Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons^™

Epistemological Ruptures: Flashback On Fieldwork Dilemmas While Doing Research On Friends At Home, Israel Aguilar

The Qualitative Report

While doing fieldwork at home and/or with people who are familiar can yield new knowledge, researchers using ethnographic techniques ought to first assume the role of apprentice and enact vulnerability before they can represent findings that represent what really happened. Doing otherwise can tarnish relationships or jeopardize a study. The history of narrative within ethnographic research is discussed as an introduction to the author’s own personal narrative, which is in the form of a flashback that illustrates the journey he embarked on in 2010 when he initiated dissertation research in his hometown of south Texas. It is here where he …

European Spaces And The Roma: Denaturalizing The Naturalized In Online Reader Comments, Theresa Catalano, Grace E. Fielder

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

With the entry of several Eastern European nations into the European Union (EU), a “third” space has developed in the discourse for nations perceived as not fully integrated “inside” the EU system. This article investigates the construction of this “third space” in the resultant “moral panic” about undesired immigration from other EU countries and its potential drain on the social services of the United Kingdom and links it to Euroskeptic discourse in British media. The article uses construal operations from cognitive linguistics combined with critical discourse studies as a way of denaturalizing the discourse in online comments that focus on …

Where Should My Child Go To School? Parent And Child Considerations In Binational Families, Edmund T. Hamann, Víctor Zúñiga, Juan Sánchez García

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Using examples encountered from our multi-year study of students encountered in Mexican schools with prior experience in US schools, we look at transnationally-tied families’ decision-making regarding where to send their children to school and ask whether parents should ‘parent from afar’. We don’t pose that as a question about ideals— what would be best if parents had economic security and unambiguous legal residential status— but rather as a more pragmatic one. Given some parents’ and children’s limited agency in real- world circumstances, what is their best path forward?

Mánang Bidáy: Ang Imahen Ng Babae Na Pinatitingkad Ng Pangunahing Ideya At Bisang Pandamdamin Ng Awiting Bayan, Claudette M. Ulit

Filipino Faculty Publications

Itinatampok ng awiting-bayang Mánang Bidáy ang kultura ng pagliligawan ng mga Ilocano. Matutunghayan dito ang panunuyo ng isang lalaki sa Ilocanang si Mánang Bidáy na nagpamalas ng paninindigan sa kaniyang sariling pagpapasiya. Sa gayon, mainam itong lunsaran ng pagtalakay sa imahen ng babae na pinatitingkad pang lalo ng pangunahing ideya at bisang pandamdamin ng nabanggit na awitin.

Deviating From The Standard: The Relationship Between Archaeology And Public Education, Rhianna M. Bennett

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Recent studies of the public perception of archaeology shows that while it is a popular and valued discipline, it is still greatly misunderstood. Over the last few decades, archaeologists have sought new and innovative ways to establish archaeological literacy, promote community engagement, and conduct outreach, with the K-12 classroom being one such avenue of focus. Archaeology’s mysterious and exciting reputation among the general public, along with its interdisciplinary applicability, allows educators to draw interest in students and teach a variety of lessons through the lens of archaeology. This thesis outlines survey results of educators and archaeologists on their method, frequency, …

I, Too, Am A Woman: An Emancipatory Text On The Intersections Of Race, Gender, And Sexuality, Michelle M. Allen

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This inquiry builds upon Black Feminism and Critical Race Feminist frameworks by exploring the juxtaposition between Black Women and Queer Black Women. It is also an exploration of the similarities between Queer Black Women and Black Women and how they interact with femininity and masculinity, patriarchy, and heteronormativity. Claiming digital space through podcasting, it honors the power of counter narratives by employing autoethnographical story telling. It examines the multivalent ways in which critical geographies, safe spaces, and homeplaces nurture or alienate Black Women on the basis of sexual orientation, gender performance, race, and social class. Employing tenets of Black Feminist …

Café Para Todos: A Critical Narrative Of Bilingual Education Policy And Practice In Monolingual Spain, Grant A. Skoglund

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This research presents an ethnographic account of English bilingual programs in public Spanish high schools, exploring not only how such programs currently function in the eyes of stakeholders, but also the significance of bilingualism in the context of an English Imperative perspective. This perspective, shown to be widely adopted by research participants, sees English as a practical necessity in contemporary Spanish society for future success in a globalized world. The objective of this research is to situate bilingual policy and programing within a larger socio-economic and political context and elucidate the attitudes and opinions of key policy actors – students …

