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Abstract: Previous anthropology emphasized symbolic incantations at the expense of the embodied practice of magic. Foregrounding embodiment and performance in war magic and warrior religion collapses the mind-body dualism of [...]

One of the many important functions of art is to encourage people to see different cultural perspectives and enable them to better understand and appreciate themselves and others. Engagement with [...]

This article offers a reflection upon the process of intercultural collaboration in light of a global feminist theology immersion pedagogy project, which brought together young scholars from Kenya and the United States. The authors use dualistic categories arising in feminist theological discourse to discuss the ways in which they negotiated difference in the context of intercultural research and collaborative learning. Obioma Nnaemeka's nego-feminist stance, a feminism of negotiation, provides a way forward for intercultural feminist collaboration as it corresponds to the cultural, practical, and methodological insights of the immersion experience., Border crossing entails learning about the 'other,' but more importantly, it should also entail learning from the other. Learning about is a gesture that is often tinged with arrogance and [...]

Abstract Purpose--The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between an employee's trust of coworkers and that employee's enterprising behavior. The extent to which cultural dimensions, in-group collectivism [...]

With governments around the world needing to attract talented professionals, this exploratory, cross-cultural research analyzes career values of 384 MPA and MPP students at major universities in the capitals of China, Malaysia and the United States. Malaysians and Americans structured 23 goals along dimensions that contrasted sharply to those of the Chinese. Moreover, Malaysians and Americans cared more about self-actualization and less about co-worker comradeship than did the Chinese. All three groups prioritized elements of altruism and affluence. Segmentation analysis uncovered six distinct subgroups (Acheivers, Altruistic Analysts, Administrators, Altruistic Affluents, Acquiescents, and Apathetics) with their distributions varying by country.

The present article aims to interlink the following aspects related to cross-cultural European experiences: the educational mobility, as a subtype of modern physical and cultural flexibility, the cosmopolitan identity and values, to whom this type of mobility can give birth to, in similar circumstances all over the continent, and the way these are shared by individuals. The paper draws on the empirical research performed in an intercultural community, amongst Erasmus students incoming to Bordeaux, France, during the former academic year. Key words: Erasmus program, cross-cultural European experience, mobility, identity, cosmopolitism, Introduction Mobility nowadays has became a central focus of social research, its interests varying from the almost mythic figure of the transnational migrant, (1) to the subject of tourism (2) [...]

Hofstede identified four value dimensions at the country level but did not find matching dimensions at the individual level. Schwartz discriminated different sets of value constructs at individual and country-levels, based on separate analyses per level. In this article, the authors directly examine the degree of similarity or isomorphism between the structure of values in individual- and country-level analyses, using multidimensional scaling followed by generalized Procrustes analysis. Using data from the Schwartz Value Survey from 53 and 66 countries, the authors find substantial similarity in structure across levels, but indices fall somewhat short of structural isomorphism. The authors then test hypotheses regarding possible causes of the less than perfect isomorphism between the levels. Number of countries (sample size at country level) and structural shifts in individual items account for some of the lack of isomorphism. Implications for future cross-cultural research are discussed.

In this article, the authors share concerns and considerations for researchers conducting cross-cultural research in gifted education. They contend that researchers should be mindful of the need to consider their own humanness--their beliefs, assumptions, attitudes, values, paradigms--and the limitations of their humanness when working with research participants from racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse backgrounds, especially those backgrounds that differ from their own. Furthermore, the authors assert that research is culture bound and that it is very difficult to conduct research where circumstances, demographics, and context can be ignored, minimized, negated, or in any way trivialized. Examples are presented of racially, culturally, and linguistically responsive researchers., Over the last 5 years, we have directed our efforts toward both gifted education and urban education. Much of this work has focused on the critical need for educators (e.g., [...]

The gendered nature of the ways that young Turkish men negotiate belonging in Austria is discussed. Focus is laid on the dynamics of masculinities in the context of migration.

In a 1982 publication, Ng et al. surveyed the cultural values of select East Asian and Pacific Island nations. In 2002, this study repeated their work, using the same sampling frame, questionnaire, and collaborators, where possible. The authors also reclassified the 1982 and 2002 survey results using Schwartz's cultural-level value dimensions. Submission versus Dionysian values that differentiated the nations in 1982 continued to do so in 2002. Furthermore, nations that endorsed Mastery (and rejected Harmony) in 1982 experienced greater subsequent economic growth than did the other countries. Moreover, economic development in 1982 predicted ensuing changes in Submission versus Dionysian and Hierarchy versus Egalitarianism values. Richer nations tended to endorse Dionysian, Autonomy, and Egalitarianism, whereas poorer nations tended toward Submission, Embeddedness, and Hierarchy values. Overall, the results support both economic and cultural determinism and imply two opposing directions of cultural change. Keywords: economic development; cultural values; cultural change; cross-cultural study

