Sociology/Anthropology

In this study I examine American films from 1990-1999 to see how race relations between black Americans and white Americans were depicted and the implications of such depictions on interracial interactions. The five films selected are Ghost (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), Speed (1994), A Time to Kill (1996) and Rush Hour (1998). I will be focusing my study on ‘token’ black characters which are defined as characters that demonstrate stereotypical qualities, are in a lower-status role with regards to white characters or serve no other purpose in the film other than to drive the narrative forward by serving as an instrument for other agentive characters. In my research I find that a ‘token’ black character is complex identity that is dialectically created and is part of a history of stereotypical and racist depictions of black Americans in film.

This thesis looks at the idea of masculinity and examines it through social practices. Social practices serve as ‘indicators’ of the social construction of masculinity. Specifically, this thesis will study how social practices during slavery create an idea of Black masculinity which can be similarly seen in contemporary forms of imprisonment. Additionally, I look at how the idea of social memory plays a role in how African Americans are defined, and thus, define themselves. The findings show that while not everything correlates directly between slavery and the prison system, there are strong connections in how Black masculinity is defined, reified, and reproduced between these two institutions of control.

Denison University began its institutional commemoration of MLK Day in 2001 as a result of the efforts of two students who graduated in 2000. The commemoration of MLK speaks largely to the collective memory of Denison, and the nation. I addressed the topics of collective memory and commemoration through ethnographic research, interviews with current and former planning committee members, and analysis of written material on past commemorations. These data highlight the changes in the events over the last seven years, and indicate several points of stability in the focus of the activities. What started as a weeklong series of activities has expanded to a two-month “season of events” that addresses numerous social equity issues. This development has coincided with changes in the organization and specific focuses of the commemoration. However, certain foundational themes ground the commemoration each year in the midst of shifting social and historical contexts.

Although baseball has lost popularity among Americans to more “exciting” sports such as football and basketball, neither of these sports has stripped the title of “national pastime” away from baseball. This thesis examines baseball, the American pastime, not only as a game, but as an institution of American society that has been influential from the world of sports to the very core of what this nation represents. Throughout this thesis I will demonstrate that baseball has not only been influenced by race and ethnicity, nationalism, and class, but that baseball, in turn, has been influential in defining these social forces in the American context. I examine baseball throughout the last century, focusing on the “golden age” (1917-1947) and the modern era (1977-2007). I argue that the changes that happen in baseball are a direct reflection of the changing nature of American society.

Urban centers, which faced decline following World War Two, are now sites of reinvestment and renewed social and political interest. The East Main Street Urban Visioning Project aims to encourage redevelopment in Newark, Ohio. The planning period provides an important opportunity to reflect on the process of urban design. The project intended to draw on history, increase safety, and revitalize community, but from the beginning there was conflict over whose interests were really served and whether people would come second to profit. I consider the theoretical perspectives implicit in planning discourse. Chicago school tropes of the ‘natural’ processes of decline and growth oppose a neo-Marxist inspired focus on power and inequality. My discussion includes the perspectives of those involved in the planning of the project and members of the East End community. My findings imply the necessity of critically engaging with the interests of power embedded within the built environment.

This research explores the musical culture of the diaspora while placing the musical developments in a contemporary historical context. This positioning allows for an understanding of the influence of past and recent conflict and displacement on the cultural practices of dispersed Somali populations, and how the changes in these practices and aspects of the culture diagram the past, present and future of Somalia and a ‘Somali’ identity. By thumbing through government texts, scholarly articles, and news articles information was gained about the history and political climate of Somalia. Somali internet sites, correspondence with Somali musicians and historians, and most importantly, in-depth interviews with members of the Columbus, OH Somali community provided crucial data. The findings reflect changing perceptions of Somalia, changing perceptions of what it means to be Somali, and changing interpretations of tradition. The music is simultaneously evolving, fashioned to embody a ‘new’ Somali identity; one that is between reflecting the past and deciding the future.

