Practices Of Other Cultures Research Articles

Acoustics of two Hindu temples in southern India

Acoustically important aspects of Hindu worship include chants, bells, conch-shells, and gongs. Conch-shells and gongs are used at various times during puja rituals (Prasad and Rajavel, 2013), throughout which texts from the Vedas and other Sanskrit scriptures are chanted. These Vedic chants have phonetic characteristics such as pitch, duration, emphasis, and uniformity (Beck, 1995; Prasad, 2013). Traditional methods of acoustic characterization (e.g., for churches) are based on time domain characteristics like reverberation time and clarity. We term this as, “time domain soundscape of worship.” This is vastly different from Hindu worship which involves extensive use of bells, conch-shells, and gongs in puja rituals, all of which produce unique sonic characteristics making frequency of sound very crucial which we term, “frequency domain soundscape of worship.” Beck (1995, 2006, 2012) has explored the sonic aspects of Hindu tradition as they relate to the religion and drawn comparisons with religious practices in other cultures where pertinent. However, a comprehensive acoustic analysis of temples and the characteristics of these sounds within temples is yet to be done. In this paper, we analyze the impulse responses and decay curves measured at the Virupaksha and Vijaya Vittala temples in Southern India.

DA REFRIGERIUM AL SUO CONTRARIO. ALCUNE SFUMATURE DEL CONCETTO NELLE VISIONES ANIMARUM MEDIEVALI

From refrigerium to its opposite. Some nuances of the concept in occidental visiones animarum. The term refrigerium/refrigera re acquired two fundamental semantic values in early Christianity: one relating to commemorating the dead, the other to eschatology. Both meanings have been the subject of extensive research linking the Christian meanings either to the etymon and uses of the term in pre-Christian Latin or to beliefs and practices in other cul tures and religions of Antiquity. In the following lines, I will delve further into the nuances of this term in its sense of temporary and cyclical interruption/ suspension of infernal punishments, as they appear in some texts within the visiones anima rum category. Consecutively, I will identify and justify the occurrence of the oppo site of this meaning for the same category of texts.

Who Watches the Plagiarism Police?

We take plagiarism norms for granted, even though they are often inefficient and unreasonable, and prevent students from learning. Even worse, plagiarism norms are often inconsistent with the authorial practices of other cultures. For example, western countries have forced India to adopt colonial plagiarism norms, even though they prohibit many traditional cultural practices. We should question the legitimacy of plagiarism norms, and reject norms that protect property interests in literary ownership, rather than the generation of cultural meaning.

Advancing pedagogy of undergraduate nursing students' cultural awareness through internationalization webinars: A qualitative study

In today's world, nurses increasingly care for individuals from different cultures. Because culturally sensitive care can improve patient satisfaction in care, nurses need to develop cultural competence in their practice. To develop cultural competence, one option is to build cultural awareness by exposing students to nursing practices in other cultures through online internationalization-at-home activities. However, little is known about the process of cultural awareness development through internationalization activities. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to identify the development process of cultural awareness in nursing students, who participated in a series of internationalization-at-home activities. A total of 31 nursing students from Australia, Hong Kong, and Sweden volunteered to participate in student-led learning groups. Groups consisted of two to four students from each university, who engaged in four weekly webinars and online reflections about nursing practice based on a case scenario. Data were collected from participants' ongoing reflective journal entries, and after the webinars ended, from three focus groups. A semi-structured interview guide was used to understand how the internationalization-at-home activities impacted their cultural awareness and knowledge of nursing. Data were analyzed using interpretive description. Following four levels of thematic analysis (i.e., comprehension, synthesis, theorizing, reconceptualization), we identified four themes in the development of cultural awareness: 1) nurturing reciprocity through comparisons of nursing culture; 2) discovering common ethical values of the nursing profession; 3) developing cultural awareness in nursing ideology and practice; and 4) transforming understanding of nursing in the context of their healthcare systems. By the end of the internationalization activities, students appeared to have developed relational skills to facilitate their own inner dialogue about ethical ideals of “self” and “other” in the context of being part of the global nursing community. Future research should develop and assess teaching strategies that can further facilitate the four themes in cultural awareness development.

