Digital Commons Network^™

Chinese Soft Power: The Role Of Culture And Confucianism, Meng Meng

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Soft power, a term coined by American scholar Joseph S. Nye in the early nineties, has been widely used in the academic and political arenas. This paper attempts to analyze soft power from Chinese perspectives. By thoroughly examining official documents, scholarly writings, news reports, and various related websites, I hope to address the following questions: how do Chinese scholars interpret soft power? What is soft power with Chinese characteristics? How does China wield its soft power? What is the importance of soft power? What are the results of Chinese soft power building? And finally, is it a zero-sum game competing …

Career Choices And The Influence Of Third Culture Kids On International Relations, Morgan Byttner

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

In a study of approximately 258 third culture kids (TCKs), I examine the effects that TCKs have on the field of International Relations through their educational, career, and lifestyle choices.

Internationalization Into The Gcc: Singapore In Retrospect, Caroline Yeoh, Wilfred Pow Ngee How, Hong Hao Chong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

As internationalization becomes, increasingly, the chosen method of (ironically) competing for competitiveness among firms, new and rich frontiers for business come into ever-expanding demand. Among the foremost of these frontiers, the countries of the GCC represent both fertile ground and uncharted waters for internationalizing firms, with cultures as rich as their markets and sometimes byzantine yet fascinating socio-political forces presenting a plethora of challenges to erstwhile investing firms. As a culmination of our research into this region over past years, then, we examine in this paper, as a case study of sorts, the experiences of Singapore firms in the various …

The ‘Narod’ In Narodnjaci: Perceptions Of Turbo Folk In Contemporary Sarajevo, Uchechi Esonu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Turbo Folk is often associated with the ultranationalism and violence of the Wars of Yugoslav Succession in the nineties. Working from the perspective of people who enjoy this music and/or frequent establishments where Turbo Folk is played in contemporary Sarajevo, I investigate the narratives employed by both listeners and detractors of Turbo Folk. What attributes or values are projected on the genre, in present day Sarajevo? Have these values changed from how the genre was perceived during the war in the 1990s? Is Turbo Folk political or politicized? Based on ethnographic field research conducted over the course of one month …

Playing Against The Rhythm: The Intersection Of Gender And Performative Space In Iran, Leila Rafei

Theses and Dissertations

Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, women have been legally prohibited from singing or playing a musical instrument solo in public. The government has sought to control women’s performative space by using concepts of permissibility and ideological compatibility. In the past decade, however, Iran has seen the birth of an underground music culture, in which women sing and play illegally. Underground and diasporic female musicians have carved new spaces that subvert state regulations on cultural purity and nationalism, deterritorializing and deconstructing notions of national space and culture. Women musicians have thus demonstrated the failure of the state to successfully regulate …

Signifying The Place Of Unforgettable Memory: Atrocity And Trauma In A Post-Conflict Landscape, Ralph J. Hartley

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

After active inter-group lethal violence subsides places at which atrocities occurred are often assigned significance, reflecting an altered social topography influenced by ideology that may foster the hardening of socio-ethnic boundary distinctions. While using a comparativist approach, this paper explores the relationships between socio-cultural trauma, places of atrocity, and socio-political polarization. Two sites in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda, where highly publicized massacres occurred, illustrate the power of place significance in social environments vulnerable to flare-ups of violent conflict.

Memperbincangkan Sejarah-Sejarah Mikro Disiplin Sosiologi, Geger Riyanto

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Developmental Fairy Tales, Nicole Kwoh

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

At the 1996 APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, Jiang Zemin concluded his speech on economic development with a quote from Lu Xun: “For actually the earth had no road to begin with, but when many men pass one way, a road is made” (1921). This quote highlights the important role played by the first generation of modern Chinese literature in shaping the current rhetoric of building a road to progress. In Developmental Fairy Tales: Evolutionary Thinking and Modern Chinese Culture, Andrew F. Jones explains the construction of this ubiquitous concept of cultural and historical progress. With a focus on Lu …

