Increasing breastfeeding duration, especially among low-income women, has become a national public health priority. These mothers and their babies have less equitable access to support, resources, and the health benefits of breastfeeding. This thesis examines breastfeeding from a biocultural perspective with a focus on political economy, embodiment, and human rights. This research explores the lived experiences of new mothers who receive services from a community non-profit lactation support program which is aimed at providing in-home postpartum breastfeeding support to low-income/at-risk mothers. Evaluation of program services and analysis of women's narratives will provide insight into improvement of lactation services for all women.

While incidence rates are increasing for many cancers in Puerto Rico, mortality rates are declining (Torres-Cintron, et al. 2010), resulting in growing numbers of survivors and creating a situation in which long-term survivorship concerns are beginning to emerge as priorities. The importance of quality-of-life among survivors of cancer is increasingly being recognized among healthcare providers, although there remains a gap in knowledge of how young adult survivors cope with long-term treatment-related physical effects, such as infertility, and of the impact of cancer on survivors' social relationships and future goals. Because understandings of "cancer survivorship," as well as of reproduction, vary according to cultural context, this study examined the physical and social impact of cancer on young adults in Puerto Rico, and specifically the importance of parenthood. A media analysis of women's magazines, key informant interviews with ten cancer researchers, as well as in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 23 young adult cancer survivors, 16 healthcare providers, nine cancer advocates, and two members of the clergy were conducted in order to shed light on the lived experiences, needs, and concerns of young Puerto Rican cancer survivors.

In the United States, rights of asylum and refuge are extended to people who can prove that they have been politically persecuted. Resettlement services for refugees and asylees often focus on the short-term acquisition of employment and English language skills. These policies ignore the long-term complexities involved in reestablishing individual and group identities after war trauma and resettlement. This research is an investigation into the perspectives of service providers who work with refugees, asylees, and asylum-seekers on the need for more comprehensive, long-term services to assist in the months and years following resettlement, and on potential programs to address those needs. The research was facilitated by a three-month internship in 2005 with a treatment center for survivors of torture. The center works with other social service programs to assist refugees, asylees, and asylum-seekers with resettlement and integration. The findings, obtained through ethnographic research, show that service providers are concerned with direct service needs affecting individuals and groups of refugees, asylees, and asylum-seekers, as well as programmatic needs to improve the provision of services. These perspectives are supported by research in anthropology and other disciplines, which show that recovery from war trauma is a gradual process that extends beyond the time limits on services typically available to refugees, asylees, and asylum-seekers. Data gathered from service providers adds to an anthropological understanding of violence and mass displacement, by identifying the long-term needs of refugees, asylees, and asylum-seekers, and by demonstrating the ways in which non-governmental organizations function to assist these people. The perspectives of service providers, literature on related topics, and documentation of other programs are used to make recommendations for services to address the needs of refugees, asylees, and asylum-seekers in the months and years following initial resettlement, when there is little assistance available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Anthropology, 1999. / Bibliography: leaves 320-376.

