Presenter Type
UNO Undergraduate Student
Major/Field of Study
Biology
Other
Molecular and Biomedicine Biology and English concentrated in Creative Nonfiction
Advisor Information
Dr. Allison Schlosser is a medical anthropologist at UNO
Location
CEC RM #201/205/209
Presentation Type
Poster
Poster Size
Horizontal 48 x 36
Start Date
22-3-2024 2:30 PM
End Date
22-3-2024 3:15 PM
Abstract
During the fall semester of 2023, my honors project aimed to provide representation and shed light on the challenges Knyaw/Karen women encounter as part of their womanhood in traditional and Western communities. The issues are emphasized when these women receive life-altering health diagnosis that not only alters their identities but also requires them to step beyond the invisible parameters of what it means to be a Knyaw/Karen woman. It's worth noting that all the women I interviewed were immigrants from the Thai-Burma Border refugee Camps where Indigenous Knyaw people have been facing at least 70 years of genocide. The project focused on better understanding these women's interactions with traditional healing methods (often) versus Western healthcare systems. The dichotomy between the two is usually rooted in Knyaw-Americans' fear and reluctance to shed ancestral heritage because healing is rooted in animism and the sacredness of former beliefs. Western healthcare is viewed as highly pharmaceaulized and medicalized through anecdotal experiences, further causing division. I'm interested in studying how higher education affects people's approach to seeking healthcare, especially when it extends beyond the classroom and includes their home life in KawthooLei. Thus, multicultural organizations like the Karen Student Association (KSA) are vital to predominantly White Institutions and the livelihood of the University of Nebraska at Omaha students. This study explores politics, health, education, advocacy work, and immigration, focusing on Knyaw/Karen women reclaiming agency and overcoming social suffering through embodied experiences.
Included in
Medical Humanities Commons, Other Anthropology Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons
Knyaw/Karen Womanhood, Generational Healing and the Interplay of Faith, Genocide, Gender Roles, and Education in the Face of Health Diagnosis
CEC RM #201/205/209
During the fall semester of 2023, my honors project aimed to provide representation and shed light on the challenges Knyaw/Karen women encounter as part of their womanhood in traditional and Western communities. The issues are emphasized when these women receive life-altering health diagnosis that not only alters their identities but also requires them to step beyond the invisible parameters of what it means to be a Knyaw/Karen woman. It's worth noting that all the women I interviewed were immigrants from the Thai-Burma Border refugee Camps where Indigenous Knyaw people have been facing at least 70 years of genocide. The project focused on better understanding these women's interactions with traditional healing methods (often) versus Western healthcare systems. The dichotomy between the two is usually rooted in Knyaw-Americans' fear and reluctance to shed ancestral heritage because healing is rooted in animism and the sacredness of former beliefs. Western healthcare is viewed as highly pharmaceaulized and medicalized through anecdotal experiences, further causing division. I'm interested in studying how higher education affects people's approach to seeking healthcare, especially when it extends beyond the classroom and includes their home life in KawthooLei. Thus, multicultural organizations like the Karen Student Association (KSA) are vital to predominantly White Institutions and the livelihood of the University of Nebraska at Omaha students. This study explores politics, health, education, advocacy work, and immigration, focusing on Knyaw/Karen women reclaiming agency and overcoming social suffering through embodied experiences.
Additional Information (Optional)
Materials to pin and hang up my poster on (poster canvas and pins)