Browsing by Subject "Panama"

Now showing 1 - 14 of 14

A systematic revision of genus Isthmomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae)
(2007-12) Middleton, John; Salazar-Bravo, Jorge; Bradley, Robert D.; Wilhelm, Jennifer A.; Strauss, Richard E.
This study provides data on morphometric variation among allopatric populations of two species of Isthmomys (Hooper & Musser 1964). Cranio-dental measurements and landmark point coordinate data were collected from dorsal, lateral and ventral views of the crania of 126 museum specimens representing the majority of available specimens in the genus. Morphometric techniques were used to examine secondary sexual dimorphism and geographic variation in size and shape within and among OTUs. Statistical analyses revealed negligible sexual dimorphism; therefore both males and females were pooled in the subsequent analyses. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) of the linear measurements show significant differences (p< .05) between allopatric populations and their respective type localities; corresponding canonical variates and principal component analyses show that the groups are well differentiated. After removing the component of size from the landmark data, principal component analyses of shape and canonical variates analysis showed patterns of shape variation within I. flavidus and I. pirrensis revealing the possibility of polytypic species. Additionally, evaluation of 5 qualitative characters showed unique morphologies for each OUT. Within the context of a systematic revision, these indicate strong possibilities of polytypic species.
Archaeoogical survey and testing in the Belen River Valley, Panama
(Texas Tech University, 1995-08) Griggs, John Charles
The scope of this thesis was originally intended to cover only the 1992 excavations at the Pozo VieJo, which were related to the search for the remains of the Spanish caravel La Gallega and Columbus' settlement of Santa Maria de Belen (1502). The recovery of aboriginal artifacts during the excavations, however, gave rise to a number of questions regarding the prehistoric occupants of the valley. As I was fortunate enough to be in a position to continue research under the convenio granted to Ships of Discovery and I had the support of Dr. Cooke at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, I made the decision to conduct an archeological survey of the Bel^ Valley. After the survey was completed, I conferred with Dr. Cooke about my findings. We decided that a report combining the data from both seasons of research would be of greater scientific value than two individual reports. The primary reason is that both operations produced different but complementary information. The remainder of this thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter II consists of a review of ethnohistorical and archaeological literature relevant to the Belrn Valley. Chapter III and IV contain summaries of the 1992 and 1993 field seasons, as well as artifact descriptions and the results of artifact analyses. The final chapter is a synthesis of material from each of the three preceding chapters. It includes a discussion of prehistoric settlement and subsistence patterns in the Bel6n Valley, an initial cultural chronology of the valley which includes both prehistoric and historic components, and an evaluation of applicability of models of prehistoric cultural development utiich have been proposed for Caribbean Panama relative to the data available for the valley.
(De)constructing paradise : assessing residents' place experiences during an era of residential tourism development in Boquete, Panamá
(2006-08) McWatters, Mason R., 1980-; Adams, Paul C.
Residential tourism is a timely concern to social scientists as both the scale of affected participants and the scope of affected places has greatly increased within the most recent years. Created by counter-stream flows of consumption-led migration, residential tourism creates a new and fascinating context of residential co-inhabitance between populations of diverse cultural, social, linguistic, racial and economic backgrounds. Through in-depth qualitative techniques, this work explores the ways that the native and foreign residents of Boquete experience their shared place of residence differently. The main thesis argues that while native residents primarily experience Boquete as a meaningful place, foreign residential tourists primarily experience Boquete as a distant natural and human landscape. While the former group experiences Boquete as existential insiders, the latter group maintains an outsider status seeing landscape based on an ideology of sight, distance and separation. These divergent experiences of Boquete significantly impact the nature of social interaction between these residential groups creating a divide of social isolation. The thesis also argues that as residential tourist growth and development continue to progress in Boquete, native residents are experiencing estranging processes of alienation, commoditization and displacement, effectively jeopardizing their meaningful experience of Boquete as place.
