Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons^™

Assessing The Influence Of Career-Linked Experiential Opportunities On The F-1 Undergraduate Student Enrollment Decision-Making Process, Harrison Fuerst

Capstone Collection

International mobility efforts in the United States have garnered increased attention and funding in recent years, with such government-led initiatives as Generation Study Abroad and 100,000 Strong driving up inbound and outbound student numbers. Recent inbound mobility reports from the Institute of International Education show double-digit percentage increases in international student enrollment. Other countries also experiencing an influx of international students continue to research these trends to shape their own education strategies. Research conducted by the International Education Association of Australia points specifically to hands-on professional experience and enhanced employability as key factors important to Australia’s international student population. As …

Bridges Out Of Poverty As An Anti-Poverty Strategy In Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, Katlyn M. Uhler

Capstone Collection

This paper explores the initial results of the Bridges Out of Poverty (“Bridges”) community framework as implemented by the organization Kennett Area Community Service in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The aim of this research is to provide perspective on Bridges Out of Poverty’s contribution to the understanding of poverty in the United States and its potential as an antipoverty intervention. It does so first through an exploration of the historical and current discussion on poverty and anti-poverty interventions in the United States, followed by research on the Bridges model itself and its implementation in Kennett Square. This latter research includes content …

A Coffee-Scented Space: Historical, Cultural, And Social Impacts Of The Japanese Kissaten, Claire A. Williamson

Student Work

A 2016-2017 William Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Claire Williamson (Jonathan Edwards College '17) for her essay submitted to the East Asian Studies Program, “A Coffee-Scented Space: Historical, Cultural, and Social Impacts of the Japanese Kissaten.” (William Kelly, Professor of Anthropology and Sumitomo Professor of Japanese Studies, advisor.)

Japan has a long and well-documented history as a tea culture, from everyday practices to the refined aesthetics of the tea ceremony and its associated arts. Yet modern Japan is also a highly developed culture of coffee, and this is the topic that Claire Williamson …

Cat Metamorfosis: Becoming Animal And The Freedom Of Non-Identity, Hannah Becker

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

A large number of modern and contemporary female artists have employed the state of becoming to either free themselves of or challenge the social norms that come with being a woman. Kara Walker frees the Mammy of her expectation by combining her with a sphinx in her monumental sugar sculpture, A Subtlety. The Guerilla Girls have an impenetrable and unidentifiable voice when they speak from behind gorilla masks. Lucy Gunning’s The Horse Impressionists depicts women mimicking the behavior of horses to lose their human consciousness, and more specifically, female identity. Looking beyond the art world and into recent consumerist …

Initiating Research On Igniting Fires In The Blue Ridge Mountains During The Autumn 2016 Conflagration, Cynthia Twyford Fowler, Cynthia Fowler

Faculty Scholarship

An unprecedented moment in the fire ecology of the Blue Ridge Mountains occurred in Autumn 2016 when severe drought, frequent anthropogenic ignitions, and seasonality in disturbed deciduous forests fueled widespread burning. As the wildfires burned, wildland firefighters from around the U.S. temporarily moved into the region to assist local land managers. As wildfire risks increased and air quality decreased, local residents became increasingly interested in fire ecology. The community shifted continuously as wildfires were extinguished, wildland firefighters returned home, and local residents disengaged. In conducting research during the conflagration, obtaining consent from community members varied depending on whether or not …

The Anthropocene, Overview, Scott W. Schwartz

Open Educational Resources

This presentation offers an overview of the developing concept of The Anthropocene -- a term coined to describe our current geological epoch, in which human impact on the planet will leave a permanent trace.

A Catch 22 Of 3d Data Sustainability: Lessons In 3d Archaeological Data Management & Accessibility, Heather Richards-Rissetto, Jennifer Von Schwerin

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Archaeologists can now collect an inordinate amount of 3D data. But are these 3D data sustainable? Are they being managed to make them accessible? The MayaArch3D Project researched and addressed these questions by applying best practices to build four prototype tools to store, manage, visualize, and analyze multi-resolution, geo-referenced 3D models in a web-based environment. While the technical aspects of these tools have been published, this position paper addresses a catch 22 that we, as archaeologists, encounter in the field of 3D archaeology – one that formed the initial impetus for the MayaArch3D Project: that is, while the quantity of …

Food And Negotiation Of Identity Among The Russian Immigrant Community Of Brighton Beach, Elena Starkova

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the construction of ethnic identity among Russian immigrants in New York, by examining how it has been negotiated and articulated through foods, including traditional and non-native foods as a vehicle for their shifting identities and for reaffirming their position and participation in mainstream American society.

