Sociology of Culture Commons^™

A Departure From Blood And Iron: A Comparative Analysis Of The Role Of Culture In Societal Reintegration Of Ex-Combatant Military Members And Reentry Of Ex-Convicts, Devon Danielle Lott

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

While there exists a multitude of information regarding the societal reintegration of both formerly deployed military members and ex-convicts, there is a lack of research comparing and contrasting each group's previous experiences and their effects on the processes of reintegration. From a national focus, the United States' incarceration rate is increasing and the recidivism rate between 2005 and 2010 was surveyed at seventy-five percent of prisoners being arrested again within five years of their release.1 From a military perspective in the United States, the rates of suicide among military members are exceeding the combat-related death rates for soldiers deployed to …

Object To Your Affection, Melissa J. Lauro

SURGE

Recently a guy in one of my classes defended objectification of women on the grounds that if he cares for a girl, he will treat her like he treats his most treasured objects; he used his coat as an example. He said that he loved his coat, he wouldn’t let it touch the ground, and he took great care of it; he would do the same for any girl he cared about, for “his girl.” [excerpt]

Global Flows And The Globalization Of Nothing: Synthesizing The Incongruous, Elliott H. Valentine

Black & Gold

Increasingly pertinent in contemporary society, globalization is a force that promises to change the way people interact with others in almost all aspects of life. As scholars attempt to theorize about such situations, disparate perspectives about the dynamics and possibilities of globalization arise. In order to develop a more comprehensive theory of globalization, this piece engages the theory of global flows and the five “-scapes” as presented in Arjun Appadurai’s Modernity at Large (1996), as well as George Ritzer’s conception of the globalization of nothing as presented in The Globalization of Nothing 2 (2007). A rich synthesis of these two …

Discussion Of Iran Awakening By Shirin Ebadi, Musselman Library

Iran: Beyond the Headlines

In preparation for our book discussion on Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi for our Iran: Beyond the Headlines series, we created some of our own discussion questions about the book. Please feel free to use for your own book discussion!

A Meal For The Man On The Redline, Stephen Lin

SURGE

These words will bite,

Acid bubbling

At the pit of your bowels

Vowels volatile won’t

Be easy to swallow. [excerpt]

The Algorithmic Self, Frank A. Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Education, Crystal C. Gray

Eddie Mabry Diversity Award

Education is a spoken word poem that explores many aspects of the African American struggle within (self-knowledge). It starts with an African American college student who is disappointed with the lack of courses about her culture. Most curricula in the United States tend to be from a Eurocentric perspective, leaving out a multitude of information about people of color. All groups of people of color have unique experiences, however, African Americans have the most known (or perhaps I should say, unknown) history. The standard explanation of their existence is often limited to the start of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, when …

Traditional Ecological Knowledge And Sustainable Food Sourcing: Dayutang Village, Hani Rice Terraces, Nina Whittaker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Reflecting on the importance of dynamic agricultural management techniques in addressing climate change and food security, this paper examines the Hani rice terraces of southern Yunnan as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). It identifies local inhabitants’ traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) as a key source of their success, and uses research conducted in Dayutang Village, Yuanyang County from May 4- June 2, 2015 through participative observation and guided conversation to explore the role of Hani TEK in sustainable food sourcing around the village. The TEK used in food sourcing in Dayutang is shown not only to provide villagers with …

Huggies, High-Fives, And Huismannen: Exploring The Masculinity And Everyday Experiences Of Dutch Stay-At-Home Fathers, Courtney C. Grey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This qualitative research study explores Dutch stay-at-home fathers, or “huismannen,” and their everyday experiences with their role and their own masculinity. There has been much research conducted on stay-at-home fathers within other countries and cultures, but the current research significantly lacks the perspective and voices of those within the Dutch culture. To gather these voices, oral history interviews were conducted with five Dutch huismannen, and the collected data were analyzed using gender theory focused on masculinity and current relevant literature. This analysis led to the conclusion that Dutch stay-at-home fathers create and conform to a complicit masculine identity. …

Herbs, Home Medicine, And Self-Reliance: A Study On The Current Status Of Traditional Home Medicine In Idukki District, Kerala, Richard Gaunt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Home medical knowledge, or knowledge of how one’s surroundings can be used to maintain and restore health, can be an important tool for health self-sufficiency in rural places as well as for the ecological conservation of important plants and natural materials. The Indian state of Kerala has a rich heritage of traditional medicine, found in the historically inter-related forms of codified Ayurveda and folk knowledge. In Idukki district, a region of Kerala nestled in the hills of the Western Ghats, rural households engage in small-scale home-gardening and agroforestry, which in addition to providing nutritionally diverse food is a source of …

Placeness: Mongolia A Call For The Creation Of A Human Impact Assessment, C. Winston Kies

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Sense of place, place-­‐based identities, and “placeness” are fundamental ways through which human beings understand their physical place in the world. The means by which most Mongolians—and indeed most human beings—strive for placeness is fairly simple. First, one decides what location will become their place. Their place may be predetermined (i.e. a birthplace) or chosen (based on the wildlife, the scenery, the neighborhood, etc.). Once one has a place, sense of place necessarily follows. One’s place becomes the standard by which locations are understood, and by which one understands oneself. The latter process constitutes the formation of place-­‐based identities, which …

