Anthropology Commons^™

School Optimism: Fast Life And Slow Debt In The Financialized University, Mark Alan Porter Webb

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Over the past two decades, educational debt has quickly transformed US colleges and universities into spaces of cruel optimism: the higher education that students desire is all too often an obstacle to their flourishing. This study maps the contours of the white, middle-class attachment to the college dream, paying particular attention to the moments when the optimism surrounding higher education turns cruel. As this optimism wanes in the face of mounting educational debt, students deploy a myriad of fast life strategies—a flurry of actions that include work, activism, protest, leaving school and/or satirical critique—with the hope of mitigating the impact …

Resisting Industrial Food Systems On The Web: How Non-Profit Organizations Use Digital Technology For Sustainability Education, Aleksandr Segal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the link between how community-based organizations use digital tools with the fundamentally resistance-based philosophy that these organizations have at the core of their mission. It aims to uncover how non-profit organizations (NPOs) that work in community development through food and agriculture use digital tools, and how their digital communication strategies relate to issues of resistance to neoliberalism and industrialization in the food and agriculture sectors.

Using a foundation of existing literature on food and agriculture, climate change and waste management, critical theory, and technology in pedagogy, this thesis will contextualize how non-profits resist neoliberal regimes of de-traditionalization …

Cultural Heritage Preservation In The Context Of Climate Change Adaptation Or Relocation: Barbuda As A Case Study, Martha B. Lerski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This case study introduces an arts camp methodology of engaging communities in identifying their key cultural heritage features, thus serving as a meta study. It presents original research based on field studies on the climate-vulnerable Caribbean island of Barbuda during 2017 and 2018. Its Valued Cultural Elements survey, enabling precise identification of key tangible and intangible art forms and biocultural practices, may serve as a basis for further studies. Such approaches may facilitate future research or planning as climate-vulnerable communities harness Local or Indigenous Knowledge for purposes of biocultural heritage preservation, or towards adaptation or relocation. I report on findings …

Film Review: The Impure: An Abolitionist Documentary Film Of The 19th Century Traffic In Jewish Women, Caroline Norma

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Formation Of Queer Consciousness In Gay, Latin, Men: How Experiences Affect The Lives Of Queer Latinos, Daniel Leon-Barranco

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

I am interested in investigating the question: How does experience, in a Latinx environment, affect the “coming out” process for queer, Latinx, men? Additionally, the aim of this research is to discover whether Queer Latinx peoples retain their cultural identity/consciousness or abandon it. This project is relevant to analyze whether Latinx culture impacts peoples to abstain from or retain their cultural identity/consciousness. I also hope that this research can prove whether an amalgamation of standpoint theory and Situated Knowledge can come together to affect the process of (re)claiming identity; as the Latinx man claims their sexual identity. This research aims …

Asian American Representation On Social Media Platforms, Ashley Lee

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

YouTube is a popular social media platform where anyone can make an account and post any kind of content. When YouTube launched in 2005-06, it has since allowed minorities easier access to create stories in an industry that has a history of exclusion and whitewashing, specifically speaking about Asian Americans. Asian American content creators, such as Wong Fu Productions, Michelle Phan, Ryan Higa, and many others use YouTube as an outlet to adapt existing stereotypes into entertainment while resisting whitewashing in Hollywood. By analyzing their large influence online, we try to better understand who consists of their target audience, either …

Becoming Legible: The Racial Making Of The Negro Mascogo/Black Seminole People In The Coahuila–Texas Borderland, Rocío Gil Martínez De Escobar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This historical ethnography analyzes the making of the Negro Mascogo/Black Seminole people as part of the production of the Coahuila-Texas borderland. In the quest to become legible to improve their living conditions and maintain a sense of dignity, Negros Mascogos/Black Seminoles use history and racialization as tools of negotiation between themselves and the two nation-states where they live: Mexico and the United States. I analyze the Negro Mascogo/Black Seminole people as a case of racialization that illustrates the ongoing mechanisms of settler colonialism (dispossession, exploitation, and elimination via genocide or assimilation), as they play out in specific socio-historical contexts.

