Anthropology Commons^™

Submission Guidelines

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Res Historica, Volume 5, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta, Lindsay Rae Smith Privette Phd

Res Historica

The 2026 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lindsay Rae Smith Privette, Julia Ackerman, Callyn Wright, Logan Davis, and John Hinton. Cover art by Mary Beth Lee.

2nd Place Contest Entry: "Shaping The Ape: Storytelling, Cultural Reflection, And Boundary Negotiation In Human-Ape Zoo Encounters", Abigail Bond Halling

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Abigail Bond Halling's submission for the 2026 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won second place. It contains their essay on using library resources, and a summary of their research project on human-primate interactions and projections at the Western zoo site, and their bibliography.

Abigail is a fourth-year student at Chapman University, majoring in Sociology and Anthropology. Their faculty mentors are Dr. Steven Pfaff and Dr. Kyle Harp-Rushing.

Disparities Between Chronological And Biological Age: A Biocultural Analysis Of Aging In Contemporary Populations, Nicollette S. Appel

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation investigates how structural and cultural factors collectively influence the aging process and how these effects manifest in both hard and soft tissues. Chapter 2 used an AI-based CT body composition tool and a CT-based biological age model to examine the relationship between age discrepancy and demographic variables such as sex, race/ethnicity, and manner of death. Results demonstrate significant differences in age discrepancy, with females, Native Americans, and individuals who died of natural causes exhibiting greater discrepancies. Chapters 3 and 4 further evaluate whether anthropological approaches to skeletal aging can be improved by adopting a biocultural perspective. These chapters …

Summoning Models Of “Decolonization”: Performances Of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’S Historical Poetry In Contemporary Pakistan, Muhammad Z. Abro

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation examines how Shia communities in Sindh, Pakistan, mobilize the poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai as counter-history within a postcolonial order that folds sectarian difference into homogenized national culture. In dominant state and literary discourse, Latif is cast as a universal Sufi poet whose spirituality transcends doctrinal division and secures Sindhi and Pakistani belonging. The performances studied here place pressure on that settlement by treating the Risalo as a medium through which Karbala remains historically present. Drawing on three years of ethnographic fieldwork at the shrine of Shah Abdul Latif in Bhitshah and related sites in Sindh, the …

Computational Analysis Of Immigration Discourse And Political Polarization: Evidence From U.S. Political Podcasts During The 2024 Presidential Election, Reishiro Kawakami , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This study examines how immigration is discussed across the U.S. political podcast ecosystem during the 2024 presidential election cycle, with a focus on differences across the political spectrum. While prior research on immigration attitudes has relied heavily on survey data, this study shifts attention to naturally occurring political communication by analyzing large-scale podcast transcripts. Drawing on a novel dataset of over 48,500 episodes (approximately 40,000 hours of audio) from the top 100 political podcasts ranked on Election Day, this paper combines keyword search, topic modeling, and sentiment analysis to investigate both the thematic structure and emotional tone of immigration discourse. …

Disputing Geographies Of Sanctuaries: Legal Manifestations And Re-Imagined Practices In Adverse State Conditions For Migrants In Philadelphia County And Miami Dade County, Clara Ximena Villalba , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Exploring Communication Obstacles Of Indigenous Language Speakers (Research Proposal), Robert Vargas

Posters - 2026

Indigenous languages have been disappearing at an alarming rate. It is estimated that every two weeks an indigenous language dies (Toth, 2022), and the cause of this rapid decline in indigenous language use is too often ignored or unrecognized by non-indigenous language speakers. This study is focused on pinpointing the factors that play into the decline of indigenous languages and how these factors correlate to the experiences indigenous languages speakers face. Through Literature review the findings will highlight the importance of preserving indigenous languages and the benefit indigenous languages can have within cultures and societies.

The Lithic Assemblage From The 700,000-Year-Old Butchery Site Of Kalinga (Luzon Island, Philippines): New Insights Into Technological Variability In The Early Paleolithic In Island Southeast Asia, Alfred Pawlik, Justin Guibert, Jean-Baptiste Lambard, Gerald John Palaya, Jackie Despriée, Xavier Gallet, John De Vos, Andrea Dominique Cosalan, Paul C.H. Albers, M. Gema Chacón, Thomas Ingicco, Marian C. Reyes

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

Abstract

Mock Interview & Peer Feedback (Assignment), Mccaffrey Brenna Ph.D.

School of Arts & Sciences

This assignment was developed by SUNY Geneseo Brenna McCaffrey during the spring 2026 semester.

