Anthropology Commons^™

Crazy Rich Asians: Exploring Discourses Of Orientalism, Neoliberal Feminism, Privilege And Inequality, Devi Vijay

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

In this review of Crazy Rich Asians (2018), I examine elements of orientalism, neoliberal feminism, privilege and inequality that layer the film. Specifically, I interrogate the film’s American inflection of orientalism, surfacing a constant duel between essentialized Asian and American values, where what is American eventually wins out. Independent, entrepreneurial women are integral to this narrative of global capitalist accumulation. Yet, as the East meets the West in the globalized consumptive spaces of the super-rich, inequalities in the United States and Singapore are either repackaged under the myth of meritocracy, or conveniently erased. While the film demarcates a new Hollywood …

Crazy Rich Asians: When Representation Becomes Controversial, Yikun Zhao

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Crazy Rich Asians (2018) has been hailed as a symbol of diversity representation, but it has also been challenged for the lack of representativeness. This review analyzes the controversy from two aspects. It traces how this film was made into a progressive symbol of diversity representation through riding sociocultural trends about the rise of Asia and the anti-whitewashing campaign. It also shows that this film tells a classic Cinderella story with a contextual twist of the reversed power balance between the ‘East’ and the ‘West’. Overall, although this movie contributes to bringing attention to the long-existing void of Asian-American representation …

On The Banality Of Transnational Film, Ian Reyes, Justin Wyatt

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

“Breakthrough” global blockbusters like Black Panther (2018) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018) create disturbances among critics and firms forced to wonder if such ripples of diversity will become waves of new cinema wiping out the hegemony of Hollywood and the global West. In this essay, we establish the context for this phenomenon in terms of film’s historical relationship to marketing. Through this context, we theorize a transnational aesthetic for global blockbusters, one that may serve to limit ripples of diversity, breaking waves of change against the rocks of a banal cinema of Americanized nothingness.

Globalization Tropes In Films: A Focus On Crazy Rich Asians, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Deniz Atik

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Speaking Volumes: The Failure Of American Courts To Address The Underlying Themes Of Silence And Patriarchy Within The Civil Order Of Protection Process In Davenport, Iowa, Catherine Priebe

Sociology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Domestic abuse is a pervasive issue within the United States. Approximately three women will be murdered by an intimate partner every day and around half of all women will experience psychological abuse by an intimate partner in their lifetime. As such, it is important to have legal avenues that survivors can pursue in order to ensure safety for themselves and their children. There are many obstacles to obtaining a civil order of protection despite it being the most common legal option survivors choose to pursue. Survivors must take on the burden of proof and hire their own attorney if they …

Navigating The 'Bureaucratic Beast' In North Carolina Hurricane Recovery, Amanda Reinke

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Exposed Intimacies: Clinicians On The Frontlines Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ellen Block

Sociology Faculty Publications

COVID-19 has overwhelmed health-care providers. The virus is novel in its prevalence, severity and the risk of asymptomatic infection. In order to reduce the risk of infection and stop the spread of COVID-19, clinicians in hospitals across the United States are taking measures to limit exposure to infected patients by reducing the frequency of visits to patients’ rooms, touching patients less, and adopting new protocols around the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). While these newly adopted practices are helping to reduce transmission risk of COVID-19, they are producing a habitus of infection; an acute shift among clinicians that is …

Mai Te Kopu O Te Wahine: Considering Maori Women And Power, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku

Pacific Studies

Moko kauae: female Maori facial tattoo. This is the subtle power of maintaining a femininity that offends, that endures, that persists in the face of the settlers’ and invaders’ descendants; threatens sensibility and comfort levels; and continues to fascinate and challenge, charm and repel. Whether or not they were aware doing this, the elderly women who continued to inscribe their faces into the final decades of the past century and wear their identity and heritage with pride, were effectively confronting the colonizer and saying, we are here, and we will never ever go away. My face may make you uncomfortable, …

Not The Cat’S Meow?: The Impact Of Posing With Cats On Female Perceptions Of Male Dateability, Lori Kogan, Shelly Volsche