Este artículo busca reflexionar sobre la labor antropológica en el campo de las políticas de educación superior, específicamente en el área de extensión universitaria, a partir de mi desempeño profesional en una universidad pública nacional de Argentina. Resumiré brevemente aspectos centrales de uno de los programas donde participo y el marco institucional del que formo parte. La selección del caso radica en su potencialidad para pensar la praxis antropológica, dado que condensa varias cuestiones que hacen a mi labor cotidiana y que atraviesan las diversas etapas o instancias en las que son producidas las políticas «extensionistas»: diseño/diagnóstico, planificación, ejecución y evaluación. Me interesa analizar la intervención del antropólogo o antropóloga en un área (la extensión universitaria) que emergió como el nexo entre la universidad y la comunidad, con el fin de contribuir a la transformación social desde una perspectiva que, sin embargo, hace (¿o hacía?) hincapié en la transferencia de conocimientos. Revisaré el concepto de extensión y las nuevas nociones que van ganando terreno. Como ejes para pensar la antropología aplicada, abordaré la distancia crítica y el involucramiento empático; la «aplicabilidad» de conceptos y metodologías etnográficas o la antropología como praxis, y finalmente, el trabajo interdisciplinario. / This article seeks to reflect on anthropological work in the field of higher education policy, specifically in the area of University Extension. This proposal tackles this issue from my own professional performance at a national public university in Argentina. I briefly summarize key aspects of one of the programs where I participated, as well as its corresponding institutional framework. The relevance of the case lies in its potential to reflect on anthropological praxis, and it encompasses several issues related to my daily work. Anthropological praxis crosscuts the various stages or levels which compose «extension» policies, namely design, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation. My purpose is to analyze the anthropologist’s intervention in this area —university extension—, that represents the «nexus» between the university and the community », in order to contribute to social transformation. However, this perspective emphasizes (or probably emphasized?) knowledge transfer. I examine the notion of extension and the new concepts that are gaining ground. To think applied anthropology, I consider the following topics: the critical distance and the empathic involvement; the «applicability» of concepts and ethnographic methodologies, anthropology as a praxis; and, finally, interdisciplinary work.

This study explores cognitive impairment and its correlation to early- life adverse experiences in non-patient population between the ages of 50 to 65. This developmental approach and observational study design explores cognition in pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Using a standardized neuropsychological instrument, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and clinically administered questionnaire, the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences), I hypothesized that participants with high ACE scores will inversely have low MoCA scores. My goal was to use a multiple linear regression model with 3 covariates and 1 predictor of interest (ACEs). At 80% power, a sample size of 40 was calculated as needed. This would mean that the results would have 80 % chance of declaring statistical significance. This corresponds to an R-squared value (percentage of variation in MoCA score explained by the predictor) of 17.2%. The desired sample size was not attained successfully due to several barriers in receiving sample data from the collaborating site and the 2017 Hurricane Irma causing a drop in participation rate. Overall 13 participants had successfully participated. The analysis of the results is demonstrated in a line graph indicating a relationship between ACE and MoCA scores. The accuracy of the descriptive statistics could be argued against due to the low sample size. The analysis of the ethnographic interviews brings out some trends in the participant responses. The focus here has been to discuss these responses as to how they advocate for the entanglement theory of aging. In other words, how the exposure to social and environmental factors at various stages of an individual’s lifecourse can interact with one’s physiology, resulting in exposure- specific health conditions at later life stages. Among the period of exposure, my focus through this study is specifically on the early exposures in the lifecourse. This is facilitated by the use of the ACE questionnaire regarding exposures to adverse experiences such as sexual/ physical abuse, familial mental health issues, alcohol/ drug abuse in the family and loss or separation from parents. The entanglement theory further allows for race or culture specific exposures to adversity that raises the question of varying health consequences among cultural or racial groups and the need for a more critical approach in providing access to healthcare and healthcare policy development. Trends in ethnographic results obtained have allowed for the critical discourse in the transgenerational effects of social adversity, effects of resilience- building from adversity and the need for care- giver mental health services. The study brought out critiques on how the ACE module could be made more inclusive of experiences specific to diverse cultures and regions, as well as the need to address the severity of individual experiences. We conclude by discussing how effects of social or environmental experiences can be used toward AD and aging research and what supporting literature and initiatives currently exist. The discussion is also inspired by the existing political discourse around the medicalization of AD and how that influences the reductionist methods in AD research. This new direction of applied and holistic approach derives its perspective from neuroanthropology and applied medical anthropology. The overall aim of this study is to ask questions challenging existing research methods with the ultimate hope to newly influence the allocation of AD research and risk reduction toward interdisciplinary focus and funding, involving early-life lived experiences and life course perspectives.

