Tag: Lamia Karim

The Growth and Function of Gourmet Coffee Culture in the United States and Historic London and the Use of the Coffee House in Eugene, Oregon

Presenter: Sarah Frey-Wyer (Anthropology)

Mentor: Lamia Karim

Oral Presentation

Panel B: “Cultural Expressions” Oak Room

Concurrent Session 2: 10:30-11:45am

Facilitator: Lou Vijayakar

Focusing primarily on Eugene, Oregon, I have created an overview via participant observation of how people use the communal space within a coffee house and use the historic position of coffee houses in London, England as a basis for comparison. How did people use the space of a coffee house in the 17th and 18th centuries in London, and how does that compare to how people use this “third place” (neither home nor work) in Eugene, Oregon today? This project also explores the evolution of coffee culture in the United States and how coffee has become both gourmet and a cultural commodity in the present-day, primarily considering the growth of Starbucks. Extensive research was done on coffee houses in London spanning three centuries (from the mid-1500s onward). Research in Eugene was completed via participant observation, where I went to several local cafes and spent hours observing how people interacted within them. The outcome of this research shows that people make an effort to privatize space while they are in public, communal areas. With the backdrop of historic London’s coffee houses, I compare the two environments and have found gaping differences in the function of a café. This body of work has value because coffee houses are a dominant “third space” in the world today, and how we use them and interact within them is an important facet of our cultural environment.

Maintaining Compassion and Harmony: An Analysis of Three Interreligious Communities in Bali

Presenter: Sunny Harrison

Mentor: Lamia Karim

Oral Presentation

Major: Anthropology 

Compassion triggers an emotional response to suffering and a desire to help. Theories of religion and compassion suggest that social barriers may perpetuate a strained relationship between Hindus and Muslims in Bali; that strained relationship may suggest a lack of compassion (Geertz, 1973 and Nussbaum, 2001). However, by examining three interreligious villages in Bali, my research explores the ways in which compassion is conceptualized in contrast to Western theory. I conclude that the conceptualization of compassion may correlate to the existing harmonious state in each village and its related socio-economic development. This research adds to the general effort to understand how interreligious societies conceptualize, foster, and maintain harmony and therefore compassion. Although the Balinese have similar ways of conceptualizing compassion, the difference in socio-economic structure differs from the West. However, understanding how harmonious societies have overcome social barriers will help better identify how other communities can also eliminate social barriers, fostering more compassionate communities.

Exotic Sexuality: Examining the Effect of Exotic Dancing on Women’s Sexuality

Presenter: Amber Bryan

Mentor: Lamia Karim

Poster: 10

Major: Women’s and Gender Studies 

Exotic dancing has been studied widely in the fields of anthropology, sociology, psychology, and women’s and gender studies with scholars such as Bernadette Barton and Katherine Frank arguing that women become exotic dancers because they are suffering from repetition compulsion, causing dancers to follow intimacy scripts both at work and outside of work. However, these arguments, as well as the past research conducted, have not adequately addressed the issue of how exotic dancing may affect the sexuality of the women working in the exotic dancing profession.

My research has examined and compared the participatory sexual encounters of women before becoming dancers to their participatory sexual encounters after becoming dancers. The rarely acknowledged issue of working as an exotic dancer and the effects it has had on women’s sexual interest in other women was a particular point of interest throughout this study. Through ethnographic and empirical research, I have determined that working as an exotic dancer does have an impact on the women’s sexuality, who they choose to engage in sexual encounters with, and how frequently the women participated in sexual encounters outside of work, though the outcome was different for each woman. The data also shows that, while some of the women did experience an increase in sexual activity with multiple partners, most of the stereotypes about exotic dancers, that they are whores or lesbians, did not hold true.

The Next Chapter in Life: Ethnic Diversity and Its Impact on Students

Presenter: Jessica Cantu

Mentors: Lamia Karim and Rupa Pillai, Anthropology

Poster: 7

Major: General Social Science 

How does ethnic diversity on campus influence students when deciding on schools? Ethnic diversity is the difference among groups of people based on their race, language, religion, and culture; it is an important factor to study since it influences how individuals chose college communities. This study is a single term project, aimed to investigate what types of students consider ethnic diversity as an important factor when applying to college. In order to answer this question, I interviewed two students studying at College X (urban, more ethnically diverse) and College Y (European, less ethnically diverse). I also conducted a survey on campus with 30 students, 15 who were Caucasian and 15 Non- Caucasian to find out how relevant diversity was in their college decision. My research shows the importance of demographics and the affect it has on diversity among college applicants. It was determined that Non-Caucasians strive to attended campuses with a greater amount of ethnic diversity, whereas Caucasians are less likely to consider the level of ethnic diversity a campus has to offer. These results indicate the need to bring awareness about ethnic diversity, and the benefits that can come from attending a diverse campus.

Negotiating Freedoms: Women Experiencing Homelessness in Eugene, OR

Presenter(s): Violet Fox

Faculty Mentor(s): Lamia Karim

Oral Session 1 SW

Why is there such an increase in homelessness, particularly among women, in the United States? I propose to study this phenomenon among homeless women in Eugene, OR. Recent scholarship and federal counts of homelessness show that the number of homeless people has been steadily increasing since the 1980s, with a sizable increase in women and their children. Research from Europe, Canada, and large U.S. cities show the insecurities that women face living on the streets are different than men’s and in the last 10-20 years frameworks have emerged to better understand their lives. Oregon, however, has one of the largest homeless counts in the country, currently ranking fourth in the nation but has little to no targeted qualitative or ethnographic research on women. Women’s unique social vulnerabilities and responsibilities make their experiences an important site of study in order to understand the causes of homelessness, as well as to offer pragmatic solutions. This is an urban anthropological research project that is composed of (a) archival research on public policy changes from 1980s onward in Eugene as well as existing relevant theoretical literature; (b) oral histories from 5 homeless women as to the causes and experiences of homelessness: and (c) interviews with the directors of three homeless shelters in the city of Eugene.

The objectives are to examine the causes of women’s homelessness in America, Oregon, and Eugene, as well as analyze and give voice to the gendered experiences and impacts of homelessness on women. My preliminary reading of the literature shows that women experience homelessness due to domestic violence, inability to pay medical and rental bills, and mental illness. However, there are also women who never expected to be homeless due to middle-class lifestyle that they lost unexpectedly.

My research will explore key reasons for homelessness in Eugene, OR as expressed by the interviewed women and shelter personnel, as well as compare how homeless women navigate between the unstructured street life and the highly structured shelter life, and if that is a handicap to their assimilation into the housed world. I have three current hypothesis; one is that the women will express feeling stifled by the restrictions and policing of shelter life, two is that the women will feel frustration at the absence of a transitional “wet shelter” in Eugene (as opposed to a dry shelter), and three that shelter personnel will confirm that women are an increasing demographic in Eugene, as well as the greater state of Oregon and country of America.