Culture Essays (Examples)

Culture of Interest: Japan
Theoretical foundations of cultural and cross-cultural analysis: Japan and America

Japan: Mildly collectivist culture

American culture

American: An individualistic culture

Similarities and differences in Japanese and U.S. culture

Potential biases of researcher

Appendix I- Hofstede four Dimensional Theory

Edward Tylor (1832-1917) defines culture as a collection of customs, laws, morals, knowledge, and symbols displayed by a society and its constituting members. Culture is form of collective expression by groups of people. Since the dawn of industrial revolution and later, due to an increased integration of cultures across nations, cross-cultural analysis has assumed much import in scholastic discourse within psychology, anthropology, and psychology. Present study is an endeavor to make a cross-cultural assessment of American and Japanese culture. More differences than similarities have been found in both the cultures. Where Japanese culture fosters Aimai, meaning ambiguity and vagueness, Americans are intolerant to this characteristic. ased on Hofstede's…

Culture and the Work of Lahiri
Focusing questions: After looking at three or four definitions of culture from different dictionaries, what do these definitions have in common? In the United States, some members of ethnic groups who have been in the country for several generations or more may feel distant from their cultures or even without a culture. What are the various factors that account for these feelings?

The Four Definitions of Culture:

"Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving" (Tamu.edu).

"Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Today, in the United States as in other…

Americans going to Singapore to entertain the possibility of establishing business there, need to know each of the three cultures prefers to deal.
Religion plays an important part in the cultural life of every country, and a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of International Business Research points out the cultural realities regarding the negotiation styles of Muslim Iranians, Buddhist Taiwanese and Christian Americans. The independent variables in this research -- religion, collectivism, education, age, gender and work experience -- were tested through empirical surveys of the three cultures. The "devotion to religious rules" is far more prevalent among Muslims than among Christians and Buddhist groups (Farazmand, et al., 2011).

hile negotiators should be aware of this cultural fact, this does not mean that any Muslim negotiator would rely more on religion than on "analytical, normative, factual or intuitive negotiation styles"; what matters is the degree of devotion the negotiator has…

Culture Psych
Culture and Human Psychology: An Examination of Gift-Giving in Different Nations

Culture is a complex phenomenon that evades being defined in terms that are at once comprehensive and concrete -- any entirely firm definition of culture is bound to leave out some elements of some cultures, and any definition that is all-inclusive is necessarily unspecific in certain regards. Put broadly, culture can be thought of as the sum total of popular forms of expression, commonly held values and symbols, familial and political structures, technological advances and levels of utilization, persistent religious/spiritual beliefs, and the hierarchy of needs and manners of meeting those needs that are produced/held by members of any given group of human beings. In other words, culture influences everything humans do, as everything humans do takes place within the context of culture -- a painting, for example, will have a specific meaning within the culture that…

Culture pervasiveness and the difficulty of defining it is one of the reasons why it is attributed for many merger failures. The problem considered in this study was the unstable operating environment that existed following the acquisition of INTEC Engineering by Worley Parsons which was likely caused by differences in organizational cultures. WorleyParsons acquired SEA Engineering in 2007 and INTEC Engineering April 2008 and combined these organizations to form INTECSEA. The capabilities found in these organizations were needed for WorleyParsons ability to facilitate a comprehensive solution for their clients working in deep waters. However, one year on and INTEC's entire management team resigned and staff retention remains a major issue. To understand why this trend is occurring, this analysis will review and apply theory to the transition process to the case of INTECSEA and provide insights to the causes by identifying the effects.
Contents

Introduction

Problem Statement

2.1 Background 5…

Culture is quite a broad term and encompasses a lot of different things. The oldest way of describing a culture is basically talking about the different aspects linked to it. This means that the oldest way includes the mention of the music, sculpture, literature and paintings of that certain kind of culture. It has been noted that a culture of a region becomes more prominent and profound if it is carried out and exhibited by the intellectual and the upper class. (Skelton & Allen, 1999) Another way of looking at culture is by considering what the majority of people are doing or how they are carrying out their own life.
This brings us to talking about the second aspect of culture. This is merely the way of life of the people living in a certain area. This sort of culture can even be used to describe animals if one thinks…

Culture of a Nursing Home
In order to qualify as a culture, a group or subgroup of people needs to have sufficient characteristics to differentiate it from the surrounding society. This paper examines a nursing home in the community in order to determine whether the people at the nursing home constitute their own culture. The paper examines whether their rituals, physical space, artifacts, social habits, music, and arts are sufficient to establish the nursing home as a culture separate and distinct from the overriding culture in the area. Furthermore, it examines the role that the various members of the nursing home community play in forming and continuing the culture.

Of all the aspects of the nursing home environment that differentiate it from the prevailing culture outside of the nursing home, the element of control is probably the most defining of it as a culture. The residents of a nursing home…

In the more informal and low-context culture of United States, closer physical contact and more intimate exchanging of personal information is accepted between strangers. If individuals violate these rules of symbolic communication -- for example, if a Japanese subordinate playfully jokes with his or her boss, or a person in an American office never volunteers personal information about his or her personal life, that person may be viewed as possibly 'suspect' or strange.

