Undergraduate Papers by Kandi Doming
Mock Magazine dealing with issues of gender equality and what it means to be female in the sexual... more Mock Magazine dealing with issues of gender equality and what it means to be female in the sexualized world of advertising.
The Tibetan Buddhist monks are visiting the Crow Collection of Asian Art, April 2013, with the My... more The Tibetan Buddhist monks are visiting the Crow Collection of Asian Art, April 2013, with the Mystical Arts of Tibet tour from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in India. Here for the fourteenth year in a row the monks will be creating a Tantric Buddhist mandala sand painting in the galleries of the museum during a week-long artist residency. The monks travel to different places around the world creating sand mandalas and educating people about the culture of Tibet. In recent years there have been an increased number of these mandalas created in American colleges and museums all around the country. The purpose of this paper is to explore this ritual within its larger sociopolitical context so that we can begin to understand the events that have brought this ritual all the way from a remote region in the Himalayas and made it available to an American audience.
Throughout history there are many examples of fantastic creatures and places. By understanding t... more Throughout history there are many examples of fantastic creatures and places. By understanding the history of monstrous races it is possible to explain the role they have served in the past to explain the “otherness” of the unknown, as well as, to demonstrate the influences these ideas had in the development of medieval and modern ideas about race and society.
Underwater, marine, maritime, or nautical archaeology is simply archaeology done under the water.... more Underwater, marine, maritime, or nautical archaeology is simply archaeology done under the water. Shipwrecks are the most common type of site studied, but harbor and dock remains, fishing structures, and flooded land sites also may be investigated.
In the 1980’s Nautical or Maritime Archaeology became broadly accepted as a branch of Archaeology. Underwater Archaeology is practiced either by archaeologists outfitted with breathing equipment or by the remote control of machines in places where divers cannot go.
Underwater archaeology's study of the past is based on the study of human behavior as well as current cultural practice and their activities in and around estuaries and rivers and under the sea.
We organize and order our lives around our material positions. We also form unique relationships ... more We organize and order our lives around our material positions. We also form unique relationships with these objects that we use and fill our homes with. In the book, The Comfort of Things, Dr. Daniel Miller uses his skills as an anthropologist to explore the relationship between consumption and material culture by visiting homes in a single neighborhood in South London. In his own words, “it explores the role of objects in our relationships, both to each other and to ourselves.” Miller has presented us with an opportunity to read people through their possessions. Here, I will focus on two extremes, one a man who has basically no material possessions and another woman whose copious accumulation of objects displays her life story.
In his article, “The Reading Wars,” Kenneth Anderson takes on the debate over how to best teach c... more In his article, “The Reading Wars,” Kenneth Anderson takes on the debate over how to best teach children to read. The two contenders in the battle for literacy include the phonics system which teaches word-decoding skills before textual meaning and the whole language system which emphasizes textual meaning. In his research Anderson discusses the pros and cons of both systems as well as an in depth look into why this issue hasn’t been resolved on a local or federal level.
The Villa Romana del Casale is a 4th century luxury Roman villa located outside the town of Piazz... more The Villa Romana del Casale is a 4th century luxury Roman villa located outside the town of Piazza Armerina in Sicily. The villa is justifiably famous for its impressive assemblage of mosaics, stretching over 3,500 square meters; these mosaics reflect themes common to the era, using both direct and symbolic means to laud the dominus, or landowner. The mosaic program includes several fantastic mosaics such as “The Labors of Hercules”, as well as realistic depictions including, “The Great Hunt,” and the “Coronation of the Winner” informally nicknamed the “Bikini Girls”. The mix of mythological scenes and daily life begs the viewer to wonder what these mosaics meant to the people who created and lived with them, and why the “Coronation of the Winner” mosaic is so unique in collection of mosaics surviving from antiquity.
