This dissertation is a diachronic settlement and landscape study undertaken from an interpretive archaeology perspective. The outcome of this study has been an interpretation of the settlement and landscape configurations as well as of the sociopolitical organization during the entire prehispanic occupation (ca. 1100 B.C.- A.D. 1532) of the Upper Piura River Valley in the Far North Coast of Perú. Also, the sociopolitical interaction between the local polities of the Upper Piura River Valley and the southern foreign Northern North Coast polities has been assessed. The Far North Coast is not an environmentally "marginal" area as compared to the Northern North Coast. Yet, in terms of its prehispanic cultural development, it often has been characterized as "marginal" or "peripheral". Such characterization is due in part to an overemphasis on the study of Mochica style cultural materials found in the Far North Coast. In particular, the emphasis on analyses of "high quality" Mochica ceramics has led to interpretations that view local Upper Piura River Valley sociopolitical developments from the perspective of the "dominant" Northern North Coast societies in an unbalanced situation disregarding the perspective of the supposedly "weaker, less developed" local societies. In this sense, interpretations drawn from iconographic and stylistic analyses of objects on the one hand, and from landscape analyses on the other, seem like two different versions of the same story. Since the latter is so uncommon and unexplored in Andean archaeology, I chose to apply it in this dissertation. For that purpose I followed two different but complementary paths of interpretation. The first path is an interpretation of the landscape from a dwelling perspective. The goal was to create an analogy of the experience of past individuals through an embodiment process via the movement of my body and mind through the landscape features. A second path of interpretation was merged with the first one. This second path comprised a classic settlement pattern analysis oriented to clarify the nature of the sociopolitical interaction between local polities of the Upper Piura River Valley and the intrusive polities of the Northern North Coast. The second path of interpretation also entailed overlapping the settlement patterns observed onto the spatial structures and topograms defined and interpreted by the dwelling perspective. As a result, I found that the study area is characterized by a 2600-year long process of dwelling in the landscape. Through this process and along the years, yet following a long, local process, revolving around the topograms, the landscapes conceptualizations and configurations changed. Two moments of the settlements and landscapes configurations were defined: the "old system" and the "new system". For most of its history (through all the "old system" and the first epoch of the "new system"), and acknowledging the mutual cultural influence with other areas (e.g., the Northern North Coast), the local landscape and settlement configurations were not disrupted and engaged in an egalitarian or coevolving sociopolitical interaction. Yet during the second epoch of the "new system", this situation changed drastically when a hierarchical and coercive interaction structure developed during the Chimú and Inca periods.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between sociopolitical development, autonomous motivation, and educational and career outcomes among low income Latino and non-Latino high school students and to explore the socioeconomic and ethnocultural differences among these relationships. This study is informed by Sociopolitical Development Theory (SPD) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Both SPD and SDT are frameworks that have been applied to the educational experiences of low-income and ethnocultural minority students in previous research. In this study, I tested a model to examine the relationship of sociopolitical development and career and educational outcomes for a diverse sample of high school students as mediated by autonomous motivation, a key feature of SDT. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether the data from a diverse sample of high school students (N = 1196) fit the proposed model. Differences in model fit for subsamples of Latino and non-Latino participants and for lower and higher SES participants also were explored. Results suggest that high school students' sociopolitical development predicts career and educational outcomes, and this relationship was partially mediated by autonomous motivation. Model fit did not vary as a function of SES or ethnicity. Results lend confidence to the utility of SDT and SPD in predicting educational and career outcomes for high school students. Interventions that promote SPD and autonomous motivation are described. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed.

This sonata-form case study investigates the sociopolitical microstances of three secondary mathematics teachers in an urban, comprehensive high school. The study is framed by three questions: 1) How can philosophical pragmatism add a purposive, action focused piece to the sociopolitical framework? 2) What sociopolitical microstances – focused on the practice of teaching – can we identify from the narratives of mathematics teachers? 3) What inhibitions can we identify that are preventing teachers from further transformation in their classrooms? To address the first question both historical and contemporary pragmatist philosophy as well as a bridge between poststructuralism and philosophical pragmatism was used to augment the current sociopolitical theory in mathematics education research. Sociopolitical microstances were identified within the three sonata-form case study narratives – connecting broader social, cultural, and political implications, past and present framings of teacher knowledge, and narrative inquiry with equitable mathematics teaching. The microstances identified in the narratives include: anti-racist, deconstructing ability, community, conocimiento, Napantla, and being more than a teacher. Inhibitions were also identified from the narratives, and these include: time and emotional energy, local/state/national requirements, college course requirements, disconnect from academic scholarship, and having to confront the whiteness in others.