Although culture may be occasionally viewed simply as "the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving," this locates culture in the past, as a repository of knowledge, rather than locating it a contemporary context of human behavior and constantly evolving symbolic language…

Culture Cuisine in Australia
"Australia is one of seven continents and constitutes most of the Pacific region, both in terms of size and population." (Compton & Warren 2008, P 126). The indigenous people influence food and Australian culture and people immigrated into Australia from other part of the world. Typically, multicultural influx of the people from other part of the world settling in Australia greatly influences the contemporary Australian cuisine.

Objective of this paper is to discuss culture cuisine in Australia. The paper uses cultural capital theory and theory of social differentiation to discuss how cuisine has been used to establish hierarchy in Australia.

Cultural influence on Australia Cuisine

Concept of culture is the social norms, custom, morals, belief and traits guiding people conduct within a society. On the other hand, "food culture is the ensemble of shared knowledge, attitudes and practices that people bring to selecting, preparing and eating…

Culture Industry
The cultural industries may be described as the "industrially produced commercial entertainment -- broadcasting, film, publishing, recorded music -- as distinct from the subsidised "arts" -- visual and performing arts, museums and galleries" Galloway & Dunlop 18). Films/movies, radio and publications compose a system which is homogeneous in every sense. The media that is technological in nature also demonstrates a standardization and homogeneity. The aim of the television is to synthesize both film and radio. This is the reason why the culture industry is developing at a very fast rate and this progression has directed this industry to predominant impacts. Cultural products are important for the reason that they bear identity, ethics/principles and help a society to advance economically and socially. When people of a society make endeavors to preserve and promote their cultural diversity, such attempts encourage the development of cultural industries (Horkheimer & Adorno 95). However,…

Culture Health Care
Culture is a very difficult and slippery term in today's vocabulary. Culture is always changing and moving towards new preferences and attitudes that shape its followers' belief structures. Health care is a part of culture and different segments of society have different approaches towards this idea. The purpose of this essay is to highlight the differences of all cultures in perceptions of health and health care. In this essay I will identify the principles of cross-cultural communication and explain how any cultural difference could become obstacles in affecting the communication between patients and their health care providers.

Before discussing the nature of culture on health care it is important to define what this term means. estern culture is a hybrid of many other cultures. Scaling down, American culture can also be localized into distinct segments of appropriate behavior. Race, ethnic heritage and religion all compose the ideals…

Culture Identification
The culture that I am studying is that of the Hawaiian people. Hawaiians are Polynesians who migrated to the Hawaiian islands several centuries prior to European arrival on those islands. The Hawaiians are believed to have originated from the Marquesas and later the present-day island of a'aitea, which was originally known as Havai'i -- the migrants brought the name with them to their new home. The Hawaiians were one of many groups to have settled migrated from a'aitea, including the Maori and apa Nui, and are therefore strongly related by cultural tradition to other Polynesian groups. Hawaiian culture is also influenced by interaction with Europeans, starting with British explorer James Cook. After originally aligning themselves with the British, the Hawaiian islands were eventually absorbed into the United States, further altering native Hawaiian culture, which has developed in the context of both its Polynesian traditions and its present sociocultural…

Culture Element Makes a Nation Distinct
How cultural differences affect an international negotiation

Gesteland (2002 p. 33) cites that understanding how culture is powerful in the outcomes and negotiation process is the first step in any international negotiations. Cultural differences shape the behaviours and perceptions of various parties in negotiation especially in the preparation stage. A company pursuing an international joint venture requires identifying an international company for negotiations. Managers who are quite knowledgeable about the role of culture in international negotiations will choose a target company with much effort and care. Negotiating with a company featuring a similar cultural background is easy. Moreover, it needs less time to establish rapport. This minimizes any chances of encountering misunderstanding. Negotiating with a business with a different cultural background requires managers to exercise absolute preparation thus making them hesitant to initiate the first move. Thus, in international negotiations, cultural differences are likely…

Negotiations can also differ in strategy when dealing with gender differences. In a highly-feminine society, the idea that a product or service is "readily available" could work against the seller/owner, since it gives the impression that nobody 'wants' that product or service. A highly-coveted product or service is one that is not readily available. Take, as an example, the high demand for Hermes bags among its female patrons. Customers have to register months before a new Hermes bag is released, and the fact that reservations are sometimes available only to selected clientele (depending on frequency of purchase, ability to purchase the bags, and prestige) make these bag highly coveted. In effect, Hermes can demand any price for any new bag because of this psyche of 'scarcity' (limited supply) marketed to its female customers.

