This study deals with selected ethnographic and other methods used in research on Afro-American communities in the United States. After a review of the conclusions of psychologists on Afro-American culture, it is contended that the best method of enquiry is that of ethnography, and that, even though the ethnographic method has been hitherto used, the studies completed have been partial ethnographic studies because the researchers have neither lived in the community studied nor studied a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Anthropology, Biculturalism, Black Community, Black Culture, Cultural Images,...
The paper attempts to illustrate the importance of an accurate sociocultural description of a number of unconscious verbal and gestural behaviors which help to distinguish a Frenchman from an American. An accurate description of many of the most elementary signs and gestures is needed to help to dispel the notion that there is a one-for-one equivalent between languages. False interpretation and social blunders may result when individuals transfer their own cultural behavior to the setting of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Body Language, Communication Problems, Cultural Activities, Cultural Differences,...
This practicum was designed to increase the cultural awareness of fourth-grade students of contributions to American society by those of different races and colors. The program consisted of an integrated 12-week curriculum and a variety of materials allowing students to conceptualize the diversity of America. Students were exposed to other cultures through literature, computer programs, research, and class discussion. The "Person or People of the Week" theme allowed discussion of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Indian Culture, American Indians, Black Culture, Black Leadership, Blacks,...
A proposal is presented for the continuation of ongoing research into the relationships between pervasive cultural trends represented by network television drama and popular conceptions of reality in the areas or health, behavior, and policy. The research leading to the development of the Cultural Indicators (of trends in television dramatic content and their effects) began with the analysis of the most pervasive and comprehensive images of everyday culture found in television drama. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Commercial Television, Concept Formation, Content Analysis, Cultural Awareness,...
A summative evaluation of a unique television experience for children is presented in this document. Vegetable Soup, a multi-ethnic television series, is designed to reduce the adverse effects of racial prejudice. A major focus of the program is to assist elementary school children in the development of genuine appreciation of members of all ethnic groups. The purpose of this research is to test the objectives of the program in order to determine the effect on attitudes of those children who...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Affective Objectives, Attitude Change, Childhood Attitudes, Children, Childrens...
Henry Cisneros, speaking on the theme, "the colorful past and promising future of Hispanic heroes in Texas," in Amarillo, Texas, on February 7, 1989, was successful in eliciting a positive response from his Anglo/Hispanic audience. An analysis of Cisneros' use of narrative demonstrates its effectiveness in leading to a feeling of "community" by audience members. W. R. Fisher's narrative paradigm can be used to examine similarities and differences in the use of narrative...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Audience Awareness, Cultural Images, Discourse Analysis, Hispanic Americans,...
As teachers gravitate more and more to the use of literature and strive to include a range of cultural experiences in their classrooms, the use of poetry from various cultural groups should be considered. Poetry is a very real means of having children see themselves and others as being both unique and yet the same. In considering poetry across cultures, African-American, Native American, Hispanic American, and Asian poetry can be selected and shared with children. To successfully share poetry...
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Indian Literature, Black Literature, Cultural Differences, Cultural Images,...
Stereotyping is associated with fixed, unchanging points of view based on generalizations and results from the fact that, in his life, a person encounters many different personalities and groups about which he has little information. A stereotype reaction is not based on first-hand information about an individual, but rather on perceived cultural affiliations. It is basically an emotional response that tends to distort message decoding and interfere with understanding of persons and messages....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Attitudes, Cultural Differences, Cultural Images, Cultural Interrelationships,...
When a woman is widowed, she automatically becomes a member of a community of isolated women who lack social status, economic power, and visibility in literature and the mass media. Literature by and about widows indicates four major reasons for this situation: there is no general recognition of the distinctive problems widows must face; except in a few large urban centers, widows lack access to social agencies, clubs, and therapy groups that can provide counsel or collective power and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cultural Images, English Instruction, Literary Criticism, Mass Media, Secondary...
Although the cultural stereotypes which the mass media disseminate about the roles of men and women are often discussed in general terms, the actual nature of these stereotypes in the present American culture has not been fully or systematically explored. This study examined part of the system of cultural stereotypes relating to men and women on television--specifically, the operation of male-female knowledge stereotypes that are displayed through the giving and receiving of advice and orders...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Commercial Television, Cultural Images, Media Research, Programing (Broadcast), Sex...
