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HERE FOLLOW THE COMBINED ABSTRACTS
FOR THE MEETING, ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY BY AUTHOR
Joel Amnott (University
of South Florida)
Anthropologists and
Other Friends (§3.2)
This paper discusses the way communities respond to the anthropological
research – and anthropological researchers – that they host. There will be a particular focus on the
ethnography of Ireland,
drawing from both the ethnographic literature on Ireland
and my own fieldwork there. I will
address specific issues raised concerning the relationship between
anthropology, anthropologists, and the subjects of anthropological inquiry,
and discuss the way the studied public's perception of anthropology shapes
both the work we do and its place in the world outside the academy.
Samuel
Avery-Quinn (University
of Tennessee)
Camp Meeting Revivals in Southern Appalachia (§3.3)
In
a number of Southern Appalachian communities, camp meeting revivalism remains
a dynamic force in the construction of place and heritage. Camp grounds in
these communities, some established in the early decades of the 19th century,
serve not only as memorial landscapes, but as liturgical space that continues
to facilitate performances of Methodist group identity for local
congregations. Such communal and congregational heritage sites have been
resilient through two centuries of significant social, economic, and, for
Methodists, organizational change. At one campground in Knox
County, Tennessee,
congregational records, oral sources, and landscape archaeology suggest that
camp meeting architecture and the multiple meanings it can provide as an
agent of both communal memory and performed identity seems
a significant component of this resilience.
Myrdene Anderson (Purdue University)
and Devika Chawla (Ohio University)
Mentor, Mentee Metalogue (§6.2)
Which
comes first: the respondent (mentor-ethnographer), the
interrogator
(mentee-nascent ethnographer), the discourse form
(metalogue
a-la Gregory Bateson)?
Willlie L. Baber (University
of Florida),
Robert Aronson (UNC-Greensboro), Tony Whitehead (University
of Maryland)
Gender, Androgyny, and Whitehead’s Big Man Little Man Complex (§9.1)
Masculinity has been
operationalized in prior research as either an inverse relationship to
femininity, or in terms of how masculine one
is, i.e., trait masculinity relative to other men. Either definition confounds what we should
be able to surmise about masculinity as learned behavior, i.e., masculinity
includes behavior independent of an inverse relationship based on gender
alone, or an inverse relationship with hyper-masculinity at one extreme. If
gender is learned, then masculinity is defined by what men believe they
should do, and what some men actually do, as men. The context for action, ultimately, is
embedded in consanguinity or conjugal relations. As conjugal ties for African American men
are weak historically, and for reasons related to community survival, those
based upon descent carry greater strength in the socialization
processes. Men and women bond with mothers
where descent is certain and in the absence of fathers (and not by the “free”
choices of men) mother-centeredness is valued highly. Siblings bond with each other. As a consequence of this, many African
American men are androgynous. As noted in the earliest beliefs about
masculinity, identification of men with fathers as noted in the work of Freud
and men’s identification with patriarchy, constitute the earliest notions of
masculinity. To some extent these views
of masculinity also evolved as beliefs about what men should do, and what
some men actually do, within African American Communities, particularly among
those more affluent economically.
Georgia Ellen Beilmann (Millsaps College)
Albania: Religion, Identity, and Solidarity (§1.2)
This paper is the study of the religious culture of
Albanians under an oppressive communist hegemony that outlawed all religious
practices. I traveled to the Shala
Valley of Albania in June of 2005.
While there I conducted interviews as well as observed the material
culture of the people in order to understand their religious practices under
communism. What I found were instances
of the secret practice of religion, otherwise known as crypto-Christianity,
as well as the melding of religious practices, also known as religious
syncretism. I found that the religious
identity of Albanians in the Shala Valley
is relatively malleable for personal as well as political purposes.
Grammar,
Graveyards, and Growing Up:
New
Work on Language and Gender – §8.1
Organizer and Chair: Margaret Bender (Wake Forest University)
This panel brings together exciting new original research
on language and gender conducted by students at Wake
Forest University. The three papers consider the ways in which
language use (re)produces ideologies of gender and genders specific human
referents or addressees in particular ways.
Blake explores early childhood language socialization in a rural,
white Southern community as documented in home video; Dillard studies the
ways in which the language of obituaries treats men and women differently;
McIntyre studies the role of the passive voice in newspaper reports about
sexual assault.
Masculinity and the Crises (?) of Modernity
– §9.1
Organizer and
Chair: Margaret Bender (Wake Forest University)
Gender change, particularly as it affects masculinity, is
sometimes characterized in the social scientific literature in terms
of crisis. Masculinity has been
particularly susceptible to this form of analysis when changing roles of
women and associated gender ideologies have been seen as threatening
“traditional” forms of masculinity. In post-colonial contexts, it has also been
common to see the asymmetrical cultural encounter as producing a gender
crisis—a loss of “traditional” forms of
masculinity without a concomitant suppletion of “modern” ones, which remain
inaccessible. In a variety of ways,
the papers in this panel address and challenge this notion of post-colonial
crisis, considering the complex and dynamic intersection of longstanding
cultural patterns with current social and economic realities.