In collectivist societies, it is not unusual that a negotiator will encounter "shadow negotiations," wherein secret discussions…

Culture a multifaceted concept, navigating cultural boundaries constructs borders a challenge managers. Globalisation brought significant challenges notions cultures monolithic easily conceptualised. For managers, understanding motivations, values, behaviours employees globe a complex undertaking.
Globalization has generated much controversy in business environments as managers started to experience more and more problems as a result of foreign influences affecting their companies. Organizational culture is an important concept when considering this situation and this is reflected by the fact that an increasing number of managers have decided to restructure their strategies in order to be able to accomplish their goals with little to no impediments. "Globalization would require from large business firms highly skilled managers to cope with the challenges and responsibilities of the so-called global market." (Guedes & Faria, p. 21) Managers in the present practically need to consider a much wider range of factors as they focus on devising innovative strategies. Market…

This has lead to a serious threatening of Palestinian agriculture and business. There are vast socio-economic differences between the Palestinians who are currently suffering greatly from their current situation and the Israelis just across the river. This only fuels the fire, and throughout the generations potentially hopeful negotiations between the two nations have continuously resulted in failure. This has lead to a complete lack of efficient solution to help ease both the socio-economic suffering and the looming threat of physical violence. Unable to help the situation, or lighten the load of the burden on Palestine and Israel with such border constrictions, the situation proves doubtful to be resolved any time soon.
Although much less severe, the border between the United States and Mexico has also created controversy that has helped mold the two very different cultures in such close proximity. There is a similar hostility between the two cultures. What…

Culture
Filipino culture is rich, diverse, and complex. The culture draws from both Spanish and Southeast Asian traditions, because the Philippines were conquered by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. Filipino culture is therefore highly unique; the Tagalog language, food, and customs reflect a combination of indigenous and Spanish influences. Moreover, a sizable Muslim population also inhabits the Philippines, making the island nation remarkably diverse.

Like Filipino culture, Chilean culture is also influenced by Spanish customs and traditions, as both Chile and the Philippines were conquered and ruled by the Spanish. However, the indigenous Incan culture of what is now Chile differed greatly from the indigenous Filipino culture. Both the Philippines and Chile are Catholic countries, and Catholicism influences the cultures of both nations.

Modern German culture is the product of the country's long and varied history. However, German culture differs greatly from both Filipino culture and Chilean culture. Most…

Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America, Kalle Lasn tells the reader of a profound realization that he had in a parking lot supermarket. Lasn was about to drop a coin to pull out a locked shopping cart when he felt a surge of anger towards the supermarket chain for forcing him into obedience. Furthermore, Lasn was angered by the lack of any local produce or other products in the "sterile supermarket."
Lasn, editor of the postmodern magazine Adbusters, then forced a bent coin into the slot, sabotaging the locking mechanism. He then vowed to never come back to the supermarket and instead went towards a fruit and vegetable store, one that sold locally-grown produce.

This story sets the tone of Lasn's book. Culture Jam reads like an angry and passionate rant against the "mediated, consumption-driven culture" that has taken over American society. Every American was forced into a sort of…

In the U.S., IDV reaches a very high level, which means that the society has a more individualistic attitude and is characterized by relatively loose human relationships. The high MAS level in the U.S. reveals the fact that there is a higher degree of gender differentiation of roles. Same as in the case of Japan, it means that the female population in the U.S. tends to be more assertive and competitive.

Although the workforce in Japan is quite different from that in the U.S., a series of transformations can be observed in the Japanese market. These changes can be observed in younger employees, which try to adapt to the modifications determined by Western companies doing business in Japan. Therefore, employees of an older age in Japan tend to respond to motivational factors like security and job stability, and are less willing to change jobs, while younger employees are stimulated by…

The evolution of political systems varies from culture to culture, and developed at different rates depending on the physical and social needs of that particular society. Society may take on the form of a band, tribe, chiefdom, or a state -- representing varying degrees of organization and centralization, the size of the region of occupation, and their economic development. Since bands are uncentralized and equal, the Hutterites are probably chiefdom.

hiefdoms are organizations in which size, centralization, and even stratification change -- small or large; usually with domestication of flora and fauna most important. They do produce surpluses, and are more sophisticated in what holds them together (beliefs, etc.). The Hutterites are male-dominated, and have a central leader (hief) and two assistants. They stratify jobs into expertise (Hog Boss, orn Boss, etc.), remain rural, and practice a near total community of goods -- everything is owned by the group (their…

Online Access and Culture Access to the Internet has been linked to a number of different influences over culture. As a new means of communication, the Internet has transformed how culture is disseminated around the world, but it has also had a significant influence on how culture is created. All told, the influence of the online access to culture is far-reaching, and there are few touchpoints of culture that have not been subject to the influence of the Internet. Yet, there is often a temptation to oversimplify the influence that the Internet has had on culture, and cultures. This paper will provide an overview of some of the most important among the complex interactions between online access and culture.
Autonomy
One of the major themes in the discussion of the influence of the Internet on culture is the outcome of greater autonomy. The Internet has become the world’s largest store…

Arabic Language and Culture Course: Middle East Culture Abstract
This grant proposal seeks funds to support the development of the Arabic Language and Culture Course. This course will provide opportunities for students to further enhance their Arabic language skills outside the class setting. The target audience is Intermediate Arabic learners who have completed at least two Arabic courses. The primary goals of this proposed course include: preparing students to communicate effectively in Arabic.
Project Description
Rationale
This theme of Hookah Lounges enables me as an instructor to incorporate Arabic Culture concurrently with developing the linguistic skills of listening, understanding, speaking, reading, and writing. Hookah Lounges in Dearborn incorporate such elements as traditional Arabic décor and Arabic music. They are regarded by many as a novel and chic way to socialize and embrace multiculturalism. The reason I chose Dearborn is that it has the biggest population of Arabs in the US.…

