International and Area Studies Commons^™

Book Review: Teaching Places, Catherine Mackie

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Audrey Whitson reaches down and stirs something deep in the soul. Her love of the land is respectful, serious, irresistible. The terrain she captures so vividly on paper as a record of her Alberta pilgrimage moves the heart of any reader who has known and loved the prairies. "The land is calling you, no matter who you are, calling you home." This book truly does call the prairie soul back to its home. Whitson's is a journey that is deeply spiritual, without being orthodox. Her spirituality is articulated as understandable and embodied; it is felt through her language and use …

Book Review: The Coronado Expedition From The Distance Of 460 Years, David J. Weber

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

The remarkable descriptions of places and people produced by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado's expedition constitute the verbal baseline for measuring historical change in southwestern America. Those descriptions are most useful, however, when linked to modern locations. Many of the writers in this essential volume have set themselves to that task.

Book Review: Genocide Of The Mind: New Native American Writing, Thomas C. Gannon

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Genocide of the Mind is hardly the happiest of titles. Not only is the metaphor itself a muddle impossible to imagine, but the collection's dominant tone is more about cultural survival, not cultural genocide, as the editor herself indicates in explaining the title: "This anthology is a testament to American Indian consciousness continuing to circulate, regardless of past or present genocidal attempts, whether cerebral, endemic, systematic, or otherwise." Confusing, too, is the book's ostensible focus on the "urban Indian" and the sad history of Relocation as government policy. This is what Vine Deloria Jr.'s foreword would have us believe, and …

Wintering Canada Geese Along The Platte Rivers Of Nebraska, 1960-2000, Mark Vrtiska, Nick Lyman

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The Platte rivers and associated habitats are major wintering areas for Canada geese (Branta Canadensis) in Nebraska. The objective of this study was to examine changes in abundance and distribution of Canada geese along the Platte River system during 1960-2000. We used counts of Canada geese based on aerial surveys from the annual Mid-Winter Survey (MWS). The entire lengths of the North and South Platte rivers and the Platte River were surveyed, and counts of Canada geese were made by visual estimation. We examined changes in goose numbers for the North and South Platte rivers, and divided the …

Review Of Fighting For The Farm: Rural America Transformed Edited By Jane Adams, John C. Allen

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Fighting for the Family Farm brings together the contributions of scholars from several disciplines to provide an overview of political processes within North American agriculture.
Beginning in the Imperial Valley of California, Alan Rudy provides a well-documented snapshot of state and federal governments' roles in changing the face of agricultural support of industrial food and fiber production models. Rudy illustrates how ecological damage and state policies converge to shape new agricultural policies, arguing that a spatio-temporal construct is necessary for determining responses to the many forms of ecological, social, and infrastructural crisis as well as fir more fully understanding how …

Seed Dynamics Of Eastern Redcedar In The Mixed-Grass Prairie, Susan Tunnell, James L. Stubbendieck, Julie Huddle, Jennifer Brollier

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

We sampled the soil seed bank underneath and surrounding eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) trees at two mixed-grass prairie sites in Nebraska. Our objectives were to investigate the seed bank for seed number and seed viability in various directions and distances from individual trees. Additionally, we planted seeds to determine seed longevity and viability in the soil seed bank. Six female trees were selected at each site. At each tree, 16 soil samples were collected using a lax 10 cm quadrant at four distances (inside the canopy and 0.5, 2, and 5 m from the canopy) in each of …

Coping With Hard Times In Nw Iceland: Zooarchaeology, History, And Landscape Archaeology At Finnbogastaðir In The 18th Century, Ragnar Edvarsson, Sophia Perdikaris, Thomas H. Mcgovern, Noah Zagor

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

During a cooperative archaeological project in NW Iceland (Strandasýsla) involving the Icelandic National Museum and Hunter College of the City University of New York.1990 season, a small rescue excavation at the site of Finnbogastaðir generated a quantifiable collection of animal bones dating to the early modern period, mainly to the 18th century. The 18th c was a period of hardship in much of Iceland, with widespread tenantry, adverse climate, and degradation of many terrestrial landscapes posing severe challenges to poor farmers- perhaps most intensely in the Vestfirðir. The animal bone collection from Finnbogastaðir reflects a multi-stranded subsistence economy involving seals, …

Matthew S. Weinert On Genocide In Cambodia: Documents From The Trial Of Pol Pot And Ieng Sary Edited By Howard Denike, John Quigley, And Kenneth Robinson. Philadelphia: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2000. 559pp., Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Genocide in Cambodia: Documents from the Trial of Pol Pot and Ieng Sary edited by Howard Denike, John Quigley, and Kenneth Robinson. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000. 559pp.

