Sociology 2017 Newsletter

SOCIOLOGY NEWSLETTER | Issue #2 4 International Field Research This past summer, Dr. Stephen Perkins spent 3 weeks on the island of Betio, now part of the most populous area of the nation of Kiribati. Working in association with the non‐ profit History Flight, and the Department of Defense POW‐ MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), Dr. Perkins helped bring home Marines who have called this wounded piece of para‐ dise their final resting place for decades. Betio was the cen‐ tral location for the Battle of Tarawa, where more than 1,000 Marines and 600 sailors were killed in a bid to take a Japa‐ nese airfield on the island. With 78,000 MIAs still unrecov‐ ered on foreign battlefields fromWWII, according to Perkins, History Flight invited an anthropology team to search the island for missing American servicemen. Paraiba, Brazil Dr. Tamara Mix traveled to Paraiba, Brazil to meet with representatives of four IFPB campus‐ es (Joao Pessoa, Cajazeiras, Picui, and Campina Grande). She toured three of these campuses and trav‐ eled throughout the region to see community partnerships in action. This included a visit to a co‐op that grows a fiber rich form of agave (sisal) used in rope and hand‐ crafted baskets, a co‐op that juices and processes local fruits, and a family farm. OSU students will be able to join Dr. Mix in Brazil next summer by enrolling in her study abroad course! IFPB Picui is involved with creating recipes to use cactus, common to the unique Caatainga (semi‐arid) landscape. According to Dr. Mix, farms like this provide about 70% of the food available to the tables of the Brazilian people.