In America, the legacy of contradiction between Christian ideals and the reality of institutional slavery, and anti-black racism creates spiritual-racial identity dissonance for African-American Christians. For black Christian men facing the current global health crisis of assault on black personhood, understanding the complexities of spiritual-racial identity is crucial to the holistic health and well-being of African-American Christians. I investigate the embodied, historic friction between American-Christianity and Black identity. How do black men of faith embody, navigate, develop, maintain, and face challenges to their spiritual-racial identity? To answer this question I conducted life histories and focus groups with the black Christian men who participated in the Ghana 360 Challenge (G360). G360 exists to educate, empower and equip college-aged, African-American men spiritually, culturally, and professionally through a 5-week leadership experience in Ghana. Given that the African-American church has been the supplier of many civil rights activists, the study of the lived experience of African-American Christians is integral in continuing to intentionally center and empower black communities and other historical and systematically marginalized communities, especially now when the value of black lives are being contested at every level of the American criminal justice system. Findings include spiritual-racial transformation, transcending orgins, and emphasizing indigenous analysis methods. This research offers tools of hope, resistance, and faith in the midst of spiritual and racial upheaval. By strengthening my own embodied ontological foundation as researcher and creating co-created work that uplifts the voices of my participants as a spiritual, intellectual, and political community, I reinterpret widely circulating stories of black men as prophets as opposed to criminals. Ultimately, this research will contribute to local, and global liberation by exploring the axiology of brokenness as a resistance framework that helps reframe liberational politics as occurring in new sites, or old sites that have been ignored or misrepresented.

My research focuses on Greek-Americans in the Seattle area and the incorporation of foods derived from their Greek heritage into their lives. The first Greeks immigrated to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s, followed by a second wave in the 1950s through the 1980s, and a third wave in the last decade. The Greek-American population in Seattle comprises of a mixture of descendants from the first Greek immigrants to more recent immigrants. From a food-centered perspective, these waves of immigration create multiple ways through which Greek food is experienced and incorporated into Greek-Americans' lives. Furthermore, from Greek-owned restaurants to church-run festivals Greek-Americans have often been associated with food by others and by each other. While many Greek foods have become commonplace in the American vocabulary and palate, for Greek-Americans, different dishes, ingredients, and locations are connected to different experiences. My primary methods for conducting research include six one-on-one interviews, two interviews with pairs, and a four-person focus group. A total of 13 informants participated in interviews and the focus group. My methods also include participant observation done at two Greek festivals held by Greek Orthodox churches in Seattle. What emerges is a consideration of Greek foods and their variability across time and space. Individuals' memories and experiences with Greek or Greek-influenced foods provides an understanding of the diverse positioning of Greek food in Greek-Americans' lives, and on a broader level, the personal nature of ethnic foods and cuisine in the US in general.

My investigation explores how two factors affect individuals in the animal rights (AR) movement. 1) the empathetic connection between human and animal formed when certain humans are exposed to suffering or death of another living being and relate to it, and 2) how these individual's conception of animals subsequently differs from the societal view: that is, as resources for our use. I was inspired by Coetzee's "The Lives of Animals." He describes an AR activist ridiculed by academics (who had themselves invited her to speak) due to her "irrationally" emotional perspective. This led me to interview my peers, members of Northwest Animal Rights Network, and members of various campus activism groups to observe whether this character's experience was felt by UW's own AR activists. I noticed a difference between AR activist's experience and the experience of activists in other fields. This difference is demeaning or accusatory tones, and an unwillingness to take seriously the actions of the activist. Activists of all forms can become isolated; this is inherent in activism (defined as action to bring about change). However, the relative novelty of AR, institutionalized use of animals as resources, and the cultural-social-political discourse which shields many from seeing how we use animals, creates a unique form of pressure on AR activists here at UW. The existing AR literature focuses upon the 'emotional' aspects of witnessing and killing, and has investigated the stress this puts on individuals combined with the lifestyle changes required (refusing meat, etc.). I have observed something equally important: the existing discourse contributes to how strenuous and encompassing the commitment required from AR activists is. The existing discourse needs to be expanded from focusing solely on 'witnesses' to examining other ways AR activists are ‘created.’ It also needs to stop framing emotions as inherently non-academic, or wrong.