Empire’s angst : the politics of race, migration, and sex work in Panama, 1903-1945
(2013-08) Parker, Jeffrey Wayne; Guridy, Frank Andre; Levine, Philippa; Makalani, Minkah; Mckiernan-González, John; Twinam, Ann
This dissertation explores the negotiations and conflicts over race, sex, and disease that shaped the changing contours of the nightlife in Panama from 1903 to 1945. It investigates why sexual commerce on the isthmus evoked an array of masculine anxieties from various historical actors, including U.S. officials, Panamanian authorities, and Afro-Caribbean activists. I argue that the conflicting cultural encounters over sex work remained at the heart of U.S. imperial designs, Panamanian nationalism and state-building efforts, and Afro-Caribbean visions of racial advancement during the first half of the twentieth century. Moreover, these global visions of manliness generated at the local level also took shape in dialogue with each other. This interconnected discourse on manliness highlights the intertwined histories of the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean in the early twentieth century. Migrant women at the center of the drama, however, became particularly adept at navigating the multiple structures of patriarchal control. They manipulated the legal system, resisted abuses of power, participated in labor organizations, pursued economic opportunities, pressed moral claims, demanded respect, and highlighted injustices. Women embroiled in controversy selected from an array of ideas circulating the region. They also played off competing understandings of manhood in order to achieve their own ends. Often these various strategies of negotiation had contradictory outcomes. Active engagement with patriarchal institutions could simultaneously reinforce gender and racial norms while challenging the material reality of daily life. Nevertheless, the failure by the U.S. and Panamanian governments to curtail sexual deviancy and venereal disease underscored the limits of imperial power at a key global crossroads in the Americas.
Historia, Naci?n y G?nero: La representaci?n de la historia en El ata?d de uso y No pertenezco a este siglo de Rosa Mar?a Britton
(2010-07-14) George, Ana
The novel, as a genre, has been nourished since its inception by history. In this vein, literary production in Latin America has not been an exception. From the time of the conquest to the beginnings of the republican era, writers have seeded their narrative with their own lives and experiences. The emancipation of the Spanish colonies in America markedly changed the historical, political, economic and social framework of the colonists who, as writers, were the period?s strongest witnesses. The new American nations, in some cases, populated their histories with fiction, when the fiction meshed with the socio-political agenda. Some of the topics covered by this type of writing included mestizaje and social caste, topics that reinforced national utopian projects. The two historical works analyzed in this thesis present characteristics of 19th century romantic novels, especially El atuad de uso. Theories of the historical novel proposed by Gyorgy Lukacs, Anderson Imbert, Seymour Menton and Jose de Pierola form a foundation for this research and analysis. To demonstrate the relationship between the new nations and the romantic novels of the 19th century, this work draws on the research of Doris Sommer. The theory of narrative and historical representation proposed by Hayden White serves to clarify the idea of history and fiction in literature. The works of Michel Foucault, Simone de Beauvoir and Lucia Guerra-Cunningham helped capture the representation of woman throughout history. The two novels studied in this work may be categorized as historical novels since they are anchored in real historical events. The historical representation of the characters follows loosely the model used in the 19th century. Throughout these novels background topics like mestizaje, social castes, and the role of women in the era serve as a realistic backdrop.
In school but not of it : the making of Kuna-language education
(2011-05) Price, Kayla Marie; Strong, Pauline Turner, 1953-; Sherzer, Joel; Keating, Elizabeth; Foley, Douglas; Woodbury, Anthony
This research concerns a Kuna-Spanish bilingual elementary school in Panama City, founded for Kuna children by Kuna teachers. Based on ethnographic and linguistic fieldwork, this research investigates the socio-cultural context for the emergence of the school and the ways that students, teachers and parents, together with Kuna elders, navigate the path of indigenous schooling. The process of negotiating linguistic and cultural meanings in Kuna-language education includes both "traditionalized" Kuna forms of learning and informal education in and around the home. These various foundations of Kuna knowledge, from the use of Kuna oral history to eating Kuna food in the home, are incorporated into the curriculum in various ways, highlighting the potential of schooling as a place of knowledge production for indigenous peoples that is culturally inclusive. At the same time, the manner in which Kuna identity is indexed in the school is uneven. It is liberating in some moments while very restrictive in others, reflecting similar patterns, often in relation to state-sponsored notions of "multiculturalism" in the Kuna community and in the broader context of Panamanian society. In order to fully explore the complexities of the school and its workings, this research explores the Kuna experience in Panama City, where more than half of the Kuna population currently resides. This dissertation is a contribution to the fields of linguistic anthropology and the anthropology of education, analyzing the case of an urban Kuna school that employs both Western and indigenous pedagogy and content, with specific implications for studies of language socialization, bilingual education and educational politics for indigenous peoples.
