Senior Seminar: Anthropology 401 & Sociology 402

One of the unique features of the Sociology and Anthropology program at Wheaton College is the senior seminar thesis requirement. The senior seminar is the final advanced core requirement for Anthropology and Sociology majors and is taken in the fall semester of the senior year. The objective of the seminar is to enable majors to design and conduct an independent research project, to produce a written thesis based on the project, and to make the research findings known to the Wheaton community through an oral presentation at the Senior Majors Symposium held in February each year. The Anthropology and Sociology Senior Seminars generally meet for 2-3 hours per week and are coordinated by a team of department faculty. Majors prepare for the seminar with written papers, projects, and presentations in Theory and Methods seminars typically taken during the junior year. The first step in senior thesis preparation is the acceptance of a research proposal and many majors choose to revise the draft proposals submitted for Research Methods seminars for their senior thesis projects. Senior majors in Sociology and Anthropology complete their training at Wheaton with proposal writing, research, analytical, and oral presentation skills that are distinctive.

The following Symposia Programs serve as examples of the work students have presented:

WHEATON COLLEGE
20h Annual SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY
SENIOR RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

February 6th and 7th, 2002
Woolley Room, Mary Lyon Hall

Symposium and Cole Keynote Address
Open to the Public

Wednesday February 6, 2001

9:00-10:00
Families

Dara Croci "The Significance of Family Dining Rituals in American Families"
Sarah Biolsi "Changing Definitions of Family and Marriage in Vermont"
Erica Clifton "Father Involvement in Childcare and its Influence on School Performance"
Moderator:Professor Kersti Yllo

10-10:30 Coffee Break

10:30-11:30
Life Cycle

Liz Ander"Gender Roles in Wedding Rituals"
Tom Clarke "Alcoholic Family Support Systems: The Impact of Treatmeant and Divorce on Emotional Support"
Jennifer S. Jones "Understandings in the Midst of Death: Ritual, Symbols, and Bereavement in Bali"
Moderator: Professor Donna Kerner

11:30-11:45 Break

11:45-12:45 Life Satisfaction

Liz Anderson "Conspicuous Consumption in the Pet Industry"
Nicole Lafreniere "Life Satisfaction of the Working Poor"
Heather Gibbs "Factors Influencing Marital Happiness"
Moderator: Professor Javier Trevino

12:45-2:00 Lunch

2:00- 3:00
Cultural Identity 1

Emi Fujiwara "The Impact of Stereotypes and Discrimination on the Identity of Japanese Americans in WWII and Contemporary Muslims"
Keri Martin "The Influence of Gentrification on the Cultural Identity of Bostonian North-Enders"
Micaela Devaney "How Gender, Ethnicities and Sexualities Shape the Way College Students Embrace and Respond to Hip Hop Music and Culture"
Moderator: Professor Michelle Harris

3:00-3:30 Faculty Scholarship Reception and Refreshments

3:30-4:30
Cultural Identity 1I

Noah Hill "Discourses of Race and Ethnicity in Formulations of Cape Verdean Identity"
Kati Gill "Irish Mothers Riding the Celtic Tiger"
Libby Bixby "Embodying Inequality in Ecuador: Childhood, Identity, and Pedagogy"
Moderator: Professor Rob Albro

Thursday February7

9:00- 10:30 a.m.
The Media

Andrea Pelkey "Representations of Racial Minorities in Popular Teen Magazines"
June Martin "Portrayal of Stereoypical Gender Roles in Animated Cartoons"
Mignonne Marchand "Family Images in Disney Animated Feature Films"
Melissa Hutchins "Constructions of Gender in Contemporary Lesbian Films"
Meg McGrath "Much Apu about Nothing? Appropriations of the Simpsons in Popular Culture"
Moderator: Professor John Grady

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break/ Book Signing: Richard Chalfen, Cole Professor

11:00- 11:45 a.m.
Art/Performance

Stephen Benenson "From Confusion to Influence: Towards an Anthropology of Capital 'A' in Art"
Jerrica Kallio "Dancing for Profit in Ghana: New Market, New Moves"
Moderator: Professor Bruce Owen

11:45 -12:30
Deviance

Will Bissonette "The Relationship between Economic Change and Serial Killing"
Dustan Peet "Cultural Constructions of Autism and Normalizing the Autistic"
Moderator: Professor Javier Trevino

