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What Does It Mean to Respect One’s Mother? A Narrative Approach Exploring Maternal Respect Through the Perspectives of Zulu Mothers And Their Children
Get PDFThis paper attempts to synthesize both background research and interview content on respect, specifically respect for mothers from their children in Cato Manor. Cato Manor is populated with largely single-mother, matriarchal households of Zulu identifying people.
I conducted eight interviews with four mothers and their children, with the “children” ranging in age from 19 to 29. I requested that my participants share as many stories with me as possible in order to help me write my findings in a narrative approach. I asked about a variety of topics, including what respect is in general, what it means to respect one’s mother, and how respect differs when it comes to fathers.
Zulu culture and black culture were factors in many of the responses I received. Cultural expectations shaped respect in general: who was respected and how to show it. Lessons learned from one’s mother and one’s community were essential aspects in one’s personal perception of respect and how to show respect towards one’s mother. Children spoke about respecting their mother as being obedient and behaving well outside the home, as they are a reflection of how their mother raised them. Similarly, mothers stated their expectations of good behavior from their children outside the home, often mentioning respect towards elders.
On paper, respect for mothers in Cato Manor does not differ much from respect for elders in the community. It is in the intricacies of my participants’ answers where the fascinating substance lies: the different examples of disrespect, the conflicting opinions, the common themes, and how the features of Cato Manor influence it all
Exploring the Space Between Healers: A Narrative Approach to Understanding the Relationship Between Traditional Healers and Biomedical Practitioners in Kwazulu-natal
Get PDFDespite playing essential and parallel roles in the lives of patients, there exists a frictional, imbalanced relationship between traditional healers and Western doctors in South Africa. While national policy encourages a seamless system rooted in both Western science and indigenous knowledge, biomedical institutions are hesitant to accept traditional medical practices, which are based on less tangible and more spiritually-oriented elements. This research project turns to these two ideologically different entities to assess their perspectives on the roles of themselves and the other within the context of the South African health system.
Responses from semi-structured interviews with seven health practitioners from KwaZulu-Natal – izangoma and doctors—were the primary sources used for the knowledge acquisition process. Given that I was the lens through which these participant stories were told, my own narrative and perspectives on the subject were interwoven throughout this report.
Participant narratives suggest that there is no consensus within either biomedical or traditional health domains about perceptions of the other, save for the agreement that the South African health system is disconnected with both modalities working in parallel. However, there are five overarching points of engagement throughout the practitioner-patient healing process through which the modalities directly or indirectly interact with one another and form cross-disciplinary opinions. These serve as points of discussion in this report. Elements keeping the domains separated include miscommunication, suspicion, and adherence to cultural paradigms. However, doctors and traditional healers alike expressed varying degrees of interest in facilitating a working a working relationship, since the South African public healthcare system relies extensively on both domains of healing. These findings have reinforced my personal sentiments about the importance of medical pluralism in systems operating under two distinct healing paradigms
“I hope whiteness means nothing”: A Narrative Exploration of Whiteness as Identity in South Africa
Get PDFIn post-apartheid South Africa, whiteness and the legacy of its codification shape the social, political, and economic landscape of the country. Though white studies in South Africa emerged as an investigation of how whiteness operates as a social identity post-apartheid, the field is still developing. This narrative project examines how whiteness has been constructed in South Africa as identity and property, referencing South African history for context. The project explores “whiteness as identity” as opposed to “white identity” in recognition that whiteness manifests in many forms, including as an identity but also within institutions and in economic, social, political, and personal spheres as a “property,” which is further explained in the “Background and Significance” and “Literature Review.” The project includes socio-political and historical analysis of whiteness in South Africa as a foundation for exploring six narratives of white South Africans in which participants describe their relationship to their white identity and what has shaped it. Data includes the use of books, articles, journals, first-person interviews, original poem excerpts, and other media. This project offers a qualitative approach in pursuit of increased understanding of a topic which requires complexity and nuance, and which has vast social implications. It explores the research question, “How is whiteness constructed as identity and property in South Africa?” Although it primarily focuses on whiteness as identity, it also explores whiteness as property, a concept which is further explained in the “Literature Review.
Missing Youth: The Absence of the Young Moroccan Voice in the Nation
Get PDFMorocco has long maintained stability in a region historically known for fluctuating sociopolitical climates, considerably in part to a robust constitutional monarchy. However, the 20 February movement that coincided with the 2011 Arab Spring showed that the government is vulnerable to an energetic, organized, and a vocal youth population. Now, seven years after a constitutional referendum aimed at installing more democratic processes was passed, the growing youth populous feel more detached from their nation than ever, ignored by the government and monarchy, and ultimately lacking a voice in Moroccan politics. By excluding their voice and ignoring their opinions, the government is failing the young people of Morocco whose discontent could manifest itself in a far more disruptive movement in the coming years than it did in 2011
Still Hungry: Modern Metal Arts in Kathmandu
No full textThis study explores the working artistic life of a soon-to-be graduate of Kathmandu University School of Arts, Dipak Lama. Fieldwork was conducted in the Patan-area of Kathmandu while all of the studio-work was completed in Hattiban on the KU campus. This project attempts to provide a broad overview of how Dipak creates a model of a work with the hopes of having the full-size piece commissioned as public art
LGBTI+ Language and Understandings in Nepal: Creating Spaces and Forging Identities
Get PDFThe 1990 Nepali Constitution opened up opportunities for many forms of activism, and identity groups thus began solidifying to advocate for social change and justice (Karki 2012). After the Nepali Supreme Court ruling in 2007, Nepal became one of the first countries to offer a third gender category “Other,” becoming a leader for human rights in South Asia and the world (Mahato 2017). As Coyle and Boyce (2013) point out, there is little research on LGBTI individuals in Nepal. Furthermore, they advocate for more research and closer work with gender and sexual minority individuals in Nepal.