Personal, community, and societal influences of femininity create a unique entry point for the analysis of a woman’s decision whether to undergo reconstructive breast surgery following a mastectomy. To date, insufficient attention has been given to the impact of altered appearance in women who have had mastectomies due to breast cancer. Due to differing personal perceptions of femininity, every woman’s experience with their altered physical appearance post-mastectomy must be realized as unique. This study looks to explore the interaction in which perspective and experience inform and shape each other. It does this by acknowledging the relationship between femininity, treatment decision-making, body modification, and the relationship between body and self. The population includes individuals who have undergone mastectomy surgery with or without breast reconstructive surgery and healthcare professionals who work with the former individuals. The primary method of data collection includes semi-structured interviews and observation at Swedish Hospital. The interviews are conducted at a time and location convinent for the participant and ranged from 45-150 minutes. The observationship consists of shadowing a breast surgeon in multiple capacities — clinical visits, consultations, pre-op visits, post-op visits, and procedures in the operating room. This research focuses on the experience of a changed body which is important as breast cancer continues to be a highly prevalent disease.

Through interview-based research with parents and medical professionals, my study examines the complexity of decision-making and medical advancement in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) while assessing the experience’s emotional impact. The intersection of biomedicine and advancing technology changes perceptions and challenges the limits of supporting life. Within the NICU we hear of “miracle babies” — micro-preemies and babies with chromosomal or congenital abnormalities — who seem to defy all odds and survive, pushing the limits beyond what was initially thought to be impossible. Increased survival rates and miracle stories offer hope for life in cases where there was previously none. My methods include informational interviews, media analysis, and NICU visits in order to assess the complexity of the NICU space. My preliminary interpretation of findings from this ongoing research suggest that the notion of decision-making is intricate. Individuals in the NICU experience intensive medical encounters and are forced to make decisions while they are rushed, confused, and overwhelmed. Therefore, many do not identify distinct and important decisions in the exact moment but can recognize them broadly upon reflection. Additionally, I found that an emotionally demanding environment seems to have a psychological impact with individuals adapting in two ways. One may compartmentalize the experience (which has led to PTSD in some participants), or one may embrace their experience and take action to help others (i.e. becoming a neonatal nurse themselves). Research on this topic is evolving and I hope to contribute to the larger discourse of the NICU and understanding the experiences of parents and newborns. (UW IRB Approved)

This research looks at the ways the complex interpersonal relationships among medical professionals, family members, and disabled persons affect the medical care received by people with disabilities. It explores power and control, both in the context of family and clinical environments, looking at how the cultural construction of disability plays into the practice of medical decision making, and ultimately their effect on the enactment of medical care for people with disabilities throughout their lives. By conducting semi-structured ethnographic interviews, focus groups and autoethnographic reflexivity, this project explores how participant narratives interact, using a critical feminist disability studies lens. These complicated autonomies, influenced by sociocultural conceptions of disability, dynamics of family interaction, and perceptions and practices of medical professionals become the lived experiences of disabled people and fundamentally alter the ways in which they receive care.

From neighborhood traditions to national policies, Roman Catholic dogma extends and intersects within the Visayan region of the Philippines. In the onset of the globalization of western biomedicine, the incorporation of Filipino religious practices adds a crucial element to the ways we understand Filipino healthcare paradigms and, in a grander scale, the importance of faith in holistic healthcare. I have been constructing an ethnography examining how faith plays an integral role in constructing healthcare paradigms in low-income communities specific to the Visayans. I focused my initial qualitative research and fieldwork in the province of Cebu where I volunteered at a local hospital for four weeks. I recorded my observations on hospital spaces and healthcare policies, alongside religious practices and healing customs common to Cebu. I also interviewed lay people, medical staff, healers, and religious authorities. Throughout the academic year, I have been continuing my research analyzing journal entries, narratives, interviews, and other data to further uncover the cultural and historical influences that impact medical and healing practices in the Philippines. These analyses involve open and closed coding, creating spatial mapping of themes from my experiences, and constructing a paradigm analysis. By the time of the symposium, I intend to form concrete conclusions on the following: 1) Why environmental, social, and spiritual influences on space matters in places of healing. 2) How history, faith, healing practices, and modernization intersect to form the framework for medical tourism and other ethical implications found in Filipino healthcare. 3) What is the nexus between chaplains, manghihilots (faith doctors), and biomedical doctors that affect power dynamics in lay people’s access to healing. Through my ethnographic study, I will have constructed a framework that uncovers the importance of Filipino faith in the embodiment of culture, community, policy, and power dynamics in Filipino healing practices.