Needs Assessment Of Santa María Zoogochi, Oaxaca, Mexico: Every Day Violence, Inequities In Health Care, And Knowledge Creation/Distribution, Natasha S. O'Loughlin

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The purpose of this research was to conduct a needs assessment of a remote indigenous community, Santa María Zoogochi, Oaxaca, Mexico. The focus of the needs assessment was on the community’s concerns and suggested solutions to problems they identified. The focus on general community concerns allowed participants to identify immediate needs they found of importance. This research was conducted using the Concerns Report Method (CRM), which is a strategy associated with Participatory Action Research (PAR). This method facilitated community conversations and engaged the community in the research process by incorporating their concerns and potential solutions into a community plan of …

Aspiration, Attainment, And Assimilation : A Critical Ethnography Of Newcomer Youth In An American High School, Aaron Leo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

As immigrants and refugees constitute an increasingly large proportion of public school students across the United States, much scholarly attention has focused on the variables which promote and hamper academic success of these students. Specifically, the high aspirations and optimistic attitudes towards schooling and the effects of assimilation pressures have been identified as two important features contributing to the academic performance of newcomers.

Creating Identity: How Steve Biko Cultural Institute’S Black Consciousness And Citizenship Influences Student Identity Formation In Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, Sheryl Felecia Means

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The research presented in “Creating Identity” investigates Black identity formation within the Steve Biko Cultural Institute (Biko) in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, a pre-vestibular – or college entrance exam preparation course – for Afro-Brazilian high school and aspiring college students. The curriculum, Cidadania e Consciência Negra (Black Consciousness and Citizenship; abbreviated CCN) serves as a vital pillar to the institutional approach to Black identity. In a Eurocentric society like Brazil and a world where Black identity is largely discriminated against including in educational spaces, Biko represents a movement to combat the exclusion of Afro-descendant youth from university, improve self-esteem and perceptions …

Cultural Consultations In Criminal Forensic Psychology: A Thematic Analysis Of The Literature, Alesya Radosteva

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The importance of culture as a reference point in clinical practices such as forensic psychology has been considerably valued yet poorly understood, especially in an age where precision and sophistication outlast cultural authenticity and patient-clinician relationship. This paper looks at the gaps and inconsistencies that exist in current forensic psychology research. The topic is introduced by delving into the understanding of the phenomenon of culture and its influences on our everyday conditioning. Aspects such as language, biological development, traditions, rituals, and narratives are emphasized as potent tools that drive individuals to create and mold culture according to needs and requirements …

Residential Solar In Washington State, Sam Pfeifer

All Master's Theses

Electricity generated through residential solar provides a low carbon source of electricity. However, diffusion of residential solar remains low across the United States. Growing this diffusion takes an understanding of localized uptake trends, which can focus policy and business efforts to help increase residential solar market penetration. This is the first research to investigate residential solar uptake in Washington State and to examine environmental education as a potential driver of residential solar uptake. Through a snapshot analysis which considers environmental, economic, education, and cultural variables the present research fills this gap. Triangulated results include mapping of variables, ordinary-least squares multiple …

Uncovering The Lost Knowledge Of The Imagination In Films, Seda, Daniel A.

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Films have forever changed the way in which humans perceive reality and have provided significant opportunities to spread knowledge in ways that are both entertaining and deceptive. Uncovering the lost knowledge of the imagination shifts an individual’s perceptions of a shared experience and exposes film’s persuasive power to penetrate the psyche. This paper explores the constitutions of reality and how humans are able to tap into other realms of consciousness through mediums of creative expression. Topics such as the origins of life, the hidden knowledge of secret societies, and the burgeoning full disclosure movement for truth are discussed as a …

Symptomatic Leadership In Business Instruction: How To Finally Teach Diversity And Inclusion For Lasting Change, Linda L. Ridley

Publications and Research

Are business faculty complicit in mythologizing business concepts by ignoring historical precedence?

The refusal to examine in totality the history of discrimination and racism allows us to perpetuate a mythology of white supremacy that is enhanced through impotent diversity programs repeated throughout corporate America. This paper examines the importance of demythologizing the business curriculum through symptomatic thinking, which allows faculty and students to untangle the quagmire of diversity and inclusion in corporate America. Students are thereby equipped with tools for behavior transformation in the workplace that uses a symptomatic, rather than symbolic approach, to decision making and problem solving.