Estimating Age Of Rock Cairns In Southeast Alaska By Combining Evidence From Successional Metrics, Lichenometry, And Carbon Dating, Bruce Mccune,, Nijmah Ali,, Ralph J. Hartley, William J. Hunt Jr.

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

We estimated ages of rock cairns in alpine tundra in southeast Alaska by combining information from three general classes of methods, each of them imperfect, but considered together providing better estimates than any of the three alone. We used lichenometry, radiocarbon dating, and five successional metrics: score on a nonmetric multidimensional scaling axis of vegetation composition, cover-weighted average successional class of organisms, overgrowth of contact points between rocks, sum of species cover, and species richness. Lichenometry estimated absolute ages, but with considerable error because we violated key assumptions. Successional metrics provided relative ages, probably with more precision than lichenometry, but …

Understanding The Whole Student: Cuny Undergraduates’ Lived Experiences, Mariana Regalado, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

This presentation is a broad overview of research into how CUNY undergraduates fit their academic work into their lives, focusing on study locations, the technology they use, and how they engage in the research process.

Rapping Back: Counter-Narratives From Auckland, New Zealand, Mariel Lopez Rogers

Master's Theses

Across the Pacific in Auckland, New Zealand two rap groups, Homebrew and @Peace, are contributing to a theoretically rich and socially conscious Hip Hop scene. Their music critically questions commercialism and conformity in a culture shaped by a history of colonialism. This makes their message starkly opposed to the normative values of New Zealand. The musicians of Homebrew and @Peace, a mix of Polynesian and Pakeha (people of European descent), employ methods of decolonization theory through the use of storytelling and focus on indigenous values. In a country that has adopted the neoliberal beliefs that competition drives human relations, and …

Riding In Circles: Horse(Wo)Manship In The American Saddlebred Community, Brianna Meyer

Celebration of Learning

Not many people know about the very small yet very dynamic sect of intense sport culture of the American Saddlebred show horse. Even those who do could always learn more, since, like any subculture, it constantly evolves and changes through time. This paper outlines the historical changes since the advent of Saddlebred showing with a focus on female involvement and feminist revolution. Gender has been an important but relatively unseen factor within the community itself—female participants today do not know the history of female involvement. But based on an emergence of women professionals and amateurs in the past 50 years, …

Participatory Prototype Design: Developing A Sustainable Metadata Curation Workflow For Maternal Child Health Research, Amanda Harrigan, Saurabh Vashishtha, Sharon Farnel, Kendall Roark

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This paper describes the findings from a participatory prototype design project, where the authors worked with maternal and child health (MCH) researchers and stakeholders to develop a MCH metadata profile and sustainable curation workflow. This work led to the development of three prototypes: 1) a study catalogue hosted in Dataverse, 2) a metadata and research records repository hosted in REDCap and 3) a metadata harvesting tool/dashboard hosted within the Shiny RStudio environment. We present a brief overview of the methods used to develop the metadata profile, curation workflow and prototypes. Researchers and other stakeholders were participant-collaborators throughout the project. The …

A Tanzanian Woman's Place Is On Top: An Exploration Of Women's Participation In Kilimanjaro's Trekking Tourism Industry, Margeaux Prinster

Sustainability and Social Justice

While high poverty rates persist for women in Tanzania, the growing trekking tourism industry surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro and its resulting demand for labor presents these impoverished women with a potential avenue for economic empowerment. This paper examines the national and local realities of women’s work in Tanzania, analyzing culturally informed gendered patterns of employment against the colonial and sexist histories of tourism and commercial mountaineering on Mount Kilimanjaro to identify barriers to women’s economic participation in Kilimanjaro’s trekking tourism industry. This analysis is followed by a cross-cultural comparison with Nepal, focusing specifically on women’s barriers to participation in commercial mountaineering, …

Free To Serve? Emergency Food And Volunteer Labor In The Urban U.S., Maggie Dickinson

Publications and Research

Since the 1980s, cutbacks to welfare programs, widespread economic insecurity, and increased federal funding for nonprofit agencies have led to a massive expansion of emergency food providers (EFPs) such as soup kitchens and food pantries across the United States. These anti-hunger organizations are often staffed exclusively or predominantly by volunteers who are empowered to care for their communities. But, like all caring labor, volunteer work is shaped by race, class, and gender inequalities. Hunger and poverty motivate poor women to become volunteers, and contradictions around how this labor should be remunerated, recognized, and regulated create conflicts within EFPs. By mobilizing …

Why Are We Fascinated With Violence? An Investigation Of Mass Media’S Role In Depicting Violence As Entertainment., Kseniya I. Dmitrieva

