Posters
Interpreting Mesoamerican Animal Iconography: A Cultural Anthropological Approach to Pre-Classic Figurines
Poster/Exhibit Session Lena Jaurequi
Small ceramic figurines, similar to other forms of artistic material culture, are commonly understood as early signs of complex societies. Through space and time, the question of figurine function has been theorized in several ways, including a body-centered approach, symbolic expression, nahualism and as representations of social, political, and economic dynamics. This work focuses on two cultural anthropological paradigms that could be used in the analysis of animal figurines at two Pre-Classic (1800 BCE- 200 CE) sites in the Soconusco region of Mesoamerica: Paso de la Amada and La Blanca. I review how theories of the body and political economy, specifically, Marx’s theory of the fetishism of commodities contributes to our analysis of figurine function. How can theories of the body such as biopolitics aid in our understanding of the animal figurines from Paso de la Amada and La Blanca? How can we interpret the possibility of objectification or commodification? What are the realms in which the concept of “value” is associated with these figurines? This paper begins to theorize the relationship between theories of the body and political economy to improve our understanding of these animal figurines and therefore, the sites themselves. I argue that incorporating theories associated with cultural anthropology into the discussion of prehistoric material culture, offers an additional interpretation for how we understand Pre-Classic Mesoamerica, as well as emphasizing the agreeable value of integrating our subfields.
Problematizing the Issuing of Permits: Temporally Contingent Hazards, Conflicts, and Accountability
Poster/Exhibit Session Paola villegas
Adopting temporal categories (pace, duration, trajectory, cycle), I demonstrate the utility of a temporal analysis of environmental hazards and conflicts. Drawing on six-months of field research in East Chicago, Indiana, I focus on a grassroots campaign against the approval of a permit for the permanent disposal of contaminated sediment into an existing disposal facility. I find that residents’ narratives and organizing strategies are temporally oriented in ways that create and maintain tension, shaping the scope of attention to past, present, and future implications of the permit. In problematizing the conditions of the permit, activists accentuate and complicate the temporality of environmental hazards and government accountability. Temporal structures elucidate how permits serve as a mechanism governing the increasing concentration of environmental risks in environmentally burdened neighborhoods. I argue that temporal structures vest authority in various stakeholders with the potential to enable and constrain environmental processes and outcomes.
Learning from Talanoa in Action: Experiences Using Indigenous Pacific Research Methods with Fijian Women Leaders Groups
Poster/Exhibit Session Ashiyan Rahmani Shirazi
Following the 2016 Tropical Cyclone, Winston, in Fiji, indigenous Pacific focus groups, or Talanoa, were carried out at a monthly women leader's gathering in three districts around Fiji (with 10-15 women leaders in each group), to understand the use of communications technology by the women leaders, in the context of resiliency to Tropical Cyclone Winston. This poster discusses some of the experiences of the use of Talanoa, including the advantages of working with a cultural liaison, use of notes during Talanoa, need for translation of consent, and issues related to IRB, as well as the importance of semi-structured questions, to allow for natural conversation appropriate to Talanoa research methods, and consultative practices. Other characteristics, such as provision of hospitality and honorariums will also be discussed. Positionality, including the importance of recognizing the researcher's position, and limit 'clinical gaze', as a non-Pacific indigenous person, as well as the importance of a local 'champion' to facilitate co-ordination with the Talanoa groups are presented. Finally, the importance of inclusion of indigenous Pacific Islands stakeholders in the design and implementation at all stages of the research process are also shared.
Refugees, Rights, and Responses: EU and Greek Mitigation of the European Refugee Crisis
Poster/Exhibit Session Madeleine Pye
As Europe faces the influx of refugees reaching its southern borders from the past decade, member-states struggle to protect and provide for the basic needs of the displaced in refugee camps and various settlements. Inhumane living conditions and rightlessness have plagued such areas, with Greece of particular importance as one an entry point into Europe for many displaced peoples. This work calls into question the success of both the EU and Greek responses to what is commonly referred to as the 'European Refugee Crisis'. While the vast majority of refugees are actually displaced within the Global South, an emphasis from Global North media outlets about the perceived negative impacts of such migration prompts a contextualization of the reality of the situation in the EU.Through archival document analysis of data gathered by international aid organizations, such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the EU, this research interprets such documents to look at who is entering the EU and how EU and Greek institutions have sought to navigate the influx in policy and actions on the ground. This work centers the human rights attainment of refugees and highlights the incoherence between the EU and Greece in terms of responding to displaced populations, calling into question the response to the ‘European Refugee Crisis’ from the Global North, a proclaimed bastion of human rights advocacy. This inquiry problematizes the inadequate EU-level and Greek responses to mitigate the displaced, while considering refugees beyond the locus of ‘othering'.