On Elemental Phenomenology: Sallis And Dzogchen Buddhism, Schwartz, Michael

Journal of Conscious Evolution

John Sallis’ volumes on the Force of the Imagination (2000) and Logic of the Imagination (2012) constitute, in the field of contemporary Continental thought, a novel philosophical view of the elementals. Tibetan Buddhism has a more than a thousand-year old tradition of teaching about and practicing with the elements. This study is a preliminary exploration of the cross-currents of these two elemental teachings.

Life Being An International Student In The United States: Acculturation, Culture Shock, And Identity Transformation, Lai Yan Vivyan Lam

Master's Theses

The population of international students at community colleges in the United States has increased significantly over the past decade. International students play a big role in building the cultural diversity on campus by bringing over different cultures and sharing their global perspective to the local community. However, they often face challenges adapting into American culture due to cultural differences in education system, language, lifestyle, etc. By looking into the acculturation process of international students to analyze the culture shock and cultural identity changes they experienced, this paper intends to seek ways to help this group of students to ease their …

Charting Constellations Of Power: Texas Public Education Policy, Hollie Wright

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

For decades, public education in Texas has been entrenched in neoliberalism-inspired policies that research shows largely fail to produce promised results and have a tendency to perpetuate the very problems advocates claim the policies will solve. This raises questions about the decision-makers and what is happening in the public education policy process. In line with Laura Nader’s directive for more anthropologists to make those in power the subject of their research, I used both ethnographic and social network analysis methods to ‘study up’ in Texas public education. This study describes some relationships of members of the Texas State Board of …

Steady Work, Tom Roderick

Occasional Paper Series

Roderick's remarks made on the occasion of receiving an honorary doctorate from Bank Street College of Education in 1999. He speaks about his steady work in conflict resolution programs, because there is always a need for conflict resolution in a world where conflict is natural but violence is taught.

Cultivating Leaders Of Indiana: Global Collaborations And Local Impacts, Jennifer Sdunzik, Annagul Yaryyeva

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

“Cultivating Leaders of Indiana” was developed to establish connections between the Purdue student body and the Frankfort, Indiana, community. By engaging high school students in workshops that focused on local, national, and global identities, the goal of the project was to encourage students to appreciate their individuality and to motivate them to translate their skills into a global perspective. Moreover, workshops centering on themes such as culture, citizenship, media, and education were designed to empower project participants to embrace their sense of social value and responsibility, not only in their immediate communities, but also globally.

Why Do We Care?: A Natural History Of Noddings’ Ethical Theory, Walter Jason Niedermeyer

Between the Species

Noddings’ theory of caring, which is nearing its 35^th anniversary, has failed to garner the attention of the more classical theories of ethics. This slight may be due to its relative youth, or the historical support for other constructs, but if examined through the lens of evolutionary biology, the validity of Noddings might be tested. Using recent discoveries from the emerging fields of cognitive ethology and neuroscience, I have evaluated whether there exists evolutionary underpinnings for her theory. My analysis makes it apparent that the empathy and altruism required for the practice of caring are as much a product …

Who Am I? The Relationship Between Cultural Identity And Globalization Within The Local And Global Intersections, Nir Aish

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The imminent phenomenon of globalization has been mainly explored in academia through the lens of economics and politics. Little attention has been given to the relationship between this phenomenon and culture, and yet the yield of this relationship could be tremendous as culture determines how individuals operate in our growing globalized world. This research project takes place in Bertoua, the capital of the East Region of the Republic of Cameroon. The country is located in Central Africa, and is often referred as “Africa in Miniature” due to its vast cultural and geological diversity. The focus of the study is on …

When The Books Hit Back: Perceived Stress In University Students, Henry Stoddard

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

University students are a particularly high-risk population for mental illness due to high-stress levels. The university students of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa are no exception to that trend. This study surveyed and interviewed university students, and interviewed various mental health professionals from the Durban region of South Africa. The data was analyzed and used to better understand the current status of South African university students’ perceived stress, as well as the causes of their stress levels. Results showed no significant differences among demographic groups and perceived stress levels, but further research is needed to draw more reliable conclusions. In the …

“Don’T Talk Like A European”: An Autoethnography Exploring Past And Current Students’ Visions On How To Decolonize Higher Education In South Africa, Ajetha Nadanasabesan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Colonial structures persist in the South African higher education system, which perpetuates Eurocentric knowledge as a superior way of knowing. There has been a call to action by South African university students to decolonize the oppressive structures within the higher education system. This project examines how both former and current South African university students envision a decolonized higher education system. Furthermore, it gives insight into how a colonized education has impacted students personally. Additionally, the autoethnographic form of this project integrates the researcher’s relationship to colonized education systems as a way to connect self, other, and culture in a more …