Berita Autumn 2012, Derek Heng

Berita

Table of Contents

Chair’s Address...2

Editor’s Foreword...3

Members’ Updates...4

John A. Lent Prize...5

Breaking from the Past? The 2012 Hougang By-­‐Elections ...7

Book Review: Student Activism in Malaysia...12

Reframing the Singaporean Political Discourse...16

Limits of the Developmental State...20

Whither The "Year Of China"?, Denise Ho, Jared Flanery

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

To conclude my Chinese history lecture course at the University of Kentucky, I introduce my undergraduates to the concept of “soft power” and suggest that Confucius Institutes are emblematic of China’s cultural diplomacy, which aims to project a peaceful image abroad. Confucius Institutes are centers for teaching Chinese language and culture overseas; they are organized by an office known as Hanban in the Ministry of Education, though their funding comes directly from the Chinese government’s treasury. There are now over 350 Confucius Institutes in the world, and two of these are in the state of Kentucky.

A Flourishing Profession: Reflections On A Career In Asian Studies, Charlotte Furth

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

At the March annual meeting of the Association of Asian Studies, held in Toronto, the association recognized Charlotte Furth with the AAS Award for Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies. Furth is Professor Emerita of history at the University of Southern California and has written and edited five books, including A Flourishing Yin: Gender in China’s Medical History, 960-1665 (UC Press, 1999). Below is an expanded version of remarks that Furth gave at the AAS award ceremony, in which she reflects on the changes to Asian Studies that have taken place since she entered the field in 1959, particularly regarding the …

Cross-Cultural Comparison Of Perceptions About School Feeding Programs From Ghanaian And U.S. Adults, Yolanda L. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Because of an increase in food insecurity over the past decade, the U.S. and many developing countries are focusing efforts on issues relating to child hunger. School feeding programs have been in existence for roughly 220 years but modifications have been made over the years to improve the quality of food they serve. Little research has been conducted about adult perceptions of school feeding programs and the impact it has on the community in the U.S. as well as developing countries such as Ghana, West Africa. Because of the gap in literature on school feeding programs and adult perceptions about …

Mexican-Americans In Los Angeles: Strengthening Their Ethnic Identity Through Chivas Usa, Stephanie Goldberger

CMC Senior Theses

A large Mexican-American population already exists in Los Angeles and, with each generation, it continues to rise. This Mexican-American community has maintained its connection to its heritage by playing and watching soccer, Mexico’s top watched sport. In this thesis, I analyze how Major League Soccer's Chivas USA serves as an outlet through which many Mexicans in Los Angeles have developed their ethnic identities. Since the early twentieth century, Mexicans in Los Angeles have created separate residential communities and sports organizations to strengthen their connections with one another.

To appeal to Mexican-Americans, Chivas USA has branded itself closely to its sister …

Monstrous Dialogues: The Host And South Korean Inverted Exile, James Lloyd Turner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bong Joon-ho‟s monster movie blockbuster, The Host (Gweomul, 2006), is the most commercially successful film in South Korean cinema history. The film‟s popularity and significance derive from its unearthing of the ambivalence concerning South Korea‟s rapid transformation from a rural dictatorship to an urban democracy with one of the strongest economies on the planet. This ambivalence is buried beneath a veneer of "progress" blanketing contemporary South Korea and constitutes a condition I call inverted exile. The Host explicitly engages life in inverted exile through my notion of aesthetic dialogue. Aesthetic dialogue, takes influence from the work of Mikhail Bakhtin and …

The Impact Of Cross-Cultural Transition On Intercultural Relationships Using A Strengths-Based Approach, Kristen Naylor Calderon

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the ways in which intercultural relationships are affected by cross-cultural transition through the lens of the female experience. Specifically, this research examined (1) in what ways women felt that cross-cultural transition impacted their relationship, especially with regards to cultural values and male-female role taking; and (2) what kinds of benefits women experienced in their relationships as a result of moving across cultures with their partner. A total of 15 non-Chilean women in intercultural relationships with Chilean men were interviewed; all women had lived with their partners in her home country and then moved together to Chile.

