It has become increasingly clear that social learning and culture occur much more broadly, and in a wider variety of animal communities, than initially believed. Recent research has expanded the list to include insects, fishes, elephants, and cetaceans. Such diversity allows scientists to expand the scope of potential research questions, which can help form a more complete understanding of animal culture than any single species can provide on its own. It is crucial to understand how culture and (...) social learning present in different communities, as well as what influences community structure and culture may have on one another, so that the results across these different studies may most effectively inform one another. This review presents an overview of social learning in species across a spectrum of community structures, providing the necessary infrastructure to allow a comparison of studies that will help move the field of animal culture forward. (shrink)

Literary-communicational theory offers a foundation for two types of literary criticism whose workings are basically ameliorative: mediating criticism, which seeks to bridge the gaps between writers and readers who are differently positioned; and communicational criticism, which offers an ethical assessment of literary writing as communication. The present article illustrates the processes of mediating criticism, by trying to help its own readers understand the religio-historical sitedness of the early-seventeenth-century English Catholic poet, Sir John Beaumont. More extensively, the article pays attention (...) to Beaumont’s use of cultural memory, as an illustration of communicational criticism. In some of his poems, Beaumont was communicationally exclusive, appealing to past history in a defensive spirit, as part of an effort to purify and strengthen a Catholic identity under threat. Elsewhere, he resorted to cultural memory in communicational gestures that were more inclusive, and of three different kinds. Sometimes his Catholicism went on to the offensive, and he arrogated a common memorial ground in a coercive, missionary spirit. Sometimes his inclusivity may strike a present-day reader as disingenuous, in that it involved a self-disguising, self-betraying acquiescence in the royal court’s dominant, non-Catholic discourse. Sometimes the play of cultural memory was altogether more dialogical in spirit: an inclusiveness which was neither aggressive not self-demeaning, but which invited readers to compare notes in the hope of viable co-existence. (shrink)

