Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Degree Discipline: Cultural Anthropology'
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Greer, Aaron Andrew. "Imagined Futures: Interpretation, Imagination, and Discipline in Hindu Trinidad." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11995.
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xi, 249 p. : ill. (some col.)Globalization has inaugurated many rapid changes in local communities throughout the world. The globalization of media, both electronic and print, has introduced new pressures for local communities to confront while also opening up new imaginative possibilities. As many observers have noted, transnational media transform local public cultures, or shared imaginative spaces, but never in predictable, totally hegemonic ways. This dissertation focuses on the efforts of a small Hindu community called the Hindu Prachar Kendra located in Trinidad, West Indies, as they develop critical strategies that help their children read, negotiate, and in some cases contribute to local and global public cultures. I argue that though many Hindu parents and teachers of the Kendra share anxieties about the effects of local and global popular cultures on their children, they also use many features, ideas, and texts emerging from imaginative media in creative ways. Furthermore, their concerns about media shape their interpretation and instruction of Hindu practice.
Committee in charge: Philip Scher, Chair; Lynn Stephen, Member; Lamia Karim, Member; Deborah Green, Outside Member
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McLean, Liam Christopher. "The Terror Experts: Discourse, discipline, and the production of terrorist subjects at a university research center." Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1526340126257945.
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Farrelly, Trisia Angela. "Business va'avanua: cultural hybridisation and indigenous entrepreneurship in the Bouma National Heritage Park, Fiji : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1166.
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This thesis explores the ways community-based ecotourism development in the Bouma National Heritage Park was negotiated at the nexus of Western entrepreneurship and the vanua, an indigenous epistemology. In 1990, the Bouma tribe of Taveuni, Fiji established the Bouma National Heritage Park. A growing dependence on the market economy and a desire to find an economic alternative to commercial logging on their communally-tenured land, led to their decision to approach the New Zealand government for assistance to establish the Park. The four villages involved have since developed their own community-based ecotourism enterprises. Despite receiving first place in a British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award category in 2002, there was a growing sense of social dysfunction in Bouma during the research period. According to my participants, this was partly due to the community-based ecotourism development process which had paid little attention to the vanua. Largely through talanoa as discussion, the people of Bouma have become increasingly conscious of references to the vanua values in their own evaluation and management of the projects. This thesis draws on Tim Ingold’s (2000) ‘taskscapes’ as, like the vanua, they relationally link humans with other elements of the environment within their landscape. This contrasts with a common Western epistemological approach of treating humans as independent of other cosmological and physical elements and as positioned against the landscape. Largely due to its communal nature, it may be argued that the vanua is incompatible with values associated with Bouma’s Western, capitalist-based ecotourism models. However, in this thesis I argue that despite numerous obstacles, the Bouma National Heritage Park is one example of a tribe’s endeavours to culturally hybridise the vanua with entrepreneurship to create a locally meaningful form of indigenous entrepreneurship for the wellbeing of its people. The Bouma people call this hybrid ‘business va’avanua’. Informal talanoa is presented in this thesis as a potential tool for political agency in negotiating issues surrounding community-based ecotourism and business va’avanua.
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Kulbickas, Thomas Allen. "Voter Worldview and Presidential Candidate Choice." ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3352.
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Research has shown a relationship between having a strict father upbringing, defined by rules reinforcement and self-discipline beliefs, and the presence of high levels of social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). The relationship between these variables and issue choice has been established, but no study has explored the connection between parental upbringing and moral foundations. Furthermore, the connection to political candidate choice has not been shown. This study investigated the relationship between people's parental upbringing beliefs, their adult morality, and their rating of ideal presidential candidate characteristics. Based on the moral foundation theory, a mixed methods study was conducted to examine the relationship among upbringing, moral foundations, RWA, SDO, socioeconomic status (SES), and candidate selection by surveying 221 adult participants recruited online and in the community. Linear regression analysis was conducted to examine how levels of SDO, RWA, and the strict father variables predict the 5 five moral foundations. Qualitative analysis, through the use of open-ended questions, explored presidential candidate choice by rating people's preference of the 5 moral foundations, the strict father nurturing parent worldviews, SDO, RWA, and subjective SES, as expressed in their ideal president. Results indicated that upbringing is related to RWA for conservatives and inversely related to SDO for liberals. Also, participants exhibited a rules reinforcement versus self-discipline left-right political dichotomy. Participants favored a tough-minded president on foreign affairs. This study's results will enable voters to understand how their political attitudes may be formed and how they could be scrutinized and manipulated by those with an interest in doing so.