Intrasexual selection and warning color evolution in an aposematic poison dart frog
(2014-05) Crothers, Laura Rose; Cummings, Molly E.; Bolnick, Daniel; Hofmann, Hans; Ryan, Michael; Summers, Kyle
Flamboyant colors are widespread throughout the animal kingdom. While many of these traits arise through sexual selection, bright coloration can also evolve through natural selection. Many aposematic species, for example, use conspicuous warning coloration to communicate their noxiousness to predators. Recent research suggests these signals can also function in the context of mate choice. Studies of warning color evolution can therefore provide new insights into how the interplay of natural and sexual selection impact the trajectory of conspicuous signal evolution. For my dissertation, I investigated the potential for male-male competition to impact the warning color evolution of a species of poison frog. I focused my work on an exceptionally bright and toxic population of the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) where males are brighter than females, a classic signature of sexual selection. In Chapter 1, I used theoretical models of predator and frog visual systems to determine which can see the variation in bright warning coloration within this population. I found that birds, the presumed major predator, likely cannot see this variation, indicating that sexual selection can work under the radar of predators in this species. In Chapter 2, I tested the aggressive responses of males using a two-way choice paradigm that manipulated the perceived brightness of stimulus males. I found that males directed more of their behaviors to bright stimulus frogs, and brighter focal frogs more readily approached stimuli and directed more of their attention to the brighter rival. In Chapter 3, I tested the outcomes of dyadic interactions between males of varying brightness and observed male reactions to simulated intruders in their territories. I found that brighter males initiated aggressive interactions with rivals more readily, and brightness asymmetries between males settled interactions in a way that is consistent with classic hypotheses about male sexual signals. In Chapter 4 I sought to describe physiological correlates of male warning color brightness. While male brightness did not co-vary with classic measures of body condition (circulating testosterone and skin carotenoids), it did correlate with toxins sequestered from the diet and thus appears to be a reliable signal of toxicity in this population.
Prudence in Panama: George H.W. Bush, Noriega, and economic aid, May 1989-May 1990
(Texas A&M University, 2007-04-25) Blanton, Troy Franklin
In front of the White House press corps, George H. W. Bush stood with Panamanian President Guillermo Endara and proclaimed ??????democracy has been restored,?????? the ??????peace is now preserved,?????? and ??????we must see that prosperity returns to the people of Panama.?????? True, democracy had been restored, but at a great price to the Panamanians and without a plan for recovery. The struggle to remove Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega began with Ronald Reagan and ended in the first year of Bush??????s presidency. While sanctions decimated the Panamanian economy, the military invasion left the country with inexperienced political leaders and internal instability. Academics who have studied the Panamanian crisis have not focused on the crucial twelve-month period between May 1989 and May 1990. It was the first military action without Cold War priorities for the United States and first attempt at economic restoration in what would become standard practice for later administrations. Scholars have not thoroughly examined the Bush administration??????s crisis with Panama. The literature is scarce, but what has been written can be divided into three groups: disgruntled policy makers, academics, and journalists. Principally, this literature investigates the December 1989 military invasion, and only a few scholarly articles and books examine both the pre- and post-invasion periods. Lacking primary source material, journalists and scholars relied on articles and participant interviews. This thesis focuses on events and the outcome. It examines Bush??????s policy toward Panama and the successes it engendered along with the failures it brought. Unlike Reagan, Bush successfully removed Noriega from power, but his administration??????s unsuccessful post-invasion planning hindered the needs of Panama during the establishment of the young democratic government. Noriega may have decimated Panama??????s economy, but the United States also failed by not helping with a clear and concise objective after Noriega??????s departure. This thesis demonstrates that Bush acted with prudence in 1989, invading Panama only when all other diplomatic options failed. Yet, this thesis shows that the Bush administration did not have a plan for Panama??????s economic restoration. By focusing too much energy on removing Noriega rather than on helping Panama regain a solid economic foundation, Bush allowed his desire to help the fledging country to be overshadowed by a lack of post-invasion plans.
Race, development, and national identity in Panama
(2012-05) Flores-Villalobos, Joan V.; Fuller, Jennifer; Arroyo-Martinez, Jossianna
After reversion of Canal ownership from the U.S. to Panama in 1999, the construction of Panamanian national identity became deeply tied to notions of development. This thesis explores how the discourse of development is created, circulated and negotiated through important Panamanian cultural institutions. It shows how race and raced bodies became the dominant site for the negotiation of Panamanian national identity in the post-Reversion era. This discourse of development promotes the “myth of mestizaje”—a myth that the nation is homogeneous and without racial difference. Through the example of Panama, we perceive the cracks in the global notion of development as “common sense” and uniformly experienced.