The present cross-cultural study examined the relationship between deductive reasoning and creativity among college students (M age = 20.4 yr., SD-.6) from Hong Kong (n = 39) and the United States (n = 38). Participants performed tasks designed to measure deductive reasoning, creative writing, and insight problem-solving, all in verbal form. No correlation was found between the performance for deductive reasoning and creativity as measured by creative writing. Insight problem-solving performance correlated significantly with that for both reasoning and creativity. Significant cultural differences favoring the American participants were only found on the creative writing and insight problem-solving tasks, both of which supposedly involve creative thinking. There seems to be cultural dependence for creativity but not for deductive reasoning which suggests a qualification of a strong cultural-relevance view positing pervasive cultural influences on human thinking processes.

In the introduction to his seminal work dealing with white representations of the 'indigene', white Canadian scholar Terry Goldie observes that because the Other is of interest only in as [...]

A heuristic framework for how individuals orient themselves within relationships that include two dimensions, focus and power, evolving out of the social context is presented. The two dimensions are considered to present the four basic relational orientations, position directed, rule directed, independence directed, and relationship directed orientations along with case examples.

Three fundamental cultural dimensions and their effect on e-learning environments are examined and the simple structural adaptations required for Japanese audiences are outlined. It is observed that core cultural dimensions prove as the most effective constituents of the internationalization process.

The importance of using a feminist perspective to explore the 'war on global terror' in the aftermath of 9/11 is highlighted. The application of pedagogical expertise to encourage an extensive and informed debate in the academic classroom is advocated.

I In Chinua Achebe's Arrow of God, we are presented with an intriguing character, Ezeulu. In many instances, Ezeulu is portrayed as being ahead of his time. Among his special [...]

Steve Angle correctly notes that I do not believe that he provides a satisfactory answer to the questions of how to determine whether we are dealing with a single rights […]

Terms such as society, habitus, and culture can all too easily obscure the lifeworlds they are supposed to cover, and we must continually remind ourselves that social life is lived [...]

Five abbreviated case histories of ongoing development projects are presented that illustrate the difference of approach. The cultures of control employed by the planners are noted, but the dynamic of the societal context into which projects are introduced is shown to be equally important to the outcome.

The 'Natyasastra', a Sanskrit work on drama, dance and music of uncertain date, describes in its Fourth Chapter, the 108 dance units, Karanas, of the tandava dance of Lord Siva, and this particular chapter was translated into English in 1936 under the name, 'Tandavalaksanam'. Karanas are also presented as conceptual kinetic units, a tool for dance analysis, applicable in cross-cultural contexts, and they serve as pegs on to which one can hang specific issues surrounding corporeality and the dancing body in the present and in the past.

Anthropologists can use longitudinal, comparative, and multiscale research to illuminate aspects of global change and development. Goals and procedures of the emerging field of sustainability science are examined here in relation to those of the linkages methodology and other multisited, historical, and transnational approaches in recent anthropology. Conclusions about the sustainability of development emerge from field studies in Arembepe, Brazil, and Ivato, Madagascar. The contrasts between Arembepe and Ivato, and the regions and nations that include them, are sharp and almost certainly irreversible. Madagascar suffers from an overdose of environmentalism, while Brazil has been dominated by developmentalism. Arembepe now has a sustainable diversified economy and cultural contacts linking its future with the dynamics of capitalist globalization, Ivato, by contrast, is in a region and nation with dramatically increasing population and diminishing natural resources but no investment stream to provide significant employment alternatives. In future years Ivato and similar farming communities may have little left of their past to sustain. Key words: sustainability, longitudinal fieldwork, cross-cultural comparison, development, environmentalism, Brazil, Madagascar

As an introduction to the five articles in this section that present data analyses focused at the nation level, three dilemmas pertinent to nation-level studies are discussed. First, reasons are explored as to why it is valuable for psychologists to give attention to the national contexts within which the behavior of individuals has more typically been studied. Second, there is some discussion of the extent to which causal explanations of cultural differences can be sustained. Finally, it is argued that nation-level studies have a crucial and growing role to play in explaining variations in the findings of individual-level studies conducted at different locations. Keywords: cultural-level comparisons; ecological fallacy; multiple-nation samples

IN THE WORKS OF William Blake, the word Japan appears, by my count, a total of six times. Each time it is used to refer to the land the farthest [...]

Western European and Native American approaches to spirituality, nature, and science have implications for policy decisions now and into the Twenty First century. This essay explicates traditional American Indian and Western European philosophic and spiritual views of nature in order to promote dialogue and inform choices that are crucial regarding the future of the biosphere. A concept of nature, then, is more than just an explanation of how living things interact with one another. It also serves as a reference point for deciphering the meaning of existence itself. Jeremy Rifkin, The purpose of this article is to engage two primary traditions (drawn with a broad brush), Western European and Native American, with regard to their visions of nature, science, and [...]

