Fewkes, Jacqueline H.

After the Cold War, many political changes, such as the fall of the Soviet Union,
radically changed the global security environment. In response to this new environment,
the Japanese government and the United States relationship also changed. The focus of
my research is to identify how the Japanese government’s perception of the US-Japan
Alliance contributed to changes of Japan’s security policy from 2000 to 2010,
particularly how the Japanese government perceives the strength of the US-Japan
Alliance and increased security threats such as the rise of China, terrorism, and a nuclear
armed North Korea. To this end, I analyze primary source documents published by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and recorded mentions of security issues and the
US-Japan Alliance from 2000-2010. By examining the relationship between perception
and policy, I hope to better understand how it affects the US-Japan alliance and Japanese
security policy in the future.

The
religious
architecture
of
Ladakh,
India,
reflects
a
rich
multicultural
history
defined
by
bodily
practices
of
remembrance
performed
on
an
individual
and
collective
basis.
The
focus
of
my
research
is
to
understand
how
the
religious
community
of
Ladakh
enshrines
memories
and
traditions
within
their
mosques
and
temples.
In
particular,
I
examine
how
literally
constructed
spaces
can
act
as
a
superstructure
to
which
memories
can
attach.
Using
as
a
point
of
reference
Paul
Connerton’s
work
on
social
bodily
practices
in
How
Societies
Remember
(1989),
I
conducted
interviews
with
members
of
the
Ladakhi
community
to
explore
the
idea
of
architecture
as
a
focal
point
of
remembrance.
By
examining
the
entwined
processes
of
layering
memories
and
constructing
traditions,
I
hope
to
better
understand
how
experiential
and
collective
memories
contribute
to
the
construction
of
these
Ladakhi
spaces
as
sacred.

In this study, I aim to explain the status of airline flag carriers as national and cultural symbols of their respected countries. With national interests and identity as part of their development, flag-carriers serve as “aerial ambassadors” representing their home nations. Through the media of design, uniforms, crew service, and advertising techniques, flag-carriers create a sense of place of their unique nations for both local and international passengers—promoting the “imagined communities” as coined by Benedict Anderson. Behind these flag-carriers are instances of public support and pride. The role of being an aerial ambassador emerges as the airline and nation become one entity, an association that could be either positive or negative. With examinations of airline websites, aviation marketing literature, and visual analyses, my research will show how flag-carriers express national identity across borders through their projected physical and cultural identities.

In this study I provide an examination of the varying effects of globalization that
have impacted early childhood education programs, teaching methods, and other aspects
of the pre-primary learning system in regions dominated by two of China’s ethnic
minorities: Uyghur and Tibetan, compared to the impacts on Han area preschools. I look
at non-Chinese early childhood education methods such as Developmentally Appropriate
Practices (DAP), Montessori teaching, and bilingualism, and evaluate their prevalence in
the different regions. To investigate this topic I use both historical sources and online data
from preschools in China.

In this study I aim to examine the uses of kinship, language and naming practices, and gender performativity within and beyond the drag community of the United States and how each of these elements plays a role in national transgender progression. My data was collected through surveys, interviews, and a textual analysis of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Based on my findings, I argue that drag community and its media presence over the last two decades has led to a national transgender progression within the United States.

Post World War II the idea of the "neighborhood" has been rapidly reinvented by a variety of influential factors such as mass suburbanization, urban development, and economic expansion. This thesis explores the ways in which neighborhood space has transformed from the public to private sphere through the creation of gated communities. Anthropological methods such as interviews, questionnaires, text analysis, and participant observation were utilized to determine individual's motivation and desire to create and reside within gated communities.

The history and problematic Orientalist contexts of belly dance within the United States has been discussed previously in academia; my project is a more ethnographic approach than many of these previous works. This particular study focuses on belly dance communities in South Florida to understand how the dancers, students, and instructors appropriate and re-appropriate the praxis of belly dance to fit within their own personal contexts. Through this work we see how contemporary belly dancing both challenges and reinforces Orientalist perspectives. I used Edward Said‟s notions of Orientalism as an analytical framework to interpret information gathered from participant-observation sessions, interviews with informants, and text analysis. I found that Orientalism influenced the history of contemporary American belly dance and that current practices reflect this history and its Orientalist origins.