Sociology of Culture Commons^™

“Texts Memorized, Texts Performed: A Reconsideration Of The Role Of Paritta In Sri Lankan Monastic Education.”, Jeffrey Samuels

Philosophy & Religion Faculty Publications

During the past twenty years there has been a growing interest in monastic education within the larger field of Buddhist studies. Within the last ten years in particular, a number of monographs and articles examining the training and education of monks in Korea (Buswell [1992]), Tibet/India (Dreyfus [2003]), Thailand/Laos (Collins [1990], McDaniel [2002, 2003]), and Sri Lanka (Blackburn [1999a, 1999b, 2001] Samuels [2002]), have been published. Many of those works have paid particular attention to the texts used in monastic training, as well as to how the information contained in those very texts is imparted to and embodied by monks …

Le Français D’Origine Maghrébine Face Au Prisme Médiatique, Hassiba Lassoued

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Whether we admit it or not, the mass media manipulates the masses. This fact proves to be especially dangerous in the context of French people of Maghrebian origin. The media presents them as either incapable of being “assimilated” or as models of integration. At any rate, there seems to be no middle ground between these two extremes.

¡Dame Un Ritmo (Y Sueldo)!: La Sustentabilidad Económica De Los Artistas Callejeros En El Gran Santiago, Zachariah Smith Cheema

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Street artists in the greater Santiago area are the product of a high unemployment rate and a history of street music in the city. Street artists can be found in every part of Santiago, from the shopping centers to the tranquil parks. Santiago’s street artists vary in age, talent, and future plans. However, these street artists confront many similar risks, such as the threat of detention, other street vendors, or the spectators themselves. While street art as a long-term job is a possibility, there is not a lot of room to save money for the future. Street art lacks support …

Remember Ruben? L’Histoire De Ruben Um Nyobé À Travers La Société Camerounaise, Katelyn Knox

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Aujourd’hui la société camerounaise est caractérisée par un sentiment de tribalisme que l’on peut voir dans plusieurs domaines. Pour combattre ce sentiment tribal (voire fraternel) l’on doit cultiver une mentalité plutôt nationaliste dans la société plus élargie. Pour créer cette mentalité, quelques intellectuels ont suggéré qu’il faut regardé le passé de ce pays, surtout chercher à cultiver cette mentalité en utilisant l’esprit des « grands nationalistes », ceux qui ont combattu pour l’indépendance avant les années 1960 et au-delà. Cette étude se focalise sur le père du nationalisme au Cameroun : Ruben Um Nyobé. Elle montre son taux de connaissance …

Toward A Cleaner Whiteness: New Racial Identities, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The article re-examines racial and ethnic identity within the context of pedagogical attempts to instill a positive white identity in white students who are conscious of the history of white racism and white privilege. The paper draws heavily from whiteness studies and developmental cognitive science in arguing (against Henry Giroux and Stuart Hall) that a positive notion of white identity, however postmodern its construction, is an oxymoron, since whiteness designates less a cultural/ethnic ethos and meaningful way of life than a pathological structure of privilege and narrowminded cognitive habitus.

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.

Pathways To Power: The Role Of Political Parties In Women’S National Political Representation, Sheri L. Kunovich, Pamela Paxton

Sociology Research

The authors extend previous research on women’s participation in politics by examining the role of female elites in political parties in selecting and supporting women as political candidates. They hypothesize that political parties, in their role as gatekeepers, mediate the relationship between country-level factors, such as women’s participation in the labor force, and political outcomes for women. The article focuses on three outcomes for women: the percentage of female political party leaders, the percentage of female candidates in a country, and the percentage of women elected. New cross-national measures of women’s inclusion in political parties are developed and analyzed in …

Culture As Deficit: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Concept Of Culture In Contemporary Social Work Discourse, Yoosun Park

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper is a critical discourse analysis of the usage of the concept of "culture" in social work discourse. The paper argues that "culture" is inscribed as a marker for difference which has largely replaced the categories of race and ethnicity as the preferred trope of minority status. "Culture" is conceived as an objectifiable body of knowledge constituting the legitimate foundationfor the building of interventions. But such interventions cannot be considered other than an instrument which reinforces the subjugating paradigm from which it is fashioned. The concept of culture, constructed from within an orthodoxic, hegemonic discursive paradigm, is deployed as …

Parental Influence On Children's Ethnic Identity Among Chinese Americans, Sham'ah Md. Yunus

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the influence of Chinese American parents on their children's ethnic identity. Two research questions were designed to examine these relationships: Does the personal construct of Chinese American parents influence their children's ethnic identity and does the length of stay in the United States of Chinese American parents influence children's ethnic identity? Parental influence was identified as parents' ethnic behaviors, parents' ethnic values, parents' personal construct, and their length of stay in the United States. The 93 families who participated in this study were purposely selected from three Chinese language schools from a Midwestern city of the United …

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

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

No abstract provided.