Understanding the Characteristics of the Iraqi Culture Culture refers to a set of shared behavioral patterns and interactions, effective understanding as well as cognitive construct among a group of people passed on from one member of the group to the other through socialization. Such cultural patterns are unique to each cultural group and serve to distinguish them because of their uniqueness.
Cultures are made up of various characteristics chief among them being the concept of sharing. In such a case, members of a given culture share the beliefs and practices that unite them. Moreover, culture is socially constructed and hence shared among the people. Secondly, culture is learned. People learn their culture through social interactions among the members of the culture as well as through formal teaching and the media. Thirdly, culture is symbolic. Different cultures use different symbols to communicate different messages that are understood within the confines of…

Individual Ethnic / Cultural Identity PaperOnes ethnicity and culture are important to consider if one is going to be counseling others. The reason for this is that everyone has a perspective, and if one is unaware of ones perspective and how it colors ones outlook, it can lead to a bias or an unintentional prejudice in the way one treats others. Thus, understanding ones own culture is just as important as understanding the culture, values and experiences of others (Hulnick, 1977). As Pedersen and Pope (2016) show, counseling requires empathyand if one does not even know oneself it is going to be somewhat difficult to know others. Knowledge starts at home and in empathizing with ourselves we can begin to empathize with others.My Ethnic GroupI identify as a Caucasian Italian American. I consider myself American first and foremost, but my family ancestry traces back to Italy. Racially, I would say…

Using MLA format, analyze the culture(s) and values represented in the assigned supplemental text and comment on any parallels with Hirschberg text readings.The assigned reading details who food and culture are heavily related to one another and often reflect the prevailing values of the civilization. The reading provides the example of Thailand and how their collectivistic culture is embodied in the manner in which they create their food. Here, the people of Thailand share plates with each other which represents the emphasis placed on community and family. American culture however is much more focused on the individual and those people often serve themselves on a single plate. Both examples represent the values placed on society and how they are interwoven within the overall civilization. America values individualism which is reflected in its capitalistic nature. Society is predicates on individuals pursuing their own self-interests and using those interests to further their…

Ancient Male Rulers Constantine the Great lived from 272 AD to 337 AD. Charlemagne lived from 742 AD to 814 AD. They were separated by four hundred years, ruled over separate parts of the world—yet they shared some things in common that united them in spite of their differences: they were both, for example, warrior-kings—rulers who wielded the sword to dominate and hold power; they were both, also, members of the Christian faith. Constantine’s mother Helena is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, while Constantine himself ended the persecution of the Christians in Rome and brought the Church out of the underground. Charlemagne, for his part, was crowned the Holy Roman Emperor by the pope on Christmas Day in 800 AD for saving Rome from the barbarians. Charlemagne ruled over the Germanic lands while Constantine ruled over the declining Roman Empire prior to the onset of the Dark…

The Importance of Language in Understanding Culture Introduction
One of the lesser known, but important, programs of the United Nations is to promote the preservation of the world's languages. The UNDESA has incorporated language into sustainability standards, in particular concerned about the preservation of the world's languages that are most at risk. Language, the group argues, represents a way of thinking for a people (UNDESA, 2016). By that logic, it is essential to understanding a culture to understand its language. Culture is incredibly complex, and it can be impossible to fully understand a culture without immersion in it. But without immersion, learning more about a culture can facilitate mutual understanding, it can facilitate commerce, and it can allow for knowledge to be transferred from one culture to another. If each culture is viewed as a source of knowledge, then the vocabularies of each culture can be seen as a window…

Abstract
While cancel culture has been discussed in a variety of different ways, the term has taken on a pejorative meaning that is, in many ways, unearned.  Cancel culture is theoretically rooted in expecting people to pay consequences for bad behavior.  Harvey Weinstein may have been one of the most notable celebrities to have been canceled, as his social status and influence waned dramatically after numerous allegations of sexual abuse against women in Hollywood.  However, cancel culture came reflect anyone getting changed or discontinued because of reasons having to do with any type of changing cultural norm, not just because of outcry against them.  As a result, while people are correctly labeling many celebrities are canceled, they are also falsely calling other things canceled because of changes.  This essay explores cancel culture, its real casualties, and whether those casualties are deserved.

Cancel Culture Essay Titles

1. Cancel Culture: Why Is…

Attitudes towards aging do vary among cultures, with concepts of age and age-related behavioral norms being culturally bound. In spite of stereotypes that suggest some cultures honor their elders, research shows that ageism—discrimination against elders—“form of social prejudice that people from all social backgrounds have to deal with,” (Berger, 2017, p. 1). Still, culture will determine the roles assigned to people in different age brackets. Attitudes towards young adults and other age cohorts will impact the evolution of political and social institutions. For example, people under a certain age will not be considered fully able or mature enough to contribute to major decisions affecting that society. Age itself is a major factor affecting attitudes towards its own and other age groups. For instance, young people in any culture will view people their own age differently from people who are significantly younger or older. Gender also factors into the age equation,…

