Copyright (c) 2010 SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad All rights reserved. http://digitalcollections.sit.edu Recent documents in DigitalCollections@SIT en-us Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:23:45 PDT 3600 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/877 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/877 Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:18:14 PDT This paper is an attempt to understand how laws are created and maintained on the local level in Komenda, Cape Coast, and Accra. It explains how bylaws are created in those localities through the use of the General Assemblies. The paper then examines the judicial system in those same areas. Komenda uses an Arbitration Committee. Cape Coast and Accra both have a Circuit Court and a High Court. After detailing how the legislative and court system function, the paper compares and contrasts the different ways that the legislative and judicial branches are executed. Andrew Freeman http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/876 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/876 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:02:47 PDT Excerpt from Introduction:Qui est Olympe de Gouges ? Au fond, c’ est la femme qui a écrit la Déclaration des Droits de la Femme et de la Citoyenne. Mais, cette définition est de ce qui elle était : phrase peu claire. Aujourd’hui, elle représente le courage et une âme prête à défendre celles qui ont besoin de défense, de protection. Elle est l’espoir des femmes terrorisées par l’abus, la violence. Et donc, on a pris son image et ses connotations pour nommer une association qui assiste exactement le groupe ciblé par Olympe elle-même.L’association Olympe de Gouges est la tête administrative sous laquelle on trouve trois parties : Claire Maison, Résidence Henri-Dunant, et la Maison d’à Côté. Les projets de Claire Maison, un centre d’hébergement, assistent les femmes à se réinsérer dans les cadres sociaux et professionnels. On fournit de l’assistance juridique, un atelier emploi qui aide les femmes à trouver un poste de travail, et des ateliers bien-être où on fait des activités qui encouragent des femmes dans la recherche de leur confiance perdue et leur autonomie fragile. Il y a aussi quelques studios sous la juridiction de Claire Maison dans le quartier qui héberge des femmes avec l’aptitude et l’envie d’habiter en dehors des bâtiments explicitement liés avec l’association. Henri-Dunant héberge des femmes avec des enfants de moins de dix ans. Ca n’a pas été pas mis en place pour être des résidences permanentes, mais pour l’intervalle pendant lequel on aide des femmes à trouver des résidences qui conviennent (un atelier logement). La Maison d’à Côté héberge aussi des femmes, mais seulement celles qui participent dans les services de l’association. Elles travaillent pour le restaurant associatif situé au rez-de-chaussée, Une Tarterie, qui sert comme atelier d’insertion, et aussi un service traiteur, un atelier d’utilité sociale. Sur les murs on trouve de l’art des artistes locaux, et donc c’ est une galerie. Abi Pollokoff http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/875 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/875 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:23:12 PDT Upon my arrival in Vietnam, I was exposed to Vietnamese women’s desire for white skin. The beauty industry in Vietnam is heavily represented in everyday life through the women who do not go into the sunlight unless they are completely covered from head to toe and by the numerous skin care stores and advertisements on every block. I started my research on the skin whitening community in Vietnam with hopes of gaining an understanding of the motivations behind why Vietnamese women are willing to put so much effort into obtaining white skin and quickly realized that the development of the beauty industry in Vietnam is a representation of the progress that the country has made over the past two decades. Like every other aspect of Vietnamese society, the beauty industry is thriving, proving to be a testament to Vietnam’s development, both as a society and as a people. Dorie Topolsky http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/874 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/874 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:23:10 PDT Vietnam is currently in the process of creating and implementing an important series of reforms to their higher education system. Their commitment to the process is encouraging, but the level of institutional autonomy at the college and university level is still low. Higher education institutions are unable to fully make academic and financial decisions without government oversight, an issue that appears to be hindering innovation and development within the sector. Based on the high importance of human resource development, and higher education’s distinct role in that process, these reforms are becoming increasingly important and necessary. Reforms are being created but not implemented and thus the entire process is slowed to a dangerously slow level—without resolute action, the large economic growth Vietnam has experienced will become unsustainable. The aim of the research is to come to a better understanding of what kind of system of government management and governance is currently in place in the higher education sector. Additionally it will focus on the reform process, including who is involved and what steps are being taken. Great emphasis is placed on increased institutional autonomy. By interviewing former government officials, university administrators, professors, and educational policy experts involved in the reform process and conducting extensive secondary research, this study hopes to gain perspective into the realities of educational reform in Vietnam, specifically related to the governance structure of higher education. Taylor Brooks http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/873 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/873 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:23:07 PDT Following the achievement of World Heritage site status in 1999, Hoi An shifted from a primarily agricultural economy to a primarily tourism-oriented economy. This economy is based on the idea of heritage tourism, focused mostly on preserved tangible heritage but increasingly accompanied by attempts to preserve and capitalize on intangible heritage. As the heritage tourism industry grows, the city of Hoi An must make constant