Global urbanization and deforestation are erasing spatial buffers between the two most widespread primates, humans and macaques. This dynamic interspecies interface can cause competition over space and resources and may precipitate general conflict, which may include property damage, physical harm, or disease transmission. In the highly urban island city-state of Singapore, multiple organizations are tasked with responding to nuisance reports and may cull, translocate, sterilize, or export macaques to manage these conflicts. This research employs a multi-disciplinary approach to assess which variables drive this interspecies conflict. From 2010-2015, 1,109 complaints were registered with National Parks, Singapore. These complaints spanned 41 subzones of Singapore where nearly 2,000 macaques in 64 troops were distributed. The complaint data were spatially plotted using ArcGIS in order to analyze where complaints occurred. These complaint data were then compared to macaque demographic data such as habituation score and group size, as well as land usage, in order to analyze factors that contribute to a high frequency of complaints in some areas. These findings have the potential to inform stakeholders, including community, government and non-governmental organizations, of more effective and sustainable management options.

The spike in commercialization of college sports programs raises the issues that student athletes’ are facing more difficulties to achieve academically. Collegiate athletes playing at the Division 1 level has shifted from mere competiton for students to a massive business enterprise that brings in millions amount of revenue to universities. The purpose of this study was to (1) determine the relationship between team subcultures, parental influence, coach/teammate influence, learning environment, training, financial aid, prior high school requirements of play and academic assistance influence academic achievement of Minority university athletes, (2) determine if differences exist between non-minority and minority student athletes’ within the same subculture of that team and (3) determine if there are differences between minority student athletes’ success in Division 1 men and Division 1 women, in regards to academic achievement within their respective teams subculture. Ultimately, were minority student athletes getting a chance to engage in the academics that are the school's trade-off for the profit it makes from students' athletic labor or does the team subculture emphasize the athletic aspect as opposed to academic achievement? Using convenience sampling, respondents were chosen from among the University of Washington football, basketball (men and women’s) and volleyball team. The sample consists of 50-student athletes from the University of Washington who are pursuing their studies while representing their university in one of the listed sports team. Respondents completed (a) an interview assessing the attitudes and behavior of their environment, by teammates and coaches, (b) an assessment scale of involvement with faculty pertaining to academics vs. athletics, (c) demographics Q&A which assess gender, race, athletic status, and prior high school academic achievement. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, descriptive analysis and logistic regression. This study concludes with a series of suggestions and recommendations on how to improve the academic achievement of the intercollegiate minority student athlete population.

The ubiquitous presence of technology in daily life has made for a multifaceted discourse on rethinking how to approach teaching, learning and studying in the modern age of distraction. Across the globe, individuals from various walks of life are worried about children, their lack of engagement with nature and the hazardous ramifications to come as a result. Richard Louv gave this growing disconnect an identity when he termed it “Nature-Deficit Disorder”; which looks at the human costs of alienation from nature. The increased dominance of screens in childhood upbringing not only enables a series of rather unsettling childhood trends such as obesity, depression, and attention disorders, but it also strengthens the societal narrative that technology is the future, and nature is a thing of the past. In this research, I explore the inner workings of the outdoor and nature-based preschool movement in Seattle, Washington. How can preschools be more effective in promoting a reverence for nature to the upcoming generations? In particular, I look at how preschools promote a reverence for nature, how children experience and define nature when afforded such exposure at a pivotal time developmentally and how that differs from past generations, and how outdoor and nature-based education models help to expand and redefine “quality standards” that contribute to the achievement gap. In order to answer these questions, I will partake in critical observation of two classrooms from separate outdoor nature-based preschools. Analysis of current curriculum and education-models highlight ways in which these institutions aim to foster an innate sense of appreciation of the natural world for their students. A series of series of interviews with teachers and administrative staff will provide insight into the progression and perceived trajectory of the outdoor and nature-based preschool movement and a better understanding alternative educational pedagogies.

