Telecenters are public places where people can gain access to information technologies and other communication resources. They originated in the mid-1980s in Scandinavian countries as an effort to help people in rural areas become part of the information economy, particularly by making modern office equipment available to them on a shared basis. Although the idea
During their colonial occupation, many parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean were underdeveloped; forced labor was used in mines, fields, and plantations to supply the factories of Europe. Television has been part of state-led reconstruction attempts for national development since the 1970s, albeit with no explicit policies. After the pressure to privatize
“Civil society” has been through a series of definitions since it first came into use in the 18th century. Locke, Hegel, Marx, and Gramsci all used the term; but for Locke it meant organized human civilization as contrasted with the animal kingdom’s turbulence, for Marx it meant the economic process, and the other two writers
Museum attendants monitor exhibits, inform and guide visitors, and facilitate interactions between visitors and exhibits. They are the foremost representatives of the museum to the visiting public. The precise duties of a museum attendant vary with the needs of the museum and the specific job title. At some institutions, volunteers rather than employees may fulfill
Motivational speakers give inspirational and informative speeches to groups of people. They are hired by businesses, schools, resorts, and communities to speak on topics such as achieving personal or financial success, living a healthy lifestyle, or organizing one’s personal life or business. Speakers must tailor their message to their audience, whether it is a class
Molders form sand molds for use in the production of metal castings. This production method, known as sand casting, requires knowledge of the properties of metals and sand mixtures, pattern shapes, and pouring procedures. Implementing a two-part box called a flask, molders pack specially prepared sand mix around a pattern of the object that is
Models display a wide variety of products and services in print, such as magazines and newspapers; television; and live marketing. Industrial models are used in all advertising media to sell every kind of product or service imaginable. Fashion models display clothing and fashion accessories in fashion shows, apparel catalogs, and retail stores. A small segment
Mining engineers deal with the exploration, location, and planning for removal of minerals and mineral deposits from the earth. These include metals (iron, copper), nonmetallic minerals (limestone, gypsum), and coal. Mining engineers conduct preliminary surveys of mineral deposits and examine them to ascertain whether they can be extracted efficiently and economically, using either underground or
Millwrights install, assemble, and maintain heavy industrial machinery and other equipment. If necessary, they construct foundations for certain large assemblies. They may also dismantle, operate, or repair these machines. Approximately 59,000 millwrights are employed in the United States. Millwright Career History The history of the millwright dates back to the industrial revolution. While milling machines
Microbiologists are scientists who study living things that cannot be seen with the naked eye, such as bacteria, fungi, protozoans, and viruses, as well as human and animal cells. They examine the effects these microorganisms and infectious agents have on people, animals, plants, and the environment. They are interested in learning about microorganisms that cause
Meter readers check the level of gas, water, steam, and electricity consumption in homes and businesses by going from building to building and reading meters that measure how much energy has been used. They then record this amount in a route book or with an electronic, handheld device. Meter readers are also responsible for checking
Merchandise displayers, sometimes known as visual merchandisers, design and install displays of clothing, accessories, furniture, and other products to attract customers. They set up these displays in windows and showcases and on the sales floors of retail stores. Display workers who specialize in dressing mannequins are known as model dressers. Those who specialize in installing
Doctors and other health care professionals often make tape recordings documenting what happened during their patients’ appointments or surgical procedures. Medical transcriptionists listen to these tapes and transcribe, or type, reports of what the doctor said. The reports are then included in patients’ charts. Medical transcriptionists work in a variety of health care settings, including
Anthropologists Clyde Kluckhohn and William Kelley claim that by “culture,” we mean those historically created selective processes that channel men’s reactions, both to internal and to external stimuli. In a more simplistic way, culture is the complex whole that consists of all the ways we think and do and everything we have as members of
Cultural ecology is the study of the adaptation of a culture to a specific environment and how changes in that environment lead to changes in that specific culture. It also focuses on how the overall environment, natural resources available, technology, and population density affect the rest of the culture and how a traditional system of
Cybernetics is the study of control and self-organizing processes in systems, including living organisms, human organizations, and machines. Cybernetic modeling is the attempt to use math or visual symbolic representations of system components and processes to understand the effect of feedback on a given system’s potential states of organization or performance. The term cybernetics can
The advent of the personal computer combined with the development of the Internet and easy-to-use, Internet-based computer applications has created a new virtual environment in which new forms of social interaction occur. Adding new technologies to social behaviors has created an environment that has changed individuals, cultures, and the world. Due to the dynamic nature of
Cultural relativism is the idea that beliefs are affected by and best understood within the context of culture. It is a theory and a tool used by anthropologists and social scientists for recognizing the natural tendency to judge other cultures in comparison to their own and for adequately collecting and analyzing information about other cultures
Culture is that complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society. Culture consists of abstract patterns of and for living and dying. Such abstract patterns are learned directly or indirectly in social interactions of two or more people. In anthropological theory, there
Within anthropology, the “tree of life” concept can be viewed from either a biological or a cultural perspective. The cultural tree of life is generally linked to religious beliefs and actions. Symbolic reference to trees as sacred entities can be found in Christianity, associated with the Garden of Eden and with the cross of crucifixion.
Culture is a system created by human activity comprising spiritual, organizational, and material items and expanding within the Earth’s nature at the expense of this very nature. People mostly understand human culture in several ways: (1) as an acquired characteristic of human behavior, (2) as a spiritual culture, (3) as a better view of civilization
“Culture and personality” has been perhaps the most mythologized and misunderstood of American anthropology’s interdisciplinary endeavors. Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead, the two anthropologists most closely associated with “cultural and personality,” have often been understood to equate culture with personality. While views of this sort are common, there is little, if any, evidence in Mead’s
The culture area concept was developed in the early 1900s, at a time when American anthropology was in its infancy. Franz Boas and his students were collecting enormous amounts of data about the “disappearing” native cultures of North America. There was no framework for organizing this data, however. The concept of the culture area was
A neologism derived from a neologism, cyberculture welds together the ‘‘cyber ’’ from cyberspace with ‘‘culture.’’ It is important to understand what happens when cyber and culture are brought together, and in order to work toward that understanding we need to begin by saying a few words about cyberspace (and some related things). The term
Elite culture can be defined as those ‘‘high’’ cultural forms and institutions that were exclusive to, and a distinguishing characteristic of, modern social elites. It is a term that particularly references the cultural tastes of the established aristocracy, the commercial bourgeoisie, educated bureaucrats and political power brokers, and the professions in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and
Fans have become important to work in media sociology and cultural studies for a variety of reasons: they can be taken to represent a dedicated, active audience; they are consumers who are often also (unofficial, but sometimes official) media producers (Jenkins 1992; McKee 2002); and they can be analyzed as a significant part of contemporary
The reproduction of our society’s sex gender system has been a continuing puzzle for sociologists of gender. The history of western writings on gender has long included ruminations on the role of culture in constituting gender difference and privilege (Wollstonecraft 1978; Mill 2003; and especially de Beauvoir 1993). Yet during the last 40 years of
Idioculture is defined as ‘‘a system of knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, and customs shared by members of an interacting group to which members can refer and employ as the basis of further interaction’’ (Fine 1979: 734). Termed by Gary Alan Fine, idioculture respecifies the content of culture by focusing on the level of small groups and
Mass culture typically refers to that culture which emerges from the centralized production processes of the mass media. It should be noted, however, that the status of the term is the subject of ongoing challenges – as in Swingewood’s (1977) identification of it as a myth. When it is linked to the notion of mass
Material culture refers to the physical stuff that human beings surround themselves with and which has meaning for the members of a cultural group. Mostly this ‘‘stuff’’ is things that are made within a society, but sometimes it is gathered directly from the natural world or recovered from past or distant cultures. It can be
There is a movement among sociologists and social critics to include the built environment and physical bodies in social analysis, and to think seriously about the ways that locations and creatures (including people) matter to group life. Part of this comes from anthropological leanings in sociology, and the tradition of thick description that includes discussions
Multiculturalism or the political accommodation of minorities became a major demand in the last quarter of the twentieth century, filling some of the space that accommodation of the working classes occupied for a century or more earlier. It thus constitutes powerful, if diverse, intellectual challenges in several parts of the humanities and social sciences, with
The word ‘‘popular’’ denotes ‘‘of the people,’’ ‘‘by the people,’’ and ‘‘for the people.’’ In other words, it is made up of them as subjects, whom it textualizes via drama, sport, and information; workers, who undertake that textualization through performances and recording; and audiences, who receive the ensuing texts. Three discourses determine the direction sociologists
If visuality is understood broadly as the practices, performances, and configurations of the appearances, then the relationship between rhetoric and visuality is as old as the art of rhetoric itself. The ancients tied rhetoric to the world of mimesis, or the appearances, rather than to the realm of philosophical truth; this relationship has often unfairly
The tradition of rhetorical theory and practice in Britain is longstanding and vibrant. In the Middle Ages, Britain produced important contributions to rhetorical theory. The Venerable Bede (c. 672/73–735), for instance, provided a treatment of the stylistic aspects of discourse in his De schematibus et tropis, and Alcuin (c. 735–804), the British-born tutor of and
According to the doxa, rhetoric flourished in France under absolutism, enjoyed a fire-andbrimstone revival during the Revolution, and gradually disappeared in the nineteenth century, until it was reduced to the few figures of style school children still learned in the twentieth century. Actually, after 1700, interwoven rhetorical and anti-rhetorical strands shape a field that expands
During the early modern period, in Germany rhetoric was taught at grammar schools (Gymnasien), both Protestant and Jesuit, and at Protestant universities. Rhetorical theory provided a basis for writing, especially in Latin, serving as a means of communication for scholars throughout Europe. It influenced the theory of poetics as well as art, each of which
Rhetoric has been important for centuries in Italian literary culture. The first development of an Italian literary prose was thanks to a teacher of rhetoric in Bologna, Guido Faba: in the thirteenth century, he provided examples of elaborated prose in rhetorical models of letters and speeches. Other Italian works of the time represented a return
As in the rest of Europe during the “Siècle des lumières,” the decadence of rhetoric was a fact in Spain. Persuasion based on the rhetorical employment of language was neither considered important nor respected, consequently leaving poetry as much more highly esteemed than eloquence. There was only one exception, namely, sacred oratory – that is
Rhetorical criticism analyzes discourse in order to understand its communicative power. In US departments of speech and communication, it grew out of the emphasis on public speaking as an expression of democracy and from perspectives developed by literary theorists. Critical analysis of discourse began in ancient Greece and Rome as teachers attempted to understand why
The rhetorical impulse may be conceived as the desire to express one’s thoughts in a way that affects the thoughts of others. Such an impulse is universal among humans, and historical evidence exists for its cultivation in ancient civilizations of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas (Lipson & Binkley 2004). Early instances of theoretical inquiry
Under the term style in rhetorical studies are grouped all those concerns with effective language that have been part of the rhetorical tradition from its beginnings in ancient Greece. In rhetorical manuals from antiquity through to the present, language issues are typically discussed at the levels of word choice, sentence structure, and passage arrangement according