The boundaries of the field of communications have been unclear from the beginnings. Somewhere between the liberal arts/humanities and the social sciences, communications exists in a contested space where advocates of different methods and positions have attempted to define the field and police intruders and trespassers. Despite several decades of attempts to define and institutionalize the field of communications, there seems to be no general agreement concerning its subject-matter, method, or institutional home. In different universities, communications is sometimes placed in (...) humanities departments, sometimes in the social sciences, and generally in schools of communications. But the boundaries of the various departments within schools of communications are drawn differently, with the study of mass-mediated communications and culture{0} sometimes housed in Departments of Communication, Radio/Television/Film, Speech Communication, Theater Arts, or Journalism departments. Many of these departments combine study of mass-mediated communication and culture with courses in production, thus further bifurcating the field between academic study and professional training, between theory and practice. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Books ReceivedThe Ambitions of Curiosity: Understanding the World in Ancient Greece and China. By G.E.R. Lloyd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Pp. xvi + 175. Price not given.The Art of the Han Essay: Wang Fu's Ch'ien-Fu Lun. By Anne Behnke Kinney. Tempe: Center for Asian Studies, Arizona State University, 1990. Pp. xi + 154. Paper $10.00.The Autobiography of Jamgön Kongtrul: A Gem of Many Colors. By Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrön (...) Thayé and translated by Richard Barron (Chökyi Nyima). Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications, 2003. Pp. xxii + 549. Price not given.Awesome Nightfall: The Life, Times, and Poetry of Saigyō. By William R. LaFleur. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003. Pp. xiii + 173. Paper $14.95.Becoming the Compassion Buddha: Tantric Mahamudra for Everyday Life. By Lama Thubten Yeshe, edited by Robina Courtin, and foreword by Geshe Lhundub Sopa. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003. Pp. xi + 194. Paper $14.95.Between Two Worlds East and West: An Autobiography. By J. N. Mohanty. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002. Pp. ix + 134. Hardcover RS 525.00.The Chinese Face of Jesus Christ. Edited by Roman Malek, S.V.D. Sankt Augustin, Germany: Institut Monumenta Serica and China-Zentrum; and Nettetal, Germany: Steyler Verlag, 2002. Pp. 391. EUR 40.00.Chinese Medicine in Contemporary China: Plurality and Synthesis. By Volker Scheid. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2002. Pp. xiv + 407. Hardcover $69.95. Paper $23.95.Confucian Feminist: Memoirs of Zeng Baosun (1893-1978). Translated and adapted by Thomas L. Kennedy. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2002. Pp. xxi + 170. Price not given.Consciousness Studies: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. By K. Ramakrishna Rao. Jefferson (North Carolina) and London: McFarland and Company, 2002. Pp. 367. Hardcover $65.00.Constituting Communities: Theravāda Buddhism and the Religious Cultures of South and Southeast Asia. Edited by John Clifford Holt, Jacob N. Kinnard, and Jonathan S. Walters. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003. Pp. viii + 224. Hardcover $65.50. Paper $21.95.Developments in Indian Philosophy from Eighteenth Century Onwards: Classical and Western. By Daya Krishna. Volume X Part 1 of History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, edited by D. P. Chattopadhyaya. New [End Page 110] Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations, 2001. Pp. xxiii + 417. Hardcover RS 1200.East and West: Identità e dialogo interculturale. By Giangiorgio Pasqualotto. Venezia: Marsilo Editori, 2003. Pp. 210. EUR 16.00.Effortless Action: Wu-wei as Conceptual Metaphor and Spiritual Ideal in Early China. By Edward Slingerland. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Pp. xii + 352. Price not given.Encountering Kā lī: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West. Edited by Rachel Fell McDermott and Jeffrey J. Kripal. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2003. Pp. xviii + 321. Hardcover $55.00, £37.95. Paper $21.95, £15.95.Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy. Edited by Antonio S. Cua. New York and London: Routledge, 2003. Pp. xx + 1020. Hardcover $150.00.Essays on Indian Philosophy. By J. N. Mohanty and edited by Purushottama Bilimoria. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002. Pp. xxxvii + 347. Paper RS 525.00.Faith, Humor, and Paradox. By Ignacio L. Götz. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2002. Pp. 136. Hardcover $61.95.Four Illusions: Candrakīrti's Advice for Travelers on the Bodhisattva Path. Translated by Karen C. Lang. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Pp. xv + 240. Price not given.The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory. By David R. Loy. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003. Pp. 223. Paper $16.95.The Hidden History of The Tibetan Book of the Dead. By Bryan J. Cuevas. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Pp. xi + 328. Price not given.Huang Di nei jing su wen: Nature, Knowledge, Imagery in an Ancient Chinese Medical Text. By Paul U. Unschuld. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2003. Pp. xii + 520. Hardcover $75.00, £52.00.In Dewey's Wake: Unfinished Work of Pragmatic Reconstruction. Edited by William J. Gavin. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003. Pp. vi + 249. Hardcover $71.50. Paper $23.95.Knowledge and Freedom in Indian Philosophy. By Tara Chatterjea. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2002. Pp. xvi + 159. Hardcover... (shrink)

In this section, Bibler once again explicates the meaning of the term “culture.” He first defines it as a form of simultaneous being and communication among people of different cultures and eras. T...

Radoslav Baltezarevic, Borivoje Baltezarevic, Piotr Kwiatek and Vesna Baltezarevic ABSTRACT: The emergence of the Internet and various forms of virtual communities has led to the impact of a new social space on individuals who frequently replace the real world with alternative forms of socializing. In virtual communities, new ‘friendships’ are easily accepted; however, how this...

Today, the earth is an interconnected globe humming with electronic transmissions-a chattering planet nestled in the provident silence of space. The ethical question is whether this is contributing to authentic human development and helping individuals and peoples to be true to their transcendent destiny. The new media are powerful tools for education, cultural enrichment, commercial activity, political participation, intercultural dialogue and understanding. They also can serve the cause of religion. Yet the new information technology needs to be informed and guided (...) by solidarity in the service of the common good bridging the digital divide within and among nations. The value-laden message of Western secular culture to people and traditional societies in many cases ill-prepared to evaluate it leads to widespread crisis, for example, in regard to marriage and family life. This technology can be a means for solving human problems, promoting the integral development of persons, creating a world governed by justice, peace, and love. It also can help men and women in their age-old search for self-understanding. Like today's world itself, the world of media, including the Internet, has been brought by Christ, inchoately yet truly, within the boundaries of the kingdom of God and placed in service to the word of salvation. (shrink)