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Andrews, Robyn. "Being Anglo-Indian : practices and stories from Calcutta : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University." Massey University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/959.
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This thesis is an ethnography of Anglo-Indians in Calcutta. All ethnographies are accounts arising out of the experience of a particular kind of encounter between the people being written about and the person doing the writing. This thesis, amongst other things, reflects my changing views of how that experience should be recounted. I begin by outlining briefly who Anglo-Indians are, a topic which in itself alerts one to complexities of trying to get an ethnographic grip on a shifting subject. I then look at some crucial elements that are necessary for an “understanding” of Anglo-Indians in Calcutta: the work that has already been done in relation to Anglo-Indians, the urban context of the lives of my research participants and I discuss the methodological issues that I had to deal with in constructing this account. In the second part of my thesis I explore some crucial elements of the lives of Anglo-Indians in Calcutta: the place of Christianity in their lives, education not just as an aspect of socialisation but as part of their very being and, finally, the public rituals that now give them another way of giving expression to new forms of Anglo-Indian becoming. In all of my work I was driven by a desire to keep close to the experience of the people themselves and I have tried to write a “peopled” ethnography. This ambition is most fully realised in the final part of my thesis where I recount the lives of three key participants.
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Warren, Jessica L. "Growing Together Separately: An Analysis of the Influence of Individualism in an Alternative Educational Setting." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2014. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/498.
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Alternative educational settings that attempt to challenge Individualism are pervaded by Individualizing influences from the larger school system. This thesis examines the influences of Individualism in a school garden program at a Southern California continuation high school. Program members included high school students, college student interns, and two co-directors. Research was conducted during the spring semester of 2014. By providing an analysis of the Individualizing and non-Individualizing influences present in the program and the ways in which these influences interacted to inform the program structure and program members’ experiences and understandings, my thesis sheds new light on the complex ways alternative educational settings incorporate some aspects of Individualism, even as they challenge it.
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McCool, Michael John. "Achieving a place: a communography of disabled postgraduates : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Albany campus, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1164.
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This study is social anthropological insider research of disabled postgraduates, students and staff in tertiary educational institutions. This is also a study of enabling conditions for inclusion; and ways the participants build relationships between themselves and the wider community. I consider my participants as kin. This was a joint venture - we were related not by blood, but by the very fact that we share in communities of disabled people. We are connected even if not always interacting with each other; we seldom moved in the same circles on a day-to-day basis. These are stories of adversity, where the participants have developed successful coping strategies and made achievements, not despite their being ?othered?, but by living with and acknowledging their differences. These are reflections on our society where we compete in complex emotional relationships within employment and all other social institutions. The university seemed to be a psychologically safer setting probably because it is a place for higher learning and therefore all the people had a more highly developed consciousness. Even though in some cases there were some wider macro barriers, on the whole, the participants‘ experience was positive. We found what we as joint participants shared in that feeling of disability was just the same as the feeling of communitas as students. Thinking about communitas (Turner, 1967), the Latin for community, convinced me that community was the central theme of this whole thesis. There are communities of practice in all organisations and institutions in society and they are used by the participants in this study not only in developing strategies for inclusion, but also for learning. Because the university is a series of communities of practice a major theorist for this study is Vygotsky and his concept of a culture of learning. We are also indebted to the social anthropologist Lave and her colleagues for bringing his ideas to Western academia.
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Pane, Debra Mayes. "The Relationship between Classroom Interactions and Exclusionary Discipline as a Social Practice: A Critical Microethnography." FIU Digital Commons, 2009. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/109.
