Anthropology Commons^™

The Search For "Strong Medicine": Pathways To Healthcare Development In Remote Nepal Using Gis, Catherine Lee Sanders, Kimber Haddix Mckay

Anthropology Faculty Publications

Nepalese agropastoralists’ confrontations with forces of change in the last generation have altered villagers’ abilities to gain access to health services, clean water, and nutrition in Humla District, Nepal. Development efforts and Nepal’s recent armed conflict, in particular, introduced novel technologies and ideologies that a subsection of villagers have responded to in a fashion that we did not expect. In this article, based on theories about the diffusion of innovation and risk, we argue that, together, villagers and other change agents have cocreated new contexts of vulnerability in the postconflict setting of rural Nepal, as observed in remote Humla District. …

Depictional Study Of Chariot Use In New Kingdom Egypt, Lisa Sabbahy Dr.

Faculty Book Chapters

The present work is the result of the First International Chariot Conference, jointly organised by the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) and the American University in Cairo (AUC) (30 November to 2 December 2012). The intention of the conference was to make a broad assessment of the current state of knowledge about chariots in Egypt and the Near East, and to provide a forum for discussion.

A wide variety of papers are included, ranging from overviews to more detailed studies focusing on a specific topic. These include philology, iconography, archaeology, engineering, history, and conservation. The book is of interest to …

“Babies Aren’T Persons”: A Survey Of Delayed Personhood, David F. Lancy

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

To better understand attachment from a cross-cultural and historical perspective, I have amassed over 200 cases from the ethnographic and archaeological records that reveal cultural models (D'Andrade and Strauss 1992) of infancy. The 200 cases represent all areas of the world, historical epochs from the Mesolithic to the present and all types of subsistence patterns (Appendix 1). The approach is inductive where cases with similar models of infancy are clustered into archetypes. My principal finding from this analysis is that, in the broadest overview, infants are, effectively, placed on probation and not immediately integrated into the society. Attachment failure is …

'Deviant' Burials In Archaeology, Jesslyn E. Hodgson

Anthropology Publications

The term ‘deviant’ is used to describe burials that deviate from the normative burial rites of a given society, at a given point in time. The problem with applying such a term to the archaeological record rests predominantly in the fact that the term ‘deviant’ has a negative connotation. This negative connotation insinuates that the individual in the burial context may have been viewed by their society in a negative light, however, through analysis of case studies it is shown that many ‘deviant’ burials are not in fact burials of people viewed as deviant, but ‘different’ burials given to people …

Differences In Intergenerational Fertility Associations By Sex And Race In Saba, Dutch Caribbean, 1876–2004, Julia Jennings, Paul W. Leslie

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

This study examines the intergenerational transmission of fertility behavior in Saba, Dutch Caribbean from 1876 to 2004 using reconstituted genealogies. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients of several fertility measures and event-history models of age at first birth are used to explore relationships between the fertility of mothers and their children. The strength of intergenerational fertility ties varies by race and gender. Individuals that are better positioned to realize their fertility preferences have the strongest intergenerational associations, while individuals with the most limited reproductive options have the weakest intergenerational associations. This evidence supports hypotheses that posit the intergenerational transmission of attitudes, goals, …

Socioeconomic Differences In Body Mass Index, Neighborhood Satisfaction, Stress, And Perceived Racism Among African Americans In Metropolitan Detroit, Corey Zolondek

Wayne State University Dissertations

This exploratory study tested the research hypothesis that among African Americans in Metropolitan Detroit, neighborhood satisfaction, stress and perception of racism influence obesity differently based on income. The three expected results for the data were as follows: income does not have a link to obesity; links between BMI and the study variables (neighborhood satisfaction, stress, and perceived racism) vary according to income category; and the study variables (neighborhood satisfaction, stress, and perceived racism) influence the variability of BMI differently according to income category. The results indicate that there are no income differences in how the study variables influence obesity. Therefore, …

The Diagnosis Narratives & The Healing Ritual, James Peter Meza

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE DIAGNOSIS NARRATIVES & THE HEALING RITUAL

by JAMES PETER MEZA

December 2013

Advisor: Dr. Andrea Sankar

Major: Anthropology (medical)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The goal of this dissertation was to describe healing practices in the setting of clinical encounters between patients and doctors. The theoretical background for this research began with the theory of the mind and using concepts from cognitive anthropology described the anthropological self as distinguished from person or identity. Additionally, the conceptual framework of cognitive anthropology was used to describe narrative theory. Narrative theory in the form of the narrative structure of experience, particularly the …

Public Buildings And Civic Benefactions In Western Rough Cilicia: Insights From Signaling Theory, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

In the Hellenistic and Roman world of the eastern Mediterranean, Greek and Greco-Roman cities came to be defined by their physical cityscape. These buildings were constructed by specific city institutions, such as the council and the assembly, and financed through city funds, mass subscription and, importantly, public benefactions. Public benefactions, which also included support for festivals and competitions, were made by certain elite and usually wealthy individuals to the benefit of a defined community of citizens (and sometimes non-citizens, as in the case of fortification walls). Institutions within the benefiting community, again the council and the assembly, acknowledged these gifts …

Flirting With Conversion: Negotiating Researcher Non-Belief With Missionaries, Hillary K. Crane

Faculty Publications

This article discusses Crane’s research in a Taiwanese Buddhist monastery. Crane came to the field as a former Catholic, which provided a particular lens through which to perceive the phenomena she researched. Beyond the difficulties of having one's research interests misinterpreted by the community one is researching and the ambiguities that result from remaining open to conversion when studying religious communities, Crane examines the further difficulty confronted when researching religious personnel who have an interest in representing their religious ideals both to and through the researcher. The article examines Crane’s time in the Buddhist monastery and explores her personal ambivalence …

The Adjustment Of Asian American Families To The U.S. Context: The Ecology Of Strengths And Stress, Yan Ruth Xia

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The number of Asian American families is on the rise. Asian American families are a diverse group. This chapter focuses on Asian American families that migrated to the United States in the last three decades. This chapter challenges the media’s depiction of them as a Model Minority. Because of this stereotype, many challenges that this group encounters may not gain adequate attention. The chapter examines their strengths and resiliency, along with the ecology of stress that influences family dynamics.