Considered an iconic symbol of indigenous legal heritage, Islamic law is adopted nowadays in whole or in part in the legal systems of the Muslim world and is also of significance in Muslim-minority European countries, where it typically finds its niche in civil and financial domains. This article sets out to investigate the norms of translating Islamic family law discourse using a mixed methods approach based on ‘qualitising’ quantitative data, i.e., an approach in which quantitative data are interpreted qualitatively. Drawing (...) on a self-built monolingual English corpus of over three million words covering diverse genres, the analysis will harness the power of corpus processing to enable the study of ten iconic lexical profiles (individual concepts/conceptual systems and their corresponding Arabic and English terms) that are specific to Islamic family law. Profile-based correspondence is also employed to investigate the probability of lexical variation in expressing a conceptual category—a profile refers to a set of synonymous variants or linguistic labels that can be used to designate the same concept. The corpus analysis seeks to identify the key loanwords that represent cultural icons featured in the English-language discourse of Islamic family law and to explore the different mechanisms used to render shariʿa-based concepts. The aim is to investigate concomitant translation norms based on linguistic frequency in the corpus and to interpret ideological implications with reference to the theory of translation norms, which postulates that translation decision making is subject to norms dictated by extralinguistic factors (e.g., socio-political or ideological). The study finds that Islamic family law relies significantly on Arabic loanwords (constructing an ‘Islamgish’ discourse) to maintain shariʿa-based linguistic heritage, which can be seen as a kind of ‘working for one’s own good’. Thus, what is at play here is the ethics of self-interest, which is very typical of postcolonial agendas. (shrink)

The study explores the sociolinguistic aspects of language, particularly its impact on the interactions between Javanese and Malay tribes, which significantly influence each other. As a result of people moving from one place to another, there was interaction between the Javanese and Malay Deli communities, which was known as Javanese Deli or "Ja-del." This resulted in language contact and the emergence of new terminology as a result of the community's social interactions. In North Sumatra, there are Javanese and Malay communities. (...) linguistic contact in Javanese and Malay societies gave rise to a variety of linguistic phenomena such as "language codes" and "symptoms of code switching and code mixing." Acculturation of Javanese and Deli Malay culture resulted in a blending of language comprehension and belief values in both parties' civilizations. This research approach employs a qualitative paradigm with 112 informants; however, for the sake of efficiency and accuracy, 60 sources were chosen based on expertise and character. This study explores The use of Javanese by people in Deli Serdang Regency, Serdang Bedagai Regency, Langkat Regency and Batubara Regency is gradually changing. Based on the recognition of the Javanese people, the language used in the Deli Serdang Regency, Serdang Bedagai Regency, Langkat Regency and Batubara Regency was originally pure Ngoko Javanese. The culture of the Javanese Deli community in North Sumatra Province contains a mixture of cultures that lead to globalization. When communicating, the speaker conveys the speaker's speech using Indonesian (BI) and a foreign language (BA) with no intervention from each speaker. (shrink)

The manner in which a person views the universe originates from her/his culture. If someone were asked of the predominant element found in every culture that has for centuries given people their perspective of the universe, certainly, the answer would be, Religion! The responsibility of generating and preserving the elements of one’s perspective of the universe has rested with religious institutions such as Methodist, Protestant, or Roman Catholic churches or spiritual leaders such as the Buddha. Whether the element (...) is developed through the teaching of the Holy Bible, Catechism, Vedas, or Koran, people in the universe, including the Garífuna-speaking people of Central America, have always felt the need to .. (shrink)

[114 pages] This special issue “Understanding Chinese Culture in the World” represents contributions to the Young Experts Symposium 2022 (YES 2022). The event was held online at Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai (China) and provided a platform for topics related to classical, modern, futuristic, and comparative perspectives on Chinese culture—across generations, cultures, and disciplines.