Senior Honors Projects

A literature review was conducted to determine the most common patterns in violence- related topics portrayed in mass media. Psychological research suggests that violence is a by-product of society: as a learned behavior, violence and aggression are experienced through modeling by adults, peers, and outside sources. With the vast emergence of mass media in the 20th and 21st centuries, mass media channels have been branded “responsible” for the formation of aggressive behaviors in children and young adults. The relationship between publications of violent events in mass media and viewers’ role is far more complicated. Mass media is a common way …

Do Non-Human Primates Have Gender?, Aaron Pelchat

Senior Honors Projects

As activism for trans rights and gender equality becomes ever more prevalent in the current American political discourse, so too has there been a rise in questions about gender. Are sexuality and gender linked? Aren’t there only two genders? What is the difference between gender and sex? Is there a difference? How does one DO gender? Isn’t gender just something you are born with? Helping the public understand these questions is important to transgender and gender non-conforming individuals in a time when more people are “coming out of the closet” and identifying as genders other than cisgender. As an anthropologist, …

Drawing Lessons From A Catastrophe At “The Roof Of The World”, Shaun Krause Mcgillis, Jeremy Spoon

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the wake of the 2015 earthquakes, Dr. Jeremy Spoon traveled to Nepal to study the ways natural disasters reshape social-ecological systems. What he and his team learned could improve the future of disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery efforts.

Public Ritual Sacrifice As A Controlling Mechanism For The Aztec, Madeline Nicholson

Honors Scholar Theses

For decades, archaeologists have researched the fascinating finds of Aztec sacrifice. Evidence of their sacrifices are seen on temple walls, stone carvings, bones, and in Spanish chronicler drawings. Although public ritual sacrifice was practiced before the Aztecs, with evidence from the Olmec civilization (1200-1300 BCE) and Maya (200-900 BCE), Aztec sacrifices are among the most extensively documented. How does such a practice survive in different civilizations through different rulers? This thesis will analyze the phases of Aztec public ritual sacrifice (specifically the location, length, and number of sacrifices) and the close relationship to their origin myths, or founding stories. It …

“The Golden Rule”: A Portable Escape Room Designed To Promote Empathy And Playfulness In Challenging Social Contexts, Isabella Gomati

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The development of a Portable Escape Room (PER) board game aims to promote empathy as one of the key skills that, for a society in constant change, is necessary to face and solve complex social challenges. The development of a PER is a way of addressing the need for both innovative and accessible tools that can be used in different sectors of the economy. The PER not only encourages creative collaboration, but it also introduces the possibility of playfulness as a bridge for learning and problem-solving in a variety of scenarios. The product itself encompasses an excellent example of a …

Nowhere To Go : Informal Settlement Eradication In Kigali, Rwanda., Emily E Benken

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Following the new world order of the post-Cold War era, the rise of developmentalism stressed the moral necessity of installing capitalist models of growth in the global south. The reproduction of narratives of modernity and teleological progression were reproduced in numerous African cities and actualized in policies related to urban development. The consequent trend of urbanization has been the systemic eradication of informal settlements and large-scale displacement to make way for modern, productive urban areas.

One site of this pattern is Kigali, Rwanda. Since the turn of the century, official “vision projects” released by the Rwandan government have reimagined the …

Cross-Cultural Investigation Of Birth Experience : A Comparison Between Mexico And The United States., Alice J Darling

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This study investigates the maternal birth experience through a cross-cultural lens. While the field of medical anthropology has researched birth practices of many cultures, few cross-cultural studies have been performed and no recent studies have suggested a transition in birthing. Ethnographic interviews with women and practitioners in Yucatán, Mexico and with women in Kentucky, United States allowed for a better understanding of the respective birthing environments. Grounded theory was then employed to develop a birth transition theory explaining changes occurring when society transitions from traditional birth practitioners to allopathic birth practitioners. The themes of knowledge, expectation and power were isolated …

The Plight Of Undocumented Female Migrants: Identifying Structural Factors That Contribute To The Proliferation Of Sex Trafficking And The Failings Of International Law, Hannah K. Valles

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the conditions at two specific border zones, the United States-Mexico border and the Mexico-Guatemalan border, that render undocumented female migrants vulnerable to abduction or recruitment into sexual exploitation. In addition to exploring the factors that expose women to trafficking networks, the study scrutinizes the legal failings of the international law-making community with regards to the safeguarding of women whose socio-economic conditions and environment of perpetual violence prompt their extralegal international movement. The paper provides an overview of the social, economic, and historical factors that underpin the flourishing of sex trafficking operations in …

“A Theoretical Model For Critical Geographies Of Gentrification: A Comparative Analysis Of Globalization In Two Gay Villages”, Spencer Nelson