Using instrumentation housed in the Department of Anthropology and the Huffington Department of E... more Using instrumentation housed in the Department of Anthropology and the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, the following research was conducted to assist in the visual and geochemical analysis of raw clays and finished ceramics recovered from the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC, Akimel O’odham) as part of a three year NSF funded project. This work generated analytical data for continued research and publication in peer review venues. The Cultural Resource Management Program of the GRIC (the GRIC-CRMP) is the major collaborator with the Department of Anthropology for the NSF project. Research undertaken served to introduce advanced analytical methods, the generation and manipulation of complex and multivariate chemical data, and the nature of interdisciplinary research between academic disciplines and federally recognized Tribes. The following study contributes to knowledge of prehistoric social complexity in central Arizona, and it assists the GRIC in the management of geological resources that are important to traditional potters on the reservation today. Data collection took place at the ISEM under the direct supervision (and mentorship) of Eiselt and Roy Beavers (Institute of Electronic Technology Staff). Acknowledgements: This work was made possible through funding and support from the Hamilton Marr Undergraduate Research Scholars fund, the National Science Foundation, and the Gila River Indian Community, Cultural Resource Management Program.
Advances in technology since the Industrial Revolution and Green Revolutions have created a worl... more Advances in technology since the Industrial Revolution and Green Revolutions have created a world in which there is more than enough food to feed the entire population of the world, but still almost half of the world’s population suffers from chronic hunger and malnutrition, with 94 percent of those suffering living in the developing world (Robbins; 169). In this paper I will explore the two prevalent theories for why this problem exists and discuss the implications of each position and what it means for Human Rights.
The veneration of ancestors through mummy worship is one of the most intriguing and mysterious pr... more The veneration of ancestors through mummy worship is one of the most intriguing and mysterious practices of the Inca. Through oracles the voices of dead kings were heard and could either support or constrain the power of the living king while serving as a representative for their living descendant groups. It was through these oracles that the Inca were able to successfully manage an empire across the widely spread Andes Mountains. These corporate descendant groups, called panacas, could influence and affect change through compromise without directly challenging the supreme authority of the current king thus facilitating the task of governing across the vast empire (Gose 1996). Through examination of early mummification practices as well as important oracle sites it is possible to gauge the importance of mummy worship as a function of social control in the daily lives of the Inca people as well as the in the power structure of the entire Inca Empire.
In 1996, on the banks of the Columbia River a human skull was found by two individuals that ulti... more In 1996, on the banks of the Columbia River a human skull was found by two individuals that ultimately led to the recovery of one of the most complete early Holocene skeletons found to date in the Western Hemisphere (Bruning 501). This discovery gained national attention and ignited tensions between Native American groups and scientists, especially archaeologists. There were several events and misunderstandings that lead to heightened emotions among both groups that lead to a legal battle over who should have the final say over what should be done with 9,000 year old remains. The following research intents to address the positions of the invested parties, the implications of the ethical debate surrounding this case, and what we can learn from this event.
When it comes to sex, is wetter better? The plethora of personal lubricants available commerciall... more When it comes to sex, is wetter better? The plethora of personal lubricants available commercially would indicate that it is. In fact, the most iconic of lubes, KY-Jelly, has been on the market for over a hundred years. This product was first introduced in 1904 for surgical and medical purposes before being marketed in a non-sterile formula for personal use. For many years advertisements for KY-Jelly only showed the box and the tube, leaving the intended use only in the imagination of the consumer (fig. 1). However, in recent years the marketing campaigns for KY-Jelly have undergone a transformation from displaying the simple tube and packaging in advertising to the use of sexually suggestive and explicate imagery. In a consumer driven society capitalism depends on the constant production and consumption of goods and companies must keep up with new slogans and branding of products to generate demand. The continued success of KY-Jelly can be linked to its marketing campaigns which have adapted to reflect changes in acceptable representations of sexuality. Here, I argue that these new advertisements target only heterosexual male audiences and couples and serve as reflections of socially constructed ideas of sexuality that propagate and reinforce heteronormative standards.
