International and Area Studies Commons^™

Stories Behind The Berlin Wall: Lesson Modules, Nicholas Redmon

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

I have grappled with my primary collection just as scholars and popular authors have with bringing these stories together with political histories. My goal is to create a digital map and analysis on specific themes like education and guard duty from the lives lived behind the Wall and their discourse with the government. I would like to explore how the divide impacted lives in 1961, created a GDR Society, and produced a division still felt in Germany today. The target audience of this project is U.S. students in high school and higher education. Students will be able to access timely …

The Socio-Cultural Implications Of The Aging Population In Japan, Jacqueline Banas

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone research looks at how Japan, as a nation, is dealing with aging populations as a society, what problems and solutions work for the Japanese, and how future studies and research on Japan’s elderly population could help lead for possible solutions for the global elderly. Through this capstone, I wanted to bring awareness to the Japanese elderly as well as generate light on the topic.

Merging Subsistence Perspective And Buen Vivir: An Alternative To Damming The Mekong, Aaron B. Eisenberg

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper will examine the planned development on the Mekong by looking at the historical, political, and economic reasons why largescale hydroelectric dams are now being pushed upon the river. It will then critique the international state sovereignty system focusing directly on the Mekong River Commission and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) for their inabilities to mitigate environmental impact while pursuing development. I analyze how the “global city” discourse cannot rationally be applied to Southeast Asia and how the urban-rural divide in Southeast Asia creates only greater problems as dam production on the Mekong accelerates. I propose an alternative …

Social Organization And Environmental Patterning At Tel Abu Shusha: An Integrated Spatial Approach To Survey Archaeology, Seth Price

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tel Abu Shusha, located in the Jezreel Valley of Palestine, is a large-scale archaeological site possibly identified as the cities of Biblical Gaba or Roman Gaba Hippaeon/Gaba Philippi. Surface archaeological survey of the surrounding area, conducted by the Jezreel Valley Regional Project during 2017, revealed extensive assemblages of visible settlement features dating primarily to middle and late Islamic periods. This research seeks to answer questions of settlement decision-making and societal organization, by integrating archaeological, textual, environmental, and geospatial data sources. In addition to visual interpretation, Kolmogorov-Smirnov nonparametric tests are used to gain insight on environmental settlement preferences; Ripley’s K analysis …

Geography Of The Middle East Through The Western Lens: A Survey Of Films Set In The Middle East And Filmed In The American Southwest, Jake Bryan Rowlett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Representation of cinematic geography is a struggle in the world of film: a power balance between the work of the filmmakers and the place itself. Often, the filmmakers tip the scales in their favor and the true nature of the place is lost in translation. Throughout the history of cinema, the geography of the Middle East has been manipulated into a vision designed for Western audiences that is strikingly disjointed from reality.

The foundation of modern Orientalist interpretations of the Middle East in film can be seen in the early decades of the film industry, through the “Biblical Epic,” and …

Correcting For The Inconveniences Of Cultivation: Foraging As A Food Source In Southwestern Burkina Faso, Julia Deryn Morgan

Geography Honors Projects

Malnutrition is an important public health issue in Burkina Faso where 30 % of children are underweight for their age and 92% suffer from iron deficiency. Such statistics indicate that there is a significant lack of adequate nutrition in the country. With approximately 80% of the population employed in the agricultural sector, development projects have focused on increasing agricultural production and commercializing output to ameliorate poor nutrition. However, this strategy ignores the importance of local knowledge and food traditions, most notably by neglecting to acknowledge foraging as a significant source of food. To address this concern, I seek to understand …

Impact Of Tibetan Household Livelihood Capital On Tourism Participation Level: A Case Of Jiaju Tibetan Village In Garze, Yiyi Zhang

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

As more people move from countryside to cities and those left behind struggle to sustain livelihoods, China’s 19th National Congress of the Communist Party has prioritized the implementation of rural revitalization. A number of studies have examined drivers of livelihood transition from farming to non-farm activities, especially the participation in tourism against the backdrop of rural tourism development. There are, however, few studies identifying ways to measure tourism participation level or discussing how household-level capitals influence the decision on tourism participation made by Tibetan ethnic households. This article assessed the roles of livelihood capitals in the adoption of tourism activities …

Land-Use And Land-Ownership Changes In Usoma Village, Kenya, Ernest Tan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study attempted to find out how land-use activities and land-ownership patterns have changed since land adjudication in Usoma Village, a peri-urban community on the fringe of Kisumu City. The methods used were photo-observation and geo-tagging based on walkabouts onsite, documentary analysis of maps obtained from the Ministry of Lands, interviews with key authority figures, independent experts and community leaders, and interviews as well as focus-group discussions with community members. In terms of land ownership, it was found that subdivisions of land, both formal and informal, had been common over the period. Land transfers based on compulsory acquisition and investment …

