This paper explores the relationship between anthropological research methods and business, marketing and research design. It is based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews.

Migration is a process that allows people to circulate from one place to another as they seek resources and search for new beginnings. The study of the South-Asian Bengali community in Canada, conducted in Southern Ontario show how women of first, second and third generation have adapted, resisted and acculturated with the Canadian mainstream. The purpose of this research is to convey the intricate connections between food and identity in the lives of Bangladeshi-Canadian women between 19-25 who call Canada their home, using participant observations and semi-structured interviewing. Food is a marker of ethnic identity in a globalized, migrant community; cultural and social issues governing the consumption of food products serve as a marker of regional, national and gender identity. In the Bengali diaspora, food is a symbol of tradition and a link to ethnic identity as younger generations of South Asian-Canadian women maintain, conserve or oppose traditional values, while engaging in identity construction. The research asks if rituals surrounding food practices still retain a traditional meaning and fulfil the same expectations or if the experiences of acculturation and immersion into mainstream Canadian society transformed the conceptions of food, gender and ethnicity construction amongst contemporary Bengali South-Asian Canadians. It will furthermore explore gendered ideologies regarding food, its consumption and transmission of social values. In the end, food and gender provide a lens through which identity construction in the diaspora is revealed.

This thesis explores the author’s experience of fieldwork in Western Ghana while volunteering to promote gender equality at an elementary school. Analyzing the stages of preparation for fieldwork, situating the self in the field, conducting fieldwork, and returning from the field, illustrate some of the strengths and weaknesses of NGO and volunteer involvement for the combined purposes of conducting ethnographic fieldwork. Reflecting on these processes and the presence of the researcher allows for a critical understanding of issues in the field; such as children’s responsibility and ethnic discrimination. The complex of the researcher’s multiple identities in the field, including volunteer, researcher, and white woman, affect the experience and results of the fieldwork; the significance of which is reflected upon through autoethnography.

This paper explores the relationship between anthropological research methods and business, marketing and research design. It is based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews.

Migration is a process that allows people to circulate from one place to another as they seek resources and search for new beginnings. The study of the South-Asian Bengali community in Canada, conducted in Southern Ontario show how women of first, second and third generation have adapted, resisted and acculturated with the Canadian mainstream. The purpose of this research is to convey the intricate connections between food and identity in the lives of Bangladeshi-Canadian women between 19-25 who call Canada their home, using participant observations and semi-structured interviewing. Food is a marker of ethnic identity in a globalized, migrant community; cultural and social issues governing the consumption of food products serve as a marker of regional, national and gender identity. In the Bengali diaspora, food is a symbol of tradition and a link to ethnic identity as younger generations of South Asian-Canadian women maintain, conserve or oppose traditional values, while engaging in identity construction. The research asks if rituals surrounding food practices still retain a traditional meaning and fulfil the same expectations or if the experiences of acculturation and immersion into mainstream Canadian society transformed the conceptions of food, gender and ethnicity construction amongst contemporary Bengali South-Asian Canadians. It will furthermore explore gendered ideologies regarding food, its consumption and transmission of social values. In the end, food and gender provide a lens through which identity construction in the diaspora is revealed.

This thesis explores the author’s experience of fieldwork in Western Ghana while volunteering to promote gender equality at an elementary school. Analyzing the stages of preparation for fieldwork, situating the self in the field, conducting fieldwork, and returning from the field, illustrate some of the strengths and weaknesses of NGO and volunteer involvement for the combined purposes of conducting ethnographic fieldwork. Reflecting on these processes and the presence of the researcher allows for a critical understanding of issues in the field; such as children’s responsibility and ethnic discrimination. The complex of the researcher’s multiple identities in the field, including volunteer, researcher, and white woman, affect the experience and results of the fieldwork; the significance of which is reflected upon through autoethnography.

Many applied academics, within and outside anthropology, have called for the incorporation of cultural knowledge in public policy and decision-making, and for the “bridging” of knowledge systems in knowledge coproduction. Yet critiques of the academic treatment of cultural knowledge have indicated that research has focused on the content not the epistemologies of cultural knowledge systems. To what extent does the social science literature characterize knowledge systems as systems? Does the literature on cultural knowledge systems provide us with tools for translating cultural knowledge? Conclusions derived from this thesis research (a grounded theory approach to an academic literature sample) indicate that substantial work has been done to characterize cultural knowledge epistemologies. However, language used to describe knowledge systems is inconsistent, and analyses of social structures are patchily developed. In an effort to synthesize the literature, I have compiled the best practices and methods used by academics in hopes of influencing future cultural knowledge systems research.