Film Review: SelenaSelena (1997) chronicles the rise and tragic end of one of the most popular Latina entertainers, Selena Quintanilla-Prez. The film is a biopic, so it does not have a thesis like a fictional film. It is constrained by needing to follow (mostly) the actual events of Selenas life. It clearly establishes that Selena was a talented young woman who defied expectations about the limits of the Latino music market. She won over Spanish-speaking fans despite being raised in America and not being a native Spanish speaker, a fact which is poignantly illustrated early in the film when she tries to convince her songwriting father to let her sing in English. She became a historic crossover Mexican-American star, winning over American and Mexican fans with her winning personality and wholesome yet sensual persona. Her rise to fame was cruelly cut short when she was killed by the president of…

Cultural Differences The predominant religions of Northern and Western European American and Southern and Eastern European Americans are Protestantism and Catholicism. Prior to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, Europe as a whole was Roman Catholic. That unity of religious expression was shattered when Luther, Calvin, Knox, Henry VIII and others revolted against the Church and preached their own new religious ideas. The aristocracy got behind them in many cases, particularly in the Northern and Western portions or Europe (England, northern Germany, pockets of France), while Southern and Eastern Europe remained attached to the Catholic Church (Italy, Spain, Hungary, Poland, southern Germany). The Protestants aligned with Jewish groups, who saw an opportunity to get out of the ghetto by working with the new Protestant aristocracy (Jones, 2014). Jews were welcomed back into England (they had been kicked out for centuries), and they settled in parts of Germany and France.…

My Cultural Background As an African American my culture of origin is connected both with the culture of America and with the culture of Africa. My ancestors came to America as part of the slave trade. During that time, they adopted Christianity as their religious culture; so ultimately, the culture of my people is a mix of European, American and African ideas and values. Predominantly, though, the culture of my people is American and Christian. In the 20th century, some people in my community took to practicing Islam as a way to further develop their sense of their African ancestry. Overall, the culture is diverse and depends on many different inputs. This paper will describe some of those inputs, how they impact my community, and show how they are social, cultural, political and economical.
The circumstances under which my people’s culture migrated to the U.S. were not positive: slavery was…

Taking a Knee and the Cultural Problem at the Heart of Race Introduction
The recent riots over the death of George Floyd has stemmed not so much from the killing of an unarmed black man by police but rather from the perception that the black community in general has been marginalized and oppressed for years. High profile celebrities like LeBron James, Steph Curry and Colin Kaepernick have supported the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, as have many black communities across the nation. However, for blacks and other races and ethnicities in the military, the desire to speak out against oppression while at the same time honoring and respecting the flag and the rule of law has presented a paradox of sorts. On the one hand, taking a knee during the National Anthem became a sign of protest for oppressed voices, spearheaded by Kaepernick and later endorsed by Nike, other celebrities…

In Huntington’s (1993) essay “The Clash of Civilizations?” the political scientist posited that whereas nation states had been aligned previously on cultural terms in the past, in the coming years of the modern world these terms would become disjointed as various cultures emerged or re-asserted themselves. Along these cultural lines, the discourse of modern politics would be situated. In other words, Huntington (1993) viewed the cultures of various civilizations serving as the source of conflict in the coming era. Conflict would not be driven by economics or geopolitical aims but rather by the cultures of the world’s civilizations. This paper will compare and contrast Huntington’s thesis with thesis by Inglehart and Norris (2003) who, in the wake of 9/11, re-assessed Huntington’s idea and found it be half-right; it will argue that Huntington’s thesis remains the correct one and that Inglehart and Norris (2003) are too focused on the minutiae and…

Demographics are changing rapidly and dramatically in the United States. People are living longer, but the ethnic composition of the senior age cohort is not the same as it is for the young. While the young generations are becoming more ethnically diverse by the minute, the older generation remains more proportionately white. This demographic shift is being referred to as the “gray and the brown,” with seniors and young brown segments of society having different values, needs, and expectations. The implications of the grey and the brown phenomenon include changes to public policy, education, healthcare, and political culture in general. Generational differences have perennially affected the different voting patterns among seniors and young people. The differences are not just due to different ideas of how taxpayer funds should be allocated, but also to social norms and institutions. Older age cohorts were raised in a different generation with different values, attitudes,…

According to Illich (1968), hypocrisy is, perhaps, an instinctive trait shared by majority of Americans. They are mentally prepared to accept that the motives of potentially legitimizing the 1963 international volunteer action are not applicable when it comes to performing the very same act five years later. “Mission vacations” involving the poor people of Mexico was the trend among wealthy American students during the initial half of the decade. Emotional concerns for the just-found poverty beyond the nation’s southern border, together with utter thoughtlessness to the far severer state of the domestic poor, warranted this benevolence. Intellectual understanding of the challenges linked to successful volunteer action failed to dull the spirits of the soi-disant volunteers, papal volunteers, and Peace Corps (Illich, 1968). Illich (1968) believed the presence of institutions such as the Conference on InterAmerican Student Projects was actually insulting to the Mexican nation. He claimed he felt revolted by…

Miami is the de facto gateway to Latin America, and Calle Ocho has for decades served as the hub of the city’s Cuban culture and community. When it first began more than forty years ago, the Calle Ocho street festival was almost exclusively Cuban in character. Now the Calle Ocho festival reflects shifting demographics and the greater diversity of Latin American people in South Florida. I selected the Calle Ocho street festival as an example of what the overall area has to offer. The festival typically takes place in March. Even during the rest of the year, though, Calle Ocho retains a unique culture, identity, and aesthetic. Landmark establishments like Ball and Chain have recently experienced a revival as younger generations recognize the historical value and worth inherent in preserving such iconic places. The Calle Ocho area has become world renowned, and one of the top tourist destinations in the…

