Anthropology Commons^™

Great Lakes Folk Festival - East Lansing, Michigan (Fa 670), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 670. This collection features documentation of the Great Lakes Folk Festival held from August 13 to August 15, 2004 and hosted by Michigan State University Museum in East Lansing, Michigan.

Environmental Factors Associated With Success Rates Of Australian Stock Herding Dogs, Elizabeth R. Arnott, Jonathan B. Early, Claire M. Wade, Paul D. Mcgreevy

Sport and Working Animal Welfare Collection

This study investigated the current management practices associated with stock herding dogs on Australian farms. A parallel goal was to determine whether these practices and the characteristics of the dog handlers were associated with success rates. Success rate refers to the proportion of dogs acquired by the farmer that were retained as working dogs. Data on a total of 4,027 dogs were obtained through The Farm Dog Survey which gathered information from 812 herding dog owners around Australia. Using logistic regression, significant associations were identified between success rate and seven variables: dog breed, housing method, trial participation, age of the …

Attitudes Towards Latino Immigrants Expressed In The Online Media, Jordan Mcclain

Honors Theses

The language used towards Latino immigrants expressed in the online media is a prevalent occurrence that warrants a more detailed analysis. I used a total of fifty-four articles from Fox New, CNN, MSNBC, Southern Poverty Law Center, National Immigration Law Center, Immigration Advocates, Networks Liberty News, Minuteman Project, and American Immigration Control Council. I analyzed the wording used by each source when they referred to Latino immigrants. I analyzed my data further by distinguishing it into five categories: Affirmative language, negative language, avoidance language, the use of linguistic devices, and a category dedicated to the special circumstances around the recent …

Men, Women And Children For Sale: The Dichotomy Of Human Trafficking In The United States And Abroad, Elizabeth Kolbe

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Living in Thailand in 2005 opened my eyes to the real plight of exploited peoples around the world. I was able to experience first-hand the economic and social issues facing potential victims of human trafficking. According to Anti-Slavery International, there are an estimated 200 million people being held in slavery worldwide. Approximately 800,000 people per year are being trafficked across international borders and forced into slavery. Like most Americans, I believed this is a horrible problem facing only people of developing countries. Last year I heard Chong Kim describe her traumatizing experience of being trafficked within the United States. Over …

Reflections On The Conduct Of Research With Human Subjects Across Two Cultures, Kimberly Maas

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study examined the potential benefits, challenges, and barriers faced by university students and research colleagues who were involved in international partnerships for cross-cultural research projects between the USA and Russia. In scholarly investigations in the USA, research subjects must be informed of the precautions that will be taken to protect their safety and their privacy (Amdur & Bankfert, 2002). Particularly in Russia, there are no corresponding policies for working with human subjects that compare to the procedures followed by American university Institutional Review Boards. Furthermore, international partnerships have faced new challenges as a result of the restructuring of American …

New Orleans Producers: Directing The Regional Food System One Informal Contract At A Time, Emily Nichols

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Large corporations largely control food production and distribution in the global food system and have generated a desire for locally produced food. Although small independent producers still contribute to regional food systems, there is little understanding about how they distribute and market their products. This thesis uses both semistructured interviews to investigate the distribution practices of urban, family, and regional producers in the New Orleans region and discourse analysis to disclose how localist discourse shapes producers marketing practices. The discourse analysis discovered that the web presence of local New Orleans restaurants, farmers, and Crescent City Farmers Market targeted concepts that …

National Museum Of Iraq: A Case For Curating A New Identity, Ajay Kapadia

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

In April 2003, the National Museum of Iraq was plundered and the substantial majority of its artifacts were looted. The Iraqi people have lost important elements of their socio-cultural identity; the recovery of these priceless items has been slow. By drawing on examples from past and current museum installations, this paper investigates how art has been used for formation of a new identity. Adolf Hitler‘s 1937 ―Temple of Art, for example, showed Germans that they could be descendants of a Classical ―master race.‖ The transformation of the Louvre into a public space of equality and tolerance demonstrated people‘s perseverance and …

