• Title/Summary/Keyword: social and cultural environments

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Ideology, Politics, and Social Science Scholarship on the Responsibility of Intellectuals

  • Koerner, E.F.K.
    • Lingua Humanitatis
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.51-84
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    • 2002
  • The 1990s have seen the publication of many books devoted to Language and Ideology (cf. Joseph & Taylor 1990. for one of the early ones) even though the term 'ideology' itself has remained ill-defined (Woolard 1998). The focus of attention has usually been placed on the particular use of language and often for some kind of 'political' ends, not on linguistic or other scholarship which might have been driven by some sort of ideology, i.e., a bundle of assumptions which themselves were taken as given. At least since Edward Said's 1978 book Orientalism, it has been clear to everyone that scholars construct their conceptualization of things in line with their understanding of the cultural, social, and political world in which they live, and that this often unreflected 'pre-understanding' effects their view of cultures that are different from theirs and more often than not geographically and temporally distant from theirs. This recognition has had a sobering effect no doubt, and Said's book has long since become 'mainstream.' Much more disturbing to the scholarly profession has been the publication of Martin Bernal's Black Athena in 1987, since it went much further, going beyond accusations of colonialism and cultural bias, in suggesting that the Western representation of Classical Greece over the past two hundred years was false and that what had been accepted until now about occidental antiquity must now be seen derived from African-Asiatic cultures of the Near East, notably that of the Ancient Egyptians, and that no other than Socrates should be seen as black man. While we may understand the intellectual climate in the United States that led academics to present 'myth as history' (Lefkowitz 1996), it is obvious that lines of regular scholarly principles of investigation have been crossed (cf Lefkowitz & Rogers 1996). The present paper investigates what may be seen as the ideological underpinnings of such work. After reviewing some recent scholarship in the area of linguistic historiography that have shown that academic work has never been 'value-neutral' (as may have been assumed or has been claimed by some practitioners), it is argued that in effect one must be aware of what Clemens Knobloch has recently termed Resonanzbedarf, i.e., the desire, whether conscious or not, of scholars-and probably scientists, too-to have their work recognized by the educated public and that, in so doing, their discourses tend to pick up on contemporary popular notions. These efforts may be harmless if everyone was to recognize these allusions and adoption of certain lexical. items(buzz words) as props or what Germans call Versatzstiicke, but history tells us that this has not always been the case. Still, as Hutton (1999) has shown, not all scholarship during the Third Reich for example can simply be dismissed as worthless because it was conducted in under a prevailing political ideology. Indeed, in seemingly innocent times, linguists can be shown to frame their argument in a way that makes them appear so utterly superior to their predecessors (cf. Lawson 2001). Upon closer inspection, those discourses turn out to be much like those of scholars in nationalistic environments that have tended to select their 'facts' to prove a particular hypothesis (cf., e.g., Koerner 2001). The article argues for scholars to take a more active role in exploding myths, scientifically unfounded claims, and ideologically driven distortions, especially those that are socially and politically harmful.

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Environment as an Indicator in the Buddhist Art of Asia (아시아 불교미술에서 지표로서의 환경)

  • Lee, Jung-Hee
    • Journal of Science of Art and Design
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.61-86
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    • 2008
  • Buddhism and Buddhist art originated in India, but when they were introduced to different countries, they created an international environment. Buddhism was introduced as cultural package, with written texts, visual images, rituals, and the organization of monasteries. Buddhist art originated in India during the reign of King Asoka and then was developed under the political, intellectual, artistic, religious, social and natural environments of the regions. The stupa and the chaitya halls create monastic environment. The natural environment of the trade routes and caravans in the Central Asian deserts preserved brilliant-colored murals and helped spread tram India to China. When Buddhism and Buddhist art were introduced to China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhism became a part of government institution and social organization. Gigantic statues were carved in caves in mountains for political purposes. The Chinese transformed the stupa into a square pillar and created pagodas with tiled roofs in tower forms. Koreans not only transmitted the Buddhist art from China to Japan, but it also changed it with originality in the iconography of the pensive bodhisattva images and in the architecture of Seoggulam. The official ideology of Neo Confucian philosophy brought the rise of Chan Buddhism. Zen monasteries in Japan created unique environments by establishing the Zen Buddhist garden. to prompt believers to meditate. An important development in Buddhist art is the Esoteric Buddhist art in China and Tibet. This category belongs to the intellectual, religious as well as artistic environments. The Tibetan deities with consorts in their embrace symbolize the union of the god and the devotees. Buddhist art created a unique environment that was spread out to many nations and changed greatly over time.