Intercultural Situations: Describing a Person from a Different Culture My friend Pio is an information technology consultant who was born and raised in India. He spent ten years in a Catholic seminary in India before leaving and getting a job in IT. He had always been good at math, and after leaving the seminary he enrolled in IT courses. After completing his courses, he was recruited by American headhunters who were in Chennai, where he lived, looking for Indian IT workers. The headhunters asked him if he would come to work for a major banking firm in America. Pio’s father insisted that he take the job and Pio complied with his father’s wishes. His father’s reasoning was that Pio would earn good money in America and would be able to provide financial support for his family back home in Chennai, especially since his father could not depend upon Pio’s brothers…

Multi-Cultural Competence The author of this brief reflection and response has learned a great deal when it comes to multi-cultural competence and learning about the same. This brief reflection serves as a recitation of what lessons were learned, why they are important and what the author must and will keep in mind as the learning continues to evolve and thrive. Among many other things, the author has learned that the learning never stops and there are a number of reasons for this. While it is possible to become well-versed in cultures and what makes people different, it would be a mistake to think that there is a point where the learning is no longer necessary or that the changes to culture stop happening.
Learning Explained
The author of this response has learned a few things about culture as part of the learning that has been completed thus far. First, there…

1. Who do you think is the most horrible person in the story and who do you think is the least horrible? Why? You may want to rank order the characters from “1” being most horrible to “5” being least horrible. The following are the rankings of the characters in the passage from “1” being most horrible to “5” being least horrible:
i. Beyonce – 5
She could have waited for the bridge to be formed back again or sought out another alternative. The fact that she was laughing at Pat being beaten made her all the more horrible
ii. Pat – 1
Pat was heartbroken and could not believe that his love had sex with another man. He did not deserve being beaten
iii. Gilligan – 5
He is the most horrible person for the reason that he demanded sex in order to provide passage to the other side…

Discussion Question
I think was Einstein means is that when we create problems we are thinking in a certain way, at a certain level. If we try to solve problems by thinking in the same way or at the same level, it is not going to work. It would just be the definition of insanity all over again—doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. The fact is that if we want to solve the problems we create, we have to do something different than what got us in the problem in the first place. As Chapter 6 (n.d.) shows, people who want to settle religious differences by violence are trying to solve the problem in the same way it started, which was through violence. And as Huntington (1993) points out, the clash of civilizations is coming: it will be focused on culture and nothing else.…

d.). For example, in the U.S., decisions are frequently delegated, that is, an official assigns responsibility for a particular matter to a subordinate. In many European nations, like Germany, there is a strong value placed on holding decision-making responsibilities oneself. When decisions are made by groups of people, majority rule is a common approach in the U.S. while in Germany consensus is the preferred mode. One should be conscious that peoples' expectations about their own part in shaping a resolution may be influenced by their cultural orientation (Spang & Ozcan, 2009).
The fifth difference is in attitudes toward disclosure. In some cultures, it is not fitting to be forthright about emotions, about the reasons behind a disagreement or a mix-up, or about personal information. When one is involved in a dialogue or when they are working with others or when they are dealing with a conflict, they should be mindful…

Culture and Health Disparities - Filipinos
PESONAL SOCIAL STATUS: In researching this project, I found a study prepared by the Canadian Nurses Association (2005). It reviewed the social determinants of health and how one's social status impacts their or their family health outcomes. The focus of this piece was on issues such as poverty, economic inequality, social isolation and social support systems and their impact on the health of minorities, many of the same categories and characteristics mentioned in the Journal of Transcultural Nursing (Andrews et al., 2010). While their study was more on a broad base of Canadian conditions, their findings seem to reflect the circumstances of many first and second generation Filipinos. First and later generations of Filipinos who move to new cultures do act differently, but for the most part there remain many family connections and networks that cannot be overlooked.

My social status is mostly a…

Culture's Impact On Healthcare
Culture: Midwestern, (White Female)

The following are the top 5 characteristics of my culture:

Conservative political values. May cause a closed mine and limit the imagination. Political lines are dogmatic and prevent free thinking.

Family orientated. This bias may cause the individual to be too loyal on one's family. It is very difficult to see our families for who they truly are.

Open minded: Too much open-mindedness may lead to foolish mistakes and jumping on any bandwagon that may come along.

Love of the outdoors and social activities. Too much of this behavior, may lead to not refining the indoor skills that are important in life.

Trusting to new experiences. Too many new experiences may lead to becoming ungrounded.

