Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Remembering The Roots: Political Consciousness In The Quilombo Pitanga De Palmares In A Modernizing Society, Matthew Glenn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Without a doubt, history affects greatly our modern realities. Yet, modernity proposes that we forget those things that make us different in order to be part of a society that is falsely seen as more advanced. One would expect that no one would understand better the need to remember history than quilombolas, people that live in communities with strong ties to their African ancestry. Whereas Brazilian culture makes it easy for the majority of citizens to forget their past by denying their racial background, an idea identified by academics and activists as “racial democracy”, quilombolas live in a reality that …

O Último Peixe Ideas About The Future In Coastal Trairí, Marycate R. Brower

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper uses ethnographic methods, including semi-formal, semi-structured interviews, but especially participant observation and informal conversation, to attempt to understand the realities of the coastal population of the Municipality of Trairí, Ceará, Brazil, as the traditional fishing communities of Guajiru, Fleixeiras, and Emboacca react to international and national economic policies, tourism, and land speculation that are enacted through the lens of neoliberalism. This study corroborates the statements of community members as they relate their ideas about the present conditions of pescadors artesanais as they deal with increasing and ever-changing government policies that regulate and limit their craft, a lobster population …

Reserved Women: The Implementation And Efficacy Of A Reserved Seat Quota For Women In The Tibetan Parliament In Exile, Carolyn Griffiths

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

By studying a specific example of a system which requires women to be part of the government, policy makers can better understand how to use tools such as a quota to improve the lives of women. I researched whether and how women gain political agency through the quota system implemented by the Tibetan government in exile. I used in-depth interviews from both parliamentary members and those affected by the decisions made by the Tibetan Government in exile to discover the social climate surrounding the quota system. I gained an understanding of how the condition of women’s lives has changed as …

Tuberculosis Por Los Ojos De La Vida Aymara: La Correlación Entre Estilo De Vida Y Tuberculosis En Los Aymara Del Norte De Chile, Sam Percy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Background: Explanations for disparities in health between groups of people are complex, and based in differences in genetics, environment, access to medical care, socioeconomic, educational, and cultural factors. In short a person’s lifestyle is inextricably related to a person’s health and their propensity to contract disease. Members of the indigenous group Aymara who live in Arica, Chile have 6 times the rate of morbidity from Tuberculosis (TB) as non-Aymara and 9 times the rate of mortality from the disease. This study examined if there was a link between the rate of TB amongst the Aymaran people and the way Aymarans …

Ending Violence…Creating Peace? Rediscovering The Connections Between The Women´S Movement And A Culture Of Peace In Nicaragua, Sami Poindexter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My project, Ending Violence…Creating Peace?: Rediscovering the Connections between the Women’s Movement and a Culture of Peace in Nicaragua, explores, both in theory and practice, the relationships between the Nicaraguan women’s movement and building a culture of peace. Through an extensive literature review that covered everything from history to feminist and peace theories and from reconciliation and peacebuilding to the militarization of society. Through the process of the literature review, I was fully able to make the theoretical connections between feminism and peace which then allowed me to establish a framework for my research and fieldwork. To investigate the links …

Global Discourse, Local Context: Counter-Terrorism And Human Rights In Morocco, Christine Sargent

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Human rights and terrorism are two of the most frequently invoked, powerfully deployed, and hotly contested paradigms of our time. They are, first and foremost, words. They are words that attempt to describe concepts, values and actions. Human rights are understood as the fundamental “civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights that all human being should enjoy” beyond the non-negotiable, fundamental right to life (United Nations). The concept of terrorism seeks to categorize and comprehend what has been perceived as a uniquely transnational, increasing phenomenon of violent, ideologically driven attacks targeting civilians. Accordingly, counter-terrorism is normatively understood to consist of …

“Voter Sans Voter?”: A Study Of Voter Participation In Bamako, Samantha Mclean

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Democracy, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” Democracy, as defined by Abraham Lincoln is: “of the people, for the people and by the people.” Democracy, as defined by one Malian citizen is: “une systeme qui permit un citoyen de dire ceux qu’il pense.” For some, the word evokes images of liberty and freedom, for others, images of deep rooted corruption and failure to serve a people. However, no matter how …

