Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons^™

Where Have All The Utopias Gone? Ritual, Solidarity, And Longevity In A Multifaith Commune In New Mexico, Linda Prueitt Hansen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Utopian experiments creating new forms of community have dotted the globe throughout human history. Despite grandiose visions, a majority of communal experiments have faded quickly into oblivion. A wealth of scholarship has focused on reasons why communes typically fail. My research of an ecumenical commune in northern New Mexico examines what has facilitated its perpetuation for over 42 years. I participated in this community for different periods of time for over three years. With the assistance of a resident oral historian, I was able to expand my study into a diachronic view that spanned decades. I conclude that there are …

Glynn, Luanne Carol (Aylesworth) (Fa 518), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 518. This collection contains tape recorded interviews (28) conducted by Luanne Glynn with Ellis Yeargin Hurt (1900-1994) of Cadiz, Trigg County, Kentucky. The interviews relay Ellis's life history.  The project also includes an interpretive paper, a project proposal and summary as well as tape indexes.  This project was the result of a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

"My One Regret...": The Case For Cultural Immersion In Study Abroad Programs, Kevin Geyer

Honors Scholar Theses

Study abroad has been an established institution in US universities for almost a century, and hundreds of thousands of students travel to all corners of the world every year. While many list some degree of cultural immersion as a main goal, most students have a difficult time achieving this. Drawing from interviews with twenty-five UConn undergraduates that studied abroad, this study attempts to identify factors that hold students back from cultural encounters. The study also discusses the 'success stories' of undergrads that made significant connections abroad, and highlights the factors that can lead to this (e.g., homestays, jobs, internships).

The Economic Importance Of Draught Oxen On Small Farms In Namibia's Eastern Caprivi Region, Andrew B. Conroy, Mogos Yakob Teweldmehidin

Natural Resources & the Environment

The main aim of this study was to analyse and document the value of smallholder farmers’ use of Draught Animal Power (DAP) systems in the Eastern Caprivi Region and to test the economic viability of DAP usage versus using tractors. This study applied Rapid Rural Appraisal techniques (RRA), including a survey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 312 farmers at their farms and data was gathered on the use of and economics related to the draught animal power system. Crop enterprise budgets, project reports, expert opinions and group discussions were analysed. The research found that the use of animal power performs …

The Places Of Birth: Navigating Risk, Control, And Choice, Hannah E. Emple

Geography Honors Projects

Through qualitative research in the Twin Cities, Minnesota and a literature review grounded in health and feminist geography, this paper analyzes how women, their families, and health care providers view and navigate places of birth. Over four million births occur annually in the United States, making birth the most common reason for hospitalization of women. Although 99% of women in the U.S. give birth in hospitals, a small but vocal minority seek alternative places to birth – primarily at home. Where to give birth is a contested subject infused with social and political significance. I suggest that place is highly …

Houses In A Landscape: Memory And Everyday Life In Mesoamerica, Julia A. Hendon

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

In Houses in a Landscape, Julia A. Hendon examines the connections between social identity and social memory using archaeological research on indigenous societies that existed more than one thousand years ago in what is now Honduras. While these societies left behind monumental buildings, the remains of their dead, remnants of their daily life, intricate works of art, and fine examples of craftsmanship such as pottery and stone tools, they left only a small body of written records. Despite this paucity of written information, Hendon contends that an archaeological study of memory in such societies is possible and worthwhile. It …

Female Condom Knowledge, Attributes And Behavior: Barriers To Use And Potential For Acceptance Among Sexually Active Undergraduate Students, Paige Nuzzolillo 6368479

Honors Scholar Theses

Minimal research has been conducted on the acceptability of the female condom among college populations despite its existence in the world market since 1992. The FC2, an improved version of FC1, has recently been released in the United States, thus prompting the need for further acceptability studies. Due to increasingly high rates of STDs among those aged 15-24, every method of protection against STDs/HIV and pregnancy must be utilized. This study involved a campus-wide survey which examined University of Connecticut (Uconn) main campus (Storrs) undergraduate students’ knowledge of the female condom, perceptions of and attitudes towards the female condom as …

Negotiating Everyday Islam After Socialism: A Study Of The Kazakhs Of Bayan-Ulgii, Mongolia, Namara Brede

Geography Honors Projects

Using ethnographic interviews and participant observations from the Kazakh community of Bayan-Ulgii, Mongolia in June 2009, this study examines how Islamic discourses, practices, experiences, and scales of influence are negotiated in post-socialist Central Asia. To do this, local, national, and transnational dynamics of Mongolian Kazakh religious practice are considered alongside the individual-scale mediating roles of personal preference, social position, life course, power, and social networks. Islam in Bayan-Ulgii is shown to be integral to community and ethnic identity but also multifaceted, dynamic, and multi-scalar, militating against essentialist portrayals of Islam as monolithic or dichotomously split between “high” and “low” forms.