Part

Question 1

The Midwestern culture is very conservative and many within the culture base their decisions on popular notions and ideas. Health care to Midwestern culture…

Culture and Politics
Germany: How Culture and Politics Bring About Social Change

German history and culture are complex, and the country has been through a lot of changes, both in the past and more recently. In order to understand the cultural and political issues today, it is important to see where they have originated from and where they appear to be headed. That can also help foster social change and development, which is needed in every country in order to keep that country moving forward. Here, the political system of Germany will be addressed, followed by a cultural problem that is being seen in the present day. Once those two areas have been discussed, it will be shown how the German culture and political system can come together to create solutions to the problem, including the development of new policies and procedures. Germany has a rich history and there is…

Culture
In this briefing new employee human resources, we will be considering cultural management issues in the tourist industry and how they impact upon our business. Our company, Beach Bum Ltd. is a travel consultancy Agency which was recently hired to provide a critical analysis on whether or not sustainable tours can attract American ecological tourists to travel to countries such as Tanzania and Namibia. We are a culturally eclectic group of advisors specialising in all aspects of tourism. Cultural sensitivity is not only our watchword, but our bottomline. Please do not feel overwhelmed by all of this information. Some of you may feel as though you are back in college. est assured, the difference between profit and bankruptcy in our business is the ability to sell in that person's culture. People like to feel important and an acknowledgement of their importance is not just being nice. It is also…

In rare cases, mothers taught their daughters reading and writing. At 15, girls were expected to marry men their fathers chose for them. Interestingly, this was only the fate of wealthier girls. Peasant girls chose their own husbands when working in the fields (Fisher and Harlan).
Japan

According to Tomoko Shimoda, the traditional Japanese family is regarded as very important, also with specific roles for women, men and children. Although Western influence has standardized education and emancipated women, they are still generally regarded as mostly active and highly important in the household. Women maintain the family finances and care for the children, while the role of men is to be engaged in work, which mostly constituted the family business. Both girls and boys are educated, although boys are steered towards taking over the family business while girls are taught housekeeping and accounting skills. In the past, marriages were generally arranged,…

Cultues in Conflict & Change
William Faulkne leaves us in suspense at the end of a tubulent sequence of events titled "Ban Buning." Who killed whom? We could speculate fom othe books pehaps but those wods ae outside this stoy. Given that stict constaint, we don't eally know. Saty watches De Spain and his hose vanish in the distance and heas thee shots, which he assumes kill his fathe at least, and pehaps olde bothe. This is the widest possible assumption but a fulle analysis would have to exploe othe possibilities. The esult fo Saty is the same: He uns away fom fathe, bothe and the women's cultue egadless who pulled which tigge(s) at the De Spain ban. Abne Snopes will appea hee as 'AS,' De Spain as 'DS' and 'Saty' as 'CSS' fo bevity, but also abstaction, because Faulkne ('WF') sets up abstactions, though symbolic equations that pemeate the…

2. Someone kicks a dog.

esponse: The person should go back and check if the dog is okay! This person may either drunk or extremely cruel and hates dogs. In any case, it is wrong to kick a harmless dog.

3. A woman carries a heavy jug of water on her head while her husband walks in front of her carrying nothing.

esponse: He should stop and help her with the jug of water. Her husband is not being a gentleman. He is not being a very good husband if he makes his wife carry heavy items and walks ahead of her though he not carrying anything, himself.

4. A male guest helps a female host carry dirty dishes into the kitchen.

esponse: The male guest should be thanked by the hostess because he is being courteous and polite by helping her carry out the dirty dishes.

5. A young…

Not meeting them is not only a sin according to the tenets of the religion, but it also causes damage to the spouse with whom a partnership was made and the children that are a result of that partnership.
More precisely, failing to live up to familial obligations is a sin because it causes damage to the spouse and children. Jewish daily life, as Mrs. Baron explains, is built around a constant devotion to God. Cooking, eating, sleeping, waking, bathing, and almost every other common task of everyday life is associated with some ritualistic elements and/or prayer to remind each person that every bit of good done is in service to God. Making sure your family is cared for in the best manner possible is part of this, and this explains the different roles that exist in her family. She acknowledges that the roles have changed somewhat since her grandparents…

She kills Homer so she will have eternal love, as unreal as that seems, and to placate the townspeople who think she will commit suicide because of Homer's desertion. Southern women had few choices other than marriage, and for Emily, killing Homer was a rational act that gave her control and reason over something. In her town, that would not have been possible for a single, unmarried woman. Her culture limited her, and so she made the only decision she could to remain sane in a limiting and irrational world.
This is a sad story not because Emily lived so long contentedly with a dead man, but because the townspeople were so uninvolved with her and her plight. With some support and understanding, she might have lived a rational and happy life, but the culture did not support that for her or for other women.

According to Connerton (2008), people remember things based upon the management of their current identity and ongoing processes. Forgetting then is part of the process by which new events in ones life lead to new memories that get discarded because they no longer have a relevance to ones present identity. It is thought that old memories do nothing but clutter up ones mind and thus be discarded in order to make room for new and fresh things that are going on in ones life. This means that a person is constantly replacing old memories with new ones, as their association and identity with their current culture is ever evolving.

eferences

Assman, J. (1995). Collective Memory and Cultural Identity. etrieved from http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/201/articles/95AssmannCollMe

mNGC.pdf

Connerton, P. (2003). How Societies emember. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Connerton, P. (2008). The Seven Types of Forgetting. Memory Studies January, 1(1), p. 59-

71.

Coser, L.A. (1992).…

Such an inclination to dismiss work like Hofstede's might rather be defined as bad science, because the definition of validity that is used in the human sciences now is one that has been imported from the hard sciences in an attempt to transfer to the human sciences the prestige of the hard sciences.
However the concept of validity is not based on a single research methodology. Instead it refers to a specific epistemological approach, which is that to be valid a study has to be able accurately to answer any question(s) that it is intended to provide a response to. Experimental validity arises from the fact that the research methodology and design provide an accurate way to measure what it is intended to measure.

