Showing 11 - 14 of 14 Items

Date: 2023-01-01

Creator: Susu Gharib

Access: Open access

This paper details the ways in which IVF and infertility influencers on Instagram use their platforms to resist the silence surrounding reproductive difficulties. The analysis draws upon a thematic analysis of posts tagged with IVF-related hashtags and a semi-structured ethnographic interview with one influencer. Through these methods, I found that influencers build intimate publics through their platforms by sharing their journeys, interacting with followers, and reciprocal support. Within the context of the intimate publics, influencers are able to connect with others who understand their experiences, allowing them to break through the silence they may feel in their offline social groups.

Date: 2015-05-01

Creator: Katharine Herman

Access: Open access

This project compares the interaction between the government and the population in both Peru and Sri Lanka through the 20th century, focusing on the provision of care (services, benefits, and recognition as provided by the governing apparatus) as a locus for their most meaningful interaction. The provision of care can be seen as a form of communication established in certain practices, symbols, and discourses. Moreover, the provision of care works to reorient the subject population into a more beneficial relationship with the state–notably one of increased dependence and trust. Through the elaboration of what care is and how it functions, a care ideology is established creating a terrain through which the politics of the governed and the governing alike can be legitimized. Care ideology can then be considered a further articulation of the state idea, creating a dialogue about how governance can or should be affected within a certain context. These case studies then illustrate the terrain over which both of these governing bodies work. In Sri Lanka, the governing apparatus provides a means for citizens to live a symbolically meaningful life through paddy farming. In Peru, the governing apparatus provides access to the state through civil infrastructure like roads and education. Through care, material goods become invested with meaning and the state idea becomes materialized. Care is a then substantial project undertaken by the state to ensure its own reproduction and further widen the possibilities for the state project to be effected through its own citizens.

Date: 2024-01-01

Creator: Joseph B. Lancia

Access: Open access

My thesis discusses the cultural, political, and social dynamics of mountains with separate Indigenous and Western names and identities. Centering on Aoraki/Mount Cook—the highest peak in Aotearoa New Zealand—I integrate personal experiences as ethnographic data through narratives, mainly of my time hiking while studying abroad in New Zealand and during the two recent summers I spent exploring Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Through its name, Aoraki/Mt. Cook maintains Indigenous Māori and Western perspectives: Aoraki being a Māori atua (god) and Captain James Cook being a significant colonial figure in the Pacific. The slash upholds both identities while ensuring that they exist together. These dynamics are explored in depth and extended to mountains in places including Colorado, Alaska, and Australia. While discussing Rocky I rely heavily on Oliver Toll’s Arapaho Names & Trails (2003) which contains a substantial collection of Arapaho knowledge of the area and I give strong attention to Nesótaieux (Longs Peak and Mount Meeker). Additionally, I look at Mount Blue Sky, Denali, and Uluru/Ayers Rock to discuss mountains that have had formal name changes and how legacies are maintained through toponyms. With discussing varying identities and perceptions of each example and the knowledge held in names I encourage readers to do research into local Indigenous knowledges to further their and others’ understandings of places. I emphasize the concepts of historical silences, the revealing of knowledge, and the importance of language to articulate that Indigenous knowledge might be difficult to find but is never truly lost.

Date: 2021-01-01

Creator: Lowell Ruck

Access: Open access

Franco-American culture is increasingly recognized as an integral part of the heritage of Maine and New England, and has attracted growing academic attention in recent years. But while many scholars and cultural promoters focus on the French language in their work on this subject, few studies have considered the position of traditional music in Franco-American communities in the 21st century. This thesis examines French Canadian traditional music as it is played in New England and the ways in which musicians think about authenticity and tradition in their art. Using material from ethnographic interviews, it illuminates how musicians draw from individual, familial, and communal experiences and from past, present, and future conceptions of authentic tradition in their roles as cultural mediators. Ultimately, it suggests that players of French Canadian traditional music interact with this tradition in diverse ways, and that in doing so, they help to maintain the vibrancy of Franco-American cultural practices. La culture franco-américaine est reconnue de plus en plus comme partie intégrante de l’héritage du Maine et de la Nouvelle-Angleterre et attire maintenant l’attention académique. Mais même si beaucoup d’érudits et de promoteurs culturels ciblent la langue française dans leur travail sur ce sujet, peu d’études ont considéré la position de la musique traditionnelle dans les communautés franco-américaines du XXIe siècle. Cette thèse se concentre sur la musique traditionnelle canadienne-française de la Nouvelle-Angleterre et sur les façons dont les musiciens conceptualisent l’authenticité et la tradition dans leur art. En utilisant des entrevues ethnographiques, elle illumine comment les musiciens tirent des expériences individuelles, familiales et communautaires et des idées du passé, du présent et de l’avenir dans leurs rôles comme médiateurs culturels. Finalement, elle suggère que les joueurs de la musique traditionnelle canadienne-française interagissent avec cette tradition de plusieurs façons, et ce faisant, aident à maintenir la brillance des pratiques culturelles franco-américaines.