Anthropology Commons^™

Transformation Of Urban Space: Somali Bantu Women Refugees And The Lynn Community Health Center, April Reynosa, Dr. Julie Hartly

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This study evolved out of my experiences as a volunteer under Project North Star, a literacy program headed by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) that serves refugee women from Somalia. From September of 2006 through December 2006 I worked as the Child Development Instructor for this program. While working in this role I investigated and gathered details of the Somali Bantu women’s daily experiences involving urban immigrant acculturation and assimilation.

Feather Crowns (Sc 1115), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1115. Correspondence concerning inquiry of Tom Russell, Dallas, Texas, with Western Kentucky University personnel, Bowling Green, Kentucky, about feather crowns. Includes family story regarding the formation of the crowns in a goose down pillow after an individual’s death.

The Progression Of The Field Of Kinesics, Megan Waiflein

Senior Theses - Anthropology

Kinesics, a term coined by anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell, is the study nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication is primarily conducted through the use of gestures, facial expressions, and body language. These sometimes subtle cues are estimated to convey as much as seventy percent of the context of a conversation. In this thesis, I review the origin of the field of kinesics in anthropology, the development of subfields, its introduction into other various fields of study, and its significance today. Using citation analysis, I show the movement kinesics through various disciplines. This significant field of research has progressed from a research topic centered …

Inadequate Access To Healthy Opportunities And Structural Violence: A Case Study Of Health Disparities Among Hispanics In Mclean County, Cecilia Montesdeoca

Senior Theses - Anthropology

Significant disproportionate human suffering is experienced by socially disadvantaged populations as a result of preventable difference in the burden of disease, injury, violence, and/or opportunities to achieve optimal health. Disparities in health refer to differences between two or more population groups in health outcomes and in the prevalence, incidence, or burden of disease, disability, injury, or death (CNHEOa 2013). Health disparities are discriminatory and are directly related to the historical and current unequal distribution of social, political, economic, and environmental resources (CDC 2007). While such disparities are more visible when comparing health status of whole countries, they are also embedded …

The Culture Of Crossfit: A Lifestyle Prescription For Optimal Health And Fitness, Steven Kuhn

Senior Theses - Anthropology

The increasing frequency of obesity related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension are often the product of a nutritionally inadequate diet along with sedentary lifestyle. The fitness movement called CrossFit, formed by Greg Glassman in 1996, provides an alternative prescription to battling these physical ailments by incorporating high intensity-functional exercise along with a Paleolithic-inspired diet (The Paleo Diet). CrossFit is a distinct lifestyle that encourages participants to strive for an "elite" and "optimal" state of fitness and health. In this thesis I provide ethnographic data collected from participant-observation at a CrossFit gym in Bloomington, IL. I examine scientific …

Inventing Tradition: Changes In Local Basket-Making In Two Guatemalan Towns, Amy Maxwell, Dr. Ruth Toulson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Guatemala has a rich indigenous heritage which has attracted the attention of researchers for over 75 years. This culture includes 21 indigenous Maya language groups scattered throughout the country. The civil war ended ten years ago and since then, the country has been healing. As the country has welcomed progress, it has also welcomed tourists from around the globe who come for the culture or to study Spanish. In the face of so many national changes, the Mayan culture is shifting and adapting.

Establishing An Ethical Entrepreneurship, Scott Hannay, Dr. David P. Crandall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Today more than ever, people have a desire to reach out to help others—both internationally and domestically. Technology has brought the world’s problems to the living rooms of the more for-tunate. Unlimited options exist for attempting to mitigate the challenges of addressing hunger, malnutrition, poor education, poverty and inequality. I had the opportunity to research the feasi-bility of establishing an ethical entrepreneurship in a rural tribal village on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Morocco. My research revealed steps to be considered when creating an ethical entre-preneurship and the challenges that may be encountered in the process.