Residential Mobility, Child Adjustment, and Parental Self-efficacy in Families Experiencing Homelessness
Poster/Exhibit Session Helen Yu, Jake Leonard, Janette Herbers
Parental self-efficacy (PSE), caregivers’ belief in their ability to parent successfully, serves as a protective factor for child development in high-risk situations. Children experiencing homelessness fall at the extreme end of a continuum of poverty-related risks, and are at a higher risk for maladjustment (i.e. behavioral problems) than their poor but non-homeless peers. Subsequently, experiences of family homelessness may undermine PSE. Nonetheless, some parents exhibit high PSE despite experiencing homelessness. We adopted a person-centered approach and explored how residential mobility related to family profiles of PSE and child adjustment. Data were collected from 34 parents with at least one child between ages three to five. PSE and child adjustment were assessed with the Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale. Based on PSE and child adjustment scores, we divided families into three groups: (1) poor child adjustment and low PSE, (2) good child adjustment and high PSE, and (3) poor child adjustment and high PSE. Residential mobility was measured with a single, self-report question that asked parents the number of places they had lived at since their child’s birth. Parent-child dyads with different profiles of PSE and child adjustment varied along the dimension of residential mobility. Residential mobility is highest among families involving child behavioral problems and low PSE. Our findings suggest residential mobility helps explain individual differences for parents with high PSE and those with low PSE, and children with behavioral problems. Longitudinal research should be conducted to further clarify the association between residential mobility and PSE/child behavioral problems.
'We Don’t Want No Yankee Bases’: How Anti-Nuclear Protest Movements Instigated the Downfall of the Australia, New Zealand, and United States Alliance
Poster/Exhibit Session Grace Headinger
In 1951, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States forged the ANZUS Treaty, a tripartite security treaty meant to provide mutual defense between the three parties. By 1985, New Zealand had overhauled its foreign policy and subsequently left the mutual security agreement, thereby downgrading its relationship with the US from an ally to a friend. Meanwhile, Australia stayed party to the agreement, despite the countries sharing similar levels of threat perception, participation in international institutions and economic linkages, and cultural traditions and historical legacies from British colonial rule. Due to the unique similarities between the two countries, this comparative case study utilizes domestic political actor theory to analyze each government’s management of their respective intrastate anti-nuclear movements and their success/failure’s impact on shaping one of the most radical departures from a country’s status quo foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region. Through a retrospective analysis of historical data gathered through British Foreign and Commonwealth archival documents on both Australia and New Zealand, this research compiles a history of anti-nuclear movements in both countries and applies relevant IR theoretical constructs to identify an applicable theoretical causal mechanism for differing alliance trajectories. This work highlights the incoherence within realist approaches to providing a causal mechanism for New Zealand’s departure in light of Australia’s continued persistent relationship. Consequently, this inquiry assists in validating the application of domestic political actor theory, and its corresponding sub-state level of analysis, in contributing to the formation and decomposition of security alliances.
The War on Education: A Comparative on How Turmoil from Guerra Affects the Educational System Worldwide
Poster/Exhibit Session Ashley Mize
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) reports that the number of individuals who are forced to leave their homes, to include asylum seekers, forced migrants, internally displaced person(s) (IDP), and refugees account for 68.5 million people around the world. They include this is the highest number they have since World War II (World Vision Staff, 2018). Regardless of the migrant status, this poster bares the truth of everyday challenges which children, adults, and families face regarding finding a safe place, rebuilding their lives from ground zero. These are the voices of the unheard displaced people, deprived of education, and stability.
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Reinforcement Activities for Academic Achievement of Biomedical Informatics Students: Using Academic Counseling by Peers and Formative Evaluation
Poster/Exhibit Session Dania Nimbe Lima Sánchez, Marlette Lovato Valverde, Esther Mahuina Campos Castolo, Brayan Baéz Montes
Academic performance is one of the most important dimensions in the teaching-learning process. It is related to the fulfillment of the goals, achievements, or objectives established in the program that the student is studying. The purpose of this research is to compare the academic performance of students who used academic reinforcement activities with students who did not complete them. Two sessions of academic reinforcement were carried out based on the MEDAPROC cedulas and the traditional model. We took a random group of subjects who did not attend the generation consultancies (n = 80) for comparative purposes. The formative evaluation was carried out with two exams in the online classroom prior to the practical exam, the students presented it voluntarily. The total sample of subjects was 81 students divided into four groups for two days. The comparison between the group that received the counseling and the one that did not, showed that there were significant differences in the qualification of the departmental exam (76.5 vs.65.7, t = 2.70, p = .007). The formative exam was carried out by 863 students, however there were no significant differences in the qualification of the departmental. There were no differences between the groups that did the formative exam, but the students who did the peer counseling obtained better performance in the departmental exam although it is necessary to observe if there are other variables associated with a voluntary exercise.