Secrets of the Anglo-Saxon goldsmiths: Analysis of gold objects from the Staffordshire Hoard

The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest ever find of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork. The collection comprises many hundreds of objects, in approximately 3900 fragments. Most objects are fittings from swords, but there are also fragments from at least one helmet, and a small but significant collection of Christian objects.An initial study of 16 gold objects from the collection suggested that some form of deliberately induced depletion gilding had taken place to remove both silver and copper from the surface of the metal (Blakelock, In press). Subsequently, both surface and quantitative core alloy SEM-EDX analysis was undertaken on a further 114 Hoard objects. Over 222 individual components (i.e. different parts of objects) were analysed during this study.This is the largest quantitative survey of Anglo-Saxon gold and, contrary to expectations, no reliable relationship was found between the fineness of alloy used and object date, although the low copper content is consistent with the use of recycled coinage as a source of gold. However, over 100 components were judged to be deliberately depleted in silver at their surface which, it is argued, was the result of a deliberate and probably widespread Anglo-Saxon workshop practice. Previously unrecognised, this involved the depletion gilding of sheet gold to create contrast between decorative components, as well as to enhance colour. Furthermore, in the light of the identification of this systematic surface enrichment, similar approaches should be considered to investigate goldsmithing practices in other cultures and time frames.

Communitarian education and mathematics learning: A way of value diversity

In our society there is high diversity so we need educational methodologies that promote equal opportunities for personal success inside the difference. It is necessary to explore the role of non-formal educational practices in multicultural contexts and to implement a model of communitarian education that allows the practices of other cultures to become valued by and visible to the broader society. Nowadays there are not doubts about the importance of the developing of number sense in the early mathematics learning, however, the entrance to the scholar arithmetic is, in most cases, through the teaching of the four rules using the traditional algorithms. Here we show how to use open calculations based on numbers (ABN) as an inclusive methodological alternative, based on the meaningful learning of the decimal system, the operations and their properties. We think the method fits very well with people from other ethnics as Romanian people.

Emerging Perspectives on Human Development Research

The study of human development is currently witnessing an exciting new phase of growth. There are concerted attempts to move beyond the Euro-American theories and explore culturally rooted perspectives. This trend is reflected in many ways including the use of indigenous concepts, methodological innovations and choice of research issues and problems. In this respect particular mention may bemade of the endeavours aimed at identifying and analyzing various culturally embedded phenomena and exploring specific contextual influences on development. This special issue of Psychological Studies brings into focus an illustration of such efforts. In the disciplinary discourse it is being increasingly realized that the notion of ‘development’, which has been traditionally treated as ‘systematic and successive change in human functions’, does not represent an empirical concept. Also, there is a move to go beyond the various binary categories (e.g. nature vs. nurture, continuity vs. discontinuity and stability vs. instability) in accomplishing descriptions and explanations of developmentally important phenomena. These classic splits are being overcome by the relational meta theory of development (Overton 2010). It allows fusion of categories and acknowledges bidirectional influences emanating from multiple levels of existential organization (e.g. biological, individual, cultural, ecological and historical). The emerging relational meta theory maintains that the individual-context relationship may be studied in a fused, dynamic and integrated manner. It views ‘diversity’ or the intra-individual and the inter-individual differences as genuine and significant as they constitute the reality of multiple contexts of development. The focus is more on the study of multiple and varied developmental trajectories of both–individuals and groups–and the way they interact to facilitate the emergence of specific developmental patterns. Currently, new perspectives such as dynamic system theory, dialogical approach to self development, and analyses of the uses of various symbolic resources in human development have influenced research on families, relationships, schooling and social negotiation with reference to issues such as gender, caste and religion. The process of development involves a dynamic relationship of the developing person with the socio-cultural environment. The intentionality and agency of the individual and the attributes of the socio-cultural environment constitute the core of this process. The meaning of life course or stages of development, the parenting practices and beliefs, disciplining techniques, teaching practices, privileges, rights, duties and responsibilities of children are culturally constructed and are transmitted across generations. However, the processes of industrialization, globalization, and revolution in the information and communication technology, are drastically transforming the pattern of interaction andmodes of social life. Viamedia and travel, people are getting constantly exposed to values, norms and practices of other cultures. It is leading to creation of a hybrid culture. Its effect is visible in the practices of socialization and parenting. In traditional joint family setting child was as collective responsibility in which multiple caretakers were available. In today's nuclear families parents are bound to send their children to daycare centres. Similarly the practice of storytelling by grandparents is being taken over by television. The emerging scenario has serious implications for understanding the dynamics of life stages, preparing the institutions of society to facilitate adaptation and growth; and evolving effective strategies to address the various problems encountered by them. Contemporary studies tend to suggest that the development cannot be characterized solely as a process of cognitive restructuring directed towards a single, universal endpoint, G. Misra (*) :N. Babu Department of Psychology, Arts Faculty Extension Building, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India e-mail: misragirishwar@gmail.com

