Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons^™

İyo Luché!: Uncovering And Interrupting Silencing In An Indigenous And Afro-Descendant Community, Eileen Cecelia Deluca

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this applied project is to uncover and interrupt the silencing of memories through the production of public narratives, specifically, the documentation of heritage of members of an indigenous and Afro-descendant community in Waspán, Nicaragua. The project is informed by interviews with seven women ex-combatants in the Contra War (1980-1990). Oral histories, transcribed interviews, and field notes are the source for the content of a book of heritage stories that I produced as one output about the former combatants utilizing their own words. In this thesis, I argue that the values of the “conquering” group of Nicaragua (i.e. …

Nurses And Needlesticks: Perceptions Of Stigma And Hiv Risk, Bethany Sharon Moore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Health-care providers (HCPs) are vulnerable to occupational health hazards, including dirty needle-stick injuries (DNSIs), which increase the risk for infection with HIV and other blood-borne pathogens. This study examines the perceptions of nurses and nurse practitioners who work in various health care settings regarding HIV-risk and DNSIs, in order to ascertain how these perceptions inform their decision-making regarding their health and nursing practice. I utilize a phenomenological approach to analyze the lived reality and embodiment of the DNSI experience by HCPs. The study explores the personal and institutional level factors that may influence the timely reporting and treatment of DNSIs, …

Reimagining Bottom-Up Participatory Climate Change Adaptation In The Philippines, Emily Clark Nabong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While climate change trends indicate the progression towards more widespread and severe impacts across the world, current consequences of society’s climate inaction are already being felt by many vulnerable populations. Low-lying and coastal areas are particularly at risk from climate-related hazards such as sea level rise and increased intensity storms. In order to protect residents, countries and regional governments have begun to plan and implement adaptation strategies to minimize the impact of future climate change related disasters.

This thesis explores the current status of bottom-up participatory climate change adaptation planning in the Philippines and offers new insights into making this …

‘It’S Been A Huge Stress’: An In-Depth, Exploratory Study Of Vaccine Hesitant Parents In Southern California, Mika Kadono

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2015, the US experienced a widespread measles outbreak that originated at Disneyland, California and spread to six other states, Mexico, and Canada. That year, California passed Senate Bill 277 (SB 277), which eliminated the personal belief exemption for vaccinations required for school entry; California became the third state in the country to eliminate nonmedical exemptions. In 2019, Washington, Maine, and New York followed suit eliminating all nonmedical exemptions amid the largest measles outbreak in the US in 25 years. Many countries, including the US, are experiencing a rise in vaccine preventable diseases due, in part, to increasing vaccine hesitancy, …

“You Feel Like You Belong Nowhere”: Conflict-Related Sexual Violence And Social Identity In Post-Genocide Rwanda, Myriam Denov, Laura Eramian, Meaghan C. Shevell

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Globally, the systematic use of sexual violence in modern warfare has resulted in the birth of thousands of children. Research has begun to focus on this often invisible group and the obstacles they face, including stigma, discrimination and exclusion based on their birth origins. Although sexual violence during the Rwandan genocide has been documented on a massive scale, little research has focused on the relational dynamics between mothers who experienced genocide rape and the children they bore. This paper explores the post-genocide realities of these two under-explored populations, revealing two key tensions in relation to identity-building and belonging. Drawing upon …

“They Will Think We Are The Cancer Family”: Studying Patterns Of Cancer Disclosure And Communication Among Indian Immigrants In The United States, Kanan Mehta

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies of Indian immigrants in Western countries show that the rates of cancer increase significantly within a generation in the host country. The negative social perceptions associated with health outcomes of cancer often perpetuate limited disclosure regarding the diagnosis of cancer among patients and families. This can result in disrupted communication in clinical settings, while causing increased stress among patients and caregivers. These findings demonstrate the need for studying lived experiences of cancer-related illness and its impacts on social relationships in the domestic and public sphere.

