Sociology of Culture Commons^™

Improbable Art: The Creative Economy And Sustainable Cluster Development In A Hong Kong Industrial District, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A noted Singapore-based cultural geographer and specialist on Asia analyzes the emergence and functioning of a unique artistic cluster in Hong Kong's Fotan light industrial district. The objective of the research is to understand how artistic work in the cluster, despite some challenges, has thus far proven sustainable in cultural, social, and economic terms. The findings of this case study permit further clarification of several dimensions of an emerging theory of cultural/creative clusters, which should be considered as distinct from business and industrial clusters. Selective comparisons between the Fotan cluster and the Moganshan Lu cluster in Shanghai demonstrate that cultural/creative …

Conceptualising Cultural And Creative Spaces, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper reviews the literature on cultural and creative spaces, and examines its merits and shortcomings in helping to explain how culture and creativity in the city are supported. Alternative ways of conceptualising cultural and creative spaces which emphasise the importance of networks and multi-scalar relationships and non-economic considerations will be examined.

Advancing The Human Right To Housing In Post-Katrina New Orleans: Discursive Opportunity Structures In Housing And Community Development, Leigh Graham

Publications and Research

In post-Katrina New Orleans, housing and community development (HCD) advocates clashed over the future of public housing. This case study examines the evolution of and limits to a human right to housing frame introduced by one nongovernmental organization (NGO). Ferree’s concept of the discursive opportunity structure and Bourdieu’s social field ground this NGO’s failure to advance a radical economic human rights frame, given its choice of a political inside strategy that opened up for HCD NGOs after Hurricane Katrina. Strategic and ideological differences within the field limited the efficacy of this rights-based frame, which was seen as politically radical and …

A Foreigner’S Gaze On The Micro-Culture Of The Car-Rapide—Senegalese Values Vs. Monetary Lust, Merrill Pierce

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The vibrant, chaotic, and interactive Car Rapide, a poignant micro-culture in Dakar, is a visually communicative entity and social space in Senegal’s transportation system. From an outsider’s gaze, this project addresses the history, artistic and religious significance, inner-workings of the system of employees, and present day implications of the car-rapide. The car-rapide emerges as the embodiment of both valuable and challenging aspects of Senegalese culture.

Where Locals Play: Neighborhood Casino Landscapes In Las Vegas, Rex J. Rowley Ph.D.

Occasional Papers

Neighborhood casinos—gaming properties that target a primarily local market—are an influential feature on the Las Vegas cultural landscape. Such institutions reveal a number of geographical patterns that have important implications in gaming and place studies. The distinguishing characteristics of neighborhood casinos underscore the importance of proximity to a market, a focus that is evident in their advertising strategies. Additionally, the prominence of such casino-resorts within their respective neighborhoods makes them important symbols and indicators of the character of the surrounding community. These unique institutions teach lessons that can potentially be extrapolated to other gaming markets around the country.

National Efforts Toward Fgm-Free Villages In Egypt: The Evidence Of Impact, Ghada Barsoum, Nadia Rifaat, Omaima El-Gibaly, Nihal Elwan, Natalie Forcier

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report is a midterm evaluation and documentation of the process and approach of the FGM-Free Village Model implemented in Egypt by the National Council of Childhood and Motherhood with assistance from the Population Council. In a comparison of responses from women and men in intervention groups to those in nonintervention (control) villages, data analysis shows that the program has been successful in changing views and attitudes toward female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM is an entrenched generational practice, and eradicating it in a community requires concerted effort over an extended period of time. This evaluation strongly recommends that efforts be …

Preservation Ethics In The Case Of Nebraska's Nationally Registered Historic Properties, Darren Michael Adams

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation focuses on the National Register of Historic Places and considers the geographical implications of valuing particular historic sites over others. Certain historical sites will either gain or lose desirability from one era to the next, this dissertation identifies and explains three unique preservation ethical eras, and it maps the sites which were selected during those eras. These eras are the Settlement Era (1966–1975), the Commercial Architecture Era (1976–1991), and the Progressive Planning Era (1992–2010). The findings show that transformations in the program included an early phase when state authorities listed historical resources pertaining to the settlement of the …

MitáKuye OwáS’Į (All My Relatives): Dakota Wiconi (Way Of Life) And Wicozani Waste (Well-Being), Mark Ruml

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

No abstract provided.