Cultural intelligence (CQ) in MBA curricula

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of cultural intelligence in MBA curricula. Shaping global corporate culture that manifests itself in powerful‐shared values, group behavior, and persists despite changes in‐group membership is decisive to organizational performance. In turn, cultural intelligence (CQ), defined, as an individual's capability to function and manage effectively in culturally diverse settings, has recently emerged as a likely indicator of management ability and leadership potential.Design/methodology/approachThe authors utilized the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) – metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral – to capture data from MBA students attending three universities in the USA.FindingsThese results, coupled with the open‐ended survey responses, suggest that in general the students have a firm understanding on why CQ is essential in an increasingly globalized business world, as well as a strong desire to interact with other cultures. However, although students appear highly motivated to study about other cultures, the results indicate that many of the MBA students lack an in‐depth knowledge of the values, beliefs, and practices of other cultures. Further, the data suggest that the most important attributes that increase an individual's CQ are international work experience, learning an additional language other than English, and/or obtaining an undergraduate degree from a foreign country.Originality/valueThis is the first empirical study to examine the role of cultural intelligence in MBA curricula.

Academic discourse in Portugal: A whole different ballgame?

Despite the existence of many contrastive studies that have drawn attention to academic discourse practices in other cultures, the formal constitution of the discipline known as Contrastive Rhetoric may ultimately have served to reinforce the hegemony of English Academic Discourse (EAD). That is to say, by focusing upon the technical question of how to reduce L1 interference in learners' English texts, teachers and researchers are actively discouraged from considering the broader ideological issue of how knowledge is construed elsewhere. Yet other ‘academic discourses’ do exist, sometimes so different from EAD in their structure and epistemological framework that they are scarcely recognisable as such to English-speaking practitioners. This paper presents the results of a survey of academic discourse in Portugal, in which a Corpus of 1,333,890 words (408 academic texts of different genres and disciplines) was analysed for the presence of particular discourse features not usually found in EAD. Results suggest that, in addition to a ‘modern’ style calqued upon the hegemonic discourse, there are also at least two other academic discourses regularly produced in Portugal today that are based upon an entirely different epistemology to the rational empirical paradigm underlying EAD.

Be Masters in That You Teach and Continue to Learn: Medieval Muslim Thinkers on Educational Theory

Insufficient awareness of the educational achievements of the past bears the risk of not recognizing what is genuine progress in the field of education and what is mere repetition. In other words, without knowledge of the history of education, we may fail to achieve the level of understanding and reasoning reached by former generations while, at the same time, keeping ourselves busy with self-postulated problems, the solutions to which have long been available in the stores of historical knowledge. Part of the issue is that there is a tendency in contemporary Western research on education to neglect theories, philosophies, and intellectual movements originating from cultures and civilizations other than the occidental one. For instance, studies in education in the West are often concerned with the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian foundations of a European-centered history of learning, while educational concepts and practices of other cultures and civilizations are not given adequate consideration. This is somewhat surprising in view of the complex challenges Western societies are facing at the beginning of the third millennium. In fact, the increasing ethnic and religious diversity of the population in nearly every large city in North America and Europe (and in most institutions of primary, secondary, and higher learning) seems to call rather urgently for a change in the approach toward education, both nationally and internationally. At the same time, it seems necessary to recognize fully that the study of educational thought is a key tool for a better understanding of cultures, civilizations, and religions other than “our own.” For more than one reason, this latter point is particularly true of Islam: a critical, unbiased, and systematic study in the West of Islam’s diverse values, concepts, and beliefs—especially those relating to the educational theories and philosophies developed by Muslim scholars—is a pressing and real need. Thus, this article is dedicated to shedding light on a spectrum of issues in educational thought in Islam, which may—due to their universal relevance—