The Politics Of Black Womens' Hair, Vanessa King, Dieynaba Niabaly

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Historically, black women’s image has been subjected to high scrutinization that rendered every choice they made for their body and hair important. Black women have undergone many pressures that shaped their hair choices in various ways. However, there is a general tendency in the literature to homogenize all black women’s experiences and disregard their ethnic diversity. In this study, we explored both African and African American college women’s feelings about the motivations to straighten (relax) or wear their hair without chemical treatment (natural). For this qualitative approach, we utilized a cross-cultural approach and interviewed 12 African and African American college …

Downtown Henderson Project (Fa 754), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives project 754. This collection features 48 interview conducted with local residents of downtown Henderson, Kentucky.

A Multi-Sited Examination Of Pregnancy, Birth And Women’S Perceptions Of Care In Ghana, Jessica M. Posega

Theses and Dissertations

In Ghana, both governmental and non-governmental agencies have been working to reach the 2015 United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The fourth and fifth goals are related to reproductive health, reducing infant and maternal mortality respectively. Through a combination of increasing midwifery and nursing training programs, public awareness programs, and programs designed to retain skilled birth attendants. This paper explores how the policies and practices intended to create better birth outcomes in Ghana are perceived by those targeted for intervention, and by the reproductive health workers. Drawing from in-depth interviews with pregnant women, mothers with children under one year, and …

Embodying Ritual Performance: An Iconographic Analysis Of Burial 38 At The Etowah Site, Amy M. Goldstein

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an iconographic study of Burial 38 from Mound C at the Etowah, a Mississippian mound site in present-day Northwest Georgia. The goal of this study was to gain an understanding of the iconographic meaning of the artifacts in Burial 38 as well as the significance of the arrangement of individuals within the burial and its relationship with Mound C more broadly. Applying theories of relational ontology, performance, and gender, I build on King’s (2010) interpretation of Mound C’s final construction phases as a ritual event that transformed the mound into a sacred center, melded foreign and local …

What Enables Size-Selective Trophy Hunting Of Wildlife?, Chris T. Darimont, K. Rosie Child

Big-Game and Trophy Hunting Collection

Although rarely considered predators, wildlife hunters can function as important ecological and evolutionary agents. In part, their influence relates to targeting of large reproductive adults within prey populations. Despite known impacts of sizeselective harvests, however, we know little about what enables hunters to kill these older, rarer, and presumably more wary individuals. In other mammalian predators, predatory performance varies with knowledge and physical condition, which accumulates and declines, respectively, with age. Moreover, some species evolved camouflage as a physical trait to aid in predatory performance. In this work, we tested whether knowledge-based faculty (use of a hunting guide with accumulated …

The Effects Of The Nat Turner Slave Revolt On The Health And Welfare Of 19th-Century Slaves In Southeastern Virginia, Jeffrey Clifford Auerbach

Master's Theses

The Nat Turner Slave Revolt stands as a major turning point in the history of American slavery and represents a fundamental shift in the master slave relationship. This event shattered the previous paternalistic view and caused a fundamental reorganization of slave life. Included in this reorganization was a shift in the subsistence practice, moving away from morenutritious food grown by the slaves themselves to poor quality rations provided by the masters. This change in subsistence practices dealt a serious blow to the nutritional health of those living in the area surrounding the revolt.