The recent decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007) has forced school districts to begin thinking of new ways to integrate their schools without relying on race as the single factor in their assignment plans. While some school districts already have begun to implement race-neutral student assignments, others are just beginning the process and are looking to plans that have been able to maintain diversity despite the new limitations being placed on them. In order to learn more about what factors are most critical in shaping racial and socioeconomic diversity in school districts, I examined the interaction between the design and implementation of 3 different integration plans that rely on voluntary choice and socioeconomic status (SES). I wanted to determine whether these factors had any effect on the way such integration plans are employed and ultimately on school-level diversity outcomes. I was also interested in learning how the local sociopolitical context influenced outcomes. I used qualitative case methodology, which allowed me to focus on the processes and meanings behind the plans. I conducted a historical analysis of desegregation on each of the school districts and used data collected from documents and interviews to analyze how design interacted with context to produce particular outcomes. I situated my analysis in the education policy implementation literature as it tells us that people and places play integral roles in how a policy is designed, adopted, and implemented. The ultimate success of a policy is heavily influenced by the actors involved in the creation of the policy as well as the context in which the policy is implemented. I found that the success of these plans depends heavily on their context. Urban school districts that have high poverty levels and few White students have a difficult time maintaining diversity, whereas school districts that incorporate the city and surrounding suburbs are more likely to maintain diversity because White, middle-class families do not have the same opportunity to flee the district. Furthermore, school districts that use geographic zoning and regulated choice are able to maintain higher levels of diversity. Support from the community and local policymakers also can play a role in the success of integration plans. The findings suggest that geographic and political contexts matter in the shaping and adoption of integration plans based on voluntary choice and SES. I offer suggestions to maintain integration given the local sociopolitical context of the school districts. / text

abstract: The primary focus of this research is the poorly understood relationship between water insufficiency and broad-scale social change, in the semi-arid lower Salt River Valley, in central Arizona. The overarching research question guiding this research is if water insufficiency could have prompted sociopolitical change among the Hohokam. Specifically, the research investigates if long-term water deficits were a catalyst for the two most consequential transformations in Hohokam history – the Preclassic/Classic transition (A.D. 1070-1100/1150) and the early to late Classic period transition (ca. A.D. 1300). This research used extensive historical aerial photographs and cultural resource management excavation data to complete the largest-scale reconstruction of Hohokam irrigation. These lines of evidence provided exceptional insight into the developmental histories of eight major irrigation systems along the lower Salt River, four of which are newly defined here. Also, historic Salt River streamflow trends are leveraged to refine previously reconstructed annual flow discharges. The irrigation system reconstruction provided the means for estimating irrigation demand through irrigated acreage, and monthly streamflows supplied the amount of water available during key points in the two agricultural cycles per year. Together, irrigation demand and water availability provided necessary data to identify persistent water shortages during Hohokam history between A.D. 740 and 1450. The findings discussed in this dissertation demonstrate that water insufficiency likely had no notable effect related to either the Preclassic/Classic or early to late Classictransitions in the lower Salt River Valley. Instead, there was possibly enough water through time for Hohokam farmers to meet agricultural demands. Three substantial additional insights were gained from this research. First, an extremely large flood, occurring either during the late Colonial or early Sedentary periods, may have profoundly altered irrigation agriculture and social organization in the valley. Second, during at least the Sedentary and Classic periods, Hohokam irrigation was structured into standardized irrigation units (SIU), a far more complex and efficient method of irrigation than previously perceived along the lower Salt. Third, a bedrock reef located near Canal System 2, and not at other lower Salt irrigation systems, is plausibly a determinate in Canal System 2’s longevity. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2020

The aim of this study has been to explore how Ugandan pupils narrate themselves as learners within the mathematical classroom discourse and classroom but also as part of the school culture in the context of Uganda. Mathematical understanding and performance has been considered largely by policy makers and the wider public of critical concern to empower learners as future citizens, and for the advancement of local communities (United Nations, 2017). However, mathematical understanding encompassess more than the context of the mathematical classroom, thus, in this paper, an attempt is made to examine the narratives that motivates and shapes the pupils in their mathematical endeavors. Starting from a socio-political position, regards to the cultural, political and social context is taken. Hence, knowledge acquisition is seen as the product of discourses and the circumstances in which it is cultivated. The study was confined to a single classroom, with four pupils and the class teacher. Through micro-ethnographic methods, the study aimed to examine how these pupils positions themselves within the mathematical classroom, as pupils of today as well as adults of tomorrow. Methods for collecting data included semi-structured interviews, participatory observations and visual documentation through photography. The theoretical concepts applied in the process of analysis were: actual and designated identity (Sfard & Prusack, 2005a), and use value and exchange value (Black et.al., 2010). The pupils’ narratives show four main themes for basis of narratives: fear of corporal punishment, religious motivation, mathematical understanding, and the possibility of rewards for exceling. These four themes are acting interrelated, and exist in varying degrees within the pupils. The analysis of pupils’ narratives show that no single component is responsible for molding the pupils’ mathematical identities, but rather, that the cultural and social influences in their every-day-lives play paramount roles in shaping their narratives.