The …

The Functional Morphology Of Ingestion In The Platyrrhine Sclerocarpic Harvesters (Platyrrhini, Primates), Zachary Stoffel Klukkert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The identification of anatomical correlates of diet and feeding behavior in nonhuman primates is an important area of research in biological anthropology. The morphology of the jaws and teeth reflects the phylogeny and adaptations that distinguish taxa and their different ecological niches. Studying the form-function relationships of jaws and teeth in modern species provides a framework for interpreting the diets of extinct species and for inferring the ecological pressures that may have contributed to the evolutionary diversification of primate craniodental morphology. Previous work on modeling primate jaw mechanics has focused largely on the functional context of a closed jaw. Little …

Exploring Living Heritage Conservation: An Ethnography Of Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, Adriana Trujillo

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Taos Pueblo, a Northern New Mexico Pueblo, is designated as a World Heritage Site that continues to engage in traditional cultural practices. Because it is a living community practicing traditional customs, it is considered a living heritage site. Living heritage refers to the continuity of tangible and intangible heritage that is maintained by the core-community. Western conservation approaches have rarely integrated community-based strategies when protecting dynamic cultural sites. The purpose of this research is to explore conservation strategies at Taos Pueblo and how they reflect a living heritage approach. Using Rapid Ethnographic Assessment Protocol (Taplin, Scheld, & Low, 2002), I …

Disruptive Innovation: The Rise Of The Knowledge-Sharing Market In China, Yaqing Lan

International Studies Honors Projects

Innovation is a major subject of international political economy, but mainstream discussions focus on scientific research and development and detach innovation development from their social contexts. In response to this view, this project reveals the importance of cultural and social factors in influencing innovation development by examining the rise of the knowledge-sharing market (KSM) -- a social-network-site-based economy in China. It suggests the KSM is a disruptive innovation not only because it is pioneered by a latecomer in the global innovation market, China, but also because its emergence from the changing Chinese consumer demands disrupts the mainstream thinking of innovation.

Kebijakan Pembangunan Tol Laut Dan Potensi Dampaknya Pada Tinggalan Kapal Asing Bersejarah Yang Karam Di Wilayah Perairan Indonesia, Hutomo Putra

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The construction of sea toll roads is one of the manifestations of President Jokowi’s superior program for strengthening Indonesia’s identity as a maritime country and to develop Indonesia as a whole from west to east. The necessity for sea toll road construction aims to improve the distribution of goods and trade commodities, particularly for the purpose of balancing the economic gap between the western and eastern regions of Indonesia. On the other hand, the construction of sea toll roads could possibly have an impact on archaeological objects, especially the remains of historic shipwrecks that have sunk and spread in several …

Terjemahan Beranotasi Dongeng Le Fils À La Recherche De Sa Mère Ke Dalam Bahasa Indonesia, Elyan Wijaya

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Annotated translation is a study that provides annotations or notes on the chosen equivalents of a number of translated words as a form of translator’s accountability. Using a comparative model, this qualitative study aims to describe the problems that were encountered when translating the source text and finding the right translation strategy to be used for addressing the existing translation problems. In this research, the source text is a children literature (tale) titled Le Fils à la recherche de sa mère by Senegalese author. The problems that were encountered when translating this tale were issues related to language and culture, …

Komunikasi Interpersonal Pustakawan Bagian Layanan Sirkulasi Perpustakaan Umum Kota Depok, Hadyan Aldio Galih, Kiki Fauziah

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This study discusses the interpersonal communication between librarians in the circulation service unit of Depok Public Library. The purpose of this research is to identify the quality of interpersonal communication between librarians in the circulation services unit. This research used qualitative approach with case study method. The results of this study indicate that the interpersonal communication between librarians in Depok Public Library when serving the library users was done properly and in a good manner, in general. However, research findings also indicate that the librarians tended to show a rather superior attitude toward the users. Such attitude made the librarians …