Margaret Bender (Wake Forest University)
The Semiotics of
Self, Gender, and Tribe in Kiowa, Comanche, Apache and Chickasaw Discourses
of Fatherhood and Masculinity (§9.1)
Drawing on sixteen in-depth interviews conducted in 2004
and 2005 with Oklahoma Kiowas, Comanches, Apaches and Chickasaws, this paper
will explore the role of local cultural histories in the shaping of beliefs
and practices related to fatherhood and masculinity. The paper will explore the mobilization of
historical and community figures, oral traditions, and cultural institutions
in local discourses of fatherhood and masculinity and how these local
discourses intersect with relevant discourses of tradition and modernity. It will consider the semiotic functions of
specific cultural figures, events, and institutions, such as tribal political
leaders, the Kiowa Blackleggings Society, Christian churches, and the
Chickasaw Trail of Tears in the interviewees’ understanding of their own lives
as men and as fathers and in their discussions of what it means to be a
Kiowa, Comanche, Apache or Chickasaw man and father.
Philip Bishop (University
of South Florida)
Social Sciences and
Inquiry Methodology (§2.2)
Since the adoption of the division of labor amongst
academics, disciplines have become over specialized and place artificial
boundary conditions on what counts as scholarly pursuit of a given subject
matter. A stripe of philosophical thought known as Pragmatism has offered two
thinkers, Charles Sanders Peirce and John Dewey, and a methodology of inquiry
in an attempt to delineate the very same boundaries. However, when viewed
pragmatically, the disciplines should be seen more holistically and without
said artificial constraints. This paper will explore what inquiry methodology
will delineate as boundary conditions for the social sciences.
Natalie Blake (Wake Forest University)
A Linguistic Study
of Parental Influence on Gender Concepts of their Children in White, Middle
Class Families in Montgomery County, North
Carolina
(§8.1)
Recent research suggests that gender, a socially
constructed concept based on the supposedly dichotomous characteristics and
actions of males and females, permeates Western childrearing. To investigate
the implication of this claim, the author presents a linguistic analysis that
examines gender-stereotyped discourse in the amateur home videos of six
families living in rural Montgomery County, North
Carolina. The paper explores the use of directives,
repetition, question usage, and intonation contours. Finally, stereotypical
gender discourse and action of children will be examined to determine whether
gendered acts are stimulated or encouraged by the parent or are more
autonomously produced by the children. The paper ends with a summary of the
combined data from the six families, allowing the reader a general sense of
gender construction and language patterns among white, middle class Montgomery
County families with children
born from 1976 to 1987.
Rosanna Michelle Boylan (University
of West Florida)
R. A. P. E. – RAPE
Affects People Everywhere! (§6.1)
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution states
that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United
States.
But it does, and not only in the United States but also by countries
around the world. RAPE is not just a
crime against the female gender; it also affects the male gender and our
environment. In an effort to ease our
society, we have adopted other terms to
lessen the harshness of the reality of RAPE by saying there are different
kinds of RAPE: statutory RAPE, date RAPE, human trafficking for sex
exploitation, incest, female genital mutilation, etc. While this paper does not question the
situational differences of these cases, I bring emphasis to the idea that the
core since of rape as violation of a person’s humanity need stronger social
and legal recognition at all levels of cultural expression.
Chelsea
Bullock and Kindall Scarborough (Columbus State University)
Continuity of
Factors Contributing to Homelessness in Rivercity (§6.3)
Key informants, poverty agency workers, agree that the
factors contributing to poverty have not changed in the last decade, however
they do not always agree on what the major contributing factors are.
Teresa Campbell (Appalachian State University)
Jerrietta's Struggle: One Woman's Lost
Voice (§3.2)
In recent years, there has been a growing recognition that
the standardized forms of ethnographic representation
that have dominated anthropological writing are (1) inadequate in
communicating the lived experience of humans and (2) represent an inordinate
amount of power over people on the part of the ethnographer. With emerging critiques of ethnographic
representation, I suggest the personal narrative once again has a place in
ethnographic writing, as an instrument which allows the ethnographer to
afford those living under oppressive conditions the voice they have been
denied, while bringing to life their very real suffering. Here, I demonstrate the ability of
narrative writing to humanize cultural studies and reach over walls of
ethnicity and class, by presenting the powerful story of one woman's life, as
told in her own words.
Becky Chapman (University
of Texas Arlington)
Preliminary Ceramic Analysis of a
Preclassic Deposit at Blackman Eddy,
Belize (§8.3)
Recent
excavations at Blackman Eddy, Belize,
have uncovered a dense deposit of cultural material just above bedrock in
Plaza B. Consisting of whole and
partial vessels faunal remains, lithics, and freshwater shells and associated
with extensive burning; this primary deposit dates to the transition between
the Middle and Late Preclassic, coeval with the site's earliest monumental
architecture. This paper describes the ceramic assemblage and associated
remains in the deposit, arguing that they likely reflect a single ritual
event associated with early construction efforts and specifically explores
the ritual context of jar usage beyond their primary function as containment
vessels.
Becky Chapman (University
of Texas Arlington)
Abstract for
Syncretism Discussion Panel—
The Use of Biblical
Typology and Classical Iconography in Romanesque Reliquaries (§11.2)
Reliquaries and altarpieces of precious metal and stone
were used throughout medieval times as a form of visual communication to
religious worshippers. The reliquaries were highly decorated containers meant
for secure housing of the relics of saints. At its height during the
Romanesque period, twelfth century religious artifacts of the Mosan artistic
tradition were used to reinforce the strength of the Capetian dynasty. French
and Germanic royalty and members within the Roman Catholic Church used a
combination of biblical typology and classical iconography to communicate a
new theological message to the public through select examples of Mosan
metalwork. Reliquaries containing fragments of the True Cross from the Royal
Abbey of Saint Denis united the worldly power of the Roman Emperors to the
royalty by connecting earthly power to divine authority. This authority was
derived from humanistic ideas drawn from Roman philosophers and biblical
text.