Perceptions Of Potable Water In Rajasthan’S Jodhpur And Barmer Districts, Melissa Spross

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper looks at differences and similarities in various populations’ perceptions of safe drinking water (SDW) within Rajasthan (RJ), India, developing suggestions for future initiatives addressing the movement for safe drinking water for all. For this study, surveys were used; the survey was conducted in RJ, India, both in urban Jodhpur and in surrounding rural villages. To analyze the data, all the responses were entered into Excel format to discover patterns, themes and trends within four subtopics: access, storage, quality and cultural significance. The responses indicate that while a distinct water culture spans the geographic area, each different population retains …

Western Farmers’ Markets In Kathmandu: Vendor Perspectives, Caroline Saunders

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study seeks to understand Western farmers’ markets (FMs) in Kathmandu by understanding vendors’ motivations for attending FMs; and further, their perspectives on the purpose and potential for expansion of FMs in Kathmandu’s food economy. In the US and Europe, FMs are often seen in the literature as a component of a social movement (SM) called the ‘alternative food movement’ (AFM) concerned with environmental sustainability and social justice within the processes of food production and consumption (Isenhour 2012). FMs, a type of direct market that offer face-to-face interaction between producers and consumers, are a site for the transmission of values …

Deconstructing Counselling: The Complexity Of Psychosocial Support Services In Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Emily Luba

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research analyzes the psychosocial social support component of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) services in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. The objectives are (1) to define psychosocial support (2) to contextualize what services are being provided in Nakivale (3) to analyze what challenges exist for providing adequate support and (4) to discuss some strategies being employed by refugees and service-providers to combat these difficult circumstances.

56 semi-structured individual and group interviews and 2 focus group discussions were conducted to reach 96 respondents. This total includes Congolese, Rwandan, Burundian, Somali, and Ethiopian male and female refugees and organization representatives from the …

Transracial Adoption In Cape Town, South Africa: The Perspectives Of Black Young Adults, Emma Bilodeau

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent research project focuses on transracial adoption in Cape Town, South Africa. Specifically, this project tries to fill in the gaps of past research by providing how black young adults perceive white adoptive parents adopting black children in Cape Town. Past research has not focused solely on the perspectives of blacks. Therefore, this research will be increasing the literature around transracial adoption in Cape Town and in South Africa.

Since this form of adoption was only made legal in 1991, it is an extremely relevant issue in this country particularly since the minority race (whites) is adopting the majority …

The Effect Of Refugees On Jordanian Identity, Max Yenkin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Jordan has become known as the home for refugees from the crises that have occurred along its borders. Several waves of large groups of refugees have come to Jordan: 1948, 1967, 1991, 2003, and 2011-present, with copious amounts of refugees coming from different surrounding countries to Jordan. The Hashemite Kingdom is ruled through keeping relations between the Bedouin tribes that have lived in the area from the founding of the country. This has led to the denial of equality for former refugees who obtained citizenship as well as the other refugee populations in areas such as work and education. As …

Gender And Sexuality In Nepal: The Experiences Of Sexual And Gender Minorities In A Rapidly Changing Social Climate, Sophia Greene

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Gender and sexuality in current day Nepal is at the crux of a societal revolution, as the deeply ingrained patriarchal society framed against the emergence of new ideas results in a shifting social climate in which old and new clash. As modernization and economic development permeate Nepal, they bring with them individualistic ideals which gradually infiltrate society, altering long held social attitudes toward marriage, gender, and sexuality. However, despite societal change and even changing legislation for the rights of women and members of the LGBTI community, both of these minorities still face overwhelming discrimination and prejudice in Nepali society. Sexual …

Business, Education, And Enjoyment: Stakeholder Interpretations Of The Gettysburg Museum And Visitors Center, Ava M. Muhr

Student Publications

An anthropological study of the Gettysburg Museum and Visitors Center undertaken to understand the ways in which the visitor experience is conditioned by their own personal background, as well as filtered through the carefully constructed historical narrative created by museum historians, National Park Service rangers, and administrators. The Gettysburg Museum and Visitors Center is a site in which multiple stakeholders contend to ensure that their interpretations of the museum’s purpose is being upheld. This paper will examine the ways in which these various stakeholders – primarily NPS rangers, Civil War historians, and history buffs – interpret the catalyst(s) for constructing …

Utopian Visions In Radical Communities: Burning Man, Anthony J. Colella Sir

Capstone Collection

This research paper is a collection of utopian visions gathered from the Radical Community of Burning Man. The goal of this research is to collect a sample of utopian visions from this community, organize them, and share them in a way that can be effectively used in a professional and/or activist environment. Research was done in the fall of 2013 at the Burning Man Festival, in 2014 at a Regional Burning Man Event: Lakes of Fire, and with the Burner Community around these times. The primary research question is: "What are utopian visions of the 'Burning Man' radical community?" The …

Witnesses To Revolution, Colleen Cassingham

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My documentary follows two families 4 years after the Tunisian Revolution. All members in the Daly family from Sidi Bouzid participated in the revolution, and the Laroussi family in La Goulette had two brothers martyred on January 14^th, 2011. The film explores the effects of the revolution – emotional, economic, and social – on all the various family members. As we get glimpses into the daily life of two main characters, we see that reactions to the revolution are diverse, although the notion of the ‘Tunisian exception’ is held up to scrutiny by the overwhelmingly negative reactions to …