Geography Honors Projects

Abstract: The role of gay villages in gentrification has long been contemplated yet their relationship to the global circulation of capital is understudied. This thesis sheds light on this phenomenon through an urban political ecology of gentrification and provides a new model of critical geographies of gentrification. The model is illustrated through ethnographic research in the two gay villages of De Waterkant in Cape Town, South Africa, and Loring Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The relationship between gentrification and globalization is analyzed through the four lenses that bring flows of financial capital, culture, technology, and ideology into focus and offers a …

The Old Deery Inn & Museum: An Ethnographic Case Study, Rebecca J. Proffitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses qualitative ethnographic research methods to present a case study that explores the multiplicity of meanings and representations that are attached to the Old Deery Inn & Museum in Blountville, Tennessee. Within the community, the Inn functions as a center for cultural memory, with the physical structure itself acting as an artifact that holds community identity. This community narrative contrasts with the official narrative used by tourism entities that markets the Inn as a part of the Appalachian region, situating the Inn within a complex and intricately constructed identity of place that is shaped by lived experiences as …

Progressive Education In Appalachia: East Tennessee State Normal School And Appalachian State Normal School, Holly Heacock

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this thesis, I am examining how East Tennessee State Normal School in East Tennessee and Appalachian State Normal School in Western North Carolina interpreted progressive education differently in their states. This difference is that East Tennessee State began as a state funded school to educate future teachers therefore their school and their curriculum was more rounded and set to a structured schedule. Appalachian State Normal School was initially founded to educate the uneducated in the “lost provinces” therefore, curriculum was even more progressive than East Tennessee State’s – based strongly on the practices of farming, woodworking, and other practical …

Aging And Fermentation As Adaptive Food Management Strategies In The Arctic, Celeste Giordano

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation is composed of three papers: one published article, one article under review for publication, and one published commentary. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the dissertation as a whole – a work that investigates food aging and fermentation techniques in an indigenous Yup’ik Alaskan community, proposes an adaptive explanation for these strategies in the circumpolar north, and explores the potential importance of them cross-culturally and evolutionarily. Chapter 2 is a paper that describes the seal poke storage system – an indigenous food preservation and storage technique that Yup’ik Alaskans used to manage food security up until approximately one …

Coronary Atherosclerosis In Indigenous South American Tsimane: A Cross-Sectional Cohort Study, Hillard Kaplan, Randall C. Thompson, Benjamin C. Trumble, L. Samuel Wann, Adel H. Allam, Bret Beheim, Bruno Frohlich, M. Linda Sutherland, James D. Sutherland, Jonathan Stieglitz, Daniel Eid Rodriguez, David E. Michalik, Chris J. Rowan, Guido P. Lombardi, Ram Bedi, Angela R. Garcia, James K. Min, Jagat Narula, Caleb E. Finch, Michael Gurven, Gregory S. Thomas

ESI Publications

Background—Conventional coronary artery disease risk factors might potentially explain at least 90% of the attributable risk of coronary artery disease. To better understand the association between the pre-industrial lifestyle and low prevalence of coronary artery disease risk factors, we examined the Tsimane, a Bolivian population living a subsistence lifestyle of hunting, gathering, fishing, and farming with few cardiovascular risk factors, but high infectious inflammatory burden.

Methods—We did a cross-sectional cohort study including all individuals who self-identified as Tsimane and who were aged 40 years or older. Coronary atherosclerosis was assessed by coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring done with …

The Diet And Subsistence Methods Of The Maya: Their Health And Cultural Consequences From The Pre-Classic Era To Today, Rachel E. Watson

Honors Undergraduate

The Maya, a once great civilization, seemingly vanished without an obvious reason, before the Spanish landed in the region. Some say that their downfall was a result of famine and inadequate nutrition. Surprisingly, most of the archaeological evidence surrounding the Classic Maya diet and subsistence methods indicates that they both adequately sustained the population to the point where there has been practically no change over hundreds of years. Change did not occur to the Maya diet or the classic subsistence methods until the late twentieth century when the tourism industry exploded in the area of the former Maya empire. The …

Korean-Ness: Creating And Embracing New Identities Through Language And Culture, Damon Dohe, Daniel Shin

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Technological advances in communications and transportation have unlocked new pathways for mobilizing transnational flows of people, information, and culture. The cyber-networked landscape in which we now live has enabled a pluralistic existence, no longer restricted to singular definitions of citizenship, identity, and cultural membership. In the era of the internet and globalization, the world is often said to be “shrinking.” However, instead of a smaller or simpler world, our project illustrates far more layered and complex relationships and positionalities. This multi-sited research project focuses on the ways in which Korean immigrants and Korean Americans use language to establish cultural networks, …