"All The World's A Stage": Parental Ethnotheories And Children's Extracurricular Activities, Mary Annette Grove

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the United States, educators, parents, policy makers, politicians, the media, researchers, and practitioners in many academic fields have taken an interest in outcomes for children aged 6 to 14 who participate in extracurricular activities outside of school time. Very little research examines parents' beliefs about and behaviors surrounding their children's participation in extracurricular activities. Yet, it may be parents' beliefs that guide choices about and persistence in extracurricular activities. This study used a phenomenonlogical and qualitative approach toward understanding parents' ideas and beliefs about their child's participation in extracurricular activities. These ideas and beliefs or parental ethnotheories are what …

Impacts On Maternal Diet In A Transitional Community In Rural Costa Rica: Potential Implications For The Developmental Origins Of Obesity-Related Disorders, Allison Cantor

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis examines maternal diet in a rural, transitional community in Costa Rica. Using cross-cultural categories recognized in the ethnographic literature (i.e. dietary taboos, dietary prescriptions, food cravings and the acknowledgment of a special post-partum period diet), maternal dietary practices were identified in the local community through surveys (n=45) and participant-observation (n=5), and to reflect the actual consumption patterns of pregnant and nursing women in the area, 24-hour diet recalls were administered to 5 pregnant or nursing women. In light of the recent changes that increased tourism has brought to the Monteverde Zone, focus groups were employed to determine impacts …

Chicos Del Horno: How Adobe Oven-Roasted Corn Became A Local, Slow, And Deep Food, Devon Peña

NACCS Annual Conference Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Issue 56, Spring 2010, Society Of Bead Researchers

The Bead Forum: Newsletter of the Society of Bead Researchers

The Application of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Spectrometry in the Characterization of Glass Degradation in Beaded African Art, by Maria Fusco and Robert J. Speakman.

Babylon By Tro-Tro: The Varieties Of Rasta Identity And Practice In Ghana, Jonathan Tanis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

1. Title: Babylon by Tro-Tro: The Varieties of Rasta Identity and Practice in Ghana

2. Author: Jonathan Tanis ([email protected]; University of Southern California)

3. Objective: Intrigued by the lack of scholarship in Ghana on the highly visible and prominent Rasta culture, I sought to examine aspects of Rastafari identity and practice including the following:

a. How the Rasta identity is defined, constructed and maintained by both Rastafarians and non-Rastafarians of varied backgrounds.

b. How Rastafarians perform and express said identity through specific practices

c. The importance of iconography and symbolism in transmitting Rastafarian identity, and the negotiation of identity through …

Ang 6766 Research Methods, Rebecca K. Zarger

Service-Learning Syllabi

No abstract provided.

The Kora And Korafolaw: A Treatise On The Musical Instrument And Those Who Play It, William Ridenour

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“The kora is what they play in heaven” a friend once told me. I agreed with him, easily. Ever since I first heard the kora played in the United States, my interest in it and the culture that produced it has deepened. Being able to carry out research on it has been a blessing and a pleasure.

All of my fieldwork was done in Bamako, the capital of Mali between April 15th and May 7th 2010. I spent most of my time in the company of the venerable jeli and korafola Dialy Mady Sissoko, who more or less adopted me …

Ant 4442 Urban Life And Culture, Lance Arney

Service-Learning Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Desenterrando La Verdad: El Equipo Argentino De Antropología Forense Y La Continuación De La Búsqueda Para Los “Desaparecidos” = Unearthing The Truth: The Argentina Forensic Anthropology Team And Search For Argentina’S “Disappeared”, Frederica Tunnard

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Thirty four years after the military dictatorship in which 30,000 Argentine citizens were kidnapped, tortured, and murdered, their families and Argentine society as a whole continue to search for the truth of what happened to their “disappeared.” This search, however, has not been easy. To start, the military leaders carried out their reign of terror in incredibly secret ways – burying many bodies in unmarked mass graves or, famously, throwing bodies out of airplanes in the Atlantic Ocean – making the recovery and identification of the remains almost impossible. Although organizations like the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team and the Latin …

Introduction: Environmental Justice Movements For A Post-Capitalist World, Devon Peña, Kathryn Blackmer Reyes

NACCS Annual Conference Proceedings

No abstract provided.

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 …