This study explored the lives of lesbian mothers with children conceived through insemination or the adoption process in an effort to understand the conflicts they encountered along their journey to motherhood and how they managed those conflicts. The qualitative study included in-depth interviews conducted with six participants. The participants’ ages ranged between 25-60 years old. Interview results were analyzed to explore participants’ narratives in regards to their experiences, relationships, identities and transformation into motherhood. This research highlights significant ongoing developments in the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) studies and seeks to intersect the boundaries between interpersonal and sociopolitical conflicts with the phenomena of lesbian-mothered families. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, this research provides a contribution to the interdisciplinary field of conflict resolution with a focus on the central research question: What is the common experience shared among lesbian mothers in their transformation to motherhood? The key findings of this study interrelate with themes of interpersonal conflict, role conflict, and sociopolitical conflict. The conclusions contribute to the field of conflict analysis and resolution, expand upon recent developments on LGBT family systems, and suggest new areas for further examination from the perspective of conflict analysis scholarship.

No description available.

The Internet and other telecommunications systems have reshaped the means by which markets are accessed, generated, and transformed. Recent innovations in computer science have led to the development of a virtually bound, decentralized, encrypted currency system known as bitcoin. Unlike conventional currency systems, the Bitcoin protocol is cryptologically defined with a virtual structure that allows it to simultaneously operate as currency, commodity, and market shaping socio-political force. Its decentralized design permits it to function as a free-market response to fiat currencies vulnerable to inflation, regulation, and manipulation. Given the cultural significance anthropologists and other social scientists have assigned to various modes and mediums of exchange over the years, the socio-economic impact of this novel currency system warrants particular consideration. This research describes the Bitcoin community that has emerged alongside the currency, including the entrepreneurs, developers, and consumers who are dedicated to bitcoin’s perpetuation and acceptance as an internationally recognized medium of exchange. Ethnographic interviews and participant observation were utilized to collect information from users in the Central Florida area, detailing their experiences and interactions with the Bitcoin protocol and its associated community. This research provides new levels of anthropological insight into currency development, market interaction, and economically embodied social commentary. Moreover, its exploratory nature helps create a viable framework around which qualitative inquiry of virtual crypto-currencies may be designed in future studies.

A large body of research exists concerning teaching students of Mexican background whose primary language is not English, who I call Potentially Biliterate Students (PBLs) in this study. The focus of the research around these students often addresses bilingual education, academic achievement, the impact of language policy, and segregation, among other areas. Yet inequalities still prevail when educating this group of students. Language policies such as Proposition 203 and House Bill 2064 in Arizona, which are not research-based, target this particular population -perpetuating inequalities that have been visible since the Mexican-American War of 1848. This dissertation is informed by sociocultural (Vygotsky, 1978) and sociocultural-historical (Rogoff, 2003) perspectives. Theories of second language (Krashen, 1982; Cummins, 1991; Collier, 1995) and the interplay with mathematics education (Moschkovich, 2002, Khisty, 1995) are also important components that frame my study. This study took place in two different third-grade classrooms, a mainstream and an English Language Development/Structured English Immersion (ELD/SEI), in an English-only environment. The school is part of a school district in southern Arizona where most students are of Mexican background. I employed ethnographic tools to address my research questions. The data sources of this study come from field notes from participant observations, video-recorded sessions, interviews (video- and/or audio recorded) with both teachers and students, and teachers autobiographies regarding their language and mathematics learning experiences, offering a rich source for analysis of the resources and classroom practices in the teaching-learning environment. This data allowed me to develop in-depth case studies for both teachers based on the nature of their classrooms. Thought the two case studies presented, I document how the sociopolitical-historical context and the teachers' training and professional development shape their classroom practices, language ideology, attitudes towards the subjects they teach, as well as their perceptions about their students and families; in particular around students of Mexican background. Additional research is needed to connect results similar to this study with the impact on students' outcomes and behavior, as also the impact on participation of the different school members -parents and other community members.