This research attempts to increase understanding of Nepali LGBTI people’s lived realities and daily experiences, along with the language and terms used by these individuals and in government legislation. To do so, I conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with LGBTI individuals and activists across Nepal. Relying on queer phenomenology theories (Ahmed 2006) and queer linguistic methodologies (Motschenbacher 2013), I analyze how these individuals understand their identities and desires, how they must grapple with prevailing heteronormative discourses in Nepal, and how gender and sexuality are conceived of in Nepal and in the Nepali language. Additionally, I examine how global north terminology (e.g. LGBTI, transgender) has simultaneously helped and hindered activist efforts in Nepal. Incorporating Zimman and Hall (2009), I also draw on participants’ discussion of body to understand the relationship among linguistic practice, identity, and space
The Violence in Baton Rouge
Get PDFBaton Rouge, Louisiana is rich in culture yet suffers from high levels of crime and poverty. This paper explores whether the crime and economics are linked within the city. The research reviews the poverty and crime of the city through statistical data and interviews. The statistical data was taken from the 17 populated zip codes in the city. The analysis of the data took each zip code and compared their economic rates with their crime rates. The patterns found in the statistical data were then compared to the testimonies given from interviews. Each person interviewed was chosen due to their strong involvement in either alleviating the poverty or crime in the city. The analysis generated new insights into the root problems causing the high levels of crime and violence. The patterns and conclusions revealed that the majority of the economics and crime are linked. However, the research also revealed a city full of structures and systems that could also be responsible for the high levels of crime and poverty. Transformation of the structures is suggested for the alleviation of the crimes and violence in the area
LeadOn Alliance: Empowering Alaska\u27s Youth Through Inclusive Programming
Get PDFAlliance is an annual youth conference in Alaska designed to create inclusive and multi-cultural programming for Alaskan youth and their adult mentors. Alliance is a reimagining of a program formerly known as LeadOn. While LeadOn has been successful for the last ten years at providing workshops for Alaskan youth and adults on healthy sexuality, relationships, and leadership, it will now focus on making quality content for Alaskan Natives, Immigrants, and LGBTQ+ identities in Alaska. In the development of this idea past program participants and previous program coordinators were surveyed and interviewed to collect information about how inclusivity has or has not been incorporated into previous conference programming. Research showed that inclusivity has not been a primary focus of the conference, however it has tried to heavily incorporate Alaskan Native culture into the programming. For Alliance to be successful in its goal of creating inclusive programming it must partner more strongly with Native Alaskan organizations, tailor its workshops and community project planning to fit the needs of communities locally and incorporate more fully adults into the conversations at Alliance. Alliance also needs to apply community development theories in a non-colonizing way and allow communities to create community projects based on their needs and desires
Campus Food Security: An Approach Toward Co-Creating Change
Get PDFCampus food insecurity is a growing problem within institutions of higher education in the United States and reflects a critical question of what educational access, equity, and student success means for today’s students. There are several campus-wide efforts at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst to address this challenge, including the Campus Food Security Project where the reflective practitioner serves as the Food Insecurity Coordinator AmeriCorps VISTA with the Dean of Students Office. This Training Course Linked Capstone (CLC) serves as a reflective analysis of the reflective practitioner’s efforts to integrate her own educational journey, learning from SIT, and guiding principles in her work. The reflective practitioner asks 1) How am I co-creating effective learning environments to support the goals of the Campus Food Security Project? and 2) How am I integrating my guiding principles into my every day practice as a reflective practitioner? Through exploration of social justice education, engaged pedagogy, and approaches for co-creating change, research of campus food security, observation at UMass Amherst, and analysis of her community engagement and design work, this CLC deepens the reflective practitioner’s training identity as a lifelong learner while identifying opportunities and recommendations to strengthen and expand campus food security efforts moving forward.
Keywords: campus food security, social justice, engaged pedagogy, co-creating chang
Beyond the Numbers: Comprehensive Internationalization at Miami University
Get PDFMarketing materials for Miami University, a public doctoral university in Oxford, Ohio, frequently reference the caliber and popularity of the university’s outbound student mobility programs. With almost sixty percent of undergraduates studying abroad or away before graduation, outbound mobility has become a core element of both the Miami student experience and the university’s vision for global engagement. This study seeks to go beyond the numbers (i.e. student mobility rates) in examining whether the success of outbound student mobility programs is indicative of successful internationalization across the university as a whole. Using the American Council on Education (ACE) Center for International and Global Engagement (CIGE) Model for Comprehensive Internationalization, this study analyzes Miami University’s internationalization progress since 2012 according to six “pillars” of internationalization: 1) articulated institutional commitment; 2) administrative leadership, structure, and staffing; 3) curriculum, co-curriculum, and learning outcomes; 4) faculty policies and practices; 5) student mobility, and 6) collaboration and partnerships. Findings revealed a clear institutional commitment to internationalization in the form of Miami 2020, the university’s most recent strategic plan, as well as the presence of international, intercultural, and multicultural elements in areas such as faculty hiring, promotion, and tenure policies; inbound and outbound student mobility opportunities; and requirements of the core curriculum. At the same time, the implementation of certain internationalization initiatives continues to present challenges, including cultural, social, and academic issues faced by international students; questions surrounding sustainable leadership in Global Initiatives, the university’s centralized internationalization hub; and the overabundance of short-term, faculty-led programs