Land Reform In Vietnamese Literature, Montira Rato

Asian Review

Even now, Vietnamese historians are reluctant to criticize the land reform campaign of the mid 1950s. However, four novels published between 1988 and 1992 seem determined to locate this traumatic event in the collective social memory. All four are partly based on personal experience, but have different perspectives. One from the viewpoint of a cadre records the damage to the social fabric but blames it on the stupidity of the peasants, and sees all those involved as pawns of history. The second, written from the viewpoint of a landlord, uses irony to examine the lack of justice and morality in …

Notes For Contributors

Asian Review

No abstract provided.

The Network Of Indian Textile Merchants In Thai Society, Inthira Sahee

Asian Review

In the second half of the nineteenth century, merchants from western India developed a network to sell textile products to a growing mass market in Thailand. This network expanded further in the early twentieth century, especially through the use of traveling salesmen, and import of cheaper Japanese goods. In the 1930s and 1940s, the network had to adjust to changes in both Thai domestic politics, and international politics (especially the Indian independence movement). The Indian cloth merchants' trading network from 1857 to 1947 was characterized by mutual business interests, and cooperation among groups of different geographic background.

Colonization And The Rule Of Law: Comparing The Effectiveness Of Common Law And Civil Law Countries, Sandra F. Joireman

Political Science Faculty Publications

The rule of law is one of the most important components of any explanation of cross-national differences in economic well-being. But what leads to better rule of law in a country? Using an institutional approach this paper probes the effect of legal systems in influencing the rule of law. There has long been speculation that the countries adopting English common law are better at providing legal dispute resolution than those adopting the continental forms of civil law. That speculative assessment is found to be true only in those countries that have been colonized, further analysis demonstrates that it is the …

Retributive Justice: The Gacaca Process In Rwanda, Sandra F. Joireman, Allison Corey

Political Science Faculty Publications

After decades of cycling violence between Hutu and Tutsi groups in Rwanda and Burundi, violence peaked in 1994 with a genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda, during which the Hutu majority slaughtered 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus, leaving the country with 120,000 accused génocidaires awaiting trial. Rwanda's gacaca courts were established as a response to the backlog of untried genocide cases. These courts disturbingly distinguish between genocide and war crimes committed during the same era, trying only those accused of genocide. This article argues that the gacaca process will contribute to the insecurity of all Rwandan citizens in the future, since …

Building Morocco Through Literacy: Women's Participation In Development, Elizabeth L. Holmes

Honors Theses

This thesis examines what factors are important for successful literacy provision in the case of urban Moroccan women. Literacy programs should teach participants not only to decipher symbols on paper, but should provide information relevant to the everyday context of learners' lives. As a result, newly literate individuals should perceive changes in their levels of self-esteem, empowerment, economic status, and health conditions. In Morocco, the government launched a large-scale literacy campaign in May 2003 to lower illiteracy, which currently affects about half of the population. In conjunction with this campaign, the Moroccan government is increasingly cooperating with NGOs, the principal …

Evaluations And Project Effectiveness : An Investigation Into The Evaluation Processes Of Development Projects In Bolivia, Kristin Saucier

Honors Theses

This study attempts to answer the question, do formalized evaluation procedures contribute to increased project effectiveness? Project effectiveness is defined as the successful attainment of project goals and objectives. According to the literature, evaluations have the potential to improve a project's success by raising awareness of problem areas and offering ways suggestions for improvement. To test this theory, the evaluation systems of seven international development organizations that are currently implementing projects in Bolivia are examined: Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), Peace Corps, Project Concern International (pCI), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Sates Agency for International Development (USAlD), …

Culture, Hybridity And The Dialogical Self: Cases From The South Asian-American Diaspora, Sunil Bhatia, Anjali Ram

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

This article outlines a dialogical approach to understanding how South Asian-American women living in diasporic locations negotiate their multiple and often conflicting cultural identities. We specifically use the concept of voice to articulate the different forms of dialogicality--polyphonization, expropriation, and ventriloquation--that are involved in the acculturation experiences of two 2nd-generation South Asian-American women. In particular, we argue that it is important to think of acculturation of the South Asian-American women as essentially a contested, dynamic, and dialogical process. We demonstrate that such a dialogical process involves a constant moving back and forth between various cultural voices that are connected to …

