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<p> The Chamorros of Guam have experienced colonially-influenced change on spatial and temporal scales for nearly four-hundred and fifty years. They are continuously redefining their identity with respect to these changes, and within the power related discourses of colonialism. The adoption of a colonial understanding of "tradition" has alienated Chamorro from their perception of indigenous identity. A difference between a contemporary "livelihood" and a more traditional "way of life" is apparent, also considered to be a conflict between how a Chamorro "must" behave versus how a Chamorro "ought" to behave to maintain an indigenous identity. Lack of agency, the rise of individualism, and the institutionalization of Chamorro culture have compartmentalized Chamorro identity, and forced contemporary Chamorro to abandon that which is "traditional" in order to engage with a modern world. </p><p> This thesis explores these phenomena through a mixed-methods lens, employing participant observation, semi-structured, qualitative interviews, and surveys to explore the domains in which Chamorro draw meaning and personal and cultural identity. The village of Umatac, on the southern-end of Guam, is used as a study population, as the issue of identity formation and remaking is explored through the theoretical perspectives of cognitive anthropology, discursive formation, and place attachment.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Anthropology, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0239. Adviser: Richard R. Wilk. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 22, 2007)."

<p> The Central Aleutians Upland Archaeological Project used film and social networking to reach educator and public audiences. A series of short education films were created for Alaska public schools through consultation with school districts, Alaska Native corporations, tribes, and archaeologists. The consulted parties wanted Alaskan youth inspired to pursue anthropology, feature a role model Alaska Native college student, and use of Unangam Tunuu in the films. Social networking was approached with educational goals that were tested through an online anonymous survey. The Facebook member survey had a 23.5% response. The questions with the most incorrect answers were answered correctly 72.4% of the time with most questions being answered correctly 100% of the time. Facebook had 61.8% female members and YouTube had 70.5% male members from countries all over the world. The goal of creating relevant public archaeology content that inspired and educated Alaskan youth and the general public was met.</p>

<p> Anthropology has a long history collaborating with artists to understand their artwork. However, little research exists in the discipline that focuses on artists as a group, their creative process, and what may influence that process. In particular, how artists use nature and place has not been studied; instead, anthropology has generally considered nature and place as merely a backdrop for culture rather than for its impact on cultural expression. Identification of diverse aspects of the interdependence of ecological and social systems can inform our understanding of how people address issues of environmental concern. Managers, scientists, creative people, and others working at the nexus of disciplines, management needs, and ecological and social systems can facilitate this understanding through knowledge sharing. In my research I examined how two groups of visual artists process their interaction with the environment through what I term &ldquo;experiencing with&rdquo; nature and how this may influence them as artists. </p><p> I employed phenomenological inquiry methods and interdisciplinary analysis to investigate the ways in which artists develop a sense of experiencing with nature and a sense of place. I developed an experiencing formula framework representing relationships between variables involved in the act of experiencing in order to analyze artists&rsquo; narratives and actions as a way to examine their perceptions of their experiences with nature. The analysis made evident six primary categories of findings: artists&rsquo; sense of experiencing with nature, their purpose of experiencing, their process of experiencing, their conceptual definitions of nature, their access to nature, and how they experienced nature through the artist residency programs. I propose the experiencing formula framework may be suitable for describing human-environment relationships beyond the boundaries of artists and nature. </p><p> The artists&rsquo; experiences were individual and influenced them to varying degrees. They experienced nature with purpose and encountered both tension and inspiration while gathering resources for their work. They were not so concerned with defining nature as seeking to tell their story of place through their sense of experiencing to communicate their experiences with nature through their works. Experiencing with nature provided them with a language for expressing themselves. Nature was a place for journey and exploration for the artists.</p>

<p> This narrative research offers an inquiry that intends to inspire thinking about a culturally competent dementia care framework in the United States. The main research question is: How does a culture hold dementia care? A subquestion is: What can we in the United States learn from other cultures about dementia care to enhance this care for all? The inquiry was designed to conduct narrative research focusing on Japanese culture in the context of caregiving to people with dementia; 4 professional and 4 family caregivers from this culture, who have cared or have been caring for persons with dementia, were interviewed. The narratives reflected the caregivers' lived experiences and how they were culturally compelled to give and sustain care. </p><p> This inquiry assumes that a person-centered dementia care model is challenging for the U.S. healthcare system, despite attempts to do so, due to the prevailing values and beliefs in the United States that center around a cure model as opposed to a care model. It also assumes that ideal person-centered dementia care in the United States needs to pay close attention to the cultural competence of caregivers and healthcare professionals, as their clients identify as persons through their cultural ways of being. These assumptions are grounded in the literature review. </p><p> As a result of narrative data analysis, 5 themes emerged from the data among family caregivers, and 2 themes among professional caregivers as the commonality. In addition, 4 themes emerged not as common themes but as unique themes. This dissertation examined Japanese interdependent construal of the self and demonstrated that these themes could be explained through understanding Japanese sense of self. </p><p> It is evident that interdependence between the self and others is deeply embedded in Japanese culture. Without a doubt, interdependence uniquely manifests in the caregivers&rsquo; attitudes, values and worldviews of caregiving in Japanese culture. Although the limited number of participants should be considered, these findings/caregivers&rsquo; insights generated from this study aim to promote and encourage dialogues regarding what culturally competent dementia care looks like among caregivers and beyond in the United States when taking care of people from different cultures.</p><p>