The term “branding” is used for the identification of offers (products and services). Etymologically, the origin of the word can be found in the branding of cattle. Initially, the spectrum of meanings was closely restricted to the pure act of naming. In the course of time, a more tailored definition of branding was suggested: integrated
A cursory examination of halo terms used on the world stage in the last 50 years will surely unearth the term “development.” Development is commonly understood to mean a process by which societal conditions are improved. However, there is much disagreement on what constitutes improvement. Consequently, the term development has been continually contested. Development communication
Development communication engages strategic social change in a variety of areas, yet a great proportion of resources in this field are allocated toward the field of health communication (Hemer & Tufte 2005). There is no universal strategic communication response to complex health-related challenges, but rather a framework of general principles, ranging from behavior change through
Daniel Lerner (1917–1980) was the author of The Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizing the Middle East (1958), a study of Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey that provided the first comprehensive statement of the role of mass communication in the process of modernization for postcolonial countries. The general theory posited a model of societal
For a political system to be democratic – for ordinary people to have a meaningful role in the formation of public policy – an active citizenry must have the means to communicate their views about ideas and issues, among themselves and to political leaders. In a period of unprecedented advances in communication technology – more
Since the 1990s, academic debates have revived modernity as a key concept. Tomlinson (1991) argued that much of what was labeled “cultural imperialism” was in fact a broader spread of a globalized pattern of modernity. This discourse argued, in particular, that beneath much of what was seen as Americanization or westernization lay a more general
As in other social sciences, modernization was the dominant paradigm in communication studies that sought to understand and define the role of communication in development in the late 1950s and 1960s. Modernization was originally proposed as synonymous with development. Development was understood as a transition toward a social order that mirrored the politics and economy
Participatory action research (PAR) is a methodological approach to research that breaks with standard social scientific practice in a number of ways. In standard practice, research into the behavior of social groups is conducted by university-trained scientists, while in PAR research is conducted by the social groups themselves with the assistance of university-trained scientists. In
Participatory communication stresses the importance of cultural identity of local communities and of democratization and participation at all levels – international, national, local, and individual. However, the point of departure must be the community. It is at the community level that the problems of living conditions are discussed, and interactions with other communities are elicited
Communication campaigns have become a central component of family planning programs designed to shape social norms and individual behavior related to fertility. Communication at multiple levels (individual, family, community and mass media) has been used to heighten awareness of family planning, change attitudes toward contraceptive use, and shape norms surrounding family planning. Communication campaigns play
Along with “anti-development,” postdevelopment is a radical reaction to the dilemmas of development. Perplexity and extreme dissatisfaction with business-as-usual and conventional development rhetoric and practice are keynotes of this perspective. This perspective emerges out of frustration with the seeming inability of development intervention to improve the lives of those in need. As a critical response
Musicians perform, compose, conduct, arrange, and teach music. Performing musicians may work alone or as part of a group, or ensemble. They may play before live audiences in clubs or auditoriums, or they may perform on television or radio, in motion pictures, or in a recording studio. Musicians usually play either classical, popular (including rock
Music video editors perform an essential role in the music industry. They take an unedited draft of film or videotape and use specialized equipment to improve the draft until it is ready for viewing. It is the responsibility of the video editor to create the most effective product possible that reflects the intentions of the
Music venue owners and managers are responsible for the overall success of a music venue. They book music acts, oversee employees, and play a role in the hiring and firing of staff. While owners have the final say in the club’s business decisions, managers handle the daily operations of the venue, such as hiring, training
Music therapists treat and rehabilitate people with mental, physical, and emotional disabilities. They use the creative process of music in their therapy sessions to determine the underlying causes of problems and to help patients achieve therapeutic goals. The specific objectives of the therapeutic activities vary according to the needs of the patient and the setting
Music producers are responsible for the overall production of commercially recorded music. They work closely with recording artists and audio recording engineers to ensure everything runs smoothly and according to plan during a recording session. They monitor and control the technical aspects of a session, such as microphone placement, tracks used, sound and effects, musician
As prominent professionals in the information services field, librarians help others find information and select materials best suited to their needs. They are key personnel wherever books, magazines, audiovisual materials, and a variety of other informational materials are cataloged and kept. Librarians help make access to these reference materials possible. Music librarians perform many of
Music conductors direct large groups of musicians or singers in the performance of a piece of music. There are various types of conductors, including those who lead symphony orchestras, dance bands, marching bands, and choral groups. They use their hands, a baton, or both to indicate the musical sound variations and timing of a composition.
An agent is a salesperson who sells artistic talent. Music agents act as the representatives for musical performers such as musicians, singers, orchestras, bands, and other musical groups, promoting their talent and managing legal contractual business. Music scouts search for musical talent at clubs, concert halls, and other music venues. As the music industry developed
Museum technicians are skilled craftworkers who, using detailed plans supplied by designers and architects, build and set up various kinds of museum displays and fixtures. The role of museum technician varies depending on the needs of the employing museum and the skills of the technician. For example, a museum technician may work as an electrician
A museum director is equivalent to the chief executive officer of a corporation. The museum director is responsible for the daily operations of the museum, for long-term planning, policies, any research conducted within the museum, and for the museum’s fiscal health. Directors must also represent the museum at meetings with other museums, business and civic
The technique of measuring the human body for the purpose of describing or comparing individuals and groups of individuals is known as anthropometry. Anthropometry includes four basic subject matters: somatometry, cephalometry, osteometry, and craniometry. Craniometry is the measurement of the skull (cranium and mandible), especially measurements on dry bone. Craniometry has a long history in
Crime, in the strictest sense, is the willful commission and/or omission of established codified laws of a society, nation, or culture. A less formalized understanding of crime includes the committing of any commonly recognized prohibited act worthy of punishment as established by the norms, mores, and values of a given population. Crime has been widely
Critical realism is best understood as the philosophy that maintains that we can know things about the world because we can gain reliable knowledge about it, although always with the proviso that we must not be overly confident or naive about the quality of the information we bring in. Critical realism as an identifiable term
Critical realism is a social science metaphilosophy that offers ethnology an ontological grounding necessary to realize its full potential as the study of humanness. Humanness is a feature of the world derived from, but not reducible to, evolution by natural, sexual, and kinship modes of selection. An emergent feature of humanness is the ability to
As one of the last great Victorian naturalists and iconoclasts of the 20th century, Leon C. Croizat explored conceptual and methodological questions in the fields of botany, zoology, biogeography, anthropology, evolution, taxonomy, archeology, linguistics, and philosophy. Few other 20th-century biologists have had such a significant impact on the integration of evolution, systematics, and biogeography, the
Almost by definition, cultural anthropology is cross-cultural research. The search for an understanding of what culture is has meant undertaking research with an eye for comparing ethnographic data generated in different societies. Anthropological fieldwork has been driven as much by the desire to test a particular theory about culture as it has been about documenting
Cuba is an island nation known for its beautiful tropical beaches, intoxicating musical rhythms, and rich cultural heritage and diversity. Some 90 miles off the coast of Florida Keys and the largest island in the Caribbean, Cuba is 48,800 square miles, or 110,860 sq km, just a bit smaller than the U.S. state of Louisiana.
Plant cultivation includes a whole range of human behaviors, from watering, to weeding, to the construction of drainage ditches, which are designed to encourage the growth and propagation of one or more species of plants. Cultivated plants are distinguished from domesticated plants, which show morphological changes, indicating that they are genetically different from their wild
The term cult stems from the Latin cultus, to worship. The term is difficult to define, as it is used to denote various actions and situations. In common parlance, cult brings to mind specific groups or sects who hold unorthodox religious beliefs. In anthropology and archaeology, the term cult tends to be conflated with ritual
Cultural conservation refers to systematic efforts to safeguard traditional cultural knowledge, customs, and materials and the natural resources on which they are based. The primary goals of cultural conservation projects are to sustain cultural and ecological diversity within modernizing communities and landscapes, to promote the active engagement of community members in local resource management, and
Cultural relativism, a highly complex doctrine surrounded by various epistemological, political, and ethical controversies, can be broadly defined as the view that culture is the key variable to explain human diversity and that an individual’s behavior, thought, emotion, perception, and sensation are relative to and bound by the culture of the group he or she
Cultural reproduction is frequently considered to describe how cultural forms (e.g., social inequality, privilege, elite status, ethnicity) and cultures themselves are transmitted intact, from one generation to another. This idea emanates strongly from original work by Pierre Bourdieu in the 1970s on the role of the education process in reproducing class inequality and from such
Cultural resistance is the practice of using meanings and symbols, that is, culture, to con test and combat a dominant power, often constructing a different vision of the world in the process. The practice is as old as history. The Hebrew Scriptures, for example, were a cultural means with which to create Jewish identity and
Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that explores the linkages between society, politics, identity (or the person), and the full range of what is called ‘‘culture,’’ from high culture and the popular arts or mass entertainment, to beliefs, discourses, and communicative practices. Cultural studies has drawn on different national traditions of inquiry into these connections
Cultural tourism could be defined as tourism that focuses on cultural attractions and activities as a primary motivating factor for travel. Notwithstanding the broad definitions of culture that abound within postmodern and populist writings, parameters need to be drawn around what is defined as ‘‘culture’’ in this context. It is therefore useful to break the
In traditional academic discourse, culture and economy have long been regarded as separate analytical spheres: on the one hand, the realm of shared cognitions, norms, and symbols, studied by anthropologists; on the other hand, the realm of self interest, where economists reign supreme. Though the two disciplines overlap occasionally (in economic anthropology mainly), radical differences
Culture in organizations refers to the values, norms, and patterns of action that characterize the social relationships within formal organizations. Jaques (1951) first described the changing culture of a factory, defining it as the customary or traditional ways of doing things, which are shared to a greater or lesser extent by all members of the
Studies of culture and the state focus on a range of relationships between modern political regimes and patterns of symbolic and material life. They reveal the diverse ways that power works through culture, and provide means for a better understanding of how power is accumulated, organized, and deployed in or around state systems. Much work
Culture industry is a term which performs both a descriptive and conceptual function. It also has a history. Since the term was coined by Horkheimer and Adorno in their 1947 essay ‘‘The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception,’’ both what the term designates and its theoretical implications have undergone a number of shifts. In its
Culture jamming refers to an organized, social activist effort that aims to counter the bombardment of consumption oriented messages in the mass media. For Habermas (1985), an ideal speech situation is one in which all participants within a public space are empowered to reach consensus on issues of mutual importance through engagement in symmetrical discourse.