Neoliberalism And Reconfiguration Of The Diaspora In Contemporary Indonesia, Inditian Latifa

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

In most studies on globalization and transnationalism, diaspora is positioned in a conflicting and antagonistic relationship with the nation-state regime. Nevertheless, the global ascendancy of neoliberalism as a market-based mode of governing populations has brought certain changes to the relationship between the diaspora and home countries which call for further research. This essay investigates the implications of neoliberalism for diasporic kinship ties by examining emergent discourses in contemporary Indonesia that constitute an elite-led project on diasporas known as the Indonesian Diaspora Network (IDN) Global. Based on a social constructionist analysis of data gathered from activities, media reporting, and promotional materials …

Hulu Ke Hilir: Jaringan Dan Sistem Perniagaan Sungai Kerajaan Srivijaya, Asyhadi Mufsi Sadzali

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The Kedukan Bukit inscription was written in 682 AD. It is considered as the oldest inscription related to the kingdom of Srivijaya and an authentic proof of the advanced maritime culture of Srivijaya. This argument is supported by the fact that, geographically, Sumatra is endowed with hundreds of large and small rivers that have generated abundant natural resources from its upstream to downstream areas. Srivijaya must have utilized these natural conditions to facilitate the distribution of its trade commodities— pepper, camphor, resin, and gold—from the upstream regions (flowing through countless tributaries to the main rivers) to the coastal areas, and …

Anugerah Sri Maharaja: Kumpulan Alihaksara Dan Alihbahasa Prasasti-Prasasti Jawa Kuna Dari Abad Viii–Xi., Nasha Bin Rodziadi Khaw

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

No abstract provided.

Of Raids And Returns: Sex Work Movement, Police Oppression, And The Politics Of The Ordinary In Sonagachi, India, Simanti Dasgupta

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

Drawing on ethnographic work with Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), a grassroots sex worker organisation in Sonagachi, the iconic red-light district in Kolkata, India, this paper explores the politics of the detritus generated by raids as a form of state violence. While the current literature mainly focuses on its institutional ramifications, this article explores the significance of the raid in its immediate relation to the brothel as a home and a space to collectivise for labour rights. Drawing on atyachar (oppression), the Bengali word sex workers use to depict the violence of raids, I argue that they experience the raid …

Clarke, Kenneth (Fa 1285), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1285. Student folk studies project titled “Elephant Joke Cycle,” which includes a list of elephant jokes collected from 100 students at New Albany Senior High School, in New Albany, Indiana. Sheets and notecards include elephant jokes to illustrate a regional joke cycle in Indiana.

Brennan, Mary Kate (Fa 1284), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1284. Student interview conducted by Mary Kate Brennan with renowned Appalachian poet Jim Wayne Miller. Brennan’s focus throughout the interview is on “the cultural sensitivity and awareness that permeates Miller’s poetry.” Miller also touches on what he considers to be the central themes of his work, the struggles and triumphs of communities within the Appalachian region, and pride in cultural heritage. The collection contains a detailed index, interview summary, transcription, index cards with questions, and a reel-to-reel audio tape of the interview.

Rice Terrace Degradation In Ifugao: Causation And Cultural Preservation, Chaepter Negro

Honors Projects

The Cordilleran rice terraces of Northern Luzon, Philippines, are a testament to Filipino ingenuity and remain an important social-ecological system within highland indigenous communities. Ifugao, one of six Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) provinces, is best known for its expansive and World Heritage Site recognized rice terraces, and has been a popular tourist destination in the Philippines for the past twenty years. According to local rice farmers, though, the terraces in Ifugao are quickly becoming degraded, as a series of external and internal factors have placed pressure on the indigenous community. Drawing from anthropological, ecological, and historical sources, I examine the …

Wilgus, Donald Knight, 1918-1989 (Sc 3401), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3401. Letter, 25 July 1960, to friends from Donald Knight Wilgus and family, Los Angeles, California, describing their activities and travel since moving to California, including Wilgus’s work at the University of California, Los Angeles. Includes a review of Wilgus’s book, Anglo-American Folksong Scholarship Since 1898, and the premier issue (1963) of Hootenanny: The National Folk Singing Magazine, with an article about Wilgus and UCLA’s folk music studies program.