Assessing Anasazi Mobility Through Ceramics, Alan B. Gelder, Dr. Joel C. Janetski

Journal of Undergraduate Research

There are some compelling questions about variations in the subsistence patterns of the Anasazi that are still unanswered. It is possible that within the Escalante Valley of south-central Utah, the Anasazi practiced a more mobile lifestyle than is thought to be common—camping at some distance from their permanent settlements. Suggestive evidence comes from the ceramic remains of the archaeological site of North Creek Shelter (42GA5863). While the full analysis is incomplete, it appears that the Anasazi used this temporary site.

History And Archaeology At Irishtown Bend: Life In A Nineteenth Century Cleveland Irish Community, Taliesin Haugh, Geoffrey Horn, Arvin Mathur, Phillip Wanyerka

Undergraduate Research Posters 2013

To most Clevelanders, the west bank of the Flats brings to mind the bustle of busy nightclubs or the rusting facades of Cleveland’s now fading steel industry. Few people would generally associate this area with archaeology, let alone remember that during the nineteenth century this area was home to one of Cleveland’s earliest and most influential ethnic communities. Known as Irishtown Bend, many Irish immigrants made their way to this close-knit, working class neighborhood of small ramshackle houses crammed closely together along the narrow bluffs of the Cuyahoga River. Most of the arriving Irish immigrants who came to Cleveland beginning …

Summary Of A Technological Analysis: A Coyotlatelco Phase Lithic Workshop At The Hacienda Metapec Apartment Complex, Teotihuacan, Shelby H. Saberon, Dr. John E. Clark

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The outcome of being accepted for this grant, and the ensuing study that resulted, has become the beginning of a massive research project which merits great interest not only to the author, but to the field of MesoAmerican archaeology in general. In addition, my research from this project has become the foundation for a masters thesis which I will complete in the next year. Dr. Clark predicts that at least three major publications will result from the project, and that my thesis will become the basis for stone tool analysis in MesoAmerican archaeology. This is because no analysis at this …

Women And Development In Ixtahuacan: Religious Influences, Kristyn M. Roser, Dr. John P. Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

“Me levanto temprano, punts mi fuego, lavo mixtamal, voy al molino, y regreso para preparar los alimentos para mis hijos y mi esposo.” So begins a typical day for a woman in Ixtahuacan. It is a day focused on caring for family and preparation of food—tasks that renew themselves each time the sun rises. Hands that slap tortillas, envelope tamales in corn leaves, scrub clothes in the pila, lift children into rainbow colored baby wraps, weave symbols into huipiles, light fires—hands that work to develop the community.

The Mayaarch3d Project: A 3d Webgis For Analyzing Ancient Architecture And Landscapes, Jennifer Von Schwerin, Heather Richards-Rissetto, Fabio Remondino, Giorgio Agugario, Gabrio Girardi

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

There is a need in the humanities for a 3D WebGIS with analytical tools that allow researchers to analyze 3D models linked to spatially referenced data. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow for complex spatial analysis of 2.5D data. For example, they offer bird’s eye views of landscapes with extruded building footprints, but one cannot ‘get on the ground’ and interact with true 3D models from a pedestrian perspective. Meanwhile, 3D models and virtual environments visualize data in 3D space, but analytical tools are simple rotation or lighting effects. The MayaArch3D Project is developing a 3D WebGIS—called QueryArch3D—to allow these two …

The Rates Of Overweight And Obesity Across Racial/Ethnic Group: Focus On Latinos And Latino Subgroups, Sou Hyung Jang

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in the United States – particularly the obesity rate of Latinos.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Americans on average are increasingly becoming more overweight and the problems associated with higher levels of obesity are growing. In the U.S. the Latino population has higher rates of overweight and obesity compared to …

Plant Management Systems Of British Columbia's First Peoples, Nancy J. Turner, Douglas Deur, Dana Lepofsky

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article provides an overview of the diverse plant resource management strategies of First Nations of British Columbia. Management practices range from relatively large-scale (geographically) and longterm activities – such as the use of fire to clear prairies and subalpine meadows – to very focused actions, such as the pruning of individual shrubs. We describe plant resource management practices and the diverse methods used to identify them, and focus on three case studies to augment this description. These case studies exemplify the range of plants and ecosystems that were managed as well as the combinations of strategies and outcomes encompassed …