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Exclusionary school discipline results in students being removed from classrooms as a consequence of their disruptive behavior and may lead to subsequent suspension and/or expulsion. Literature documents that nondominant students, particularly Black males, are disproportionately impacted by exclusionary discipline, to the point that researchers from a variety of critical perspectives consider exclusionary school discipline an oppressive educational practice and condition. Little or no research examines specific teacher-student social interactions within classrooms that influence teachers’ decisions to use or not use exclusionary discipline. Therefore, this study set forth the central research question: In relation to classroom interactions in alternative education settings, what accounts for teachers’ use or non-use of exclusionary discipline with students? A critical social practice theory of learning served as the framework for exploring this question, and a critical microethnographic methodology informed the data collection and analysis. Criterion sampling was used to select four classrooms in the same alternative education school with two teachers who frequently and two who rarely used exclusionary discipline. Nine stages of data collection and reconstructive data analysis were conducted. Data collection involved video recorded classroom observations, digitally recorded interviews of teachers and students discussing selected video segments, and individual teacher interviews. Reconstructive data analysis procedures involved hermeneutic inferencing of possible underlying meanings, critical discourse analysis, interactive power analysis and role analysis, thematic analysis of the interactions in each classroom, and a final comparative analysis of the four classrooms. Four predominant themes of social interaction (resistance, conformism, accommodation, and negotiation) emerged with terminology adapted from Giroux’s (2001) theory of resistance in education and Third Space theory (Gutiérrez, 2008). Four types of power (normative, coercive, interactively established contracts, and charm), based on Carspecken’s (1996) typology, were found in the interactions between teacher and students in varying degrees for different purposes. This research contributes to the knowledge base on teacher-student classroom interactions, specifically in relation to exclusionary discipline. Understanding how the themes and varying power relations influence their decisions and actions may enable teachers to reduce use of exclusionary discipline and remain focused on positive teacher-student academic interactions.
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Hayes, Dorothy Maora. "Wāhine kaihautū, wāhine whai mana navigating the tides of change : Whakatōhea women and tribal socio-politics : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Māori Studies at Massey University." Massey University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1111.
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This thesis explored the socio-political experiences and views of seven Maori women from the tribe of Whakatahea. The project adopted a Maori-centred theoretical and research approach that included the researcher as a member of the researched group. It aimed to draw out the common themes, from the women's recollections of their experiences and views of the socio-political decision-making affairs within whanau, hapu, and iwi. The women identified barriers to participation and strategies to overcome these barriers. Qualifications reflected traditional Maori values and practices. Rights according to whakapapa, and the principle "he kanohi kitea", being seen, were the obvious criterion. Poor information channels, minimal consultation, gender bias, age and time constraints were some of the issues identified as barriers to participation. It was found that whanau governance committees more closely reflected traditional values and customs that saw women and men as sharing power, more so than hapu and iwi organisations. The gender imbalance was viewed, by the women participants, as problematic. They concluded that better gender balance at all levels of the socio-political affairs of Whakatohea would ensure greater informed decision-making for the social, educational, economic, and spiritual well-being of the tribe today and for future generations.
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Chhim, Putsalun. "Students' Assets and Strategies via the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program : A Case of Cambodia's Master Degree Students." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik, didaktik och utbildningsstudier, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-392075.
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This study analyzes, the structure of the Erasmus Mundus scholarship program by utilizing mixed methods, and is being analyzed within the contextualized framework of the Cambodia’s Higher Education system as well as its relationship with the Erasmus Mundus scholarship program. Mixed approach has been employed for this study, combining both quantitative data to construct the social space, which acts as a backbone for interpretation, and qualitative data from interviewing the scholarship program coordinator and scholarship holders in order to investigate the recruitment process and the students’ perception respectively, presenting the macro-micro relationship that makes up the entirety of the scholarship program. Collectively inspected, the findings reveal a new contextualized result that contributes not only to the development of the Cambodia’s Higher Education, but also to its position and its students within the space of the scholarship program of Erasmus Mundus. Through the close inspection using interview method, the underlying complexity of the recruitment process of the scholarship program is illustrated, indicating a multi-layer hierarchy and multiple decision-making processes. There are also implications of oppositions between the properties of the students, signaling the diversified student body in the scholarship program. Prominent theme of the opposition in the space appears to be related to the colonial past of the Cambodia’s system as well as the differences between local and international experiences that the students possess. Students interviewed in the study, furthermore, reveal how they prepared themselves to apply for the scholarship program and to be successful candidate, which depicts their assets and strategies that can be derived from the constructed space. Unanimously the students show strong confidence and great insight of information which can be understood as the compatibilities between the recruiter of the scholarship program and the students’ assets. Finally, overall findings give a new perspective of the profile of the scholarship program within the Erasmus Mundus mobility scheme. It shows that while students are required to possess certain objectively set requirements, there are also exception cases that students who possessed lower amount of capitals can also be successful, provided that the conditions like the credentials of their degree from Cambodia, as well as minimum requirements to pass the university admission have been met, and their “motivation letter” is exceptionally well-written which shows the subjective side of the recruitment process.