La Lucha Por Una Comunidad Sustentable Los Campesinos Tonocote De Breayoj: Manejo De Recursos, Desarrollo Y Elecciones, David Flannelly

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A study about the environment and sustainability has to be soley about topics solely relating directly to nature, right? With this preconception in my mind I went off to study an indigenous subsistence farming community in the northwestern region of Argentina. Initially I solely wanted to focus on the management of resources of the community, the trees, water, and animals. Fate had other plans for my indepent study project. I arrived in the community right in the middle of the last week of historical elections for the province and the community. A new political party of farmers and other poor …

The Interplay Of Peace, Justice, And Logic: Bali-Bawock As A Case Study For Inter-Ethnic Land Disputes, Masumi Hayashi-Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

his paper seeks to explore the conflict existing between two ethnic groups, the Bali-Nyonga and the Bawock, as a case study for inter-ethnic land dispute. Through the process of this study the researcher tried to look past arguments of logic in order to uncover the struggle for autonomy, the struggle for respect, and how damaging the muddy relationship between tradition and modernity can be. She found that ultimately models of mediation and dialogue were the most constructive in helping the conflict’s actors heal among themselves, and to develop the tools for interacting with a globalized society.

Teaching The War: What The Vietnamese Government Wants Students To Learn About The American-Vietnam War, Alex Joseph

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

By studying how the American-Vietnam War is taught in high schools and universities across Vietnam, the official government policies regarding the memory of the War can be uncovered. The Vietnamese Government completely controls the education system; therefore, the government is able to control the information that is taught to future generations regarding the War. What does Vietnam’s Government want its people to remember? And what facts does it want its citizens to forget? Looking at the government-approved “message” that is present in every Vietnamese textbook and history lesson, one is able to find the answers to these questions.

Ações Para Uma Melhor Vida: A Situação De Prostituição No Novo Eldorado De Juruti, Megan Whelan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In a short preliminary study carried out by the students of SIT Amazon 2008 in Juruti, the site of a Bauxite mineral extraction project of North-American company, ALCOA, the issue of the rapidly expanding prostitution industry became a prominent point of discussion with the members of the town. Taking into consideration the importance given to the issue by the community, this study was developed to examine further the issue of sexual exploitation in the town of Juruti, with the main objective of discovering the best actions to be taken to improve the well-being of the exploited women and children, according …

Educating The Forgotten: Non-Formal Education In Urban Kampala, Eleanor Huntington

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During the practicum period, the student researcher interned at MYDEL to gain a better understanding of the challenges and successes of the non-formal education (NFE) sector in urban Kampala, and in particular the Kisenyi neighborhood of Mengo. In the slum areas of Mengo, many children and youth are unable to afford school fees and thus are more susceptible to turn to a street life, which entails the following: extreme poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, young marriage, early childbirth, rape, or sexual abuse. MYDEL as an organization works to combat this cycle by instructing the children …

“Art As Direct Political Action:” An Investigation Through Case Studies And Interviews, Emily Meinhardt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In 1970, Artforum, an international magazine of contemporary art, conducted a survey of various important artists asking the following question: what is your position regarding the kinds of direct political action that should be taken by artists? The question was asked in relation to the “deepening political crisis in America,” the Vietnam War. The development of television brought images of war into American homes more dramatically and immediately than any previous conflict. Though the war was taking place abroad, the violence was made real to audiences, including artists, many of whom felt pressure to respond to the political situation. Around …

Past Meets Present: History Education In Northern Ireland, Will Ehrenfeld

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The inevitable question as a society emerges from conflict is how to deal with the past. Commemorate and remember or forget and move on? More importantly, how does this choice affect the participants in the conflict and other members of society—how is commemoration or disregard transmitted to the population? Looking around the world at societies emerging from all types and degrees of conflict, divergent approaches to this seminal question are taken at every turn. Centrally, societies must decide how to deal with perpetrators of violence; South Africa may have the most famous method for dealing with victims and perpetrators of …

Paradigms And Perceptions: A Chronology And Analysis Of The Events Of The Chan-75 Hydroelectric Project And The Roles And Relationships Of Participants, Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Jessica Barber