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The Effects of Ecological Variables on Volunteering among Older Adults: The Applications of General Ecological Theory of Aging (노인자원봉사활동에 있어서 생태환경 변수의 효과: 노화의 일반생태학 이론을 적용하여)

  • Lee, Hyunkee
    • 한국노년학
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    • v.32 no.3
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    • pp.777-800
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    • 2012
  • This paper aims to estimate the effects of environmental variables on volunteering among older persons and decide relationships between independent and dependent variables. The thesis conceptually points out that the integrated theory of resources too much emphasizes the important roles of human, social and cultural capital, but overlooks the influences of ecological environments in explaining volunteering among the older persons. And the thesis tries to apply the general ecological theory of aging to explaining volunteering of older people together with resource frameworks, and to estimate the effects of ecological environment variables on volunteerism for senior citizens. Using a micro data of 2009 National Social Survey by Statistics Korea, the paper screens out 10,268 subjects who are believed to socially retire and be above 55 years older. The multiple OLS regression and binomial logistic regression techniques are used to estimate the effects of ecological environments and resources on volunteering. The analysis results show that all of environmental and resource variables are related to volunteering at the level of p<.000. This means that environmental variables have independent effects on the volunteerism, controlling for resource variables. This results suggest that both theories have empirical evidences in explaining volunteerism in Korea. Also, at the end of paper, theoretical and policy implications for practices and future studies are discussed.

The Relationship between the GRIT of Teenagers and Their Career Preparation Behaviors: The Mediating Effect of Social Support (청소년의 그릿과 진로준비행동의 관계: 사회적 지지의 매개효과)

  • Jung, chul sang
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.21 no.1
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    • pp.675-684
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    • 2020
  • The purpose of this study is to identify the influence of the GRIT of teenagers on their career preparation behaviors and verify whether there is a mediating effect between GRIT and the career preparation behaviors with a view to assisting such career preparation behaviors. For this study, an analysis was conducted using AMO 22.0 and SPSS Statistics 22.0, with 426 teenagers in general middle schools. The findings of the analysis were as follows. First, the GRIT of teenagers had a significant impact on social support and career preparation behaviors. Social support had a significant effect on career preparation behaviors, as well. Second, in the relationship between the GRIT of the teenagers and their career preparation behaviors, social support, and the sub-elements of the social supports, which are emotional support, information support, evaluatory support, and material support, all had mediating effects. These study findings showed that GRIT and social support were influential factors upon career preparation behaviors. Therefore, in order to promote career preparation behaviors among teenagers, it is necessary to provide social support in the family and school environments, and it is also helpful to enhance the GRIT, which is an individual trait.

A Comparative Study on Women's Cosmetic Culture of Korea and the West in the 20th (20세기 한국과 서양의 여성 화장문화 비교연구)