Cristine Chapman (University
of West Florida)
Rape: A Non-Scientific Explanation (§6.1)
Through my research on rape most of the causal theories
can be placed into one of three broader categories feminist, social or
cultural learning, and biological. Most rape and sexual violence prevention
programs utilize a feminist construction of
rape. The theories of rape subsumed under the broader category of feminist
rape theories assert that culture and varying degrees of misogyny are the
root cause of rape. The feminist theory does not accept that biology may be a
component of the root cause of rape. This paper examines the various theories
that fall into the broader category of biological explanations for rape. Is
there a biological reason that rape occurs? Does the biological component
supersede the cultural motivations of rape? What are the ramifications if the
biological theory of rape has merit for rape prevention programs
Miranda
Cleveland (University
of South Alabama)
The Fly Creek Kiln
Site (§1.3)
The Fly Creek Kiln site (1BA26) is the location of an
early to mid-19th century pottery kiln in Baldwin county Alabama. A portion of the Fly Creek kiln site was
excavated in the fall of 2002 by the University
of South Alabama Canter for
Archaeological studies. One unit
excavated in the waster pile produced a huge ceramic assemblage including
waster sherds and kiln furniture. The
analysis of these materials is on-going, but a large sample has been
examined. Preliminary results include
salt and lead glazes as the most common, and most vessels were jugs, pans,
pots or other utilitarian wares. While
the types of vessels manufactured were utilitarian, the lead glazed pottery
is reminiscent of traditional French ceramics of similar function. Additional analysis and historic documents
research will provide data for better understanding the social and economic
conditions experienced by small family-potteries in the area.
Janell Crayton, Amanda Horne, Peyton Purcell,
and Emily Monforton (Davidson College)
“Anywhere the Ball
Takes Me”: A Journey into the Culture of Pickup Basketball (§6.2)
Despite the abundance of literature written about sports
in general, pickup basketball is tragically overlooked as a cultural
phenomenon. Our film examines the
community that arises on the basketball court, the physicality of the game,
and the performative aspects of play.
We filmed our project at the Dowd YMCA, located in Charlotte,
North Carolina. Dowd has been recognized in national
publications as a prime location for competitive pickup games; participants
often include local NBA or college stars as well as talented neighborhood
residents. Over the course of our
research, we filmed the pickup games themselves
along with player interviews and interactions between players in order to
examine the culture of the game. Our
findings echo the minimal existing literature about basketball, sports in
general, masculinity, and physical capital.
Players form an on-court social identity during the games. Basketball serves as a catalyst for
community building and group performance, dictated by a strict set of norms. Basketball, along with other sports,
teaches the male players how to properly demonstrate their masculinity and
allows them to release aggression in a socially acceptable manner. Players learn to use their bodies
effectively both on- and off-court to gain the maximum physical capital and
respect. Pickup differs from organized
basketball, creating a liminal space in which more emphasis is placed on
physical play and one-on-one moves, unregulated by referees or coaches. Our film demonstrates how the court acts as
a common ground for players of varying racial and class distinctions to
express their personalities and gain respect.
Bryce Davenport (University
of Mary Washington)
Jupiter, Varuna,
and Tezcatlipoca: A Study of Comparative Kingship (§9.2)
This paper presents the results of an analysis of the
relationship between the Aztec tlatoani and cihuacoatl, the two highest
governing offices, by applying the concepts of celeritas and gravitas that
Georges Dumezil outlines in Mitra-Varuna (1996). The warrior-magician, a term
that Dumezil associates with celeritas and whom I identify with the tlatoani,
opposes and energizes the ordering gravitas of the jurist-priest, whom I
identify with the cihuacoatl. These terms,
while Dumezil’s own, show striking parallels to the descriptions offered up by
the Central mexican sources for the Conquest Era, especially in the
Florentine Codex of Sahagun. This correspondence suggests that Dumezil’s
pattern is a universal way of viewing sovereignty.
Peter Dillard (Wake Forest University)
The Language of
Gender in Obituaries (§8.1)
Studies of obituaries are largely absent from the
literature on language and gender, yet they offer important insights into the
process by which life narratives are gendered, and they are palpable public
records of gender ideology. Quantitative analysis of stylistic variables
drawn from 307 obituaries reveals the complex relationship between gender
ideology, cultural affiliation, and individuality, which takes place when
social identities of the deceased are meaningfully organized. Obituaries are
valuable resources for the researcher interested in the social process
through which gender is negotiated and reified.
Jacob Doherty
(University of Mary Washington)
Football and Globalization: The Creation and
Expression of Multi-layered Identities in Urban Mali (§5.1)
Taking soccer as an example of a globalized
phenomenon, this paper explores how multi-layered identities are created and
maintained in urban Mali. Urban
Malians interpret and consume soccer (and by extension globalization) through
existing cultural lenses and use it to express 1) cosmopolitanism 2)
pan-African solidarity and 3) national pride.