The relationship between rhetoric and religion is fourfold: (1) rhetoric is a tool used by religious groups; (2) political rhetoric draws upon religious language; (3) religious systems contribute to the discursive constructions of their adherents’ worldviews; and (4) religious traditions contribute to rhetorical theory and practice. Religious systems use rhetoric as a tool for interfacing
Roman rhetoric aims to present practical and theoretical guidelines for effective verbal persuasion. In ancient Rome such precepts found an application most regularly in speeches made in the criminal and civil courts, but they were relevant also to debates on political policy in the senate and at popular assemblies. All of these oratorical activities were
The rhetoric of science is the application of the resources of the rhetorical tradition to the texts, tables, and visuals of the sciences. It is a relatively new form of rhetorical criticism that began over half a century ago with studies in science policy, shifted in the past quarter century to studies of science itself
“The Second Sophistic” is the name given by Flavius Philostratus (c. 170–245 ce) in his Lives of the sophists (481, 507) to the rhetorical style current in his day. The sophistic culture described by Philostratus involved highly educated members of the Greek elite improvising public declamations, often in the personae of famous figures from Greece’s
Semiotics is the study of signs and signification, including both linguistic and nonlinguistic signs. The American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914), who coined the term and did innovative work in the area, regarded it as the study of that which supports inferences; that is to say, of how signs enable interpretive inference to other signs.
Research in rhetoric and social protest strives to discover how organized, uninstitutional forces use symbols and symbolic actions to promote or resist change in societal norms and values. Its focus ranges from interpersonal to mass communication, from the colonial period to the present, from moderate to radical elements, and from formal discourses to the rhetoric
Aristotle defines rhetoric as the art of determining the available means of persuasion in a particular case. This can be interpreted in a number of ways. When considered narrowly, the study of rhetoric can be equated with the psychology of persuasion or with informal logic. However, when that definition is read along with the rest
South Asia usually refers to the geo-cultural area traditionally known as the Indian subcontinent and consists of contemporary Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, and the Maldives. The region has a rich tradition of conceptualization of the arts of argumentation, oration, and literary embellishment, marked by a flair for categorizing even the
Rhetoric as the study of forms of self-expression has many meanings depending on the context in which it is used. For theorists and practitioners of public speech, it is concerned primarily with the study of persuasion. For those interested in cultivation of effective expression, rhetoric concerns the use of style and development of polished writing
The rhetorical tradition began with, and has remained linked to, the public discourse of official forums. Aristotle named these deliberative, forensic, and epideictic rhetoric. Although these first appeared as genres and later included additional forms of address, such as the sermon and the essay, the distinctive focus of rhetorical theory and criticism into the mid-twentieth
Development and communication in Asia is a vast and complicated topic for two main reasons. First, Asia comprises a substantial portion of the earth’s land mass and population. Second, the direction as well as the velocity of economic development in Asian countries varies profoundly. Economists have divided Asia into five categories, including Japan, People’s Republic
The use of strategic communication has an ancient history dating back at least to Aristotle’s Rhetoric. But technological and theoretical advances beginning in the twentieth century, most notably the growth of electronic media and media studies, have resulted in dramatic improvements in the scale, sophistication, and effectiveness of purposive communication and in the rise of
A universally valid and widely accepted definition of the field does not exist, but three conceptualizations have prevailed in the western world, the first two emanating from the US and the third from Latin America. The first, development communication, is the notion that mass media are capable of creating a public atmosphere favorable to change
This article offers an overview of development communication in the region that the west calls the Middle East, but which in Arabic is known as “al-Mashrik al Arabi,” or the Arab East. The area comprises three Arab regions that fall between the eastern Mediterranean, the Arabian (Persian) Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean.
Effective development communication programs require a clearly defined strategy with specific goals established in advance. Communication goals may range from relatively short-term changes in individual behavior (for example, improving health or environmental practices) to relatively long-term changes in social or structural conditions (for example, increased economic opportunity, increased gender equity, improved environmental quality). Goals must
Development discourse refers to the process of articulating knowledge and power through which particular concepts, theories, and practices for social change are created and reproduced (Escobar 1995; 1999; 2000; Crush 1996). Historically, the approach to development in terms of discourse has evolved out of debates on modernization and Marxist dependency theory rooted in social evolutionism.
Development communication addresses issues of gender in a variety of ways. Communication projects designed to address social problems, such as health, agriculture, population, nutrition, education, democracy, and other topics, may either target women or consider gender as a way of understanding the social context in which the issue might be best addressed. In addition, development
Geometry of development refer to the spaces, shapes, and arrangements underlying the idea and practice of development. Similar to a classic definition of “geometry” as a physical arrangement of forms, discourses of development describe the arrangement of various actors within a global system. As used within development discourse, geometries of development describe the relationship among
At present, there are over 50,000 international organizations with a total budget easily over US$250 billion devoted to improving social, economic, political, and health conditions around the world, specifically in less developed countries (Directory of Development Organizations 2007). The current status of modern international development organizations can be traced back to the end of World
During the 1970s and 1980s, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization was the site of vociferous debate about global communication. Collectively, these arguments have come to be known as the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) debate. Nations of the south, many of which had relatively recently emerged from colonial domination, demanded
Newspaper editors assign, review, edit, rewrite, and lay out all copy in a newspaper except advertisements. Editors sometimes write stories or editorials that offer opinions on issues. Editors review the editorial page and copy written by staff or syndicated columnists. A large metropolitan daily newspaper staff may include various editors who process thousands of words
News anchors analyze and broadcast news for radio and television stations. They help select, write, and present the news and may specialize in a particular area. Interviewing guests, making public service announcements, and conducting panel discussions may also be part of the news anchor’s work. Approximately 69,000 people are employed as announcers (including news anchors)
Neonatal nurses provide direct patient care to newborns in hospitals for the first month after birth. The babies they care for may be normal, they may be born prematurely, or they may be suffering from an illness or birth defect. Some of the babies require highly technical care such as surgery or the use of
Naturopaths—also called naturopathic physicians, naturopathic doctors, and N.D.’s—are licensed health professionals who practice an approach to health care called naturopathic medicine. Naturopathic medicine (also called naturopathy) is a distinct system of health care that uses a variety of natural approaches to health and healing, including clinical nutrition, counseling, herbal medicine, homeopathy, and physical therapy. Naturopaths
The primary role of naturalists is to educate the public about the environment and maintain the natural environment on land specifically dedicated to wilderness populations. Their primary responsibilities are preserving, restoring, maintaining, and protecting a natural habitat. Among the related responsibilities in these jobs are teaching, public speaking, writing, giving scientific and ecological demonstrations, and
National Park Service (NPS) employees have a wide variety of backgrounds and capabilities and fill a number of different positions. They include law enforcement rangers, interpreters, resource managers, historians, archaeologists, clerical assistants, maintenance workers, and scientists—to name just a few. No matter what their responsibilities, these employees are all dedicated to the mission of the
Nail technicians clean, shape, and polish fingernails and toenails. They groom cuticles and apply cream to hands and arms (feet and calves in the case of pedicures). They apply a variety of artificial nails and provide ongoing maintenance. Many nail technicians are skilled in “nail art” and decorate clients’ nails with stencils, glitter, and ornaments.