Results …

How Milk Does The World Good: Vernacular Sustainability And Alternative Food Systems In Post-Socialist Europe, Diana Mincyte

Publications and Research

Scholarly debates on sustainable consumption have generally overlooked alternative agro-food networks in the economies outside of Western Europe and North America. Building on practice-based theories, this article focuses on informal raw milk markets in post-socialist Lithuania to examine how such alternative systems emerge and operate in the changing political, social, and economic contexts. It makes two contributions to the scholarship on sustainable consumption. In considering semi-subsistence practices and poverty-driven consumption, this article argues for a richer, more critical, and inclusive theory of sustainability that takes into consideration vernacular forms of exchange and approaches poor consumers as subjects of global history. …

Porfirismo During The Mexican Revolution: Exile And The Politics Of Representation, 1910-1920, Nancy Alexandra Aguirre

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This work broadens the narrative of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) by incorporating the perspective of the supporters of dictators Porfirio Dí­az and Victoriano Huerta. I focus specifically on urban professional "Porfiristas," examining the changes and continuities in their identity over the course of the revolution. Identity formation is the central theme of this study, and I rely on memoirs, newspapers, government documents, and oral history interviews in order to analyze the motivations of Porfiristas as they fought to sustain their worldview during a decade of global conflict.

My study draws upon the frameworks of post-colonialism, feminist theory, cultural studies, migration/diaspora …

The New Mexican Migration: Remembering Violence, Connecting, And Living In The Third Space, Uriel G. Posada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The concept of identity has become a topic of discussion in the last few decades, especially with the growing immigration across several countries. Countries such as the United States and Canada are receiving people who arrive from different parts of the world and who are changing the composition of these countries. In this thesis I explore how a group of Mexican journalists are adjusting their identity as they live in countries outside of Mexico. Five of the journalists are now living in the United States, and one of them is in Canada. They were forced to leave Mexico after they …

Somali Bibliography --2012, Elizabeth A. Eames, Mame Nyarko F. Bonsu

Somalis in Maine Bibliography

A bibliography of resources arranged alphabetically and published before 2012.

Somali Bibliography By Keyword --2012, Elizabeth A. Eames, Mame Nyarko F. Bonsu

Somalis in Maine Bibliography

A bibliography of resources organized by topical keyword and published before 2012.

Palestinian Film: Hyperreality, Narrative, And Ideology, Sarah Frances Hudson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have developed diametrically opposed national narratives and identities that are both predicated on the concept of victimization. These narratives have developed into simulacral narratives as the result of the nature of their development. This paper deals with the Palestinian simulacral narrative which bolsters societal values, particularly the value of victimhood, that are crucial to coping with the prolonged conflict. The Western media, at any given moment during the conflict, has either accepted the concept of Palestinian's as victims of the conflict and the Palestinian simulacral narrative, or rejected it. The media then produces a …

Fundamental Rights In Latin America A Comparative Study Addressing Human Rights Violations In Venezuela, Colombia, And Argentina, Maria Eugenia Rios

HIM 1990-2015

Over the last few decades the importance of human rights has increased considerably in international relations. With globalization and democratization, more states and individuals develop concerns about the fundamental rights every human is entitled to; regardless of sex, religion and ethnicity. Latin American countries began obtaining their independence over 200 years ago while progressing into becoming working democracies. Yet, they have been plagued by oscillating authoritarian regimes and social conflicts that constrain and inhibit their hopeful development. The majority of the Latin American states have reached a point where further positive growth was expected; yet human violations have taken a …

Cracks In The Empire: Reflections Of French Journalists And Authors On The Crisis In 1930s Indochina, Henri Copin, Tobias Rettig

