Sociology of Culture Commons^™

Chinese International Students In A Northwest University: Investigating Cultural Academic Learning And Teaching Preferences, Michael L. Bevis

Theses and Dissertations

As Chinese international students on American university campuses continue to rise, the importance of these institutions to accommodate the students in adapting to a different academic culture has become more critical. On a public, coeducational research university located in the Pacific Northwest, a concurrent triangulated mixed method research design was implemented to investigate cultural factors with preferred learning and teaching styles of Chinese international students along with what corroborative descriptions these students provide as effective learning experiences in American college classrooms.

The study brought attention to Chinese international students’ differing cultural values from the previous literature understanding, it supported previous …

Thematic Bibliography To New Work On Immigration And Identity In Contemporary France, Québec, And Ireland, Dervila Cooke

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

Transitioning From High School To College: Examining The Sources And Influences Of Social Capital For A First-Generation Latina Student, Randall F. Clemens

The Qualitative Report

This paper uses the life history method to narrate the experiences of Camilla, a 19-year-old, first-year student at a four-year university. Camilla emigrated with her mother from El Salvador to the United States during her freshman year of high school. Based on two years of data collection, the author presents Camilla’s experiences at different stages, including her childhood in El Salvador, first and last year in high school, and her first year in college. The paper explores the sources and influences of social capital for a low-income, first-generation student and highlights its dynamic and contextual nature. The author argues that …

Mimicking Religion As Coping Strategy: The Emergence Of The Bell-Curve God In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The importance placed on education and, relatedly, examinations, in many Asian societies is well known. The means adopted to cope with the stresses that come along with such intensity are myriad. It is in such contexts that the emergence of a “Bell Curve God” in Singapore must be understood.

Understanding How Intentionally Unplugging From Cell Phones Shapes Interpersonal Relationships And The Undergraduate College Experience, Jadelin P. Felipe

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of what motivated college students—the Unplugged Students—to intentionally use their cell phones less and how they understood the impact that unplugging had on their interpersonal relationships and college experience. Nine undergraduate college students from four private schools were interviewed in one-on-one semi- structured interviews. These students, considered non-users, provided a particularly useful perspective as these students made a conscious choice to counteract social norms and experienced both being plugged in and unplugged. Cell phones and the act of unplugging proved to make up a complex and more nuanced topic than …

Social Justice And The Future Of Higher Education Kinesiology, Brian Culp

Faculty Articles

This article presents a rationale for the infusion of social justice into kinesiology programs for the purpose of reducing inequities in society. Specifically, the current climate for social justice is considered and discussed using examples from an university-inspired service-learning initiative, law, and politics. Of note are the following areas of discussion: (a) differentiation between social diversity and social justice, (b) public pedagogy as a means by which to inspire service action, (c) the creation of climates for speech and application of social justice, (d) modeling and socialization for equity, and (e) the neoliberal threat to inclusiveness. The article concludes with …

Educating The Under Empowered For Tolerance Of Satire And Participation In Young Democracies, Judith Puncochar, Don Faust

Conference Presentations

Drawing from experiences in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the United States, a relationship appears to exist between tolerance for satire, freedom of expression, and academic freedom in higher education. Empowering the under empowered for participation in vibrant democracies and rational public discourse seems to coincide with an increasing tolerance for satire. We posit vibrant democracies must contain educational elements essential to empower the under empowered for democratic participation, in particular, to provide new democratic citizens with an understanding of the role of satire to cultivate rational public discourse in new democracies. New Southeast Asian democracies need growing evidence of dynamic strivings …

Young, Urban, Professional, And Kenyan?: Conversations Surrounding Tribal Identity And Nationhood, Charlotte Achieng-Evensen

Educational Studies Dissertations

By asking the question “How do young, urban, professional Kenyans make connections between tribal identity, colonialism, and the lived experience of nationhood?,” the researcher engages with eight participants in exploring their relationships with their tribal groups. From this juncture the researcher, through a co-constructed process with participants, interrogates the idea of nationhood by querying their interpretations of the concepts of power and resistance within their multi-ethnic societies. The utility of KuPiga Hadithi as a cultural responsive methodology for data collection along with poetic analysis as part of the qualitative tools of examination allowed the researcher to identify five emergent and …