Nannies, also known as au pairs, are caregivers who care for children in the parents’ homes. The children usually range in age from infant to 10 or 12 years old. The nanny’s responsibilities may include supervising the nursery, organizing play activities, taking the children to appointments or classes, and keeping the children’s quarters clean and
Myotherapy is a method of relieving muscle pain and spasms and improving overall circulation through applied pressure to trigger points. Pressure is applied using fingers, knuckles, and elbows. Those who practice myotherapy are called myotherapists. Myotherapist Career History Bonnie Prudden, a fitness and exercise enthusiast, first developed myotherapy in 1976. During the 1970s, Prudden worked
Musical instrument repairers and tuners work on a variety of instruments, often operating inside music shops or repair shops to keep the pieces in tune and in proper condition. Those who specialize in working on pianos or pipe organs may travel to the instrument’s location to work. Instrument repairers and tuners usually specialize in certain
Conflict involves antagonistic relations of ideas, interests, and persons. It occurs at different levels, including internal, interpersonal, small groups, large-scale sectors, organizations (such as states), and broad social principles. Furthermore, conflict takes many forms, from sullen silence to verbal debate, from interpersonal violence to organized warfare. Important forms of conflict are tacit rather than open
Confucianism is a Chinese system of thought that originated with the teachings of Kong Fuzi. Literally “Master Kong” and latinized as “Confucius,” Kong Fuzi is an honorific for Kong Qiu (alias Zhongni, 552-479 BC), who served in minor official posts during his lifetime. Confucianism is philosophical as well as spiritual. Historically, its rise paralleled that
Consciousness in a very general sense is thought to be merely the state of awareness. However, the definition of what consciousness is has received numerous contributions from many different fields of study. For example, psychology, psychiatry, neurophysiology, anthropology, behavioral science, and a new field called “cognitive science,” which is the study of the nature of
The Copper Age, or Chalcolithic time period, generally refers to circa 5000 BCE to 2000 BCE. This typology was initiated by Dane Christian Jurgensen Thomsen in 1807 as a three-age system of classifying human prehistory based on toolmaking technologies (i.e., Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age). These categories were later refined by John Lubbock
Dating back to the early history of science, it was long thought that Earth was a static, stable planet whose surface remained largely unchanged through time. This view radically changed during the 1960s, as an array of improved analytical techniques and an influx of new observations revealed that Earth’s surface is in a state of
American physical and cultural anthropologist Carlton Coon dealt with the origin of races within the species Homo sapiens sapiens. Born and raised in Wakefield, Massachusetts, Coon’s early developmental progress was within the patriotic, yet segregated, New England community. A community where religion was the principal factor in the determination of social status, the religious dichotomy
Christianity was introduced into Egypt in the 1st century and found itself in competition with two other religions: Judaism and the Hellenized native religion. By the 4th century, Christianity was the religion of the majority of the people in Egypt. By the end of the 5th century, the last of the ancient temples and priesthoods
The profession of counseling is dynamic, adaptive, and centered on meeting the needs of individuals in their particular environment. The goals of the counseling profession are directed toward assisting individuals to become self-sufficient and capable of managing their problems in efforts to lead productive, fulfilling lives. Moreover, the counseling process provides a therapeutic context to
Cosmology is literally the “science of nature,” from the physics of Aristotle and Newton to the mythical cosmograms of Tibet. A cosmology is any composition or cultural construct relating to the structure and process of systems of creation. Included are the origins of physical elements of earthly or astronomical spheres, the genesis of the material
Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1997) was the father of modern underwater exploration as well as a pioneer of underwater photography. A marvelous visionary and inventor, he designed the first underwater breathing system, the aqualung, as well as depth record-breaking submarines and underwater research stations. A passionate and groundbreaking filmmaker, Cousteau created over 100 films, winning him three
Virtual sports are symbolic representations of embodied, expressive, and ‘‘real world’’ athletic experiences. These sports can involve complete ‘‘out of body’’ practices wherein participants ‘‘play’’ a sport without exerting their bodies in a traditionally athletic way (i.e., a sports video game), or more embodied performances involving physical activity in a simulated sports environment (i.e., athletic
Youth is defined for the purposes of this discussion as youngsters between 6 and 18 years. Sport means all sport activities practiced outside the physical education curriculum. Consequently, school sport as extracurricular activity is also included. With the start of the Sport for All movement in the 1960s and 1970s, this period can be characterized
This article examines the origins of the sociology of sport and explores its interdisciplinarity particularly in terms of its dual “location” in the disciplines of sociology and physical education. The development of sociology of sport is examined over three phases, together with a consideration of recent developments; and this is followed by an examination of
Urban sociology concerns itself with the social and cultural forms assumed by the urban phenomenon in the past and in the present. It endeavors to understand the worldviews of the various cultures that have produced cities, and the coherence or incoherence with which these worldviews have been given concrete form. Outline Introduction The City as
The sociology of culture and, the related, cultural sociology concerns the systematic analysis of culture, usually understood as the ensemble of symbolic codes used by a members of a society, as it is manifested in the society. Culture in the sociological field is analyzed as the ways of thinking and describing, the ways of acting
Foster (1962) defines acculturation as the process of bringing previously separated and disconnected cultures into contact with one another. This contact must be substantial enough such that ‘‘cultural transmission’’ takes place (Herskovits 1950). Cultural transmission is a key concept that distinguishes acculturation from other terms that are used interchangeably, including assimilation, enculturation, and diffusion. Both
Celebrity culture is characterized by a pervasive preoccupation with famous persons and an extravagant value attached to the lives of public figures whose actual accomplishments may be limited, but whose visibility is extensive. It became a feature of social life, especially in the developed world, during the late 1980s/ early 1990s and extended into the
The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, working with various colleagues, developed the concept of cultural capital in the early 1960s in order to help address a particular empirical problem – namely, the fact that ‘‘economic obstacles are not sufficient to explain’’ disparities in the educational attainment of children from different social classes (Bourdieu & Passeron 1979
Cultural critique is a broad field of study that employs many different theoretical traditions to analyze and critique cultural formations. Because culture is always historically and con textually determined, each era has had to develop its own methods of cultural analysis in order to respond to new technological innovations, new modes of social organization, new
Cultural imperialism is the process and practice of promoting one culture over another. Often this occurs during colonization, where one nation overpowers another country, typically one that is economically disadvantaged and/or militarily weaker. The dominant country then forces its cultural beliefs and practices onto the conquered nation. This has happened since nations have been warring
The democratic ethic that has dominated the intellectual history of the United States has shaped a rhetorical practice driven by the socio-cultural influence of the word. The result has been a rich multiplicity of voices that defy generalization, yet define a complex texture. The first rhetorical period, approximately the first century and a quarter of
Although the area of northern and central Asia is comprised of a large number of independent and sovereign nations, including the Russian Federation and the central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, its recent history is dominated by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). For most of the twentieth century each
Insofar as rhetorical practice travels through systems of symbolicity, so-called channels or modes of communication are the discursive spaces within which rhetoric operates. And insofar as rhetorical practice should culminate in some sort of adjustment or change in audients’, readers’, or viewers’ knowledges, feelings, self-identities, and/or behaviors, the ways in which those dimensions of individuals
Interactions between rhetoric and philosophy have always been marked by concerns (and sometimes controversy) about the scope, status, and interdependence of the two disciplines. The reason is that while both disciplines are concerned with discourse, their aims are different. Philosophy is chiefly concerned with discourse as a medium to express and test knowledge, whereas rhetoric
Any understanding of the relation between rhetoric and poetics will depend on how each category is conceived. The term “rhetoric” can mean “rhetorical discourse”; or the suasory practices observable in any given piece or kind of discourse; or the art or theory of rhetorical performance. Further, “rhetorical discourse” may be defined narrowly or broadly –
The study of rhetoric and politics examines the role of persuasion in the political process. The study of rhetoric most commonly begins with readings from ancient Greece and Aristotle’s handbook, On rhetoric. Classical scholars conceived of rhetoric as a practical art involving the performance of public oratory in the contexts of politics, law, and ceremonial
Postmodern rhetoric is a set of discursive and critical practices that diverge from persuasion by means of ethos, pathos, and logos. Where classical rhetoric addresses a known and identifiable audience, postmodern rhetoric puts into question the identities of the speaker, the audience, and the messages that pass between them, interrupting and displacing senders, receivers, and
Pre-Socratic rhetoric is an overarching concept that captures not only the traits of Hellenic rhetoric that were demonstrated by the sophists who immediately preceded Socrates, but also the antecedent forces that shaped sophistic views on thought and its relationship to expression. The dialogues of Plato and the development of the Socratic movement have often been
This article examines the fields of rhetoric and psychology, each from the perspective of the other, and both from the meta-perspective of a psychologist-turned-rhetorician who retains equal measures of respect (and disrespect) for both. Rhetoric and psychology each study persuasion but from radically different approaches that reflect their contrasting origins in the humanistic and scientific
One of the most persistent problems of persuasion in the modern era has been the domination and subordination of racial “others,” yet race has received little attention from rhetoricians until relatively recently. Not until the second half of the twentieth century were sustained explorations of race and racism pursued by rhetorical scholars in either Speech
Texts are vehicles of meaning in human expression and communication. Growing out of centuries of literary, hermeneutic, and other humanistic scholarship, the concept was originally reserved for written and other verbal messages. From the 1960s onwards, however, texts came to denote all meaningful entities, including images, everyday interaction, and cultural artifacts generally, as examined through
During much of the twentieth century, the dichotomy between verstehen (interpretive understanding) and erklären (causal explanation) helped frame the debates about the epistemological foundations, purposes, and methods of the social sciences. Similar in many respects to the nomothetic/idiographic controversy, the key issue was whether it is possible – or desirable –to achieve unity between the
Activist media are radio, television, and other media practices that aim to effect social change and that generally engage in some sort of structural analysis concerned with power and the reconstitution of society into more egalitarian arrangements. Many activist media practices are also committed to principles of communication democracy, which place at their core notions
Citizens’ media is a term used by communication and media scholars to refer to electronic media (i.e., radio, television, video) and information and communication technologies (i.e., text messaging, cellular telephony, Internet) that are controlled and used by citizens and collectives to meet their own information and communication needs. As an academic term, citizens’ media belongs
This article addresses research that evaluates communication programs designed to bring about change in individual behavior and social norms. These programs or campaigns may focus on health, agriculture, environment, water and sanitation, democracy and governance, gender equity, human rights, and related areas. They can be referred to by different labels: strategic communication, behavior change communication