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The pending construction of the Changuinola 75 Hydroelectric Project (Chan-75) has sparked significant controversy as the affected communities, national non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) and international NGO’s have protested against the conduct of the project’s promoters, the AES Corporation and supporters, the Panamanian government. Located in the Bosque Protector Palo Seco, a buffer zone to La Amistad International Park, the Chan-75 hydroelectric dam project will have significant consequences for the biodiversity, flora and fauna of the area. The dam will also displace four indigenous Ngöbe communities, a traditionally marginalized and underrepresented group, as well as flooding the farmland of many others. Hydroelectric …

Surviving The War, Surviving The Peace: Supporting Women Survivors Of War-Rape And Domestic Violence In Medica Zenica, Zoë Brennan-Krohn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research sought to examine the transition from war to post-war services provided in a women’s non-governmental organization, Medica Zenica, located in central Bosnia-Hercegovina. Opened in 1993, in the midst of the war in Bosnia, Medica Zenica began providing support for war-rape survivors. Today, Medica Zenica is still running, but the majority of clients are now survivors of domestic violence.

By interviewing women currently and previously employed in Medica Zenica, I pieced together a picture of how Medica has evolved in the last fifteen years, as well as how these evolutions are seen as a reflection of changing society in …

Bringing Peace Home: Experiences Of Graduates Of The Peace Camps Run By The Center For Peacebuilding In Sanski Most, Bosnia And Herzegovina., Becca Asaki

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper focus on the experiences of participants in a program called Peace Camp conducted by the Center for Peacebuilding in Sanki Most, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It, then, analyzes the camps within the context of the field of conflict resolution. The Peace Camps are week-long workshops which analyze the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the personal experiences of the participants. The camps invite Serbs, Bosniaks, Croat, Roma, and others to collectively share their experiences and be trained in conflict resolution. This paper’s analysis looks at who attends the Peace Camps and why and their experiences meeting ‘the other’ and …

L’Augmentation Des Associations Dans « L’État Providence », Sara Haj-Hassan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project sought to study the increase in associations in relation to the disengagement of the state from the social sector. The researcher used both interviews and observational methods to analyze the reasons for this increase, and the importance the associations hold in the functioning of the state. Through direct participation and personal conversations with both association employees and service-users, the researcher was able to comprehend the multiple dimensions of the topic. The researcher then goes on to relate the existence of the associations to the fundamental French values.

¨En Este País No Se Habla Con La Verdad¨: Investigando La Falta De Educación Sexual En El Ecuador¨, Laney Rupp

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Subsidy Removal Effects On And Future Sustainability For Livestock Sector Of In The Northern Jordanian Badia, Christopher Jetter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study investigates the rationale behind the 2007 removal of the fodder subsidy in Jordan and the effects this had on livestock owners in the Northern Badia. Furthermore, it examines possible solutions for improving the efficiency of the sector as well as its sustainability. The government’s decision to lift the subsidy was due to the pressure of rising world cereal prices on the national budget deficit. Owners in the Northern Badia as a result had to sell off around half of their flock. Consequently, there has been a rise in disease among livestock as well as higher prices for consumers. …

Fighting The Man: A Case Study Of The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, Allison Grill

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study looks to develop an understanding of how marginalized communities throughout South Africa are bettering their own lives. A number of them have mobilized, some in larger numbers than others, to form a wide range of social movement organizations in the country. This paper uses one such movement, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, as a case study to examine how social movements have developed in post-apartheid South Africa. This paper will look at strategies utilized, obstacles faced and some of the people behind the Anti-Eviction Campaign to better understand its role in the mobilization and empowerment of local communities. …

Surfistas For Change: Building New Identity And Community In Poor Brazilian Communities Through Sport And Education, Stephanie Miller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of my research was to test the hypothesis that sports can be a preventative method for youth risk behaviors such as gang membership. My hypothesis was that sports could provide some of the same benefits as gang membership and other risk behaviors, but in a more healthy and productive way. To test this thesis, I spent three weeks researching the work of ARCA, the Associaçao Recreativa e Esportiva para Crianças e Adolescentes in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. While I studied all the projects of ARCA, I focused my research on their Escola do Surf, in the poor beach community …

