Anthropology Commons^™

Virtual Communities As Egalitarian Societies: Why Contributions Matter And What They Mean, Kristen E. Rodgers

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

This study involves a content analysis of participation and contributions within a virtual community message board. Research focuses on evaluating virtual communities as egalitarian societies and determining what benefits group members receive from participating in and contributing to these communities. Two message board virtual communities were selected for analysis using the methodological approach of netnography. Though many past studies have labeled virtual communities as egalitarian, no clear application of the social structure theory has been applied and analyzed against such a community; this study aims to fix that and identifies key components of egalitarian societies present in virtual communities. Furthermore, …

America Hates The Westboro Baptist Church: The Battle To Preserve The Funerals Of Fallen Soldiers, Kendra L. Suesz

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) has gained national attention over the past several years with their fiery protests at the funerals of soldiers killed in action. Citizens outraged by the actions of the WBC pressured the lawmakers in 45 states to enact legislation curtailing the protesters’ access to funerals. Claiming that the laws infringe upon their First Amendment rights, the WBC has challenged these legislations in court, and will continue to do so. While the lawmakers are struggling to enact effective barriers against the WBC’s access to funerals, the American public has taken matters into their own hands. At many …

Nebraska's Traditional Cultural Properties In The Section 106 Process, Karen A. Steinauer

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Archeologists engaged in cultural resource management and compliance are charged with measuring “historic” properties against legal standards for purposes of federal protection. This thesis focuses on one kind of property, the Traditional Cultural Property (TCP), within the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 process, where sometimes in practice the terms TCP and sacred site are used interchangeably. This thesis strives to bring precision to TCPs, provide a concise reference, and, through inspection and analysis of four case studies of Nebraska properties, critique the present process for identifying and evaluating TCPs.

The Structure Of Energy Production And Redistribution Among Tsimane' Forager-Horticulturalists, Paul L. Hooper

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation constitutes an integrated analysis of the Tsimane' economic subsistence system. Its analyses are guided by a body of evolutionary theory which posits that life history traits, the structure of social relationships, and nature of economic production co-evolve in patterned and predictable ways. This theory specifically suggests that, for humans, the returns to embodied capital development and declines in reproductive efficiency late in life interact to produce: prolonged development, extended lifespan, menopause, and a predominantly downward three-generational system of energetic provisioning. The current analyses of Tsimane' work effort, production, and transfers are consistent with this theory in the following …

Consequences Of Contact: An Evaluation Of Childhood Health Patterns Using Enamel Hypoplasias Among The Colonial Maya Of Tipu, Amanda R. Harvey

Master's Theses

Located in western Belize, Tipu was occupied from 1541-1704. This Colonial Maya population from a Spanish visita mission church was analyzed to investigate health disturbances associated with European contact. Dental defect called enamel hypoplasias were scored to assess childhood health. Standard methods of scoring (Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994) were employed to assess frequency, severity, and type of episode in the permanent anterior dentition. For analysis, 325 individuals were placed into age groups of subadults (6-17 years), younger adults (18-35 years), and older adults (36-50+ years). The population was also considered for differences by sex and tooth type.

Results showed a …

Shady Grove Site (22qu525) Quitman County, Mississippi: Analysis Of Demographics And Mortuary Practices, Stacy Ann Scott

Master's Theses

The Mississippian Period (A.D. 1000-1500) is distinguished by reliance on stable agriculture, sedentary ranked populations, and production of prestige goods. Sociopolitical structure was based on kinship, wealth, and power, and can be revealed through the local mortuary programs. This thesis explores the mortuary practices observed at an ossuary at Shady Grove (22QU525), a small mounded center in Quitman County dating to the Early Mississippian Period, based on demographics, burial mode, cemetery location, and associated grave goods.

The Burial 43 ossuary, excavated in 2010 contained stacked bundle burials of at least 78 individuals. All age groups and both sexes were present. …

Happiness Around The World: The Paradox Of Happy Peasants And Miserable Millionaires, Carol Graham

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

For centuries the pursuit of happiness was the preserve of philosophers. More recently there is a burgeoning interest in the study of happiness in the social sciences. Can we really answer the question what makes people happy? Is it grounded in credible methods and data? Is there consistency in the determinants of happiness across countries and cultures? Are happiness levels innate to individuals or can policy and the environment make a difference? How is happiness affected by poverty and by progress? This presentation introduces a line of research which is both an attempt to understand the determinants of happiness and …

Mohaennanji & Fatima Sadiqi (Eds.) Gender And Violence In The Middle East. London/New York: Routledge. 2011., Mahesh Sharma

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

"Not If, But When": Sex, Risk, And Trust In Timing Gardasil Vaccine Decisions, An Exploratory Study Among Healthcare Providers And Middle-Class Parents In The U.S., Kathleen Marie Brelsford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research explores how values regarding sexuality, morality, responsibility, protection, trust, and risk — expressed through parent, daughter, and healthcare provider relationships and interactions — inform parental decisions regarding the Gardasil® vaccine. In particular, the research examines the competing and conflicting meanings that parents and providers ascribe to vaccination and how actors position the vaccine within a wider set of negotiated, value–laden discourses. Because these narratives are situated within a larger structural field that shapes the landscape in which providers and parents interact, relevant historical and structural factors, including vaccine policy, cost, and compensation are discussed.

