Brandon Bell
Contributing Writer
Three seniors had the opportunity to present their Independent Study projects at the 76th annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in Vancouver in early April. Kathryn Foster, Paris Nahas and Leah Penner ’16 each presented their research in a panel titled “New Intersections and Border Crossings in Amish Country,” which was chaired by Professor of anthropology David McConnell. Each of the students focused their research on different aspects of Amish life as observed in Holmes County, Ohio. Foster, who studied the experiences of former Amish after they left their communities, spoke highly of her experience at the conference. “Presenting at the conference was nerve-wracking, but I think we all did a great job,” she said, claiming that she felt presenting at the conference had prepared her for life outside of Wooster. “After attending other presentations, we realized that our presentations held up against graduate and PhD students, professors and other practitioners.” Nahas, who focused her research on how Amish identity was expressed and branded in Amish businesses, and Foster both had classes in their first year about Amish culture that sparked their interest in Amish topics. “Even though I grew up living near Amish, I did not truly know much about their culture,” said Nahas. “I wanted to learn more about the Amish culture, so I decided to take a [first year] seminar class about the Amish culture. The class is what first sparked my intrigue with the Amish culture and anthropology.” The seniors received the opportunity to go to the conference from their advisors, and ended up combining their projects into a panel presentation. They received funding from the Office of Undergraduate Research and an APEX mini-grant to attend. In their research, all of the seniors conducted interviews with Amish and non-Amish. Foster interviewed former Amish in her project in order to gather their experiences. She hoped that her research would let it be known that generalizations about the Amish should be avoided. “The Amish are a diverse group,” she said, also challenging how Amish were depicted in the media. “To generalize about them is nearly impossible.” Meanwhile, Nahas highlighted the increases in “tourism” towards Amish businesses and communities, and explored the brandings’ impact on Amish life through a series of interviews with Amish business owners. Her presentation at the conference was titled, “The Co-Production of Tourism among Amish Small Business Owners: Redefining ‘Separation from the World’.” “Amish business owners’ views on tourism are overall very positive,” Nahas said, “even though they recognize that it contributes to changes within the culture and the community as a whole.” Penner looked at the views of Amish people on childbirth and explored how these views have been affected by the creation of “birthing centers” targeted toward Amish mothers. In her research, she sought out interviews with healthcare providers in order to gather these perspectives. Her presentation at the conference was titled, “Amish Birthing Centers: Navigating Modern Medicine and Religious Beliefs.” The meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in 2016, held from March 29 to April 2, focused on the theme of “Intersections” between peoples and groups, and drew topics ranging from healthcare to archaeology.