  • 김희숙
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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    • v.50
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    • pp.85-96
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    • 2000
  • The study is aimed to analyse social and cultural background and to compare the changes of the cosmetic culture in Korea and the western countries accompanied by the developemnt os the cosmetic industry in the 20th century. The cosmetic culture of Korea has kept on changing adopting the new western style make up, These changes were very closely related with the current sociocultural environments and the developments of the cosmetic industry. The analysis and comparison of Korean cosmetic culture and that of Western countries can be summarized as following: Fistly the cosmetic culture of korea came out after Korean War through the improt of western movies. Secondly at the beginning of accommodation of the western concept of beauty the standards of beauty were confused with that of traditional make up. Thirdly in terms of the history of costumes in the western cosmetic culture the trend was feminine and curve lineal style in the 1910s straight and young style in the 1920s Young elegant curve lineal style and straight-line style replaced among themselves in every 10 years and the cycle became more rapid after the 1970s and there were diversity in the cosmetic culture affected by the postmodernism Fourthly the cosmetic culture of :total fashion" was taken into consideration. Fifthly the cosmetic culture of "total fashion" was taken into consideration. fifthly the make up of Korean and that of western countries are not only a way to express of aesthetic desire for beauty but sanitary management and it is a kind of an expansion of value for management for an inner self. Now is the time to refuse the attitude of accommodation of the western cosmetic culture without any consideration. We need to rediscover our traditional cosmetic culture and cultural distinctiveness and try to mix them with the western cosmetic culture in order to develop our own peculiar style which will be able to Korean design remain in the international stage and grow further.d grow further.

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A Study on a Design for the Korean Coast Guard Uniform (한국 해양경찰복제 디자인 연구)

  • Lee, Jae-Jung;Kim, Youn-Hee
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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    • v.61 no.5
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    • pp.1-20
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    • 2011
  • As a follow-up of a study on design strategies to improve Korea's Korean coast guarduniforms, this study set out to propose Korean coast guard uniforms of a new concept that would meet the changing needs of the times and match the advanced technology and work environments. Three concepts of classical, nautical and techno chic were identified from the design strategies of the previous study. Using the results from a prototype show and preference survey, the investigator divided items into design, color, material, and detail and reflects demands for each of them. As a result, design was examined in four aspects of identity, acknowledgement, unity, and practicality and focused its improvement factors on design differentiated from other organizations' uniforms including ground police, segmentation of size system, adjustment of the length of upper garment to consider activity, and changes to the lines and silhouette to give out a modern image. As for color, the focus was placed on differentiated colors from other organizations' uniforms including ground police through dark blue and ocean color, change toward colors that reflect environmental characteristics, and unity in colors between the summer and winter uniform. As for material, the focus of improvement was put on elasticity, resistance against contamination, warmth retention, texture, wearing sensation, and functionality by taking into account convenience for field workers on coast guard vessels and branch offices who have much time in contact with ocean environments in order to make the materials high-grade. As for detail, structural details were added to give out a modern image such as changing the detail lines, efficiency of storage space, buttons, sleeve hems, ironing lines, and neck collars by taking into account environmental characteristics. The significance of the study lies in that it proposed a development model for large-scale uniform copy design by establishing copy design that secures functionality and is proper for an organization's social and cultural environment.

A Study on the Development and Validation of the Assessment Tool for Child Friendly Cities (아동·청소년친화도시 평가지표 개발 및 타당화 연구)

  • Hong, Seung Ae;Lee, Jae Yeon
    • Korean Journal of Child Studies
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.83-104
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    • 2013
  • The purpose of this study is to develop assessment tools to diagnose the child friendly level in a given community. To develop such assessment tools, the literature related to this issue was reviewed, and in order to reflect Korea specific social and cultural characteristics, 198 children and adolescents and 104 parents were interviewed in depth. The questionnaires were classified as objective tools and subjective tools by means of a content validity test by experts and a verification by preliminary survey. Objective tools are defined as those which are used by professionals to check facts based on laws and institutions. 20 objective questionnaires were created and completed. In contrast, subjective tools were used to check the subjective perceptions of children, adolescents and parents on their community environments. Subjective tools were collected as the basis for the data for construct validity and was calculated to verify the validity. For this purpose, 432 children and adolescents between 11 and 18 and 201 parents living in Seoul, Daejeon and Hwaseong (n=633) were surveyed. Subjective tools, 33 questions in 6 areas were created and completed for parents and for children and adolescents, 30 questions in 5 areas were created and completed.