Identities In Dialogue: Deconstructing The Dynamics Of Bošnjak-Muslim Identities In Novi Pazar, Christine M. Debacker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research was aimed at understanding how individual identify with larger, collective identities (national, ethnic, religious, etc.). In studying the history and current social situation of the former Yugoslavia countries, I learned that often individuals identify themselves within the terms of nation, ethnicity and religion. And I learned that often in this region those terms were used exchangeably. To better understand how differences among individuals and groups were conceived, I turned to the abounding academic theories written on the topics of nation, nationhood and nationalism.

In looking though the mass of theories, I realized that each academic creates theories of …

An Examination Into The Effects Of Social Positioning And Capitalist Immersion On Gendered Attitudes Towards Homosexuality In The United States, Fiona J. Blee

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Previous research on attitudes towards homosexuality has concentrated on characteristics of individuals, and neglected the capitalist structure of society that provides the contextual setting for the creation and maintenance of cultural attitudes.

This thesis uses responses collected in the general social survey of the United States between 1993 and 1998, to provide a more comprehensive explanation of differences in attitudes towards homosexuality, through an analysis of social position and the capitalist agenda. The analysis revealed significant relationships between sex, age, race, income, beliefs regarding the domestication of women, and attitudes towards homosexuality.

The analysis showed that respondents categorized as black …

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

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Oscar G. Chase

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Students' Perceptions Of Instructors' Identities: Effects And Interventions, Jeannie Ludlow, Laurie Rodgers, Mary Wrighten

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

This study resulted from the authors' interest in how students' perceptions of faculty identity (primarily race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, and academic rank) influence students' learning and instructors' classroom experiences. We focused on courses that fulfill the "cultural diversity" general education requirements at Bowling Green State University. The three courses that most students in the College of Arts and Sciences take to fulfill this requirement are ACS 250 Cultural Pluralism in the U.S., ETHN 101 Introduction to Ethnic Studies, and WS 200 Introduction to Women's Studies. Combined, these courses serve approximately 1400 students each semester.

Motivated Breast Cancer Screening Behavior And Its Cultural Antecedents, Patricia M. Flynn

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Discrepancies in breast cancer screening behavior exist among various ethnic groups in the United States (Jacobs & Lauderdale, 2001), with Latino American women reporting particularly low screening rates in comparison to Anglo American women (ACS, 2002). Research indicates that behavior is in part influenced by aspects of culture and relevant psychological processes (Betancourt & Lopez, 1993; Betancourt & Fuentes, 2001). This study was designed to investigate the relations among cultural values, attributions regarding the causes for not screening, related emotions, expectancy that screening leads to early detection and value incentive of early detection as determinants of breast cancer screening intention …

Cruelty Toward Cats: Changing Perspectives, Randall Lockwood

State of the Animals 2005

Of all the species that have been domesticated, cats have historically been subjected to the widest diversity of treatment by humans. They have been worshipped as gods and reviled as devils, coddled and pampered, but also abandoned and abused. Our treatment of cats has likewise created a range of problems for professionals concerned with their care—from dealing with problems of obesity and overindulgence to tending to the needs of animals who have been neglected, intentionally harmed, or even tortured.

Country: Being And Belonging On Aboriginal Lands, Melissa Lucashenko

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

No abstract provided.

Aboriginal Pastoralism, Social Embeddedness, And Cultural Continuity In Central Australia, Nicholas Gill

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Aboriginal people are involved in pastoral enterprises throughout the inland and north of Australia. This has generated difficulties as landowners and policymakers struggled with conflicts between Aboriginal social structures and the demands of running commercial businesses. Problems often arose due to imposition of nonindigenous norms regarding land use. It has been suggested that pastoralism can generate social and cultural benefits for Aboriginal landowners, but these have not been investigated in any detail. Drawing on the concept of social embeddedness and fieldwork with Aboriginal pastoralists, this article identifies, describes, and ranks sociocultural benefits arising from Aboriginal pastoralism. Pastoralism fulfilled uniquely Aboriginal …

Foucault And Habermas, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The article is a comprehensive comparison of Foucault and Habermas which focuses on their distinctive styles of critical theory. The article maintains that Foucault's virtue ethical understanding of aesthetic self-realization as a form of resistance to normalizing practices provides counterpoint to Habermas's more juridical approach to institutional justice and the critique of ideology. The article contains an extensive discussion of their respective treatments of speech action, both strategic and communicative, and concludes by addressing Foucault's understanding of parrhesia as a non-discursive form of truth-telling.