“Empowerment” generally refers to development approaches that “enable” the beneficiaries, especially the poor and marginal and excluded groups such as women, to take initiatives to solve their own problems of poverty, exclusion, and chronic dependency (Narayan 2005). The role of government and nongovernmental agencies is to encourage and support local organization efforts, help local groups
Information is critical to the social and economic activities that comprise the development process. Communication technology as a means of sharing information is not simply a connection between people, but a link in the chain of the development process itself. In general, the ability to access and share information can contribute to the development process
The concept of community media is understood as referring to small media institutions, often specifically to radio stations established in the so-called developing countries. These media have become ever more popular in recent years. However, the history of the concept is considerably older and more complicated. The objective of community media is to create local
Even after they formally become independent, many developing countries still depend on the industrialized world for many resources, including technology, financing, models, and even media content, such as films or television programs. This is a structural legacy of imperialism, with which many countries with former colonies have struggled. Only a few countries have completely overcome
“Development” refers to the process of social change that has as its objective the promotion of physical and material progress. The “silent engine” that drives this development endeavor is communication. In the developed world, development communication is geared toward addressing the dysfunctions of physical and material progress. In the developing world, it is concerned with
Occupational therapists (OTs) select and direct therapeutic activities designed to develop or restore maximum function to individuals with disabilities. There are approximately 92,000 occupational therapists employed in the United States. Since about the 14th century, physicians have recognized the therapeutic value of providing activities and occupations for their patients. Observations that mental patients tended to
Occupational safety and health workers are responsible for the prevention of work-related accidents and diseases, injuries from unsafe products and practices, property losses from accidents and fires, and adverse effects of industrial processes on the environment. There are approximately 40,000 occupational safety specialists and 12,000 health and safety technicians employed in the United States. For
Occupational health nurses are registered nurses who care for people in the workplace. Although they treat illnesses, injuries, and health problems, they are also involved with safety and health issues and prevention programs. An occupational health nurse may be an employee of a business, institution, or corporation or may be self-employed on a contract or
Nursing instructors teach patient care to nursing students in classroom and clinical settings. They demonstrate care methods and monitor hands-on learning by their students. They instruct students in the principles and applications of biological and psychological subjects related to nursing. Some nursing instructors specialize in teaching specific areas of nursing such as surgical or oncological
Nurse practitioners are one of four classifications of advanced practice nurses (APNs). APNs are registered nurses who have advanced training and education. This training enables them to carry out many of the responsibilities traditionally handled by physicians. Some nurse practitioners specialize in a certain field, such as pediatrics, oncology, critical care, or primary care. The
Nurse-midwives are registered nurses with advanced training who assist in family planning, pregnancy, and childbirth. They also provide routine health care for women. Nurse-midwives work in hospitals, with physicians in private practice, in freestanding birth centers or well-woman care centers, in women’s clinics, and even in the homes of clients. Nurse-Midwife Career History Women have
Nurse managers are experienced health care professionals who manage the operations of services and personnel in medical offices, hospitals, nursing homes, community health programs, institutions, and other places where health care is provided. Their responsibilities vary depending on their position and place of employment. They may be in charge of hiring and firing their staff
Nurse assistants (also called nurse aides, orderlies, or hospital attendants) work under the supervision of nurses and handle much of the personal care needs of the patients. This allows the nursing staff to perform their primary duties more effectively and efficiently. Nurse assistants help move patients, assist in patients’ exercise and nutrition needs, and oversee
Nurse anesthetists, also known as certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), are one of four classifications of advanced practice nurses (APNs). They are registered nurses (RNs) with advanced training in anesthesiology. They are responsible for administering, supervising, and monitoring anesthesia-related care for patients undergoing surgical procedures. General anesthesia is not necessary for all surgical procedures; therefore
Nonprofit social service directors, also known as nonprofit directors, nonprofit chief executive officers, nonprofit administrators or social and community service managers, are at the top rung on the agency’s ladder. No matter what area the agency specializes in—health care, services for the aging, or youth development, for example—the director is the individual who spearheads the
Communism entered world history in a number of forms, of which we may distinguish the following: a vision of ideal human association, a multistranded political movement, a modular set of state systems run by nominally communist parties, a Cold War counter-idea (“the communist menace”), and a widespread human striving. At each of these levels, communism
The concept of community developed mostly in sociology to refer to an organic whole whose components are tied together by a common and innate moral order. Classical literature on community emphasizes its homogeneity in terms of the beliefs and activities of its members, who are interrelated in face-to-face relation-ships and whose allegiance and belonging are
The concept of complexity seems to be simple and elusive at the same time. Everyone understands what we mean when we call an object “complex,” but if we define this attribute clearly and distinctly, we encounter many difficulties. The first difficulty arises when we want to specify to what aspect of an object we refer
Computers and Evolution At first glance, the average person would be familiar with only the last 30 years of computer history. In fact, the origins of the computer, in the way of simple counting aids, date back at least 2,000 years. The abacus was invented around the 4th century BC, in Babylonia (now Iraq). Another
Creationism is the belief that our universe came into being in exactly the way described in the Bible’s book of Genesis. This literal interpretation of the Bible’s accountings of our beginnings has been embraced by some—but not all—Protestant Christians and Catholics. Many levels of the Catholic Church give Genesis a more allegorical or symbolic meaning
Creationism is a surprisingly complex and diverse position that has had resurgence in the first part of the 21st century. Initially a stance taken in response to the development of evolutionary sciences in the 19th century, Creationism is usually based on three fundamental positions: A superior being created all out of nothing. The doctrine of
A stunning civilization arose in Crete between 1950 BCE and 1200 BCE, only to collapse for reasons that are as yet not clearly understood. What caused this civilization to flourish, and then mysteriously disappear? What were its links to events on the mainland of Greece? Since the early 1900s, archaeologists have uncovered monumental buildings and
Usually labeled the “founder of sociology and positivism,” Auguste Comte was one of the most important 19th-century French philosophers. Born Isidore-Auguste-Marie-François-Xavier Comte on January 19, 1798, in Montpellier, he began life in the chaos of the last years of the French Revolution and spent his life dealing with the problems the revolution had bequeathed. Sharing
A member of the radical enlightenment in France, Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat Condorcet (b. Ribemont dans l’Aisne, September 17,1743) believed humanity capable of infinite progress and sought to inject reason into social affairs. Ironically, Condorcet was declared, on March 13, 1794, hors la loi (and hence to be executed without trial if apprehended, along with any
Most often associated with the work of Ruth Benedict (1887-1948), configurationism focuses on understanding phenomena as organized wholes rather than as aggregates of distinct parts. A reaction to European diffusionism, which dealt with isolated traits, configurationism instead stressed the integration of traits with the other elements of culture. Benedict best expressed this approach in her
Given the centrality of the body in sport performance, it might be assumed that the corporeality of athletes has been an essential facet of sport sociological analysis. Despite its vital role, however, the body has occupied ‘‘an absent presence’’ in this research and only since the late 1980s have sport sociologists expressed a growing interest
As even a casual observer may recognize, the phenomenon of contemporary sports bears little resemblance to that of the fairly recent past. At the turn of the twentieth century, sports were occasional and unregulated events played by members of local sports clubs. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, an individual’s association with sport might
Everything outside the boundaries of the subsystem sport is considered to be its environment, and this can be influenced and altered by sport or, conversely, can itself influence sport. Examples of the latter are to be observed, for instance, in the effects on athletic performance of certain climatic qualities of the environment of Mexico City
Research and theoretical approaches to sport culture and subcultures in the sociology of sport fall into three overlapping periods: (1) early interest in sport subcultures from an interactionist perspective; (2) a transition period during which more critical theoretical approaches to culture and subcultures and more rigorous methodological approaches emerged; and (3) a wholehearted embrace of
The existence of a close relationship between sports and nationalism is widely accepted. This relationship manifests itself in the concept of national sports, in the enduring popularity of international competitions, events, and contests, and in the myriad ways in which politicians and politically motivated groups have sought to harness sport to national causes. On the
Sports and religion have a conflicted relationship. At times, sport has served the objectives of religious authorities and has been imbued with a morality and philosophy derived from religious doctrine. At others, it has been rejected for its secular, corporeal emphasis and its capacity to divert attention from godly activities. Sport has been utilized as
There is a long tradition of research on sports and socialization. The roots of this research are grounded in theories that explain the role of play in child development, in Progressive era notions that team sports constituted an environment in which valuable lessons could be learned, and in popular twentieth century assumptions that playing sports
People in all cultures have always engaged in playful physical activities and used human movement as part of their everyday routines and collective rituals (Huizinga 1955). The first examples of organized games in societies worldwide probably emerged in the form of various combinations of physical activities and religious rituals (Guttmann 1978). Those games were connected
Since the end of the nineteenth century the dynamics of the relationship between sport and the state are best understood by taking into account (1) the dramatic growth of sport relative to other forms of physical activity (gymnastics, traditional games, etc.) and (2) socially significant changes in the operation and status of the state. Sport
Sport became an industry at the point at which events (matches, races, bouts) ceased to be oriented solely toward participants and became largely organized so that they could be consumed by spectators. In perhaps the earliest sociological analysis of this process, Gregory P. Stone (1955) argued that consequently ‘‘play’’ (unscripted, spontaneous) became overshadowed by ‘‘display’’
The conjoining of the terms “rhetoric” and “history” suggests at least three related but distinct areas of study. One, the history of rhetoric, focuses on rhetorical theory and practice during particular periods of time; entries on various aspects of this area abound. Two others are the focus here: rhetorical processes in history and the rhetoric
“Language is itself the collective art of expression, a summary of thousands upon thousands of individual intuitions” (Sapir 1921, 246). When exploring rhetoric in relation to language we usually have in mind the nature and functions of the communication systems used by humans in different times and in different parts of the world. Some of
Logic and rhetoric are such broad subjects that in order to profit from their comparison we must make at least one division in each field. Logic in the narrow sense is mainly concerned with the consequence relation (“following from”), and a well-documented tradition exists from Aristotle’s Prior analytics to the present that explores this question.