This chapter examines cross-national differences in individual values, attitudes, and behaviors. The central question raised is how social-structural and cultural factors account for the differences found. After discussing a series of theoretical issues raised by this question, the chapter reviews the findings of four quantitative sociological research programs on modern cross-national differences. The program on individual modernity led by Alex Inkeles established that social-structural conditions associated with industrialization are linked to an increase in individuals' being open to new experience, rejecting traditional authority, and taking a rational, ambitious, orderly approach to both work and human problems. The cross-national research on the Kohn-Schooler hypothesis that self-directed work increases intellectual functioning and self-directed orientations confirmed the generality of that hypothesis and established that the social status and social class differences in these psychological characteristics found within different countries are largely the result of social-structurally determined differences in the opportunity for occupational self-direction. Eric Wright's cross-national research program on class structure and class consciousness provides evidence that in a range of countries social classes directly affect political attitudes, while acting as tangible barriers to mobility and personal relationships. The research deriving from John Meyer's theories on institutionalization highlights the importance of institutions and socially constructed views of reality for the development and maintenance of cross-national differences and similarities in cultural values and their behavioral embodiment. All four of the programs provide evidence of the continuing importance of historically determined cultural differences. All are also congruent with the hypothesis that speed of change generally decreases as we go from psychological to social-structural to cultural levels of phenomena - a possibility whose confirmation would provide a valuable tool for understanding how culture and social structure affect cross-national differences in values and behavior. KEY WORDS: culture, social structure, attitudes, psychological functioning, INTRODUCTION This chapter examines cross-national differences in individual values, attitudes and behavior. The central issue raised is how social-structural and cultural factors can account for the differences found. Perhaps the [...]

Signposts This article shows how cultural factors affect the ways in which a society treats death and dying, and how these have changed over the centuries in the UK. Even […]

The commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics responds to the most common questions and criticisms regarding the validity and relevance of the assessment of students at the end [...]

The article highlights the relation between art and cultural characteristics with the help of Fischer's theory, proving it to be correct.

The impact of hemispheric approaches on discourse and Asian American literatures on hemispheric studies is explored through the prose writings of Karen Tei Yamashita. It is suggested that hemispheric studies articulated through Asian American literary studies underscores the need to look within and among but also beyond the Americas and specifically to Asia in critical efforts to challenge the discursive centrality of the US.

Literary and cultural studies have long dominated the interdisciplinary field of Asian American studies, reflecting relatively greater openness to multiculturalism within English and American studies departments than in history and social sciences. Dissertations and books on Asian American history have increased dramatically and Asian American history has become more integrated into the broader field of US history as well as subfields like intellectual, cultural and legal history.

Decolonising research in geography is part of a broader 'reflexive' process which continues to question the positivist status of 'researcher as observer'. This paper contributes to this reflexive turn, drawing on the particular experiences of a cross-cultural Honours thesis. The paper is pursued through a parallel journey involving a non-Indigenous researcher (and author of the cross-cultural Honours thesis) engaging Indigenous research1 with interpretative insight from an Indigenous adviser or 'on-looker'. The methodological difficulties revealed by the parallel journey are emphasised to highlight both the complexities and reflexive possibilities of cross-cultural research but also to consider potential institutional and pedagogic implications that stem from the experience. One of the substantial findings of the paper is that, by linking Indigenous community priorities to research and coursework, conventional (and often unequal) research relations are minimised and colonising tendencies reduced. By challenging the conventional way that cross-cultural research is conceived, and the way that institutional practices and research frameworks are implemented, geographers can continue their prolonged and complex efforts at decolonisation of the field and their own practices.

Modern medieval studies find it difficult to reach out to a general audience, so a type of transcultural medievalism undertaken from the refined position of the present-day humanities could make a contribution to worldwide communication and thus to understanding. All learning and scholarship is ultimately subservient to its object and the Middle Ages are far too rich and meaningful to come alive among medievalists only.

The proposal of a new cultural-theoretical problematic of culture as resource is considered from the points of view of its metacultural structure, Adorno's account of the relationship between culture and administration and the relationship between pragmatism and Cultural Studies. Culture as resource aspires to the status of a new cultural-theoretical paradigm that may transform Cultural Studies into Cultural Policy Studies in much the same way that Culture Studies critically succeeded Kulturkritik.

The evolutionary inferences could not and should not be made from synchronic data is argued. To support the idea that inferences about specific evolutionary developments can be made based on a synchronic association a test was conducted.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, I hit upon an exercise I have used around the world ever since, but mostly with high school and college students in the United States. I have [...]

In 1889, Galton argued that often traits diffuse across cultures and therefore we could never really know if cultural traits arose independently as adaptive responses or were a result of [...]