The article reviews the developing studies of visuality with respect to their own focus on cultural and political fields in which visual communication unfolds. I found that that some of the academic interests related to visuality can be located within the broader or intersecting field of cultural and political studies and provide successful tools of analysing and describing the communicational interactions within local communities situated in broader contexts of mobility. Some light is shed on the visualisations of the current (...) condition of the nation-state with respect to globalizing or Europeanising tendencies. Also, I discuss a more general impact of mobility and novel visualisations of the public and cultural sphere. (shrink)

I expand the metaphor of computing as philosophical laboratory by exploring philosophical insights gleaned from examining computer‐mediated communication (CMC) technologies in terms of the cultural values and communicative preferences they embed, as well as their interactions with the values and preferences that define diverse cultures in which the technologies are deployed. These empirically grounded data provide new insights for debates in philosophy of technology, notions of the self, and epistemology. This approach to utilizing data drawn from the cultural encounters (...) facilitated by CMC technologies further suggests more ambitious ways of making philosophical use of CMC venues as a laboratory for testing and refining basic claims and hypotheses. The approach also uncovers other grounds that should encourage philosophers to become interdisciplinarians – not only for the sake of perhaps developing new sorts of insights and even forms of knowledge but also in order to shape and contribute to a global ethic and a Socratic education needed to sustain cultural diversity as CMC envelops the globe. (shrink)

A growing body of empirical research suggests many animal species are capable of social learning and even have cultural behavioral traditions. Social learning has implications for community ecology; changes in behavior can lead to changes in inter- and intra-specific interactions. The paper explores possible implications of social learning for ecological community dynamics. Four arguments are made: social learning can result in locally-specific ecological relationships; socially-mediated, locally-specific ecological relationships can have localized indirect interspecific population effects; the involvement of multiple co-existing species (...) in socially learned, locally-specific behavior has the potential to create community-wide effects, including varying levels of stability and instability; and social learning can create new intra- and inter-specific selection pressures on local taxa, potentially resulting in rapid evolution. Implications of all four arguments are discussed in relation to community ecology research and modeling. (shrink)

Is it possible to communicate ethics across cultural borders? Not according to representatives of “the incommensurability thesis”, who claim that values and norms are culturally bounded. This article argues against this thesis. A first problem is that cultures and traditions are seen as comprehensive, delimited, and exclusive. Normally, however, a culture develops from and is in dialogue with other cultures. Further, the inner diversity of cultures and traditions opens the possibility of communication and shared understandings across cultural borders. (...) Finally, the teaching and discussion of cross-cultural ethics provide practical evidence of the possibility of dialogue and mutual understanding. *. (shrink)

This study employs online archival and interview methods to understand how people on X (formerly Twitter) interpret and construct the ‘No Gree for Anybody’ tweets as a form of digital protest. ‘No Gree for Anybody,’ translating to ‘Do not compromise for anyone’ in Nigerian Pidgin English, became a sort of national anthem on social media, especially on Twitter, amid the socioeconomic challenges in Nigeria. The adoption of this slogan, despite concerns from the Nigerian Police, underscores its influential role as an (...) alternative protest form advocating systemic reform and confronting entrenched power structures. The qualitative data analysis constructed four key themes: Language and Identity, Digital Protest/Mobilization and Collective Identity, Multiple Symbolism of Defiance, and Protests Continuum in Nigeria’s socio-political landscape. These themes provide a nuanced understanding of ‘No Gree for Anybody’ and how its subtleness and non-episodic features shape digital activism and socio-political discourse in Nigeria, highlighting its position in contemporary protest dynamics. (shrink)

Shared decision-making between patients and physicians strives to balance decisional responsibility for clinical decisions. Directed by patients, SDM incorporates patients’ values and prefere...

Indigenous health is becoming a top priority globally. The aim is to ensure equal health opportunities, with a focus on Indigenous populations who have faced historical disparities. Effective health interventions in Indigenous communities must incorporate Indigenous knowledge, beliefs, and worldviews to be culturally appropriate.

Online social networks play an increasingly important role in communication between friends, colleagues, business partners, and family members. This development sparked public and scholarly debate about how these new platforms affect dynamics of cultural diversity. Formal models of cultural dissemination are powerful tools to study dynamics of cultural diversity but they are based on assumptions that represent traditional dyadic, face-to-face communication, rather than communication in online social networks. Unlike in models of face-to-face communication, where actors update (...) their cultural traits after being influenced by one of their network contacts, communication in online social networks is often characterized by a one-to-many structure, in that users emit messages directly to a large number of network contacts. Using analytical tools and agent-based simulation, we show that this seemingly subtle difference can have profound implications for emergent dynamics of cultural dissemination. In particular, we show that within the framework of our model online communication fosters cultural diversity to a larger degree than offline communication and it increases chances that individuals and subgroups become culturally isolated from their network contacts. (shrink)

