Presentations by Faculty and Students

Faculty

Assessing the relationship between skin pigmentation and measures of bone strength in adolescent females living in Hawaii
D.L. Osborne, C.M. Weaver, L.D. McCabe, G.M. McCabe, R. Novotony C. Boushey, D.A. Savaiano
(2008) American Association of Physical Anthropology, Columbus, OH

Our understanding of bone growth as it pertains to adult skeletal integrity remains limited. Lifestyle factors associated with contemporary Western society may increase susceptibility to skeletal fragility. One potential contributor to inadequate bone growth is lack of vitamin D. Vitamin D aids in the formation and regulation of bone, with exposure to ultraviolet radiation being a major contributor to this relationship. However, little has been done to quantify this relationship. To this end we investigated the link between skin pigmentation and two measures of bone strength: section modulus (Z) and bone mineral content (BMC) at the proximal femur. Increased levels of skin pigmentation reduces vitamin D synthesis. Therefore we tested the hypothesis that individuals with darker skin would have lower measures of bone strength than those with lighter skin. Our sample was composed of adolescent females (n = 100) living in Hawaii who self-identified as either white or Asian. Skin pigmentation was measured at the forehead and inner arm using a Chroma Meter CR-200b colorimeter. Multiple regression was used to investigate the influence of skin pigmentation, physical activity, age, ethnicity, developmental age, calcium intake, and lean body mass on Z and BMC. Results suggest that skin pigmentation in this sample from Hawaii is not a significant predictor of either Z or BMC (p>.05). Skin pigmentation, as measured by colorimeter, does not predict bone strength. This may be due to our inability to control for dietary intake of vitamin D and/or long term exposure to ultraviolet radiation.

Changing Demographics and Identity Future Directions for Chican@ and Latin@ Studies
Carleen D. Sanchez
(2008) 36th Annual National Conference of the National Association for Ethnic Studies

This paper will examine the changing demographics of Latino populations in the US as they impact Chicano Studies programs.

In 1968, the first Chicano Studies Department was established at Cal State Los Angeles. Then, in April 1969, El Plan de Santa Barbara was adopted as the basis for creating a culturally meaningful curriculum responsive to the Mexican American community. Over time, academic units emerged catering to the experiences, values, arts, and literatures of Mexican-Americans. Forty years later, Chicano studies programs have achieved institutionalized status with professionalized faculty even though the traditional academy provided little in the way of support.

Considerable demographic changes, however, have occurred over the past 40 years. In the 1980s, a significant influx of Mexican immigrants to the US occurred due to changes in the global economy. Simultaneously, civil wars in Central America forced thousands of refugees to move to the United States. The 1986 amnesty act signed by Ronald Reagan provided undocumented aliens an avenue to legalization and permanent residency. Today many Latino students entering college are the children of immigrants and are largely unaware of the historic struggles and achievements of the Chicano Movement. Consequently, there are generational and cultural differences between Chicano faculty encountering students that identify as Mejicanos, Salvadorenos, or Guatemaltecos. Can all Latinos be Chicanos? If not, then is the maintenance of a Chicano Studies identity still viable in an increasingly diverse Latino population? This paper will examine the changing nature of Latino identities and their impact on culture specific academic units.

Anterior dental extraction in Sub-Saharan Africa: On geography, language, and historical roots
M.S Willis, J.M. Bragg, and J.T. Johnson
(2008) 14th International Symposium on Dental Morphology, Greifswald, Germany

Dental extraction can substantially alter dental morphology; subsequent migration affects spacing and alignment but also occlusal wear. Despite dental extraction practices by all world populations for a variety of reasons, little is known about tooth removal in Sub-Saharan Africa. When dental extraction by Sub-Saharan African populations has been noted in the anthropological, dental, or historical literature, it is mostly labeled using pejorative terms, e.g., mutilation, but little detail has accompanied brief notation. We scanned medical databases, ethnographies, and 19th-20th century travelogues for any mention of dental procedures among Sub-Saharan Africans. We mapped populations if dental extraction was applied to a clearly defined population segment and was performed in a systematic fashion, i.e., all had the same teeth removed at approximately the same age and in the same manner. It was discovered that anterior tooth extraction is, or has recently been, practiced in at least 15 Sub-Saharan African countries representing all geographic regions; East, West, Central, and Southern Africa. As expected, traditional extractors mostly speak languages within the Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan language families, but Afro-Asiatic and Khoisan are also represented. Two to eight anterior teeth are removed from the mandible, maxilla, or occasionally both, just after permanent eruption. The upper or lower central incisors appear to be, or have been, the most common teeth removed in all regions however, not a single notation of traditional removal involving posterior teeth was located. Dental extractions and the potential reasons for, and consequences of, traditional removal in Sub-Saharan Africa are discussed.