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The events of the early 1930s in Vietnam left an important legacy to France's literature of enquiry and protest. Writers, essayists and journalists enquired on behalf of their audiences, and in the process developed France's littérature coloniale. By showing an interest in the colonial 'other' and identifying discrepancies between imperial ideology and colonial reality, they formed a new body of thought. This new colonial humanism arguably changed metropolitan sensibilities towards the French civilizing mission. Nevertheless, while they are critical of colonial abuses and in favour of reforms, the authors discussed in this paper do not really question the French colonial …

R-E-S-P-E-C-T Expectations, Perceptions, And Influences On Moroccan Etiquette, Christina Ermilio

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Why do humans naturally create distinctions? How do we establish these distinctions between ourselves? What marks us as an individual within a particular group? In this project, I consider how etiquette is defined in Morocco and how it relates to the work of certain theorists and sociologists such as Pierre Bourdieu. Primarily, this project focuses on expectations of behavior, perceptions of the ‘other,’ and influences on the definition of good behavior in Morocco. In addition to observations in public spaces and more specifically at universities, I interviewed University students from Ibn Tofail in Kenitra and from Mohammed V in Rabat, …

The Holistic Complementary Structure Of Western Bio-Medicine And Traditional Healing And Achieving Complete Health, Candace Gail Oubre

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Achieving complete health requires a deep understanding of complementary cultural competency sensitivity between physician and patient. This may include but is not limited to access to preventative health care resources, access to health educational resources and access to cultural healing resources, for example, shamans, Ayurvedic physicians, and herbal healers. Advocates of cultural competency emphasize great importance on knowledge of the patients' cultural background; however, the transcendence of this knowledge can be explained further through complementary cultural competency sensitivity. This is when the cultures of the physician and patient complement each other in terms of understanding what is in the patients' …

Pengantar Redaksi, Fransisca Sse Seda

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

No abstract provided.

Ground Zero: Tourism, Terrorism, And Global Imagination, Maxwell E. Loos

International Studies Honors Projects

At Ground Zero, the transnational phenomena of tourism and terrorism intersect.  In this thesis, I introduce the concept of global imagination, and analyze how tourism and terrorism affect this process of global imagination for Americans, arguing that tourism plays an important role in constructing a globe, while terrorism – particularly the 9/11 attacks – works to interrupt imaginative process itself.  I then explore how tourism of terrorism at Ground Zero influences global imagination, containing the events of 9/11, allowing for the construction of only a very specific globe in which the U.S. is an innocent, benevolent actor in world history.

Nomadic Knowledge Of The Yak: A Case Study In The Khangai Mountains, Mongolia, Jesse Geary

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

It is extremely important to probe and preserve the knowledge of nomadic herders of Mongolia. There is no formal piece of literature that dictates how these clever humans survive. Their lifestyle requires a vast skill set spanning from construction knowledge, to navigational skills, to a deep understanding of their animals. One attains this knowledge through years of observation, listening, and attempting to mimic their parents. In this way, knowledge is passed on from one generation to the next. Investigating herder’s knowledge of the yak provides a window into the animal husbandry practices of Mongolian nomads. The herders in the central …

Wmu International News Spring 2011, Haenicke Institute For Global Education

WMU International News

In this issue:

Nutrition and health in Bangladesh and Cambodia explored by WMU researcher

Destination spring break: Disney World and NASA

International Student Activities bulletin spring 2011

Haenicke Institute deans visit Sunway University

World traveler begins international career with INS, lands at WMU

Spanish major and global studies minor nets international job for WMU graduate

Gambian native at home on Bronco court

The Crisis Of Unity In The 21st Century: The Unrealized Dream Of Pan-Africanism In Cameroon, Araba Sapara-Grant

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following is an analysis of how the sentiments of pan-Africanism, a notion formulated in the early 20th century, have failed to proliferate in Cameroonian society. As a concept based in the social, economic, and political solidarity of the African continent, the pan-African movement has often been a point of reference for intellectuals searching for a solution to the problems Africa currently faces, some of which include lack of political agency and stagnating economic growth. The beliefs promoted by pan-Africanists is that by joining together the collective potentials of all African people, the continent can become a global force, leaving …