Generative AI has captured the public imagination as a tool that promises access to expertise beyond the technical jargon and expense that traditionally characterize such infospheres as those of medicine and law. Largely absent from the current literature, however, are interrogations of generative AI’s abilities to deal in culturally responsive communication, or the expertise interwoven with culturally aware, socially responsible, and personally sensitive communication best practices. To interrogate the possibilities of cultural responsiveness in generative AI, we examine the (...) patterns of response that characterize ChatGPT-3.5’s advice for coming out. Specifically, we submitted 100 prompts soliciting coming out advice to GPT-3.5, variegating each of those prompts slightly to account for intersectional identities. From the analysis, we find that, while the responses are largely in-line with best practices, there are also instances that might represent problematics concerning the interpellation of the user or the persons to whom one is coming out. (shrink)

Food has a crucial role in human culture and social interaction. Food is vital in various traditional ceremonies and rituals, especially in Javanese culture. Saparan Bekakak is a Javanese tradition that uses food or offerings as a ritual symbol. Food communication is a field of study that studies how food functions as a medium of communication in social and cultural contexts. This study explores the food communication model in strengthening the cultural identity of Saparan Bekakak (...) as a noble tradition of the Indonesian nation. This research uses a constructivist paradigm with a qualitative research design for the type of case study. The subjects in this study consisted of nine participants, including community leaders (kamituwo, dukuh, bekakak bride makers, cooks, and offerings), local communities, and visitors to the Saparan Bekakak traditional ceremony. The data collection techniques in this study consist of interviews, observations, and documentation. Data analysis in the study consists of several steps (i.e., data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawn) as well as source triangulation and triangulation techniques to ensure the validity of the research data. This study finds a food communication model that strengthens the cultural identity of Saparan Bekakak as a noble tradition of the Indonesian nation. Food in the tradition of saparan bekakak is interpreted as a form of gratitude blessings, a medium of communication with ancestors for safety, cultural enlightenment, and strengthening solidarity/togetherness. There are variations and shifts in the meaning of food in the Saparan Bekakak tradition, encouraging the negotiation of meaning, which catalyses the renewal and strengthening of identity. Culture. This research's implications or theoretical impact are in the form of theoretical contributions about food communication that can construct and strengthen cultural identity and practically in the form of food communication models that can be applied to enhance cultural identity, especially in the Saparan Bekakak tradition. (shrink)

The scarcity of resources during the COVID‐19 pandemic caused ethical dilemmas in prioritizing patients for treatment. Medical and ethical guidance only emphasizes clinical procedures but does not consider the sociocultural aspect. This study explored the perception of former COVID‐19 patients and their families on the decision‐making process of the patient's selection at a time of scarcity of resources. The result will inform the development of an ethical guide for allocating scarce resources that aligns with Indonesian culture. We conducted qualitative (...) research with in‐depth interviews between May ‐ December 2022 involving sixteen participants from various cities in Indonesia. We transcribed the interviews and analyzed the results using thematic analysis. This study found that doctor's decisions often differed from patient's expectations in allocating scarce resources, and therefore, it should be communicated appropriately. Medical decisions were not sufficiently made ethically, but must also be made communicatively. In Indonesia's strong communal culture, community involvement was essential to distributing limited resources. A better approach to ethical education, including adequate communication skills, is necessary to prepare health professionals for facing unpredictable future pandemics. (shrink)

