In the US, our primary healthcare is mostly delivered via the fee-for-service model. Interactions between providers and patients under this model are mediated by insurance companies. In order to bypass health insurance companies, some primary care physicians have opened direct primary care clinics which charge a monthly fee for unlimited care. As part of my undergraduate thesis for the anthropology honors program, I investigated two clinics operating under this model in the Pacific Northwest using participant observation and semi-structured interviews with physicians. My aim was to determine how the direct primary care model affects the agency of physicians and influences the therapeutic process via the clinical encounter. I found that physicians in the US face a unique dilemma of role conflict between the competing identities of business owner and doctor. Additionally, I explored how the expectations of patients differ for male and female physicians and how direct primary care can play into this. My findings highlighted the inadequacies of our existing healthcare system in the United States. Further, I concluded that although direct primary care is a solution to this broken system for some patients and some physicians, systemic changes must be made in order to make primary care a more desirable field for physicians and to provide equitable and quality care for all patients.

Oral contraceptives (OC), commonly known as the birth control pill, produce temporal hormonal infertility for women. While its effectiveness and reversibility are the major advantages of OC, users may experience varying side effects ranging from headache and nausea to blood clotting. Access to and perception of OC may also differ across cultures, further affecting the user’s experience with OC. For example, prior research has shown that OC usage is more common in the United States than in Japan. The purpose of the study is to examine how cultural factors such as accessibility and stigma as well as biological factors such as physical side effects influence American and Japanese college students' decisions and experiences surrounding OC usage. Between December 2023 to February 2024, I conducted an online Qualtrics survey and semi-structured phone interviews with female students at the University of Washington and Waseda University, Japan. In the survey, I included questions about why respondents used OC, perceptions of OC usage in their country, knowledge of how OC works, and experience with the side effects. I analyzed survey responses in R to assess differences in Japanese and American participants’ experiences and perceptions. For interviews, I thematically analyzed the transcription using ATLAS.ti. Through analyzing the responses of the two cultures quantitatively and qualitatively, I expect to highlight the difference in cultural perception of OC, as well as the common biological side effects that women may go through by taking OC. Through the real voices of women, this study can provide an understanding of how cultural and biological factors can potentially lead to positive and negative OC experiences. This can be especially useful for potential and experienced users of OC when making reproductive decisions.

In the 20th century ethnographic works that much of what is known about the day-to-day lives and culture of historical Coast Salishan peoples, tribal informants noted that there were often associations made with certain professions and those who specialized in them, particularly when it came to personality. Though intending to reflect upon an earlier and bygone age, Coast Salishan tribes are still modern peoples, and these informants were discussing a still-living culture. My research focuses upon establishing continuity between the professions and personalities described in Coast Salishan ethnographic works with members of modern Southern Coast Salishan communities who specialize in those same traditional practices. For determining the general perception of certain professions and their associated personality traits, I consult a selection of ethnographic works concerning Coast Salishan peoples that provide information by and the perspectives of tribal informants. To note both the continuation of older perspectives and newer developments, I interview tribal Elders and other tribal community members who are either adjacent to traditional practices or do such work themselves. My questions center around the perspectives of the interviewee on persons who participated in these practices when the interviewee was young, alongside any major or otherwise notable shifts in personal characteristics they have noticed over the course of their lives. Through the combination of examining prior works and my own original research, I present a society and culture that has been forced to endure massive changes but has nevertheless persisted well into the modern day.

In my research, I explore the role of children in Late Bronze Age Mycenaean society (ca. 1600-1100 BCE) by focusing on the relationships, socioeconomic and religious roles, gender dynamics, and burial practices of and for children, as well as ideas surrounding adolescence and the representation of children in Mycenaean art. Children hold a unique role in society, and it is important to understand the roles and perceptions of children. In doing so, we gain a better understanding of the experience of childhood as well as the culture as a whole. I begin by defining Mycenaean views on childhood, providing a framework to contextualize the discussion. This project is a synthesis of previously published data, incorporating the Linear B tablets, sites, excavations, and art from Late Bronze Age Mycenae, explored in this paper through comparative analysis. I utilize a similar approach when discussing the burial practices for children, focusing on burial architecture and style and archaeological reports on specific sites, such as Ayia Sotira and Mycenae. By studying the roles and lives of children, we gain insight into generational dynamics, family structure, gender roles, and domestic dynamics, which all contribute significantly to understanding the cultural structure of a society. Through the specifics of material culture, social spaces, and practices involving or surrounding children, I look to develop a larger picture of the experience and significance of children in Mycenaean society, in effort to give context and perspective for existing and future research surrounding Mycenaean culture.

The last few decades have marked an ongoing struggle between the highland Indigenous groups of Northern Thailand and the Thai government over the settlement and use of lands located inside of protected national parks. According to the Thai government, these native groups, including the Karen people, use practices that are harmful to the local environment and amplify climate change's effects. However, many others, including academics and Karen activists, argue that Indigenous knowledge and practices are in fact more beneficial to the environment than simply leaving nature alone. This paper examines the validity of these assertions by exploring how the Karen group interacts with the environment through their culture and what effect this has on environmental factors such as climate change and biodiversity. Findings from literary research, artifact observation at the Burke Museum, and interviews with various experts with experience involving these land rights issues suggest that Karen people’s culture is in fact what informs their respect for their local environment and the reason why their environmental practices, such as rotational agriculture, usage of natural materials for clothes and tools, and their general treatment of the natural world are mutually beneficial to both Karen people and the environment. My research also suggests that there is immense value in protecting Karen culture both within their communities and from the threats of the Thai government and its dominant culture. By better understanding and appreciating this knowledge that Karen and Indigenous peoples as a whole have based on years of experience on their native land, we will be able to understand the importance of protecting Native peoples’ right to their lands for both the good of the environment and those living within it.

While environmental writing is nothing novel, environmental journalism as a beat and research area is relatively recent. The available literature on the field provides insight into the challenges environmental reporters face and what their environmental backgrounds in the field are, but little research details how they respond to challenges and why they originally chose the beat. This research examines how environmental journalists respond to the challenges they face, what values they attribute to the beat, and why they chose to write about the environment. My hypotheses are that these reporters have had influential experiences in nature; they see their work as a form of social activism; and they rely on their social connections as a form of support. For my sample, I first used random systematic sampling, followed by purposive sampling to reach targeted demographics, such as gender and race. I conduct semi-structured, in-depth interviews to collect my data, with a goal of at least 15 interviews or until saturation. So far, I have conducted five interviews that average around 45 to 60 minutes each. Most of them grew up as outdoorsy people, all of them see their work as important, and most find that talking to someone about challenges they encounter is helpful. Through more interviews, I hope to begin recognizing strong trends in responses to compare to my hypotheses. In addition to filling the gaps in the literature on environmental journalism, this research provides these reporters with a chance to talk about their experiences and challenges. Additionally, building on this beat as a research area could help provide data to create a meaningful support network for environmental reporters. As climate change intensifies and more people feel its effects, it’s imperative that these journalists feel supported enough to continue highlighting climate solutions and inequities to advocate for climate action.