Cuando La Vida Era Tranquila: Land Use And Livelihood Changes Following The Construction Of The Chan 75 Dam In Nance Del Risco, Bocas Del Toro, Patrick Mckenzie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Ngobe are Panama’s most populous indigenous group. While the Ngobe that live in the comarca have land and resource rights, those that live immediately outside of it do not. This issue has been exacerbated by the creation of Palo Seco Forest Reserve which has removed all land rights from the Ngobe living within it. In order to meet its growing demand for energy, Panama is expanding its hydroelectric sector. One such hydroelectric dam built by AES is Chan 75. However, Chan 75 has had a controversial history, especially regarding its treatment of the Ngobe people of the corregimiento Nance …

Plant Poetics And Politics Of The West Usambaras: Power And Memory Of Narrative Botanical Science In Kizanda, Sagara, And The Mazumbai Forest Reserve, Cameron Daddis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This is a story about people and plants. About the power of relationships between floral organisms and human lives. Using narrative botanical science as a methodological framework, this study highlights the power of local people’s ecological knowledge from the villages of Kizanda and Sagara in the West Usambara Mountains. Building from semi-structured interviews and personal conservations with thirty residents of these villages—voices of local healers, farmers, and forest guides—this work unfolds through a series of vignettes. Its aim is to identify both the precise yet diverse ways in which these people have developed botanical knowledge of their local environment. From …

‘Padre Nuestro Que Estás En La Tierra’: Una Exploración Teórica Del Territorio Ancestral Afroecuatoriano / 'Our Father Who Is On Earth': A Theoretical Exploration Of The Afro-Ecuadorian Ancestral Territory, Wes Vanderburgh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este es un proyecto colaborativo que documenta el fenómeno del territorio y explora cómo influye en la identidad del pueblo afrodescendiente de la sierra ecuatoriana. Empezamos por presentar el marco teórico, incluso la distinción clave entre territorio y tierra en este contexto. Entonces nos lanzamos al análisis por problematizar el nombre mismo del área bajo discusión. Luego, discutimos su geografía física y social. A continuación, presentamos una historia breve de la región. Por fin, conducimos una sociología del territorio, revelando los elementos sociales y discursivos detrás de los conceptos de ancestralidad, identidad, derecho, y política. Concluimos con sugerencias para proyectos …

Determinants Of Youth (Un)Employment In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aynalem Megersa

International Conference on African Development Archives

Informed by the Macro-Micro approach (Steiber, & Haas, 20122 ), the paper aims to examine the major determinants of youth (Un)employment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from a gender perspective. The study primarily uses quantitative data from the 2014 urban unemployment and employment survey conducted by the Ethiopian Central Statistical Authority. The study employs descriptive statistics and Multinomial logit model to analyse the quantitative data. Qualitative data generated using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with selected youth in the City were also used to substantiate the quantitative results. Findings of the study reveal that different levels of factors- structural factors, …

Preserving Identity Through Discourse In A Changing Ladakh, Emma Cyr

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Situated in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, Ladakh is a vast high altitude desert. It's looming mountains, rocky vistas, crystalline lakes, and unique indigenous culture makes Ladakh not only a favorite destination for adventurers, thrill seekers, and camera toters of all types, but also marks it as one of the most ecologically fragile areas in the world. However, Ladakh has only been open for tourism since 1974. Prior to then, the region was fairly isolated, open to travellers only a few months of the year, when the high, icy passes melted enough to let trade through. In the time …

Factors Affecting Tvet Responsiveness To Youth Employability: Reflection On Practices Of Competency-Based Provisions In Arsi Zone Of Oromia Regional State, Endalew Fufa

International Conference on African Development Archives

With an increasing demand for qualified skilled workers in the area of technical services, Ethiopia now holds several colleges which provide education to technical and vocational education attendants joining after the completion of general secondary education. Yet, conditions related with entry capacity in the fields they are required to attend, depth of training, viability of placement and means of creating job opportunity after graduating from colleges could be traced as major bottleneck conditions encountering such a provision. So, it became very essential to investigate which factors affect the responsiveness of TVET to youth job creation in Oromia Regional State, with …

Global Studies Initiative Final Report: Geography 140, Brooke Ferguson

Global Studies Initiatives in Social Sciences 2017-2018

In this project report for the Global Studies Initiative at Parkland College, the instructor of Geography 140: World Geography reflects on how global issues focusing on the European Union, Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia were integrated into to the course curriculum, how they were received by students, and the likelihood of continued inclusion.