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McCormick, Rowan. "Recovering voices in mental health, families and anthropology : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Social Anthropology, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand." 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1087.
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This essay discusses some experiences of families, carers and people with experience of mental ill-health and recovery in New Zealand, focussing on ‘recovering moments’ in social exchanges, families, mental health settings and in anthropological research. It draws comparisons between phenomenological approaches in anthropology and practices promoted in recent mental health recovery philosophy, with a particular focus on the production and exchange of particular local expertise, much of which resists academic appropriation or definition. The value, currency and relevance of these ‘recovering voices’ relates to their being privileged, validated and transmitted in ethical exchanges in a range of social settings that exemplify aspects of Marcel Mauss’ discussion of the act of giving, receiving and repaying (1980:34).
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Mutsaers, Lilian. "Unpacking Mrs Wood's suitcases : the signifying potential of unsewn cloth : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Philosophy at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand." 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1622.
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This thesis examines unsewn cloth pieces which once belonged to Victoria Wood and places them into their social and historical context. It uses the biography of Victoria Wood and her fabrics to argue for the importance of fabric collecting and dressmaking for New Zealand women from 1935 to 1955. It questions why ubiquitous fabrics bought for dress making are not represented in historical accounts of women, or in more general accounts of historical clothing and dress. Aspects of material culture theories are employed to analyse the material properties of the fabric pieces. These are situated within a wider domestic context to demonstrate that there were intrinsic qualities of fabric that influenced and were imagined by many women in this period. Oral histories and other documentary research add to the wider account and provide evidence of the way that dressmaking fabrics reflected the shifting notions of domesticity. The thesis suggests that fabrics bought for the creation of clothing can represent the past or a person. It also demonstrates how dressmaking fabrics simultaneously embody personal and social narratives which reflect the emotional and cultural values of a particular period. In this thesis I construct narratives which are based on the social and historical findings to highlight the importance of fabric collecting and dressmaking as an everyday domestic practice.
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Gibbons, Ruth Elizabeth Anne. "A table of metaphors : the visual representation of chronic illness : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand." 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1520.
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For people who live with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity syndrome illness is a hidden construct. The body does not display the chronicity of the internal experience. This thesis removes the barrier between what is experienced and what is visible by creating visual means of communicating the body’s hidden experience. The place of the viewer is part of this discussion. Through visual methods digital photographic techniques and the current interest in sensory anthropology the embodied sensory chronic illness experience is explored. The hidden experiences were made visual creating “MeBoxes” and masks which showed both the external and embodied internal experiences of chronic illness. As the process of working with and walking beside the participants developed, I found that the discourse on imaging within the literature was inadequate to show the real lived experiences of those with chronic illness. My interactions with the people of this thesis and the process of honouring their experiences required a model that would encourage the viewer to new and perhaps unrealised depths of participation to understand the participant’s multi-faceted and multi-layered experiences. Part of the discussion is the ability of images to communicate sensory experience as is the case with Munch’s The Scream and Picasso’s Guernica. Through the use of a hypertextual self-scape I show how participants created access to their experiences through their visual representations and through a collaborative approach became composite hypertextual self-scape metaphors.
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King, Trevor George. "A burning question? : fire, livelihoods and sustainability in the Navosa region of the Fiji Islands : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University." 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1299.
