Anthropology Commons^™

Pabean Sangsit: A Cultural Study Through The Lives Of One Family, Sylvie Kovnat

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this Independent Study Project was to investigate life in Bali as a cultural and religious minority. I had already spent nearly two months with my family in Bedulu, a typical Hindu Balinese family, and I was curious to see how other people in Bali live. I decided to spend the ISP period in Pabean Sangsit, living with a Muslim family with Bugis roots. The main question I wanted to answer through this study was: What is life like in Bali for the religious and cultural minority? I decided to look into religion, culture, and daily activities to …

Utopian Marketization And The Historical Fate Of Rural Society: Sideng Village, Shaxi Township, Ilona Nanay

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In his analysis of post-Mao China, historian Maurice Meisner writes, “it was the countryside where the majority of the Chinese people live and work, that was first to feel fully both the economic dynamism and the social destructiveness of a market economy” (Meisner 460). Meisner’s statement underscores how the commercialization of the rural economy changed rural society. Deng Xiaoping’s ascension to power in 1978 marked a re-articulation of state orthodoxy that prioritized economic development. The era of ‘reform’ was launched in the countryside with the break up of the communes and the introduction of the household responsibility system. What are …

Views From The Road: An Inquiry Into The Meaning Of Development In Lower Mustang, Tracy Pecher

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

By considering the new road that connects the urban center of Pokhara to the previously isolated region of Lower Mustang, this paper examines the impacts of development in the area. I focus on the varied perspectives of three sets of individuals in the area: the founder of an NGO focused on agricultural development, youth from villages surrounding Jomsom, and a Canadian woman who settled in small village with her Thakali husband. I combine these personal accounts with an analysis of development on a broader scale, discussing a range of themes including conceptions of culture, education, and poverty. I emphasize that …

Taangaanga Te Peu Rarotonga-Investigating Rarotongan Core Values, Aue Te Ava

Pacific Studies

This study explored Rarotongan core values that elders in Rarotonga considered might be important for inclusion in a physical education program. To date, there has been no study on Rarotongan core values in physical education. The study of Rarotongan core values will benefit Rarotongan schools in the area of physical education. This will revive some of the cultural traditional practices that have been discouraged. Rarotongan core values will encourage students' participation in physical education. Findings of the study address the needs of a policy that will enhance students' participation in physical education if used in a culturally responsive way.

Book Review Forum: Reverse Anthropology: Lndigenous Analysis Of Social And Environmental Relations In New Guinea, Conservation Is Our Government Now: The Politics Of Ecology In Papua New Guinea, Jamon Halvaksz

Pacific Studies

Kirsch, Stuart. Reverse Anthropology: Indigenous Analysis of Social and Environmental Relations in New Guinea.

West, Paige. Conservation Is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea.

Review: JAMON HALVAKSZ

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO

Book Review Forum Response: Reverse Anthropology Redux, Stuart Kirsch

Pacific Studies

Kirsch, Stuart. Reverse Anthropology: Indigenous Analysis of Social and Environmental Relations in New Guinea.

West, Paige. Conservation Is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea.

RESPONSE: STUART KIRSCH

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

The Poetics Of The Ancestor Songs Of The Tz’Utujil Maya Of Guatemala, Linda O’Brien-Rothe Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

This essay attempts to define the relationship between a song tradition that survives in the Mayan highlands of Guatemala, and 16th century poetic Mayan literature. This song tradition of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala is slowly disappearing as the socio-cultural context in which it flourished changes. By comparing the poetics of the song texts (including their rhythmic structure, versification, and use of poetic devices such as assonance, alliteration and onomatopoeia) to the poetics of the Popol Vuh, a K’iché Maya text probably copied from a manuscript that predates the Spanish invasion, a continuity is discovered that places the song texts squarely within …

Dani Rodrik. One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions And Economic Growth. Princeton, Nj: Princeton University Press, 2007., Mukti Upadhyay Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

No abstract provided.

