Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons^™

Blaming For Columbine: Conceptions Of Agency In The Contemporary United States, Claudia Strauss

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Modern Westerners are supposed to embrace a notion of unfettered personal agency. An analysis of public commentary (interviews, editorials, and online message boards) in the United States about the Columbine school shootings shows that the voluntarist cultural model of persons as autonomous agents, while certainly very important, is just one of a number of cultural models Americans use to explain human action and has particular political and interpersonal uses. We might think that conceptions as basic as those of personhood and agency would be hegemonic: both singular and internalized as unexamined, taken for‐granted assumptions. In some contexts, voluntarist ideas about …

Demographic, Economic, And Social Transformations In The South Bronx: Changes In The Nyc Community Districts Comprising Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, Longwood, And Hunts Point, 1990 - 2005, Astrid S. Rodríguez

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report analyzes demographic and socioeconomic characteristics among the five largest Latino nationality groups during 1990-2005 in South Bronx, specifically the neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, Longwood, and Hunts Point.

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: Puerto Ricans are the largest Latino subgroup in the South Bronx, accounting for over half of the total population by 2005 although their …

Beyond Confronting The Myth Of Racial Democracy: The Role Of Afro-Brazilian Women Scholars And Activists, Nathalie Lebon

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications

This paper offers a synopsis of the current scholarship mapping the social and economic exclusion of women of African descent in Brazil. It highlights the work of and role played by Afro-Brazilian women scholars and activists in redressing the paucity, until recently, of basic data and research on the life conditions of women of African descent. Finally, it provides some initial thoughts on the national and transnational dynamics of knowledge production underlying this state of affairs.

The Musician Is The Messenger: Islam And Jaliya In Mandinka Music, Blake Walker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores the complex dynamics at play surrounding jalis, or professional praisesingers, in the culture of the Mandinka people of West Africa. Jalis, almost certainly present among the Mandinka prior to the arrival of Islam in the area, remain one of the strongest reminders of pre-Islamic culture in Mandinka society. However, the art and social roles of the jali have undergone numerous transformations in adapting, conforming to, and sometimes challenging Muslim cultural norms. This paper explores some of the means by which the two cultural fountainheads of Islam and West Africa are reconciled by jalis and other members of …

The Story Of Eej Khad: Mother Spirit Of The Earth And Her Children, Ethan Gohen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper is an attempt to collect and present knowledge on the subject of Eej Khad, which translates to Mother Rock, in one single place. Since very little has been written about Eej Khad, it is an attempt to preserve knowledge that might easily be lost. Eej Khad is a widely popular granite rock in central Mongolia that worshippers believe has the power to fulfill their dreams. The information presented in this paper is collected almost entirely from interviews with people willing to share what they know or believe about Eej Khad. It does not judge the opinions of individuals, …

Masyarakat Tionghoa: Singaraja’S Chinese Community, Tammy Lew Lee Kreznar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Atua Of The Aga: A Comparison Of Ancestor Worship In The Highlands Of Bali And Polynesia, Jamison Liang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study is to understand the practice of ancestor worship among the Bali Aga village of Sukawana and its relation to how its inhabitants trace their origins. When did their ancestors arrive in Sukawana and where did they come from? Did any of their descendents continue to migrate across Indonesia? And how do the Bali Aga practice ancestor reverence through the use of shrines and temples—tangible evidence—in their villages? The responses to these questions provided a platform for comparison to current anthropological, linguistic, and archaeological theories in order to understand how locally constructed truth in Sukawana related …

Leprosy: A Study Of Identity Through A “Marginalized” Population, Aarti Bhatt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

People of all different cultures use identity as a way of mediating with surrounding institutional structures and personal communities. Identity however, is not a concrete idea but a multidimensional and dynamic condition. For communities of so called "marginalized people" an identity perceived or created from the outside and imposed can have drastic implications on a person's capacity to act as an agent. Stefen Ecks argues for the value of ethnographic study from the point of view of the marginal people, going on to say that "this is of critical importance since marginality puts health most under stress when it is …

Issue 51, Autumn 2007, Society Of Bead Researchers

The Bead Forum: Newsletter of the Society of Bead Researchers

Glass Trade Beads: An Assemblage Found on a Shipwreck off the Coast of West Africa, by Lisa Hopwood.

Kaya Hip-Hop In Coastal Kenya: The Urban Poetry Of Ukoo Flani, Divinity Lashelle Barkley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the global world of the 21st Century, music is one of the few things that has the ability to cross physical as well as cultural borders, which is why my Independent Study Project (ISP) focuses on the role of hip-hop music in the youth culture in Kenya’s largest coastal city, Mombasa. Throughout history, music has proven its artistic power; inspiring people to resist oppression, challenge inequality, and even claim salvation.