This study explored cancer disclosure and communication among Indian immigrants in the United States …

Models Of Secure Software Enforcement And Development, Hernan M. Palombo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Computer Security has been a pressing issue that affects our society in multiple ways. Although a plethora of security solutions have been proposed and implemented throughout the years, security continues to be a problem for at least two important reasons, (1) implementations of runtime enforcement mechanisms have not been modeled rigorously and thus may not be enforcing the policies that are expected to enforce, and (2) there are conflicting tensions in the software development process that hinder the implementation and maintenance of secure software. To investigate these issues, this dissertation is divided into two parts.

The first part of this …

Governmentality, Biopower, And Sexual Citizenship: A Feminist Examination Of Sexual And Reproductive Healthcare Experiences Of 18-24 Year-Olds In The U.S. Southeast, Melina K. Taylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sexual and reproductive healthcare in the U.S. is a contentious and often stigmatized topic. Conservative politics and Christian religious ideology guide laws and policies that inform narratives of sexual citizenship that promote white, heterosexual, procreative, cis-gendered relationships as the ideal. For young people, exposure to sexuality education greatly influences their self-identity as sexual citizens and guides how they form intimate relationships. While sexual and reproductive healthcare has been included marginally in the discipline of anthropology, almost no research has focused on young people’s sexual and reproductive healthcare within the U.S.

This dissertation examines the viewpoints and experiences of 18-24 year-old …

Fields Brook Superfund Site: Race, Class, And Environmental Justice In A Blasted Landscape, Richard C. Bargielski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1980, the United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This federal law provided the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the legal tools necessary to pursue polluters who had improperly stored or disposed hazardous wastes. Since its passage, more than a thousand sites have been added to the National Priorities List (NPL), but only a fraction have been cleaned up. Proponents of neoliberalism argue that aggressive environmental policies such as CERCLA harm workers by making it impossible for businesses to operate profitably. This coincides with a drop of nearly 50% in the U.S. …

Museum Kura Hulanda: Representations Of Transatlantic Slavery And African And Dutch Heritage In Post-Colonial Curaçao, April Min

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Presenting a history of slavery that resonates with multiple audiences and serves necessary educational goals, while still creating sufficient appeal to attract visitors and remain sustainable is an enormous task faced by museums in post-colonial spaces across the world. The Museum Kura Hulanda in Curaçao finds itself in an unenviable position of maintaining a vast collection compiled by its founder, navigating the complexities of the 400-year legacy of Dutch involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, and sustaining its position within the local business and tourist economy of Curaçao.

Focusing on the exhibitions at the Museum Kura Hulanda as a site …

The Role Of Financial Insecurity And Expectations On Perspectives Of Mental Health Services Among Refugees, Jacqueline M. Siven

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how perspectives of mental health among refugees are situated within the realities of the refugee resettlement system, a population for which information on this issue is quite limited. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation with Congolese refugees and non-Congolese refugee-serving professionals in a major Florida city, this dissertation examines how perceptions of mental health and mental health services among refugees were affected by financial insecurity and disparities in expectations. Local Congolese refugees expected the American Dream; they believed that once they arrived they would find prosperity through hard work. Instead they experienced frustration and distress because the …

Roots In Antiquity: A Comparative Study Of Two Cultures, Lara Younes Freajah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted with the goal to provide an in-depth analysis of the analogous qualities of two very distinct yet similar cultures: the Arab and Sarakatsan cultures, with a particular focus on personal matters that deal with family and kinship. Despite the difference in religions, both groups demonstrate a substantive set of similar traits especially in terms of the interactions, dynamics, and functionality of family relations in addition to the highly-esteemed values that dictate everyday conduct. As a first-generation Arab Muslim who immigrated to the United States, I use the culture in which I am entrenched as a basis …

Critical Genocide And Atrocity Prevention Studies, Andrew Woolford, Alexander Hinton

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

An introductory essay for the special issue on "Critical Approaches to Genocide and Atrocity Prevention."

Book Review: Rejoinder: Anthropology, Critique, And Justice In Translation, Alexander Hinton

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Toxic Tropics: Purity And Danger In Everywhere In Everyday Life, Liza Grandia

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

In contrast to popular images of the tropics as verdant Edens, forest dwellers face various pollutants with little-understood environmental health impacts. Drawing upon long-term ethnographic research in northern Guatemala through the lens of Mary Douglas' work on purity, danger, and culture, this paper describes how the inventive re-use of modern waste exposes rural people to new and unknown toxic substances from “matter out of place.” While environmental justice literature has emphasized industrial, extractive, and military disasters, this note draws attention to the less dramatic yet lethal pollutants encountered in the everyday lives of the rural poor through “chemical trespass.”