This last specification, which is accepted to the point of being nearly universal, has a certain circular quality to it, and this criticism is as true…

Culture & Religion
Roman Catholic: The Roman Catholic religion believes in the Holy Trinity of a creator God the Father; Jesus Christ, His Son; and the Holy Spirit. Other beliefs that characterize the religion are the original sin; the forgiveness of sin; the second coming of the Lord; and life after death (CIM, 49). Given its belief in sin, the religion offers the hope of salvation through its sacraments and baptism. Infant baptism is encouraged to erase the original sin and as a start to a spiritual life through the Church. In addition, the Roman Catholic Church holds that the mass is a continuation of the sacrifice made by Christ and thus teaches the doctrine of transubstantiation or that the bread and wine at communion actually become the body and blood of Christ (Biblical Discernment Ministries, 1997). Generally, the religion has no dietary restrictions. However, it advocates abstaining from meat…

Culture, Continuity and Change
The Mayan people

In 800 A.D there existed the Maya Empire that comprised of many powerful city-states that spread south to Mexico and North to Honduras. The Maya culture was at its peak with massive temples lined up However a hundred yeas later the cities were in remains, unrestricted and just left alone for the jungle to reign. It still remains a great mystery of how the Mayan civilization disappeared. This in fact remains as one of the greatest mysteries in history.one among the mighty civilizations in ancient America just fell within a short period of time. No one is certain about what happened to the Maya people. However there are many theories which include varied alternatives that try to give an explanation of this abrupt and mysterious disappearance. Some of these theories will be discussed below.

The famine theory

Preclassica Maya (1000B.C -300 AD) carried…

Culture and Marketing Strategy
About the print ad from http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2013/johnnie-walker-from-the-future/

The print ad is about a certain brand of alcoholic drink that is endorsed by a professional athlete. The athlete takes a sip from a glass of whisky and begins walking. This in a way appears to suggest that consumers of this particular brand of whisky can cover long distances after taking this whiskey. Information pertaining to alcoholic content and how the brand is matured are not clearly visible on the ad. The only visible thing is the image of the person who has endorsed the brand making some strides.

Assumptions made by the authors of the ad

The authors of the ad try to make the ad to be more appealing to the motives and desires of the consumers. They give form to people's deep-lying desires. They assume that they will best arrest the consumer's attention by tugging consumer's…

Culture
As ai (2012) points out, just a generation ago, women had far fewer options in India. Even when they attended college, their job prospects were low and they were more frequently diverted to family life and domestic servitude. Now, increasing numbers of Indian women are empowering themselves through the IT services industry. As much flack as outsourcing receives in the United States, the truth is that Indian women are largely the beneficiaries, while Americans are being increasingly challenged to discover creative ways of contributing to the economy. Social norms in India for women differ greatly from those in the United States, where it is much easier for a woman to start a business and avoid marriage and childbirth. In India, a woman is steered in the direction of motherhood at an earlier age and could be socially shunned if her path seems more career-focused than family focused. In many…

This also has major implications for military operations, both within a military unit and in the interaction between the military unit and another culture. Essentially, the problem of ethnocentrism can be seen at the root of the other cultural problems discussed in this context; it implies both a lack of understanding about the impacts of the unit's culture on the people of a foreign culture, as well as a lack of appreciation and understanding for that culture (Hoskins 2007).

Conclusion

Culture is strange, in that it is both constant and always changing. The only static culture is a dead one; as the various elements and generations of a culture interact, change is bound to happen. When there is no longer any interaction within a culture or between a given culture and other cultures, there is no longer any point to that culture, and indeed that culture could not realistically exist…

In this instance, the stronger culture can easily consumer the lesser culture. Employees tend to be more receptive due primarily to the lack of culture and also by the prestige and power of the acquiring firm. Assimilation often occurs will smaller, less established companies being acquired by much larger competitors. As the company is just beginning to emerge, many culture qualities have not become entrenched. Assimilation however, is very rare in the context of mergers.
What is a more common strategy is that of deculturation. This is due primarily to the fact that employees usually resist organizational change, particularly when they are asked to throw away personal and cultural values. Under these conditions, some acquiring companies apply a deculturation strategy by imposing their culture and business practices on the acquired organization. The acquiring firm strips away artifacts and reward systems that support the old culture. People who cannot adopt the…

They wanted to know the best places to go after work, and expected him to help them in that regard.
Hanes finally told his Japanese trainers "he preferred not to mix business with pleasure." ithin a couple days, the group requested another instructor. The critical issue here, one can quickly discern, is that Hanes did not do his homework on the Japanese business culture; if he had, he would know the Japanese are intensely committed to their work, on duty and off duty.

The "Miscue No. 2" involves Ray Lopez, top salesperson for his company who was fluent in Spanish; he was sent to Buenos Aires to make a marketing pitch to a distribution firm there. He arrived and was picked up at the airport and surprised to learn that the meeting had been postponed for two days "...so that Ray could rest after the long trip" and also have…