Emotion Meaning-Making: Identity, Discourse And Social Interaction Among Arab Immigrant Healthcare Providers, Anne Katz

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation sought to deepen understandings of emotion and its role in human personal and social life by exploring how a group of Arab immigrant health care providers, involved in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in one clinic in the United States, assign meaning to emotion. Affectively charged and fluid, often involving conditions of disruption and dislocation, the experience of migration offers a fertile place in which to examine the roles that social and interpretive practices play in constituting emotional experience. Due to increases in patterns of migration associated with globalization, mental health diagnoses are often arrived at …

Sharing And Sustaining Maya Environmental Heritage In Southern Belize, Rebecca K. Zarger, Kristina Baines

Publications and Research

This paper documents an approach to sharing and sustaining Maya environmental and cultural heritage through the development of a primary school curriculum and associated activities in order to bring cultural knowledge and practices to formal school settings. Methods include long-term ethnographic research on environmental knowledge and practices in two Maya communities in Toledo; participatory workshops with educators; iterative consultations with district educators, community leaders, and families; and community for a focus on discussions of how and whether such information could be integrated into formal schooling. Curricula and content for workbooks, radio shows, and field guides are comprised of both generalized …

Personal Profile: Amanda Ndemo Archeological Accessibility Through 3-D Laser Scanning, Rebekah Rifareal

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

The familiar signs that chide visitors to refrain from touching historical artifacts in museums would have no place in Dr. Bernard Means’ Virtual Curation Laboratory. Thanks to the innovative, fast-paced world of 3-D scanning, senior Amanda Ndemo had an archeological site at her fingertips, all while staying in Richmond for the VCU Honors Summer Undergraduate Research Program (HSURP).

Sabry, Somaya Sami, Arab-American Women’S Writing And Performance: Orientalism, Race, And The Idea Of The Arabian Nights, Jeana Jorgensen

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

Computational Analysis Of The Body In European Fairy Tales, Scott Weingart, Jeana Jorgensen

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This article explores how digital humanities research methods can be used to analyze the representations of gendered bodies in European fairy tales, a flexible and pervasive genre that has influenced Western children's education and acquisition of gender identity for centuries. By blending the theoretical and methodological concerns of folkloristics, gender studies, and large-scale scientific research, this article demonstrates the utility of cross-disciplinary collaboration in asking traditional questions of traditional materials with new methods. To facilitate this research, a hand-coded database listing every reference to a body or body part in the 233 fairy tales was created. Analysis revealed strong indications …

Sorting Out Donkey Skin (Atu 510b): Toward An Integrative Literal-Symbolic Analysis Of Fairy Tales, Jeana Jorgensen

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This article debates the merits of fairy tale interpretive frameworks that privilege the psychological and symbolic, versus those that utilize a literal and feminist orientation. Using ATU 510B as a test case, for its intriguing blend of real-world elements and the fantastic, the author suggests that a synthesis of literal and symbolic theories allows for the fullest understanding of the polyvalent meanings of tale, which is particularly problematic due to its depictions of incest. Drawing examples from canonical as well as contemporary versions of ATU 510B, various psychoanalytic and feminist interpretations of the tale type are put to the test, …

The Black And The White Bride: Dualism, Gender, And Bodies In European Fairy Tales, Jeana Jorgensen

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Fairy tales are one of the most important folklore genres in Western culture, spanning literary and oral cultures, folk and elite cultures, and print and mass media forms. As Jack Zipes observes: ‘The cultural evolution of the fairy tale is closely bound historically to all kinds of storytelling and different civilizing processes that have undergirded the formation of nation-states.’¹⁴³ Studying fairy tales thus opens a window onto European history and cultures, ideologies, and aesthetics.

Sibyl 2013, Otterbein University

Otterbein University Yearbooks

No abstract provided.

Community-Based Approaches To Mental Health And Conflict Resolution In Post-Conflict Libya, Amanda Lubit

Anthropology Theses

Post-conflict Libya faces the challenges of establishing a national health system that is capable of addressing mental health needs for a population traumatized by decades of repression and a recent war. In order to recover, traumatized populations require feelings of safety, calm, empowerment, connectedness, and hope. To help achieve this outcome, programs must focus on medical and social aspects at both the individual and community level.

As part of an internship experience, I worked with Dr. Omar Reda, a Libyan psychiatrist at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) who helps communities, organizations and mental health professionals throughout Libya to address …

Resurrecting Old Pattonia: Uncovering The Lifeways Of A 19th Century Shipping Port Community, Zachary M. Overfield

Sociology & Anthropology Theses - Archive

An East Texas steamboat landing community, known as Pattonia, operated from 1843 to the late 19th century. Here I attempt to identify what socioeconomic stratification and consumerism on the landscape meant for the daily lives of Pattonia's past occupants. In order to address this question, I interpret the architectural features that once stood at Pattonia and their spatial organization. Additionally, I conduct a ceramic analysis of two household assemblages with unknown occupants in order to determine their relative socioeconomic status and reconstruct the social landscape of Pattonia. These methods enable a greater understanding of the unique historical and social significance …