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The aim of this study was to investigate whether men were considered more attractive when posing for a photo alone or holding a cat. Prior research suggests that women view pet owners as more attractive and dateable than non-pet owners; however, this effect was strongest with dog owners. We hypothesized that men posing with cats would be more attractive than those posing alone. Using an online survey, women viewed images of a man posing alone or with a cat and rated the men on the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Big Five Inventory. Women viewed men as less …

Those Beyond The Walls: An Archaeological Examination Of Michilimackinac’S Extramural Domestic Settlement, 1760-1781, James Cain Dunnigan

Masters Theses

Ideal for both the French and British, the location of Fort Michilimackinac was selected to serve as a key entrepôt for European goods from the colonized east coast to be traded for furs from the Upper Country. The diverse population that formed around Michilimackinac included French and British soldiers, traders, craftsmen, and their families, as well as large seasonal populations of Native Americans. While the Fort’s interior continues to be vigorously examined, little focus has been directed to the larger, multicultural village that emerged outside the fort’s walls in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Excavations from 1970-1973, conducted …

The Subaltern Magazine, Rebecca Fox, Riese Nichols

Social Sciences

The Subaltern intends to reach Cal Poly students who do not feel as if their voices are heard and allow them the platform to share their stories. Our focus is on unheard stories from our campus - whether this involves race, class, gender identity, mental health, ethnicity, culture, or any unique part of one’s identity or experience. We hope that these stories will begin to shed light on what we usually consider “taboo” topics and allow students to feel as if they aren’t alone.

Being a very homogeneous campus, it is important for us to realize that privileged voices are …

Reflections On Women, Power, And Faith In Prechristian And Postchristian Polynesia, Penelope Schoeffel

Pacific Studies

In this article, I aim to draw attention to the scholarship of Alan Hanson and Neil Gunson, demonstrating that throughout pre-Christian Polynesia, chiefly women—even more so than chiefly men—possessed great mana and the powers to make or remove tapu. Gunson identified many great women chiefs and rulers in ancient Polynesia believed to have been descended from the gods. Hanson showed that the tapu on women in ancient Eastern Polynesian societies was because of their dangerous affinity to the gods. The missionary notion that pre-Christian Polynesians were mired in darkness led to the subordination of women when Christianity replaced the religious …

Evaluating Temporal Approximation Methods Using Burglary Data, Lukas Oswald, Michael Leitner

Faculty Publications

Law enforcement is very interested in knowing when a crime has happened. Unfortunately, the occurrence time of a crime is often not exactly known. In such circumstances, estimating the most likely time that a crime has happened is crucial for spatio-temporal analysis. The main purpose of this research is to introduce two novel temporal approximation methods, termed retrospective temporal analysis (RTA) and extended retrospective temporal analysis (RTAext). Both methods are compared to six existing temporal approximation methods and subsequently evaluated in order to identify the method that can most accurately estimate the occurrence time of crimes. This research is conducted …

Ashes To Caches: Is Dust Dust Among The Heterarchichal Maya?, Marshall Joseph Becker

Anthropology & Sociology Faculty Publications

Caches and burials, or specially placed deposits of all types, among the Classic Period lowland Maya represent the material remains of religious or ritual behaviors. These behaviors are shared by people of all economic levels but expanded according to available economic resources. Discussions of these aspects of material culture commonly focus on elite or upscale examples found within various contexts. At Tikal, as at other Lowland Maya sites, the expression of these rituals varied by the wealth of the participants. Elite offerings involved greater quantities of precious and durable goods such as jade, marine shell, and elaborate lithic items. [FIGURE …

Women, Power, And Place In Polynesia: Articulations From Samoa And Aotearoa, New Zealand, Melani Anae, Penelope Schoeffel

Pacific Studies

Introduction for the Vol. 43, No 1-Jun 2020 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

“Filling Up The Other Kete”: Ambivalence, Critical Memory, And The Resilience Of Older Māori Jewish Women, Hadas Ore