Rooted and grounded : spiritual-revival churches in contemporary Panama
(2015-05) Hutchinson, David Daniel; Leu, Lorraine; Burnett, Virginia
The Panamanian state has historically marginalized West Indian people and excluded them from its national narrative. This thesis focuses on one particular kind of West Indian institution, the Spiritual-Revival churches, and utilizes ethnographic methods to recover the history, theory, and politics of contemporary Panamanian Revivalism. Chapter One traces the interpellation and self-making of black people in Panama from the sixteenth century to the present day, engaging with elite and subaltern discourses on race, citizenship, and diaspora. Chapter Two discusses the arrival of the Spiritual-Revival churches in Panama and provides an in-depth survey of the beliefs, practices, and rituals of the religion. Chapter Three explores Revivalist thought on blackness, diaspora, and citizenship in the present political moment. I explore the possible epistemological contributions of Spiritual-Revival churches to the black movement and to the wider Panamanian polity. The Spiritual-Revival churches form part of a long and contiguous, black radical tradition on the isthmus that speaks to the historical and present marginalization of black Panamanians. Revivalist theology and ritual practice not only affirm spiritual teachings, but also form an integral part of what the faithful believe it means to be West Indian, black, and autonomous. Currently, Revivalists are at a crossroads as they attempt to navigate and various discourses on tradition, orthodoxy, culture, and identity while establishing their own counter-discourses.
The Key to All the Indies: Defense of the Isthmus of Panama
(2013-04-09) DuBard, Bryana
Beginning in the 16th century, the Isthmus of Panama was identified as a region of strategic importance. Although mountainous and prone to adverse weather, it provided the most direct route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. During this period the Isthmus served as the primary route for the shipments of silver and gold extracted from the mines of Peru. The bullion was transported via coastal armadas from Peru to Panam? la Vieja, where it was loaded onto pack mules and hauled across the Isthmus to Nombre de Dios until 1597, and after that to Portobelo. Once the bullion arrived at the Caribbean port cities it was transferred to the ships of the Armada de la Guardia de la Carrera de Indias and shipped across the Atlantic to the royal coffers of Spain. Because of the Isthmus?s role in the transportation of valuable commodities, it quickly became a region prone to attacks by pirates and privateers looking to profit from the plunder of Spanish assets. Thus the Spanish crown began a campaign to defend the Isthmus early on and repeatedly adapted its defensive strategy in order to meet the ever-changing tactics of the pirates and privateers. This thesis investigates the history of the Isthmus of Panama and the ways in which Spain defended this strategically significant locale during the 16th century. It incorporates an historical analysis of the tactics planned, ordered, and executed by the crown; an overview of the most relevant structural remains of the fortifications built during this period; and a synopsis of previous archaeological investigations, as well as the prospects of future archaeological research. The thesis begins with a brief history of the three main cities located on the Isthmus as well as a general description of the geography and climate in order to better explain the challenges faced by the inhabitants, soldiers, and attackers in this region. It then discusses the strategic importance of the Isthmus as it was perceived in the 16th century. Since defense would not have been necessary had it not been for the presence of pirates and privateers, the history of attacks on the Isthmus is discussed, and a general overview of piracy in the Spanish Main during the period under analysis is presented. Lastly, the archaeological work previously undertaken in the region is examined and summarized, and recommendations for further research are provided in an effort to provide a basis for future study of the ships and infrastructure used during this era for the defense of the Isthmus of Panama.
Troubling tourism : tourism, development, and social justice in Bocas del Toro, Panamá
(2012-05) Die, Rachael Ann; Sletto, Bjørn; Torres, Rebecca
This thesis examines the consequences of tourism in Bocas del Toro, Panamá and how tourism impacts residents, both those who prosper more from tourism and also those who benefit less. Utilizing qualitative research methods, residents were interviewed about how they think about and understand tourism development and its impact on the island. These findings are then put into conversation with critical development and planning literature, specifically focusing on people’s understandings of tourism in Bocas del Toro and how this affects the social relationships between foreigners and locals. These relationships are then discussed within the broader social and economic context that shapes tourism development in Latin America.