This enduring characteristic of music is central to my ISP which explores the emergence of hip-hop in Kenya as well as the evolution of Ukoo Flani, one of the …

An Ancient Practice: Scarification And Tribal Marking In Ghana, Alyssa Irving

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research on tribal marking and face scarring took place in various parts of the country, but much of the information comes from the residents of Gwollu. By interviewing different people belonging to different regions and ethnic groups throughout the country, I was able to discover the main uses for marking: medical use, decoration, spiritual protection, and tribe or family identification (these marks specifically for ID can be referred to as tribal marks). This paper sweeps over the origins of marking and how it became quite important during slave raiding, but has various uses and implications in modern times. This …

A Place In The World: Mh2o’S Construction Of A Peripheral Identity, Ryan Schutt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hip Hop and, more specifically, Rap music, has been a culture rooted in the notion of the social periphery, the section of society excluded from mainstream, capitalist, bourgeois society. It has historically been a way for this voiceless, disenfranchised, and alienated population to criticize, question, and protest its societal position. The Movimento do Hip-Hop Organizado uses this medium as a way of politicizing and mobilizing the excluded members of Brazilian society. Using Hip-Hop, the organization constructs a socially informed, politically aware, and critically conscious community that is united through their common identification with Hip-Hop culture and MH2O. The case is …

Los Afro-Descendientes De Buenos Aires: Mitos Y Realidades, William Cowles

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During the 19th century, the black population of Buenos Aires suffered a massive demographic decline that brought their population from roughly 30% of Buenos Aires in the beginning of the century to an almost invisible fraction. According to the popular Argentine historical myths, this decline was the product of several concrete factors, most importantly an outbreak of Yellow Fever and the various wars of 19th century Argentina in which the black population suffered heavy losses. However, the demographic facts and the historical evidence do not support this explanation. The historical reality of the decline of the black population in Buenos …

Culture Sometimes Matters: Intra-Cultural Variation In Pro-Social Behavior Among Tsimane Amerindians, Michael Gurven, Arianna Zanolini, Eric Schniter

ESI Publications

Agent-centered models usually consider only individual-level variables in calculations of economic costs and benefits. There has been little consideration of social or cultural history on shaping payoffs in ways that impact decisions. To examine the role of local expectations on economic behavior, we explore whether village affiliation accounts for the variation in dictator game offers among the Tsimane of the Bolivian Amazon independently of other factors that could confound such an effect. Our analysis shows that significant differences in altruistic giving exist among villages, village patterns are recognized by residents, and offers likely reflect variation in social expectations rather than …

Can Developing Women Create Primitive Art? And Other Questions Of Value, Meaning And Identity In The Circulation Of Janakpur Art, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

In this article, I examine the values and meanings that adhere to objects made by Maithil women at a development project in Janakpur, Nepal – objects collectors have called ‘Janakpur Art’. I seek to explain how and why changes in pictorial content in Janakpur Art – shifts that took place over a period of five or six years in the 1990s – occurred, and what such a change might indicate about the link between Maithil women’s lives, development, and tourism. As I will demonstrate, part of the appeal for consumers of Janakpur Art has been that it is produced at …

Review Of The Archaeology Of Chaco Canyon: An Eleventh-Century Pueblo Regional Center, Edited By Stephen H. Lekson, Carrie Heitman

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The Archaeology of Chaco Canyon is one of two synthesis volumes resulting from the National Park Service Chaco Project (1971-1982) (see also Mathien 2005). As the capstone to that project, this volume has much to offer the student of Chaco and those interested in the intellectual history and trajectories of archaeological theory. From 1999 to 2004, Stephen Lekson (and many others) organized six working conferences to address different dimensions of Chacoan prehistory. Broadly called the Chaco Synthesis, the topics included ecology and economy, architecture, the organization of production, the Chaco world, and so- ciety and polity and concluded with a …

Sacralizing National Identity In Egypt, Hind Fatfat

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Ua12/2/35 The Greek Standard, Vol. 1, Issue 3, Wku Interfraternity Council

Student Organizations

Newsletter created by and about the WKU Interfraternity Council. This issue contains articles:

• Reed Morgan & Karen Towell Awards
• Recruitment Dates for Fall 2007
• Greek Advisors Recognized
• Greek Hall of Fame
• Philanthropy Report
• Greek Week Results
• Structured Homecoming 2007
• Most Improved . . . Sigma Nu
• Greek Spotlights - Andrew Rash, Ashley Gore, Jonathon Wysong, Lizzy White, BryAnn Roth

Development And Inequality: The Origins And Consequences Of Disciplinary Power In Argentina, Jessica Cenegy Brice

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Significant emphasis has been placed upon external influences which have maintained or perpetuated the relative underdevelopment of Latin America. Though some of this literature will provide a basis for explanation, the current analysis addresses the phenomenon with a notable variation from existing perspectives by introducing the Foucauldian distinction between juridical power and disciplinary power as an evaluative framework of analysis. Specifically, it emphasizes the need to incorporate unique cultural, historical, and structural characteristics that interrelate with power dynamics that have materialized within Argentina and have frustrated development efforts.

2007 Petersheim Academic Exposition, Seton Hall University

Petersheim Academic Exposition

No abstract provided.