By examining stature recorded in the County …

"I Came To America, Crying": Rebuilding A Life, Redefining The Self—Ethiopian Women Refugees In Denver (Colorado) (2012–2013), Barbara Guglielminotti Valetta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the challenges faced by Ethiopian women in the Denver community to reach harmony within their new social and cultural space and to examine what they feel they have lost and gained in their self-identity as a result of their immigration. Refugees face a multitude of dilemmas when they are compelled to relocate from their home countries to a new, foreign-host society. Ethiopian refugees have been arriving in the US since the 1970s and feel the uprootedness of being away from their homeland. Being uprooted is losing one’s culture and ways of life. …

Book Review Forum: Glenn Petersen, Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, And Political Organization, Glenn Petersen

Pacific Studies

Response: GLENN PETERSEN

PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY, BARUCH COLLEGE, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

A Rejuvenating Resort Remembered: The Use Of Folklore And Archaeology In The Investigation Of The Historic Massey Springs Resort In South-Central Kentucky, Renee Pinkston

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Using only one line of evidence for a study of historic sites can be problematic if it does not provide a complete picture of the material culture or lifeways of a people, group, or community. In order to understand the ideas and objects, of culture present at historic sites, it is necessary to use archaeological methodologies with vernacular architecture studies and folklore to create a more holistic image of the world and its inhabitants. To facilitate this, I conducted original research on a mineral spring resort, Massey Springs Resort (Massey Springs) in Warren County, Kentucky, a popular resort in the …

Selling Tradition: Impression Management And Draft Animal Agriculture Of A Mississippi Farmstead, Matthew Corbin Lance

Master's Theses

This thesis is a case study of a family of farmers in Mississippi’s Piney Woods who use horse-drawn equipment to grow crops. This practice is notable in the context of a larger agricultural system that prioritizes mechanization (particularly the use of tractors). The production style and their use of local direct selling via farmers markets allowed them to thrive economically because they were able to tap into a niche market of consumers desiring an alternative to the modern, conventional agricultural system.

Other literature on Alternative Food Networks (AFN) discusses the issues of alterity and appropriation—that is, whether AFN ventures are …

Vol. 37 No. 2 (2014): 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 $26.00 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, …

Book Review Forum: Glenn Petersen, Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, And Political Organization, Nancy J. Pollock

Pacific Studies

Glenn Petersen. Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, and Political Organization. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2009. Pp. 288. ISBN: 978-0-8248-3248-3. US$42.00 cloth.

Review: NANCY J . POLLOCK

RESEARCHER, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY (RETIRED )

The Art Of Lebanese Verbal Dueling: The Battle Of Beit Mery And Beyond, Paula Marie Haydar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the living and vibrant oral tradition of verbal dueling in Lebanon, also known as Lebanese zajal. The introductory chapter explores the historical, sociolinguistic, and musical-metrical roots of today's Lebanese zajal contests and festivals, which feature teams of up to four poets who compete against each other in improvised, sung verse in colloquial Lebanese, carrying a sort of dialogue within which they argue opposing sides of universal themes and topics of current social interest. Though time, tradition, and culture in the Lebanese mountainside have nurtured the development of sung oral poetry into its current form and status …

Vol. 37 No. 2 (2014): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 37, No 2-Aug 2014 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Determining The Minimum Number Of Individuals And Significance Of The Kuelap Ossuary In Chachapoyas, Peru, Vu Tran

HIM 1990-2015

The pre-Hispanic archaeological site of Kuelap in Chachapoyas, Peru, is representative of the variation in mortuary practices observed throughout the Chachapoya region. The goal of this study was to analyze the human skeletal remains excavated in the center of the Circular Platform between residential structures at Kuelap by creating an inventory of the remains (n=2,573) and determine the minimum number of individuals originally interred in the mortuary context. This study observed a total of 171 femora, 159 humeri, 74 calcanei, 110 ilium bones, 86 temporal bones, and 74 maxillae. Results show that this mortuary context was an ossuary of secondarily, …

At The Margins Of The Plantation: Alternative Modernities And An Archaeology Of The "Poor Whites" Of Barbados, Matthew Connor Reilly

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation is an historical archaeological examination of the "poor whites" or "Redlegs" of Barbados. Excavations were undertaken from October 2012 to July 2013 in an abandoned tenantry, Below Cliff, on the east coast of the island, once inhabited by dozens of families locally referred to as the "poor whites" or "Redlegs", said to be the descendants of seventeenth century European indentured servants. Combining archaeological, ethnographic, and historical methodologies, this dissertation explores class relations of Below Cliff residents to processes of capitalism as well as other island laborers, including Afro-Barbadians. Additionally, racial categories are interrogated through an analysis of complex …

