Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons^™

One Size Fits All: The Interplay Of Kanga, Makawa Swahili Poetry, And Taarab In The Communication Of Zanzibari Women, Rose K. Ong'oa-Morara

Student Theses and Dissertations

The strategic location of the Swahili people along the East African coast has placed them in the way of several newcomers, both local and foreign, who have come to the coast for various economic and political purposes. For this reason the Swahili have had to make adjustments to accommodate the newcomers, often having to redefine their Swahili identity. They have used various tools in this redefinition process including music, dance, and clothing. This dissertation explores the use of a clothing item known as kanga in this process. Kanga is a rectangular multicolored cotton cloth with printed messages along its lower …

Sustainability In Practice: A Study Of The Sustainable Behaviors Of Students At The Univeristy Of Tennessee At Chattanooga, Audrey Glor

Honors Theses

Sustainable behaviors, such as recycling, are increasingly important as the world's population continues to rise. While many attempts have been made at various institutions, recycling on a grand scale has yet to become a social reality. This study was designed to look at the three broad factors influencing an individual's recycling behavior: social pressure, knowledge base, and convenience. It was hypothesized that social pressure would have the greatest influence on an individual's recycling behavior, while not overlooking the importance of the other two factors. A questionnaire was employed to collect data from a sample population at the University of Tennessee …

Cultural Mapping With A View Towards Discipleship In Cayambe, Ecuador, Kathryn L. Northey

Senior Honors Theses

God is a global God. He has a desire for all the nations to hear His Word. This is realized through discipleship. To effectively create disciples, it is necessary that the missionary understands the culture. Cultural mapping is a systematic way to observe and grow to understand a culture. It is beneficial to see how a model is applied to grasp this concept. This thesis examines the example of the culture of Cayambe, Ecuador, to see cultural mapping at work in an actual ministry. It will use the four layers of culture as presented by Donald K. Smith in his …

Social Behaviors Of Modern And Indigenous Peoples Impacting The Ecology Of The Amazon Rain Forest In Brazil, Josef W. Schaffer

Earth and Soil Sciences

Human induced disruption of the environment is prevalent in every culture. In Brazil, the effects of massive deforestation have become apparent since the nineteen eighties. However, along with deforestation, and a coinciding loss in an economic resource for the country, is a significant loss of natural habitat and species extinction. The Amazon in Brazil contains a large proportion of the world’s species diversity that is threatened by the socio-economic activities of modern Brazilian culture. Historically and presently, indigenous groups have contributed to insignificant levels of ecological disruption and are themselves threatened by the activities of modern Brazilians. The effects of …

Cross Group Analysis Of The Job Market, Emily M. Hedge

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

A Tri-Disciplinary Analysis Of Religion, Alicia Wallace

Social Sciences

This paper analyzes religion using a multi-disciplinary approach. Studying the Social Sciences exposes one to an opportunity not just to learn a single discipline, but three, and this unique learning experience can teach one to look at the world’s phenomena with a multi-perspective view. Using a tri-disciplinary approach when exploring topics can broaden ones outlook on how there are many ways to explore and investigate a topic in greater detail. By using Anthropological, Sociological and Geographical theoretical perspectives one can understand a topic more fully by using a multi-perspective approach when exploring this diverse world culturally, socially and physically.

Tattoos: A Marked History, Audrey Porcella

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Counting Girls In - Gender Issues In Science And Mathematics: An Examination Of The Research Concerning Innate And Socio-Cultural Gender Differences In The Fields Of Science And Mathematics In An Effort To Promote More Female Participation, Valerie R. Mackin

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

In today's world, there is an increasing demand for people in the technological fields. Fewer females than males pursue careers in physical sciences, engineering, and computer science in the United States presenting a loss of needed mathematicians and scientists. Gender differences related to mathematics and science is a complex arena of study, involving both innate biological differences combined with socially constructed ideas about gender in society. Through an in-depth investigation from educational, cognitive, and social psychology perspectives one will be able to determine how innate and socio-cultural factors contribute to the shortage of needed mathematicians and scientists in the United …

Rhode Island's Greatest Natural Tragedy, Stephanie N. Blaine

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

The infamous hurricane of 1938 accelerated the ongoing transformation of Rhode Island’s way of life.