Few would deny media’s increasingly central role in the everyday lives of most individuals, particularly in first and second world countries. And increasingly, few would deny media’s rhetorical influence in how people come to understand themselves and those around them. News media shape the way individuals see their communities as well as those on the
As an area of investigation, “medieval rhetoric” refers to the discipline taught as rhetoric in the liberal arts curriculum of western Europe, as well as to how that art was adapted to communication practices for secular and ecclesiastical purposes, between the fifth and the fifteenth centuries. Study of medieval rhetoric includes examining the continuance of
An overview of rhetoric in the Middle East should begin with the recognition that the terms “rhetoric” and the “Middle East” are not neutral, as they reflect the ideological and cultural values of the Occident. There is a general consensus that the notion of rhetoric, coined by Plato in the fourth century bce to define
For centuries, rhetoricians, communication scholars, and practitioners have recognized narrative’s rich descriptive and persuasive appeal. Numerous essays, books, and monographs address the nature and functions of narrative in disciplines as varied as rhetoric and communication, biology and anthropology, psychology and sociology, political science and public policy, and theology and philosophy. Throughout rhetorical history, narrative has
The word “nonverbal” is used to describe the many ways human beings communicate without overtly using words. Typically, this encompasses body movements (gestures, facial expressions, eye behavior, touching); body positioning (posture, distance from and alignment to others); and vocal behavior (rate, pitch, intensity). Sometimes physical (appearance) and environmental (architecture, design) features are also included. History
Rhetorical study in Canada resists neat categorization, in part because it is a relatively recent phenomenon characterized by a rich diversity of perspectives and approaches, and by a comparatively fluid conception of what it means to engage in scholarly activity in rhetoric. As an academic specialization, rhetoric emerged in Canada only in the last two
Rhetorical practice and teaching existed in ancient native cultures in Mexico, mainly in the Aztec and Mayan civilizations (Beristáin & Ramírez Vidal 2005). Western rhetorical tradition was introduced into Mexico with the European conquest and Catholic evangelization: the triumph of the occidental civilization in the “new world” was due to the success of European rhetoric.
The emergence of postcolonial theory as an academic tradition, particularly in the United States, can be traced to the late 1970s with the publication of Edward Said’s book Orientalism (1978). According to Said, Orientalism is a powerful body of knowledge – power/knowledge in Michel Foucault’s sense – produced by texts and institutional practices of western
Postmodernism is one of a series of terms, including postmodernity and poststructuralism, that is applied to cultural production in Western Europe and North America in the period from the 1960s to the present. Postmodernity is sometimes used to refer to the cultural history of this period. Poststructuralism was a critical practice directed toward literary, linguistic
Pragmatism is an international philosophical movement that coalesced in the two decades before World War I, and has reverberated widely since. From the beginning, it featured communication, sometimes as an explicit concept, and more generally by emphasizing interaction, community, and communicable consequences as key components of knowledge, meaning, politics, ethics, aesthetics, and selfhood. In the
Psychology is generally concerned with studying the mind, the brain, and human behavior. While popular media often focus on clinical psychology (the study and treatment of mental illness), there are many other forms of psychology, ranging from neuropsychology to cultural psychology to sports psychology. This article largely focuses on experimental psychology, an overarching branch that
A classic position in the history of ideas and theory of science, realism assumes that the world exists independently of human minds, and that it lends itself to intersubjective inquiry, even if humans – individually, collectively, and as a species – may be unable to understand reality in all its aspects (Nagel 1986). In recent
Remediation (Bolter & Grusin 1999) refers to a historical process through which newer media forms interact with earlier ones. On the very first page of Understanding media (1964), Marshall McLuhan noted that the “‘content’ of any medium is always another medium: the content of writing is speech, just as the written word is the content
Semiotics is an interdisciplinary field that studies “the life of signs within society” (Saussure 1959, 16). While “signs” most commonly refer to the elements of language and other symbolic communication, it also may denote any means of knowing about or representing an aspect of reality. Accordingly, semiotics has developed as an affiliate of such traditional
Structuralism is a tradition in the history of ideas that rose to special prominence during the twentieth century within the humanities and social sciences. A shared assumption of structuralist approaches to communication, culture, and society is that interactions, discourses, and social groupings are best understood as relatively self-contained systems or structures. Their formation and transformation
Symbolic interactionism is a sociological theory that emphasizes the centrality of meaning, interaction, and human agency in social life. This theory emerged out of the American philosophical tradition of pragmatism, an approach developed in the late nineteenth century by Charles Peirce, William James, and John Dewey. Challenging the assumptions of classical rationalism, these scholars saw
The word “system” is widely used. We speak of planetary systems, transportation systems, nervous systems, number systems, filing systems, political systems, systems of checks and balances, systems of grammatical rules, systems of weights and measures, and so on as if they shared the same reality. Their common denominator is a multitude of component parts, depending
Optics technicians design, fabricate, assemble, or install optical instruments, such as telescopes, microscopes, aerial cameras, and eyeglasses. The four most common types of optics technicians are optomechanical technicians, precision-lens technicians, precision-lens grinders (sometimes called optical technicians), and photo-optics technicians. In general, these four careers may be distinguished from one another in the following ways: Optomechanical
Optical engineers apply the concepts of optics to research, design, and develop applications in a broad range of areas. Optics, which involves the properties of light and how it interacts with matter, is a branch of physics and engineering. Optical engineers study the way light is produced, transmitted, detected, and measured to determine ways it
Ophthalmologists are physicians who specialize in the care of eyes and in the prevention and treatment of eye disease and injury. They test patients’ vision and prescribe glasses or contact lenses. Most ophthalmologists also perform eye surgery, treating problems such as cataracts (which cloud vision) and other visual impairments. Because problems with vision may signal
Ophthalmic laboratory technicians make prescription eyeglass lenses. Also known as manufacturing opticians, optical goods workers, or optical mechanics, they cut, grind, edge, and finish lenses according to instructions provided by dispensing opticians, optometrists, or ophthalmologists. Though some lenses still are produced by hand, technicians increasingly use computerized technology to manufacture lenses. There are approximately 25,000
Operating engineers operate various types of power-driven construction machines such as shovels, cranes, tractors, bulldozers, pile drivers, concrete mixers, and pumps. There are approximately 353,000 operating engineers employed in the United States. Although it is not understood precisely how it was accomplished, the ancient Egyptians used some type of hoisting system to move the giant
Online producers are responsible for organizing and presenting information that is available on Web sites. They edit and/or write news stories, arrange the text, and any accompanying photos for online publication. They sometimes work with other workers to incorporate slideshows, background music, or audio interviews to better complement a story. While many online producers are
Online journalists research and write content for Internet Web sites. They may be full-time salaried workers or employed on a freelance basis. They may work for online publications, professional associations, businesses with an online presence, and the government. Some writers are volunteer online columnists or contributors and do not get paid for their writing. One
Oncological nurses specialize in the treatment and care of cancer patients. While many oncological nurses care directly for cancer patients, some may be involved in patient or community education, cancer prevention, or cancer research. They may work in specific areas of cancer nursing, such as pediatrics, cancer rehabilitation, chemotherapy, biotherapy, hospice, pain management, and others.
Office administrators direct and activities of office workers within vise office clerks and other workers in their tasks and plan department activities with other supervisory personnel. Administrators often define job duties and develop training programs for new workers. They evaluate the progress of their clerks and work with upper management officials to ensure that the
Occupational therapy assistants (also called OTAs) help people with mental, physical, developmental, or emotional limitations using a variety of activities to improve basic motor functions and reasoning abilities. They work under the direct supervision of an occupational therapist, and their duties include helping to plan, implement, and evaluate rehabilitation programs designed to regain patients’ self-sufficiency
Childhood studies refers to a reorientation in the interdisciplinary study of children and childhood. The study of children and childhood has a long history in many disciplines, including anthropology, but childhood studies seeks to expand and reorient how the study of children and childhood is conceptualized and approached. Anthropology’s role is central to this reorientation
The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) belongs to the Pongidae family of the Primate order. They have a wide distribution, extending across central Africa from Senegal in the west to Tanzania in the east. There are three subspecies of common chimpanzee recognized. They are the western subspecies, P. troglodytes verus, the central species, P. t. troglodytes, and
Chimpanzees, the most socially diverse group of apes, are represented by two species, the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and the pygmy chimpanzee, or bonobo (Pan paniscus). Both species are found in the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. Sharing approximately 98% of their genes with humans, chimpanzees are genetically more closely related to humans than they
At the beginning of the 20th century, more than 2 million chimpanzees flourished in the forests of 25 African countries. Today, only 4 nations have significant populations. Population estimates for 1999 show that common chimpanzee numbers have dwindled to between 150,000 to 235,000 individuals. Most of the remaining animals are found in the Central Africa
A primary focus of urban anthropology and the archaeology of complex societies is the history of the concept of a city. Scholars generally cite the first city as emerging in 3500 BC in Mesopotamia. Discussions of the city have emerged in anthropological literature in association with that considered urban, both as process and spatial locus.