They imagine themselves as actors on multiple geographic scales and
accordingly, develop multi-layered identities. Soccer plays a role in the creation and
negotiation of these identities. Contrary to much scholarship on African
sport, this paper takes the stance that soccer extends over ‘tribal
divisions', blurring rather than reinforcing them. Using a specific case study of the ways in which
a globalized phenomenon is engaged locally I argue that the local is produced
from the global and vise-versa. Thus,
‘global disjuncture’ is an insufficiently nuanced way of understanding the
effects of globalization on local cultural systems.
Krista Eschbach (University
of West Florida)
The Social
Complexity of Material Choices at an 18th Century Spanish Presidio in Pensacola, Florida (§9.3)
The Presidio Isla de
Santa Rosa (1722-1752) was on the periphery of the
Spanish Empire and at the mercy of an unreliable situado. Survival required
that this Florida garrison turn to other sources for aid, including their French
neighbors. The exceptional
preservation and unique formation processes of this single component site
have afforded archaeologists the opportunity to study changes in material
culture that occurred within a few decades. Data analysis and
documentary research demonstrate that the material choices of these colonists
were affected by internal forces, regional developments and shifting political
and socio-economic alliances in Europe during
the 18th century.
Steven Folmar (Wake Forest University)
Agency and Faith
Healing in Nepal (§3.3)
RM is a faith healer, called a jarphuk (one who blows illnesses away), with shamanistic
qualities. He lives and heals other
people in a Dalit community of a semi-developed suburb in the outskirts of Kathmandu. He was called to this profession during a
turning point in his own life and now he uses this position to care for his
family, elevate his own social status, advocate for economic change through
development, uphold community behavioral standards, challenge social mores,
transform caste related behavior, challenge social hierarchy, increase his
agency in his own community and the agency of his community with other
groups. In this paper I will
illustrate the multiple dimensions of this role and how RM uses it to
influence an ever-widening circle of contacts, thus expanding his social
sphere of influence at the socially strategic juncture now evident in Nepal.
Sarah E. Frith, Deborah O. Erwin and Virginia A. Johnson
(University
of Arkansas
for Medical Sciences)
Anglo and Hispanic Perceptions of Latinos in Rural Southern
Arkansas Communities (§2.1)
The migratory patterns of the Latinos community in the United
States have changed dramatically in the
past 25 years. Many Latinos have
relocated to small, rural southern communities, and Arkansas
is no exception. Latinos are setting
in these areas due to the availability of jobs in the poultry, manufacturing,
and timber industries. Anglo members
of these communities have noticeably felt the increased Latino presence in
these communities. Using ethnographic
interviews, free list interviews, subsequent ranking interviews, and media
reviews, Anglos and Latinos were asked a multitude of questions about their
perceptions towards Latinos and their impact upon various facets of their
communities. Using a cultural
consensus analysis model, comparisons of these perceptions will be drawn
based on location, economic, social, and cultural attitudes.
Mary M. Furlong (University
of West Florida)
Ceramic Figurines
from Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa (§9.3)
A significant collection of ceramic figurines fragments
has been uncovered from Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa. Despite being incomplete, both human and
animal forms have been identified. Although similar figurines have been found
at other contemporaneous maritime and terrestrial sites in Florida, only one
has be recovered from either of the other Pensacola presidios, Presidio Santa
Maria de Galve (1698-1722) and Presidio San Miguel (1756-1763). Their scarcity in the archaeological record
presents one of the most interesting and unique research questions from
Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa. Understanding the role of these figurines
within the society of the Presidio will help provide more detailed
information of the life, ideologies, and culture of the people who occupied
it.
Rusty Furlow (Valdosta State University)
Mayan Cacao Farmers
in Southern Belize (§2.3)
My ethnography was done on Mayan cacao farmers in southern
Belize. Through imperialism and the global free
market, the nation of Belize
and the Mayan people have suffered from destitution for many generations and
have become petty commodity producers.
Now, with the coming of the booming market of cacao, the Maya people
have finally found a way to make enough money to educate their children. During my stay in Belize,
I went to two different villages and the market where the cacao was
bought. Through interviews with
farmers and policy makers, I tried to see how this crop will help the Maya
people and where they play in the international economy. I saw several fields where cacao was
planted and how it was maintained by actually working the orchard. My overall mission was to see if this crop
could save Belize
and the Maya or if was just another trend.
Meredith Gilbert and Kristin Taylor (Columbus State University)
Changes in
Attitudes towards the War in Iraq (§5.3)
Despite the large influence of the large Army Base in
Rivercity on favorable opinions about the Iraqi War, opinion in the U.S.
is gradually shifting to criticism and negativity about the president’s
policies and the wisdom of the arguments for the invasion. These national trends are not refleted in
an extreme way in Rivercity. A
questionnaire survey attempted to give clear statistics related to this shift
and to correlate attitudes with several social characteristics of the
non-random sample.
Patty
Gilbert (Valdosta State University)
Moody AFB’s Military Wives (§1.1)
“Military
Wives” is an ethnography of the wives of Air Force soldiers in Valdosta,
GA during a time of war. The wives are
observed shopping, making banners, socializing, and welcoming their husbands
home. My data consist predominantly of their discourses, which are seen to
contain models of gender, patriotism, and class. The discourse is then
analyzed by way of a cultural models perspective. This allows one to
understand the similarities and differences among these women. Valdosta’s
military wives stay together because of their shared understandings of their
roles,
and their love for military life.
