Sociology of Culture Commons^™

Isamu Noguchi's Modernism: Negotiating Race, Labor, And Nation, 1930-1950, Stephanie Takaragawa

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

In a study that combines archival research, a firm grounding in the historical context, biographical analysis, and sustained attention to specific works of art, Amy Lyford provides an account of Isamu Noguchi's work between 1930 and 1950 and situates him among other artists who found it necessary to negotiate the issues of race and national identity. In particular, Lyford explores Noguchi's sense of his art as a form of social activism and a means of struggling against stereotypes of race, ethnicity, and national identity. Ultimately, the aesthetics and rhetoric of American modernism in this period both energized Noguchi's artistic production …

Older Adults’ Contributions To The Tsimane Forager-Farmer Economy, Eric Schniter

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Portfolio of original photographs and an accompanying essay about the role of elders among the Tsimane, an indigenous group living in the Bolivian Amazon.

A Heart-Based Sufi Mindfulness Spiritual Practice Employing Self-Journeying, Faruk Arslan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Spiritual Psychology is the study and practice of the art and science of the human evolution of consciousness. The heart occupies an important place in Sufism and is considered to contain the divine spark that leads to spiritual realization. Fethullah Gülen’s action-oriented Sufi methods described in his book series “The Emerald Hills of the Heart” provides the basis for a heart-based therapeutic intervention through self-journeying, which is the objective of this thesis. These self-purification and mindfulness-related transpersonal methods generate a form of treatment that is culturally sensitive. Through my reflections in this research, I transformed my personal experiences into …

Pro-Anorexia/Bulimia Interactions Online: Problematizing Complex Cultural Phenomena, Nicole D. Schott

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the West, and increasingly globally, individuals, particularly women, are fixated on weight loss, driven by the goal of achieving a culturally-desired, and aggressively marketed, "skinny" female physique. There are online forums where individuals refer to themselves or their eating disorders as "pro-ana" and "pro-mia". Individuals who post on these sites both align with, and challenge, what medical and mental health professionals define as serious mental health problems that result in severe, sometimes fatal, medical complications. This thesis specifically focuses on interactions with, and within, the pro-ana/mia culture on the social media websites Tumblr and YouTube. Over sixteen months, and …

The Notion Of Cultural Assimilation Into An American Identity: Abstract Or Concrete?, Julie A. Rivera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Assimilation is believed to be the process immigrants follow to become "American." To be American is to be equal to other Americans in societal, employment, and educational opportunities. But this is not and cannot be an outcome of the assimilation process in the United States. There are multiple definitions and expectations of assimilation; too many to allow a clear outcome. This project addresses the complexity associated with all versions of assimilate, the multiple definitions, processes, and outcomes associated with this term, and demonstrates that there is no concrete resolution to an assimilation process due to the multitude of definitions attached …

Do Organizational Culture And Climate Matter For Successful Client Outcomes?, David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv Unegv Waya) Phd, Catherine N. Dulmus Phd, Eugene Maguin Phd, Maria Cristalli

Brown School Faculty Publications

Objectives: The existing literature on the impact of workplace conditions on client care suggests that good cultures and climates provide the best outcomes for clients. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between organizational culture and climate and the proportion of children and youth successfully discharged from a large organization in New York State. Method: Thirty-three child and youth programs with existing culture and climate data evaluated outcome information from 1,336 clients exiting its services. Results: Programs reported as having bad culture and climate yielded superior client outcomes, measured as discharge to a lower level of …

The Plight Of Kenyan Domestic Workers In Gulf Countries, Caroline Muthoni Gikuru

Master's Theses

Kenya’s economy remains the regional leader within the East African Community (EAC) and among East African countries at large. However, political instability such as the 2007 post-election violence and the region’s social and political instability trickling into Kenya, have negatively affected the country’s economic growth. To bridge the economic gap, Kenyan women are seeking employment in the domestic service sector in the Gulf Countries, with Saudi Arabia being the most popular destination. At their destination countries, some domestic workers are subjected to various forms of abuse by their employers, leaving the worker without recourse due to the lack of legal …

Building Cultural Competency In Therapy, Naveen Jonathan

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Presentations

Discusses how to build better cultural competency in order to help clients of diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds.

Japanese Expatriate Women In The United States, Ayano Sonoda

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Expatriation from Japanese companies has been considered mainly for men. This research focuses on gradually increasing Japanese expatriate women’s experiences in the United States. Using structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) and doing gender (West & Zimmerman, 1987), gender practices and (re)production of gendered structure at Japanese organizations in the United States are illustrated. It is exploratory research without prior research focusing on the subjects. Literature review, therefore, covers three relevant areas: women in workplace in Japan, Japanese expatriates in the United States, and women in international assignments from western countries. This research employs qualitative research method to understand the social world …

Do Market Incentives Crowd Out Charitable Giving?, Cary Deck, Erik O. Kimbrough

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Donations and volunteerism can be conceived as market transactions with a zero explicit price. However, evidence suggests people may not view zero as just another price when it comes to pro-social behavior. Thus, while markets might be expected to increase the supply of assets available to those in need, some worry such financial incentives will crowd out altruistic giving. This paper reports laboratory experiments directly investigating the degree to which market incentives crowd out large, discrete charitable donations in a setting related to deceased organ donation. The results suggest markets increase the supply of assets available to those in need. …

The Primacy Of Context: An Exploration Into The Causes Of Food Insecurity In Kitere, Kenya., William O. Aludo

