Current Search: Matejowsky, Ty (x)
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Pages
- Title
- Catholic Healing Masses: Intersections of Health and Healing in Yucat(&)#225;n.
- Creator
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Draper, Suzanne, Reyes-Foster, Beatriz, Mishtal, Joanna, Matejowsky, Ty, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The conception of illness and healing in contemporary Mexican Catholic discourse highlights both particular and ubiquitous instances of a health experience perceived locally and widespread. Catholic healing masses are utilized as supplemental methods of individual health restoration coupled with Western medicinal techniques in Catholic dramas. Aside from the spiritual and religious significance of this practice, the use of healing masses as an additional means to achieving an optimal health...
Show moreThe conception of illness and healing in contemporary Mexican Catholic discourse highlights both particular and ubiquitous instances of a health experience perceived locally and widespread. Catholic healing masses are utilized as supplemental methods of individual health restoration coupled with Western medicinal techniques in Catholic dramas. Aside from the spiritual and religious significance of this practice, the use of healing masses as an additional means to achieving an optimal health status implies that something is lacking in current biomedical models. The purpose of my research is to explore the humanistic terms under which healing masses operate and translate these terms into a biomedical conversation towards enhanced secular medical care
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005484, ucf:50332
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005484
- Title
- Speaking with the Orishas: Divination and Propitiation in the Lukumi Religion.
- Creator
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Marrero, Kristi, Howard, Rosalyn, Matejowsky, Ty, Reyes-Foster, Beatriz, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The Lucum(&)#237; religion was born in Cuba from African and European religious systems. The enslaved Yoruba were brought to the New World through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. They were taken from their homes, family, language, and religion and brought to countries like Cuba to provide free labor to growing agricultural markets that benefited European colonizers of the Americas. The Yoruba would hold on to their religion, but in order to keep it alive, they would have to make it into a new...
Show moreThe Lucum(&)#237; religion was born in Cuba from African and European religious systems. The enslaved Yoruba were brought to the New World through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. They were taken from their homes, family, language, and religion and brought to countries like Cuba to provide free labor to growing agricultural markets that benefited European colonizers of the Americas. The Yoruba would hold on to their religion, but in order to keep it alive, they would have to make it into a new religion. This new religion would become the religion known as Lucum(&)#237;. In Cuba, Lucum(&)#237; practitioners would hide their religion beneath the fa(&)#231;ade of Catholicism. The orishas were associated with Catholic saints with similar attributes. The orisha Chang(&)#243;, who governs war and presides over lightning, became associated with Saint Barbara who is the patron saint of artillerymen and is linked to lightning. The Yoruba could be seen praying to a saint but were actually praying to an orisha. This practice became ingrained as a part of Lucum(&)#237; tradition. Divination and propitiation are at the center of the Lucum(&)#237; religion. Divination determines the course of a practitioner's life and can reveal whether practitioners are in a good or bad position in their lives. Propitiation will ensure that good fortune will remain or that bad omens will disappear.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005526, ucf:50325
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005526
- Title
- Backpacking in the Digital Age: Ethnographic Perspectives from Latin America.
- Creator
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Edwards, Russell, Matejowsky, Ty, Howard, Rosalyn, Geiger, Vance, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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My thesis ethnographically examines the changing nature of backpacking for Westerners in Latin America amid a proliferation of mobile computing and social networking. While anthropological and sociocultural research on tourism is extensive, the social scientific literature on backpacking has, thus far, been largely unconcerned with Western Hemisphere countries and the effects of digital technology on this mode of travel. Recent findings suggest, however, that backpacking has currently moved...