The unmaking of empire : nature and politics in the early Colombian imagination, 1808-1821
(2011-05) Afanador, Maria Jose; Cañizares-Esguerra, Jorge; Cañizares-Esguerra, Jorge; Deans-Smith, Susan
In this report I argue that during the independence wars from Spain and the first decade of republican rule, the learned elite of the viceroyalty of New Granada—present day Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panama—articulated narratives of nature and science to debates over provincial hierarchies, to justify provincial unity, foreign commercial integration, and the creation of political symbols for the new polity. In the process of undoing the Spanish empire, the lettered elite conceived of their homeland’s natural bounties as key cultural capital, and as the language with which to frame their aspirations as political community, as part of a national polity or of regional patrias. By using newspapers, constitutional debates, scientific writings, and visual evidence, I place the elite’s sensibilities and concerns about their fatherland’s nature in the wider context of political transformations that took place from 1808 and on. In the first section, I explore eighteenth-century assessments of New Granada’s nature, offering an overview of key conceptions of New Granada’s geopolitical situation and nature that shaped the Creole imagination. In the second section, I characterize the reforms brought about by the Bourbon monarchy in New Granada, giving weight to the socialization of practices of the utility of science among the learned elite. The third section illustrates how Neogranadians deployed nature in assessing provincial fragmentation, and in the debate over the preeminence of Santafé as capital when the monarchic crisis exploded. The fourth section explores how nature was employed as an argument in debates over the integration of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador into a single republic, and the adoption of a federal or a central state. Finally, section five discusses the role of New Granada’s natural landmarks in discourses of provincial and foreign commercial integration, along with a reflection on the use of nature as political symbol for the new republic. My aim is to explore the ways that the lettered elite incorporated nature into geopolitical discourses of a polity separate from Spain, and to uncover the tensions embedded in the ways they imagined their desired nation.
When chytrid doesn't kill : how it spread in túngara frogs and how females might avoid it
(2016-12) Rodríguez Brenes, Sofía Maciel; Ryan, Michael J. (Michael Joseph), 1953-; Bolnick, Daniel I; Cannatella, David C; Mueller, Ulrich G; Puschendorf, Robert
My dissertation aims to examine how pathogen-induced stress might affect reproductive behaviors such as sexual communication, mate choice, and reproductive success. To pursue this topic I studied the interaction between an emergent infectious disease, chytridiomycosis, caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and the tropical tungara frog as its host. The first goal of the dissertation was to understand the basic epidemiology of chytridiomycosis in this wide-spread tropical lowland anuran. From 2010 to 2015, I sampled annually for the presence of B. dendrobatidis in populations of tungara frog along an approximately 750 km transect, ranging from the mountains of western Panama to inside the Darien Gap. Highland populations in western Panama were already infected with B. dendrobatidis at the start of the study. In central Panama, I collected the first positive samples in 2010, and by 2014, I detected B. dendrobatidis in samples from remote sites in eastern Panama (Darien National Park) where B. dendrobatidis had not been documented before. I discuss the importance of studying B. dendrobatidis in lowland species, which may serve as potential reservoirs and agents of dispersal of B. dendrobatidis to highland species that are more susceptible to chytridiomycosis. The second goal of my thesis was to understand how B. dendrobatidis might influence frog reproductive behavior. Some anuran species, including the tungara frog, seem to be tolerant to chytridiomycosis, but for others it is lethal. Tolerant species carry the pathogen, but do not exhibit symptoms of chytridiomycosis and their populations are not declining. Although chytridiomycosis might not be lethal for such tolerant species, it might nonetheless have other long-term effects. Such sub-lethal effects of chytridiomycosis have received little research attention. I examined how the potential pathogen-stress effects induced by B. dendrobatidis influence reproductive behavior such as sexual communication, mate choice, vigor, and reproductive success in the tungara frog. I tested the hypothesis that B. dendrobatidis influences the male mating call, and that females can use mating call cues to assess B. dendrobatidis infection. I performed female phonotaxis experiments to determine if males infection with B. dendrobatidis influences female mate choice, and I determined if there is a cost of the response to the infection in offspring number and development. Overall, the research presented here improves our understanding of the physiological and behavioral trade-offs confronted by a species during response to a pathogen and shows that B. dendrobatidis can have long-term population-level effects in tolerant species that are not severely affected by the disease. In addition to frogs and salamanders, emerging infectious diseases affect a number of other important lineages including honeybees, bats, birds, and humans. Study of the effects of non-lethal infections might therefore have more general application towards our understanding of the interactions between devastating pathogens and their wildlife hosts.

Browsing by Subject "Panama"

Results Per Page

Sort Options