Malang City has evolved into a prominent hub for students. Embracing this new role, it has become a sought-after destination for learners from outside Java who wish to pursue their education at local universities. The influx of international students brings a vibrant intercultural dynamic to the city, affecting both the local community and the students themselves. As these students undergo the adaptation process to integrate and thrive in their new environment, they often face challenges such as culture shock, which (...) arises from insufficient preparation and knowledge about their new surroundings. Culture shock can be minimized in the process of student adaptation by the application of intercultural communication, which can bridge the constraints of understanding in society. This research aims to examine the impact of intercultural communication on the adaptation process of Hindu students in Malang City, focusing on how it can reduce the incidence of culture shock. Employing a qualitative-interpretative approach, the research gathers data through comprehensive and interactive interviews based on the informants' personal experiences. Informants are selected using purposive sampling, and data is analyzed using the Miles and Huberman framework, which involves data collection, reduction, and interpretation. The outcomes highlight that culture shock among Hindu students in Malang City is influenced by internal factors, including personal abilities, insufficient factual information, and experiences in intercultural social interactions. While external factors include language, food, customs, and climate. The phases of culture shock development in the adaptation process include the optimistic phase, cultural phase, recovery phase, and adjustment phase. The duration for students to transition from experiencing culture shock to achieving adaptation ranges from one month to a year. Effective intercultural communication plays a crucial role in this adaptation process, helping to reduce the impact of culture shock by facilitating stages of convergence, divergence, and maintenance. (shrink)

Demonstrating cetacean communicative cultures requires documenting vocal differences among conspecific groups that are socially learned and stable across generations. Evidence to date does not provide strong scientific support for culture in cetacean vocal systems. Further, functional analyses with playbacks are needed to determine whether observed group differences in vocalizations are meaningful to the animals themselves.

Tоday there is a strong tendency to incorporate the bioethical principle of social justice in healthcare in cross-cultural communication. Considering cultural differences makes it possible to ensure that the human right to medical care and wellbeing is fully respected. Several types of most vulnerable populations were identified – immigrants and social minorities. When seeking medical care they face a number of problems such as culture and language barriers, lower socio-economic status, lack of literacy, which impede effective communication (...) and care provision. The most promising ways of coping with the problem are developing cultural competence and practicing a patient-centered approach. New curricula aiming at raising cultural awareness have been elaborated for practical use in medical schools. (shrink)

Community participation is the core of sustainable tourism development; however, it encounters obstacles at government-controlled heritage sites in China. This paper examines the status quo of community participation and residents’ empowerment perception through 25 in-depth interviews and 168 questionnaires in the Miao ethnic heritage site of Xijiang Village in southwest China, the findings reveal that: The phenomenon of disempowerment focuses on the political and economic aspects, rather than the social and psychological aspects; Spatial difference affects empowerment perception; and Residents desire (...) more political and education empowerment. On this basis, the present research puts forward a comprehensive empowerment system consists of system, information, and education empowerment which contributes to the theorization of community empowerment between Chinese and Western scholars and provides an alternative path to sustainable tourism development for developing countries’ cultural heritage sites. (shrink)

Background Current requirements for ethical research in Canada, specifically the standard of active or signed parental consent, can leave Indigenous children and youth with inequitable access to research opportunities or health screening. Our objective was to examine the literature to identify culturally safe research consent processes that respect the rights of Indigenous children, the rights and responsibilities of parents or caregivers, and community protocols. Methods We followed PRISMA guidelines and Arksey and O’Malley’s approach for charting and synthesizing evidence. We searched (...) MEDLINE, PsycINFO, ERIC, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Informit Indigenous Collection, Bibliography of Native North Americans, and Sociological Abstracts. We included peer-reviewed primary and theoretical research articles written in English from January 1, 2000, to March 31, 2022, examining Indigenous approaches for obtaining informed consent from parents, families, children, or youth. Eligible records were uploaded to Covidence for title and abstract screening. We appraised the findings using a Two-Eyed Seeing approach. These findings were inductively coded using NVivo 12 and analyzed thematically. Results We identified 2,984 records and 11 eligible studies were included after screening. Three key recommendations emerged: addressing tensions in the ethics of consent, embracing wise practices, and using relational approaches to consent. Tensions in consent concerned Research Ethics Board consent requirements that fall short of protecting Indigenous children and communities when culturally incongruent. Wise practices included allowing parents and children to consent together, land-based consenting, and involving communities in decision-making. Using relational approaches to consent embodied community engagement and relationship building while acknowledging consent for Indigenous children cannot be obtained in isolation from family and community. Conclusions Very few studies discussed obtaining child consent in Indigenous communities. While Indigenous communities are not a monolith, the literature identified a need for community-driven, decolonized consent processes prioritizing Indigenous values and protocols. Further research is needed to examine nuances of Indigenized consent processes and determine how to operationalize them, enabling culturally appropriate, equitable access to research and services for all Indigenous children. (shrink)

