ca. 2.6 Ma) and Sare River (ca. 1.7 Ma).

The first section of this dissertation outlines a method that enables the comparison of …

The 2006–2016 Translation Theory Development In Indonesian Universities: A Corpus-Based Study, Haru Deliana Dewi, Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas, Rahayu Surtiati Hidayat

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This paper reviews the theories used by new scholars in Translation Studies (TS) in Indonesia, to determine whether TS or translation theory there has followed the development of TS throughout the world. The study investigated the terms and authors/ scholars of TS found in the final papers of students at Universitas Indonesia and Universitas Negeri Jakarta between 2006 and 2016. Using a corpus tool, WordSmith Tools 6.0, keyword and cluster analyses were applied to search for terms and authors. Results show no significant progress in attainment of knowledge on TS. Indonesian students’ knowledge of translation theory seems to come primarily …

An Annotated Translation From English Into Indonesian: The Soul Of The Indian By Charles Alexander Eastman, Trias Noverdi

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This research is an annotated translation in which the researcher provides detailed explanation to account for his selection of translation equivalents. The data source in this research is The Soul of the Indian, a book by Charles Alexander Eastman. This study sought to identify problems encountered over the course of translation and offer the solutions thereto. The data for the study were derived from the problems thus identified and classified into categories of annotation. The qualitative method was employed using a comparative analysis translation model. The key findings of this research are twofold. First, out of 27 units of analysis, …

Global Eras And Language Diversity In Indonesia: Transdisciplinary Projects Towards Language Maintenance And Revitalization, James T. Collins

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Indonesia is immensely proud of its hundreds of regional languages. This amazing diversity occurs because of the social impact in the three global eras: ancient migration from Asian continent, trading intensification and colonial oppression five hundred years ago, and demographical and communication change in the 21st century. However, now we are witnessing the number decrease of the languages in Indonesia. The resistance and preservation of the inherited languages, which are local languages, in the Indonesian archipelago (Nusantara) language network that is indeed complex must be considered as important components in the Indonesia’s national identity. Along with the accelerated loss of …

A Cognitive Perspective On The Arabic Spatial Noun فوق /Fawqa /Applying The Principle Polysemy Model, Zaqiatul Mardiah, Afdol Tharik Wastono, Abdul Muta’Ali

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The present paper provides a cognitive linguistics (CL) framework for analyzing the semantic structure of Arabic spatial noun fawqa based on Principled Polysemy Model (PPM) of Tyler and Evans (2003). PPM approach can broaden the narrow view of classical cognitive linguists regarding the semantic variation in the concept of physical- geometry of a preposition. As a polysemous lexeme, fawqa used by Arabian native to express a broad range of meanings, not only spatial relation but also non-spatial relation. The substantial sense of the lexeme is investigated using a large amount of corpus data (corpus.kacst.edu.sa) and applying the five steps of …

Changing Life Value And Demographic Change In Contemporary Japanese Society, Mikihiro Moriyama

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Japan has experienced a rapid decrease in population. The main reason for this distorted demography (called Shoushi Koureika in Japanese) has been caused by a reduction in the number of children. Another reason is the extension of human lifespan. This rapid demographic change has caused social issues such as lack of workforce, an increase in the social security revenue and a reduction in the number of schools. The Japanese government has tackled these social problems and its effort has had an effect to some extent, but the hard work needs to continue. In this article, I try to explore reasons …

The Early Tourist Guidebooks To The Dutch East Indies And Malaya In The Nineteenth And Twentieth Century, Achmad Sunjayadi

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

At the end of the nineteenth century until the beginning of the twentieth century, International tourists have begun visiting the Dutch East Indies and Malaya. Therefore, guidebooks about the Dutch East Indies and Malaya were published for travellers and tourists. Using the historical method, this article discusses which information, how and why the information presented in the early tourist guidebooks. The result shows that the guidebooks provide various information not only about the objects that can be visited, but also about natural scenery, peoples, culinary, flora, fauna, and customs in the regions. They presented in a long narrative and practical …

Terjemahan Beranotasi Buku Tokoh Tionghoa Dan Identitas Indonesia: Dari Tjoe Bou San Sampai Yap Thiam Hien (2010) Karya Leo Suryadinata Dari Bahasa Indonesia Ke Dalam Bahasa Tionghoa, Lu Xuanyi

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This research is an annotated translation study. The author conducted an Indonesian- Chinese translation of two chapters of the biography named Tokoh Tionghoa & Identitas Indonesia: dari Tjoe Bou San sampai Yap Thiam Hien and gave annotations to important and necessary parts. The specific purposes of this research can be described as follows: (1) find the appropriate method to translate this source text; (2) find out proper translation techniques and provide reasons for choosing equivalence. In translating this biography, the author uses communicative translation (Newmark, 1988) and considers the dynamic equivalence theory of Nida and Taber (1982) as the main …

Feintuch, Burt, 1949-2018 (Fa 1315), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1315. Collection of folklife and folk arts by Burt Feintuch, ethnographer of traditional music and professor of folk studies at Western Kentucky University (WKU) from 1975 to 1988. Includes the session materials from the Folklife and the Public Sector: Assessment and Prognosis Conference at WKU, 1985, along with the manuscript and proof pages from his book Kentucky Folkmusic. Recordings of musicians and singers and interviews with the same in Barren, LaRue, Logan, Marshall, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenburg, Todd, and Warren counties in Kentucky and Warren County, Tennessee.