Demographic, Economic And Social Transformations In The Mexican-Origin Population Of The New York City Metropolitan Area, 1990 - 2010, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines demographic and socioeconomic factors concerning the Mexican population of New York City Metro Area between 1990 and 2010.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: The demographic structure of the region’s Mexican community (over 600,000 in 2010) was in large part determined by the arrival of over 250,000 foreign-born Mexicans between 1990 and 2010. These migrants were generally working …

The Mexican-Origin Population In Metropolitan Statistical Areas Across The United States, 1990-2010, Haiwen Chu

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in the United States between 1990 and 20010 – particularly the Mexican origin population.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: This section focuses on the growth of the Mexican population in different Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The top three MSAs in terms of total Mexican population in 2010 were Los Angeles, …

Latinos In New York City: K-12 Public Schools, 1990-2009, Haiwen Chu

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in New York City between 1990 and 2009 – particularly Latino educational attainment in public school.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Several trends emerge about the school-aged population overall in terms of absolute numbers and relative proportions. The school-aged Latino and non-Hispanic Black populations increased greatly between 1990 and 2000, …

Population Aging As The Social Body In Representation And Real Life, Alexandra Crampton

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

This article uses three levels of body analysis as presented by Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Margaret Lock to compare old age as a construct in population aging discourse with research on lived experience of people aging in the United States and Ghana. I first describe how demographers construct social bodies as becoming “gray” through population statistics and how policy makers then use dependency ratios to rationalize intervention on behalf of older adults in the body-politic. The construction of old age within this discourse is then compared with ethnographic research that suggests this construct leaves out much of the lived experience familiar …

Age-Independent Increases In Male Salivary Testosterone During Horticultural Activity Among Tsimane Forager-Farmers, Benjamin C. Trumble, Daniel K. Cummings, Kathleen A. O'Connor, Darryl J. Holman, Eric A. Smith, Hillard Kaplan, Michael D. Gurven

ESI Publications

Testosterone plays an important role in mediating male reproductive trade-offs in many vertebrate species, augmenting muscle and influencing behavior necessary for male-male competition and mating-effort. Among humans, testosterone may also play a key role in facilitating male provisioning of offspring as muscular and neuromuscular performance are deeply influenced by acute changes in testosterone. This study examines acute changes in salivary testosterone among 63 Tsimane men ranging in age from 16–80 (mean 38.2) years during one-hour bouts of treechopping while clearing horticultural plots. The Tsimane forager-horticulturalists living in the Bolivian Amazon experience high energy expenditure associated with food production, have high …

The Patagonian Cradle Of Welsh Culture, Bently Snow, Dr. Mark Grover

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The vitality of the Welsh culture has suffered significantly due to the pressures of globalization. Marginalized even in their homeland, the Welsh way of life was dying out due to disinterest on the part of the rising generation, something which greatly concerned the shrinking number of this people who still clung to their culture in the face of mounting pressures to accept assimilation. Even in 1865, in fact, pressures were such that 153 Welsh men, women and children left their homeland with hopes to preserve their language and their culture. The party sailed across the Atlantic towards the Patagonia—the rugged …

Kebertahanan Bahasa Daerah Dalam Konteks Kebijakan Bahasa Nasional Indonesia: Kasus Bahasa Batak, Rosmawaty Rosmawaty

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

The purpose of this study was to describe the influence of Batak cultural values and religious practices on Batak language maintenance. The results of this qualitative study indicate that the influence of Batak cultural values and religious practices varies among Angkola/Mandailing, Toba, Simalungun, Karo, and Pakpak/Dairi communities. Variations in language maintenance create a continuum in the implementation of Indonesian as the national language, particularly in North Sumatra.

Makna Kearifan Budaya Jawa Dalam Puisi Pariksit, Telinga, Dongeng Sebelum Tidur, Dan Asmaradana, Heri Suwignyo

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

The interpretation of Javanese wisdom can be found in Indonesian modern poetry by decoding the cultural traditions of wayang stories, mystical narratives, and folklore. One form of Javanese wisdom, ojo dumeh (do not be arrogant), is found in the poem Parksit and revealed in Chapter VII. The poem Telinga exposes the Javanese cultural value of manunggaling kawula Gusti (self-discovery), derived from the mystical story of Dewa Ruci. The poems Asmaradana and Dongeng Sebelum Tidur show the meanings of sincerity, sacrifice, and firmness in keeping promises, which are inspired by the folktales King Anglingdarma and Damarwulan.