Participant/Observer Vol. 3. No. 1 Spring 2010, Anthropology Department

Participant/Observer

A Newsletter for Friends of the Western Michigan University Department of Anthropology

Table of Contents:

• WMU Anthropologist and NSF Awardee, Bilinda Straight is Featured Author at Conference on Global Health and Violence
• Letter from the Chair
• Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project: 2009 Field Season Summary
• Kalamazoo Valley Museum hosts RACE exhibit
• A Magic Field Season in the Eocene of Wyoming
• Mastodon Bones Identified in Biological Anthropology Lab
• In The Spotlight: Brent Metz is the Distinguished Alumni Award winner
• Meet LouAnn Wurst
• News from the Lewis Walker Institute
• Conference Participation
• Faculty News
• Mammoth in Allegan County
• Alumni News

Fort St. Joseph Post - Spring 2010, Department Of Anthropology

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Vol. 1. No. 1.
For friends of Western Michigan University’s Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Table of Contents:

• Letter from the Principal Investigator of the project
• What we do in the “off” season
• Laboratory Updates
• Undergraduate Perspectives: David Lang & Kelly Schulze
• Student News
• My Archaeological Experience By: Kyle Woods
• In Memoriam: Grafton (“Grif”) H. Cook, II
• Introducing… the Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Advisory Committee
• Watch for These Exciting Events this Summer!
• Fort St. Joseph Wish List
• Upcoming Events

Another Hole In The Head? Brain Treatment In Ancient Egyptian Mummies, Andrew D. Wade, Andrew J. Nelson, Gregory J. Garvin

Anthropology Presentations

Perhaps the most sensational and best-known feature of Egyptian mummification, the removal of the brain, is commonly attributed to the New Kingdom onward (e.g. [1]). Variability both within and between excerebration techniques, however, is poorly appreciated in the literature [2], and reporting of excerebration is often inconsistent, greatly simplified, or simply absent in descriptions of mummified remains, making detailed comparative studies difficult if not impossible.

The goals of this study were to demonstrate:

• variability in mummy excerebration techniques
• temporal and status trends in brain treatment
• the limitations of the literature for large studies

This study focuses on computed tomography (CT), …

Ang 6766 Research Methods, Rebecca K. Zarger

Service-Learning Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Getting High: An Inside Look Into College Students' Lives With Type 1 Diabetes, Amber Spiewak 11

Outstanding Ethnographic Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Saving The Surfer Identity: The Paddle-Out Ceremony, Charles R. Thomas, John Hawkins

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The circle has many forms within Surf Culture, including the lei. The Circle in the Paddle-out is known as the Symbol of Eternity.

The Paradox Of English In Tonga: Attributed Status Vs. Social Aversion, Pauline Tuitavuki, John Hawkins

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

My research took place among young adult Tongans, ages 18-30 on the main island of Nuku'alofa in the last remaining Pacific Kingdom of Tonga where Tongan and English are both recognized as official languages. Previous research in Tonga shows that robust sectors of the economy, involving business, tourism, and education, requires English language proficiency for good employment. Consequently, Tongans highly esteem English proficiency, although my experience revealed English practically non-existent in daily communication. Why? Divulging, interviewing, and surveying the impacts of English, past, present, and future, presented three main reasons for social aversion toward speaking English which for them, often …

Volunteer Experience At The Museum Of Peoples And Cultures, Sadie J. Lee, Paul Stavast

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

As BYU’s “teaching” museum, the MPC provides a setting where BYU students can gain real museum experience. Under the mentorship of professional staff, museum class students and student employees are responsible for researching, developing, and installing exhibitions; processing and cataloging incoming and current collections; and organizing and cataloging excavation notes and other collection records. Beyond classes and employment, the MPC also provides an oft-overlooked educational experience for student volunteers. Under the supervision of student employees, volunteers provide assistance in creating and distributing educational materials, cataloging collections, organizing records, and other tasks necessary for the daily maintenance of museum operations. I …

Book Review Forum: Remapping New Guinea, Joe Bryan

Pacific Studies

Kirsch, Stuart. Reverse Anthropology: Indigenous Analysis of Social and Environmental Relations in New Guinea.

West, Paige. Conservation Is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea.

Review: JOE BRYAN

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER

Much Ado About Mutton: An Interview With Deborah Gewertz And Frederick Errington, Rebecca Lane, Christine Smith

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

Ant 4442 Urban Life And Culture, Lance Arney

Service-Learning Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Windmills And Walls: A Social Club Harnesses The Winds Of Change In Brandenburg, Taylor C. Merkley, John Hawkins

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The town of Lüttein Brandenburg, Germany survived a fire in 1833, but faced a bigger threat to its survival when the Wall tumbled down. Residents began to move away for better jobs and the older population began to dwindle as the local economy looked bleak. Despite these challenges, the residents have found a way to revitalize their community using what is already available to them. In the former East Germany, where many rural towns face depopulation and isolation, the thriving, modern town of Lütte maintains its distinct agrarian character and outward connections. The local club Vere in “Altes Haus” successfully …