Anthropology Micro Grant Recipients
In summer 2023 I worked as a Community Service and Resettlement Intern at the International Institute of New England (IINE) in Manchester, NH. IINE is a non-profit refugee resettlement agency offering humanitarian relief, English language learning, employment and career advancement opportunities, skills training, and pathways to citizenship to more than 5,000 people from more than 60 different countries. Over the course of 10 weeks, I totaled 186 volunteer hours where some of my key responsibilities included: assisting staff with case management responsibilities such as outreach to clients via home visits and phone calls, and accompanying and transporting clients to the Department of Health and Human Services, health clinics, Social Security office, and other appointments. I reviewed and updated confidential client records at my Case Specialist’s direction as well as cross-listing data between government assistance sites and IINE’s client records. I got to help on particular projects such as assisting with move-ins and getting apartments all set up with furniture and food for the incoming clients which was great hands-on work. Having concluded this internship I am now able to recognize common challenges faced by Immigrant and Refugee populations and have developed strong advocacy and people skills. I can identify best practices associated with case management and how to effectively conduct client meetings and can capture important information from meetings and check-ins in concise case notes. I am able to identify and access community resources and services, particularly those that cater to the needs of refugees and immigrants. I have received a Reception and Placement certification through The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) which gives me an understanding of the US Refugee Resettlement program as well as the role organizations like IINE play in receiving and integrating refugees. I can also respectfully express and engage ideas and values in a multicultural, multilingual environment. I used this anthropology micro-grant to help cover transportation costs such as my daily commute and client transport to and from important and urgent appointments during the course of this summer.
Alex's senior thesis research focused on the Classic Maya (250-900 AD) in the Usumacinta River Region. She explored settlement patterns in an attempt to understand why there is significantly less settlement in the Santo Domingo Valley in Chiapas, Mexico compared to the surrounding areas. The structures in the Valley date back to the Preclassic period (1000 BC - 250 AD) as opposed to the rest within the dataset, which are Classic constructions. Alex went about testing her hypothesis that this settlement anomaly is primarily a result of socio-political and environmental factors. She used LiDAR and GIS technology to plot and analyze environmental factors such as precipitation and slope. By pairing her analysis with iconagraphic data and history found at surrounding kingdoms, she sought to better understand reasons why the Maya chose certain places to dwell over others.
Alex's thesis expanded on previous archaeological research she undertook during her time at Brandeis. She was involved with other LiDAR and GIS analysis in the area and focused on specific sites such as Lacanjá-Tzeltal. She was also fortunate enough to excavate at Lacanjá-Tzeltal in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of the site and its occupancy under the Sak Tzi kingdom.
Alex used her anthropology micro grant to purchase the technology that supported her research.
For this past year, I have been producing my senior thesis project entitled "Thank God for my Alcoholic:" Paradox, religion, and sacrificial scapegoating in Al-Anon. The thesis is an ethnography of Al-Anon Family Groups, a global mutual-support network for the loved ones of alcoholics. Ultimately, I argue that Al-Anon dogma has created a religious dedication to the improvement of the self in members of the fellowship, often at the violent expense of their alcoholic loved one.
The microgrant helped immensely in the process of producing my thesis. A large part of the fieldwork for the thesis consisted of attending weekly Al-Anon meetings, which are the primary meeting place for Al-Anon members. My fieldwork required that I attended meetings all over the Boston area. Because I do not have a car, I used the microgrant to provide transportation to and from meetings. I also used the microgrant to purchase Al-Anon produced literature that played a large role in the construction of my thesis. I am grateful to the Anthropology department for giving students access to this resource. The microgrant played a vital role in the production of my senior thesis!
Gui’s independent study in anthropology explored the intersection between Buddhism and Psychoanalysis when thinking about violence, peace, and theories of selfhood, motivated by the idea that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed” (UNESCO 1945). Different approaches to the meaning of peace and the practice of violence can often be influenced by different perspectives on the Self. In Western thought, generally, understandings of peace usually come from a top-to-bottom approach in which Peace is imposed by an external, overwhelming power - what Galtung would call negative peace (1969). That approach is very characteristic of what psychoanalyst Kawai names the “Western ego," an individualistic consciousness belonging to a binary opposition he describes as “loss of relatedness," a sense of separation between the I and the other (Kawai 2008:10). Such “pathology of divisiveness” leads people into a subconscious attachment to self-identities and differences, being irreconcilable and constantly in opposition with anything but themselves (Ikeda 2001:103-104) - the other becomes, then, a target of violence. To rise above such violent egoism would then become a human being’s ontological vocation, as argued by Freire (2001). Buddhist scholars, thus, approach the question of sustainable peace as a matter of inner transformation through the Mahayana Buddhist values of compassion and wisdom (Kraft 1992). Ikeda refers to this process as “Human Revolution” (2001) - referring to Galtung’s idea of positive peace (1969). Similarly, Jungian analytical psychology understands that the integrating and mutually supporting processes of inner and outer dialogue between one’s self and an internalized other are important for a transformation that is antithetical to violence (1961). The result of such transformation is represented by the Jungian “Self” archetype and the figure of the Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism.
Gui used his microgrant to purchase books for his research.