The Incisors of Asian Colobines with Special Reference to the Proboscis Monkey, Nasalis larvatus
M.S. Willis and D.R. Swindler
(2008) Congress of the International Primatological Society, Edinburgh, Scotland

Although ecological studies have documented clear inter-specific differences in dietary composition and food texture among Asian colobine taxa, it remains unclear how dietary divergence might be reflected in dental morphology and size. Furthermore, the few comparative studies that have included Asian colobine genera and species have not delineated the dental variation expected for a subfamily existing within a wide array of geographical and ecological zones. For example, when Asian colobines were compared to other anthropoids, they were said to have relatively short incisal rows and specialize in small food items. Also, species once classified as heavily folivorous, e.g., Nasalis larvatus, were shown to possess relatively small incisal rows. Yet previous studies included few Asian colobines and both species and sample sizes were limited. We wondered whether tooth size and shape differences exist between genera and if so, whether those differences could be correlated with factors such as diet, behaviour, and phylogeny. We examined 647 Asian colobine specimens within 20 museum collections in the U.S., Europe and Asia. No significant relative size differences in lengths and widths of the maxillary incisors were found. However, there were significant differences in the lengths and widths of the mandibular lateral incisors between Presbytis and Trachypithecus species, but not between other taxa. Because the anterior dentition has great significance for the order primates, we discuss these results, as well as others, in light of tooth use, food acquisition and processing, but also in terms of other life history factors, including dental development and phylogeny.

Legal Wrestling Required: Dinka Refugees and Nebraska Law
M.S. Willis and M. Pratt
(2008) Society for Applied Anthropology, Memphis, Tennessee

Federal refugee resettlement entities rarely provide the culture-specific training necessary for host communities and associated agencies to familiarize newly arriving populations with U.S. legal codes and systems. Furthermore, a lack of understanding on social and legal differences between the Sudan and the U.S. forces refugee individuals, families and communities into the criminal justice arena. Because they are obligated to interpret everyday life through the only cultural lens with which they are familiar, refugees often face criminal charges with minimal capacity to defend themselves. Examples of the costly, traumatic, and preventable outcomes are illustrated through four court cases among Dinka in Nebraska.

Dental morphometrics in Sudanese Dinka and Nuer refugees to the U.S.
M.S. Willis and E.R. Smith
(2008) Poster Presentation, American Association of Physical Anthropology, Columbus, Ohio

Dental data from contemporary African populations are rare in the anthropological and dental literature. When dental analyses have been conducted, data more often represent populations from Southern Africa and/or from museum collections where provenience is less precise and random sampling unlikely. We assessed dental casts of 32 Sudanese refugees to the U.S., 15 Dinka, all adult males, and 17 Nuer, nine adult males and eight adult females, for tooth size and shape factors denoted as common within Sub-Saharan African populations. Although sample sizes are small, the dental data are from known regions/subtribes. Crown size measures were made for all but the mandibular incisors and canines. Among the Nuer, no measurements could be made of the maxillary canines as well. These anterior teeth had been removed just after permanent eruption during a ritualized extraction process. Still, given that East African populations have rarely been part of comparative dental analyses, we wondered if dental size and morphology data would support placement of the Dinka and Nuer within the "sub-Saharan African dental complex." Thus we assessed trait frequency of the M1 Carabelli's cusp, M2 Y pattern, incisor shoveling, and third molar eruption. We also examined lingual features, spacing, and angle of the maxillary incisors. There were no absolute tooth size differences between Dinka/Nuer and male/female. Results are mixed with regard to placement within a Sub-Saharan African dental complex. While 10 (31%) possess a central maxillary diastema, interpretation about causal factors is hindered by anterior tooth extraction and subsequent migration of the remaining teeth.