This monograph examines the way in which ideas emerged and grew in the rhetorical process of creating an American people, and the ways in which the ideas were transformed into fundamental symbols that have exerted their influence throughout United States history. The first chapter analyzes certain discourses of the American Revolution to show the rhetorical strategy developed by the patriots with the goals of destroying the British ethos and, at the same time, creating a new American ethos. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Civil Rights, Cultural Images, Imperialism, Intellectual History, Persuasive...
Within the framework of "symbolicity" and "nativistic movement" the paper presents a "reasonably balanced and illustrative" examination of selected negative and positive trends in Native American symbolicity. Symbolicity is defined as the state, condition, and tendency of people to organize their perceptions and experience into symbols and symbol systems, while nativistic movement refers to the process and efforts by which an ethnic group returns to a more glorious...
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Indian Culture, American Indians, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Images,...
Chinese Americans have been called inscrutable--not open to being understood. More casual, spontaneous, and expressive people find it hard to understand the strict discipline of feelings and highly selective and controlled expressions such as the Chinese American may practice. This paper serves as a social introduction to the Chinese American. For brevity's sake, the term "Chinese American" is used in referring to Americans of Chinese ancestry and the term "Chinese" when...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Asian Americans, Chinese, Chinese Americans, Chinese Culture, Cultural Awareness,...
This thesis focuses on the effects of the language of patriarchy on the power of Native American women, how these women have retained power in their own societies, and how an understanding of Native women's values can aid feminists. An examination of Native American women's literature provides a connecting bridge back to a time before patriarchy and shows how Native languages and oral tradition have nurtured Native culture and values. This literature frequently draws on Native mythology and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Indian Culture, American Indian History, American Indian Literature,...
This is the seventh of seven resource units for a twelfth grade course on value conflicts and policy decisions. The topic for this unit is: "What is the good life?" The objectives are listed as to generalizations, skills, and values. The double-page format relates objectives to pertinent content, teaching procedures, and instructional materials. The focus of the unit is on the present and on questions which face young Americans today. The unit is designed to show that the social...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Case Studies, Course Content, Cultural Images, Educational Objectives, Ethics, Grade...
This paper presents suggestions for a 60-hour course in intercultural communication that develops cognition skills needed to understand life in foreign countries. The initial part of the course is intended to heighten the participant's awareness of his or her own "home-culture"; the latter part concentrates on assumptions, values, and behaviors of the "target-culture." Although the course described herein is designed for culturally homogeneous classes in the Middle East, it...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Body Language, Communication Skills, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Background,...
Photocopy humor is defined as any facsimile, photocopy, or wire-copy line drawing, iconography, or textual material that was drawn or written for distribution to a larger select audience using the available technology to disperse material intended to be humorous. Professional humor is excluded from this consideration. The content of photocopy humor gives insight into the individuals who create and share it and into the society that inspires it. Photocopy humor usually narrows in on...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Age Differences, Cartoons, Coding, Cultural Images, Ethnic Stereotypes, Humor,...
This Module is designed for use by guidance personnel in grades k-12 and at the postsecondary level. These include teachers, administrators, counselors, paraprofessionals, pupil personnel workers and any others who provide services to ethnic minority populations. This Module will help each participant to differentiate between behaviors that reinforce stereotypes of ethnic minority persons and behaviors that facilitate greater awareness of people as individuals, to recognize that ethnically...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Career Guidance, Career Planning, Cultural Images, Ethnic Stereotypes, Guidance...
Reporting on a pilot study of urban junior high students, this report examines the way young people acquire perceptions of their own and other nations and attempts to identify the sources of those ideas. This action research approach used a survey research instrument with a 20-item semantic differential form to measure students' knowledge of and judgments about the United States, Canada, and Russia. In this 1991-92 pilot study, a convenience sample of 163 New York metropolitan area middle and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adolescents, Classroom Research, Comparative Analysis, Cultural Images, Educational...
This paper presents preliminary explorations of the nature of differences in first-name stereotypes among three ethnic groups. A total of 147 white, black, and Spanish teachers were divided into five subgroups determined by their geographic location (Miami, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia) and ethnic grouping. Each subject was asked to rate his or her impressions of some typical names using a seven-point scale for each of nine semantic differential subscales. Results indicated that there do appear...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Blacks, Cultural Differences, Cultural Images, Cultural Influences, Sex Differences,...