Pacific Studies

This article is part of the first study on the memories that Māori Jews share growing up and living in contemporary Aotearoa/New Zealand as well as the effect of their memories on their well-being and success in life. The study was conducted through open-ended in-depth interviews during 2016–2017. Examining more closely how six older women negotiate power and constitute indigenous agency, the analysis in this article looks into the particular way they employ their critical memory in order to overcome their ambivalence toward tertiary education. In my analysis, I apply the recent development in the theory of nostalgia with empirical …

Vol. 43 No. 1 (2020): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Papatūānuku, Karlo Mila

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Women Matai (Chiefs): Navigating And Negotiating The Paradox Of Boundaries And Responsibilities, Sailiemanu Lilomaiava-Doktor

Pacific Studies

This paper examines Samoan conception of gender roles and transformations examining women's status and situation in light of ideological changes regarding gender relations and expectations in contemporary Samoa. I situate my paper in Samoan ways of knowing regarding gender roles and norms and draw on feminist (Trask 1984) works to provide guiding light for the cross cultural use of feminist theory to Samoan concepts of feagaiga, fa‘a-matai (chieftainship system), and gender equality. I study women's roles especially as they take on matai titles and examine what gains have been made and the dynamics involved for matai in the masculine (read: …

Vol. 43 No. 1 (2020): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 43, No 1-Jun 2020 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Matai Tamaitai: “The Mistress Of The Family”, Melani Anae

Pacific Studies

This article examines faamatai (the Samoan chiefly system) and the impacts of globalization that have disempowered or reempowered women in new ways. The discourse of “women” in a transnational context is explored by perspectives from six life-story interviews of matai tamaitai in Hawaiʻi, Sydney and Oceanside and data from 88 women matai from a global online faamatai survey. It explores the faamatai tenet of ‘lima malosi ma loto alofa’ (strong hands and a loving heart), experienced as the exertion of her pule (secular authority), malosi (economic strength), mana (spiritual power), and mamalu (reverence, dignity, and social power) free from ‘traditional’ …

A Chronological Analysis Of Fish Ridge, San Miguel Island, Channel Islands, California, David Faith

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In this thesis, I discuss Fish Ridge on San Miguel Island. Fish Ridge is an area located on east San Miguel Island that contains numerous archaeological sites. For my thesis, I went to San Miguel Island in the summer of 2019 to collect 18 radiocarbon samples from five sites. In this thesis, I present the results of my analysis, which include radiocarbon dating, calibration of the radiocarbon dates, and Bayesian statistical analysis. I offer an interpretation of the results, including a discussion of them and avenues for future research.

Prior to this study, a comprehensive chronological analysis of Fish Ridge …

La Mera Verdad: Exploring Immigrant Latino Fatherhood, Jessica Martinez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of the current experiences of immigrant Latino fathers and their families in Southern California, and to examine the barriers and facilitators that impacted their paternal involvement. The literature suggests that father-absence diminishes the ability of a child to thrive in life and yet immigrant Latino fathers are more at risk of all the factors that lead to father-absence, such as poverty and other added stressors. Likewise, these fathers have been noted to experience a lack of fathering in their childhood, which speaks on generational trauma creating the father wound …

Like Listening To A Seashell: A Midden Analysis From La Consentida, Oaxaca, Mexico, Steven Powell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Oaxaca is a state in Southern Mexico with a long history of human occupation. In fact, some of the earliest village sites in Mexico are found there, dating to the Early Formative period (2000 – 1000 BCE). These early settlements provide archaeologists an opportunity to study a time period which saw increasing development of social complexity in Mesoamerica. For this thesis, I examined shellfish remains recovered from middens during excavation at the coastal Oaxacan site of La Consentida conducted by Dr. Guy Hepp in 2012 as part of the La Consentida Archaeological Project. I examine this material for evidence of …

La Determinación Social De La Enfermedad Renal Crónica De Causas No Tradicionales (Ercnt) En Guatemala / The Social Determination Of Chronic Kidney Disease Of Non-Traditional Causes (Ckdnt) In Guatemala, Alejandro Cerón

