Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons^™

Issue 65, Autumn 2014, Society Of Bead Researchers

The Bead Forum: Newsletter of the Society of Bead Researchers

International Conference: Baltic Amber Across Time and Borders, by Karlis Karklins.

Differences In Cultural Perception In Websites, Andrew Allen

Open Access Theses

The goal of this research was to determine what elements of websites are tied to the value of individualism and collectivism when viewed by two different national cultures. The research determined whether two participant groups (United States or Chinese) looked at the same or different website elements when experiencing the website. The Website Experience Analysis protocol was used to create a questionnaire that the students filled out as they experienced the website, allowing the researcher to determine what elements of the website they were experiencing when focusing on a particular cultural or organization-public relation value. This research found that culture …

Did One Veil Give Women A Better Life?, Mary C. Westermann

Student Publications

Unfortunately, a young woman in Renaissance Florence did not have many options for her future. A woman's family usually decided whether she would be able to get married or would have to enter the convent, but sometimes she was able to make this choice. In this paper, I look at the lives of wives and nuns to analyze how their lives differed in responsibilities and freedoms, but also to see how all women had similar restrictions and expectations placed upon them.

The Problem Of State Intervention In Post-Abolition Slavery: A Critique Of Consensus, Anthony Talbott, David Watkins

Political Science Faculty Publications

Slavery is now illegal by all states and under international law. Contrary to the hopes of abolitionists, this state of affairs has transformed rather than eradicated slavery as an institution. Furthermore, responses by states to post-abolition forms of slavery have often been less than ideal. This paper begins by comparing two state responses to slavery in the early 20th century: the federal peonage trials in Montgomery, Alabama from 1903-1905, and the federal response to an alleged epidemic of “white slavery” from 1909-1910, culminating in the passage of the White Slave-Traffic Act. Taken together, these responses engender pessimism about the state …

“Education Should Be Number One”: Life Stories Of Migrant Crèche Teachers And Their Impact On The Early Childhood Education Of Vulnerable Youth, Romi Messer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project seeks to identify, examine, and analyze how the life experiences of African migrant women manifest in the aspirations, visions, and goals for their school children’s education and integration in society. The study focuses on the teachers and young children at the Union of Refugee Women’s Children Care Centre, an organization that provides early childhood education to children in refugee and economically disadvantaged communities. In this paper I explore how life experiences influence the curriculum and daily activities at the crèche as well as which skills the teachers find essential to pass on to the refugee and economically disadvantaged …

Dreaming Larger Than Life: Perceptions Of South African Black Wealth And Aspirations Of Success Among Young Adults At Wiggins Secondary School, Mikaela Zetley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project seeks to understand the aspirations and understandings of success of young adults at Wiggins Secondary School and how their dreams are impacted by their perceptions of black wealth as well as their social environment and experiences. By examining the way the students interact with black wealth, it is possible to better comprehend the influence of black wealth and ideas of middle class-ness on their definitions of success. This will further inform an understanding of the means by which they hope to live out their dreams. Specifically, I also investigate the impact of role models on definitions of success …

A Dynamic Blend: The Study Of Traditional Ghanaian Dance In Connection With American Hip-Hop And Tap, Hanna Stubblefield-Tave

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

• Objective: The goal of this study is to explore the composition of dance that blends traditional Ghanaian dance with movements from American hip-hop and tap. In order to achieve this goal, the objectives were:

i. To study traditional dances from West Africa, especially Ghana, including the movements, histories, and meanings

ii. To learn about the process of choreographing traditional dances for the stage, particularly as dances from other cultures are blended in

iii. To investigate the risks and rewards of the cultural exchange and transformation that occur when traditional dance is mixed with other forms

• Methodology: Research involved learning several …

Once Upon Our Time: The Ancient Art Of Storytelling In A Contemporary West Africa, Harlee Keller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Storytelling is an art form that has been flourishing in Senegal since the country’s origin. Traditionally, storytelling was a communal endeavor, oral and interactive. As modernity crept up on Senegal storytelling began to change, oral tradition only partially surviving in rural settings, almost completely obsolete in big cities. I am particularly interested in how Wolof tales and oral storytelling are surviving in a modernizing Senegal. I think that storytelling is a form of cultural education for children and adults alike, and that preservation is dire for the survival of this art. I will discuss story structure, content and the opinions …

The Ecology Of Infancy And Early Childhood In Rural Senegal; A Five Year Old Can Boot But Not Foot, An Exploration Of Where Biology Meets Culture, Heather Mills

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project explores the life stages of infancy and early childhood in the village of Ndiane in the Thies region of Senegal. I will discuss how biology meets culture to influence children, parenting styles, and expectations of the life stage. How does ecology, the interaction of physical, biological and cultural landscapes, characterize childhood and the intertwined belief systems that influence parenting? The information was gathered using a combination of participant observation and free list interviews.