3-D Morphometric Analysis Of The Primate Elbow Joint, Seth Brockman Boren

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Large body size requires limb joints capable of supporting said weight, and a species exhibiting sexual size dimorphism may necessitate joint size differences between the sexes of the species. If habitual behavior differs with body size, one may expect to see significant variation in joint morphology between species and the sexes within species. The following analysis tests two hypotheses: (1) that significant differences in joint size between males and females correlate with the magnitude of sexual dimorphism and (2) that there is significant interspecific variance in joint shape between males and females of the same species. The first hypothesis is …

Book Review Forum: Glenn Petersen, Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, And Political Organization, Karen L. Nero

Pacific Studies

Glenn Petersen. Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, and Political Organization. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2009. Pp. 288. ISBN: 978-0-8248-3248-3. US$42.00 cloth.

Review: KAREN L . NERO

UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO

Book Review Forum: Glenn Petersen, Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, And Political Organization, Laurence Marshall Carucci

Pacific Studies

Glenn Petersen. Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, and Political Organization. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2009. Pp. 288. ISBN: 978-0-8248-3248-3. US$42.00 cloth.

Review: LAURENCE MARSHALL CARUCCI

PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY, MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY

Liminal River: Art, Agency And Cultural Transformation Along The Protohistoric Arkansas River, Leslie Walker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For nearly a century, ceramic vessels looted from Protohistoric Native American Graves in the Central Arkansas River Valley have raised questions about the ethnic identity of the inhabitants of the region and their relationship to their neighbors in time and space. This analysis combines careful documentation of 1198 of these vessels with excavated sherds and other data from the Carden Bottoms site (3YE0025) and adjacent rock art sites in the Arkansas River Valley to provide a context for these vessels and, in so doing, defines the Dardenne Style of artistic production. Comparing motifs, and the manner in which they are …

Tempo And Mode Of Domestication During The Neolithic Revolution: Evidence From Dental Mesowear And Microwear Of Sheep, Melissa Zolnierz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Neolithic Revolution marked a dramatic change in human subsistence practices. In order to explain this change, we must understand the motive forces behind it. Researchers have proposed many different stimuli, with most theories invoking environmental dynamics, human population density increases beyond environmental carrying capacity, and the natural outgrowth of human and plant/animal interactions. However, unanswered questions remain concerning the mechanics of animal domestication. Traditional studies of changing faunal morphology and skeletal population profiles offer some clues, but such research has had limited success identifying stages intermediate between wild and domesticated forms, which makes it difficult to discern initial attempts …

The Archaeological Excavation Of An Antebellum Educational Boarding House In Cane Hill, Arkansas 3wa1233, Teka Rene Mcglothlin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an archaeological evaluation of the remains of a two related structures located in Cane Hill, Arkansas. In order to establish the function and/or affiliation of the structures, historical documentation was combined with the analysis of the artifact assemblage. Based on artifacts recovered and archival sources, these two structures appear to be associated with a former boarding house used for male students attending Cane Hill College. This research provides insight into educational boarding facilities as well as multiple cultures cohabitating in the 19th Century Ozarks.

Hotel Bukovyna, Rebecca Ann Bosshart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This collection of short stories and first chapter of a novella take place in the historical area of Bukovyna, the beech tree land, partly located in Chernivetska region, western Ukraine. On the edge of it, or under it, or traveling to and from it, in contemporary time. I've been occupied with "the outsider," represented here, and where the seven stories reside, by the giant grande dame tourist hotel on Main Street, across from Shevchenko Park, in Chernivtsi, the region's city center. The occupants: the outsider looking in and around. Outsiders looking at other outsiders. An outsider being welcomed in. Most …