Growing Up Overseas: Perceptions Of Second Language Attrition And Retrieval Amongst Expatriate Children In India, Steve Sider

Education Faculty Publications

This study involves expatriate children whose first language (L1) is English and who learned Hindi as their second language (L2) while their parents worked in India. The purpose of the study was to investigate the linguistic experiences of the children after they had left India, particularly experiences with L2 attrition. Through semi-structured interviews, subjects shared their stories of L2 acquisition and attrition. Common experiences which contributed to the attrition of the L2 included periods of non-use of the L2, social responses to the use of the L2, the lack of development of Hindi literacy and subjects’ attitude toward using the …

Growth And Reproduction Of Local Ecotype And Cultivated Varieties Of Panicum Virgatum And Coreopsis Palmata Grown In Common Gardens, D. W. Williams, G. A. Houseal, D. D. Smith

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Many practitioners prefer to plant seed from multiple remnant sources within the same region of the planting site. It is believed that this seed has improved fitness (survivorship, growth, and viability) over seed from outside the region. We tested this assumption by establishing two common gardens in northern and southern Iowa. Four varieties of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) from prairie remnants in northern and southern Iowa and two cultivated varieties from Nebraska and South Dakota}, and stiff tickseed (Coreopsis palmata) from prairie remnants in northern and southern Iowa, were established in a greenhouse and transplanted into each …

Time To Make History, Time To Educate Women: A Narrative Of The Life And Work Of Christiana Thorpe Of Sierra Leone, Whitney Mcintyre Miller

Education Faculty Articles and Research

An examination of the life of Christiana Thorpe, a former nun from Sierra Leone who worked to improve education for girls and served as the only woman in a cabinet of nineteen members (as Minister of Education), then worked with the United Nations Development Programme and UNESCO amidst war and rebellion in her country.

Table Of Contents

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Preface

Prairie Flora and Floristic Studies

Prairie Wildlife and Animal Studies

Conservation and Preservation

Restoration and Management

Closing Plenary

Abstracts for Other Oral Presentations

Abstracts for Poster Presentations

Underwriter

Sponsors

Conference Field Trip Leaders

Volunteers

Performers/Artists

Plenary Speakers

Artists and Designers

Manuscript Reviewers

A Floristic Quality Assessment System For The Coastal Prairie Of Louisiana, Larry Allain, Latimore Smith, Charles Allen, Malcolm F. Vidrine, James B. Grace

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Evaluation systems to assess the biotic integrity of plant communities exist for some ecosystems, but not the increasingly rare coastal prairies of Louisiana. A list of plant species occurring in Louisiana's coastal prairie was created and coefficients of conservatism (C) were assigned for each species. A Floristic Quality Index (FQI), which is calculated using the C values provided by a panel of experts, can be used to evaluate prairie remnants and restorations. We assigned C values from 0-10 based on their estimated degree of association with prairies of various levels of natural quality and their tolerance of disturbance. Those species …

Flora Of The Anacoco Prairie On Fort Polk, Louisiana, Charles Allen, Sara Thames, Linda Chance, Charles Stagg

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The two major types of prairie in Louisiana are Cajun Prairie-a coastal prairie type located in southwest Louisianaand the calcareous prairies that are scattered across central and north Louisiana. Fort Polk, located in west central Louisiana, is predominately longleaf pine forest, but also includes calcareous prairies. A floristic survey of the Anacoco Prairie on Fort Polk has been ongoing since 1991. Herbaceous species dominant in the small prairie openings, which are surrounded by strips of calcareous forests. A total of 177 species of vascular plants have been identified from the Anacoco Prairie. The top two families are Poaceae and Asteraceae …

The Prairie-Wetland Vegetation Continuum In The Chicago Region Of Northeastern Illinois, Martin Bowles, Michael Jones

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

We conducted a floristic ordination and gradient analys is of plant communities extending from prairie through graminoid-dominated wetlands in the Chicago region of northeastern Illinois. Data represented about 450 species from 103 stands sampled across a gradient of six soil moisture classes ranging from dry to hydric, and included sand, gravel, dolomite and loam prairies, as well as fen, sedge meadow, floating mat, marsh, and bog. As found in other midwestern grassland studies, vegetation aligned most strongly along a soil moisture gradient, with individualistic species distributions forming a hierarchical continuum, and lower species richness at the dry and wet extremes …