Whereas medical genetics is the study of the genetics of human disease, clinical genetics deals with the direct clinical care of people with genetic diseases. Clinical genetics encompasses the scientific methods and their application in clinical practice, with the focus on human diseases caused by genetic variation. The principal concerns of clinical genetics include clinical
The antiquity of humans in the New World had been a controversy during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Insight into just how long ago the incursion of people into the Americas occurred came in 1927, when lanceolate projectile points were found with the remains of extinct bison near Folsom, New Mexico. Then, in 1932
“The Roman People,” wrote the satirist Juvenal in the first few decades of the second century CE, “once used to rule…but now they wish for two things only: Bread and Games.” And the Roman people had been amply provided with both: the frumentationes (free distribution of grain to between 200,000 to 300,000 members of the
Collecting, also referred to as “gathering” or “foraging,” is a broad anthropological term used to describe a food production strategy. Collectors rely on identifying and harvesting native plants and animals rather than engaging in agriculture or animal husbandry. Collectors migrate in small extended-family bands within fixed boundaries or home ranges in search of food and
Colobine primates make up one of the two major groups of Old World monkeys. All Old World monkeys are members of a single family, Cercopithecidae, consisting of two subfamilies, Cercopithecinae (the cercopithecines) and Colobinae (the colobines). About 54 species of colobines are currently recognized. Like cercopithecines, colobines are widespread both in Africa and across southern
Globalization has inevitably become part of all industries, as we observe the economy stretch worldwide due to cheaper travel, better communication methods, and common solutions to problems. Over the past decade a healthcare practice that has emerged with an unimagined scale of magnitude as a multibillion dollar industry is the global medical tourism industry. Privatization
Although the biotech industry is a relatively new source of medical therapies – its first new drug approvals came in the early 1980s – it has recently become a major source of drug industry growth and innovation. New biological entities (NBEs) have a significantly higher likelihood of being a first-in-class or novel introduction compared with
The specialty of radiology, diagnostic imaging, has revolutionized the practice of medicine across the globe. No other form of diagnostic medicine has had such a dramatic impact on disease detection and mapping progression of treatment in the preceding decades. In a 2001 survey of physicians, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scanning ranked
Diagnostic imaging uses noninvasive devices to visualize internal human anatomy and physiology. In higher-income, developed economies of the world there is enormous variation in the use and rate of growth of use of diagnostic imaging technology like computed tomography (CT). Even in high use jurisdictions like the US there is a large variation. Compared to
There are two likely sources for the word gambling: the Old Saxon gamene, which became abbreviated to the contemporary ‘‘game’’; or the Italian gambetto, source of ‘‘gambit,’’ a practice of sacrificing something minor in order to secure a larger advantage. Gambling now refers to playing games of luck or skill, using a stake, usually a
Gender refers to the socially constructed differences between women and men, while the term ‘‘sex’’ is a reference to the biological and physical differences between males and females. Gender draws attention to the socially unequal distinction between femininity and masculinity. Femininity is used to describe characteristic behaviors and emotions of females and masculinity refers to
There is widespread acceptance of the idea that ‘‘sport is good for health.’’ The ideology linking health and sports has a long history and the promotion and maintenance of the health of schoolchildren has long been an area of concern to physical educators in Europe and America. Outline Exercise, Sport, and Health The Epidemiology of
Ideology and sports refers to the way in which the latter, as a distinct form of leisure activity, impacts upon the body of ideas which reflect the beliefs of a social group or political system. Indeed, the ideological capacity of sport can be considered so great that it may now be apt to rework Marx’s
According to the ideal type suggested by Freidson (2001), sport does not exhibit all of the characteristics of a profession. Unlike archetypal high status professions (e.g., medicine) in which the practitioners rather than governments or markets exert significant control over their labor, professional athletes work in cartels and oligopolies where they must respond to the
Race and sports have been in complex articulation since the nineteenth century, yet a critical sociology of sport and race has only developed substantially since the 1990s. In the 1960s a few academic studies and journalistic accounts examined segregation and racial discrimination in sport, but these were largely descriptive. Two exceptions to this were C.
Despite acknowledgments of sport as a legitimate focus of sociological analysis from early thinkers such as Spencer, Simmel, Weber, Scheler, and Mead (Luschen 1980), the lack of development in social theory and sport studies has been well documented (Frey & Eitzen 1991), although there appears to be increased movement toward the generation and integration of
For sociologists subscribing to a hierarchical model of culture, sports may be regarded as its antithesis: a bodily practice, of little cultural consequence, gazed on by passive spectators for the enrichment of the leisure and media industries. The neglect of sports as a sociological subject until relatively recently may be attributed to a common resistance
Identity is a rather loose concept which has various degrees of currency in a number of different disciplines. For example, Bosma et al. (1994) have argued that there is little consensus in the field of psychology about the phenomena to which the term identity might refer. They go on to suggest that, as a result
The literature on sport and social capital is scarce and discussions are fragmented because there are disagreements about the definition of social capital, the role of sport in contributing to social capital, and the forms of social capital that may be generated in the sphere of sport. Three major approaches to social capital exist in
Chinese rhetorical thought can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn period (770– 476 bce). The word for “rhetoric” in Chinese came from Confucius’ (551–479 bce) speech in The book of changes: “The gentleman advances in virtue, and cultivates all the spheres of his duty. His honesty and good faith are the way in
The history of Korean rhetoric is the history of translation of and communication with its neighboring foreign cultures. From its early period of the Three Kingdoms to the later Yi dynasty, Korea sought its own ways of expression under the influence of Chinese culture. More recently, from the beginning of the twentieth century to its
Throughout central and eastern Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria), classical rhetorical studies pertain to a longstanding tradition of research on antiquity, while contemporary rhetoric scholarship focuses on democratic discourse and the political context in postcommunist times. A major challenge throughout the area is the diffused location of both classical and
The term “epideictic” derives from the Greek epideixis, translated as “showing forth” or “display.” According to Aristotle’s classification of rhetorical genres in The art of rhetoric, epideictic discourse is concerned with topics of praise and blame, deals with the present, and is addressed to an audience of spectators, rather than judges (1358a–b). Epideictic relies on
In 1967 the assertion that rhetoric is epistemic attracted immediate attention from rhetorical scholars. The assertion was taken to imply that rhetoric generated a sort of knowledge. The purpose of the claim was to establish a fresh justification for the study and practice of rhetoric. In short, it was an answer to a line of
The field of communication has historical roots in the interplay of human speech and ethics. Our journals record scholarly investigation of communication ethics beginning in 1934 with Pellegrini’s Quarterly Journal of Speech essay, “Public speaking and social obligations.” The founding scholarly work on speech and ethics is Aristotle’s Nichomachean ethics. Aristotle’s public descriptive account of
“Rhetoric” and “ethnography” are slippery concepts, each describing a practice or methodology as well as a class of textual objects. And while “rhetoric” describes an identifiable field of study more than does “ethnography,” which is most often associated with cultural anthropology, each is an inter- and cross-disciplinary enterprise whose character can vary depending on its
The goal of rhetoric during the Renaissance was the mastery of spoken or written language to affect a particular audience in an intended and predictable manner. Mastery entailed an understanding of language in its relation to human psychology, the use of formal procedures for turning theory into practice, and the education of others in both
Rhetoric is the art and study of human symbol use. As a discipline, rhetoric began in ancient Greece as a practical art of persuasion, applied principally to political, legal, and judicial contexts. Gender refers to the cultural constructs of masculinity and femininity imposed upon biological sex by any particular culture – what it means to
The word “rhetoric” comes from the Greek rhêtorikê, which means “the art of speech,” “the art of speaking”: the etymology shows the role played by the ancient Greeks in the field which constitutes the subject of this article. The art of speaking exists in many civilizations, but Greek antiquity has given it a distinctive, rigorous
Walter Lippmann (1889 –1974), political columnist and confidant of several presidents, public intellectual and winner of two Pulitzer prizes, remains an important voice among critics of public opinion and the role of the press. In early twentieth-century America, he was an essential contributor to American political thought and the American way of life, whose path
Marshall McLuhan is best known for his theories on the impact of media apart from the specific content/messages they convey. McLuhan linked major historical shifts, social trends, and changes in psychological and sensory orientations to the influence of changes in communication media and other technologies. McLuhan ridiculed typical concerns about message imitation and persuasion in
The title of a widely influential 1923 volume, The Meaning of Meaning (Ogden & Richards 1989), suggested the difficulty of capturing the complex connotations of the concept of meaning. The contents of the volume, authored by a linguist and a literary critic, with appendices by anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski and medical doctor F. G. Crookshank, underscored
The term media refers broadly to the range of tools that humans have used throughout history to communicate with each other about a shared reality. The most common reference is to the set of modern technologies – from the printing press to the Internet – which facilitate communication across space, time, and social collectives. History
Medium theory stands apart from more generic “media theory” in its exploration of the influences of communication technologies in addition to, and distinct from, the specific content (messages) they convey. Medium theorists argue that media are not simply channels for transmitting information between two or more environments, but are themselves distinct social-psychological settings or environments
The modalities of communication – speech, song, writing, images, etc. – constitute general registers of human expression and experience. As such, they lend themselves to different forms of technological mediation, both individually and in combination as multimodal communication. The various modalities are at once biologically conditioned and culturally shaped. On the one hand, the human
A model is a simplified description in graphic form of some aspect of reality. A model of communication seeks to show the main elements of any structure or process of human social action and the relations between these elements, plus any flow or exchange that takes place. The main benefits are to organize disparate elements
Objectivity has been a criterion of both science and its practice throughout the modern era. Its principal meaning is that the effect of the individual scientist has been removed from the findings and what is left can be considered both non-ideological and agendafree. The term is used as a global epistemological principle across all traditional
“Paradigm” refers to a fundamental set of assumptions about reality and the appropriate ways of studying it. A discipline is said to be paradigmatic when there is general agreement within it as to basic statements of fact, background knowledge, research practices, warrants for claims and evidence, and criteria for accepting new knowledge. Applied originally to
Phenomenology is a movement in philosophy associated with the human sciences as a qualitative approach to the study of human conscious experience. Research validity and reliability are assessed as functions of logic, not mathematics or statistics). Consciousness refers to the unique human ability (1) to have an awareness of self, others, and the world, i.e.