The Mycenaean cemetery at Kallithea Laganidia is the first comprehensive study of a cemetery sample from the periphery of the Mycenaean world. Previous studies have focused primarily on remains from palace centers. Even though it is known that the Mycenaeans populated Achaea , very little is known about this more rural population. Archaeologically and bioarchaeologically the region of Achaea has been neglected by formal and organized research, and as a result almost nothing is known about the population. This project has three aims. First, to provide new demographic data about sex, age, health, and the culture of these Mycenaeans. Secondly, via osteological analysis, to examine the hypothesis that the social stratification indicated by the associated grave goods in the tombs is reflected in the spatial orientation of each tomb and the health status of the individuals buried in the graves. Finally, to address the issue of “orphaned” archaeological collections, excavated in rescue operations, which then languish in storage for years or decades. The Kallithea Laganidia cemetery was in use from LHIIIA to LHIIIC and consists of one tholos and 23 chamber tombs. The tholos is a monumental high status tomb, and was in use both before and after the construction and use of the chamber tombs. Five of the chamber tombs were selected as a representative sample of the cemetery for this thesis. The tombs contained both men and women, and adults and children were represented among the tombs, indicating that they should provide a reasonable cross section of the population that buried their dead at Kallithea Laganidia. This osteological data showed and confirmed that the status differences seen in the grave goods from the tombs are also reflected in the tombs according to spatial distribution. The varying quality of burial offerings among the tombs of Kallithea Laganidia suggest that the tombs closer to the tholos contain burials of the socially elite, and the tombs farther away from the tholos contain burials of lower social classes. The pathology data collected, and more specifically the dental pathology data, do reflect social stratification among the sample’s five tombs, particularly when looking at antemortem tooth loss and severe dental wear. In addition, there are indications of status or behaviour differences between the sexes. Kallithean women seem to have been exposed to infection during life more often than men. Women have higher rates of infectious disease, and indications of more antemortem cranial trauma than men. Also, the presence of men, women, and children among secondary burials within these tombs suggested that there is a familial or linear tie within each tomb. The Kallithea Laganidia cemetery has the potential to yield new and informative data about the Achaean Mycenaean population. From this small sampling of 38 burials from five tombs, already the demography and paleopathology of this peripheral group is beginning to be deciphered.

Many applied academics, within and outside anthropology, have called for the incorporation of cultural knowledge in public policy and decision-making, and for the “bridging” of knowledge systems in knowledge coproduction. Yet critiques of the academic treatment of cultural knowledge have indicated that research has focused on the content not the epistemologies of cultural knowledge systems. To what extent does the social science literature characterize knowledge systems as systems? Does the literature on cultural knowledge systems provide us with tools for translating cultural knowledge? Conclusions derived from this thesis research (a grounded theory approach to an academic literature sample) indicate that substantial work has been done to characterize cultural knowledge epistemologies. However, language used to describe knowledge systems is inconsistent, and analyses of social structures are patchily developed. In an effort to synthesize the literature, I have compiled the best practices and methods used by academics in hopes of influencing future cultural knowledge systems research.

The Mycenaean cemetery at Kallithea Laganidia is the first comprehensive study of a cemetery sample from the periphery of the Mycenaean world. Previous studies have focused primarily on remains from palace centers. Even though it is known that the Mycenaeans populated Achaea , very little is known about this more rural population. Archaeologically and bioarchaeologically the region of Achaea has been neglected by formal and organized research, and as a result almost nothing is known about the population. This project has three aims. First, to provide new demographic data about sex, age, health, and the culture of these Mycenaeans. Secondly, via osteological analysis, to examine the hypothesis that the social stratification indicated by the associated grave goods in the tombs is reflected in the spatial orientation of each tomb and the health status of the individuals buried in the graves. Finally, to address the issue of “orphaned” archaeological collections, excavated in rescue operations, which then languish in storage for years or decades. The Kallithea Laganidia cemetery was in use from LHIIIA to LHIIIC and consists of one tholos and 23 chamber tombs. The tholos is a monumental high status tomb, and was in use both before and after the construction and use of the chamber tombs. Five of the chamber tombs were selected as a representative sample of the cemetery for this thesis. The tombs contained both men and women, and adults and children were represented among the tombs, indicating that they should provide a reasonable cross section of the population that buried their dead at Kallithea Laganidia. This osteological data showed and confirmed that the status differences seen in the grave goods from the tombs are also reflected in the tombs according to spatial distribution. The varying quality of burial offerings among the tombs of Kallithea Laganidia suggest that the tombs closer to the tholos contain burials of the socially elite, and the tombs farther away from the tholos contain burials of lower social classes. The pathology data collected, and more specifically the dental pathology data, do reflect social stratification among the sample’s five tombs, particularly when looking at antemortem tooth loss and severe dental wear. In addition, there are indications of status or behaviour differences between the sexes. Kallithean women seem to have been exposed to infection during life more often than men. Women have higher rates of infectious disease, and indications of more antemortem cranial trauma than men. Also, the presence of men, women, and children among secondary burials within these tombs suggested that there is a familial or linear tie within each tomb. The Kallithea Laganidia cemetery has the potential to yield new and informative data about the Achaean Mycenaean population. From this small sampling of 38 burials from five tombs, already the demography and paleopathology of this peripheral group is beginning to be deciphered.