Traditions And Proficiency Abroad - Spain (Tapas) Program: A High School Study Abroad Program For District 128, Michaela Kendzior

Capstone Collection

As colleges begin to internationalize campuses and global competencies continue to become a demand in the workforce, secondary schools should also aim to internationalize the curriculum and offer international education opportunities to their students. In an effort to do this, I have created the Traditions And Proficiency Abroad - Spain (TAPAS) Program for Community High School District 128 in Illinois. The TAPAS program is a 20-day summer intensive cultural and language immersion program created to maximize learning potential in D128 students. While the program’s focus is on Spanish language and culture education, the orientation and instructional activities have been designed …

Selling College: Student Recruitment And Education Reform Rhetoric In The Age Of Privatization, Paige Marie Hermansen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the success of for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs) as a socio-cultural phenomenon that hinges on distinct public discursive strains and neoliberal rhetorics. This project examines the role of language in creating and sustaining particular discourses of higher education and how those discourses are reinforced and reflected in channels of discourse like documentary films and advertisements.

In the context of shifting demands on and representations of higher education, this project critiques the evolving rhetoric of American education and the shift toward a wider acceptance of privatization efforts, as well as the effect this shift has had on prospective …

Cultural Capital: An Investigation In Community Sustainability, Harrison Luft

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study analyzed the place and role of cultural capital within the existing community sustainability framework. The purpose of the study was to look at the organization Graos de Luz e Grio and analyze their strategies in education, dialogue, culture, empowerment, and sustainability with young people and with the community. It was built upon a review of the literature, which found that although culture is included in the current sustainability framework, it is not given the necessary credit it deserves in shaping populations. The study was conducted over four weeks in the city of Lençóis, located in the interior of …

Ñaan Baat : Ousmane Sembène Et L’Adaptation Wolof Comme Discours Accessible Sur La Politique Linguistique Sénégalaise, Xavier Lee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Utilisant les romans écrits en français d’Ousmane Sembène et leurs adaptations respectives réalisées en wolof, j’avance que nous pouvons mieux comprendre la politique linguistique de la société dakaroise, particulièrement au sein des langues wolof et françaises, à travers une analyse sociolinguistique de la consommation et la production de littérature et cinéma au Sénégal. En particulier, j’essaie de mélanger une étude sociolinguistique avec une analyse littéraire et une critique culturale afin de comprendre comment Sembène utilise les langes pour atteindre une audience sénégalaise dans ses adaptations wolofs. J’avance que l’existence des « langues internes » démarque une réalité de la vie …

Cultivating Leaders Of Indiana, Annagul Yaryyeva, Jennifer Sdunzik

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

"Cultivating Leaders of Indiana" was developed to establish connections between the Purdue student body and the Frankfort community. By engaging high school students in workshops that focused on local, national, and global identities, the goal of the project was to encourage students to appreciate their individuality and to motivate them to translate their skills into a global perspective.Moreover, workshops centering on themes such as culture, citizenship, media, and education were designed to empower our project participants to embrace their sense of social value and responsibility not only in their immediate communities but also globally.

Remaking Selves, Repositioning Selves, Or Remaking Space: An Examination Of Asian American College Students' Processes Of "Belonging", Michelle Samura

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"Only a few studies have examined Asian American students’ sense of belonging (Hsia, 1988; Lee & Davis, 2000; Museus & Maramba, 2010). Scholars who study Asian American college students have suggested that Asian Americans are awkwardly positioned as separate from other students of color vis-à-vis the model minority stereotype (Hsia, 1988; Lee & Davis, 2000). Furthermore, Asian Americans often are viewed as overrepresented on college campuses, yet they remain under-served by campus support programs and resources and overlooked by researchers. Many Asian Americans have gained access to higher education, but the ways in which they belong on campuses is unclear. …

Diversity Plan: Academic Year 2015/2016 Status Report, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

As a result of the diversity plan implementation, the following took place:

• Conducted a Student Diversity Climate Assessment in the Residence Halls examining the issues of race, sexual orientation, sex and gender/gender identity, completed by 536 /642 students; followed by two diversity interventions and an Implicit Association Test,
• Facilitated two sessions with faculty and staff that included sharing the results of the Diversity Climate Assessment, listening to Peer Multicultural Educators tell stories of IMSA students’ social injustices/micro-aggressions and strategizing on how to resolve issues,
• Implemented four Read-Ins that promoted LGBTQ, Indian, Asian and Black literature in collaboration with the IRC, …

Faroosh And Elina, Faroosh, Elina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Faroosh was a cameraman for a private television program in Afghanistan working on a documentary about the Taliban. When he and his crew were discovered, the Taliban attacked them and he and his wife fled to Turkey, walking 12 hours to get there. Upon arrival the police arrested and harassed them. Turkey was not a safe place. After several suicide bombings in the area, they decided to move on to Greece, where they are in a refugee camp without any progress in their situation. They have no money to move forward and no ability to work and the economic situation …

2016 Diversity Climate Survey, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

A survey about diversity and school climate, based off of the National Climate Survey used by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), was distributed to students electronically in 2015. In all, 536 students took the survey. Those who did not finish the survey (29 students), or who marked all possible choices for sexual orientation or gender (implying inauthentic responses, 7 students) were removed from the sample. This report covers some of the major results from the study.

Be Your Own Guru: Authoritarianism And The Problem Of The Guru In Conscious Evolution, Mcauley, Charles E.

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This paper is an exploration of the problematic nature of the guru/disciple relationship, specifically, in Western Society. It begins with a discussion of the nature of spirituality and the spiritual quest. To contextualize the process, I also discuss my own spiritual path based in Roman Catholicism, Taoism, Buddhism and my thoughts on the philosophy of Krishnamurti. I explore the topic of the authoritarian follower in some depth. Its connection is symbiotic to the existence of the authoritarian leader. This connection is demonstrated within this paper as well. Additionally, I look at the flaws in some well-known guru figures and how …

Mind The Gap: Understanding The Lack Of Social Integration Between U.S. National And International Students, Danika Delano

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper explores the issue of social integration between international and U.S. national students and focuses on the international student community of the Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS), a non-profit that supports students at the University of Washington-Seattle (UW). A survey was administered to 106 UW students involved in FIUTS to test the hypothesis that the FIUTS community desired to have more U.S. nationals involved in the program. After establishing a desire for increased social integration between U.S. national and international students from within the FIUTS community, fifteen U.S. national students who were not involved in FIUTS …

Tradtional Alcohol Use Among Rural Yi Minority In China: An Application Of Theory Of Planned Behavior, Yonghua Feng

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

It is estimated that 25% of the alcohol consumed in China as traditional alcohol. This study explored the drinking patterns and the motives to use traditional alcohol among a sample of the Yi minority in southern China. The Theory of Planned Behavior was used to explore motives.

Based on initial fieldwork among the Yi a questionnaire was developed to provide data to describe traditional alcohol use and to assess the constructs of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control as expressed the Theory of Planned Behavior. The questionnaire was refined and the results served as an adequate measurement to explore …

Veterinary Practices, Reactions And Laws: Analyzing The Difference In Rural And Urban Practices, Daniel Jude

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the College of the Caudill College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Morehead State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Daniel Jude on June, 23rd 2015

Ensuring Social Success: Assessing The Factors That Affect The Social Experiences Of International Students At A Large, Urban Community College In Texas, Sharon A. Miller

Capstone Collection

According to the 2014 Open Doors report published by the Institute of International Education, 87,963 international students enrolled in community colleges and/or associate’s degree granting institutions during the 2013-2014 academic year. Community colleges offer many benefits to international students, such as lower tuition, less restrictive English proficiency requirements, smaller class size, and transferability of credits to four-year institutions.