Anthropology: Faculty Scholarship

La Enfermedad Renal Crónica de Causas no Tradicionales (ERCnT) ha aumentado en los últimos 20 años, convirtiéndose en un problema de salud pública importante que se observa principalmente en países de Centroamérica y Asia, afectando especialmente a trabajadores agrícolas jóvenes. La presencia de factores de riesgo relacionados con toxinas, medio ambiente y condiciones laborales sugiere una causa multifactorial, la cual puede que involucre la exposición a agroquímicos, contaminantes ambientales, y episodios repetidos de deshidratación. La comprensión de las condiciones sociales que unen estos factores en grupos específicos de población es fundamental para el desarrollo de programas de salud pública tendientes …

Deportees In Mexico City, Ruth Gomberg-Munoz, Esmeralda Flores Marcial, Ana Laura Lopez, Magdalena Loredo, Adriana Sandoval, Reyna Wences, Dolores Unzueta, Rosi Carrasco, Martin Unzueta

Anthropology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Project Solidarity is a four-year, two-sited, mixed methods research project consisting of long-term community engagement, as well as semi-structured interviews with deportees, their family members, anti-deportation organizers, and deportee-rights organizers. The goals of the project are to: 1. understand US-based mechanisms of immigrant policing, detention, and deportation, especially from "sanctuary" zones; 2. identify urgent needs of recently arrived deportees in Mexico City; 3. explore mid- and long-term challenges to reintegration for deportees in Mexico; 4. expand binational networks of information, advocacy, and resource-sharing; 5. Inform and assist local immigrant and deportee rights efforts in Chicago and Mexico City.

Shadow Standards And The Logic Of Costs: Care, Stewardship, And Data In U.S. Community Health, Margarite J. Whitten

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the delegation of responsibility for providing health care to particular categories of marginalized populations in the United States in the absence of a uniform and universal health care system. It explores how the U.S. federal government governs patient populations at a distance by mandating that healthcare providers collect, produce, and report on patient data. Drawing from eighteen months of ethnographic research in Massachusetts clinics for the homeless and the frail elderly between 2014-2015, I argue that when marginalized patients are unable to satisfy the neoliberal ideal of self-governance to maintain their health in cost-effective ways, providers are …

Reclaiming Indiana: The Politics Of Crisis Amid The Failures Of Liberal Capitalist Modernity, Chris Grove

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This ethnography examines grassroots political responses to the economic crisis that began in 2008, foremost in the US Midwest, which arguably laid the groundwork both for the election of President Donald Trump and presidential candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders. President Obama launched his $787 billion stimulus plan in Elkhart, Indiana, in early 2009. At the height of the crisis, unemployment skyrocketed from four to 20 percent in Elkhart, and it became central to struggles over the political direction of the US. With few safety nets, Elkhart residents struggled to meet their basic needs, creating conditions for political organizing on both …

Buen Suceso: A New Multicomponent Valdivia Site In Santa Elena, Ecuador, Sarah M. Rowe, Guy S. Duke

Anthropology Faculty Publications

New radiocarbon dates and excavations show that Buen Suceso (OSE-M-2M-4) in Santa Elena, Ecuador, was occupied between 3700 and 1425 BC. These dates demonstrate that Buen Suceso is a rare multicomponent Valdivia site and one of the longer-occupied Valdivia sites investigated to date.

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Nuevas excavaciones y fechados radiocarbónicos demuestran que Buen Suceso (OSE-M-2M-4; Santa Elena, Ecuador) estuvo habitado entre 3700 y 1425 aC (Valdivia, fase Ib a fase VIIIb). Estas fechas señalan que se trata de un sitio Valdivia multicomponente excepcional y uno de los habitado por más tiempo, entro los sitios Valdivia investigados hasta la fecha. El diseño …

Bones, Burials, And The Riddle Of Truth: Reconstructing The Past Through What Has Been Left Behind, Jelena M. Begonja

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Mortuary archaeology is known to be the study of human remains and burials. The primary focus of this work has been to study all of the elements associated in burials to learn more about the burial practices and rituals in a group’s culture, however, there is much more potential in studying burial sites than just learning about a group’s burial rituals and practices. This thesis will demonstrate that it is indeed possible to make different inferences about the rest of people’s daily lives, and the truth, based from materials found in studying burials alone. For some groups without much existing …