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The relevance of the sustainable development approach for land conservation in tropical hill regions is often assumed, but is seldom evaluated against local realities. This study analyses the causes of land degradation and unsustainability in the seasonally fire-prone region of Navosa, Viti Levu, Fiji Islands. A complex and multi-layered set of connections exists between livelihood strategies and the environment in this region where fire is used as a tool. Traditional institutions governing land management have been undermined, however, and the sustainability of the vanua (or land-people nexus) is threatened. Despite their reliance on fire, local participants reported uncontrolled burning (caused by a minority of villagers) and deforestation leading to land degradation, lower productivity and damage to fisheries. Degradation was increasing parallel with escalating human and animal populations, despite relatively equitable, resilient and livelihood-enhancing cultural institutions. Non-indigenous models of resource use, imposed by colonial and neocolonial authorities, have exacerbated land degradation and compromised indigenous resource management. Traditional tenure and leadership are impeded, leading to inequities in access to land as populations increase, and leaving local leaders unable to enact conservation. An intrusive market-based economic system encourages increased resource exploitation with little regard for environmental sustainability. A traditional model of agroarboriculture and indigenous development in the form of still-observable (but largely disused) irrigated terraces suggests the relevance of a sustainable alternative based on indigenous knowledge. To achieve sustainable development in Navosa, the emphasis should be on socio-environmental amelioration rather than on economic development (which exacerbates degradation), and to this end, local participants expressed a desire for particular conservation strategies.
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Markwick, Moira. "Eating as a cultural performance in early 21st century New Zealand : an exploration of the relationships between food and place : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand." 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1234.
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During New Zealand’s comparatively short history as a nation, its cuisine has undergone great development. The culinary traditions brought by the early settlers, from both Eastern Polynesia and then Britain, offered a relatively limited variety, however, since the late 20th century New Zealand’s foodways have undergone a revolution; today a smorgasbord of international cuisines awaits our selection. This gastronomic range is the result of a number of factors which include the influx of diverse immigrants, increased air travel by New Zealanders, the return of military personnel from overseas and globalisation. To conduct this investigation of the relationships between people, identity, food and place I approach the topic from three perspectives. Firstly, I examine how exotic foods are used to link immigrants to New Zealand with loved ones in their homelands, and also how the same foods act as a bridge between those immigrants and other New Zealanders. Secondly, I look at how exotic foods serve to connect New Zealanders with, generally, far-away places, as through its evocative powers food has the ability to transport ordinary people to places where they may rather be. Lastly, I explore how some New Zealanders are making exotic foods ‘ours’ by combining them with the abundance of fresh local produce. Appropriating the exotic and combining it with the indigenous to make it ours is the story of New Zealand; our society has developed through the arrival of many people and cultures, and food is a lens through which to observe this process today. This work differs from many ethnographic accounts in that it does not focus on a coherent group of people, but rather is based around the theme of food and eating in the New Zealand context. The thesis is the culmination of approximately twelve months of data gathering for which a multi-method approach was used. This process included: a review of both academic and popular literature; visits to food-related places such as cultural festivals, wine and food festivals, Agricultural and Pastoral Shows, Home Shows, community markets, farmers’ markets, various Auckland supermarkets, ethnic food stores, specialty food shops; mainstream and ethnic cafés and restaurants, shopping centre food courts and various other miscellaneous places; attending different ethnic cooking courses and a series of semi-structured interviews. The interview process used different interviewee configurations: individuals, married couples and pairs, in an attempt to generate various perspectives and so enhance the data. The thesis concludes that, firstly, exotic foods represent a means by which immigrants are able to connect with both loved ones remaining in the old home, and also to form new relationships with other New Zealanders in their new home. Secondly, exotic foods, through either their consumption or through people’s memories of consumption, provide a bridge between New Zealanders and other places. Lastly, New Zealanders are increasingly taking exotic foods, combining them with the nation’s abundant local and unique indigenous foodstuffs and making it ours
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Appleton, Ann Lucille. "Acts of integration, expressions of faith : madness, death and ritual in Melanau ontology : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University." 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1675.