Complex Features of Azerbaijani National Identity and Its Implications for Foreign Policy (아제르바이잔 정체성의 복합적 성격과 대외정책에의 함의)

  • Kim, Young-Jin
    • International Area Studies Review
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.789-812
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    • 2009
  • This paper aims to analyse the historical-cultural sources of Azerbaijani national identity through the aspects of the Persian, the Turkish and the Russian influences, and to illuminate its complex characteristics. Then it will be examined the impact and consequences that the Azerbaijani identity exerted on its foreign policy. In the modern world, identities are formed and represented within a variety of shifting social, political, economic, cultural, and discursive contexts. Such understandings can have exclusionary consequences, particularly in pluralistic environments. Since its independence, the PFA government resorted to the arguments of ethnic origin and Azerbaijan's Turkishness to achieve its goals. Domestically, the failure of the ethnicity-based foreign policy was so great that even Azerbaijani Kurds, who under the Soviets had been virtually absorbed into the Azeri population, felt alienated and betrayed. Internationally, Azerbaijan turned Russia and Iran against itself and reduced bargaining power of Turkey since the latter grew increasingly concerned not to exacerbate its relations with Russia.

Cities in the Sky: Elevating Singapore's Urban Spaces

  • Samant, Swinal
    • International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.137-154
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    • 2019
  • Singapore has seen a phenomenal and an unprecedented transformation from a swampland to a high density urban environment since its independence in 1965, made possible largely and single-handedly by the sustained efforts of its government. Indeed, urban space is a key vehicle for achieving urban social, environmental, economic, and cultural sustainability. The dense urban context in Singapore has seen an emergence and increase in elevated spaces in the form of sky-gardens, sky-bridges and sky-courts in a range of building types, seemingly seeking to tie together the different horizontal and vertical components of the city. This paper, therefore, examines the effectiveness of elevated urban spaces and pedestrian networks in Singapore and their ability to contribute to the horizontal to vertical transitions, and consequently to the urban vitality and accessibility. It does this through the analysis of two key developments: Marina Bay Sands and the Jurong Gateway. In particular, it considers the implications of certain constraints placed on urban spaces by their inherent location at height, in addition to the familiar privatization of public spaces, over-management of spaces, and their somewhat utilitarian characteristics. The paper argues that some of these issues may pose detrimental effects on the publicness of these spaces that in turn may lead to such spaces being underused and therefore adding redundancies and further stress to Singapore's urban land. Finally, the paper outlines key strategies that may help overcome the aforementioned issues, including the disjuncture associated with elevated spaces such that they may become a seamless extension of the urban spaces on ground.

A Case Study on Simplification Strategies of Logo Design from the Perspective of Gestalt Psychology

  • Cui Hongxiao;Zhang Qingfeng;Zhang Yu
    • International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.205-214
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    • 2024
  • This paper delves into the application of Gestalt psychology principles in logo design. It analyzes how these principles refine design elements to bolster the efficiency and impact of visual communication. Drawing from Gestalt psychology perspectives, the theoretical foundations and application methods of logo design simplification strategies are discussed. Through the analysis of Gestalt psychology effects in various types and styles of logo designs, this study compares the applicability and differences of logo design simplification strategies under different cultural and social contexts. Furthermore, it evaluates their role and value in enhancing the innovativeness and communicative impact of logo designs. The findings suggest that strategies informed by Gestalt psychology significantly improve the organization rules within logo designs, such as the relationship between figure and ground, proximity, similarity, and continuity. Thereby they enhance perceptual clarity, cognitive load, and aesthetic satisfaction. Moreover, these strategies promote creative thinking and problem-solving abilities in logo design. The results indicate that simplified design methods not only enhance aesthetic appeal but also improve the adaptability and recognizability of logos across different media and environments. This approach aligns with the minimalist and flat design trends of today's information age, meeting the evolving needs and aesthetic preferences of consumers.