“We Didn’T Choose To Live In A Transition Society:” The Youth Of Milošević’S Serbia Ten Years Later, Jessica Tsunami Acosta

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The 1990’s were an extremely dark time in modern Serbian history, mired by wars, sanctions, dictatorship, and struggle. Those who came of age in that time find their entire lives to be defined by their country’s transition process. Because of this experience, these individuals are in a unique position to make connections between past conflicts and present challenges in Serbia. In particular, through understanding their narratives of this recent past and their perceptions of Serbia’s current progress in its transition phase, one can glean a better picture of this generation and what it holds for Serbia’s future. In allowing these …

What Should We Be Doing To Reduce Or End Campus Violence?, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

Over the last several years, there have been a number of high-profile incidents of violence on college and university campuses. These have precipitated discussions and new initiatives on campuses and within our professional organizations intended to prevent and respond to violence.

A Call To Community: Some Thoughts For Student Affairs About Identity And Diversity, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Making Sustainable Creative/Cultural Space In Shanghai And Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Shanghai and Singapore are two economically vibrant Asian cities that have recently adopted creative/cultural economy strategies. In this article I examine new spatial expressions of cultural and economic interests in the two cities: state-vaunted cultural edifices and organically evolved cultural spaces. I discuss the simultaneous precariousness and sustainability of these spaces, focusing on Shanghai's Grand Theatre and Moganshan Lu and on Singapore's Esplanade-Theatres by the Bay and Wessex Estate. Their cultural sustainability is understood as their ability to support the development of indigenous content and local idioms in artistic work. Their social sustainability is examined in terms of the social …

College Males: Keeping Them Engaged On Your Campus, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

There has been much discussion in the popular media over the last few years to the effect that there is a “crisis” with regard to men in higher education. There have been several angles in these reports, including arguments suggesting that men are declining in student ranks, or that women are outpacing their male counterparts. In any case, these reports have asked questions about where the men are if not in college; and what will be the consequences of this problem in terms of the workforce, families, or the potential nature and future of higher education. One could easily be …

Tribes And Yucca Mountain: Native American Forum On Nuclear Issues, Fred Dilger

Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues

Abstract:

-Yucca Mountain: Extensive history of social-cultural studies

-No interaction on transportation

-Unsuccessful effort began in 1993 and ended in 1995

-DOE tribal policy was a very good start

-Restarted again in 2004-DOE invites tribes to TEC meeting

-Shape future interaction between DOE and other Tribes

-Tribes identify themselves as affected by DOE differently than DOE defines affected tribes

L’Augmentation Des Associations Dans « L’État Providence », Sara Haj-Hassan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project sought to study the increase in associations in relation to the disengagement of the state from the social sector. The researcher used both interviews and observational methods to analyze the reasons for this increase, and the importance the associations hold in the functioning of the state. Through direct participation and personal conversations with both association employees and service-users, the researcher was able to comprehend the multiple dimensions of the topic. The researcher then goes on to relate the existence of the associations to the fundamental French values.

Collaborative Success And Community Culture: Cross-Sectoral Partnerships Addressing Homelessness In Omaha And Portland, Patrick T. Mcnamara

Student Work

This dissertation explores the impact of community culture on the success of cross-sectoral collaboratives addressing homelessness in Omaha, Nebraska, and Portland, Oregon. A comparative case study approach is used to build theory about how the environment helps to make conditions conducive or challenging to collaboration between government, business and nonprofit organizations. The concept of community culture is operationalized by including three interrelated factors - social capital, community power, and political history - to assess the two cities. Omaha is a model of a private sector community culture, high in bonding social capital, where central control of decision making and elite …

2007 Multicultural Development Plan, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

The appreciation, affirmation, and inclusion of multiple cultures is important to ensure that all students, faculty, and staff will be able to enjoy the educational benefits of a multicultural academic environment and that these various perspectives will also enrich the educational enterprise. From this perspective it is important that community members be effective at interacting across cultures, which is essential to IMSA’s mission of being “the world’s leading teaching and learning laboratory for imagination and inquiry , igniting and nurturing creative, ethical scientific minds that advance the human condition....” The multiple cultures that make up the IMSA community include individual …

Walking The Maternal Tightrope: Work And Family In America, Roxanne A. Donovan, Andrew L. Pieper, Allison N. Ponce

New England Journal of Public Policy

In the last few decades, an unprecedented number of women with children have entered the U.S. workforce. The ability to negotiate the roles of parent and employee is important to the health and financial well-being of these women and their families, but institutional and social barriers impede the process. Using the empirical and theoretical literature on women and work, this article examines these barriers. The authors address the impact of cultural ideals, psychological processes, and public policy on the maternal work-family balance. Several changes that would help create an atmosphere supportive of balance are explored, including increased support for shared …

Commanded To Enjoy: The Waning Of Traditional Authority And Its Implications For Public Administration, Gary S. Marshall

Public Administration Faculty Publications

This article addresses the recent changes in social experience and the effect these changes have on the practice of public administration. It is argued that we have moved from a society of prohibition to a society of commanded enjoyment. This thesis is explored using the frame of Lacanian psychoanalysis. The central claim is that the waning of traditional authority means that enjoyment or jouissance operates on an axis of possibility or impossibility. In such a realm, the coterminous relationship of science and the market make most things possible.