This document is a collection of a list of expressions shared by Vietnamese immigrants who have entered the United States. The expressions concern the following topics: names, formality, cultural influences, touching, tact and diplomacy, shared life, open houses, social standards, manual labor, fatalism, and adaptability. (Author/AM)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Asian Americans, Cultural Background, Cultural Context, Cultural Differences,...
The minority image presented in the majority of children's books is too often a stereotype of a particular minority. Blacks are seen as ludicrous or unnaturally good, as ghetto bound, and--when portrayed in a group of characters--as the only dialect speakers in the group; American Indians are portrayed with depersonalization and ridicule; and Spanish American characters (including Mexicans and Puerto Ricans) suffer from the perpetuation of negative myths and the failure to define them as...
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Indians, Blacks, Books, Childrens Literature, Cultural Awareness, Cultural...
Fifteen newspaper articles about popular culture in the United States are contained in this document. As the basis for a 15-week course by newspaper during the winter and spring of 1978, the articles served as the course "lectures." The articles were written by professors of mass communications, sociology, cinema, journalism, political science, and history; a newspaper columnist; a sports commentator; and a feminist author. They explore the nature of popular culture, popular culture...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adult Education, Communications, Content Area Reading, Cultural Images, Culture,...
THIS IS A FOLLOWUP OF A STUDY CONDUCTED IN 1960 OF SELECTED TEXTBOOK PUBLISHERS TO ASCERTAIN IF THERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE IN THEIR EDITORIAL, ARTISTIC, AND PUBLISHING VIEWS AND PRACTICES REGARDING THE USE OF MULTIRACIAL PICTURES IN ELEMENTARY TEXTBOOKS. IT IS ALSO AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT VIEWS AND PRACTICES OF OTHER MAJOR TEXTBOOK PUBLISHERS REGARDING THE USE OF VARIOUS ETHNIC GROUPS (ESPECIALLY MINORITIES) IN BOOKS FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN. TWENTY-SIX FIRMS WERE SENT QUESTIONNAIRES,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cultural Images, Elementary Education, Illustrations, Marketing, Minority Groups,...
Literature has perpetuated through the centuries the cultural and traditional roles and stereotypes of woman, particularly the Hispanic woman. Two main categories or images of woman, with variations and generalizations, have been: (1) the "good woman", symbolized by a woman who can think or do no evil, is pure, understanding, kind, weak, passive, needs to be protected, but yet has an inner strength and a capacity for enduring and suffering; and (2) the "bad woman",...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Characterization, Cultural Images, Females, Hispanic American Literature, Literature...
Based on ethnographic research on Puerto Ricans on the island and mainland, this paper examines why Nuyoricans' identities are disparaged by island and mainland Puerto Ricans. Nuyoricans are Puerto Ricans, especially in New York, who mix North American and Puerto Rican cultural traits. Many have grown up traveling between the island and mainland. One reason that Puerto Ricans tend to reject Nuyoricans is the negative stereotypes assigned to Nuyoricans from which other Puerto Ricans wish to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cultural Differences, Cultural Images, Ethnic Stereotypes, Ethnicity, Hispanic...
This "communication lexicon," a new source of information in the field of language and area studies, describes how selected themes such as family, society, work, and entertainment are perceived and understood by members of the Mexican, Colombian, and United States cultures. It identifies broad trends of perceptions and evaluations through analysis of related themes. The awareness it provides of differences in perceptual and motivational dispositions can be applied to educational and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Attitudes, Communication Research, Comparative Analysis, Cross Cultural Studies,...
Ethnic differences are valuable to the well-being of society, but it is difficult to determine how to transmit this cultural value from one generation to another. The development of the value of cultural pluralism is dependent upon the development of both a comprehensive theory of cultural pluralism and a model of cultural transmission which focus on the breadth, depth, and changes of ethnic groups within society. Four conditions must be met for cultural pluralism to thrive: (1) cultural...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Biculturalism, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Differences, Cultural Education, Cultural...
Noting that children who learn to accept and value human diversity will develop the open, flexible approach to life that is needed in today's world, this book examines ways to help young children learn to appreciate cultural diversity in the classroom. Following introductory chapters on the value of diversity and a child's right to the valuing of diversity, the first part of the book examines educational goals and describes a unique, unfolding perspective on education that values human...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Classroom Environment, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Differences, Cultural Images,...
