scholarly journals On the Pragmatics and Problematics of Defining Beauty and Character: The Greek Poet Lucian (120-200) Engages Exacting Portraitures and Difficult Subjects

2022 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-20
Author(s):  
Robert Prus
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Multiple Viewpoints ◽  
Related Matter ◽  
Group Life ◽  
Human Endeavor ◽  
Interactionist Perspective ◽  
Difficult Subjects ◽  
Insight Into

Although best known as a satirist of the classical Roman era, Lucian's (c120-200CE) Essays in Portraiture and Essays in Portraiture Defended provide considerable insight into the problematics of people knowing and defining objects (along with the consequential and related matter of people sharing their definitions of reality with others). Engaging notions of admiration, beauty, and character in these two statements, Lucian not only faces the task of establishing viable frames of reference for linguistically defining the essence of a woman deemed to be particularly beautiful and gracious but also assumes the challenge of defending one’s preferred definitions of particular subject matters from others who do not share these views. Whereas Lucian uses the works of prominent sculptors, painters, poets, and philosophers as reference points in articulating beauty and grace, this paper also acknowledges the perils of people who sincerely express their viewpoints on others even when these descriptions of others are cast in clearly positive terms. Lucian may be a lesser-known classical Greek (Syrian) author, but he is an astute observer of human endeavor. Lucian’s work on portraiture also has a striking cross-cultural and transhistorical relevance for a more enduring pragmatist emphasis on human knowing and acting. Not only is Lucian (a) explicitly attentive to the necessity of people establishing frames of reference for describing objects to others in meaningful terms, but he also overtly recognizes (b) the multiple viewpoints that people may invoke with respect to describing particular objects, (c) the resistances that people may encounter from others, and (d) the importance of speakers articulating the foundations for their claims amidst contested notions of reality. Approached from an interactionist perspective (Mead 1934; Blumer 1969; Strauss 1993; Prus 1996, 1997, 1999), wherein attention is given to the more general matters of people acquiring perspectives, defining objects, and sustaining particular notions of reality, this paper uses Lucian’s materials on portraiture as a cross-cultural and transhistorical resource both for assessing (and qualifying) existing interactionist conceptualizations of human group life and for suggesting some more particular areas of inquiry to which contemporary scholars may attend.

scholarly journals Literature Focus Units as a Means of Exploring the Refugee Experience

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang Hwang ◽  
Betty Coneway
Keyword(s):  
School Environment ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
New School ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
Refugee Literature ◽  
Refugee Experience ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
A Current

<p>Changes in the nation’s demographics, a current focus on immigration, and the world’s refugee crisis require educators to explore positive ways to assist students and families in transition. This article suggests using refugee literature to help ease children into the new school environment. Books associated with the refugee theme are organized using the literature focus unit framework. Four specific children’s literature titles are highlighted within the piece; however, the suggested books and activities are provided as a model to assist teachers in gaining new insight into how they can use cross-cultural communication to explore the refugee experience. We propose that through this exemplar unit, teachers can learn about authentic instructional approaches that may help them meet the multicultural needs of a variety of diverse student groups.</p>

scholarly journals What is happiness: a cross-cultural research into present-day associations

2021 ◽  
Vol 122 ◽  
pp. 01008
Author(s):  
Irina N. Kabanova ◽  
Anna M. Gorokhova ◽  
Elena G. Nozhevnikova ◽  
Ekaterina V. Vaseneva
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Dynamic Character ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
French And English ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Insight Into