The Latex Journey: A Narrative Approach To Exploring Condom Use, Stigma, And Education From The Perspective Of Women In Masxha, Kylie Yocum

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although the South African National Department of Health (NDOH) is spending increasing amounts of money on improving their HIV programs (including the rollout of new, scented condoms for their condom distribution program), the rates of condom use at last sexual encounter are declining. This inquiry focused on young women in the neighborhood of Masxha, Cato Manor, and their opinions surrounding how condoms are being used or misused, as well as the gender norms that perpetrate this (mis)use. This inquiry demonstrated the narratives of these young women on factors such as condom acquisition, gendered stigma, and condom education, including the Life …

Opening Up The Echo Chamber: Teaching Cultural Competence In Contentious Times, Charles H. Klein

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, political discussion and social life are increasingly concentrating in face-to-face and online echo chambers composed of individuals with similar world views. This segmentation of civil society has stymied in-depth and respectful communication across ideological difference and in the process contributed to the divisiveness that characterizes political discourse across the globe. In this article, I examine how anthropological learning and teaching can help open up these echo chambers and promote cultural empathy and cross-ideological communication. My discussion focuses on three methodologies I use in my undergraduate-level Culture, Health and Healing course – weekly critical analyses on contemporary health …

Typography And The Evolution Of Hebrew Alphabetic Script: Writing Method Of The Sofer, Shayna Tova Blum

Faculty and Staff Publications

Typography is the study of language letterforms, phonographic alphabetic characters that, when combined with additional characters, form words and/or sentences to express an idea and communicate a message to an audience. The history of typographic design dates back to early civilization and the invention of alphabetic writing systems, formulated and processed through the literary skills of the Hebrew Scribe Ezra whose knowledge and practice offered a significant contribution within a predominantly oral society. By examining the history of Hebrew typography through the discourse of biblical writing systems and alphabetic design, the article addresses the development of Hebrew scripts evolving from …

Music, Politics, And Sociality: Ethnic Tensions And The Performance Of Gikuyu Nationalism, Peter Njagi Mwangi

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis examines how some selected Gikuyu popular music propagates ethnic tensions in Kenya by promoting Gikuyu nationalism at the expense of Kenyan nationalism. This music derives its themes from the historical period of the Mau Mau armed struggle against British colonists and connects this struggle with everyday experiences of the Gikuyu people. Memory and the performance of everyday life in this music solidifies the Gikuyu community as tied to a common destiny and distances other Kenyan communities from this destiny. The music consolidates Gikuyu ethnic nationalism and authenticates the position of the community as superior and a dominant force …

Problematic Participation And Educational Dilemmas: Ethnography Of The Educational Experiences Of Black Male Youth In Hillsborough County, Florida, Deneia Y. Fairweather

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the social sciences, research on black male youth (BMY) experiences in traditional academic settings has been limited to their failure to achieve due to their perceived dysfunctional family structure, gender and ethnic identity, social class, and social structural constraints. Characterized by the anthropological investigation into youth cultural, Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) framework, a theory of practice that includes an alternative framework of learning, and a mixed method approach with an emphasis on capturing the youth perspective through a PhotoVoice process, this research captures a dimension of BMY educational experiences by describing how exclusion from traditional academic settings is produced. …

New Design Principles For Mobile History Games, Owen Gottlieb

Presentations and other scholarship

This study draws on design-based research on an ARIS–based mobile augmented reality game for teaching early 20th century history. New design principles derived from the study include the use of supra-reveals, and bias mirroring. Supra-reveals are a kind of foreshadowing event in order to ground historical happenings in the wider enduring historical understanding. Bias mirroring refers to a nonplayer character echoing back a player’s biased behavior, in order to open the player to listening to alternative perspectives. Supra-reveals engendered discussion of historical themes early in the game experience. The results showed that use of a cluster of NPC bias mirroring …

Trump, Immigration, And Children: Disrupted Schooling, Disrupted Lives, Edmund T. Hamann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Many of us work with immigrant communities and are witnessing firsthand the fear, frustration, and heartache caused by Trump’s immigration policies. Yet despite our years of work with, and study of, immigrant communities, there are times when our academic expertise is not enough. What follows is a reflection by CAE member Ted Hamann on just such a situation he faced this spring when asked for help in assisting two US-born students that were about to accompany their soon-to-be deported parents to Mexico.