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The Faculty of Arts is home to one of the most multidisciplinary academic communities on campus. From neuroscience, through ancient languages to choreography and music and drama composition, our researchers and students lead critical and creative research inquiry that engages communities and fosters innovation, leadership and creative practice. Composed of 12 departments and two schools, our faculty fosters a culture of critical and creative inquiry, debate, imagination, discovery and entrepreneurial thinking. Our vision for energizing arts is to engage, inspire, discover. Continue reading to find out more about research in the Faculty of Arts.
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Browsing Arts by Department "Anthropology & Archaelogy"
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Item Metadata only Ethnographic perspectives on the mediation of informality between people and plans in urbanising China(Urban Studies, 2018-01-16) Smart, AlanIn this introduction to some of the themes of this special issue on People and plans in urbanising China, I draw on Herbert Gans’ prescient comments about the importance of informality in med- iating between plans and the various groups of people, users and planners, who shape their for- mation and implementation. Informality is even more important in the governance of cities in China. Comparing contemporary Chinese cities with Hong Kong, I suggest that informal responses, both in society and within government, can produce significant changes in plans that may increase the effectiveness or appropriateness of urban governance. Careful ethnographic research is required, however, in order to access the subtle and non-public nature of such inter- actions and their consequences. This commentary draws out some of the themes from articles included in this special issue, and highlights how informality intersects with plans and the people who create them and are influenced by them.Item Open Access Greater variability in rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) endocranial volume among males(2022-03) Colby, Abigail; DeCasien, Alex; Cooper, Eve; Higham, JamesThe greater male variability hypothesis posits that males exhibit more physical and behavioral variability than females. This pattern is observed across mammalian species and is especially pronounced in sexually selected traits. Greater variability in males likely reflects some combination of evolutionary mechanisms (e.g. balancing or disruptive selection) and developmental mechanisms (e.g. sexually dimorphic developmental schedules) that produce and maintain inter-individual variability. However, research investigating this phenomenon in brain size and structure is almost exclusive to humans. To address this gap in knowledge, we investigate sex differences in variability and heritability of relative and absolute endocranial volume (ECV) in a pedigreed sample of 542 (300F/242M) rhesus macaques using generalized linear mixed models that control for pairwise relatedness (i.e. an ‘animal model’). We found that males display more variable relative ECVs (phenotypic variance: male mean=0.646 [0.578,0.693], female mean=0.503 [0.457,0.540]) and absolute ECVs (phenotypic variance: male mean=0.670 [0.598,0.717], female mean=0.533 [0.481,0.568]). These findings are consistent with research in humans and chimpanzees. However, males do not display significantly lower heritability estimates and sex differences in phenotypic variance are not driven by environmental variance for relative (heritability: female mean=0.658 [0.568,0.778], male mean=0.626 [0.522,0.809]; environmental: female mean=0.171 [0.109,0.211], male mean=0.241 [0.119,0.302]) or absolute (heritability: female mean=0.683 [0.613,0.806], male mean=0.667 [0.578,0.827]; environmental: female mean=0.168 [0.112,0.210], male mean=0.223 [0.115,0.283]) ECV. These results suggest that, in rhesus macaques, greater male variability in brain size is likely driven by balancing or disruptive selection, rather than greater susceptibility to environmental effects during their relatively extended development.Item Open Access On Belonging and Other Dreams. The Ambiguous Positions of the Jews in “Spanish Morocco”(Springer, 2021-02-25) Cohen, AngyThis paper presents an ethnographic study of autobiographical narratives about Jewish life during the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco (1912–1956). Based on eighteen interviews conducted between 2013 and 2016, this work examines the peculiar process Sephardic Jews underwent as a consequence of the Spanish colonial presence in the north of Morocco. Spanish-Moroccan Jews developed their identity affiliations and allegiances under the influence of different institutions: the Spanish colonial agencies, the Alliance Israélite Universelle, the Jewish Agency, the Jewish community and the Moroccan authorities. These institutions presented different and often contradictory roles for Moroccan Jews. This work shows the tensions and conflicts experienced by the participants when navigating these different cultural and political spheres. The paper examines the participants' narratives about the ambiguous "re-Hispanicization" of Sephardic Jews during the colonial period. It studies the participants' memories about their identification with Spain and the adoption of Spanish habits and customs during the Protectorate period, which transformed Jewish life and redefined the limits between the different ethno-religious groups. This paper shows the impact of the social, historical and political conditions of the Protectorate on the participants' memories about colonial Morocco.Item Open Access Relationship between food security and dietary diversity in Nicaraguan households(2022-03-23) McClennon, Steph; Piperata, Barbara A; Schmeer, Kammi K; Hoehn, Natasha; Brown, Garielle; Kushlyk, Kristan; Wilson, Warren MIn 2020, nearly one-in-three people globally lacked access to adequate