Spatial Effects Of Foreign Direct Investment (Fdi) On Poverty Reduction In Colombia: A Mixed Methods Approach, Mayra Alejandra Yat Aguilar

Masters Theses

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been identified as an important factor in stimulating economic growth and decreasing poverty. In particular, the relationship between FDI and economic growth has been extensively debated in the academic literature but with mixed results. Meanwhile, considerably less work has been done towards investigating the effects of FDI on poverty reduction. Evidence from the limited research linking on FDI and poverty levels is also mixed. Through a more comprehensive survey-based multi-scale method of assessing poverty, this empirical study investigates the contribution of FDI with respect to concurrent quantitative and qualitative assessment of changes in living standards …

Un Giro Ontológico En La Cosmovisión De La Naturaleza: El Papel Del Capitalismo Y Otras Influencias En El Cambio De Las Percepciones Tradicionales De La Naturaleza En La Comunidad Quechua De Paru Paru / An Ontological Turnover In The Cosmovision Of Nature: The Role Of Capitalism And Other Influences In The Change Of Traditional Perceptions Of The Nature In The Quechua Community Of Paru Paru, Jessica Pusch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En el contexto de la antropología ambiental y con un lente de ecología política, este informe analiza el papel del capitalismo en la degradación ecológica global a través de un estudio etnográfico específico y único. Este estudio ocurrió en el pueblo quechua Paru Paru, situada en las sierras andinas de Perú en la región de Cusco. El siguiente artículo incluye una examinación del aumento en las actividades económicamente capitalistas y la presencia de otros factores involucrados en el cambio de la relación y las percepciones sobre la naturaleza en el contexto de la cosmovisión. Había una pérdida clara de algunas …

Land Rights Of African Indigenous Groups: International Instruments And Main Issues, Anastasia Strouboulis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For indigenous peoples, land is more than an economic commodity, it has guided their way of life for generations. This notion is particularly prevalent in Africa, where many diverse indigenous communities exist, from desert regions to vast forests. However, without the recognition of international laws and standards that seek to preserve and uphold their land rights, the indigenous peoples of Africa continue to face socio-environmental and political issues. This research paper seeks to understand what actors, documents, and mechanisms exist to protect and promote the land rights of indigenous peoples in Africa and assess their effectiveness. This research question was …

The Geopolitics Of Canadian Defense White Papers: Lofty Rhetoric And Limited Results, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

As the United States northern neighbor, Canada serves as a NATO ally and a strategic partner with Washington through the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Canadian forces have fought honorably and bravely in concert with American forces in many wars. Canada's government, however, has been less consistent in promoting a credible vision of Canadian national security policy and geopolitical interests in its defense white papers. These documents have often contained idealistic rhetoric about adhering to a rules-based international order and defending freedom. In reality, Canadian governments of varying political parties have consistently failed to provide the sustained funding and …

Temporary Places : The Balkan Refugee Route, Eric Martin

Sponsored Events -- List

Disasters, terrorist activities, wars, and other factors trigger large streams of people fleeing crisis and seeking refuge. These flows reached record levels in Europe from 2015 to 2017, when many refugees took "the Balkan route," through Greece, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia, to reach north-western Europe. A massive response, one of the largest humanitarian actions in Europe since the Balkan Wars in the 1990s, included volunteers and organizations from the public and nonprofit-sector. Due to complexities and national variations in policy making, this crisis response consisted of five different, though somewhat overlapping phases, in which the "place" …

The Production Of Space: Indigenous Resistance Movements In The Peruvian Amazon, Christian Calienes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The resistance movement that resulted in the Baguazo in the northern Peruvian Amazon in 2009 was the culmination of a series of social, economic, political and spatial processes that reflected the Peruvian nation’s engagement with global capitalism and democratic consolidation after decades of crippling instability and chaos. The recently discovered oil and natural gas reserves that occupy the subsoil of much the Peruvian Amazon provide the latest natural resource upon which the national project can continue to be implemented. In a context of neo-imperialism and neo-extractivism where through accumulation by dispossession, new markets are introduced into global capitalist structures after …

Volunteerism And The Illusion Of Civil Society’S Resurgence, Hurriyah Hurriyah

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

No abstract provided.

Demystifying The Abstract Scheme Of Globalization, Rahardhika Arista Utama

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

No abstract provided.