Fighting The System From Within: Cmpio And Education Reform, Anna Marshall

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The current system of public education in Oaxaca is riddled with problems too numerous to list here. There is an obvious need for reform or for a new system all together. The argument presented in this paper is that the latter is not a feasible option for most in Oaxaca, especially for rural indigenous communities. For reasons explained throughout this study, it is necessary to work within the present confines of the existing education system in order to make significant improvements in the quality of education for these communities. Many activists seek to reject “the system” all together, but this …

The International Market, Globalization And Nafta: If Food Is Life, Why Have We Allowed It To Become So Dirty?, Abigail Dym

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Finding Balance And Identity: Second And Third Generation Immigrants In The Netherlands, Alexis Beveridge

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Netherlands has a large population of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants. With a population of approximately 16.6 million, almost 20 percent of the population is non-indigenous. Turkish and Moroccan immigrants each represent approximately one tenth of the entire population, together accounting for one fifth of the immigrant population. The Netherlands began accepting Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the 1970s. These immigrants were accepted as guest workers for manual labor jobs. Most historians agree that the first generation of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants did not intend to stay permanently in the Netherlands. Further, native Dutch people did not expect them to …

South Africa’S Unsung “She-Roes”: A Practicum Study Of Npo Grandmothers Against Poverty And Aids, Khayelitsha Township, Cape Town, Rachel Pryzby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Across Africa, the AIDS pandemic has forced HIV+ individuals and orphaned children into the care of elderly women. Though this has occurred in millions of families, little support has been offered for the grandmothers supporting children and grandchildren on a limited income. This study reports on a practicum study at Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS (GAPA), the first African organization to recognize the important role played by grandmothers in light of HIV/AIDS. The study was conducted in April 2008 at the GAPA center in Khayelitsha Township, Cape Town. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the organization’s origin, …

The End Of The Line: Understanding The Morocco-Algeria Border, Katherine Solberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The land border between Morocco and Algeria has gone through cycles of closure and opening over the past decades. This project set out to examine how the closed border has affected the lives of individuals in border towns, specifically Figuig. It explores the border’s effect on Figuig’s economy, smuggling, healthcare, land ownership, and familial relations. Through interviews, archival research, and participant observation, I found that none of these areas has been affected positively by the current border situation, but that there is no concrete solution in sight to fix the problems the closed border creates.

The 1916 Easter Rising: A History Of Commemoration, Emily Litwin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Before traveling to Ireland, I watched the film Michael Collins; aside from the single paragraph of text allocated to the 1916 Easter Rising in The Course of Irish History, the film shaped my understanding of the Irish fight for independence. As the semester progressed, this basic understanding evolved into a solid grasp of Irish history and politics. As a student of history with a specific interest in historiography, I aimed to structure my Independent Research Project (ISP) around Irish history so that I could delve deeper into my preferred field. Throughout the semester my intrigue piqued as I noticed how …

Child Labour And Microfinance In Morocco: Using Microfinance To Reduce Child Labour And The Case Of The Al Amana Microfinance Institution, Kristyn Schomp

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Approximately 218 million children are child laborers worldwide. These children work as agricultural workers, prostitutes, handicraft producers, and in virtually in every other form of employment imaginable. But although the problem of child labour has been one of recent international focus, there are still 126 million children involved in some form of hazardous work each year.

The existence of such statistics can be attributed in part to the complex and multi-faceted nature of child labour. Similarly, the reasons for child labour can range from economic and political instability, migration, lack of work, and/or poor school systems. Therefore, the reduction of …

Preludes To Violence: A Comparative Look At The Pre-Maquis Period And Contemporary Cameroonian Society, Mathew Welch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Union des populations du Cameroun (UPC) changed roles from a peaceful political organization to an underground militant one in late April of 1955. This study examines the reasons for which this revolution occurred, attempting to find modern parallels, with the goal of discerning the possibility of a future revolution in Cameroon. Extensive primary sources from the period were consulted, in addition to interviews with historians and sociologists for historical background, while periodicals, official studies, political scientists and economists were consulted for contemporary issues. Several individuals who were alive during the Maquis period were also interviewed. The study found that …