12:30-2:00 Lunch

2:00- 4:00
September 11 and the Aftermath

Robin Shea "Influence of Gender on Emotional Response to Tragedy"
Jen Simpson "Social Cohesion and Self" The Lasting Effects of a Disaster"
Chris Agee "Social Cohesion in the Wake of a National Tragedy: Norton Firefighters After September 11th"
Diana Chuman "The Representations of Patriotism and Nationalism : Muslims Today and Issei and Nisei During WWII"
Alicia Vinal "Changing Views of the American Flag Among WWII, Vietnam Baby-Boomers, and the Millenials"
Moderator: Professor Hyun KIm

SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT DINNER
Thursday February 7, Faculty Dining Room
Hors d'oeuvres 4:00 PM, Dinner 5:00 PM

Cole Keynote Address: Richard Chaflen, Ph.D.
Department of Anthropology, Temple University and Cole Chair, Wheaton College 2001

"Education as a Survival Technique?"

Richard Chalfen, Professor of Anthropolgy at Temple University, is one of the most eminent visual anthrpologists in American and has written numerous books, including: Through Navajo Eyes, the first study where members of a culture used visual techniques to create a document of, and about, their own culture; Snapshot Versions of Life, one of the first and most comprehensice studies of howpeople use photography and photographs to record important events in their daily lives: and the Turning Leaves, an exploration of the photograph collections of Japanese American families. Richard Chalfen was the William Isaac Cole Professor of Sociology/Anthropology for the fall 2001 semster.

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WHEATON COLLEGE
19th Annual SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY
SENIOR RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

February 7th and 8th, 20001
Woolley Room, Mary Lyon Hall

Symposium and Cole Keynote Address
Open to the Public

Wednesday February 7, 2001

9:30-10:30 Stigma and Deviance
Matt Ring "Learning Disability as Social Stigma"
Aaron Surry "Life Changes: A Study of Recovering Drug Abusers"
Mimi Rappaport "Talk Shows and the Public Portrayal of Deviance"
Moderator: Javier Trevino

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break

11:00-12:00 Sports and Society
Amanda Wicker "Brave New Roles?: Women in Professional Wrestling"
Tara Steiss "Parental Attitudes and Gender Stereotyping in Youth Sports"
Steve Coco "Parental Pressure on Young Male Athletes"
Moderator: Rob Albro

12:00-2:00 Lunch

2:00-3:00 Law and Justice
Jeremy Weiss "Occupational Stress Among Police Officers"
Ryan Parker "Are Athletes Above the Law?"
Mariah Almond "Imagining a Post-Apartheid Nation: Truth, Reconciliation, and the Invention of Tradition"
Moderator: Javier Trevino

3:00-3:30 Faculty Scholarship Reception and Refreshments

3:30-4:30 Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll
Sandra Colsaco "Sex Education and Students' Sexual Knowledge and Behavior"
Jill Stewart "Kids Make Meaning of Music: An Exploratory Study of Adolescents' Perceptions of Popular Music"
Simon Brightman-Uhl "Who are you and what is your music?": Music, Identity, and Commerce in New England"
Jeff London "Do They or Don't They?: Accounting for Drugs in Contemporary Music Scenes"
Moderator: Kersti Yllo

Thursday February 8

9:30-10:30 Social Networks and Exchange
Sara Doherety "Life After 85: A Study of the Social Networks of the Elderly"
Jill Staley "They are My Friends: Social Networks and Race"
Molly Galvin "Men and Women and the Giving of Gifts in Contemporary Society"
Moderator: Donna Kerner

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break

11:00-12:20 Ethnicity
Annalise Marcus "What to Do With These Foreigners? Ethnic Assimilation in Attleboro"
Nancy Gee "The Life and Times of Asian American Immigrants"
Alexandra Wilson "Negotiating Immigration and Gender in Fall River: Portuguese Women in Transition"
Alexis Clark "Resistance and Change: Acculturation into American Society"
Moderator: Michelle Harris

12:30-2:00 Lunch

2:00-3:00 Ritual and Religion
Aldo Rinaldi "Oaxacan Folk Healing: Emotional Illness and the Psychosomatic Community"
Melissa Matsubara "Shamanism in an American Community: An Exploration of A New Spiritual Movement"
Sarah Bradshaw "Religion and Attitudes Toward Homosexuality"
Moderator: Bruce Owens