Pathways To Parenthood: Attitudes And Preferences Of Eight Self-Identified Queer Women Living In Tampa Bay, Fl, Emily Noelle Baker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This small-scale ethnographic study looks at the how queer women living in Florida imagine navigating family building decisions under the current climate of policies such as a lack of federal non-discrimination protections and the largely unregulated use of assisted reproductive technologies. Despite the federal legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States in 2015, state and county legislations continue to vary greatly on the extent of support they will provide for LGBTQ families. The goal of this research is to evaluate parenting desire, intentions, and preferences for queer women living in Tampa Bay since the passage of the Marriage Equality …

The Ultimatum Game: An Introduction To Quantitative Literacy In A Social Justice Context, Robert G. Root

Numeracy

The Ultimatum Game is a two-person, multiple-strategy game widely used in the experimental social sciences to demonstrate the human propensity for costly punishment in response to inequitable treatment. The game serves to provide quantitative evidence for a diversity of fairness norms across cultures. The play of the game and its interpretation offer nuanced views of the nature and importance of quantitative literacy. Its use in a writing seminar connecting quantitative literacy and social justice is described.

The Tampa Gym Study: An Ethnographic Exploration Of Gyms, Female Gym-Goers And The Quest For Fitness In Tampa, Fl, Danielle Reneé Rosen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Tampa Gym Study was an ethnographic examination of veteran women exercisers, their workout routines, and their attitudes towards the workouts that they undertake in two Tampa area gyms. The study’s principle objective was to study “fitness culture” in these facilities and the manner in which that culture is embodied in the language women use to describe themselves and their exercise behaviors.

The obesity crisis in the United States has been significantly responsible for an increase in membership in gyms and fitness facilities nationwide. The “culture of fitness” as it is embodied in these facilities has impacted women and their …

Perceptions Of Infrastructure, Flood Management, And Environmental Redevelopment In The University Area, Hillsborough County, Florida, Kris-An K. Hinds

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The University Area (UA), a low-income, unincorporated neighborhood in Hillsborough County, Florida, is a site of sustainable redevelopment by the local government and nonprofit organizations. Throughout the past decade, the transitions in local and state political climates have significantly impacted the residents’ ability to advocate for infrastructural and environmental improvement to the site. This thesis discusses the findings of a research project dedicated to exploring resident perspectives of stormwater management, infrastructure, and the redevelopment currently occurring the University Area. Drawing from theoretical concepts in political ecology, environmental justice, and the interplay of agency and structure, this research investigates the impacts …

Tales Of Trafficking: Performing Women's Narratives In A Sex Trafficking Rehabilitation Program In Florida, Jaine E. Danlag

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

By working with an anti-human trafficking organization in Sarasota, Florida, and sex-worker activists based in St. Petersburg, Florida, this research focuses on the process by which trafficking victims and sex workers are identified and dealt with by the criminal justice system and NGO rehabilitation programs. The study focused on understanding how stakeholders decide between identifying someone as a criminal or a victim of sex trafficking and how women identify themselves and subjectively experience their interaction with the criminal justice system and a faith-based rehabilitation program. By exploring the victims’ process of going through the criminal justice system, this study problematizes …

Book Review: Making Ubumwe: Power, State And Camps In Rwanda’S Unity-Building Project, Simon Turner

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Forced Confrontation: The Politics Of Dead Bodies In Germany At The End Of World War Ii, Christiane K. Alsop

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

“What I Hadn’T Realized Is How Difficult It Is, You Know?”: Examining The Protective Factors And Barriers To Breastfeeding In The Uk, Cheyenne R. Wagi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The international recommendation for breastfeeding is that a baby should be exclusively breastfed for six months. Breastfeeding should be continued for up to two years and beyond with complementary foods (WHO, 2016). The United Kingdom exhibits some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world (HSCIC, 2012). The percentage of mothers who breastfed in the United Kingdom falls below 34% at six months, with only 1% of mothers breastfeeding exclusively at this point (HSCIC, 2012:31). This study sought to examine the protective factors and barriers for breastfeeding in the UK. Mums (n=28), their partners (n=6), and facilitators at breastfeeding support …