Roma In Vojvodina: Expressions Of Cultural Identity Through Performance, Jane Kaufman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper begins to cover some of the ways Roma cultural identity is expressed through performance in Vojvodina. The way Roma music and dance is seen in Vojvodina is highly influenced by the “circus” image and very little scholarly writing on Roma folklore exists to challenge this image. Roma musicians in rap/hip-hop groups incorporate elements of Roma traditional music and Roma language into rap/hip-hop to confront this stereotype and in performance these influences can interact, challenging stereotypes and revealing current values and traditions.

Issue 50, Spring 2007, Society Of Bead Researchers

The Bead Forum: Newsletter of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Generational Transition Of Subsistence Fishing Practices In The Pacific Community Of Venado Island, Costa Rica, Maria D. Venegas

McNair Scholars Research Journal

The goal of this ethnographic study is to document the way that tourism has affected the subsistence fishing activities on the island of Venado, Costa Rica. A key question is how tourism has forced the residents of this fishing community to make choices between a traditional economy and the need to survive in an expanding global market of ecological tourism. The method of research is ethnographic. The goal is to portray cultural issues through the life of the islanders. I hope that this research will create a better understanding of the cultural impact of global change on the people of …

Environment As Social And Literary Constructs: An Exploration Of The Relationship Between The Environment And Mahafaly Oral Literature, Eugenie Cha

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

There was a time, long ago, when a small lake or reservoir had formed in a remote area whose location still remains a mystery today. One day, a king was passing through this region. He desperately needed water and searched and searched, but to no avail. Finally, he found this lake and was able to quench his thirst, and thus prevented himself from dying of dehydration (Avimary).

This story is one of many that are present within the canon of oral literature in Madagascar today. It originated from a small town called Ampanihy, which lies in the southwestern region of …

“Le Goût De Travail:” Work Value For Bamiléké Children, Diana Carlson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research examines the value of work in the Bamiléké context, and explores the psychosocial and cultural factors that influence the transmission of this value to children. Research questions explored included the perception of children within the Bamiléké family, the values that exist within the family and specifically the value of work within these families, how this value is transmitted to children, whether children are motivated to learn the value of work, and the impact of work on the personality development of a child. Data was collected through questionnaires, interview, and observation. 121 questionnaires were collected, and 9 interviews completed. …

Changing Channels: The Bhutanese Middle Path Approach To Television, Kate Linthicum

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The experience of watching commercial television and the ideals it promotes are incompatible with fundamentalist Buddhist teachings about consciousness, community and desire. However, the Bhutanese, whose culture, traditions, and worldview have a strong Buddhist foundation have not rejected the medium, which was introduced in Bhutan in 1999. But they have not fully embraced it. Instead they follow the Middle Path, weighing its positive and negative impacts in a manner that seems influenced by the guiding principle of non-extremism in Buddhist philosophy, and a notion the Bhutanese have adopted as a developmental strategy to attain Gross National Happiness. By first examining …

Education In A Rural Context: A Catalyst For Disappearing Villages?, Seth Schy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the proposal for this ISP the basic hypothesis was that education would catalyze an urban transition in Ogna. Specifically, it seemed as though people were leaving Ogna in pursuit of higher education, and eventually for a job in the city. It was posited that the eventual yet large migration to the city would have various effects on the social, economic, and structural stability of Ogna, and further, it was thought that with this migration a drastic change in Ogna’s culture would occur. Thus it appeared possible that eventually Ogna as it is today might cease to exist. As a …

Synthesizing Gauguin: A Comparative Look At Cultural Contexts And Gauguin’S Tahitian Paintings, Joanna Miller

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

When a plethora of primary sources exist from an artist, a tendency persists for the art historian to focus on an artist’s personality when analyzing or interpreting that artist’s work. In the case of Paul Gauguin and his Tahitian works, his personality faults, extreme character, and uncouth notions and motivations become the concentration of much scholarship and can lead to a misjudgment of the artist’s depiction of the Tahitian natives and culture. This paper examines how Gauguin represented a foreign peoples and met the goals he pursued under Primitivism, Symbolism, and Synthetism by analyzing the cultural contexts of Fin-de-siecle France …

Re-Evaluating The “House” In Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, Carrie Heitman

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

IN RECENT YEARS, a growing number of archaeologists have explored the potential of Claude Lévi-Strauss’s concept of “house societies.” His and subsequent works describe ethnographic contexts where people are organized through houses ranked according to their age and connection to ancestors. Using Puebloan ethnographic literature and cross-cultural comparisons, the house model helps to draw out the symbolic meaning of Chaco-era architecture. Looking specifically at the classificatory distinction between “great houses” and “small houses” in Chaco Canyon (A.D. 850–1180), my research compares the evidence for house creation, manifestation, maintenance, and abandonment in both great and small house contexts. Using data generated …

Settlement Patterns In The Lower Mississippi River Valley, Carl Philipp Lipo, Robert C. Dunnell

Anthropology Datasets

No abstract provided.