decisions as to the nature and goals of the ideas of preservation and authenticity and their interplay with economics and the forces of globalization. The city has consequently had to balance the many conflicting demands of these ideals, which leads to conundrums for officials, as well as challenges and even crises for local people. The sustainability of the heritage tourism industry depends on the city’s ability to carefully perform this balancing act. Ursula James http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/872 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/872 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:44:15 PDT In this paper, I examine the commercialization of Mount Everest. First, I look at how the industry has developed, focusing on the high-­‐end commercial outfitters. I discuss how they have drastically changed life at Everest Base Camp, blurring the boundaries between the urban and mountaineering frames by introducing amenities like electricity from solar power and generators, hot showers, and broadband Internet connection to the camp. Next, I discuss the darker, more ugly side of Everest, examining the effects of parasitic and predatory adventurers, who come to the mountain only to cash in. I show that while it is easy to criticize the big budget outfitters, they have proven themselves to be both a noble lot, much more so than a lot of the smaller, cheaper outfitters. I argue that the high-­end commercial expeditions have been a blessing for the Khumbu.From here, I move to discuss how Sherpas’ role in Himalayan mountaineering has changed over time. Sherpas are now asserting themselves as global, world-­‐class mountaineers, and many of them have come to see mountaineering as a sport instead of just as a profession. I examine Sherpa prospects' for becoming ‘Western’ mountain guides and/or commercial outfitters on Everest, and how they stack up against their Western counterparts. I argue that while Sherpas have made substantial progress in that department, they still have a long way to go before they can truly be competitive. Finally, I look at the fast-­‐ growing mountaineering subculture in Nepal as well as efforts to provide in-­‐country mountaineering training. In short, I look at how Sherpas are getting more ‘into the game.’ I conclude by offering up some policy suggestions for what the Nepali government can do to facilitate Sherpa ownership of Himalayan mountaineering. Emily Kruger http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/871 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/871 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:29:36 PDT In his analysis of post-Mao China, historian Maurice Meisner writes, “it was the countryside where the majority of the Chinese people live and work, that was first to feel fully both the economic dynamism and the social destructiveness of a market economy” (Meisner 460). Meisner’s statement underscores how the commercialization of the rural economy changed rural society. Deng Xiaoping’s ascension to power in 1978 marked a re-articulation of state orthodoxy that prioritized economic development. The era of ‘reform’ was launched in the countryside with the break up of the communes and the introduction of the household responsibility system. What are the consequences of utopian marketization on rural society? Why do rural laborers harbor such deep hostility toward the restructuring of rural society? Below, I engage these questions by placing my discussion in the time-space of an ethnically Bai village in Yunnan province. With data collected through interviewing local residents and government officials, living with a local family, and surveying the local population, I have a relatively thorough understanding of the costs of Sideng’s restructuring process. The problems of Sideng’s restructuring are in certain ways representative of nationwide patterns so I hope that this paper will reveal problems that are universal to the marketization of China’s rural communities. The marketization of village of Sideng has led to the attenuation of social relationships, the transformation of values, and the emergence of a new kind of existential uncertainty. Ilona Nanay http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/870 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/870 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:29:34 PDT Microfinance in China can be unexpectedly described by an old Chinese proverb that literally translates “Dongshi, the ugly maiden, furrows her brow.” In this story, a famous Chinese beauty, Xishi, falls ill and as a result begins to clutch her stomach and furrow her brow in pain. Despite her sickness and her anguished expression, everyone continues to comment on her breathtaking beauty. One day her neighbor, another maiden named Dongshi who is known for her ugliness, notices Xishi’s facial expression and, taking note of everyone’s comments about her everlasting beauty, decides that in order to be beautiful she should imitate this expression. Not only is she unaware that Xishi’s furrowed brow is the result of her illness rather than a fashion statement, but she also fails to realize that imitating this expression only makes her less appealing. While I do not intend to peg China as Dongshi, the ugly maiden, in some ways the country’s experience with microfinance resembles her plight; despite best efforts, not a few microfinance programs in China have gone straight for imitation and missed the practice’s main objective of poverty alleviation. In particular, the Grameen Bank lending model popularized in Bangladesh served as the go-to example for almost all microfinance programs established in China starting in the 1990s. After years of experimenting with the methodology in China, microfinance experts have revealed the flaws of this imitation and compared the unique differences between China and countries in which the Grameen methodology is successful (see Park and Ren, 2000 and Jackelen and Mi, 1997). But imitation aside, the key is that most microfinance programs in China are largely missing the main goal of microfinance itself: banking for the poor, low-income, and those with limited financial access, in some cases women. My findings from researching a program established by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Malipo County, Yunnan illuminate an example of this “mission drift” and shed light on some of the most common challenges and successes of establishing microfinance in China. In this report, I will discuss my