Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons^™

The Museum As An Inclusive Community: A Blueprint For Moving Forward, Howard P. Scott

All Master's Theses

The focus of this study is museum accessibility for patrons with disabilities. The history of museums and their evolution into institutions that strive to create an inclusive community means that many aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as well as the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 are applicable. Developing a tool for assessing museum compliance with the law was key to gathering data to use for improving compliance with the law. Using this data and comparing current compliance in four museums to three major legal cases against museums showed common areas for improvement in accessibility in all …

Discourses Of Menstruation: Public And Private Formations Of Female Identity, Emily G. Matteson

Scripps Senior Theses

Menstruation is a biological process, but it is also laden with cultrual meanings that produce society's understandings of both the body and "womanhood." The experiences of those who menstruate both reveal and inform the ways that culture mediates the relationships between biology, the body, sex, and gender. This study examines the ways that students at Scripps College, a women's college in Claremont, CA, understand and experience menstruation as part of living in an environment where the majority of students identify as female. Through ethnographic interviews, I demonstrate the ways that students use menstruation to re-envision distinctions between public and private …

Transnational Marriage: Modern Imaginings, Relational Realignments, And Persistent Inequalities, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

In the context of shifting cultural anchors as well as unstable global economic conditions, new practices of intimacy and sexuality may become tactics in an individual’s negotiation of conflicting desires and potentials. This article offers reflection on the interface between global forces, powerful transcultural narratives, and state policies, on the one hand, and local, even individual, constructions and tactics in regard to sexuality, marriage, migration, and work, on the other. The article focuses on the life trajectory of Gudiya, an ambitious young Hindu woman who started out life with little social capital and few economic resources in a dusty corner …

America The Yogiful: Insights Into American Yoga Culture Today, Carolina Castaneda

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Originally a spiritual technology, yoga has been practiced in India and surrounding areas for thousands of years. In the late nineteenth century the practice of yoga gained popularity as a physical, mental and spiritual commodity among the masses in America and the world. Yoga is now a globally recognized fitness routine, part of the everyday lives of men and women seeking relaxation, stretching and mental sanity. In today’s fast paced world it is easy to understand yoga is appealing to the masses, however, as a yoga practitioner myself I often wondered if Americans are gaining all the benefits of the …

Perspectives On The Nature Of Science From A Group Of Students Attending Predominantly Hispanic West Texas High School, Cameron King Wilson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The United States is falling far behind the rest of the world in its ability to fulfill its needs for qualified workers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The Hispanic population is now the largest minority in the United States but is proportionally underrepresented in the STEM fields today. It is shown that students who have a good understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) are far more likely to be interested in science which may lead to an interest in careers in STEM fields. There is very little if any research identifying Hispanic high school students' view …

Older Adults’ Contributions To The Tsimane Forager-Farmer Economy, Eric Schniter

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Portfolio of original photographs and an accompanying essay about the role of elders among the Tsimane, an indigenous group living in the Bolivian Amazon.

Sustainability Policy’S Inherent Dilemmas – Exemplified Via Critical Examination Of The Las Vegas Metropolitan Sustainability Campaign, Kathryn A. Zimmerman

All Master's Theses

In response to a dual problem of critical water scarcity and rapid population growth, leaders of metropolitan Las Vegas implemented a region-wide, internationally marketed sustainability campaign. Preliminary studies found that, while sustainability policy attains its rhetorical goals, solutions initiated not only perpetuate but also purposefully expand the original dual problem to justify continuous water resource acquisitions. To examine this sustainability conundrum constructed by leadership—problem-perpetuation rather than problem-resolution—a critical examination in resource management asked two basic questions: what is being sustained and by what means? Via this inquiry, specific processes by which leaders perpetuate problems can be identified; and, so-informed, new …

Positional Plagiocephaly Among Tribal Societies And Contemporary Western Societies: A Comparison Of Treatments, Results, And Effects, Jacinda Rose Ruggles

Honors Program Theses

This study explores the two causes of positional plagiocephaly, or abnormal head shape in infants as well as effects and treatments. To do so, two groups were chosen for comparison: contemporary western societies and tribal Native American societies. In the first group, the medical condition known as positional plagiocephaly is considered before, during and after the Safe to Sleep campaign of the 1990’s. In the second group infant head flattening is discussed as a result of cradling practices and carrying techniques. The importance of this study is to contribute new insight into positional plagiocephaly and its treatments. The study combines …

La Violencia En El Fútbol: El Caso De América Latina, Corey X. Argumosa

CMC Senior Theses

In Latin America, violence inside and outside of soccer stadiums has generated negative publicity and has given the sport a negative image. This violence is often premeditated and carried out by the barrabravas, organized groups of radical fans who have strong senses of identity and attachment to their soccer club. Members of these groups are mainly young men from lower socio-economic backgrounds who have found themselves to be marginalized by society. Moreover, these groups are usually employed by club officials, and even have connections with politicians and political parties. This thesis will closely examine this issue, performing case studies of …

Strategic Deployments Of ‘Sisterhood’ And Questions Of Solidarity At A Women’S Development Project In Janakpur, Nepal, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

Linguistic uses of ‘sisterhood’ provide a window into disparate understandings of relationality among virtual and actual interlocutors in women’s development across vectors of caste, class, ethnicity and nationality. In this essay, I examine the trope of ‘sisterhood’ as it was employed at a women’s development project in Janakpur, Nepal, in the 1990s. I demonstrate that the use of this common signifier of kinship with culturally disparate ‘signifieds’ created a confusion of meaning, and differential readings of the politics of relationality. In my view, ‘sister,’ as used at this project, was a multivalent, strategically deployed, and divergently interpreted term. In particular, …

