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Many individuals develop severe mechanical back problems via the development of musculoskeletal problems from sitting at a desk. University of British Columbia (UBC) has approximately 14,000 employees, and an overwhelming majority of these people are staff and faculty members. It is a common assumption that those who experience chronic pain tend to be less productive as its effects can transcend into cognitive interference. As proposed by exercise sport science experts from the University of Queensland, “even when adults meet physical activity guidelines, sitting for prolonged periods can compromise metabolic health” (Owen, Healy, Matthews & Dunstan, 2010). Considering the above, in conjunction with the UBC SEEDS Program, we explore the outcomes of both perceived productivity and health status amongst staff and faculty members. Currently, there are two locations on the UBC Vancouver campus that provide standing desks for staff and faculty; thus, we investigate our variables of interest via a within-subjects correlational design study in coordination with the UBC Centre of Interactive Research on Sustainability and the UBC First Nations House of Learning. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Among the many theories that evaluate “made by Žižek” and “made in China,” history reveals an uncanny similarity. Both of them unexpectedly project the complexity and nuances of the capitalist imaginary in the post-cold war era of globalization. They are both sorts of “global commodities” piercing the limits of culture and history to announce themselves in the West.

Globalization is an inescapable fact that conditions daily life in China today. To squarely confront this fact, two mythologies regarding globalization and China must be avoided. The first is the romanticization of globalization, which turns the trend into an all-purpose solution to China's problems that will introduce ‘universal’ values to the Chinese people. In fact, Chinese people should maintain a critical distance from the phenomenon and realize that so-called ‘universal’ values often turn out to be self-serving ‘Western’ values. On the other hand, there is also the mythology that globalization is not happening in China at all, but is rather a process occurring elsewhere that does not affect the daily life of the Chinese people. Various examples from contemporary fiction and film prove this observation to be wrong. Moreover, they point the way to a possible response to the challenges of globalization: a community ethic that keeps the Chinese people grounded in their local environment and dependent up...

is already completely different from the culture of the New Era (xin shiqi), we have begun to use the term post-New Era (hou xin shiqi) to deepen our analysis of the culture of the nineties.1 I would like to begin my exploration into this culture of the nineties with excerpts from recent works by two authors who have emerged as the most lively and energetic young writers of the decade, Xu Kun and Liu Xinglong, and that clearly reveal the emergence and growth of a new social and cultural space. In Xu Kun's novella Hot Dog (Re gou), a scholar, Chen Weigao, sees