Watson, April A.

Microbreweries are one of the fastest growing industries within the United States.
According to Brewer’s Association, the number of craft brewers increased from 8 in 1980 to
over 1500 in 2012. Prior to the 1970’s, light lagers were the only type of beer available in the
United States. Homebrewing began as a way to explore different beer styles that national brand
brewers had previously ignored. As the popularity of these homebrews began to grow, the
number of microbreweries greatly increased throughout the United States. South Florida in
particular has witnessed a substantial expansion in the microbrewery industry. This study
explored four craft brewers in Palm Beach and Broward County, Florida. Why does this two
county area need more than one brewery? During the course of the research, four themes
emerged: a sense of identity, a sense of place, a sense of community, and the power of
transformation. Microbreweries appear to be a part of a growing trend towards “neolocalism,” or
the conscious and active ways people reject a homogenized culture. Studies of microbreweries
add to our understanding of the ways South Florida embraces the unique and authentic. Since
each brewery is unique, that experience of the “neolocal” can only be had at each individual
microbrewery. Further work is necessary to determine if the sense of place and sense of
community is apparent at microbreweries throughout the state, or the “neolocal” is a regional
phenomenon confined to South Florida

This work examined the role of the craft brewers of Florida in creating alternative
economies. This work argues that craft brewers function in ways that they can create a
space in which other, smaller entities might then take advantage. Craft breweries'
expansion, and continued success rests on the ability of the brewer to harness the power
of transformation, the prism effect, or the refaceting of a space with different meanings.
Craft breweries meet many of Jacobs' (1961), as stated in her seminal work, conditions
for diversity in the city, especially in the role of self-government. Craft brewers function
as informal forms of government for communities, by making smaller entities more
visible, by serving as a warrior and weaver for political action in the city, and offering
subversive defiance, by which they subtly challenge the dominant disconnected economic
structure. Craft breweries serve as a way to create an embedded economy, or as a way of
grounding local businesses, social issues, and individual actors together. In this way, the
research addressed deeper ethical issues that transcend the idea of craft brewing in general, that the success of craft brewers reflects a form of activism, and a visible way for
individuals to circumvent the global processes which left them disengaged in their
community.

This work aimed at aiding academic and CRM professionals in archaeology by developing a predictive model of prehistoric sites on the southeastern coast of Cuba. The variables in this model were identified by previous archaeological research at Guantâanamo Bay Naval Station. Both GIS analysis and weights of evidence testing were conducted on the model. The results of the GIS and statistical analysis allowed for refinement of the model. Cuba is central to understanding the prehistoric settlement of the Caribbean. The model explored not only site occurrence and environmental correlations, but also looked at intersite correlations. It was determined that site occurrences are strongly linked to low elevation, proximity to other sites, south-facing areas, mangroves, and geologic formations. This model may add to the understanding of the prehistoric settling of Cuba, as well as the interactions between native groups.