Masculinity In The Quad, M. Kaufman, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Some Thoughts On China's Sexual Revolution: Sexuality And Social Change In Contemporary China, Sun Zhongxin

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

The last two years saw several changes in the public discourse around sex and sexuality in China. So what are some of the most controversial sex-related topics to be raised in China recently?

Book Review. One Size Does Not Fit All: Traditional And Innovative Models Of Student Affairs Practice, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Knowledges Of The Creative Economy: Towards A Relational Geography Of Diffusion And Adaptation In Asia, Lily Kong, Chris Gibson, Louisa-May Khoo, Anne-Louise Semple

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Recent dialogues in geography and the social sciences have reminded researchers of the extent to which academic and policy knowledges are socially and spatially embedded-that is, they circulate through formal and informal systems of publishing, exchange, commodification and cultural influence. Academic and policy knowledges are, in short, very much a part of the creative economy. In light of this, our paper surveys knowledges of the creative economy itself, as reflected in a geography of industry reports and government policy statements in selected Asian countries. Using a post-positivist framework adapted from diffusion theory, we critically interpret the circulation, mutation and adaptation …

Shooters To The Left Of Us, Shooters To The Right: First Person Arcade Shooter Video Games, The Violence Debate, And The Legacy Of Militarism, Karen J. Hall

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Adult concerns about video games erupted in the 1990s when parents and politicians came forward with claims that Doom, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct and games like them were partially responsible for the rash of school shootings in predominantly white, middle class communities. The author of this chapter argues that arcade games serve the national interest by entertaining consumer-citizens and creating a consumer-based demand for military technology. However, when adolescent shooters disrupt the status quo, it is the games rather than militarist social and economic structures that are criticized by the news media, politicians, and parents. The author of …

Cultivating Identities And Differences : A Case Study Of The Hong Kong Junior Secondary Economic And Public Affairs Curriculum, Yuen Fun, Muriel Law

Lingnan Theses

This thesis studies the junior secondary EPA curriculum and the complex cultural process of teaching and learning of the curriculum. It draws on theoretical frameworks developed in the field of cultural studies and critical pedagogy, particularly works by Michel Foucault, Stuart Hall, Lawrence Grossberg and Paulo Freire. It investigates how the EPA curricular texts attempt to produce the identity characteristic of "rational, sensitive and active citizens" in contemporary Hong Kong through constructing differences that negate the Other. Through analyzing classroom discursive practices, the thesis examines how the curricular knowledge "interpellates" teachers into subject position to talk about the "rational, sensitive …

Cultural Economy: A Critical Review, Chris Gibson, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article reviews work on 'cultural economy', particularly from within geography, and from other disciplines, where there are links to overtly geographical debates. We seek to clarify different interpretations of the term and to steer a course through this multivalency to suggest productive new research agendas. We review and critique work on cultural economy that represents a relatively straightforward economic geography, based on empirical observation while theoretically informed and driven by debates about Fordism and post-Fordism, agglomeration and cluster theory. Some of these ideas about cultural economy have proven attractive to policy-makers and we map a normative script of cultural …

2005 Multicultural Development Plan, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

No abstract provided.

2005 Diversity And Multicultural Education Project, Houston-Rogers Consulting, Inc.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

No abstract provided.

2005 Plan For Multicultural Development (Revised Draft), Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

No abstract provided.

His Story/Her Story: A Dialogue About Including Men And Masculinities In The Women’S Studies Curriculum, B. Berila, J. Keller, C. Krone, Jason A. Laker, O. Mayers

Faculty Publications

The article discusses the issue of inclusion of men and masculinities in the Women's Studies curriculum. Women's Studies programs were started to compensate for the male domination in the academics. Women's Studies presented a platform where scholarship for women was produced and taken seriously, female students and faculty could find their say or voice, and theoretical investigations required for the advancement of the aims of the women's movement could take place. If the academy as a whole does not sufficiently integrate Women's Studies into the curriculum, integrating Men's Studies into Women's Studies might end up further marginalizing Women's Studies by …