A Comparison Of Illinois Remnant Prairies, 1976 To 1988, Erica A. Corbett

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

At one time, 60% of Illinois' land area was covered with prairie, but 99% of that prairie has been lost. Currently, 2,300 acres (about 930 hectares) of remnant prairie is protected in the Illinois Nature Preserves System. Many of these sites were surveyed in the mid-1970s as part of the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (lNA!). 1 analyzed vegetation data as relative frequency of herbaceous species. Data were analyzed using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) to determine environmental influences on species composition. I also resampled 29 of the original sites in summer 1998. In addition to collecting data on relative frequency of …

Response Of Grassland Birds To Fire On A Wisconsin Sand Prairie Over An 18-Year Period, Greg Geller, David Sample, Rich Henderson

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The relative abundance of grassland birds was estimated on an 81-ha (200-acre) dry to dry-mesic sand prairie in south, west Wisconsin over an 18-year period (1987-2004). Birds were surveyed three times during the breeding season on seven, 2-ha (5-acre) strip transects in six different burn units. We compared results to time since fire and other habitat features. The average rotation of prescribed fires in the burn units ranged from three to six years. Seven species were selected for detailed analysis. These were grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum),-18-year average of 1.33 birds per ha, field sparrows (Spizella pusilla) …

Large-Scale Restoration Of The Rice Lake Plains: A Landscape Conservation Approach, Todd Farrell, John L. Riley, Lisa M. Mclaughlin

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

In Ontario, it is estimated the tallgrass prairie and savanna once covered 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres), of which approximately 3% (2,100 ha, 5,189 acres) remains today. Based on historical land surveys and from early botanical accounts, the easternmost extent of these unique habitats was along the eastern flank of the Oak Ridges Moraine in an area known as the Rice Lake Plains. This area covered an estimated 15,384 to 30,300 hectares (38,000- 74,131 acres) (Carling and others 1992). The Rice Lake Plains harboured numerous savanna indicator species such as the extirpated Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis). In …

Protecting Pioneer Cemetery Prairies: Balancing The Need To Preserve Cultural And Natural Heritage Values, Angella K. Moorehouse, Harold Hassen

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The protection and management of pioneer cemetery prairies is a daunting challenge. As the public has become accustomed to highly manicured grass in their backyard lawns, neighborhood parks and cemeteries, prairie cemeteries, with grasses three- to six-feet tall, are often thought to be abandoned or unkept even though the cemeteries retain their original vegetation. Caring for prairie plants, protecting cemetery stones, and providing public access need not be goals that stand in conflict. Working in conjunction, cemetery advocates, archaeologists, and plant biologists can reach satisfactory accommodations. This paper gives an overview of the protection status of pioneer cemetery prairies and …

Will Tillage And Plant Growth Regulator Pretreatments Enhance Herbicide Effects On Reed Canarygrass?, Craig A. Annen

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) is a dominant perennial grass species in many sedge meadows and wet prairies. Efforts to control and eradicate this species with herbicides have had limited short-term success. A system of correlative inhibition (apical dominance) may operate in reed canarygrass rhizomes, resulting in a persistent rhizome bud bank that must be depleted in order to restore function and diversity to reed canarygrass stands. Pretreatments that overcome correlative inhibition may predispose reed canarygrass rhizomes to more effective herbicidal control. I conducted a feasibility study to test the efficacy of pretreatment tillage and plant growth regulator (PGR) …

Oak Savanna Restoration: A Case Study, Thomas D. Brock, Katherine M. Brock

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

A degraded oak savanna in southwestern Wisconsin is being restored using intensive cutting of undesirable shrubs- buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum), honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.)-and selective removal of trees that are crowding the open-grown bur (Quercus macrocarpa) and white (Q. alba) oaks. Land use records and historic aerial photographs have been used to guide the restoration process. Slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), black walnut (Juglans nigra), black cherry (Prunus serotina), and black oak (Q. velutina) are being removed by cutting and burning or …

Dwelling On Common Ground: Scientific And Family Narratives Of Change In Natural Landscapes, Damian Craniak Ph.D.

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Can mapping past and current changes in prairie landscapes in relation to historical shifts in human culture suggest promising directions for efforts to restore the health of grasslands and other natural communities? During the last 20,000 years the Land shifted and altered; during the past 10,000 years Life moved and migrated; and during the past 5,000 years natural and human Law has been turned and twisted to produce changes unanticipated in the history of the world. In the past 500 years these changes have quickened as we have changed ourselves from foragers into fur traders, and then into farmers, foresters, …