As part of my Cultural Anthropology class I conducted an oral history interview of Tom Ficca (Colville) with my group to help document the history of Edmonds Community College’s involvement with Indigenous communities for its fiftieth anniversary. I learned that sharing culture and spirituality has played a significant role in Tom’s life and helped connect him with the college. He described his childhood as “phenomenal” and valued his connections to his community on the Colville Reservation over the past 55 years. He is a spiritual leader and a master carver. He has helped build canoes for different tribes and connected with Edmonds CC about five years ago through canoe journeys and carving projects with the Snoqualmie Tribe, where he worked as a carver and skipper. As a carver he collaborated with students and faculty in the construction of q'wəld'ali (Place of the Cooking Fire) or Cultural Kitchen on the college campus. As a skipper he has welcomed students to support and paddle on Tribal Canoe Journeys. Over the last three years Tom has been working with families that are in the streets in Anchorage Alaska where he helped set up a church and non-profit organization to provide food, water, gloves, socks, dry clothes, etc. throughout the year. Tom Ficca wishes to start a strip cedar canoe as well as moving forward on cultural projects such as canoe building, story pole carving, and plank house construction. Tom would also like to see more future work and involvement in the community and in different garden areas. All these accomplishments and other works to be done in the future are driven by Tom’s passion and commitment to culture and his spiritual side.

What impacts did colonial bias create regarding the representations of the Tahitian people in discourse surrounding the 1995 reinstitution of French nuclear testing in French Polynesia? French nuclear testing in French Polynesia occurred from 1966-1996 at Mururoa and Fangataufa Atolls. Nuclear testing was suspended for 3 years from 1992 until 1995, and was met with great resistance and riots in Tahiti by the Tahitian people as well as worldwide when it resumed. I used critical discourse analysis (CDA), drawing off ideas from Machin and Mayr, to critically analyze different forms of discourse surrounding the representations of the Tahitian people upon the reinstitution of nuclear testing. CDA is a useful tool to expose power imbalances within discourse and to challenge and disrupt the power and status quo within discourse. This creates a space to actively challenge and work against the discourse at hand, while providing an opportunity for new forms to be produced. My research shows whose voices are missing from discourse, thus allowing discourse from multiple voices to be produced in the future. Furthermore, this research serves as a basis for undergoing CDA on discourse surrounding other nuclear testing sites, allowing the discourse to be challenged and changed to provide accurate and well-rounded representations surrounding nuclear testing.

Archaeologists have explored the use of emerging technologies that utilize photogrammetric data in order to facilitate the preservation of archaeological sites and material culture in digital form. While conducting survey, mapping, and excavation at two sites on the Grande Ronde Reservation, a nineteenth-century schoolhouse and an early encampment, the 2016 Field Methods in Indigenous Archaeology field school collected consistently scaled photographs of the excavation units and their stratigraphic profiles, as well as aerial drone photography. Importing this data into Agisoft PhotoScan, a software package design to construct three-dimensional models based on photographs, I generated a series of point clouds, or visuals consistenting of data-points acquired from the overlapping photographs; these were given digital textures to mimic the various real-world materials and surface present at each site, and then assembled into scale models, or models that preserve the proportions of the sites in miniature. A similar procedure was used to construct models of artifacts found at both sites, as well as digital elevation models of both the schoolhouse and the encampment based on drone photography. The results demonstrate the utility of photogrammetry in ongoing efforts to preserve material culture and the context in which it is uncovered. These models will be shared with the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, which oversees cultural heritage management for the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde, and with the broader public. Making this data accessible to those outside the discipline is an important step towards outreach and education. Ultimately, this and other photogrammetry and digitization projects will contribute to efforts to expedite the return of material cultural heritage to tribal communities as well as encourage the development of collaborative, community-based partnerships between tribes and archaeologists.

How are female athletes, specifically gymnasts, being portrayed in the media? We as a society look at their bodies versus their ability to do the sport. I used critical discourse analysis by analyzing the ways in which athletes are portrayed in gymnastics. I used critical discourse analysis because it allows me to show the bias in reporting of the media and negative portrayals of female gymnasts. Using articles and social media, I showed the way female bodies are being represented in certain words and phrases as well as pictures. This work heavily draws on the theories of David Machin and Andrea Mayr. I found it is important because as a society we need to change the way we talk about athletes and their bodies. It’s not right or valid to judge an athlete on what their body looks like and disregard their athletic ability. Through this research, I can begin to open up the discussion about their athletic ability instead of their bodies.  