Learning Objectives 

• Identify the skills and preparation required for strong job interviews
• Understand the importance of thoughtful and clear communication with peers
• Practice giving constructive feedback on another person’s performance
• Reflect on receiving constructive feedback and integrating feedback into future behavior

Anth 322 Borderlands Action Project, Jennifer R. Guzmán Ph.D.

School of Arts & Sciences

This assignment was developed by SUNY Geneseo Professor Jennifer Guzmán during the spring 2026 semester.

Learning Objectives

• Making a material contribution to liberatory struggles around a borderlands social or environmental issue
• Developing skills that prepare you in career readiness, including
• Skills in critical thinking to address real world issues
• Skills for contributing to greater equity and inclusion
• Skills for teamwork, including valuing what each person brings to the project, building mutually supportive relationships, communicating effectively to make decisions, distributing work equitably, following through on commitments.

Anth 322: Anthropology Of Borderlands (Syllabus), Jennifer R. Guzmán Ph.D.

School of Arts & Sciences

This syllabus was developed by SUNY Geneseo Professor Jennifer Guzmán during the spring 2026 semester.

Course Learning Objectives

By participating in this course, you will:

• Gain familiarity with anthropological literature concerning borders, migration, immigration enforcement, and the U.S.-Mexico border
• Explore historical and current immigration policies and their impacts on communities across the borderlands and throughout the Americas
• Learn from people directly affected by migration, including migrants and others who live in the borderlands, and with advocates for migrant justice
• Build connections with people and organizations that are working on humanitarian and migrant justice issues.
• Think critically and intersectionally about solutions …

A Medical Home: How Pediatrics Challenges Systemic Barriers Through Relationships And Time., Doris Serrano , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

The Willow Who Kept The Secrets Of The Heart, Ana Suarez

Speak for the Trees!

This digital museum exhibit features the climate change fairy tale The Willow Who Kept the Secrets of the Heart, presented as a written narrative and recorded reading that explores the symbolic relationship between the Weeping Willow, water, and ecological care in the face of climate change. It also includes an infographic highlighting the Weeping Willow’s habitat, characteristics, and environmental challenges in Texas, along with a curator’s talk and curator’s board. The exhibit features an artifact entry using a half-filled vial of water to represent climate instability and the often-overlooked resources that sustain life, as well as a persuasive essay, …

Postcolonial Identity Formation Of Somali Borderland Identity, Sunny Ngethe

Posters - 2026

Colonial borders in Africa divided long-standing communities, disrupting shared systems of culture, mobility, and identity. Somali populations, spread across Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia, present a unique case of transnational identity persistence. Somalis have maintained strong cultural unity despite state-imposed divisions. This study examines how this communities navigate identity across borders shaped by colonialism and post-independence governance. Using qualitative analysis of historical and political content, this study draws on postcolonial theory and border studies to analyze how identity is constructed and maintained across imposed borders.

Transforming Wood, Transforming Bodies: Craft Work, Addiction Recovery, And Regional History At An Appalachian Guitar Factory, Eva Murillo , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Dairy Cows And Doughnut Holes: The Class Politics Of Municipal Boundaries And Logistics Land Use In Inland Southern California, Anthony Rumbos-Perez , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Ramachandra Guha, ‘Speaking With Nature: The Origins Of Indian Environmentalism’, Neeraj Vedwan

Department of Anthropology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Ramachandra Guha, Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2024), 407 pp., $ 17.32, ISBN: 9780300278538.

Editor’S Introduction, Michael D. Pante

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

No abstract provided.

March 30, 2026 Nagpra And Tribal Relations Committee Meeting Minutes, Bryan Morey

University NAGPRA and Tribal Relations Committee

March 30, 2026 minutes for the WKU NAGPRA and Tribal Relations Committee meeting. Meeting conducted via Zoom.

The Evolution Of Self-Awareness In Conscious Organisms, Robert A. Dielenberg

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Self-awareness in conscious organisms remains an enduring puzzle for philosophers and neuroscientists. This paper proposes a tripartite evolutionary model tracing its emergence through three sequential types: the sensory self (primitive egocentric, valence-tagged awareness of sensory states), the bodily self (external objectification of the body as a distinct entity, evidenced by mirror self-recognition in select species), and the cognitive self (internal objectification of the mind enabling recursive self-transformation). Adopting a monist framework, the model treats consciousness as the biological substrate of delayed neural apperception (the “Delayed Present”), within which selves emerge as increasingly sophisticated models. It distinguishes non-human metacognition—implicit, online regulation—from …

Qualitative Versus Quantitative Analysis Of Entheses: Using An Ordinal Scale And 3d Scanned Metrics To Understand Entheseal Differences In The Charity Hospital Cemetery (16or108), Gillian Stewart