Going To School In The Forest: Changing Evaluations Of Animal-Plant Interactions In The Kichwa Amazon, Jeffrey T. Shenton

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

For rural, indigenous communities the ways structural modernization, exposure to Western-scientific epistemologies, and formal schooling affect environmental reasoning remain unclear. For one Kichwa community in the Napo region of Ecuador, daily routines have re-oriented toward formal schooling but environmental learning opportunities remain intact. Here, while a Species Interaction Task elicited consensus across ages on inferred ecological interactions, younger people reasoned differently than older people: for them, animal interactions with flora were considered damaging, not neutral. Aspirational practices like schooling can thus reorient environmental reasoning, even in contexts in which young people share cultural understandings of local ecological relationships with adults.

“Right In The Trenches With Them”: Caregiving, Advocacy, And The Political Economy Of Community Health Workers, Ryan I. Logan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While the concept of the community health worker (CHW) has existed since the mid-20th century, their function as a legitimate branch of the broader workforce in the United States has been tenuous. Their unique roles have the potential to reduce health disparities within marginalized communities, but stakeholder development of this position risks diminishing the crucial skills of these workers. Anthropological research on these workers has typically assessed them in the developing world, while public health research has focused primarily on their ability to impact specific health outcomes through quantitative studies. As a result of the limited and predominantly quantitative assessments …

‘If He Hits Me, Is That Love? I Don’T Think So’: An Ethnographic Investigation Of The Multi-Level Influences Shaping Indigenous Women’S Decision-Making Around Intimate Partner Violence In The Rural Peruvian Andes, Isabella Li Chan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how the intersections of gender, ethnicity, place, and class shape indigenous women’s risks for and experiences of intimate partner violence and related decision-making in Carhuaz province, an underserved, resource-poor setting in the Peruvian Andes. This dissertation applied a mixed-methods, community-based approach to 11 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Peru, which included 82 face-to-face surveys using the World Health Organization’s Multi-Country Study Instrument, 38 semi-structured interviews with survivors, community members, and IPV-related service providers, and 6 participatory action research workshops (n=64).

Through this dissertation, the voices of indigenous women struggling with intimate partner violence illuminate the lived realities …

Karma After Democratic Kampuchea: Justice Outside The Khmer Rouge Tribunal, Caroline Bennett

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article considers ways people in Cambodia narrate the Khmer Rouge regime and its genocide outside the bounds of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). Based on anthropological fieldwork, I explore how informants use ‘karma’ to discuss the genocide, and by doing so create their own understandings and lived experiences of that period of historical violence, understandings that do not fit neatly into the narrative modes created by the courts. By stepping outside the court, I consider ways of dealing with the genocide that exist beyond the international framework of transitional justice, thereby asking wider questions of …

Book Review: The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story Of Indian Enslavement In America, Emily A. Willard

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

The Performance Of Memorialization: Politics Of Memory And Memory-Making At The Arthur G. Dozier School For Boys, Kaniqua Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My study examines how religion operates as a form of social control in the politics of memory and memory making in the case of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys (1900-2011), a state reform school in Marianna, Florida. Collective memory making is a dynamic process that reflects the social, economic, and political tensions of the present. It is a process most evident during circumstances of reconciliation following conflict, violence, or cases of turmoil resulting in death and in conflicting memories of the experience. Emergence of a dominant narrative about the tragedy or traumatizing event and subjugation of conflicting stories …

Vulnerability And Power: Exploring The Confluence Of Politics And Climate Change In Cortez, Florida, Justin P. Winn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes how politics shape vulnerability to climate change at the local level, based on an ethnography in Cortez, Florida. Focusing on a “traditional” commercial fishing village on the Florida Gulf Coast, my research indicates that such vulnerabilities are created at multiple scales of the nexus between governance and commerce. Moreover, a key finding is that, as a community closely linked to the health of local environments, the village in Cortez is largely organized to protect their commercial industry from regional economic overdevelopment; not in recognition of its role in contributing to global climate change, but because such overdevelopment …