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Longitudinal medical research studies undertaken on an international scale by the World Health Organisation continue to confirm a better prognosis for mental illness in traditional societies than in more technologically developed societies. While various associations have been drawn or hypothesised between specific cultural factors and a more favourable outcome, attention has also frequently been drawn to the methodological, analytic and diagnostic inadequacies of these studies. The work for this thesis was undertaken with these criticisms in mind and also in part as a counter to the perceived inadequacies of a solely bio-medical approach to psychopathology. The specific purpose of the research was to assess the role that culture plays in the construction and experience of both psychological well-being and psychopathology in a "traditional" society in Sarawak, Malaysia. There was an equal concern to ascertain and examine the ways in which explanations and understandings about identity, illness and wellness differ from current western models and approaches and how they are realised and lived out in the experience of individuals. The ethnographic data was collected during intensive participant-observation conducted over two years in the Mukah District of Sarawak, Malaysia, a region which has a long association with the Melanau ethnic group. Drawing on the ethnographic evidence, this thesis argues that psychopathological experiences (as psychological phenomena) embody characteristics that make it possible to identify them as culturally constructed artifacts. A theory is advanced which locates the source of psychopathology within the context of human being-in-the-world and which suggests that features of the mental illness experience such as chronicity and stigma are historically and culturally constructed within the illness concept itself. The argument draws on the theory and insights of existentialism, phenomenology. Turner's ritual theory, and Jung's concept of the shadow, extended to include a concept of the cultural shadow. It concludes that a failure to take account of the cultural dimensions of mental illness may also result in a failure to perceive not only the source of our psychopathologies but also a solution.
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Infanti, Jennifer Jean. "Telling lives : children's stories of hope, loss, love, and violence in Aotearoa/New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/708.
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This is a descriptive, exploratory study of children’s experiences and understandings of domestic violence in the Manawatu region of Aotearoa/New Zealand. It responds to the historical absence of children in anthropological research and in studies of domestic violence. The research is based on data gathered through group activities and discussions with children, five to twelve years old, in a domestic violence education and support group. A series of life history interviews was also undertaken. The study uncovers a myriad of ways that children make sense of domestic violence; incorporate their experiences of domestic violence into their identities; and manipulate, adapt, disrupt, or reproduce cultural knowledge about domestic violence in their own lives and relationships. Special focus is given to the role of helping or compassionate social relationships in children’s lives, not only for the physical safety of children but also for their ability to cope with domestic violence and bounce back from other hardships in life. The children’s narratives shared in this study have practical implications for domestic violence service delivery in New Zealand, as well as applied research with children more generally. The study also highlights children’s capacities for powerful observations, insights, and critical analysis. The thesis itself incorporates many different modes of data (re-)presentation, including poetry, drama, vignettes, and experiments with narrative voice and researcher reflexivity. The use of these literary forms helps to weave multiple perspectives into the thesis, allowing participants to speak for themselves. It also assists in producing an engaging and accessible account of children’s lives, which shows or represents lived experience, an alternative to the large number of statistical analyses that exist in the literature on domestic violence.
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"In Pursuit of Opportunity: Alternative Education Pathways for Dropped-Out Students in Worcester, MA." Master's thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.27486.
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abstract: The intention of this research is to bring us to Worcester, Massachusetts, New England's second largest city, to critically investigate the punitive patterns that exist in the "second chance" opportunity structure experienced by young people who have been dropped-out of schools. The conceptual framework I've constructed pulls from developed theories on the relationship between structural processes, institutional practices and lived experiences of marginalization. There is a need to understand how the process of school leaving, the label of "dropout," and the pursuit of second-chance opportunity are connected and exercise forms of punishment that have clear messages about the worth of these young men's aspirations and the value in fostering support for their opportunities. This critical ethnography introduces the narratives of four young men, marginalized by race and class, whose pursuits of alternative education pathways in Worcester, MA lead them towards constructing an inclusive opportunity on one's own terms. My assertion here is that the social issue is not exclusively about "dropouts," but about the relationships our schools, neighborhoods and society at large have on creating the enabling conditions of opportunity for our most marginalized students.Dissertation/Thesis
Masters Thesis Justice Studies 2014
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Benavides, Sebastian Pelayo. "The usage of traditional Maori narratives as cognitive models and educational tools : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Albany Campus, New Zealand." 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/889.