In modern medicine little has been done on non-western populations related to pregnancy sickness symptoms. Questions about why certain foods cause pregnancy sickness have never been looked at in rural parts of the world. The purpose of this study is to find certain association among pregnancy-related sickness and women of color , which could in fact be a cultural or population specific behavior. Our hypothesis was that certain foods would be correlated with pregnancy-related sickness in pregnant mothers in Bangladesh, India. The data set that was used was from a study, “Hormones and Pregnancy-Related sickness in Bangladesh”. This study was conducted in a rural part of Bangladesh in order to investigate the association between reproductive hormones and nausea, vomiting and dizziness in pregnancy. The aim of this study was to be able to correlate the effect of hormones on the severity of the pregnancy related symptom by using repeated-measures logistic regression analysis of 1,232 observations form 115 women in the first twenty weeks of pregnancy. Urine samples were taken form these women along with survey data that asked them about food adversions and also the severity of their pregnancy-related symptoms. The methodology of this study will primarily use a cross-sectional analysis of survey data taken and the urine samples taken as well during the initial study to see possible correlations. The results help understand whether there are correlations to specific food adversions and also higher levels of hormones in the urine samples which would indicate some biological mechanism to food adversion in pregnant women. 

My project focuses on macroscopic analysis of indigenous pottery from the Iron Age in Mallorca, Spain. My first goal is to develop an efficient method of analysis that can be used with large samples of pottery collected in the Landscape, Encounters and Identity Archaeology Project. I am recording a number of traits for individual ceramic pieces, such as color, texture, and temper. For each of these traits, I am evaluating the replicability, speed, and amount and types of tools needed to record them. My second goal is to use this information to understand the variability within indigenous pottery. Traditionally, this pottery has been divided into two types based off of fairly rigid criterion, which masks the potential variability within each type. This method of analysis, along with multivariate statistical analysis of the data collected, will help to characterize the variation within each type in order to better understand indigenous pottery production techniques.

The modern human foot, with its pronounced longitudinal arch (the ratio of difference between mid-foot and total foot area) and suite of derived morphologies, evolved in an unshod context on natural substrates. Today, unshod (barefoot) populations are uncommon, and the majority of modern humans walk shod (wearing shoes) on artificial substrates. The unshod populations that do exist today typically have wider feet than do western populations, but western populations have a more variable longitudinal arch index and therefore exhibit more variation, from “flat” to “arched” feet. The reason for this difference remains obscure. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of childhood footwear choices on arch index variation in adults. Participants (56 women, 19 men, mean age: 24±7.2 years) were asked about their footwear, both in childhood (<18 years) and adulthood (>18 years), to classify those who wore rigid/supportive shoes throughout development and those who were frequently unshod or wore unsupportive shoes. Participant footprints were captured using a RSscan pressure plate in three stances: (i) static double stance; (ii) static single stance; and (iii) dynamic. Arch indices were then calculated for each participant and multiple regression with Bonferroni correction used to determine if childhood footwear predicted adult arch index. The results indicate that childhood footwear does not predict adult arch index (all p-values > 0.05). The implications of these results are that longitudinal arch index variability in western populations is not determined by childhood footwear choice. Further research is required to shed light on this phenomenon.

Modern humans carry loads on a daily basis, and this increases energy expenditure, changes gait kinematics, and increases vertical ground reaction forces (GRF) proportional to the burden. Few studies have attempted to understand the effect of load position on mediolateral and anteroposterior GRFs, where changes in body center-of-mass imposed by the loading conditions may affect GRFs disproportionately. This study aims to assess peak GRFs when carrying a load in a sling in five positions. Our null hypothesis is that mediolateral and anteroposterior GRFs will increase proportionally to the extra load. We expect that position will affect GRFs due to accommodation to the changes in body center-of-mass imposed by the loading conditions. GRFs were recorded by a 3D forceplate for seven participants (5 females, 2 males) walking at their normal velocity carrying a 10 kg load in five carrying conditions: (i) No load; (ii) Front; (iii) Left Side; (iv) Back; (v) Right Side. Each participant completed 8 trials for each condition. Maximum GRFs were determined using a custom-written Matlab. After adjusting the unloaded condition for the increase in mass of the burden, two-sample t-tests, conducted in Stata, were used to determine whether the loaded conditions increased proportionately. The preliminary results indicate that increases in GRFs in the mediolateral and anteroposterior directions are not different from our null hypothesis (all p’s> 0.05). Further study is required in order to understand how load position influences, body position, gait biomechanics, and GRFs in humans.