Park rangers enforce laws and regulations in national, state, and county parks. They help care for and maintain parks as well as inform, guide, and ensure the safety of park visitors. Park Ranger Career History Congress began The National Park System in the United States in 1872 when Yellowstone National Park was created. The National
Paralegals, also known as legal assistants, assist in trial preparations, investigate facts, prepare documents such as affidavits and pleadings, and, in general, do work customarily performed by lawyers. Approximately 224,000 paralegals and legal assistants work in law firms, businesses, and government agencies all over the United States; the majority work with lawyers and legislators. Paralegal
In papermaking, wood, recycled paper, and a small amount of vegetable fibers are turned into pulp, which is spread in a very thin layer, pressed, and dried. The mass-production processes in which large quantities of paper are made involve the use of highly complicated machinery. Paper processing workers are skilled and semiskilled production workers who
Paleontologists study the fossils of ancient life-forms, including human life, found in sedimentary rocks on or within the Earth’s crust. Paleontological analyses range from the description of large, easily visible features to biochemical analysis of incompletely fossilized tissue. The observations are used to infer relationships between past and present groups of organisms (taxonomy), to investigate
For both practical purposes and aesthetic appeal, building surfaces are often painted and decorated with various types of coverings. Although painting and paperhanging are two separate skills, many building trades craftsworkers do both types of work. Painters apply paints, varnishes, enamels, and other types of finishes to decorate and protect interior and exterior surfaces of
Packaging machinery technicians work with automated machinery that packages products into bottles, cans, bags, boxes, cartons, and other containers. The machines perform various operations, such as forming, filling, closing, labeling, and marking. The systems and technologies that packaging machinery technicians work with are diverse. Depending on the job, packaging machinery technicians may work with electrical
Doctors of osteopathic medicine (D.O.’s), more commonly referred to as osteopaths, practice a medical discipline that uses refined and sophisticated manipulative therapy based on the late 19th century teachings of American Dr. Andrew Taylor Still. It embraces the idea of “whole person” medicine and looks upon the system of muscles, bones, and joints—particularly the spine—
Orientation and mobility specialists help people with disabilities stay actively involved in society. They teach blind, visually impaired, and disabled individuals how to master the skills necessary to live independently and often encourage them to participate in various educational or recreational programs. Specialists also serve as a source of information, referring clients to financial aid
Oriental medicine practitioners, or OM practitioners, are health care professionals who practice a variety of health care therapies that are part of the ancient healing system of Oriental medicine. Oriental medicine is a comprehensive system of health care. It includes several major modalities: acupuncture, Chinese herbology, Oriental bodywork or massage, exercise, and dietary therapy. Each
An optometrist is a health care professional who provides primary eye care services, including comprehensive eye health and vision examinations, diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and vision disorders, prescribing of glasses, contact lenses, vision therapy, and medications, performing minor surgical procedures, and counseling patients regarding their vision needs. While examining a patient’s eyes, optometrists
For those who are familiar with anthropology, the themes of chaos and complexity might seem intuitively related to the field. Immersion in unfamiliar cultures is understood to produce disorientation, confusion, and perceptions of the foreign culture as “chaotic.” Consequently, the relevance of chaos theory and complexity theory to anthropology might not require a detailed justification.
Chaos theory describes the motion of certain dynamical, nonlinear systems under specific conditions. Chaotic motion is not the same as random motion. It is especially likely to emerge in systems that are described by at least three nonlinear equations, though it may also arise in other settings under specific conditions. All of these systems are
Child maltreatment has occurred throughout history and across cultures. Anthropology’s cross-cultural approach has contributed to efforts to define and explain aggressive or inadequate treatment of children. Child maltreatment was brought to public and professional attention when it was identified in the medical and social work literature in the United States and Europe during the 1960s
Until recently in the history of human beings, childbirth has been the exclusive work of women, who labor and bear down with their uterine muscles to deliver their babies from their wombs into the larger world of society and culture. Today, however, increasing numbers of the world’s women deliver babies via the medical establishment’s use
Vere Gordon Childe was a 20th-century archaeologist whose work concentrated on European prehistory, social evolution, and origins of the archaic state. Born in Sydney, Australia, in 1892, Childe moved to Britain to begin his studies at Oxford University in 1914. After brief involvement in left-wing politics in his native Australia, he returned to England to
Chichen Itza emerged as a principal political player following the Late and Terminal Classic “collapse” of Maya polities in the southern and central lowlands. Situated in the northern lowlands of Yucatan, this center dominated as a regional power until the end of the Early Postclassic period (ca. AD 1200). Key to Chichen Itza’s success were
Since the Industrial Revolution, most Western societies have come to consider childhood as a time of innocence rooted in biological processes that gradually progress from infancy, childhood, and adolescence into adulthood. In this concept, all youth are defined as minors who are dependent upon adult guidance and supervision; accordingly, youth are denied legal rights and
Civil disobedience refers to the willful challenge and disruption of law or the orderly flow and process of daily social activity. The intent of such action is to foster change in perceived unjust, immoral, or unethical government policies, mandates, or procedures. Civil disobedience is usually a nonviolent but officially discredited means to resolve citizen grievance.
Cladistics is a method of reconstructing phylogeny without necessary recourse to either fossils or molecular distances. It is required to trace the evolutionary changes within a group of organisms (a series of taxa), and the following stages are followed. First, one or more outgroups are selected; these are taxa that are known to be outside
Clines are gradations in biological features over geographic space. They refer to continuous degrees of difference in either phenotype or genotype across or within human populations. A given cline consists of the gradient in frequency of a single trait over space. This graded change is often associated with a gradually changing environmental factor. Thus, gradients
Many public health interventions are extremely good value for money. Advice from doctors to give up smoking, vaccinations against communicable diseases, or improved access to clean water in low-income countries are often relatively low cost interventions that produce substantial health gains. Where evidence on cost-effectiveness is available, many preventive and public health interventions fare very
This article addresses the distinctive challenges of planning, financing, implementing, and evaluating public health policies in low- and middle-income countries. By public health is meant the science and art of promoting and protecting health and well-being, preventing ill-health and prolonging life through the organized efforts of society. A key feature of low and middle-income countries
The origins of public health can be found in ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Many of the prominent themes in the writings of that era, such as Airs, Waters, and Places from the Hippocratic corpus, have echoes in today’s major concerns about how one can have health amid both climate change and an increasing burden
A fair society should give individuals equal opportunities to realize their own life project. Health is of utmost importance for the flourishing of individuals. It seems, therefore, self-evident that inequality in health should get an important place on the fairness agenda. Yet, this seemingly obvious statement raises difficult issues. First, is all inequality in health
Ambulance and Patient Transport Services include Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and private ambulance services, which supply emergency prehospital care, including basic medical support and roadside transport to hospitals for patients experiencing medical emergencies. In recent years, a number of economists have written thoughtful and careful papers on EMS; this article will summarize their work and
Microeconomics contains a theoretically based framework that describes how an individual business enterprise chooses to optimize production and cost efficiency, given existing technologies and prices of inputs. Within this supply side structure, the production function models the relationship between outputs produced and inputs used in the process, and the cost function models the relationship between
In most developed economies, universal health insurance coverage is standard and healthcare is paid for using insurance that is either mandated for those who can afford the premiums or subsidized through taxes. In the US, however, insurance purchase was not mandated through the 2000s, and almost 20% of the nonelderly had no coverage. People with
Throughout the nineteenth century in the western world, home health care (HHC) existed to care for new mothers and those with infectious diseases. In the mid-twentieth century, HHC began to transform, as the proportion of older people in the general population steadily increased and with it the need for care for chronic degenerative diseases. The
Long-term care is a set of services delivered over a sustained period of time to people who lack some degree of functional capacity. Put alternatively, long-term care is the help needed to cope, and sometimes to survive, when physical and cognitive disabilities impair the ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL), such as eating
Production function studies in health economics have taken three divergent approaches. Some of these studies focus on the production function for general and regress health (such as reduced mortality) against a variety of factors. Another strand examines the technological relationship between medical care and the inputs that are used to produce medical care. A third
Women and religion, women’s religious commitments, ideals, and involvement are increasingly of interest to sociologists within both the sociology of religion and other fields. While early research on religion focused on the origins, functions, meaning, and measurement of religion, the past few decades have witnessed a burgeoning interest in women s spirituality, the involvement of
The task of building a scientific understanding of religion is a central part of the sociological enterprise. Indeed, in one sense the origins of the sociology can be attributed to the efforts of nineteenth-century Europeans to come to grips with the crisis of faith that shook Western society during the revolutionary upheavals of its industrial
Many sports can be considered alternatives to dominant sport forms, but the term alternative sport has generally been used in sociology to refer to a group of activities that meet a particular set of organizational criteria. Alternative sports initially existed outside of formal sports organizations and participants were primarily young people who, for one reason
Amateurism in sport is at once ideology, a network of sports organizations, and a system of athletic eligibility. First articulated in Victorian England – there is absolutely no substance to the International Olympic Committee’s oft made claim that amateurism governed the athletics of ancient Greece – amateurism melded the upper class desire for social hierarchy
In most advanced capitalist societies, sport is hard to avoid. Sport related media shows and channels, magazines, newspapers, Internet sites, films, fictional and non fictional books, advertising campaigns, video games, and even soap operas saturate our everyday lives. Sport is also a regular conversation topic for many families, friends, and work colleagues, and sport related
Sports may be defined as physical contests that are competitive, fair, and guided by rules, organization, and/or tradition. The roots of sport are ancient, and probably stem from hunting. Although modern sports have more symbolic quests than the choice cuts of meat available to the successful prehistoric hunter, the thrill of the chase is much
Disability sport refers to any form of organized physical competition intended specifically for people with disabilities and contrasts with able-bodied or mainstream sport, which is organized for people without disabilities. The historical lack of mainstream sports opportunities for people with disabilities is one of the important rationales for the development of disability sport. People are
Ethnicity in sport has proven fundamental. It has long determined who has played, what participation and performance has meant, treatment by fans, media representations, and presentation of self. Outline Sport and Ethnic Identity Sport and Ethnic Relations References Ethnicity is closely related to race. In fact, the two concepts are often confused with one another
Exercise, physical activity, and fitness are distinct but interrelated concepts (Caspersen et al. 1985). Physical activity is any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscle, while exercise is planned and repeated physical activity that is structured into individuals’ lives with the purpose of maintaining or improving some attribute of either health or skill (i.e., fitness). Exercise
Figurational sociology research and theory was pioneered by Norbert Elias (1897–1990), a German of Jewish descent who became a naturalized Englishman in 1952. His work is best seen as an attempt to synthesize the central ideas of Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Sigmund Freud. Other influences were: Georg Simmel, Kurt Lewin, Wolfgang Koehler
Ethos, commonly translated as “ethics” and “moral character,” is a fundamental term in the history of the western rhetorical tradition. For “who does not know,” writes the ancient Greek philosopher and rhetorician Isocrates, “that words carry greater conviction when spoken by men of good repute than when spoken by men who live under a cloud
In classical rhetorical theory, invention was one of the five essential canons and referred to the activity or process of creating a message (a speech, an essay, a poem, etc.). (On the other canons, see Arrangement and Rhetoric; Delivery and Rhetoric; Memory and Rhetoric; Style and Rhetoric.) Over time, rhetoricians have explored some recurrent questions
Logos (plural logoi) is a polysemous Greek term, which generally has been used in rhetoric to refer to the component of persuasion grounded in logic or reason as opposed to that based on emotion or character, although these distinctions are not entirely unproblematic. The Greek noun logos derives from the verb legô (to speak), and