Play and Leisure Among Slave Children in the United States
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A 5 page overview of the concepts of play and recreation and how they related to black children during slavery. Emphasizes that play was shaped by the environment and that while black children may have not had much leisure time they assuredly engaged in a diversity of play and leisure activities. These activities could have been as diverse as learning to read, as Frederick Douglass related in his now infamous narratives, to learning complex and often meaningful circular song games. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Filename: PPslaveC.wps

Science, The Bell Curve, & Racism
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A 14 page paper that presents the theory that science has been readily utilized as a means for promoting racism. This paper considers the impact of scientific findings in regards to ethnicity and the impact that these have on racism, especially in the United States. The Bell Curve is one example of recent racially-based scientific findings that have been challenged because of their jaded methodology. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Filename: Science.wps

Physical Descriptions Of Biblical Patriarchs / Influence Of Ancient Art
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A 6 page paper that compares the Biblical descriptions of some of its major patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, etc;) with the archaeological findings of the time, to support their descriptions. The writer attempts to show that archaeological findings, including art and sculpture, deny some of the representations in the Bible, including the advanced age of many of the patriarchs in Genesis, and the racial hereditary basis for characters like Esau. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: Patriar.wps

The Amish
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A 12 page overview of the Amish, their culture and the factors which are changing that culture. Gives a brief historical account of the Amish and provides considerable information regarding the effects of their increased interaction with non-Amish and the factors which have caused that increase. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: Amishcul.wps

The Amish People
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6 pages in length. This group is examined in terms of lifestyle, dress, use of technology and relationship to the larger society. Disputes with the United States government are highlighted in the areas of dress, education and military duty. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: Amish.doc

Looking At The Past For Answers To The Future / The Culture Of Ancient Rome
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This 10 page paper examines social problems of today in comparison with those of Ancient Rome's. An historical overview is first provided that concentrates on the rule of Julius Caesar. Facts about Ancient Rome are gleaned from a variety of sources, inclusive of the art work the ancient world is famous for. An intense examination of this early culture concludes that they study of the ancient world is relevant to us today. Bibliography lists 9 sources.
Filename: Ancrome.wps

Sedimentary Strata as Diaries of Environmental Change
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This 4 page paper provides an overview of the process of creation of sedimentary strata and the impacts in assessing environmental events of the past. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Filename: MHSedSec.rtf

!Kung San: Cultural Change
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5 pages in length. Before the white man's social infiltration, the !Kung San were a nomadic people content to live their lives without any of the modern conveniences so readily associated with many parts of the world; in fact, there was little knowledge beyond their immediate villages as to what technological advancement actually meant. Theirs was a simple yet satisfying hunter/gatherer lifestyle perpetuated generation after generation with no external intrusion or forced cultural assimilation – until the white man arrived. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Filename: TLCKung2.rtf

"Argonauts of the Western Pacific" and "The Nuer": A Discussion of the Two Classic Anthropological Texts by Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard
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A 5 page comparison of two classic anthropological accounts and the differences in their ethnographic styles. Outlines the contents of each account, detailing economics and non-utilitarian and ceremonial aspects of each group, and compares and contrasts the ethnographic methods used to record those accounts. Concludes that Malinowski's constant interruptions of his narration of Trobiand life to insert his ethnographic perspective illustrate the fact that narrative and ethnography are not necessarily incompatible. Malinowski in fact became a stylistic guide for subsequent anthropological works as a new-style ethnographic science. Suggests that Evans-Pritchard recorded his account in a manner which did not really differ substantially from Malinowski but in a manner which he saw no reason to justify, perhaps using Malinowski's earlier ventures into new-style ethnographic science as a guideline for his own. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Filename: PPtrobia.wps

"Dancing Skeletons": A Review of the Book by Catherine Dettwyler
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A 5 page review of the ethnographic account of fieldwork in medical anthropology. Working among malnourished children in West Africa Dettwyler experienced both professional and personal insight. Although sometimes criticized for her subjective approach to her subject, in reality Dettwyler provides both a a touching human account and a valuable ethnography. Her approach to death as "the ultimate illness", however, is one which is unfortunate. This paper points out that death is in fact a natural component of life. To view death as an ultimate illness is to regard death, a phase which we must all pass through, as a personal and medical failure. No additional sources are listed.
Filename: PPskeltn.wps

"Mortality is Not Relative": James Rachels' Views on the Theory of Cultural Relativism
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A 7 page exploration of Rachels beliefs in regard to what determines certain cultural practices and whether or not there are inherent rights and wrongs in those practices. More specifically, Rachels explores the question of whether morality is a phenomena that varies according to culture, whether different cultures do in fact operate under different moral codes. Rachels points out that many cultures even diverge greatly from our Western precepts of right and wrong. He is particularly interested in the theory of cultural relativism, that theory that demands that we view behavior and situations in a world context rather than from the closely defined views of one culture. Rachels sees both positives and negatives in that theory, however. No additional sources are listed.
Filename: PPmoralR.rtf

"National Geographic": Political Propaganda or Insight into the Exotic and Fascinating?
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A 6 page discussion of the criticism that has been waged by some authors against "National Geographic". Analyzing those criticisms and evaluating them against one specific article in particular this paper concludes that "National Geographic" is not a political publication and it is not intended to be. The publication's "images are formed, selected and controlled, purveyed and read" (as one author has contended) all right but they are presented for the specific purpose of giving us a view of the exotic and the interesting not the political and controversial. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: PPntlGeo.rtf