This thesis concentrates on the emerging field of interactive documentaries. Digital interactive and networked media offer so many new possibilities to document reality that it is necessary to define what an interactive documentary is and whether there is any continuity with the linear documentary form. This research therefore proposes a definition of interactive documentaries and a taxonomy of the genre based on the idea of modes of interaction – where types of interactions are seen as the fundamental differentiator between interactive documentaries. Interactivity gives an agency to the user – the power to physically “do something”, whether that be clicking on a link, sending a video or re-mixing content - and therefore creates a series of relations that form an ecosystem in which all parts are interdependent and dynamically linked. It is argued that this human-computer system has many of the characteristics associated with living entities. It is also argued that by looking at interactive documentaries as living entities (Living Documentaries) we can see the relations that they forge and better understand the transformations they afford – on themselves and on the reality they portray. How does an interactive documentary change while it is being explored/used/co-created? To what extent do such dynamic relationships also change the user, the author, the code and all the elements that are linked through the interactive documentary? Those questions are discussed through the use of case studies chosen to illustrate the main interactive modes currently used in interactive documentaries. This thesis is a first step in exploring the multiple ways in which we participate, shape and are shaped by interactive documentaries. It argues that interactive documentaries are ways to construct and experience the real rather than to represent it.

<p> This dissertation investigates the semiotic resources that Singaporeans combine, balance, and negotiate in order to enact a &ldquo;proper&rdquo; Singaporean identity. The analysis considers a variety of semiotic resources, ranging from fine-grained phonetic variables to language varieties to education or career paths. The meaningful organization and use of these semiotic resources are situated within Singapore&rsquo;s broader sociopolitical discourses of nationhood, that is, how Singaporeans perceive themselves as a nation and citizens of that nation according to participation&mdash;or non-participation&mdash;in institutional discourses. I show how the notion of being &ldquo;proper&rdquo; as well as evaluations of &ldquo;properness&rdquo; are associated with social and linguistic practices that <i>index</i> (Silverstein 2003) meanings of being global and local, often simultaneously or in balance. Furthermore, this work extends Eckert&rsquo;s (2008) concept of <i>indexical fields </i>, acknowledging that variables index multiple social meanings, any one of which have the potential to be activated in use. In the enactment of a &ldquo;proper&rdquo; identity, I investigate how these meanings are continuously co-constructed in interaction (Bucholtz and Hall 2005). </p><p> The (re-)production of &ldquo;proper&rdquo; ways of speaking and being are part of the processes of <i>enregisterment</i> (Agha 2007), via a <i>semiotic repertoire</i>, which is then available for public circulation and performable cultural models of behavior. This work examines the range and flexibility of resources that constitute a semiotic repertoire through a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses&mdash;connecting macro-level discourses, such as the circulation of sociocultural stereotypes, to variation in speakers&rsquo; day to day language use, including micro-level investigations, such as the perception of voice onset time in Singapore English. This work highlights the many ways in which social identities and meanings are contextualized in and emerge out of interactions that regiment and discipline the behaviors of the self and others.</p><p>

<p> This thesis explores the extent to which Twitch.TV streamers and viewers influence each other and the social and economic capital exchange that occurs between the parties. For this study, influence will be defined as the extent to which streamers and viewers affect each other&rsquo;s behavior and emotions. Bourdieu&rsquo;s (1977) theory of practice is combined with Goffman&rsquo;s (1959) dramaturgical analysis to analyze how both parties perform in ways to gain social/economic capital. The limited amount of studies conducted on live streaming video gamers has typically occurred outside the field of anthropology or has not specifically focused on the viewer/streamer relationship. This study contributes to the expanding body of anthropological research on live streaming websites and how influence occurs in relationships that are formed online. The main finding being that monetary gain is not as large of a factor in streamers incentive to stream as does social capital and connecting with others.</p><p>

<p> The substance 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (a.k.a., MDMA, Ecstasy, Molly, Midomafetamine) is currently listed by the Food and Drug Administration as a breakthrough therapy for post traumatic stress disorder. The drug however remains a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States, and is listed in the top four most frequently used recreational drugs. Use by young people in social venues like all night dance parties (raves) and clubs around the world is widely documented, but evidence suggests that an increasing demographic of users is older adults (over age 27). Research is lacking about how this growing demographic uses MDMA and how assumptions of illegal/deviant models of drug use may or may not apply. Several decades of research on MDMA produced three primary models of use: the psycho-spiritual model, medical/psychotherapeutic model, and the illegal/deviant model. Each model of use is socially constructed along certain epistemological assumptions about users and the sought after outcome or effects of the drug. It is currently unclear which model of use older demographics of users fit within or if an entirely new model of use is needed to understand evolving trends. The current grounded theory investigation used snowball sampling methods to recruit adult participants who actively use MDMA in privacy with their committed partner. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore eight couples&rsquo; experiences using MDMA with their partner. Transcripts were analyzed with an iterative process of open and focused coding, followed by member checking. Major themes reported by couples include <i> a different reason to relate to each other, serving me in so many ways, added depth to relationship and practice returning to MDMA experience</i>. Together, themes from this study support a cognitive-relational model of recreational MDMA use, that is best described as a process that involves acquisition of knowledge, rational thinking, reasoning, and collaboration about ingesting MDMA together, all based on the expectation of durable change to their relationship together and other relationships in their lives. This investigation provides a critical lens for uncovering epistemological assumptions of other models, and provides a pathway for research into the use of medicines and drugs in the context of committed relationships.</p><p>