The Cultural Effects Of The Narcoeconomy In Rural Mexico, James H. Mcdonald Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

This essay describes the cultural effects of drug trafficking on a town in rural Mexico. A variety of ethnographic scenes reveal the rapidly changing social imagination as new forms of consumption create new opportunities for identity formation. However, because these new consumer forms are expensive, and therefore inaccessible to the majority of community members, a type of cultural exclusion is at work. In this ordinary town, there are extraordinary forms of consumption: large, lavish houses; high-stakes gambling at local cockfights; a new urban-oriented consumer culture; and new farmer entrepreneurs. All were underwritten by narco-activities. These new forms of consumption challenge …

Performance And Imagination: Towards An Anthropology Of The Spectacular And The Mundane, William R. Jankowiak, Gary B. Palmer

Anthropology Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

An Archaeological Perspective On The Andean Concept Of Camaquen: Thinking Through Late Pre-Columbian Ofrendas And Huacas, Tamara L. Bray

Anthropology Faculty Research Publications

Ethnohistoric sources suggest that the indigenous inhabitants of Andean South America saw both people and things as animated or enlivened by a common vital force (camaquen). In approaching the subject of camaquen archaeologically, I attempt to place objects and their materiality at the analytical center, rather than the normally privileged ethnohistoric or ethnographic data, in order to see what new insights into the nature of precolumbian ontologies might be gained from ‘thinking through things.’ In this, I follow recent theories premised on the idea that the traditional segregation of concepts and things may hinder understanding of alternative worlds. The study …

Issue 55, Autumn 2009, Society Of Bead Researchers

The Bead Forum: Newsletter of the Society of Bead Researchers

The Beads of St. Catherines Island, by Elliot H. Blair. • Nineteenth-Century Beaded Iroquois Flat Purses, by Dolores N. Elliott.

Shifting Focus: Redefining The Goals Of Sea Turtle Consumption And Protection In Bali, Audrey Jensen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Many would say that the environment and human culture consists of an evolutionary process, complete with necessary adaptations to current situations and the availability of resources. However, religion is usually thought to be a constant, an entity that grounds the individual believer in a “truth” that transcends time. Ultimately, the boundary between culture and religion is especially hard to decipher, particularly in the daily rituals of the Balinese. While religious beliefs are often rooted in history, they too transform through inevitable reinterpretation. The following paper describes the tremendous environmental and cultural impact of the controversial turtle trade in Bali, specifically …

Forever Home: Funeral, Burial And The Life After This Life In Hue, Vietnam, Molly Bennett

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hue, Vietnam is home to some of the most elaborate funeral and burial practices in the country. These practices ground and reinforce a plethora of beliefs and customs surrounding ancestor veneration and the communion of spirits. This paper will explore the effects of modernization, increased household incomes, and lack of burial space due to urban growth on the process and corresponding spirituality of the funeral and burial. A series of structured and semi-structured personal interviews with interested citizens and religious leaders alike comprise the majority of the data. Ultimately, this paper will show that while traditional funerals and burials are …

Spirits & Sacred Sites: A Study Of Beliefs On Unguja Island, Julie Bardenwerper

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The spiritual beliefs and mizimu, or sacred sites, of villagers were studied in Mangapwani, Makunduchi, and Muungoni on Unguja Island. Through semi-formal interviews, a better understanding of the prevalence and tenets of spiritual beliefs and mizimu use in present Swahili culture was gained. It was found that belief in the existence of spirits is very widespread still today, although these beliefs include many variances. Mizimu are generally being kept in tact for traditional purposes, but the spiritual belief behind them is fading. It was recommended that further study of this topic is done, particularly on mizimu, as it is an …

Weaving And Scheming: Adventures On Planet Mosuo, Melissa Judson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This past month, not only did I learn to weave fabric, but also I learned to weave lies about why I couldn’t eat any more chicken feet, weave tales about American culture and weave clouds of smoke to mask my inability to drink copious amounts of alcohol, though nearly all of my handiwork was shoddily crafted. I studied weaving in a small Mosuo village about an hour outside of Yongning, on the borders of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Although the Chinese government classifies the Mosuo as a part of the Naxi minority people, they have many of their own distinctly …