A Consideration for the Participation in Collective Memory

From a sociological standpoint of view, memory, history and myths play a great role in group formation and the problem of identification of the subject. But for the analysis of today's multicultural and multi-ethnical society, we also need comparative sociological studies of the formation of collective memory.This study investigates the ethno-psychotherapeutic clinical practice of Tobie Nathan in France and discusses the structural difference between ethno-psychotherapy and European psychotherapy, particularly the manipulation of the mythic and historical materials of the subject.This paper explains the nature of memory in ethno-therapeutic practice as generative memory, which is regenerated and maintained by continual practice in a group. The psychological disorders of group members are cured through a total regeneration of social myths themselves.On the other hand, from a psychoanalytical point of view, the modern subject is structured by scission from the “Other” as the place where collective generative memory is developed. To compensate for this scission, the modern subject changes the collective generation of memory by repeating its own myth.By this argument, the author concludes that these two types of clinical practice reveal historical and environmental transformation of the subjective dispositif. With this argument, we can better appreciate clinical psychotherapeutic practices in other cultures.

A Cree Woman Reads Jung

This article begins with Jung’s description of two predicaments which confront the contemporary psychiatrist: ‘the mystery of the patient’s difference’ and the danger of ‘committing psychic murder in the name of therapy.’ The article then presents the example of one suffering individual from within a non-Western culture who used Jung, as well as her Native culture’s traditional knowledge, to find healing. This Cree woman, Yvonne Johnson, created what Jung would call temenos in order to facilitate change and called upon images of theriomorphic guides to manoeuvre within the confines of her suffering. The article concludes by considering how the equivocal language of Jung’s analytical psychology may function as an effective bridge between transculturally oriented psychiatrists and their patients, and particularly between Western medical practice and the healing practices of other cultures for whom the word ‘medicine’ carries a religious connotation.

The perils and prospects for an engaged anthropology. A view from the United States

In this article I will argue for the vital importance and urgent need for an engaged anthropology. There are a host of critical social issues that anthropologists are currently researching where our qualitative methodologies, in-depth field research, and knowledge of local languages and cultures give us vital insights into the sources of social problems and also potential remedies for some very pressing societal dilemmas. In the United States we have come to realise that we need to do three things as we become increasingly engaged with the world: first, transform our relations with the public in order to overcome entrenched stereotypes and foster current images that accurately depict anthropology today; second, continue to change our relations with the communities we work with, by attending to their concerns in formulating research questions and by viewing them as equal partners in carrying out research and educational activities; and third, work out effective ways of doing research on critical social issues that will expand the influence of anthropology in political arenas and policy debates. Engaging with policy experts, the public and the press can have its perilous side since we have to communicate our research findings more effectively and to overcome public perceptions about who anthropologists are and what we do. The public holds stereotypes of cultural anthropology, condensed images that reduce our work to what Micaela di Leonardo has termed ‘Halloween costumes’ (Di Leonardo 1998: 31). Many of these are images that are based on anthropology’s occupation of what Rolph Trouillot calls the ‘savage slot’ (Trouillot 1991), in other words the niche that the discipline long ago carved out for itself as the scientists who study the ‘primitives’. In the past we have been complicit in constructing at least one of these costumes: the one di Leonardo labels as ‘noble savage/noble anthropologist’ (1988: 32‐6). In other words, American anthropologists in the past often preferred to portray themselves as studying primitive cultures for what they could learn about their own contrasting customs better to understand or even reform themselves. The prototype of this trope is Margaret Mead’s Coming of age in Samoa (1928), in which Mead used an analysis of Samoan adolescence to critique American ways of dealing with puberty. But there are other stereotypes that many of us would reject. For example, there is the charge that anthropologists are really ‘barbarians at the gate’ (Di Leonardo 1988: 40‐3). In this stereotype, anthropologists are viewed as those who over-value the practices of other cultures, hawking cultural relativism to naive undergraduates and by implication denigrating the classics and western civilisation. This is a perspective often promulgated

A Cree Woman Reads Jung

This article begins with Jung's description of two predicaments which confront the contemporary psychiatrist: 'the mystery of the patient's difference' and the danger of 'committing psychic murder in the name of therapy.' The article then presents the example of one suffering individual from within a non-Western culture who used Jung, as well as her Native culture's traditional knowledge, to find healing. This Cree woman, Yvonne Johnson, created what Jung would call temenos in order to facilitate change and called upon images of theriomorphic guides to manoeuvre within the confines of her suffering. The article concludes by considering how the equivocal language of Jung's analytical psychology may function as an effective bridge between transculturally oriented psychiatrists and their patients, and particularly between Western medical practice and the healing practices of other cultures for whom the word 'medicine' carries a religious connotation.