This paper summarizes the findings from a year long study of the experiences of first-generation college students versus non-first-generation college students at a small, private liberal arts college in Ohio. While the definition of first-generation college students varies, in this study they are defined as students whose parents do not have a bachelor’s degree. This examination includes an analysis of the hidden curriculum, which relates to the unwritten and implicit rules of how to navigate college. In order to compare the experiences of the two student populations, interviews and focus groups were conducted with first-generation college students, non-first-generation college students, and administrators. Among the findings that emerged, the main themes that highlighted the difference between these two groups included the college search and financial aid processes and the meaning of a college degree. These themes articulated the issues of kinship obligations, the hidden curriculum, and access to capital.

As the burden of HIV/AIDS increases throughout the African continent the contraction of opportunistic secondary infections is also on the rise. Tuberculosis has become one of the most common of these infections, and for many Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS have become nearly synonymous. Uganda is no exception to this current medical situation and has been plagued with one of the highest rates of TB in the world.

This study investigates the role of discourse and stigma in the treatment seeking process for those infected with Tuberculosis. Because news media is one of the most common forms of public discourse this was the primary source of data for this study. This data was then examined for the use of negative stereotypes and discourse and compared with the rates of those infected with TB seeking treatment.

The focus of this study is the way contemporary police stress programs in the United States negotiate their mental health services within the police subculture. Using five in-depth interviews with employees of police stress programs, I explore how these programs have developed and what methods they use which enable them to be successful in helping the police officers. Based on these findings, I make suggestions to Licking County on developing a police stress program. Police stress, as well as police officers’ lack of education and resources to deal with the stress, is a social problem that affects everyone. Although officers tend to be resistant of mental health care due to subcultural norms, police stress programs have adapted to police subculture by tailoring services specifically to police officers and their families. Police stress programs can be integrated into the police subcultures and positively affect the police officers, their families, the departments and their communities.

This project analyzes sexual assault disclosure: victim-survivors’ conversations about their unwanted sexual experiences. I interviewed fifteen victim-survivors and use this data to demonstrate the interrelated power of three discourses pertaining to rape: heterosexuality, law, and the anti-rape movement. Within the heterosexual discourse, women narrate the unwanted incident as a sexual learning experience during conversations with other women. In future romantic relationships, victim-survivors decide to disclose to their partners to prevent sexual aggression. In these disclosures, partners often pressure victim-survivors to legally report the incident. Legal recognition of the incident is considered essential in identifying that what “really happened” was criminal. Legal disclosures facilitate anti-rape disclosures in which victim-survivors politicize their story to raise awareness. Because of the perceived negative social repercussions of reporting, stories are kept as secrets among women friends. Victim-survivors participate in other anti-rape activism that does not require personal disclosure.

Yaoi manga, graphic novels which depict homosexual relationships between men, are aimed towards an audience of women. I suggest that the novel’s appeal for Japanese women is as a space for considering issues of power and sexuality, while simultaneously offering an escape from patriarchy and from gender inequalities portrayed as inherent to Japanese marriage. Reading yaoi manga provides a tacit feminist response to the historical patriarchy which underlies the contemporary Japanese state. I consider form, theme and characters in boys' love, demonstrating the significance of these factors in women’s explorations of their relationships with men. Thus, yaoi manga are not about homosexuality; they create a space for what woman cannot otherwise say. Wilchins suggests that "in a male-centered culture, women will always be the 'queer sex' " (2004:11). Yaoi manga appear as a 'queer space' revealing an emerging but contested feminist consciousness.

Relics of past civilizations are scattered across Ohio's landscape. Tarlton Cross Mound, located in central Ohio, USA is one of three effigy mounds in the state and the only cross-shaped mound in the country. Previously, limited research has been done to determine how, why, and by whom this mound was constructed, the questions that form the core of this project. This research has two main components: a geoarchaeological study of the soil used to build the mound and an archival study of the symbolic meaning of the square cross. Sediments from the mound were analyzed and it was determined that the soil was of local origin. The shape of mound is significant because as a symbol, it represents the Middle World, or the world of humans, in Native American cosmology. From these data, Tarlton Cross was most likely built by the Fort Ancient culture as a shrine to the cosmos.

In this project I examine the use, and discourse, surrounding the inclusion of multicultural literature in Ohio high school English classes. By conducting interviews with teachers, an analysis of the syllabi of seventy-nine high school classes, and a content analysis of the most commonly used multicultural texts, I discuss what texts and authors make up the new high school canon and why these texts are chosen. Although many teachers do make a concentrated effort to include multicultural literature in their classes, I argue that the syllabi and class selections do not reflect this effort; rather, there is little diversity in the texts used at the high school level, and very few books, from a few select authors, are used to represent the vast array of diversity in American and international society.