Creating A Category V: Conservation Perceptions And Cultural Changes In The Anjozorobe-Angavo Forest Corridor, Kate Wright

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Local communities have long played an integral role in the realization of conservation goals and the success of protected areas in Madagascar. Since the appearance of human civilizations approximately 2,000 years ago (Brown 1995), the physical landscape of the island has undergone processes of adaptation to the practices of Malagasy people, while Malagasy cultures have in turn molded to fit their surroundings. The coevolution of nature and culture has produced a delicate environmental situation where human practices exploit but also conserve important natural resources, a situation that has been historically misinterpreted as intentional environmental destruction on the part of local …

Cultural Tourism In Botswana And The Sexaxa Cultural Village: A Case Study, Rachel Jones

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Botswana has seen tremendous growth in its tourism industry since its real inception the 1980s. Unfortunately, the tourism sector has almost solely focused on photographic and hunting safaris at the expense of cultural tourism. Because there is potential for rural development through effective cultural tourism, this study aimed to look at the case of one such rural community and their venture into cultural tourism. The Sexaxa community and their Cultural Village was studied to understand multiple facets of the issue. The history of the Bayei tribe, the history of the cultural village, how much the cultural village reflects the modern …

Street Culture Of Mombasa: Are The Survivors Really Surviving?, Danny Low

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Street children of Mombasa, Kenya were ethnographically studied in order to determine the effects of Swahili culture and structural violence on the children’s culture and place within greater society. It was discovered that Mombasa magnetizes street children as a result of the generosity of Swahili culture. Drug use was inextricably linked to street culture, yet children nonetheless held strong dreams of education. Since street children were also discovered to be significantly stratified, future policy and programming must account for these divisions to appropriately address the education and health problems facing Mombasa street children.

Intellectual Property And Access To Medicines: An Analysis Of Legislation In Central America, Alejandro Cerón, Angelina Snodgrass Godoy

Anthropology: Faculty Scholarship

Globalization of intellectual property (IP) protection for medicines has been advancing during the past decade. Countries are obliged to adapt their legislation as a requirement of their membership to the World Trade Organization or as a condition of being part of international trade agreements. There is a growing recognition that, in low-income countries, stronger IP protection is a barrier to access to medicines. At the same time, the number of low-income countries writing national legislation to protect IP for pharmaceutical products is growing worldwide, but little research has been done on the ways in which this process is happening at …

Inflammation And Infection Do Not Promote Arterial Aging And Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among Lean Horticulturalists, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Jeffrey Winking, Daniel Eid Rodriguez, Sarinnapha Vasunilashorn, Jung Ki Kim, Caleb Finch, Eileen M. Crimmins

ESI Publications

Background: Arterial aging is well characterized in industrial populations, but scantly described in populations with little access to modern medicine. Here we characterize health and aging among the Tsimane, Amazonian forager-horticulturalists with short life expectancy, high infectious loads and inflammation, but low adiposity and robust physical fitness. Inflammation has been implicated in all stages of arterial aging, atherogenesis and hypertension, and so we test whether greater inflammation associates with atherosclerosis and CVD risk. In contrast, moderate to vigorous daily activity, minimal obesity, and low fat intake predict minimal CVD risk among older Tsimane.

Methods and Findings: Peripheral arterial …

"That Charm Of Remoteness": A Study Of Landscape Stability In Little Compton, Rhode Island, Katharine M. Johnson

Graduate Masters Theses

Little Compton, Rhode Island has long been considered a stable, isolated and rural location relative to surrounding towns and cities. A geophysical and archaeological examination in the front yards of the Wilbor house and Brownell farm was undertaken in order to gain a better understanding about how residents of the town maintained stable, rural lifeways during the period of industrialization and urbanization that characterized the rest of the state in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The results from these examinations revealed that there was a distinct lack of features and landscaping changes in the archaeological record in the …

Self-Actualization In The Lives Of Medieval Female Mystics: An Ethnohistorical Approach, Cherel Jane Ellsworth Olive