What role do environmental conservation projects play in the transformation of American cities? How do these projects affect city residents? In this study, I ask these questions at the Burnham Wildlife Corridor, where the Chicago Park District worked with institutional and community-based partner organizations to engage city residents in the creation of a lakefront wildlife habitat and public nature area. Through ethnographic interviews and participant observation I explored how actors at various levels understand this changing landscape and their roles in shaping it. I situate the Burnham Wildlife Corridor project in the broader context of a state-level plan, the Millennium Reserve, as well as relevant trends in urban planning and environmental governance. Using concepts from anthropology, geography, sociology, philosophy, and natural resource management, I interpret my results, with a focus on space, place, and the role of race and ethnicity in community engagement around conservation. I discuss emerging tensions and contradictions in urban environmental conservation and offer recommendations for how land managers and their partners can refine community engagement efforts aimed at increasing public participation in land management.

Placencia Village is one of Belize’s leading “eco-destinations,” due to its sandy-white beaches, coral reefs, and wildlife sanctuaries. While the use of “green washing,” the process of deceptively marketing products, aims or policies as being environmentally friendly, has proven to be effective in attracting consumers who are thought to be environmentally and socially conscious, the exponential growth, coupled with the absence of established policies, represents a significant threat to Belize. This thesis examines the political-ecologic dimensions of rapid tourism expansion in Southern Belize by investigating how the health of the biophysical environment is perceived, what processes are responsible for change, and how these changes are impacting the socioeconomic livelihoods of the local people.

Working with the public benefit corporation SURVIVR, I conducted a user experience study to determine how effective the Summer 2019 build of the virtual reality (VR) police training tool SurviVR was at meeting the product's goal of providing officers-in-training with realistic, immersive training experience. Two virtual training scenarios, entitled Active Shooter and Emotionally Disturbed Person (EDP), were the focal points of the study. At two of the product's pilot demonstration locations over eleven total sessions, I gathered observational data and audiovisual recordings and administered paper surveys based in qualitative methods (with a few quantitative elements). Using these data collection tools and techniques, I inquired into the themes of immersion and realism in the virtual scenarios and what design features the participants felt positively or negatively impacted their experiences of these themes. SurviVR's nature of containing both real-world and virtual elements that are pertinent to user experience necessitated a framework that addresses ethnography of virtual worlds, hybrid ethnography, and design anthropology. This study contributes to the expanding field of VR applications and understanding how improved immersion and realism can aid in the effectiveness of VR as a training tool.

Recent attempts at developing an environmental education agenda in public schools emphasize the need to foster greater public awareness about environmental rights, issues, and solutions, while producing citizens with the knowledge and skills needed to address the ecological challenges of contemporary society. However, some scholars have argued that the attempt to integrate environmental principles into the school curricula has created a conflict between the politically-oriented goals of environmental education and the more passive practices of uncritical assimilation and reproduction found in many schools today (Stevenson 2007). Moreover, although there is a need for public schools to take on the challenge of prioritizing environmental education, they may not be ready to do so. Ideological conflicts, structural constraints and perceptions about the urgency of the problem seem to affect the ways in which implementation of these new philosophies and practices take place. One approach that the environmental movement in Puerto Rico is utilizing to fulfill what they perceive as their responsibility to the new generations of Puerto Ricans and society at large is to partner with local elementary public schools in an effort to develop activities and knowledge relevant to local ecological issues and environmental principles. To better understand this complex articulation, I set out to conduct an ethnographic case study of Conuco, a youth-led activist group working in collaboration with four elementary schools in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. Utilizing an eco-critical approach, this study looks at the multiple-levels in which Conuco intersects as a public organization and a transformative space for its individual members. By caring for and working with elementary school children, the young people in the study learn to behave in ways that are ecologically conscious while, at the same time, fulfilling their perceived social responsibility as mentors and environmental activists. However, while these practices might improve the performance of individual teachers and the level of awareness and participation of particular groups of students, they raise questions about the ability of the school system to confront these new challenges systematically by transforming the system of instruction and improving its commitment to the environment. How effective these strategies are and what they mean for all involved-teachers, students, and activists-are the primary questions being explored in this study.