Amanda Hancock (Valdosta State University)
Gender Relations in
Kekchi Maya Society (§2.3)
This project explores social change in Kekchi Maya society
by way of Cultural Models Theory (Strauss and Quinn 1996). The focus is gender relations and the
manner in which modernization creates tension between traditional and modern
meanings and practices. Also explored
is the impact of higher education of female roles. Employing recent ideas about the self and
the life cycle, together with schema theory and connectionism, I will
illustrate the way in which modernization alters the roles and values of
Kekchi Mayan women and the impact of those changes on Kekchi society at
large.
Karen A. Haworth and Terry J. Prewitt (University
of West Florida
Semeiotic, the
Evolution of Anthroposemiosis, and the Meaning of “Language” (§2.2)
John Deely grounds his
recent Four Ages of Understanding (2004) in a number of premises about
the history of Western philosophy, including the long-term place of
“language” in relation to the developed notion of “semeiotic” as synthesized
by C.S. Peirce. One point of contention with Deely’s book stems
from his treatment of the formal and popular nomenclature about language (attached to Homo sapiens Sapiens) and its
philosophical connection to Ferdinand de Saussure’s “semiology.” The issue is the use of the term “language”
first in its technical sense as a way of “seeing or looking at the world”
that is prior to and removed from the communicative sense of “language,”
while next employing the term in its common and practical sense as a system
for information exchange. In fact, Deely’s comprehensive annotated index helps
resolve some of the issue. While deemphasizing the modern problem of the
abuse of the language concept by diverse “post-modernisms,”
we seek to clarify issues that remain implicit in Deely’s text by reference
to more precise alignment of the terms “language”
and “semeiotic.”
Lauren Hayes (Wake Forest University)
The Changing
Functions of Duppy Tales in the Bay Islands (§9.2)
Duppy tales are ghost stories common in Caribbean
folklore. The author will address the
fact that they play an important role in Caribbean
society, serving specific functions, and that fewer of these stories are
being told in the area of the Bay Islands
than was the case in the recent past.
Outside influences of development, modernization, urbanization,
missionary work, and immigration may be fulfilling functions previously met
by folklore. In some cases, these
outside influences cause changes in society, thereby rendering former needs
obsolete. The author has utilized ethnographic interviews, the collection of
stories, and familiarity with the historical, religious, and cultural context
of the Bay islands in order to determine the functions of these tales and
their recent responses to outside forces.
The entrance of new and/or foreign influences and their effects on
folklore has also been shown in other areas, changing its form, function, and
use in society.
Jessica Held (Wake Forest)
The Role of Social
Fathers Among Oklahoma Chickasaws (§9.1)
Abstract: Research
conducted by the American Indian Fatherhood Project shows that among the
matrilineal Chickasaws, social fathers contribute more to their social
children’s upbringing than the children’s biological fathers do in several of
the categories measured. This is in opposition to the recorded activity of
the social fathers in the non-matrilineal Native American groups
participating in the study. This paper
will explore the possible explanations for the greater involvement of the
social fathers and the advantages and disadvantages social fathers present
for their social children. I conclude
that the presence of a social father helps to reduce behaviors that may be
deemed harmful to the child and/or his surroundings.
April Holmes (University
of West Florida)
Items of Personal Adornment at Presidio Isla
de Santa Rosa, Florida (§9.3)
Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa
was a Spanish colony on the Northern
Gulf Coast
established in 1722 and destroyed by a hurricane in 1752. The sandy soils and sudden destruction of
this single component site have produced a unique assemblage. Unusual site formation processes provide a
rare opportunity to study social structure through a wide variety of
artifacts that were lost on a daily basis, or buried by layers of storm surge
sands during and after its occupation. This paper will explore Santa
Rosa’s complex colonial community through
indications of status, gender and ethnicity represented by items
of personal adornment.
Joan Marie Hughes (University
of West Florida)
Appreciative
Inquiry and Ethnography: A Case Study in Santa Rosa County, Florida (§3.2)
This paper explores the use of methods inspired by
Appreciative Inquiry, a theory of organizational development, in a study of
residents of Santa Rosa County, Florida.
In the summer of 2005, after the devastating blow of 2004’s Hurricane Ivan
and both before and after the direct hit of Hurricane Dennis, the author
interviewed 33 Santa Rosans, asking them about their opinions on life in the
county and their hopes for the future of the county. This research was
conducted as part of a larger interview project of approximately 80 county
residents. Appreciate Inquiry methodology was chosen for the project in large
part because of its intentional focus on positive outcomes—Appreciate Inquiry
aims to discover “the best of what is” as an
indication of paths to constructive change. The author presents a critique of
the methodology in this project and of her own resultant ethnographic study.
Krista Jordan (University
of West Florida)
Fallen
daughter: A Look at How American
Culture Produces Female Runaways (§5.2)
The paper evaluates the cultural contributions to
the event of an American female runaway.
The analysis consists of present day reflection spliced with
commentary from the past through the author’s own personal experience with
the subject. In this case, the cause
of the runaway is not instigated by a home life fraught with physical or
sexual abuse. Rather the author
determines that her own culture helped aid in the probability of her choice
to depart. The runaway event is
influenced by the confusion of post-modern values in a Midwestern catholic
upbringing. Deliberation reveals how
gender roles play in the action of many teenagers in American society.