Each chapter of this document describes a different project and approach for introducing students (elementary to high school) to oral history and folk arts. All chapters use a standard format in which a general overview of the project, describing themes, philosophies, and methods are followed by sample lesson plans, teacher guidelines, and student materials. The six chapters offer: (1) "Folklife in Education Program: Groton Center for the Arts" (Janice Gadaire) explains and uses basic...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Art, Art Education, Creative Writing, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Images, Elementary...
The Disney film "Pocahontas" appears to be an attempt to respond to growing cultural diversity, calls for multiculturalism, and strong female role models in the United States. This paper provides an analysis of the film, examining how Disney's claims to the creation of positive, pro-social representations of women and Native Americans in "Pocahontas" hold up or collapse when viewed from a critical feminist perspective. The paper first looks at the historical background of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Indians, Content Analysis, Cultural Images, Females, Feminist Criticism,...
The field of interpretation needs to be more aware of and sensitive to the contributions of black culture and consciousness. The interpreter wishing to perform black poetry, for example, needs to recognize that the black aesthetic has its roots in African culture and traditions and does not always share the assumptions of the European or Euro-American literary traditions. Oral tradition, with frequent religious and musical overtones, influences all areas of black culture and art and exemplifies...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Aesthetic Values, Art Expression, Black Culture, Black History, Black Influences,...
Since most textbooks and instructional materials are designed to appeal to the majority market, they often are written from an ethnocentric viewpoint. American Indian viewpoints are either stereotyped, distorted, or omitted. To assist educators and publishers in developing awareness of American Indian heritage and culture and contemporary issues facing American Indians, general guidelines and a rating scale have been compiled by the Ethnic Heritage Project Advisory Council, to be used when...
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Indian Education, American Indians, Cultural Images, Elementary Secondary...
This paper delineates some basic characteristics of ethnic groups in contemporary American society and develops a typology for defining and classifying ethnic groups which is more consistent with the current characteristics of ethnic groups than many existing definitions and typologies. Several social forces have changed the characteristics and relationships of ethnic groups in the United States since the major concepts and theories related to ethnic groups and ethnicity were formulated. As a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Classification, Cultural Images, Cultural Pluralism, Elementary Secondary Education,...
Examining the impact of news on people's knowledge about and favorableness of opinion toward six foreign countries, a study conducted telephone interviews with 374 adult residents in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, during November 1984. The nations selected for study included three developed countries (Britain, the Soviet Union, and Japan) and three developing countries (Mexico, India, and Venezuela). Knowledge about the countries was measured by asking respondents to identify the capital and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Images, Foreign Countries, Mass Media Effects, News...
Focusing on a serious social problem that links mass communication and society, this paper uses the techniques of irony and meta-research to examine the paradoxial discrepancies between the intent of acts and the outcomes of actions in social and media policy in the culture of alcohol. It examines the history and folklore of alcohol and community; the role of alcohol in journalism, humor, language, music, films and television, politics, and advertising; and the relationship of sports, media,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Alcoholism, Content Analysis, Cultural Images, Drinking, Intellectual History,...
This paper examines the ways in which multicultural art education, the curriculum of "Multiculturalism Canada" and a renowned instructional text lack indigenous consideration and ignore alternative concepts of scholarship of art history. Although multicultural education is considered important in Canada, the paper contends that there are significant problems in its implementation. Inappropriate rationale of the curriculum and insufficient knowledge have a tendency to promote...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Art Education, Asian Studies, Chinese Culture, Cultural Images, Elementary Secondary...
This annotated bibliography focuses on fiction for children and young adults that is concerned with three subject areas: South Dakota, pioneers, and American Indian culture. The publication dates of these titles span the 1930s to the late 1980s. Entries are listed alphabetically by author and include title, publisher, date of publication, an annotation, and a reading-level designator (E, M, or YA). (MAB)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adolescent Literature, American Indian Culture, Annotated Bibliographies, Childrens...
A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that most persons will act differently as they process information and form impressions about another person when that person is familiar than when the other person is unfamiliar to them. The subjects were 79 undergraduate students enrolled in the basic communication course of a midwestern university during the summer session. In a previous study, two ethnic groups (English and German) had been identified as familiar and two groups (Walloons and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Communication Research, Communication (Thought Transfer), Cultural...
The California Legislature recognized the significant place of instructional materials in the formation of a child's attitudes and beliefs when it adopted "Educational Code" sections 60040 through 60044. The "Education Code" sections referred to in this document are intended to help dispel negative stereotypes by emphasizing people in diverse, positive, and contributing roles. However, "Education Code" sections 60040 through 60044 do not include any references to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Age Discrimination, Attitudes, Change Strategies, Cultural Images, Cultural...