The Impact Of National And Organizational Cultural Differences On International Joint Venture Performance, Rizwan Tahir

Business Review

The purpose of this study is to theoretically explore how national cultural differences, organizational cultural differences and trust between partners can influence IJV performance. Findings from previous studies have been mixed, and this study attempts to address the relationship and performance issues by theoretically advancing a model to explain the inconclusive results found to date. Based on previous research, the findings of this study are as follows. Firstly, in terms of the relationship between national cultural differences and IJV performance, differences in the national cultures of IJV partners adversely influence IJV performance. Secondly, in the case of the relationship between …

Review Of 'How We Die Now: Intimacy And The Work Of Dying,' By Karla Erickson, Jennifer Davis-Berman

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

How We Die Now: Intimacy and the Work of Dying takes the reader on an engaging journey through the terrain of aging in America, with an emphasis on how our ideas about aging itself have changed the way we view death in the United States and even the way we actually die. This book has an authenticity to it, as Erickson admits that her own experience with aging and death compelled her to enter this world and study from the perspective of insiders, those who care for older adults and the actual elders themselves. Based on hundreds of hours of …

Indigenous Engagement And Resistance In The 21st Century: Empowering Indigenous Identity With Indigenous Film, Heather A. Hafer Cole

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Indigenous people of the United States have historically been and continue to be objectified and misrepresented in art, history, science, literature, and mass media. This continued colonization contributes to loss of respect for culture, identity crisis among indigenous youth, health disparities of epidemic proportions, poor performance in education, substance abuse, violence and poverty. This qualitative study expands upon existing scholarship in media anthropology (Dilworth, 1996; Ginsberg, 1991 & 2008; and Prins, 2002) and indigenous studies (Rader, 2011; Singer, 2001; and Tuhiwai Smith, 2012) by analyzing the indigenous voice expressed through media practice, storytelling as a tool for empowering indigenous identity …

The Benefits And Detriments Of Non-Profit Organization Work In Underdeveloped Countries Across Africa, Collyn Mccarty

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

From Mill Gates To Magic City: U.S. Steel And Welfare Capitalism In Gary, Indiana, 1906-1930, Carol D. Griskavich

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Gary, Indiana is a city with indelible ties to industrial paternalism. Founded in 1906 by United States Steel Corporation to house workers of the trust’s showpiece mill, the emergence of this model company town was both the culmination of lessons learned from its predecessors’ mistakes and innovative corporate planning. U.S. Steel’s Progressive Era adaptation of welfare capitalism characterized the young city through a combination of direct community involvement and laissez-faire social control. This thesis examines the reactionary implementation of paternalist policies in Gary between 1906 and 1930 through the purviews of three elements under corporate influence: housing, education, and social …

Dīpaṅkara Buddha And The Patan Samyak Mahādāna In Nepal: Performing The Sacred In Newar Buddhist Art, Kerry Lucinda Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Every four years, in the middle of a cold winter night, devotees bearing images of 126 Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and other important deities assemble in the Nepalese city of Patan for an elaborate gift giving festival known as Samyak Mahādāna (“The Perfect Great Gift”). Celebrated by Nepal’s Newar Buddhist community, Samyak honors one of the Buddhas of the historical past called Dīpaṅkara. Dīpaṅkara’s importance in Buddhism is rooted in ancient textual and visual narratives that promote the cultivation of generosity through religious acts of giving (Skt. dāna). During Samyak, large images of Dīpaṅkara Buddha ceremoniously walk in procession to the …

Supplementing Society: A Sociocultural Analysis Of Recreational Drug Use And Supplement Consumption Within The American Collegiate Environment, Kelli M. Bradley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the United States, reports within the last decade indicate college students are using dietary supplements at rates well above those reported for adult populations. Despite this prevalence, however, there continues to be a dearth of information examining behaviors related to this health phenomenon. This is problematic for many reasons, but especially because some research has found associations between use of these products and use of recreational drugs among this population.

Employing an integrated theoretical approach utilizing concepts from critical-interpretive medical anthropology (CIMA) and emerging adulthood, this research examined the ways in which supplement use related to sociocultural factors present …

Book Review Of: The African Genius: An Introduction To African Cultural And Social History, Basil Davidson, Tufail A. Qureshi

Business Review

Book review, Africa, Culture, Social history

Self-Reliance Beyond Neoliberalism: Rethinking Autonomy At The Edges Of Empire, Karen Hébert, Diana Mincyte

Publications and Research

Across scholarly and popular accounts, self-reliance is often interpreted as either the embodiment of individual entrepreneurialism, as celebrated by neoliberal designs, or the basis for communitarian localism, increasingly imagined as central to environmental and social sustainability. In both cases, self-reliance is framed as an antidote to the failures of larger state institutions or market economies. This paper offers a different framework for understanding self-reliance by linking insights drawn from agrarian studies to current debates on alternative economies. Through an examination of the social worlds of semisubsistence producers in peripheral zones in the Global North, we show how everyday forms of …

Cultural Factors Associated With Utilization Of Antenatal Care Services In Rural India, Anjali Om

Undergraduate Research Posters

Despite vast economic growth in developing countries in the past few years, infant mortality continues to plague underdeveloped regions, particularly rural regions of India. Many of these deaths are caused by a lack of education and motivation in regard to utilization of antenatal and neonatal care services to prevent and treat consequences of unhygienic umbilical cord care.

For years, high incidences of neonatal tetanus have plagued rural areas of India as a result of cultural practices that encourage topical applications of cow dung to cut umbilical stumps either directly or by using ghee heated with cow dung to warm umbilical …