The article under consideration is aimed at cross-cultural quantified associative mapping of the universal concept “happiness” and shaping the hierarchy of its cornerstone axiological constituents as perceived by Russian, French and English linguosocieties within the framework of the global pandemic reality. “Happiness” has been subject to transdisciplinary investigation since ancient times due to its dynamic character and ambiguity. The concept of “happiness”, although psychologically ingrained and biologically predetermined, can change significantly based on different outer and inner factors. It demonstrates an undeniable potential for multiple perceptions, various patterns of ethnic-specific and highly personalized verbalization, requiring unification and analysis of different sociocultural stimuli that trigger off this or that row of associations. The authors provide keen insight into the semantics of the concept and its static lexicographic axiological paradigm in the Russian, French and English languages. Three associative surveys were carried out through Google-forms to estimate the degree at which the “static projection” of “happiness” is relevant nowadays in pandemic-shaken societies as well as collect free associations, manually contrast the data and establish parallels and peculiarities within up-to-date Russian, French and English (American) visions of “happiness”. The survey results testify to the fact that “health”, “family”, “peace” and “freedom” are universally recognized constituents of “happiness” while certain elements prove to be ethnic-specific and arise due to concrete social circumstances.

scholarly journals The Cultural Impact of Information Systems - Through the Eyes of Hofstede - A Critical Journey

10.28945/3116 ◽  
2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Jones ◽  
Irit Alony
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Cultural Impact ◽  
Development And Management ◽  
Insight Into

With the increasing levels of multiculturalism in today’s business and the proliferation and essentiality of information systems, development and management of IS needs to be considered in light of the cultural factors which impact upon its utility. Hofstede’s work on culture is the most widely cited in existence. His observations and analysis provide scholars and practitioners a valuable insight into the dynamics of cross-cultural relationships. However, such a groundbreaking body of work does not escape criticism. Hofstede has been dogged by academics discrediting his work in part or whole. Nonetheless, far more scholars exist who support Hofstede than those that don’t. Most quote Hofstede’s work with unabashed confidence, many including his findings as absolute assumptions. This paper takes a critical look at Hofstede’s work and applies his findings to the practical needs of information systems. The paper finds support for the dimensions promoted by Hofstede in regard to information systems, but recommends continued research to provide greater clarity and continued applicability of his espoused dimensions.

Who owns 'culture'?1

1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Thomas Lawson ◽  
Robert N. McCauley
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Early Childhood Development ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Childhood Development ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Fieldwork Experience ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractNo one owns the concept 'culture'. Anthropology's long-standing proprietary claim on the concept rests on three sorts of contentions - none of which are convincing. Anthropology's overwhelmingly interpretive approaches to cultural materials have led to a preoccupation with the details of cultural materials at the expense of formulating explanatory theories. This has, among other things, rendered fieldwork experience sufficient for professional credentials. However, if the details are all that matter, then comparative and cross-cultural research, as well as most of the social sciences, make no sense. Contrary to this view, it is proposed here that theories reveal which details matter. Cognitive accounts of the sort we advanced in Rethinking Religion (1990) offer a firm theoretical basis for cross-cultural study of religious materials. Other types of research concerning non-human primates, early childhood development, and various social and cognitive impairments also offer insight into culture (without relying on fieldwork studies).

scholarly journals Adult Learning and Change: An Autobiographical Portrait of a Chinese Woman in Canada

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Ge Liu
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learning ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Theoretical Level ◽  
Mature Adult ◽  
Learning And Change ◽  
Transformative Impact ◽  
Insight Into

The themes of adult learning, cross-cultural learning, and transformative learning are common to many continuing educators working at universities across Canada. In this essay, I narrate my experiences as a mature, adult learner returning to university. Following a literature review and discussion of methodology, I begin this autobiographical portrait with a description of my initial education and life experiences in China. From this foundation, I describe and interpret my cross-cultural sojourn as a graduate student in Canada. This sojourn was both happy and sad, both empowering and disempowering. My story is one of learning—learning as an adult, learning in a cross-cultural setting, and learning that ultimately had a transformative impact on how I view myself and my world. Through exploring my own experiences with learning and change, I hope to offer readers of the Canadian Journal of Continuing Education a unique opportunity for insight into personal processes that are difficult to truly understand at a theoretical level alone.