Mosaic: Exploring Patterns In Literature: Volume 2: Virtual Voyages, Institute For The Development Of Gifted Education, Ricks Center For Gifted Children, University Of Denver

Ricks Curriculum Units Series

Virtual Voyages is an integrated thematic unit developed to weave together the academic strands of geography and literature into a single curriculum that fosters appreciation, awareness, and understanding of cultures around the world. The individualized research format meets the needs of gifted students to work within a particular area of passion, to work at an individualized pace, and to work with depth and breadth on projects that especially engage their interests.

Female Genital Cutting Among The Somali Of Kenya And Management Of Its Complications, Guyo W. Jaldesa, Ian Askew, Carolyne Njue, Monica Wanjiru

Reproductive Health

The Somali community living in Kenya (and in their native Somalia) has practiced the severest form of female genital cutting (FGC)—infibulation—for centuries. To understand the context within which the practice takes place, and how its complications are managed, the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program undertook a diagnostic study that confirmed that FGC is a deeply rooted and widely supported cultural practice. Several closely related reasons are used to sustain the practice: religious obligation, family honor, and virginity as a prerequisite for marriage; an aesthetic preference for infibulated genitalia was also mentioned. The study also found that the health …

Images Of God: The Effect Of Personal Theologies On Moral Attitudes, Political Affiliation, And Religious Behavior, Christoper Bader, Paul Froese

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Social scientists often explain religious effects in terms of religious group affiliations. Typically, researchers identify religious groups by denomination or some broader popular categorization, such as “fundamentalist” or “evangelical.” To capture religious differences more effectively, Steensland et al. (2000) propose an intricate classification of American denominations that takes into account the theology and historical development of various American religious traditions to predict individual attitudes and behaviors. We believe that equal care and attention should be devoted to the development of key measures of belief that may cross denominational lines. In this article, we propose one such measure: personal conceptions or …

Rehabilitating The Importance Of The Non-Cognitive: An Interview With MichèLe Lamont, Despina Lalaki

Publications and Research

In spring of 2006, Michèle Lamont, Professor of Sociology and African and African-American Studies at Harvard University, was invited to give a lecture for the New Sociological Imagination Lecture Series, organized by the New School for Social Research. This lecture concerned her book Cream Rising: How Peer Review Finds and Defines Excellence in the Social Sciences and the Humanities, which is to be published by Harvard University Press in 2008. Drawing on 81 interviews with panelists serving on five multidisciplinary fellowship competitions in the social sciences and the humanities, the book analyzes (1) the meaning panelists give to academic excellence—including …

Reading Owen's Between Reason And History: Habermas And The Idea Of Progress , Ali Rizvi

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

From the start Habermas' work has been an attempt at synthesising certain core insights from Kant and Hegel, as it is clearly evident from the beginning chapters of his first major work Knowledge and Human Interest (KHI). In the structure of the book Marx's position is as the mediator of Kant and Hegel and all subsequent authors are considered in order to overcome the shortcomings of this Marxian mediation (KHI: chapter 1-11, Habermas, 1982: 239ff Cf. Kortian, 1980).

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 …

The Semiotics Of Visible Face Make-Up: The Masks Women Wear, Madeleine Ogilvie

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This dissertation explores the `sign' of visible face make-up and examines how women consume appearance in everyday life in contemporary Australia. Using a semiotic framework, it presents a novel new method for interpreting and gaining increased meaning into an everyday consumption phenomenon. The purpose of the study is to gain insights into why women wear make-up. It seeks to provide understanding of what this medium signifies to women and what the `sign' of make-up symbolises to the female individual. It explores how visible face make-up affects the way women consume appearance in everyday life, how they feel about themselves, and …

Beto, El Escritor De Cartas De Los Braceros (English), Gil Villagran

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

About my father's experience as a Bracero

Beto, El Escritor De Cartas De Los Braceros (Spanish/Espanol), Gil Villagran

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

About my father's experience as a Bracero (in Spanish)