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation explores the cultural and psychological factors that permitted six medieval female mystics to assume positions of leadership and innovation in a world marked by extreme gender inequality. Women religious have often been charged with being neurotics, hysterics, narcissists, and nymphomaniacs whereas males with similar experiences are rarely subject to the same degree of criticism. It is argued here that the women may well have been seeking to achieve the form of self-actualization described by humanist psychologist, Abraham Maslow, as a result of the "conversion" experience analyzed by William James. Furthermore, applying modern categories of mental illness to these …

The Impact Of The Gay And Feminist Liberation Movements On The Objectification Of The Male Body In Popular Magazines That Target A Male Audience, Miro Lestanin

Sociology Honors Projects

My study analyzes the change in the portrayal of the male body in the public sphere. I examine whether this change is related to the appearance of the gay and feminist liberation movements in 1960s that reintroduced the gay subculture into the mainstream political and social realm. Furthermore, I explore the influence of these movements on the commercialization and objectification of the male body that are used as marketing tools to attract homosexual and metrosexual customers. I analyzed a random sample of 600 advertisements that contained a representation of the male body covering the time span from 1930 to 1990 …

Fractal Geometry In African American Quilt Traditions, Judy Bales

4th Biennial Symposium of the International Quilt Museum: Proceedings

My first encounter with African American quilts was in the early 1980’s in Madison, Georgia. I have a distant memory of an exhibition at the Madison Cultural Center--I do not remember whose collection it was. But I felt an immediate kinship with the way these particular quilters worked, and the experience planted a seed for future interest in similar works. I had always rebelled against the precision and tidy stitches of traditional quilting, and these quilters seemed to favor improvisation, color, texture and “punch” over precision of stitches and precise repetition of pattern. The quilts seemed as much paintings as …

U.S. Human Rights Activism And Plan Colombia, Winifred L. Tate

Faculty Scholarship

Non-governmental organizations claim to play a central role in defining U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the field of human rights. Here, I will examine the role of human rights and humanitarian groups in the debates over U.S. foreign policy towards Colombia, focusing on the design and subsequent additional appropriations for Plan Colombia, a multi-billion dollar aid package beginning in 2000. I argue that NGOs were able to build on the legacy of prior human rights activism focusing on Latin America, but failed to achieve significant grassroots mobilization around this issue. I examine the structural issues limiting such mobilization, as well …

Australian Aboriginal Ethnometeorology And Seasonal Calendars, Philip A. Clarke

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

This paper uses a cultural anthropological approach to investigate an indigenous Australian perspective on atmospheric phenomena and seasons, using data gained from historical records and ethnographic fieldwork. Aboriginal people believe that the forces driving the weather are derived from Creation Ancestors and spirits, asserting that short term changes are produced through ritual. By recognizing signals such as wind direction, rainfall, temperature change, celestial movements, animal behaviour and the flowering of plants, Aboriginal people are able to divide the year into seasons. Indigenous calendars vary widely across Australia and reflect annual changes within Aboriginal lifestyles.

From Sugar To Blackberries: Restructuring Agro-Export Production In Michoacán, Mexico, Donna Chollett

Anthropology Publications

In recent years, economic crisis in the sugar industry and the closure of an important sugar mill in Michoacán, Mexico, have fostered the entry of transnational agribusinesses that contract with local growers for blackberry production. Land concentration is under way as wealthy growers rent ejido (agrarian-reform) land to grow berries and small-scale growers shift to less capitalized berry production or migrate out of the region. An analysis of the impact of this transition, part of the globalization of the agro-food system, on campesinos, workers, and their communities reveals that a general improvement in the economy has been accompanied by increased …

Diasporic Identities In Israel: A Study Of Ethiopian Jews, Erich S. Roberts

Anthropology Department Honors Papers

Contemporary concerns of anthropology stress the role of power relations in framing the study of a marginalized people within society. In this study, the present predicament of the Ethiopian community in Israel is examined through the highly political processes of nationalism, ethnic conflict, and identity construction. Each of these factors hold implications for the ways by which a dominant European nationalist ideology in Israel has come to impose forces of authority upon subjugated, non-European ethnic groups. The Ethiopians are one such group. The point of divergence between the community of Ethiopian Jews and Israel’s national identity has caused the Ethiopian …