Anthropology Embedded In Worldview Studies: Modernity’S Failure And The Response Of Christian Philosophy Of Life In A Postmodern Age Of Expressivism, Nathan Sexten

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines two divergent streams of thought in Christian philosophy of life represented by the works of Francis Schaeffer and James K. A. Smith in an effort to help Christians live in a postmodern culture. Schaeffer and Smith ultimately address differing, but complementary, realms of anthropology and the human experience. To see how these two authors might complement each other effectively, this thesis will analyze each author’s work and then explore whether or not the application of Smith's liturgical anthropology and utilization of phenomenology can improve Schaeffer’s system of thought and the worldview concept.

Silangan Rising: Crafting The Filipino Self And The Other In The Diaspora, Jon G. Malek

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

Thisarticle examines the newspaper Silangan, published in Winnipeg, Canada, from February 1977 to July 1982, to analyze the negotiation of Filipino identity in the diaspora. Over its six-year run, the columns in this newspaper dealt with issues of cultural maintenance, the importance of Filipino heritage, and political engagement in their adoptive homeland. A critical dialogue argued in support of certain aspects of life from the Philippines, such as extravagant pageantry and corrupt political practices. In discursively forming a Filipino Self, this ethnic newspaper created a number of Others, the most startling of which was the (transgressing) national Filipino.KEYWORDS: FILIPINO DIASPORA …

Editor's Introduction, Jr. Aguilar

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

No abstract provided.

Political Conjuncture And Scholarly Disjunctures: Reflections On Studies Of The Philippine State Under Marcos, Jr. Aguilar

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

This professorial address contends that a scholarly, systematic, and impartial study of Marcos’s authoritarian rule is necessary, given the highly politicized interpretations of the past bequeathed to younger generations through textbooks and social media as well as the Philippine academic community’s general inability to analyze the defunct regime and to influence public discourse and shape public history. Social scientists must tap new sources of information, such as the Marcos Papers, to produce truthful and nuanced narratives of the past, even as they must endeavor to understand the Marcosian social fantasy and the sources of Filipino authoritarianism, which can illumine both …

Survival Strategies: A Study Of Working Families In New York City, Kafui Gozey

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

The main focus for this project was to find out how working families survive life in New York City which is known to be one of the most expensive places to live on earth. In effort to find answers to this, I visited the city for a period of two weeks to observe the lives of locals and also to interact with them. After days of interactions and gathering information, it was evident that there is a huge population of working families in New York who struggle to make ends meet. It was also made clear that these families do …

Coggan, Forrest Winston, 1926-2018 (Fa 1282), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1282. Correspondence between Forrest Coggan and Sarah Gertrude Knott as well as other board members, sponsors, teachers, and business partners who conducted work with the National Folk Festival Association. .

Anderson, Kenneth (Fa 1283), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1283. Student folk studies project titled “The Art of Curing Hams,” which includes the history and process of curing hams in Kentucky. The paper includes descriptions of the three different processes of curing hams and ends with a comparison of the three.

Communication In Stormwater Utility Fees Across Michigan, Hailey Olson

Honors Theses

Stormwater Utilities (SWU) ordinances are gaining wide popularity in municipalities throughout the Great Lakes region of the United States. A SWU creates a fund to maintain and update stormwater infrastructure, which in turn helps to reduce destructive flooding, and also results in higher quality waterways. This study examines two SWUFs in the State of Michigan: one in the City of Jackson (COJ), which implemented a SWUF in 2011; and the second in the City of Ann Arbor (COAA), which implemented its SWUF in 1984. These two case studies offer important contrasts and lessons. For instance, as a result of resident …

Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction By Marina Warner, Barbara L. Prescott

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.