Orientalism, Resistance Or Global Harmony? Entangled Strands In The Film Isle Of Dogs, Soonkwan Hong

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Education, Enterprise Capitalism, And Equity Challenges: The Continuing Relevance Of The Correspondence Principle In Japan, Masaaki Takemura

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This paper revisits the correspondence principle of Bowles and Gintis (1976) – which refers to the mutual mimicking of the capitalist hierarchy in the workplace and the school. The Bowles-Gintis model still appears to be working in the context of schooling in Japan. In the international comparative educational assessment called PISA (Program for International Student Assessment), created by OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the association of advanced democratic nations), Japanese students achieve better results than most countries. Japanese students excel in PISA performance, especially in mathematics. Such excellence, however, has negative correlations with students’ creativity, positive attitudes, and …

Virtual Idol Hatsune Miku: Case Study Of New Production/Consumption Phenomena Generated By Network Effects In Japan’S Online Environment, Hajime Kobayashi, Takashi Taguchi

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Using Hatsune Miku, a vocaloid or a Desktop Music (DTM) software using voice synthesizer technology, as a case study, this paper explores how consumer generated media (CGM) and user generated content (UGC) diffused in Japan – rapidly at first and then at an erratic and not-so-rapid pace. The creative environment ushered in by the vocaloid platform, it appears, represents a form of "managed creativity", and not a rosy future characterized by a participatory turn to a widespread democratization of creative activity.

A Critical Marketing Practitioner In Japan: Philosophy And Marketing Activities Of Seiji Tsutsumi, Kazuo Usui

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This paper explores some features of marketing activities and marketing thought of a Japanese critical marketing practitioner, Dr. Seiji Tsutsumi. The approach of the paper is biographical. Somewhat paradoxically, the paper finds – in the practices and thoughts of Dr. Seiji Tsutsumi – a refreshingly critical mindset, despite his huge commercial success in retail business in Japan. Similar biographical research should be done in other national contexts, to develop links between practices and critical theories.

Critical Thinking From Japan: Additional Perspectives, Masaaki Takemura, Nikhilesh Dholakia

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Lambert, Carl (Fa 1318), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 1318. Student folk studies project titled “Folklore Collection [of Strange Stories],” which includes descriptions of three ghost stories from Adair County and Allen County, Kentucky. Stories include each informant’s name and address.

Graham, Regina (Fa 1320), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1320. Papers titled "The Passing of the Country Store in the Willowtown Area of Taylor County" by Regina Graham for a folk studies class at Campbellsville College, Campbellsville, Kentucky. This includes regional documentation of previous and present stores with histories of ownership. Includes map and photographs.

Review Of Infected Kin: Orphan Care And Aids In Lesotho, Cassandra L. Workman

The Journal of Social Encounters

In the opening vignette, “A Story about Joala,” we readers are brought to the highlands of Lesotho to share homebrewed beer with brewers, research participants, and the authors. This experience of sharing a drink asks us to consider what it means to share in Lesotho, what the ties are that hold people together. Like the communal sharing of food, sharing joala is a defining social activity and as we learn throughout the ethnography, one that is important in the creation of kin. Indeed, this book is presented though a kinship-first perspective.

Using this framework and ground-up analytical methodology, Block and …

Review Of Cahuilla Nation Activism And The Tribal Casino Movement, Terri Castaneda

The Journal of Social Encounters

In this highly accessible book, anthropologist Theodor Gordon tackles settler society’s deep deficit of knowledge about the tribal casino industry’s legal and historical underpinnings. At the core of his analysis are the Cahuilla nations and homelands situated in present day Southern California, the “epicenter of the tribal gaming movement” (p. 19). The fourth title in University of Nevada’s “The Gambling Series,” this study contributes new texture to the embryonic field of tribal gaming studies and is an especially welcome addition to the meager corpus of California-based tribal gaming ethnographies. Yet this hardly describes the breadth of its scholarly relevance. As …

Review Of The Practice Of Islam In America: An Introduction, Aisha Ghani

The Journal of Social Encounters

The demand, indeed urgency, within the American Academy for courses on Islam has perhaps never been greater than at current. Yet, the very conditions that create this urgency also produce anxieties for those fulfilling this pedagogical role. The challenge confronting many of us - knowing that our students will enter the classroom with ideas/questions about Islam stemming, in large part, from what they’ve encountered through popular media and the news – is how to carry out this work in a way that both acknowledges this abiding, even if delimiting, contemporary context without allowing our teaching to be subsumed by it. …