Empowered For A Better Future: An Analysis Of Women’S Empowerment Through Gulu Women’S Economic Development And Globalization (Gwed-­‐G) Organization In Gulu, Uganda, Jessica Wightman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study aims to determine the motivating factors that women in Gulu District, Uganda have for joining empowerment programs, how their perception about their own empowerment has changed over time, and the role one non-­‐ governmental organization (NGO) has played in assisting in these women’s empowerment. Data was gathered through 12 personal, semi-­‐structured interviews with the assistance of a translator when necessary. Ten of the subjects currently participate in empowerment programs through Gulu Women’s Economic Development and Globalization (GWED-­‐G), a local NGO. The two remaining subjects are staff members at GWED-­‐G and served as key informants to this study. The …

Rough Hands: Family Conceptions Of Rural Morocco’S Agricultural Labor, A Case Study, Leah Kahler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Conceptions of success for people in any capitalist context are tangled with social hierarchies of work. The rural women of Morocco have been specifically singled out as the objects discourses about their domestic and agricultural work, agency, gender identity and role, and their use of private and public space ownership. This project will examine the justifications, conceptions, and satisfaction with rural-agricultural work in a small-scale family farm in Morocco’s Al Hoceima province. Using the case study approach, I will live with a family in Sidi Bouafif and work alongside the family for an eight-day fieldwork period. Through participant observation and …

Human Trafficking In Morocco: A Focus On Sub-Saharan Migrant Women, Ladarrien Gillette

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to report on the situation of exploited and trafficked Sub-Saharan migrant women in Morocco. With the lack of legal framework to recognize or combat human trafficking my research focuses on the broader context of trafficking as a means to exploit mostly women in regards to sexual assault. Since the crime is not explicitly defined within Moroccan penal code there are no specific organizations dealing with survivors of trafficking but there are a few that indirectly address women migrants. The irregular situation of migrants in Morocco makes their involvement with being trafficked more complicated than …

Who Are You Wearing? A Study Of Moroccan Fashion Discourse, Identity Performance, And Social Change, Leah Michalove

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Clothes and their consumption become almost invisible in their very ubiquity, yet fashion acts as a sort of optical litmus test for the mood of society. Clothing can express cultural norms, serve as shorthand for social grouping, and provide a kind of corpus of visual allusion; in short, clothes and how we wear them constitute a system of signification, a visual language as dynamic, complex, and arbitrary as any spoken communication. I set out to investigate the grammar and syntax of Moroccan fashion, to explore what the diversity of observed choices meant to the people who made them and how …

The History Of The Dance Cards Of Gettysburg College, Jessica N. Casale

Student Publications

The annual dances at Gettysburg College were the most popular social activity for students for over fifty years. The dance cards held in Special Collections at Musselman Library sparked an interest in the history of these dances and why they are not continued today. This research project uncovers the reason for the sudden extinction of a social event once adored by college students. It includes the prevalence of Greek life on campus and its effect on social life.

The History Of Glatfelter Hall, Kelly E. Tinkham

Student Publications

A history of one of the oldest buildings on the Gettysburg College Campus, Glatfelter Hall. The paper covers the time period from the construction of the building in 1888 to after its first major renovation in 1929.

The Cult Of Campus: An Analysis Of Gettysburg College Students’ Fixation On The Physical Aspects Of Their Campus, Jeffrey L. Lauck

Student Publications

This research paper takes a critical look at how Gettysburg College students interacted with a select few areas on and off the campus grounds both in the 1920s and the 2010s. This work focuses specifically on how these interactions have changed or remained the same. The majority of research was collected through Gettysburg College publications like The Blister and Cannon Bawl, which can be found in the Special Collections at Gettysburg College's Musselman Library.

Dwight Eisenhower, The Warrior, & John Kennedy, The Cold Warrior: Foreign Policy Under Two Presidents, Andrew C. Nosti

Student Publications

This paper presents a comparison between President Eisenhower and President Kennedy's foreign affairs policies, specifically regarding the Cold War, by examining the presidents' interactions with four distinct Cold War regions.

Distributed Media In The Age Of Eisenhower: Political Buttons, Rachel C. Loughran

Student Publications

This paper describes the purpose and effectiveness of distributed campaign materials in the context of President Dwight D Eisenhower's 1952 and 1956 elections. It analyzes campaign buttons and political cartoons distributed by the Eisenhower administration to determine how they furthered the image Eisenhower wished to convey during his campaigns. This image is presented by applying certain aesthetic qualities to the campaign materials.

The Influences Of The Musselman Family, Yifei Zhang

Student Publications

For almost a century, the Musselman family has had huge influences on Adams County, PA. Many of those contributions are unknown by people today. So, based on the research of the Musselman Canning Company and the two Musselman Foundations, this paper is a study of the impacts the Musselman family has had on others and how it has achieved that influence. The main primary sources include the company’s publication, The Processor, the articles on local newspaper, and the collections in the Special Collection in Gettysburg College’s Musselman Library.

The Struggle For Recognition: Muslim American Spokesmanship In The Age Of Islamophobia, Nazia Kazi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The events of 9/11/2001 intensified the hypervisibility of U.S. Muslims, making them the subject of academic, artistic, and cultural curiosity. Alongside this public hypervisibility came a campaign of institutionalized Islamophobia, manifest in such measures as the anti-Muslim legislation of the USA PATRIOT Act. The result for Islamic Representative Organizations (or IRO's) was that combatting Islamophobia became a central concern. In this dissertation, I consider the multifaceted and complicated politics of representation used by IRO's in the aftermath of 9/11. I consider both the negative, or Islamophobic, and the so-called positive, or Islamophilic, representations of U.S. Muslims in the discourse of …