Graduate Students

Economic Openness, Corn Prices, and Rural Communities in Guatemala
J.N. Cabrera-Schneider
(2008) Global Studies Conference, Chicago, IL

One component of Globalization is the economic interaction between markets; to facilitate this interaction governments have taken steps to make their borders more permeable to trade. The increased fluidity of products has had an effect on local prices. In this paper I will exemplify one effect that is the trend of price of corn in Guatemala has the same slope as the price of corn in the US, in the period of 1980 to 2006. The implication of this price similarity needs to be studied as the push for increased market integration of Guatemala with other countries continues. These are the first steps of a study trying to describe the adaptations undertaken by rural communities to the economic policies that Guatemala's government promotes.

Undergraduate Students

Exploring an Undergraduate Field School Experience
Jared Bragg (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and Arielle Wright (University of Western Ontario)
(2008) Society for Applied Anthropology, Memphis, TN

Participation in a field school is often recommended as an important asset for undergraduates contemplating further studies in anthropology. Many issues remain unclear, however, as students prepare for this experience: Why attend a field school? What kinds of lessons are learned? What steps can one take to maximize education in the field school setting? We attended a field school in the highlands of Peru and reflect on our experiences in order to share challenges, benefits, and some surprising lessons that may help other undergraduates prepare for their first time in the field.

New Course Offerings

"Cross-Cultural Mentoring" (download PDF)

New Service Learning Course for Fall 2008!

ANTH/WMNS 408/808 (001), 3 credits, IS and ES.
ANTH408: #9132 // ANTH808: #9133
WMNS408: #9134 // WMNS808: #9135

Taught by Professors Barbara DiBernard and Mary Willis

Meets Mondays, 3:30 - 5:00 pm, plus one or more hours per week at North Star High School.

• Structured service-learning opportunity
• Pairing with high school student from an immigrant or refugee family
• Meetings with mentee once or more per week during school hours
• 2-semester commitment due to student needs
• Class meets once per week on campus
• Class reads, discusses ethnographies of recent U.S. immigrant communities.
• Weekly reports shared with class on mentoring experience

Put some of your Anthropology or Women's & Gender Studies academic study into practice! This is an excellent opportunity! You will be learning about another country, culture and/or religion through research and interaction with your mentee. Students have found cross-cultural mentoring a powerful learning experience. One mentor wrote:

"Looking back at my journals, I have come to the conclusion that this has been my most challenging class but it has been the most rewarding I have had thus far in my academic career. No other setting in my learning experience has made me look inside myself and see my own flaws, strengths, and privileges as this one has."

Questions or want more information? Please call or email Prof. Barbara DiBernard at 472-1828 or bdibernard2@unl.edu or Prof. Mary Willis at 472-9677 or mwillis2@unl.edu.

"Food and Human Evolution"

ANTH 471 (Call # 9147) 871 (Call # 9148) will meet MWF from 9:30 to 10:20 in Bessey Hall 102 and will be taught by Dr. Daniel Osborne. The course description is as follows:

Nutrition plays a major role in health, wellness, and disease states in human populations. The choices we make regarding nutrition are informed by science and the media, as well as culture. External forces have always served as mediating factors in food choice throughout the evolution of our species. Thus it is not surprising that food and nutrition have interested anthropologists from the early history of the discipline. This course will focus on the behavior, diet, and nutrition thoughout the span of human evolution, focusing on topics related to human food procurement and food production in both past and present societies throughout the world. Topics covered include food acquisition and processing technology, food storage and synergistic relationships between nutrition, health, and demography, exposure to toxins, anti-nutrients, and parasites, foods as medicine and drugs, food taboos and prohibitions, food and socioeconomic status, famine and applied nutrition. Archaeological and cross-cultural cases involving human diet and nutrition examined and explained witihin an evolutionary ecological framework.

Faculty News

New Faculty Member: Dr. Daniel Osborne

The Department of Anthropology and Geography welcomes Dr. Daniel Osborne starting in the fall of 2007. Dr. Osborne was awarded a Ph.D. in biological anthropology from Indiana University Bloomington in 2007. His dissertation was titled "Developmental Plasticity in Structural Geometry at the Proximal Femur in Adolescent Females Living in the U.S." and his research interests include skeletal biology, growth and development, nutrition, human adaptation, health and disease, and forensic anthropology.