experiences observing this program, which I first learned of by reading a former student’s report on its situation ten years earlier in 2000 (Tsien, 2003). This paper is by no means intended to give an overall portrait of microfinance in China, but instead aims to discuss the experiences and issues of this particular UNDP-sponsored program in Malipo County, Yunnan Province. It is my hope that the cases and recurring themes that I encountered will provide further insight into the challenges microfinance faces in China and contribute to the broader discussion that surrounds the industry’s growth. Specifically, I hope to point out the changes that have occurred in the program since its establishment in 1996 and discuss which of these I feel to be detrimental to the broader goal of microfinance as a method for poverty-alleviation. I will begin with a brief introduction of the development of the microfinance movement in China, highlighting where this program falls and its relation to the industry’s progression. This summary will be followed by a detailed description of the Grameen Bank lending methodology, which has been the model exclusively used for microlending in China. I will then give an overview of the early history of the case study program, focusing on its structure and initial goals. At this point I will go into my personal research of the program, introducing the geography and characteristics of the program site and discussing my findings regarding the program’s evolution, successes, and challenges. This discussion will include mention of themes I find unique to microfinance and rural finance in China, in addition to common problems I found among the program branches. I will conclude by presenting the implications of this type of program’s development for the future of microfinance in China. Cindy Shuck http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/869 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/869 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:29:31 PDT Nestled in the rice-terraced mountains of Southern Yunnan, there are dozens of small towns of about 300 people. The villagers are physically and emotionally drained and perpetually exhausted. The men smoke over a pack of cigarettes every day and drink five or six small glasses of baijiu, their home-made rice wine. Some have been coughing up blood, others can’t breathe deeply enough to walk, let alone work in the fields anymore, leaving their wives to do all of the farm work. By bus theses villages are just a few hours away from Mojiang, yet life here feels decades away from the city. Over the past thirty years, millions of people in both the city and countryside have benefited from gaigekaifang, China’s Reform and Open Door Policy. An elderly farmer will tell you without hesitation that his life today bears no comparison to the tongku, the suffering and agony of his childhood. The 2010 Shanghai Expo presented China’s newest advancements in technology, business, architecture, and wealth for all the world to admire; but behind the slogan of “better city, better life” are countryside villages where clean water, sanitation and the most basic health care is still out of reach. The advancement in health care and access to health services has not coincided with the improvement in China’s economy. In terms of health, gains from the era of economic expansion have benefited urbanites far more than countryside farmers. The difference between urban and rural health is now a stark contrast; in 2006 China was ranked by WHO as the lowest in the world in terms of health equity: urban residents who make up only about 20% of China’s total population enjoy roughly 80% of the national health resources. Haley Newman http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/63 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/63 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:37 PDT SIT Study Abroad: Uganda: Post-Conflict Transformation, Fall 2009 Tonia Hauser http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/62 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/62 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:36 PDT Samuel Powers http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/61 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/61 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:35 PDT SIT Study Abroad, Senegal: National Identity and the Arts, Spring 2009 Clint Smith http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/60 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/60 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:34 PDT SIT Study Abroad, India: Sustainable Development and Social Change, Spring 2010 Sarah Barnard http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/59 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/59 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:34 PDT SIT Study Abroad, India: National Identity and the Arts, Spring 2010 Francesca Simonite http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/58 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/58 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:33 PDT SIT Graduate Institute, PIM 68 Phuong Hoang http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/56 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/56 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:32 PDT SIT Study Abroad, Ireland: Transformation of Social and Political Conflict, Spring 2010 Sasha Fanny-Holston http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/57 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/57 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:32 PDT SIT Study Abroad, Oman: Political Culture and Economic Development in the Gulf, Fall 2009 Jami King http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/55 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/55 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:31 PDT SIT Study Abroad, Jordan: Intensive Arabic Language Studies, Summer 2009 Elizabeth Whitman http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/54 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/54 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:30 PDT SIT Study Abroad, Argentina: Social Movements and Human Rights, Spring 2010 Gideon Jacobs http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/53 http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/photocontest/53 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:57:30 PDT The Experiment in International Living, Argentina Rachael Warriner