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The present research consists of an interdisciplinary approach which combines mainly sub-disciplines from the anthropological and psychological perspectives as theoretical background. Regarding the latter, from the cognitive anthropology perspective the research highlights Bradd Shore’s (1996) view on cognitive models, together with the theories put forward by the sociocultural approach in psychology based on Vygotsky’s school of thought. The main objective of the study is to achieve a broad view on the use of traditional korero paki and korero o nehera (Maori folktales/legends and myths) as pedagogical tools and as cognitive models. The latter includes a bibliographical review which covers the analysis of narratives and their usage from different areas, such as Maori epistemology and education, cultural psychology and cognitive anthropology. Being a research stemmed from an anthropological concern –how do people from different sociocultural backgrounds construct and transmit knowledge- it considered as a fundamental element an empirical or “fieldwork” approach to the matter. Therefore, the research analyses –based on semi-structured interviews- the perspectives and understanding of the usage of traditional Maori narratives as educational tools of scholars in the Maori studies/education field and of a sample of Maori teachers, most of them connected to a Kura Kaupapa Maori school, constituting a “study case” for this qualitative study. A period of complementary participant observation was also carried out, focusing on the pedagogical practises and styles of the participant teachers. Through this, the research aims to contextualise the bibliographical and theoretical findings, considering the contemporary applications, limitations and understandings encountered through concrete experience.
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Lahood, Gregg. "Bearing in mind : birth, fathers, ritual, and 'reproductive consciousness' in transpersonal anthropological perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand." 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1468.
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Bearing in Mind: Birth, Fathers, Ritual, and 'Reproductive Consciousness' in Transpersonal Anthropological Perspective is an exploration of 'unusual' psychospiritual experiences among a small group of procreative fathering males in New Zealand and the viewing of these experiences through a transpersonal anthropological lens. I have used the transpersonal literature and the anthropological record, coupled with fieldwork among contemporary males to explore some of their more 'non-ordinary' responses to childbirth, paying close attention to the symbolic and therapeutic dimension implicated in their participation The term 'non-ordinary' pertains to NOSC or non ordinary states of consciousness (see glossary). Frequently their narratives suggest psychological encounters with death and transpersonal states of consciousness. This research examines these states of consciousness, the broad cultural context from which they arise and their relationship to birthing. Two basic themes are explored: 1) the social shaping of birth as a transpersonal event and ritual at the time fathers joined their partners in birthing during the late 1960s, and 2) an investigation of the transpersonal experience itself. Such phenomena have wide anthropological ramifications which opens a third theme for exploration: the possible parallels with more traditional, shamanistic, and/or indigenous midwifery and obstetrical manoeuvres (and therefore religion) – these parallels will be outlined and explored. This thesis relies heavily on a reinterpretation of the transpersonal and anthropological literature; however it is the fieldwork (gathering birth stories from men and women) that is crucial because it is the transpersonal content of their stories that drives the theoretical component.
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Taylor, Christopher Russell. "Cultural perceptions of the Wellington landscape 1870 to 1900 : an anthropological interpretation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/781.
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This thesis examines how cultural perceptions of Wellington’s environment changed from the 1870s to the early 1900s. The historical material shows how clearing the New Zealand landscape of its forest cover in the early settler years reflected a particular cultural perception of the New Zealand bush. By 1900, this cultural perception had changed indicating that not only was the New Zealand landscape different, but New Zealand society had changed. These changes can be seen in the geographic historical accounts of clearing New Zealand’s bush and the parliamentary debates of the 1875 Forest Act, 1885 State Forest Act and the 1903 Scenery Protection Act. The anthropological theories of dwelling, taskscape, phenomenology of landscape and the hybridity of nature are used as a contemporary synthesis of ideas to examine cultural perceptions of the Wellington bush. An anthropological approach is also used to bring together diverse historical material in a way that allows these ideas to be applied. Cultural perceptions of the Wellington landscape can be understood in the way the bush was cleared for pasture, how the landscape was depicted in paintings and photography and in the case study of the establishment of Otari-Wilton’s Bush. The thesis argues that cultural perceptions can be appreciated historically by understanding how people lived within the Wellington landscape, and how this was reflected in attitudes towards the New Zealand bush. Cultural perceptions of New Zealand’s bush were a combination of existing cultural attitudes, the practicalities of living within the New Zealand environment and a direct perception of the bush itself. It is the shifting influence of all three of these aspects that determines overall cultural perceptions of the bush in any particular period in New Zealand’s history. The establishment of Otari-Wilton’s Bush shows how the cultural perception of Wellington’s bush had changed from seeing it as an obstruction covering potential farmland to having a defined place and purpose within the Wellington landscape.
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Haslett, David. "Riding at the margins : international media and the construction of a generic outlaw biker identity in the South Island of New Zealand, circa 1950-1975 : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Cultural Anthropology /." 2007. http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/etd/adt-NZCU20070511.121711.
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