food; that is, they were food insecure. Food insecurity (FI) has four dimensions – availability, access, utilization, and stability – and is linked to poor health outcomes. Our understanding of the relationship between FI and health, however, is compromised by the fact that most research on FI focuses on the access dimension. This has resulted in a poor understanding of the utilization dimension; that is, how people cope with inadequate access to food as manifest by food choice. Here, we explore the relationship between maternal perceptions of food access and food choice, measured as dietary diversity, in 706 Nicaraguan households across urban, peri-urban and rural settings, and hypothesize that as food access worsens, dietary diversity will decline. Access was measured using the Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale. Dietary data were collected via a locally-developed, 7-day food-frequency questionnaire and converted to a household dietary diversity score (HDDS). The relationship was analyzed via multiple regression and ANOVA. We found that 82% of households experienced insufficient access to food and had a mean HDDS=10.9±1.2 out of a maximum score of 12. As access to food worsened, dietary diversity declined (r2=0.15, p<0.001), and the effect of food access on HDDS varied across settings (F=3.53, p=0.02). While we found a relationship between food access and HDDS, the high prevalence of insufficient access to food combined with a high average HDDS suggests that HDDS is too blunt an instrument to capture the lived experience.Item Open Access Scavenging activity can produce predictable patterns in surface skeletal remains scattering: Observations and comments from two experiments(Elsevier, 2009-07) Kjorlien, Yvonne P.; Beattie, Owen B.; Peterson, Arthur E.In forensic contexts, surface deposited remains are frequently found that have been scattered by various taphonomic processes. In an effort to develop strategies to improve recovery rates, this study evaluates whether patterns can be detected in the scattering of remains due to scavenger activity. In two experiments, 24 human analogues (pig carcasses) were placed in two adjacent but differing environmental contexts: 12 in wooded and 12 in open grassland. Six carcasses in each of these contexts were dressed in human clothing. Elapsed time and direction of movement information for each carcass and its parts were collected and analyzed. Unclothed carcasses and carcasses in open contexts exhibited scavenger activity sooner than the others. Scattering of remains occurred along game trails and was directed away from human population and activity. Due to the highly variable nature of scavenger activity, daily observations during a research project are the key leading to a better understanding of the development of these patterns.Item Open Access Terrestrial laser scanning for the documentation of an at-risk buffalo jump (EgPp-26) in south-central Alberta(2017-01) Pennanen, Kelsey; Dawson, Peter C.; Leyden, Jeremy J.This paper reports on the use of ground-based LiDAR (terrestrial laser scanning—TLS) to digitally capture a buffalo jump site located in south-central Alberta (EgPp-26). We discuss how the resulting digital data can be used to create accurate 3D reconstructions and how the application of these high-resolution geospatial datasets can be used for quantifying analyses. Accurate measurements can be taken directly from TLS datasets for use in mapping, as well as 3D visualization of geoarchaeological data. Furthermore, the acquisition of multiple TLS datasets over time can be used to quantify morphometric change and erosional processes impacting archaeological sites. Analytical data from TLS scans can help document often understudied aspects of geoarchaeological processes and facilitate new interpretations at archaeological sites. This technology was rapidly deployed at the Wearmouth Buffalo Jump for the purposes of documentation, monitoring, and digital preservation. The resulting datasets provide a lasting digital record of the site, as it appeared in September of 2016 and 2017. As natural disasters such as flooding and wildfire increase in frequency, we conclude that reality-capture technologies, such as terrestrial laser scanning, are effective tools for monitoring, managing, and preserving heritage resources.Item Open Access Trichromatic perception of flower colour improves resource detection among New World monkeys(Nature Scientific Reports, 2018-07-18) Hogan, Jeremy D.; Fedigan, Linda Marie; Hiramatsu, Chihiro; Kawamura, S.; Melin, Amanda D.Many plants use colour to attract pollinators, which often possess colour vision systems well-suited for detecting flowers. Yet, to isolate the role of colour is difficult, as flowers also produce other cues. The study of florivory by Neotropical primates possessing polymorphic colour vision provides an opportunity to investigate the importance of colour directly. Here we determine whether differences in colour vision within a mixed population of wild dichromatic and trichromatic white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator) affect flower foraging behaviours. We collected reflectance data for flower foods and modelled their chromatic properties to capuchin colour vision phenotypes. We collected behavioural data over 22 months spanning four years, determined the colour vision phenotype of each monkey based on amino acid variation of the L/M opsin gene from fecal DNA, and compared foraging behaviours of dichromats and trichromats. Most flowers were more conspicuous to trichromats, and trichromats foraged in small flower patches significantly more often. These data demonstrate a difference in wild primate foraging patterns based on colour vision differences, supporting the hypothesis that trichromacy enhances detection of small, ephemeral resources. This advantage, which may also extend to other foods, likely contributes to the maintenance of colour vision polymorphism in Neotropical monkeys.