scholarly journals ‘Art for a New Understanding’: An Interview with Valerie Keenan, Manager of Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre

Arts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Sally Butler
Keyword(s):  
Visual Arts ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
Indigenous Art ◽  
Cultural Expression ◽  
Art And Culture ◽  
Aboriginal Art ◽  
Global World ◽  
Insight Into

A network of Indigenous art and culture centres across Australia play a significant role in promoting cross-cultural understanding. These centres represent specific Indigenous cultures of the local country, and help sustain local Indigenous languages, traditional knowledge, storytelling and other customs, as well as visual arts. They are the principle point of contact for information about the art, and broker the need to sustain cultural heritage at the same time as supporting new generations of cultural expression. This interview with Dr Valerie Keenan, Manager of Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre in northern Australia, provides rare insight into the strategies, challenges, and aspirations of Indigenous art centres and how the reception of the art impacts on artists themselves. It provides a first-hand account of how Indigenous artists strive to generate a new understanding of their culture and how they participate in a global world.

Dangerous Debates: Jain responses to theological challenges at the Mughal court

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 1311-1344 ◽  
Author(s):  
AUDREY TRUSCHKE
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Local Identities ◽  
Diverse Communities ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Religious Differences

AbstractIn the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Jain leaders faced a series of religious questions at the royal Mughal court. At the request of their imperial Muslim hosts, Jain representatives discussed aspects of both Islam and Jainism on separate occasions, including the veracity of Islam, whether Jains are monotheists, and the validity of Jain asceticism. The Mughals sometimes initiated these conversations of their own accord and at other times acted on the prompting of Brahmans, who had political and religious interests at stake in encouraging imperial clashes with Jain leaders. Jain authors recorded these exchanges in numerous Sanskrit texts, which generally remain unknown to Mughal historians and Sanskrit scholars alike. I examine the Jain accounts of these cross-cultural debates and expound their political, religious, and intellectual implications. These engagements showcase how the Mughals negotiated religious differences with diverse communities in their kingdom. Furthermore, the Sanskrit narratives of these dialogues outline complex theological visions of how Jain beliefs and practices could thrive within a potentially hazardous Islamicate imperial order. More broadly Jain and Mughal discussions provide rich insight into key developments in religious precepts and local identities in early modern India.

Cross-cultural psychometric assessment of the VAGUS insight into psychosis scale – Spanish version

2018 ◽  
Vol 259 ◽  
pp. 450-454
Author(s):  
Patricia Ponce de León ◽  
Philip Gerretsen ◽  
Parita Shah ◽  
Ricardo Saracco-Alvarez ◽  
Ariel Graff-Guerrero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Spanish Version ◽  
Psychometric Assessment ◽  
Insight Into

Cross-Cultural Insight into the Association between Religiousness and Authoritarianism

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergej Flere ◽  
Rudi Klanjšek
Keyword(s):  
Religious Orientation ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
The United States ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Main Study ◽  
Religious Salience ◽  
Extrinsic Orientation ◽  
Insight Into

The current study investigated the possible existence of a relationship between authoritarianism and religiousness and the possible strength of this potential relationship. The study involved samples from four cultural environments known to differ substantially in terms of religious salience and content: Slovenia (predominantly Catholic), Serbia (predominantly Eastern Orthodox), Bosnia and Herzegovina (predominantly Muslim), and the United States (predominantly Protestant). Religiousness was assessed by way of religious orientation (including intrinsic and extrinsic orientation) as proposed by Allport (1950), whereas authoritarianism was tapped by a modified Lane scale (1955). Results from zero-order correlations indicated a strong and positive association between authoritarianism and all types of religious orientation, regardless of the sample analyzed. Residualizing the main study constructs by demographic variables did not alter the results. The association changed only when each dimension of religious orientation was controlled for the effect of other dimensions. Results did not lend support to the hypothesis that authoritarianism is more strongly linked to those who are more extrinsically oriented.

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