3:00-3:30 Book signing with Cole Speaker, Marilyn Halter

3:30-4:30 Expressive Performance
Jennifer Rolfs "Transcendence Through Balinese Taksu: Collective Inspiration in Performance"
Liz Workman "Capoera: The Social Meanings of a Traditional Martial Art"
Leslie Cedrone " Images of Gender and the Erotic in Argentine and American Feature Films"
Moderator: John Grady

SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT DINNER
Thursday February 8, Faculty Dining Room
Hors d'oeuvres 4:45 PM, Dinner 5:15 PM

6:00 PM
Cole Keynote Address: Marilyn Halter, Ph.D.
Institute for the Study of Economic Culture
Boston University

"LONGINGS AND BELONGINGS: ETHNICITY FOR SALE"

Professor Halter specializes in the history and sociology of immigration, race, and ethnicity. She is author of four books: Shopping for Identity: The Marketing of Ethnicity; New Migrants in the Marketplace: Boston's Ethnic Entrepreneurs; Between Race and Ethnicity: Cape Verdean American Immigrants; and (with Richard Lobban) The Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cape Verde. Her latest book (with Lisa MacFarlane) Unmasking Ethnic New England will be published this spring. Professor Halter is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and a Research Associate in the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture at Boston University. She will be joining us next year to run the Cole Lecture Series on Cape Verdean ethnicity.

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1997 Sociology/Anthropology Senior Research Symposium

Wednesday, February 5th

10:00-10:50 am I. Gender and Identity
Jonas Allen, "Men, Masculinity, and Attitudes Toward Dating"
Jennifer Glen, "Gender and Orthodox Judaism: Women in the Family and Religion"
True Hang, "Hmong Women's Gender Roles in America"
Moderator: Kersti Yllo

10:50-11:15 Book Reception for Sociology/Anthropology Faculty

:11:15-12:00 II. Environmental Justice
Peter Savignano, "Race and Environmental Justice: Successes and Failures of Environmental Movement Groups"
Trillium Levine, "Hazardous Waste Dispute Cycle: A Processual Approach"
Moderator: John Grady

12:00-1:00pm Lunch

1:00-2:00 pm III. Families in Transition
Andrea Marsh, "Children of Divorce and Their Attitudes Toward Marriage"
Kelly Soen, "A Fieldwork Study of A Family Homeless Shelter"
Jamian Capocci, "An Exploratory Study of Successful Single Mother Families"
Amy Gravell, "Dowry and Violence in India: Systems of Patriarchy as Contributors to Violence Against Women"
Moderator: Hyun Sook Kim

lO:l5-12:00 VII. Popular Culture and Representation
Edward O'Brien, "Traditionalists: A Study of Ska-Slcinhead Suboulture"
Allison Spooner, "Who's Got the Blues?"
Brooke Spring, "Silent Conversatons~: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Graffitti"
Gonzalo Brujo, "Commercialization of Entertainment: A Study of Product-Placement"
Shawna Brickley, "Repatriation and Representation at the Peabody Museum "
Moderator: Bruce Owens

12:00-2:00 pm Prospective Sociology Majors Lunch
President's Dining Room

2:00-3:00 pm VIII. Crime and Substance Use/Abuse
Michael Carey, "Legalization of Marijuana: MASSCAN/Normal"
Jill Gonzalves, "Gender and Teenage Smoking: A Survey"
Kim Lawler, "The CHINS Program at a Murucipal Court"
Kristen Barber,. "The Media's Portrayal of lkenage Violence"
Moderator: A.Javier Trevino

3:00-3:30 pm Book Reception for Dr. Victoria Lynn Swigert

3:30-4:30 pm IX. Medical Treatment and Patient Response
Kristen Holster, "The Emotional Impact of Inferlity"
Chaska Richardson, "The Benefits of Animal-Assisted Therapy"
Alyce Gowdy-Wright, "Coping: The Medical Jeopardy of Pediatric Patients"
Moderator: John Grady

Sociology/Anthropology Department Dinner
Thursday, February 6th, 1997 at 5:00 p:m in Faculty Dining Room 6:00 pm
Keynote Speaker: VICTORIA LYNN SWIGERT, P.h.D.
"The Unnatural Career of One Social Scientist"

Professor Victoria Lynn Swigert received her PhD in Sociology from the State University of New York at Albany. She has been a member of the faculty at the College of the Holy Cross since 1976. Professor Swigert is currently a full professor In the Department of Soclology and Anthropology, Academic Dean, and Dean of the Classes of 1998 and 1999.


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