‘Body Art’ and Social Status: Cutting, Tattooing and Piercing from a Feminist Perspective

This article analyses the developing industry of body modification, in which cutting, tattooing and piercing are carried out in studios for profit. It seeks to offer a feminist understanding of this industry which places it on a continuum of harmful cultural practices that include self-mutilation in private, transsexual surgery, cosmetic surgery and other harmful western beauty practices. The ideology created by industry practitioners, that ‘body modification’ replicates the spiritual practices of other cultures, reclaims the body, or is transgressive, is supported by the use of postmodern feminist theory. These ideas are criticized here. On the contrary, it will be suggested that such harmful cultural practices of self-mutilation are sought, or carried out on, those groups who occupy a despised social status, such as women, lesbians and gay men, disabled people and women and men who have suffered sexual abuse in childhood or adulthood.

The outsider's perspective: Young adults’ judgments of social practices of other cultures

In this study, judgments of social practices of other cultures were examined. Fortyeight college students judged social practices entailing potentially immoral features to be unacceptable when not culturally grounded but acceptable when they are part of long‐standing cultural traditions. Their tolerant judgments were underlain by a construal of the practices in the other cultures as beneficial and consensual. Subsequently, the same practice was presented in four hypothetical cultural contexts generated by manipulating the type of belief underlying the practice (moral or informational) and the consensual status of the belief within the culture (agreement or disagreement). Participants were tolerant of the practice and of the people engaged in the practice in some contexts but not in others, and judged some types of diversity likely and some unlikely. Their tolerant and intolerant judgments reflected the ways in which specific cultural parameters are understood to transform the meanings and moderate the effects of cultural practices.

Implications of Cross-cultural Findings for a Theory of Family Socialisation

Traditional approaches to understanding the behavioural and emotional aspects of moral development are described. Research from other cultures is reviewed which suggests that the greater valuation of authoritative over authoritarian approaches in our own (individualist) culture may not hold in other cultures. This may be because individualist cultures have different goals from collectivist cultures (autonomy vs. interdependence) and because negative parenting affect and cognitions associated with authoritarian or power assertive rearing in our own culture may not be associated with authoritarian practices in other cultures. Data are presented indicating that autonomy support is valued more highly than power assertion as a socialisation technique in an individualist group but not a collectivist group. Implications for parenting and moral education are provided.

The cross-cultural transfer of management practices: The case of Japanese human resource management practices in Singapore

Japan’s spectacular economic performance until recently has stimulated organizational scholars and managers to consider the application of Japanese management practices in other cultures. This article presents the findings of a study of the validity of doing so in one particular culture, Singapore. Five practices associated with the Japanese style of management were selected for the study: lifetime employment, seniority systems, house unions, consensual decision making and quality (control) circles. The study focused on their prevalence, attitudes towards them and their interplay and covered thirty-two organizations and 1,700 employees in the public and private sectors in Singapore. The findings suggest that house unions, consensual decision making and quality circles are transferable to Singapore, but that lifetime employment and seniority systems are problematic for cultural reasons. The implications for transferring management practices from one culture to another are discussed.

From Dialog to Praxis: Crossing Cultural Borders in the Business and Technical Communication Classroom

Business and technical communication textbooks take two approaches to intercultural communication: an information-acquisition approach, which provides students with information about practices in other cultures and tips for using this information in communication transactions; and a case-study approach, which encourages students to engage in dialog about problems encountered in intercultural communication. Both models enable students to confront cultural difference, but neither approach provides the means for successfully negotiating this difference. A praxis model provides an alternative strategy which enables students to negotiate cultural borders in actual workplace settings. But this model also exposes students to conflict which inevitably accompanies intercultural communication.

Spirituality in Actor Training

Elements of the spiritual practices of other cultures, specifically Taoism and Zen Buddhism, are employed in 'Western' conservatory acting schools. This article will examine the context of the relationship between spirituality and actor training using examples from the techniques of specific teachers working in the field.