A teacher's developing awareness of his college students' dependence on jargon as the expression of their culture is portrayed with the aid of quotations from Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Parallels are drawn between Prufrock's attitudes and student language in the classroom. (AF)
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Images, Cultural Traits, English...
A questionnaire was completed by Japanese students at the University of Kansas, to determine their perception of cross-cultural understanding between Japanese and Americans at the University. The students judged American knowledge of Japanese culture to be meager, but were in general confident in their own grasp of American culture. This knowledge of the American way of life was not attributed to secondary school programs in Japan, which were perceived to be weak in the area of cross-cultural...
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Culture, College Students, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural Awareness,...
A study investigated how news photographs in "Time" and "Newsweek" have portrayed the world to their readers. News photographs about foreign nations were selected from 60 issues of each magazine for the years 1971, 1976, and 1980. The picture's subject, size, country, and source, and the section in which it appeared were recorded. Results indicated that nonviolent events dominated the content of news pictures in both magazines for all three years, with human interest and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Content Analysis, Cultural Images, Foreign Countries, Media Research, News Reporting,...
This paper discusses the concept of popular culture, relating it to new journalism as a phenomenon which reflects the popular images of society. Style is the essential element of popular culture so that the kind of writing presently known as new journalism is the ultimate example of the philosophy that style is supreme. But the style of the best new journalists is not only difficult to imitate, but difficult to analyze as well. The new media and modes are taking over; we look with our eyes but...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Analytical Criticism, Communication (Thought Transfer), Cultural Images, Cultural...
To understand and document the image and the reality of old age and older Americans, the National Council on the Aging (NCOA) commissioned the major, in-depth survey which examined public attitudes and expectations and documented older Americans' views and personal experiences. Consisting of statistical tables, textual analysis, and subjective discussions of implications, the report presents a major overview of the survey's findings in eight sections: (1) public attitudes toward old age, (2)...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Ability, Attitudes, Cultural Images, Demography, Expectation, Experience, National...
The purpose of this project was to collect data concerning the black magazine in order to assess whether or not there was sufficient material to merit further study of black publications. A pilot study revealed that the purely mass magazines act as forums for expression and appear to have the following recurrent themes: black awareness, survival, identity, liberation, black aesthetics, and pan-Africanism. The trend in black magazines appears to be from religious to general to nationalistic. It...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Bibliographies, Black Culture, Black Literature, Cultural Images, National Surveys,...
Whether through separate courses, or, preferably, through an integration of the curriculum, Afro-American and other minority literature must become a part of English education if the curriculum is to have "integrity" and "relevance" and if the student is to have a satisfactory self-concept. The curriculum must reflect black contributions to the pluralistic nature of our culture, must provide an awareness of alternative life-styles open to man, must foster a healthy...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Black Literature, Cultural Enrichment, Cultural Images, English Curriculum,...
Savage, blood-thirsty, drunk, monosyllabic, naked, and primitive are the stereotypes of Native Americans in textbooks. These stereotypes are so pervasive that they tend to be accepted uncritically by the rest of society. The evidence suggests that many textbooks are biased and, in a large number of cases, outright racist. The concept of "errors by omission" has been noted as important by several educators. Also, many authors who are critical of textbooks state that texts are written...
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Indians, Cultural Images, Elementary Secondary Education, Eskimos, Ethnic...
The second largest group of minority women in the U.S., Mexican American women share multitudinous histories, vast differences in lifestyles, experiences and realities. A Chicana may have recently arrived from Mexico, or her ancestors may have been in the Southwest since 1520 (or before) or in the Midwest since the 1880's. She may be rural, urban, poor, middle class or Ph.D., a high school dropout, a teacher, or a migrant. She does share some basic, and heterogeneous, roots in the development...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Achievement, Bibliographies, Cultural Images, Family Life, Females, Feminism, Life...
Montana's Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights investigated the effects of Montana's television and newspaper media on minorities and women. Focus was on the employment opportunities in and the images projected by the media. Interviews were conducted with management and staff of newspapers, news services, and television stations; faculty and students from the University of Montana and Montana State University; and other individuals and groups interested in media-related...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Affirmative Action, American Indians, Blacks, Civil Rights, Cultural Images,...