LSU Master's Theses

Using a sample from New Orleans’ Charity Hospital Cemetery (16OR108), an analysis between ordinal scores and digital quantitative analysis (DQA) measurements of the entheses (muscle attachment sites) was performed. The skeletal elements (n = 235) examined were the humerus, radius, femur, and tibia. The entheses were 3D scanned using an Artec Space Spider scanner and processed with the Artec Studio Professional© v.2018 and Geomagic Wrap® v.2021 software. Entheses were analyzed by: left and right sides, male and female, and distribution of scores across elements. The analyses yielded significant differences between proliferative and erosive score distribution. Scores between elements exhibited variation. …

Critical Roles And Critical Rolls: A Frame-Analytical Perspective Of Self-Making, Safe Spaces, And Worldbuilding In Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Cal Quayle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many gamers prefer to play tabletop roleplaying games, or TTRPGs, in order to a) join a community, and b) tell a story collaboratively with friends and acquaintances. This thesis discusses selfhood-making, safe spaces, and allegory in imaginary worlds from the perspective of Erving Goff man’s frame analysis. It relies on a theoretical framework of imagined communities, the magic circle, and subcreation. This research culminated in the understanding that people play TTRPGs for a variety of reasons - collaborative storytelling and exercising critical thinking skills, but respondents overwhelmingly reported that they enjoyed the ability to socialize with friends and strangers, and …

Of Epistemes And Insects: How Drosophila And Butterflies Shape Our Understanding Of Radiation Risk, Donna M. Goldstein, Magdalena E. Stawkoski

Faculty Publications

This paper explores the complexities of extrapolating insect data to understand nuclear exposure effects on humans. Within radiation research, animal studies are invaluable tools for understanding biological effects of radiation exposure. However, data are often employed selectively, exposing unsettled science in extrapolating animal data to human radiation effects. Here we focus on our understanding of the genetic effects of radiation exposure, and how the debates about the long-term effects on humans were molded by research carried out on the model organism known as Drosophila; disagreements among scientists occurred within the constraints of research on this model organism, creating what …

The Relevance Of Fr. John A. Kaiser For Human Rights And Peace Advocacy Today, Otieno Ombok

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay explores the relationship of the work of Fr. John Anthony Kaiser to Kenya’s 2010 Constitution. His life, work, and death embody the very principles and struggles that the new constitution was designed to address. The author also discusses how to continue the work for peace and justice in the spirit of Fr. Kaiser.

Dating Among University Undergraduates Living With Disability In South-Western Nigeria, Usman A. Ojedokun, Bukunmi I. Oluborode, Lateef J. Adeyemo

The Journal of Social Encounters

In many university campuses in Nigeria, undergraduates living with disability are visible and functionally involved in academic, political, social, and religious activities. However, the social life of these students is hardly the focus of scholarly research. Therefore, this study explored dating behaviours among undergraduates of selected public universities in south-western Nigeria living with disability. The social disability model was employed as the conceptual framework. Data were elicited through in-depth interview and focus group discussion methods.  Findings showed that the choice of partners among undergraduates living with disability was guided by trust, communication, emotional safety, shared values, and acceptance of disability …

Where Are The Women Memorialized? Commemoration Of Women In The U.S. Congress, Deborah Saki, Alexander Leasure

The Journal of Social Encounters

In the United States, a study of the memorialization of political actors through monuments reveals the disgracefully small number of women memorialized. We find little effort to preserve the memory of trailblazing women in the U.S. Congress. By 2021, as the National Monument Audit indicates, only two congresswomen were memorialized in public spaces across the country: Rep. Barbara Jordan (D-T.X.) and Rep. Millicent Fenwick (R-N.J.). Drawing on frameworks of historical memory and theories of reputational politics, we examine the public conversations that led to the memorialization of these women. We find motive, institutional power, and clarity of narrative in …

Sanitation System Options For Public Health Promotion For Post-War Khartoum, Sudan, Gazi Nouman

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Frontline Medicine During War In Sudan: Confronting Health System Collapse, Mogahed Halaly

The Journal of Social Encounters

Since the outbreak of war in Sudan in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, the country’s fragile health system has deteriorated rapidly. As hospitals closed, medical supplies vanished, and millions were displaced, frontline health workers were forced to make impossible choices. This essay recounts my experience as a young physician during the collapse of Sinnar Teaching Hospital, my displacement to White Nile State, and the creation of a community-led humanitarian initiative that provided clinical care, shelter, food, and livelihood support to thousands. It reflects on the intersection of war, displacement, public health collapse, and …

Emergency Response Rooms In Sudan: From Revolutionary Grassroots Organization To The Management Of Life In A Context Of Political Collapse, Salih Mustafa

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.