Hanako Kawabata (Davidson College)
Louis Vuitton and
Cultural Identity in Shanghai and Tokyo (§1.2)
This paper examines contemporary East Asian cultural
identity through the heightened consumption practice of Louis Vuitton bags in
Shanghai and Tokyo. Louis Vuitton, a notorious French luxury
brand, has enjoyed continued growth, originally in Japan
and now in China,
for over thirty years. With Japan’s
economic expansion and cultural modernization leveling on the one hand, and China’s
economic and social transformation on the other, the shared popularity of
this foreign commodity draws unusual
attention. Are modernization and
globalization an expression of westernization in East Asia? Do East Asians identify themselves
as westernized, or as Ulf Hannerz suggests “cosmopolitan,” and therefore
modernized to a global standard? And
if so, is westernization an inherent to process of modernization for East
Asians ? Or is it just a façade
masking a sense of adaptation and assimilation with the west? In addressing these questions, the paper
will include topics such as: the impact of globalization, economically steamed
assertion of individualism, the social impact of declining birth rate and
increasing nucleus households, as well as the role of media and government
control on consumption. In addition
the paper will bridge theory and experience based on field research conducted
during the summer of 2005 in Taiwan,
China, South
Korea and Japan.
Hannah Kim (Davidson College)
Authoritarian
Democratization: Weak Constitutionalism in Post-Authoritarian
South Korea (§5.1)
Korea's
transition to democracy began in 1988 with the inauguration of a new and
democratically elected government. Although there is little doubt that Korea
is now a secure electoral democracy, with electoral politics the only game in
town, its democratic consolidation is far from complete. Even now, after more
than a decade of democratic rule, Korea
has not fully abolished the National Security Law and other repressive laws
of the military regime to silence its critics and opposition forces, which
deprives citizens of political rights and civil liberties. The legacy of
authoritarianism is one of the key factors continuously testing these newly
established democratic procedures and institutions. Based on fieldwork
conducted in Korea
during the summer of 2005 and an extensive literature review, this paper argues
that the nature of the repressive institutions spilled over from the
authoritarian era has remained unchanged. Careful examination of the paradox
of post-authoritarian institutions will allow an opportunity to question
whether or not these repressive institutions bring political stability at the
cost of political legitimacy. Furthermore, the stagnant state of Korea's
democracy questions the linear and progressive nature of democratic
consolidation in practice.
April Lee (Columbus State University)
Impacts of the
Rising Poverty Rate in Rivercity (§6.3)
An effort was made to identify the major populations
living in poverty and how rising rates have affected them in recent
years. Their social characteristics
reflect the variables that have been shown throughout the U.S.
to be highly associated with poverty—single parents, children, ethnic
minorities, rural and manual labor, and lesser educated populations are all
adversely affected.
Kristin Little (University
of South Alabama)
It’s the Real Thing:
The Hidden Cultural Meanings of America’s Favorite Soft Drink (§2.2)
What is Coca-Cola?
Scientifically, it is of corn syrup, water, caffeine, carbonation, phosphoric
acid, and natural flavors. It is what nutritionists call empty calories to
health. Why do we buy such a maladaptive product? Coca-Cola is more than
empty calories to those who imbibe it, but it is a cultural symbol of
happiness, the good life, peace, love, and coolness, and America.
Coke has changed over the years as the ebb and flow of culture has shaped it
into the product it is today. In the beginning of Coca-Cola sales, it was
seen as a way to imbibe cultural distinction, it was a drink of petite
bourgeoisie and intellectuals. As Coke became mass marketed, it became
something to be sold to fulfill the unbounded wants of Coca-cola consumers
alienated by a capitalist system. The Coca-Cola Company, recently markets to
subcultural groups through its extensive targeted marketing campaigns, like
Sprite’s Miles Thirst. Through marketing of cultural ideas Coke has taken on
a life of it’s own; according to Coke, it adds to life.
Tomas
J. Lopez (University of West Florida)
Lives of Women Saints
in Eastern Late Antiquity: An Ethnohistorical Perspective (§9.2)
In Holy Women of the
Syrian Orient, Sebastian Brock and Susan Harvey offer the reader a
collection of stories of female Christian saints as a window into the world
of Middle Eastern Christianity during the 3rd to 7th
centuries CE. The stories tell of
female ascetics in Egypt,
Palestine, Syria,
Persia, Asia
Minor, and Persia.
They also reveal the deep cultural differences that were developing between
Christian sects in the Western Roman Empire and the
churches of the East, as well as the continuities and changes in women’s
gender roles before, during and after the period of these stories. Brock and Harvey
rightly warn the reader that these stories really tell us little about actual
historical persons. Hagiography promotes ideals of group and individual
behavior; it exhorts readers and listeners to subscribe and aspire to certain
ideals. These hagiographies point to the tension between the various
behavioral models promoted in the texts and the perceived social realities;
the narratives address issues that greatly concerned the authors. Thus, these
narratives emerge in, and support, a male-oriented worldview, rather than one
that supports and affirms sexual difference
and women’s goodness. However, the
narratives do offer potential insight into the lives of women during this
time, albeit through the minds of their male hagiographers.
Regan Maher (University
of West Florida)
The Convenience Myth
and Consumer Patterns in Working-Class Culture (§6.2)
The purpose of this study is to explore the myth of
convenience among convenience store patrons. Often in convenience exchanges
unwanted items are purchased, or the price of convenience is
expensive, but the consumer will not bear the further inconvenience of, or
doesn’t have the means of going elsewhere. I want to discover how convenience
store patrons define “convenience” and determine how consumer decisions based
on convenience affect the lives of consumers?
