Thesiss

In the wake of an ever-expanding global network, attention is often focused on cultural intersections and juxtapositions set in motion by financial or technological interests. Relying on frameworks that place people and societies into binary (e.g., oppressed and oppressor, influ…

Cultural evolution, or change in the socially learned behavior of a population over time, is a fascinating phenomenon that is widespread in humans and present in some non-human animals. In this dissertation, I present an array of cultural evolutionary studies that bridge pattern…

The port city of al-Mukha dealt in a wide variety of commodities, but it gained its fame in the west as "Mocha," from the legacy of its most famous trade item, coffee. This dissertation explores architecture, urban form, and community life in this major Yemeni Red Sea port city,…