Human Rights Law And Military Aid Delivery: A Case Study Of The Leahy Law, Winifred Tate

Faculty Scholarship

Explicitly prohibiting US military counternarcotics assistance to foreign military units facing credible allegations of abuses, Leahy Law creation and implementation illuminates the epistemological challenges of knowledge production about violence in the policy process. First passed in 1997, the law emerged from strategic alliances between elite NGO advocates, grassroots activists and critically located Congressional aides in response to the perceived inability of Congress to act on human rights information. I explore the resulting transformation of aid delivery: rather than suspend aid when no “clean” units could be found, US officials convinced their Colombian allies to create new units consisting of vetted …

Edited Collections: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, Chris Perkins

Journal of International and Global Studies

Review essay on:

• J. Snyder, (Ed.). Religion and International Relations Theory. New York: Columbia University Press. 2011.
• G.Tameme, W. T. Bagatelas, D.Reichardt, and B. S. Sergi. Studies in Contemporary International Relations and Politics. Leverkusen Opladen: Budrich UniPress Ltd. 2010.

Harsh V. Pant. China’S Rising Global Profile: The Great Power Tradition. Brighton, Portland, And Toronto: Sussex Academic Press. 2011., Jason Lim Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Cultural Traditions And The Treatment Of Freeriders, Christina Pomianek Ph.D., Craig T. Palmer Ph.D., Reed L. Wadley Ph.D., Katherine Coe Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Evolutionary approaches to the explanation of human behavior are often employed in hypotheses about the toleration and punishment of freeriders. Despite the explanatory potential of evolutionary perspectives, many such perspectives ignore the unique human factor that has influenced the economic, social, and political contexts within which, up until very recently in human existence, reactions to freeriding always occurred. This human factor is the role of cultural traditions (i.e., behaviors passed down from ancestors to descendants). Cultural traditions necessarily play an important role in identifying, defining, preventing, and determining the treatment of freeriders because many traditional moral codes apply specifically to …

Neoliberal Dispositif And The Rise Of Fundamentalism: The Case Of Pakistan, Masood Ashraf Raja Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

While developmental theorists rely heavily on analysis of macro and micro economic theories and developmental sequencing, not much attention is paid to the undeniable linkage between the post-seventies liberalization of global economies and the rise of different kinds of religious fundamentalism. This article suggests that there is a strong connection between neoliberal economics and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. The rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan can be directly linked to the insertion of performative religious acts, predominantly Islamic, into the national public sphere during the rule of Zia-ul-Haq. Since that time, the public sphere in Pakistan has been increasingly …

Martin Parr In Mexico: Does Photographic Style Translate?, Timothy R. Gleason Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

This study analyzes Martin Parr’s 2006 photobook, Mexico. Parr is a British documentary photographer best known for a direct photographic style that reflects upon “Englishness.” Mexico is his attempt to understand this foreign country via his camera. Mexico, as a research subject, is not a problem to solve but an opportunity to understand a photographer’s work. Parr’s Mexico photography (technique, photographic content, and interest in globalization, economics, and culture) is compared to his previous work to explain how Parr uses fashion and icons to represent a culture or class. This article argues Parr’s primary subjects, heads/hats, food, and Christs, are …

What Schooling Engenders: Reflections From Arab States, Muslim Societies And Beyond, Charis Boutieri

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review on:

• Osama Abi-Mershed (Ed.). Trajectories of Education in the Arab World: Legacies and Challenges. Routledge. 2010.
• Sakurai Keiko and Fariba Adelkhah (Eds.). The Moral Economy of the Madrasa: Islam and Education Today. Routledge. 2011.

The Israel-Palestine Conflict: The View From Jerusalem, Simon A. Waldman

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review on:

• Hillel Cohen. The Rise and Fall of Arab Jerusalem: Palestinian politics and the city since 1967. London: Routledge. 2011.
• Menachem Klein. The Shift: Israel-Palestine from Border Struggle to Ethnic Conflict. New York: Columbia University Press. 2010.

The Dilemmas Of The Conflict, Khinvraj Jangid

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review on:

• Elizabeth G. Matthews (Ed.). The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Parallel Discourses. Routledge. 2011.
• Sapir Handelman. Conflict and Peacemaking in Israel-Palestine: Theory and Application. Routledge. 2011.

Patrick Mceachern. Inside The Red Box: North Korea’S Totalitarian Politics. New York: Columbia University Press. 2011., Elena Kolesova Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

No abstract provided.

Roksana Bahramitash And Eric Hooglund, (Eds.). Gender In Contemporary Iran: Pushing The Boundaries. New York: Routledge. 2011., Vika Gardner Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

No abstract provided.