My method is to select several convenience stores from my own working
class neighborhood and interview patrons, documenting the interviews and
analysis on film. I intend to demonstrate that convenience is a myth born of
the capitalist system. In the form on
convenience stores, this myth flourishes as an ambiguous cultural frame
supporting a marketing scheme, taking advantage of overworked or addicted
people.
Jessica Maguire (Davidson College)
Sabor Latino: Building a Multicultural Community through
Latin Dance (§5.2)
In light of the vast pluralism that exists in the United
States today, how do people of various
ethnic backgrounds create a multicultural community? I will analyze this question by examining
how Latin American dance enables individuals to overcome cultural boundaries
at the restaurant and dance club Latorres, located in Charlotte North Carolina. Latorres is a restaurant during the lunch
and dinner hours, but on Friday and Saturday nights the upper floor of the
restaurant is converted into a dance club.
As a dance club, Latorres enjoys a diverse clientele of different
ethnicities, ages, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Despite this vast pluralism, many attendees
feel welcome in this community. I
argue, based on ethnographic data and theoretical perspectives on ethnicity
and dance, that Latorres is a space where identity is both expressed and
negotiated through dance to create a culturally inclusive community. Individuals who identify themselves
as Latinos can explore their cultural similarities and differences at this
venue while transmitting and transforming the dance with non-Latino
populations. Throughout this process
dance becomes a catalyst for community building and the traversing of
cultural boundaries.
Patricia Massey (Davidson College)
Gaps, Spaces, and
Principled Cooperation: The Emergence of Faith-Based Chinese Non-Governmental
Organizations (§1.1)
What growing role do non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
have in China? What is the relationship between NGOs and
the Chinese central government, or between faith-based NGOs and the Christian
Church? Is the increased dependence on
NGOs simply a mark of globalization, or are there other important forces at
work? These questions were addressed
in a two month long stay in China
in the summer of 2005. Primary
research was done through interviews with individuals at The Amity Foundation
headquarters in Nanjing, and as a
volunteer English teacher in Jiangsu
Province through The Amity
Foundation. The relationship between
the Chinese central government and NGOs depends on space creation between the
nation’s economic and social problems and
the central government’s ability to alleviate the inequity in those
spaces. These gaps, marks of both
globalization and modernization, have allowed for Chinese NGOs to participate
in principled cooperation with the government. The relationship between the Christian
Church and The Amity Foundation is one of creative cooperation, as most
church-NGO relationships are with international churches instead of local
churches, while The Amity Foundation is still self-governed. It seems
that the growth of faith-based Chinese NGOs is another reason that the
powerful players on the world’s stage should be looking East.
Kathryn McIntyre (Wake Forest University)
“But words will
never hurt me” or can they?: An analysis of passive voice in articles
concerning rape in the New York Times (§8.1)
Despite the familiar adage that “sticks and stones may
break my bones but words will never hurt me,” language can be harmful to the
extent that it can serve as a method to perpetuate a hierarchical,
male-dominated perception of reality. A significant example of this phenomenon
occurs at the syntactic level in the representation of rape in newspaper
articles. Through the use of passive
voice instead of active voice, newspaper reporters shift emphasis and blame
toward the female victim by taking responsibility away from the male
perpetrator. This paper addresses some
examples of this trend in the New York Times as reported between
January 2003 and April 2005, provides information as to some of the
hypothesized motives behind this trend proposed in recent research, analyzes
any correlation between passive voice and the gender of the author of the
articles, and discusses the effect that a reader’s gender has on his/her
perceptions.
Rebecca Medeiros (University
of West Georgia)
A Case Study of the
Effects of a Mission Statement on a Public Educational
Outreach Program through Its Use and Promotion (§2.1)
Mission statements are important in
accessing the goals of an institution.
They are key in guiding an institution into success with the programs
that the institution creates. The
Antonio J. Waring, Jr. Archaeological Laboratory (Waring Laboratory) is one
such institution. The Waring
Laboratory promotes its mission statement of preservation and protection
through its public educational outreach program. By looking through the various
perspectives, it has shown the presence of the mission of the Waring
Laboratory to influence the attitudes of those in contact with the
educational outreach program. This
paper provides the ins and outs of launching a new public educational
outreach program aimed at relaying the mission statement of the Waring
Laboratory.
Quillian Miller (Columbus State University)
Photoessay on
Poverty in Chattahoochee County (§6.3)
Chattahoochee County,
outside Rivercity proper shares with it a large military base. The existence of the base gives the average
statistics of poverty a moderate face, but without the military personnel,
this rural county has high levels of poverty that are reflected in decay and
deterioration in its housing stock.
This photo essay documents the need for government programs
in housing to offset the failure of private enterprise to shoulder the burden
of home construction.
Sylvia S. Mince (Louisiana State University)
Development and House Types of New
Orleans: What Worked and What Didn’t (§3.1b)
Since the founding of New Orleans,
the physical environment has posed challenges to the city’s growth and
development. The manner in which these
challenges have been faced (not always successfully) is outlined through the
history of the city’s growth and the house types that have been adopted and
adapted from 1718 to 2005.