Editor's Introduction, Filomeno V. Aguilar Jr.

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

No abstract provided.

Final Orca Report, Amy Hurt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I conducted my field study in the city of New Orleans for two months, 24 April -25 June 2008. During this time I lived in a small house in Mid-City, an apartment in Jefferson Parish, a hotel room on Decatur Street in the French Quarter, and a rent-by-the-day room just outside of the French Quarter on Pauger Street.

Kachinas Of The Southwest: Dances, Dolls, And Rain Elucidating The Kachina Cult, Jamie Bingham, Dr. Paul R. Stavast

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This past semester (Winter 2008), the Museum of Peoples and Cultures (MPC) researched and curated an exhibition on the Kachina Cult of the Pueblo and Hopi cultures. The Kachina Cult is centered around belief in a set of spiritual beings that bring blessings, gifts, and rain. Kachina literally means “spirit father” or “life father” and can be anything that exists in the natural world. One of the most common representation of kachinas is in the form of dolls. The exhibition features an impressive collection of ancient and modern kachina dolls in an effort to provide insight into the fairly elusive …

Recreating The Past Through The Use Of Modern Technology, Jennifer Harris, Dr. Cynthia Finlayson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Last year I set out on an adventure to research an ancient civilization, to gather photographic and textual research halfway across the globe. I traveled to Greece in order to research the ancient Minoans, a very advanced and interesting people who had a great influence on Greek culture.

Creating Citizens In The Modern Irish State: Primary Schools As Indicators Of Identity Ambiguitiy, Charlotte Williams, Dr. Julie Hartley-Moore

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In Europe, notions about national identity are being called into question as historical state-sponsored conceptions encounter new forces present in current affairs—including, relative economic prosperity, mass immigration, conflicting ideas about religion, and desired assimilation into a collective European identity. Ireland provides a case study largely reflective of these broader European issues, while simultaneously being distinct as the only free European state which was formerly under colonial control by another European power. Thus, in its post-colonial context, Ireland currently struggles to accommodate these competing forces—both old and new—to form a cogent national identity which the state can disseminate to its constituents. …

The Origin And Development Of The Pueblo Kachina Cult, Adrien Mooney, Dr. Glenna Nielsen-Grimm

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States have a unique set of beliefs centered on the practice of ceremonies dedicated to kachinas, intermediaries between the Pueblo people and their deities. The word kachina literally means “life-bringer,” and the kachina ceremonies are integral for the growth of crops in the Pueblo region, as the kachinas bring rain to the region when ceremonies are performed correctly. There are three different manifestations of the kachina: the spirit of the kachina, the kachina mask worn by a dancer in the ceremony that allows the dancer to act on behalf of the kachina, and …

A Time For Museums: A Study Of Supporters At The Museum Of Peoples And Cultures, Heidi Kartchner, Dr. Julie Hartley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During the months of May and June 2008 I conducted a research study at BYU’s Museum of Peoples and Cultures (MPC) in Provo, Utah. My intent was to research the MPC’s supporters, looking specifically at their leisure habits and patterns of cultural consumption and how that plays into their museum visiting habits.

Memory-Texts And The Interdiscursive Construction Of Identity Among The Khmer Diaspora, Brandon Bales, Dr. Janies Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Displaced people present a problem for ethnographic research in that they generally lack stable socio-cultural contexts on which researchers rely for making empirical observations. This study shows how people produce memory-texts as a way of recontextualizing themselves in new or unstable social situations and establishes memory-texts as the empirical material necessary to produce analysis on displaced people. The discursive production of memory-texts is an activity displaced people engage in to recontextualize and stabilize themselves in shifting or new environments. Memory-texts are composed of the interface between defining moments in people’s lives and recent experiences and cultural frameworks. As an interdiscursive …