Daniel N Irving,
SUNY Geneseo
Not
Just Black and White: An Ethnographic Study of Racial Discrimination in Cuba
Caribbean nations and people are constantly attempting to reconcile the modern
concerns of economic development with the legacy of colonialism and slavery.
Lacking remittances from relatives living abroad, and still coping with a history
of racial prejudice, many Afro-Cubans are increasingly marginalized in this
new era of unemployment and the dollar economy. During my fieldwork in Cuba,
I focused on reflexivity between this economic situation for Afro-Cubans and
the national ideology that profess racial equality and a single Cuban identity.
This ideology conflicts with the reality of race-consciousness and fails to
explain the vibrancy of Afro-Cuban sub-cultural institutions and communities.
In this paper, I examine the interactions between the dialects of race and class
- in the context of individual lives in a Cuba attempting to assert itself in
the developing world.
Debra Hannah, University
of Rochester
You're
Not My Mom!
The Questioning of Rules, Values and Norms in a First Year Inner-city Charter
School
The study of a first year inner city charter school, this paper explores the
profound power struggle that occurred therein, when strict behavioral expectations
established to elicit obedience evoked rebellion instead. Rules were complex
and their true breaking points vague, however broken rules were ensued by respective
punishments and were mostly consistent; therefore not impossible to follow.
It is asserted that the children did not break the rules because of their inability
to comply, but as a result of their interpretation that the rules labeled their
identities as fundamentally undesirable. This is explored in the areas of noise
level, speech and conflict resolution.
Jennie Woods, Christopher
Newport University
An
Ongoing Ethnographic Look at Paganet and CERC's Pagans
This presentation summarizes an ongoing ethnographic study of a group of Pagans
in South-Eastern Virginia. The usefulness of standard anthropological typologies
for characterizing the beliefs and actions of the participants is questioned.
The task of anthropology to interpret and explain the group in a manner that
reduces prejudice and defensiveness is emphasized.
Jessica Marcinkevage,
University of Rochester
The
Formation of Sisterhood: The Bonds and Spirituality Within a Support Group forHIV
Positive Women in Rochester
I had chosen to do research on an HIV positive support group for women based
on my own interests and concerns. I never could have expected the wonderful
experience about which is explained in my paper titled, "The Formation
of Sisterhood: The Bonds and Spirituality Within a Support Group for HIV Positive
Women in Rochester." The paper explores how a support group structure allowed
for healing within a group of HIV positive women. It explains the noticeable
bond that the ladies of the group share with each other. It also explores the
influence of spirituality on the women's sense of healing, representing the
presence of a higher being. Based on over two months of research, these ideas
are explained and supported with actual ethnographic field notes, first-hand
accounts and quotes supporting each idea. My intention is to enlighten the reader
on the wonderful workings of the women of the group.
Ilka Datig, University
of Rochester
The
Process of Cultural Representation: Tibet's Position in America Media
My paper entitled 'Culture in Crisis: Cultural Representations of Tibet in Western
Media' explores the complex issues surrounding the process of cultural representation
which takes place through media. I address the politics that go into the process
of choosing which culture to represent, how representations cannot be held as
authorities because they will always reflect the impulses of the creator, and
what effect the media can have upon a culture in crisis. I discuss how images
of Tibet in movies and literature have created social ideas about it, and how
they influence opinions regarding the current political
situation. This paper fits into the current debate about the creation of indigenous
media by Tibetan refugees in exile, and I argue that the media needs to be more
careful about how it represents a culture in an incredibly uncertain political,
religious, and cultural situation.
Anna Barnes, University
of Rochester
The
Construction of Community Within a Non-for-Profit Social Organization
Community, or possessing a shared goal and a feeling of togetherness, amongst
members of specific groups can be understood through my research conducted at
the Sojourner House for women located in Rochester, New York. While spending
four hours a week at the non-for-profit organization as a holiday intern, I
observed many ways in which community was formed. Most importantly, I observed
how volunteers and staff work together to provide the most engaging and supportive
community for the women and children who live in the home.
Megan Lee, Union
College
Women's
Roles in Fijian Society
This paper advances Mead's long-standing interest in understanding gender roles
from a cross-cultural perspective. The social structure of Fijian society revolves
around a share-and-care mentality in which individual needs and wants are met
through the larger kin group. Each individual is required to perform within
his or her assigned social role. Ideally, individuals' personal needs are met
through, and they feel satisfied by contributing to the larger group. However,
there are some categories of people who do not feel that their needs are met
through this social structure. People like young, married women do not feel
that they have the ability to willingly contribute to the larger society and
therefore do not feel the benefits of the share-and-care mentality. Instead,
they often feel restricted and constrained by their roles as wives. As new members
of their husband's kin group, they do not have high social status. Their actions
are dictated to them by those who have higher status than they do. With little
ability to freely contribute to the larger society, many feel constrained by
their role and do not feel like valuable members of the kin group and social
system. As a result, some young married women try to find ways to gain a degree
of autonomy over their own lives while still performing in their required role.
Andrew Spitz, Union
College
Religion
and Communalism in a Fijian Village
This paper contributes to Margaret Mead's exploration of the influence of a
Pacific cultural emphasis on community on individual lives. During a anthropological
term abroad in Fiji in 1999, I lived in a Fijian village and explored the significance
of religion in village lives and for individual villagers. I found that the
Methodist Church dominated village life. Villagers saw the Methodist church
as enforcing correct social behavior much as ancestral spirits (the "vu")
had once done. They suggested that since Fijian society had long ago strayed
from the "straight path" laid down by the vu, villagers had no choice
but to ally themselves with another source of spiritual power, the Christian
God. Speaking with individuals suggested that they viewed themselves as being
full of evil impulses and in need of a strong religion in order to control these
impulses. Many people also left the Methodist church to join evangelical Protestant
churches because they believed that Methodism did not offer an active enough
faith to control the strong aggressive urges within them. I use this material
to argue that Mead was wrong in suggesting that a Pacific cultural tradition
emphasizing community in Samoa produced individuals who did not experience tensions
about the demands of society. Fijians saw themselves as always in danger of
not meeting the demands of society and in need of a strong religion to keep
themselves in line.