Stacy Monahan (University
of West Florida)
The Degrees of Engagement: A “Look” at Ethnography and Objectification
from a Phenomenological Perspective (§3.2)
This paper examines the concept of “the look”, according
to Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and
Nothingness, and its relationship to ethnographic method. For Sartre, “the look” serves as the origin
of conflict, an impetus of a struggle for power and freedom. At the very least, a degree of possession
and objectification is assumed within the context of “the look”. An ethnographer has two options at the
onset of her study. She can take the position
of a distant observer, and in so doing, she preserves her own freedom and the
freedom of those whom she observes. On
the other hand, there exists a possibility that the ethnographer can
surrender his own identity in an effort to adapt to and understand the other. In both instances, something is lost. If the ethnographer bridles her own
subjectivity for the sake of understanding an other, she then simultaneously
prohibits the other from understanding her.
If the ethnographer relinquishes his own freedom in the project of
understanding an other, he has forfeited the project altogether. He can’t understand the other…he has become
the other.
Julian M. Murchison (Millsaps College)
Practicing
Law as Community Service and Ethnic Pride: The Legacies of Ujamaa
Socialism and Education in Tanzania
(§2.1)
In this paper, I examine the responses of lawyers in a
Tanzanian law firm to an ethnographic description and analysis that I wrote
about their firm and their practices.
In affirming much of the ethnographic detail and the analysis, these
lawyers offered a number of explanations that placed their work in a larger
national and historical context. This
context includes the legacies of Ujamaa and the national educational
system. Here I seek to weave their
discussions and explanations into a coherent whole that connects this
particular firm to larger national discussions of social responsibility,
self-sufficiency, and ethnic identities.
In their everyday activities, these lawyers feel their
responsibilities in specific ways that shape their work and their personal
relationships. Despite large-scale
movement toward deregulation and the free market, this generation of
Tanzanians shows the limits of some of those changes.
Jaclyn
Nelson and Megan Haines (University of Mary Washington)
Gender Formation and Liberation in the
Slash/Yaoi Community (§5.2)
Previous
research has explored the subculture surrounding fan-produced works based on
official source material, but few have studied the growing subgenre of fan
works produced by women, with women as the intended audience, focusing on
romantic relationships between two male characters. This subculture within fandom, categorized
as "slash" when derived from Western source material and "yaoi"
for Eastern Asian source material, has experienced a rising popularity in
recent years due to globalization and the technology of the internet. By conducting formal interviews, we
explored the liberating impact that the slash/yaoi community has had on
participants' gender and sexual identity formation, as well as the emotional
support these women have found within the community that reaches beyond
internet forums. Despite a wide range of ages and
backgrounds, the participants emphasized the feelings of community and
empowerment generated from their shared exploration of two of society's
taboos: female sexual expression and homosexuality.
Ginny Newberry (University
of South Alabama)
Environmental
Enrichment for Hand-Reared Squirrel Monkeys (§1.3)
The Primate Research Lab at the University
of South Alabama is the largest
squirrel monkey breeding colony in the United
States with over 400 monkeys and several
species represented. Every year a
number of squirrel monkey infants must be hand-reared due to mother rejection
or illness. In the past some nursery-reared
infants exhibited stress-induced behavior, including hair pulling and
self-injurious behavior (SIB). An
environmental enrichment program for infant squirrel monkeys was developed to
reduce this stress-induced behavior.
This program focused on creating a housing unit that encouraged
species appropriate behavior such as climbing, jumping, and arboreal
behavior, by adding perches, swings, and novel accessories to the nursery
cages. As a result, this past year none
of the 26 hand-reared squirrel monkey infants exhibited the stress-induced
behavior observed in past years. This
demonstrates the effectiveness of appropriate environmental enrichment in
reducing stress-induced behavior in captive primates.
Megan Nieves (University
of South Alabama)
Digging Out of
Trouble: Archaeology and Adjudicated Youth (§1.3)
Fourteen adjudicated youth participated in an educational
and prosocial project based in the archaeology of Mobile
during the summer of 2005. These youth
were in a Network Aftercare System that transitions them from local
residential facilities back into the Mobile
community. Two historic sites were
tested during five weeks of excavation.
The youth continued with lab analysis and the construction of a
portable display for an additional three weeks. The quality of archaeological performance
was similar to a college fieldschool.
Continuous tasks performed in small groups were most effective in
keeping the youth engaged. Working
with adjudicated youth had unexpected challenges and rewards.
Andrew Page (University
of South Alabama)
Grain Size Analysis
as an Indicator of Prehistoric Pottery Clay Source (§1.3)
The Bayou St. John site (1BA21), located in Baldwin
County, Alabama was
investigated by the USA Center
for Archaeological Studies in the spring of 2004. Archaeological excavations resulted in the
recovery of a large and diverse prehistoric ceramic assemblage with Weeden
Island types particularly
well-represented. Attempting to
investigate clay sources used in ceramic manufacture, five plain and five
Wakulla check-stamped sand-tempered sherds were used in grain size
analysis. For this study, thin
sections were made of each ceramic sherd and examined with a petrographic
microscope. A field of view
representative of the sample was selected and each grain within that field
was identified and counted. Next,
grain size was determined by measuring the long axis using a micrometer
scale. The results indicate that more than
a single clay source was likely used in ceramic manufacture and the Wakulla
check-stamped sherds show more variation in grain size than the plain sherds.
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