In broad terms, a shaman is a religious specialist who communicates with spirits on the behalf of... more In broad terms, a shaman is a religious specialist who communicates with spirits on the behalf of individuals and the larger society. In Mesoamerican cultures the elite rulers were also shamans. This was a privileged position in the society and rulers would enter into an altered state of consciousness, or trance, in order to communicate with the spirit world. The trance could be brought on in a variety of ways including ingesting hallucinogens, rhythmic drumming, chanting, or blood loss. While in the trance, the shaman would transform themselves into a powerful animal spirit, or nagual, in order to dominate the spirits, like a predator dominates it’s pray (Saunders 30). In this paper I will demonstrate how Mesoamerican people used their natural resources to produce mirrors that help us to understand how they viewed their relationship to the natural and supernatural world.
Many considered the passing of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 the long await... more Many considered the passing of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 the long awaited ‘teeth’ to previous federal mandates set up to protect antiquities. ARPA made it illegal to disturb, destroy, or remove archaeological resources on public lands and set specific penalties including large fines as well as jail time for violations. So we have the law, we have the sanctions, but has the looting of archaeological sites in America stopped or even slowed down?
For Archaeologists working in countries that are becoming popular tourist destinations there are ... more For Archaeologists working in countries that are becoming popular tourist destinations there are several concerns and ethical dilemmas to be considered when contemplating the effects of archeo-tourism, the marketing of cultural heritage, as well as to what extent archaeologists should be engaged in the development of new tourism destinations.
By the 1960’s Donald Judd had been successfully exhibiting in galleries in New York and areas acr... more By the 1960’s Donald Judd had been successfully exhibiting in galleries in New York and areas across the US. His approach to art through elimination of images and simple forms is commonly known as Minimalism; less commonly known is the personal philosophy behind his preference for this style. Throughout his career Judd would often reconfigure pervious designs and reconstruct them while incorporating different elements and new technologies. The work, Untitled from 1988, on display in the Dallas Museum of Art is a clear example of this tendency towards reconstruction. By examining earlier works and discussing their transformations over time we can examine the development of Judd’s work in the atmosphere of the American post-World War II art world.
The spread of Christianity to the New World went hand-in-hand with the colonizing efforts of Euro... more The spread of Christianity to the New World went hand-in-hand with the colonizing efforts of European powers. Evidence of this cultural shift remains visible in the architecture of colonial missions in Spanish America. Before colonization, Mexico had a rich history of monumental architecture and artistic traditions that demonstrate the complexity of the native cultures. The Spanish destroyed many of the indigenous landmarks and built their cities and churches on the ruins of temples. Taking advantage of the spiritual importance these sites held for the native people the Spanish worked to facilitate associations between Christian saints and native gods. Furthermore, the missionaries used native labor to build the new churches and monasteries and commissioned native artists to decorate the walls with mural paintings. By focusing on three Augustinian missions built in the 16th century, I will discuss the utilitarian function as well as the spiritual. Concentrating on the general architecture and mural decoration of three religious buildings; the church of San Miguel Archangel in Ixmiquilpan, the monastery of San Agustín in Acolman, and the temple and ex-monastery of the Divino Salvador in Malinalco, I will identify several architectural and artistic traditions that were consistent with pre-Hispanic practices and can still be seen in mission architecture from the period. In all of the examples there are occurrences of both Christian and native iconography that demonstrate the amalgamation of these two distinct religious ideologies and the resulting cultural hybridity that can be seen when considering the indigenous motifs within in a Christian context.
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Undergraduate Papers by Kandi Doming
In the 1980’s Nautical or Maritime Archaeology became broadly accepted as a branch of Archaeology. Underwater Archaeology is practiced either by archaeologists outfitted with breathing equipment or by the remote control of machines in places where divers cannot go.
Underwater archaeology's study of the past is based on the study of human behavior as well as current cultural practice and their activities in and around estuaries and rivers and under the sea.
In the 1980’s Nautical or Maritime Archaeology became broadly accepted as a branch of Archaeology. Underwater Archaeology is practiced either by archaeologists outfitted with breathing equipment or by the remote control of machines in places where divers cannot go.
Underwater archaeology's study of the past is based on the study of human behavior as well as current cultural practice and their activities in and around estuaries and rivers and under the sea.