Show moreMy thesis ethnographically examines the changing nature of backpacking for Westerners in Latin America amid a proliferation of mobile computing and social networking. While anthropological and sociocultural research on tourism is extensive, the social scientific literature on backpacking has, thus far, been largely unconcerned with Western Hemisphere countries and the effects of digital technology on this mode of travel. Recent findings suggest, however, that backpacking has currently moved beyond its niche roots as a subculture of independent traveling into a full-fledged tourist industry. My thesis investigates the Latin American backpacking scene to better understand if this is a global trend. The available literature further suggests that today's backpackers are represented by various subgroups including older and less budget-constrained travelers known as (")flashpackers.(") Despite using the backpacker infrastructure, flashpackers' disposable income and relatively expensive equipment places them somewhat beyond traditional backpacker categories. Drawing on ethnographic data collected over two separate multi-sited field sessions in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Colombia, I document the recent experiences of backpackers and flashpackers and evaluate how digital technologies inform and affect their travels.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004834, ucf:49710
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004834
- Title
- "What We Eat Matters": Perspectives on Food and Health in the Mexican Im/migrant Farmworker Communities in Indian River County, Florida.
- Creator
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Puerto, Hugo, Reyes-Foster, Beatriz, Mishtal, Joanna, Matejowsky, Ty, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The dramatic increase of type-2 diabetes within the Latino community is of great concern in the U.S., especially among Mexican im/migrant farmworkers. Anthropological scholarship shows that health issues within im/migrant groups in the U.S. are poorly understood from a sociocultural and local perspective. In Indian River County, Florida, farmworker leaders created a community garden in response to health problems in this community. This initiative was launched to educate families about the...
Show moreThe dramatic increase of type-2 diabetes within the Latino community is of great concern in the U.S., especially among Mexican im/migrant farmworkers. Anthropological scholarship shows that health issues within im/migrant groups in the U.S. are poorly understood from a sociocultural and local perspective. In Indian River County, Florida, farmworker leaders created a community garden in response to health problems in this community. This initiative was launched to educate families about the health and economic benefits of growing their own food. The Indian River County Health Department and the local leaders are working collaboratively to inform the community about the risks of type-2 diabetes by providing educational lectures about health, food, and nutrition, in an effort to engage the farmworkers to actively participate in community gardens. However, little engagement to this initiative has been observed within the farmworker community. This ethnographic investigation examines the challenges of involving Mexican im/migrant farmworkers in community-based solutions to health problems. Based on participant observation, survey, and interview data with farmworkers and key informants from the Farmworkers Association of Florida, this project examines the perspectives of health concerns and the role of grassroots initiatives in addressing health needs. Specifically, it analyzes barriers to healthy eating and explores how community gardens can improve health outcomes in farmworker communities. This research contributes to the understanding of Mexican im/migrant farmworkers' health in Indian River County, and it has the potential to guide health-related policies pertaining to im/migrant communities in general.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005692, ucf:50114
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005692
- Title
- Teach them to eat: Complexities of Community Based Organization and Nutrition Education Initiatives in the Prevention of Chronic Disease.
- Creator
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Matos, Allison, Mishtal, Joanna, Matejowsky, Ty, Reyes-Foster, Beatriz, Harris, Shana, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This thesis examines how participants of an eight-week nutrition education class utilize disseminated information to manage chronic disease, as well as explores the challenges a community based nutrition education resource center faces in the arena of chronic disease prevention. Per the World Health Organization's Global Report on Diabetes, 422 million adults currently live with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, a four-fold increase since the 1980s. Within the U.S., approximately nine percent...
Show moreThis thesis examines how participants of an eight-week nutrition education class utilize disseminated information to manage chronic disease, as well as explores the challenges a community based nutrition education resource center faces in the arena of chronic disease prevention. Per the World Health Organization's Global Report on Diabetes, 422 million adults currently live with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, a four-fold increase since the 1980s. Within the U.S., approximately nine percent of the adult population suffers from diabetes, and obesity, a major contributor to the disease, afflicts nearly thirty-five percent. While medical professionals frame the controlling of chronic disease from a pathophysiological perspective by promoting self-care methods and using language rooted in personal responsibility for successful treatment plans, implementation of such strategies by patients is more nuanced. In Orlando, Florida, staff at a community based, non-profit, nutrition resource center, Hebni Nutrition Consultants Inc., has played a key role in advocating for African-American community health in Central Florida, educating clients about chronic disease prevention and management since their establishment in 1995. Using ethnographic methods of participant-observation and semi- structured interviews, this project explores the challenges the staff of Hebni face operating at the intersection of the public and private sectors, as well as how participants of Hebni's programming understand discourses of empowerment, neoliberal ideas of self-care, and individual versus collective identity, when navigating the biomedical world. This project contributes not only to the growing body of research surrounding health disparities in minority communities, but also how neoliberal policies have shifted responsibility of community health and wellbeing from the state and onto private organizations.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006478, ucf:52893
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006478
- Title
- Life After the Boat: Understanding the Needs of Refugees Living in Second Reception Centers in Sicily.
