Emily Sparks

Emily is a senior anthropology major. In the winter of 1998 she took a term abroad in Barbados, and there she worked on the effects of tourism on local identity. There she conducted interviews with people from all facets of the tourist industry. Her final project looked at the art-for-tourists business. She was interested in how making art for tourists affected people's sense of themselves as Bajans.

In Fiji, Emily lived in the village of Navolau No. 2., a village located in a picturesque location on a hill just at the northeast corner of Viti Levu Island. Navolau has acquired electricity only in the last couple years. Emily's host family, prominent in the local community, is active in cane farming and is known for owning the only taxi in the village.

For her Fiji project Emily studied Fijian understandings of the body across generations. Traditionally Fijians admired large bodies as a sign of healthy and robust participation in the community, but more recently women have been influenced by the Western value on being thin. Emily talked with women of all ages, comparing their perspectives. The project is the basis for her senior thesis in anthropology.