Russia And Its Neighbors: A Geopolitical Analysis Of The Ukrainian Conflict, Michele Pigliucci

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Within the context of a new Cold War between the Western powers and Russia, one of the most dangerous hot spots is Ukraine. Since 2014, in fact, the Ukrainian army has been engaged in a civil war against Russian-backed troops of self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk Republics. This crisis appears as a new geopolitical tool both for Russia and for the United States: for the former, in order to contain NATO expansion, for the latter, in order to counteract Russian influence and to open the way for U.S. liquefied natural gas exports in Europe, reducing European energy dependence on Russia (Chornii, …

Rita, Rita, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Rita Alkhaledy grew up in Sadr City, a poor suburb of Baghdad. Her father is an Iraqi Arab and her mother was Kurdish Iranian. Her mother lived in fear that she would be cast out of Baghdad as being an outsider in Iraq was frowned upon. Her father served in the Iraqi army in the 80s and was gone a great deal, leading to a strained relationship. Their relationship was mended when her mother died from cancer.

After the Iraq war, Rita and her brothers realized that their lives were in danger. They had to move from house to house …

From Icon Of Empire To National Emblem: New Evidence For The Fallow Deer Of Barbuda, Sophia Perdikaris, Allison Bain, Sandrine Grouard, Karis Baker, Edith Gonzalez, A. Rus Hoelzel, Holly Miller, Reaksha Persaud, Naomi Sykes

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Barbuda and Antigua’s national animal is the fallow deer, Dama dama dama, a species native to the eastern Mediterranean that has been transported around the world by people during the last 8000 years. The timing and circumstances by which fallow deer came to be established on Barbuda are currently uncertain but, by examining documentary, osteological and genetic evidence, this paper will consider the validity of existing theories. It will review the dynamics of human–Dama relationships from the 1500s AD to the present day and consider how the meaning attached to this species has changed through time: from a …

Reflection/Commentary On A Past Article: “A Practical Iterative Framework For Qualitative Data Analysis”, Prachi Srivastava, Nick Hopwood

Education Publications

This submission is a reflection by Srivastava and Hopwood on their earlier article, A Practical Iterative Framework for Qualitative Data Analysis, originally published in International Journal of Qualitative Methods in 2009, and selected for the journal’s special anniversary issue, “Top 20 in 20.” They discuss how they have applied the framework in their various studies since then, Srivastava, primarily in field-based international research in education and global development, and Hopwood, in education and health. Based on a brief analysis of the paper’s citations, they identify its impact to have been: in a wide variety of fields crossing disciplinary boundaries, studies …

Landscape Transformation During Ceramic Age And Colonial Occupations Of Barbuda, West Indies, Allison Bain, Anne-Marie Faucher, Lisa M. Kennedy, Allison R. Leblanc, Michael J. Burn, Rebecca Boger, Sophia Perdikaris

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

This research documented the history of landscape transformation on the island of Barbuda in the Lesser Antilles, Caribbean through cross-disciplinary research approaches. Excavations confirmed a human presence for the seasonal exploitation of conch meat and other mollusks during the Archaic Age (c.3000–500 BC), but more substantial impacts to terrestrial ecosystems likely began during the Ceramic Age (c.500 BC–AD 1500). Our combined sedimentary and charcoal records revealed that human-induced environmental transformations began with Ceramic Age peoples as they cleared vegetation for settlements and gardens with intentional burning. Sedimentary charcoal indicated a dramatic decline in fire during post-Ceramic Age abandonment, continuing through …

From Bison To Cattle: The Ecology Of The Southern Plains 1500-1750, Jenni Tifft-Ochoa

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Bison made their home on the Southern Plains for millennia. However, their migratory patterns began to shift in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. My research investigated what caused this drastic shift and how it had far reaching effects on the ecology of the Southern Plains. Using archives from two prominent Catholic priests, I began to piece together why the bison left the Southern Plains. Rather than focus on the Europeans as the main players, I instead focused on the Indigenous peoples, the animals, and the land as the centralized actors in this project. I discovered that the introduction …

Homesteading The Plains: Toward A New History., Andrew Husa, Richard Edwards,, Jacob K. Friefeld, Rebecca S. Wingo

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Through hard work and thorough research, Richard Edwards, Jacob Friefeld, and Rebecca Wingo seek to dispel any false notions and set the record straight on what was one of the most influential events in the history of the United States in their book, Homesteading the Plains. Th roughout the work, the authors are able to correct false historical accounts that cast a poor light on the Homestead Act while they provide a wealth of statistical evidence to move toward a new history, as the book’s subtitle suggests. Th e Homestead Act provided opportunity for many ancestors of current Great Plains …