- Creator
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Manzano, Russell, Mishtal, Joanna, Harris, Shana, Matejowsky, Ty, Geiger, Vance, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Migration to Italy has drastically increased, with thousands of refugees traveling by sea to Sicily every month. International refugee policy is largely managed through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and although it attempts to regulate refugee assistance, immigration policy within the European Union is complex and continuously fluctuating. Upon arrival in Sicily, authorities send refugees to first reception centers, and then transfer them to second reception centers...
Show moreMigration to Italy has drastically increased, with thousands of refugees traveling by sea to Sicily every month. International refugee policy is largely managed through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and although it attempts to regulate refugee assistance, immigration policy within the European Union is complex and continuously fluctuating. Upon arrival in Sicily, authorities send refugees to first reception centers, and then transfer them to second reception centers operated by local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The implementation of Italian immigration policy varies among regions; resettlement agencies often transfer refugees among centers where they receive different economic assistance, thus creating further harm to this marginalized population. While there is abundant scholarship regarding refugee resettlement, there is little anthropological research concerning the conditions of second reception centers for refugees in the specific geopolitical region of Siracusa, Sicily. Further, little is known about centers for unaccompanied minors, and due to the increasing number of minors arriving in Italy, additional anthropological research is critical in understanding the conditions of second reception centers for children in Sicily.I conducted ethnographic research in 2015 and 2016 at six refugee centers in Siracusa: three for unaccompanied minors, two for adults, and one for men, women, and children. In this thesis, I explore the perceptions of refugees concerning the treatment and services that they receive at second reception centers after arriving in Italy. I examine how resettlement policies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) shape refugees' experiences in transitioning within Sicilian society, arguing that certain policies and NGO practices restrict refugees' socioeconomic mobility. Specifically, this project aims to answer the following research questions:•What challenges do refugees face after arriving at reception and resettlement centers in Sicily?•How do current migration policies affect newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers?I argue that current policies, and their implementation, place refugees in circumstances that restrict their socioeconomic mobility, keeping them in impoverished conditions. The effectiveness of humanitarian aid is important to understand, not only within anthropology, but also concerning refugee policy to identify ineffective practices, as well as successful non-governmental practices for assisting refugees. Through ethnographic analysis, this research will deepen the understanding of the effects refugee policy creates in the lives of refugees in Sicily; therefore, contributing to the scholarship of how policy can prevent future harm to refugees after they arrive in Italy.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFE0007142, ucf:52308
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007142
- Title
- Devising Strategies, Managing Needs: A Multi-Level Study of Homelessness in Central Florida.
- Creator
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Young, Rebecca, Mishtal, Joanna, Matejowsky, Ty, Reyes-Foster, Beatriz, Donley, Amy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The homeless are a marginalized population vulnerable to structural forces and policy decisions, including lack of affordable housing, systemic inequalities, and lack of adequate social safety net. Homelessness is commonly medicalized (linked to individual deviancy and mental illness) by service administrators and policymakers, causing structural causes to be overlooked. A (")vertical slice(") approach is particularly useful to show perspectives and strategies that affect homelessness from...