This qualitative study focused on the means through which mothers and daughters communicate within their relationship. I chose to focus on practices of the body, namely weight and appearance. In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 daughters between the ages of 18 and 22 that attended Denison University. Analysis of the data revealed that the physical change of maturation in the daughter’s body was a marking point in the change of the relationship between mother and daughter. At this point in the mother-daughter relationship, communication about the body became more complex. Discussion about the body also became a discussion about the body as a site of mother-daughter negotiation. These mother-daughter relationships and interactions were shaped by thoughts and concerns that mothers and daughters had about themselves, each other, and the relationship that they had with one another.

Girls in the Ohio Juvenile Justice System are sometimes overlooked, being forced to fit into the institutional mold built for males. This research looks at how the Ohio Justice System conceptualizes female juvenile offenders. From interviews with people working within the system, it can be seen that girls are thought about in relation to the family and kinship structures they come from, the socioeconomic class they are in, the agency and control they have over their own lives, and the way the State operates in relation to these things. This research sets out to explore the question: "What are girls for" in the Ohio Juvenile Justice System, but there is no concrete answer. This research investigates the different ways girls are conceptualized in hopes of bringing knowledge about their situation to the forefront.

Interviews, a statistical analysis, and personal interaction with the Licking County, Ohio Children's Services Department helped gather information about the factors impacting the initial interactions families have with Children's Services when reports are made to the agency. The researcher completed an internship with the agency, where data was gathered to synthesize in a statistical analysis. Six patterns that were found to be especially significant in the findings of this research: the relationship between single parenting, the Alleged Perpetrator (AP) relationship, and the type of abuse; access to capital; the discourse of blaming the parents for sexual abuse by a family friend; gender roles and gender identity; social isolation of the family; and the relationships surrounding court action. One conclusion suggested that fathers in non-single parented homes were the AP of physical abuse, and mothers in single parented homes were the AP of neglect. Implications for future research are included.

For this project, I seek to analyze trans-national definitions of motherhood in the context of the United States-Mexico border. I operationalize migration and immigration as an experience which is deeply embedded in gender, and seek to understand how identity is shaped through border-crossing; how gender acts as a catalyst for instigating and structuring migrant practices. I analyze issues of sovereignty and "belonging" in reference to undocumented immigration, and how responsibilities of motherhood exceed and differ from nation-state statutes on parenthood. My data presents interview testimony from mothers who have recently immigrated to the United States, and serves to better illustrate issues of identity and what women perceive as their relationship with their children. To represent my data, I have compiled a series of my poems discussing issues of motherhood and identity to show how migration and motherhood have affected the lives of my respondents.

I consider U.S. cultural definitions of development by investigating the fair trade movement, and specifically the commodity coffee, as a form of development. Based on surveys with U.S. consumers, interviews with representatives of several U.S. NGOs, coffee roasters, as well as other organizations in the movement, along with primary literature, I contribute a cultural analysis of fair trade coffee that considers its potential as an instance of development. I argue that definitions of fair trade still focus far more on economic solutions than on a concern for local cultural conceptualizations. By employing morality and consumption as sites for ‘international development,’ the fair trade movement does not completely reconceptualize the social and political structures of international trade. While the movement influences consumers and businesses to consider production conditions, fair trade also engages images that have implications for producer-consumer relations and the potential of the movement.

Over 200,000 individuals were murdered during the 36-year armed conflict in Guatemala. Violence was concentrated in the countryside, which permitted the majority of the urban elite to continue with their lives without being affected by the war. For a country to collectively heal after a period of political violence, an active discussion and a collective memory of the atrocities committed is necessary. Using interviews conducted in Guatemala City, of 16 young elite members and 3 teachers, I analyzed the memory and understanding that the elite youth have about the conflict. Evaluating their opinions about the military and the guerrillas, the ideas conveyed in their formal education and their memories of two important activists, I can see how the collective memory of the armed conflict affects the social identity of the young elite in Guatemala. Moreover, I explore the implications of uncertain ideas of the past for future leaders of Guatemala.