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Full-Text Articles in Anthropology

Avian Scavenging In The Forensic Context, Austin Millwood Oct 2023

Avian Scavenging In The Forensic Context, Austin Millwood

Senior Theses

Many cultures have recognized the importance of birds in scavenging. However, within forensic literature and research, avian scavenging is an understudied phenomenon. Despite this, researchers have shown that scavenging by birds is unique from other types of scavenging in that birds can rapidly cause complete skeletonization, leave relatively little bone damage, and can spread remains and artifacts over a large area. Here birds known to scavenge are explained in a biological context and then their effects on remains are analyzed. Birds are capable of completely scavenging human remains in as little as 5 hours, depending on many understudied factors. Avian …


Humanity's Fate: An Analysis Of Speculative Human Evolution In Literary Fiction, Celeste T. Johnson Apr 2023

Humanity's Fate: An Analysis Of Speculative Human Evolution In Literary Fiction, Celeste T. Johnson

Senior Theses

Speculative human evolution is a literature subgenre of science fiction that explores the potential future of humanity and descendant species. Little academic research has been done to evaluate the scientific accuracy of works of this genre or assess the relationship between the themes presented in the works and our current world. Future human species and their evolutionary journeys were assessed for scientific possibility through comparison with current research in fields such as anthropology, evolutionary biology, and sociology. It was found that the species depicted in works of speculative human evolution were largely based in scientific accuracy and could possibly exist …


"Yes Mom, I'M Eating": Foodways Among An International Cohort, Tessa Sergile Apr 2023

"Yes Mom, I'M Eating": Foodways Among An International Cohort, Tessa Sergile

Senior Theses

This research demonstrates different ways an individual’s habits around food change when exposed to new environments. It uses a combination of first-person sources and existing literature to draw conclusions surrounding the patterns of change in food preparation and consumption. A series of interviews were conducted and recorded to collect the information used in the thesis. The interview participants were college-aged students who had spent 6 < months in a foreign country. Most were participants of the IBEA cohort of South Carolina, a program where students around the world came together as a group to study at multiple universities over two years. Interviews were based on an interview guide that was refined throughout the process. There were a total of 33 interviews, with participants hailing from six different countries. The results of the interviews demonstrated that individuals exhibited varying types of behavior based on their own viewpoints towards cooking and meals, as well as the environment they were exposed to during meal preparation. This information was used to create a matrix to classify individuals based on their inspirations in cooking, and their use of home habits. The results lead to an additional category of “Unconscious Preparation” being proposed to the existing subcategories of food preparation. Further analysis of the data collected is also encouraged. This research adds depth to the present literature since it deals with individuals who are in foreign environments for the short-term, before moving away. Current literature mainly focuses on immigrants who move away from their homeland permanently (Brown and Mussell, 1984; Goode, Theophano and Curtis, 1984; Kalčik, 1984; Singer, 1984). It adds a new consideration to how we approach mealtimes when we are in a foreign environment and helps define different approaches that people may take when preparing food away from where they grew up. These findings could be used for other students studying abroad to better determine how their mealtime habits may change. There is also literature in Gottlieb and Rossi (1961), which describes similar effects in the military, whose style of travel and living is similar to that of an international student, meaning the results could also be interesting to the government when trying to plan for meals served to active-duty personnel abroad.


Identifying The Universals Of Death: An Interpretive Analysis Of Mortuary Ritual In Ancient Egypt And Modern America, Sarah Snare Oct 2020

Identifying The Universals Of Death: An Interpretive Analysis Of Mortuary Ritual In Ancient Egypt And Modern America, Sarah Snare

Senior Theses

This project compares mortuary practices in ancient Egypt and modern America in an effort to identify cross-cultural consistencies in the treatment of the dead. An analysis of the meaning and motivations behind these rituals reveals that they serve similar functions in both societies. Death provokes intense emotions of grief and long periods of mourning, which can debilitate the people who knew the deceased and even the society itself. Therefore, to promote survival of individuals and the community, mortuary rituals must address these disturbances. Focusing on ancient Egypt and modern America, this study finds that mortuary practices function to restabilize society …


Sex Work Decriminalization And Feminist Theory, Gabriella Mesce Apr 2020

Sex Work Decriminalization And Feminist Theory, Gabriella Mesce

Senior Theses

This thesis explores the history and nuances of sex work and feminist philosophy, especially within the context of commercial sex and feminist legal theory. Through an analysis of four different feminist philosophies that stemmed from the “sex wars” of the 1980s such as abolitionism, neo-abolitionism, decriminalization and legalization and their perspectives on sex work, the belief systems of these perspectives and their relation to feminist jurisprudence, as well as a comparative study of decriminalized sex work in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands and Juárez, Mexico, this research shows the ramifications of decriminalization of sex work on progressive feminism.


Kitchen Chronicles And Crude Expectations: Understanding Everyday Life In The Upper Ecuadorian Amazon, Emily A. Babb Apr 2020

Kitchen Chronicles And Crude Expectations: Understanding Everyday Life In The Upper Ecuadorian Amazon, Emily A. Babb

Senior Theses

My thesis examines the everyday life of my Ecuadorian, Kichwa host family in an attempt to better understand how, if at all, they interact with and think about oil companies on a regular basis. In this way, I attempted to supplement the current literature, which tends to focus on the large, contentious interactions between indigenous people and the petroleum industry. It was my hope to expand the understanding of their identities both within and outside the context of oil and to show the complexity of their relationship with petroleum companies.