Capstone Collection

The purpose of this study was to explore the specific reasons why households in Kitere village, Kenya experience persistent food insecurity every year while the region enjoys the advantage of two planting/harvest seasons in a year. Kitere village lies within the lakeside region of Nyanza Province in Kenya, generally considered to be one of the more agriculturally productive parts of the country. The Participatory Rural Appraisal method was employed to gather qualitative data on the causes of food insecurity in Kitere village. The data sources were focus groups and a self-administered, one-time survey of random and non-random samples of key …

Access Abroad: A Design In Equitable Access To Education Abroad, Matthew Zielsdorf

Capstone Collection

Access Abroad is an innovative short-term, faculty-led education abroad design that increases accessible, transformative study abroad programming and enhances academic and intercultural program quality for students enrolled in the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) at The College of New Jersey. The unique design of Access Abroad harnesses key institutional and financial resources at the college to allow 12 EOF undergraduate students to study in La Paz, Bolivia for four weeks in May 2015 with a faculty leader from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. The curriculum will foster student exploration of culture, identity, and community and contribute to the development …

Introduction To The Special Issue On Inequality In The Digital Environment, Roderick Graham

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The purpose of this special issue is to explore social inequalities in the digital environment. The motivation for this issue is derived from the disproportionate focus on technological and economic aspects of the Information Society to the detriment of sociological and cultural aspects. The research presented here falls along three dimensions of inequality. Two papers explore the ways that race orders interaction online. A second pair of papers explores the experiences of technology users with physical and mental disabilities. A final paper looks at gender, and the higher rates of intimate partner violence experienced by women online. Taken as a …

Culture Clash: Symbolic Capital And The Limits To Open Access Journal Growth In The Humanities And Social Sciences, David Michalski

SJSU Open Access Conference

Each year brings more open access peer-review journals to the humanities and social sciences. Yet despite this proliferation, for-profit publishers continue to dominate, and hold the most prestigious journals in their portfolios, pushing the tipping point imagined by open access advocates seemingly out of reach. This project examines the social life of academic publishing to better understand the obstacles preventing a more robust turn to open access, one that does not simply mean more journals, but one that sees the more prestigious journals opting for an open access platform.

Drawing on the work of cultural sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, I examine …

An Invitation To Debate: Envisioning An Africa-Centered Perspective, Engaging Sociological Endeavor, Nikitah O. Imani

Black Studies Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Presented at the 2013 James Madison University Africana Studies Conference October 18, 2013

External Projection Of The Basque Language And Culture: The Etxepare Basque Institute And A Range Of Public Paradiplomacy, Sho Hagio

BOGA: Basque Studies Consortium Journal

This study discusses the establishment of the Etxepare Basque Institute in 2007 as a way of investigating the status of the Basque language Euskara, which was once looked down on and labeled as a lesser-used minority language, but which is now coming into greater prominence in the international arena in an era of globalization. The mission of the institute is external projection of Basque language and culture. Such projection, on one hand, presupposes the existence of a standardized language and culture to be diffused and that there is a distinction to be made between “interior” and “exterior” on the other. …

Luxury’S Last Frontier: An Analysis Of Hanoi Residents’ Perceptions Of The Luxury Market In Vietnam, Rachel Schuh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

One consequence of Vietnam’s rapid economic development in recent decades is the booming luxury market in Hanoi. Although few Vietnamese consumers can afford luxury goods, luxury consumption is highly visible in Hanoi. Luxury shopping centers continue to open throughout the city, and fancy cars are a common sight on city streets. Luxury consumers often influence trends in the wider marketplace, but luxury good consumption can also be a divisive issue. In addition, luxury consumers in developing countries, even more so than those in developed countries, are often believed to be motivated by status concerns. Thus, the phenomenon economists call conspicuous …

“Let’S Talk About Sex, Baby”: An Explorative Study Of Sexual Communication Between Heterosexual Couples In The Netherlands, Maggy Di Costanzo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This is an explorative study of how sexual communication and satisfaction act within a Dutch, mixed-sex, monogamous, long-term relationship. This research also analyzes how roles are developed within a dyad based off gender formation and Social Exchange Theory. I conducted interviews with three couples, one sex coach, and one sexologist in order to research my topic. Data was analyzed through common themes found throughout the narratives of the couples in relation to theory. I found that couples directly associate high amounts of sexual communication with a sexually satisfying relationship. The majority of sexual communication between couples is non-verbal, although partners …

Old And Alone: Analyzing The Developed And Inherent Social Avenues For Elderly In A Modernizing Society, Haley Sanner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Worldwide populations are experiencing dramatic demographic shifts in the number of older? people due to improved medical care and family planning campaigns that have both decreased fertility and increased life expectancy. It is predicted that within the next few decades half the world’s population will be over 50 and in developing countries the elderly population will increase four-fold (Adhikari, 2012, 1). Since the aging process is accompanied by the loss of physical and mental abilities due to health-related issues, this shift will create many new challenges for Nepal. Modernization has increased the presence of globalized labor and migration to urban …

Himalayan Heritage: Local Organization And The Role Of Tradition In The Community Development Of The Thakali People, Erik Svedberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Within the communities of the Thakali people of Mustang, Nepal, decisionmaking power has traditionally been held by the local chieftain, the Mukhiya. However, this traditional authority appears to be threatened by two trends of Nepali development: the institutionalization of the Village Development Committee (VDC) as the official entity of local government, and the proliferation of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) as part of a development push to expand community participation in decisionmaking. Current scholarship has deeply explored the sociocultural dynamics of the Mukhiya as well as how the sociopolitical landscapes of Thakali societies are changing, but a scholarly link between the …