Past studies have found connections between social relationships and the ability to manage acculturative stress and student satisfaction. Nevertheless, international students attending a community college face different social challenges than those who choose to attend a residential four-year university. Lack of student …

The Global Village: Improving Intercultural Experiences At Keene State College Through Living/Learning Communities, Laura Zuelch

Capstone Collection

Comprehensive internationalization is a paradigm in higher education that recognizes the many aspects of higher education affected by an internationalizing world (Hudzik, 2011). At Keene State College, internationalization is limited to the outbound study abroad students and the few inbound exchange students each semester. There are also few opportunities for Keene State students to gain an intercultural experience without leaving campus, which can be difficult for some students to manage. There is an opportunity to build on the existing Living/Learning Community framework to create a new Living/Learning Community that can address the trend for increased internationalization on campus as well …

Education, Crystal C. Gray

Eddie Mabry Diversity Award

Education is a spoken word poem that explores many aspects of the African American struggle within (self-knowledge). It starts with an African American college student who is disappointed with the lack of courses about her culture. Most curricula in the United States tend to be from a Eurocentric perspective, leaving out a multitude of information about people of color. All groups of people of color have unique experiences, however, African Americans have the most known (or perhaps I should say, unknown) history. The standard explanation of their existence is often limited to the start of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, when …

Border X-Ing, Alicia A. Castro

SURGE

The sun out-stretched its bright arms in an embrace with the mesquite trees that beckoned upwards. The wind greeted the clothes drying upon delicate wire while my mother meticulously placed white towels in the light and the jeans under the shade of the Arizona Ash. The washboard sits upright in the bucket full of suds and other assorted laundry. Inside the shed there is both a working dryer and washer only a few years old, but she has chosen to do this chore outside. Here she can close her eyes and be back in Mexico with the dry heat and …

Diversity Plan: Academic Year 2014/2015 Status Report, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

- three Race Panels that focused on 1) discussion of individual/institutional diversity concerns and social injustices, 2) historical and biological perspectives of race, and 3) how to resolve educational inequities and social injustices at IMSA,

- three Read-Ins that promoted Women, Latino and Black literature in collaboration with the IRC, English Department and the President’s Office,

- an audit of the racial diversity within IMSA’s Student Organizations,

- conducted the Implicit Association Test with 580 students which demonstrated levels of bias in terms of skin tone, sexual orientation, and gender-science....followed by two diversity interventions and a post Implicit Association Test, …

Experiential Language Learning: A Short-Term Study Abroad Program To Quetzaltenango, Guatemala For Canton High School, Michelle Traub

Capstone Collection

Canton High School (CHS) is a 485 student, small upper-middle class public school located in Canton, Connecticut. The mission of the school involves preparing productive, tolerant and responsible citizens with the character and independence to embrace and contribute to the global world. However, CHS is limited in its ability to provide students with opportunities to connect with the world outside of Connecticut and the United States, both linguistically and culturally. Although the majority of Canton students take a language class freshman year, the number of students continuing on in learning a language drops every year thereafter. Many students state that …

Applying Intercultural/International Education Towards Creating Sustainable Peace In Sub-Saharan Africa, Bella Cheptoo Kimutai

MA IDS Thesis Projects

The aim of this thesis is to assess the benefits and progress that intercultural education would create towards peace building and reconciliation if applied in school curriculums in sub-Saharan Africa. With the support of published literature and in-depth research in three countries, this research will argue for interculturalism, through international and intercultural education, as a strategy for peaceful coexistence both in stable and unstable situations. The country case studies in this partic-ular culminating project will be Kenya, Rwanda, and Nigeria. Particular emphasis and stress will be placed on the importance of intercultural education in schools and how it will help …

A Forward To The Special Issue On Neoliberalism In Education The Long Road To Redemption: Critical Pedagogy And The Struggle For The Future, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Peter McLaren introduces a special issue of Texas Education Review focused on Neoliberalism in Education by advocating for critical pedagogy in the face of the challenges and harms wrought by American capitalism, politics, and "economic exploitation, racism, homophobia, sexism, imperialism, the coloniality of power and White supremacy".

Unearthing Connections In A Storied Landscape: The Flathead River Honoring And Place-Based Education In The Flathead Valley, Melissa Wardlow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.