Show moreThe homeless are a marginalized population vulnerable to structural forces and policy decisions, including lack of affordable housing, systemic inequalities, and lack of adequate social safety net. Homelessness is commonly medicalized (linked to individual deviancy and mental illness) by service administrators and policymakers, causing structural causes to be overlooked. A (")vertical slice(") approach is particularly useful to show perspectives and strategies that affect homelessness from multiple levels.Using ethnographic research methods, this project explores homelessness in Central Florida from three distinct but interrelated angles: (1) the perspective of homeless persons, (2) the perspective of staff members at Hope Helps, a non-profit organization seeking to help the homeless, and (3) the perspective of policymakers. Methods include participant observation at Hope Helps, interviews with people from each group, and policy document analysis. Specifically, I examine how perceptions and discourses of homelessness affect the strategies of these three groups, and ways in which these strategies intersect. Findings demonstrate that while homeless persons view the reasons for their own homelessness as economic, they perceive other people to be homeless for individualized reasons, including the use of medicalization and criminalization. Many perpetuate rhetoric that blames immigrants, minorities, and other poor persons for the lack of assistance services and jobs available. This greatly reduces homeless persons' ability to collectivize, support each other, and protest for change. Staff at Hope Helps also uses individualized discourses, focusing on helping homeless and low-income persons budget resources, rather than working towards systemic change. Policymakers in Orlando, which in 2009 was considered the third (")meanest city(") in the nation due to criminalization measures, are now focusing on a new Housing First approach, though the efficacy of this approach and their motives remain questionable.This research has potential to make politics behind policies affecting the homeless more transparent. It would further identify a common language and interests, which can serve as the bridge between homeless seeking services, and service providers. Thus, results of this research have potential to improve the way services for the homeless are structured, and to inform policy relevant to the homeless in Florida. Further, it contributes to anthropological literature on discourse and neoliberalism, and how discourse can be used to justify particular policy directions.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006202, ucf:51115
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006202
- Title
- Asylum in Crisis: Structural Violence and Refugees in Siracusa, Italy.
- Creator
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Kersch, Adam, Mishtal, Joanna, Matejowsky, Ty, Toyne, J. Marla, Geiger, Vance, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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In recent years, unprecedented numbers of migrants have arrived in Italy due to political, religious, ethnic and economic instabilities in West and North Africa and the Middle East. Simultaneously, the Eurozone Crisis and neoliberal austerity measures left the Italian government struggling to administer healthcare and legal services to all migrants. This study investigates the provision of essential services by the Italian state and two non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Emergency and...
Show moreIn recent years, unprecedented numbers of migrants have arrived in Italy due to political, religious, ethnic and economic instabilities in West and North Africa and the Middle East. Simultaneously, the Eurozone Crisis and neoliberal austerity measures left the Italian government struggling to administer healthcare and legal services to all migrants. This study investigates the provision of essential services by the Italian state and two non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Emergency and ARCI, respectively providing free medical and legal services, to incoming migrants in Siracusa, Italy. It analyzes migrants' perceptions of these services and evolving goals in Europe. Building upon preliminary fieldwork conducted in 2014, in January to July 2015 I undertook six months of participant observation in a migrant reception center and legal offices in Siracusa. During my research I conducted 72 unstructured and semi-structured interviews with migrants, NGO activists, lawyers, and doctors, and state physicians. This study analyzes Emergency's role as an entrance to the Italian healthcare system and ARCI as a facilitator of legal aid to migrants. I argue that the clinic's position on the outskirts of Siracusa functions as a means of exclusion, exacerbating divides between the local population and incoming migrants. Additionally, I provide insight into the provision of legal services to migrants in Siracusa, as well as how these migrants navigate geopolitical and legislative borders, and these borders' roles within the politics of the European Union and neoliberal ideologies. I argue that selective enforcement of asylum legislation and dearth of legal aid to migrants motivates many migrants to clandestinely flee Italy to seek futures in other European nations, consequently moving (")burdens(") of migrant reception. This research contributes to public policy and scholarship on health and migration policy as well as politics of conflict, while shedding light on the critical role of NGOs in a complex humanitarian crisis occurring in Southern Europe.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006126, ucf:51166
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006126