[143 pages] This special edition of International Communication of Chinese Culture bears the title “Spectra of Cultural Understanding”. Just as the spectral decomposition of light produces seven pure unmixed colours, the theme of cultural understanding has been reflected here from seven different and genuine angles. The edition contains seven articles by distinguished international scholars from the perspective of divergent cultural backgrounds and different academic subjects and respective subtopics. Another closer look at each contribution reveals that each essay represents (...) a certain genuine micro-spectrum in the reflection of cultural understanding in itself. For this reason, the plural “spectra” is used here to indicate a family resemblance of all seven perspectives on one hand but also their respective partial thematic autonomy in the totality of a collection of texts which is supposed to transcend habitual limits of outdated perspectives. (shrink)

Despite contemporary Confucianism’s aspirations to be a world philosophy, there is an ethnocentric strand within the Confucian tradition, most glaringly exemplified in Han Yu’s attacks on Buddhism. This paper re-assesses Confucian ethnocentrism in the context of contrary practices that indicate a more pragmatic attitude among Confucians toward cross-cultural interactions. It argues that while the ethnocentric tendency serves as constant reminder of the need for vigilance, and recognition of the difficulties of crossing cultural boundaries, there are nevertheless resources within Confucianism for (...) constructing an ethics of communication that is urgently needed to deal with the moral problems of cultural pluralism. The paper analyses the role of various common Confucian virtues such as ren(benevolence, co-humanity), yi (appropriateness), li (ritual), zhi (wisdom) in communication, and argues that a virtue of flexibility is implicit in Confucius’s insistence of bugu and could contribute significantly to a Confucian ethics of communicative virtues. (shrink)

The contemporary world today has evolved into a global village. This civilization owes its existence to fast means of communication systems. Thus the global world is knighted into one political economy. Distances are reached under seconds. Notwithstanding the fast means of communication gadgets in our time, African traditional means of communication has survived the test of time. What then has been the connection of Africa traditional means of communication and politics? The answer to this question, specifically (...) as operative in Ogba land is the main thrust of this paper. The issues in discourse includes communication and the socio-political sphere, the town crier and Ogba socio-political culture using the literature approach. (shrink)

Prolonged conflict on the southern Thailand border still continues, especially in four provinces – Pattani, Yala, Narathivat, and Satun. These four provinces are the home base of the Malay-Muslim community. However, conflicts have almost never occurred in the province of Phattalung, particularly in the region called ‘Two Religion Community Life’. This is because people can find solutions to every problem using cultural negotiation. This research aims to describe the results of cultural negotiation and social learning between Muslims and Buddhists in (...) solving daily life problems. The most important data collection techniques are in-depth interviews and observations. There are five critical informants chosen purposively: Islamic and Buddhist religious leaders, community leaders, school principals, and community members in the Tamot and Khaocan regions. The results found that there are several forms of cultural negotiation in Phattalung, including annual ritual prayers conducted together by Muslims and Buddhists, agreement on how to slaughter animals to be served during ceremonies, tradition of food bartering, and agreement on animal caring. Furthermore, social learning to preserve the results of the negotiations is carried out through the establishment of voluntary medical groups whose members consist of young men and women from the Muslim and the Buddhist community, sports and arts activities, commemorations of national holidays, and conducting annual religious rituals at the same place and time. This study also found four important aspects to strengthen the social learning in multireligious society – moderate values derived from their respective religious teachings, moderate values taught by the country, the existence of trust among citizens, and win-win solutions to the emerging problems. Contribution: This research promotes the world that there is a heterogeneous religious community in the Phattalung province, Thailand which has a building construction of tolerance and harmony of locality namely the ‘Two Religion Community Life’ by preserving the cultural negotiation values through social learning. (shrink)

Communication Studies currently undergoes a crisis of paradigms that requires an ontological review that must begin with a debate about the conditions of possibility of every communicational phenomena. In this article we argue that semiosis offers a conceptual framework that allows for the study of communication as qualitative action. Semiosis, or the action of the sign, is here defined as a fundamental process based on perception that models the world of species, creating cognition and culture. At the (...) core of semiosis are dynamic structures that the authors have defined as ‘ontological diagrams’. The first purpose of Semiotics of Communication is to understand how these modeling systems evolve ontologically and phylogenically, producing, in the case of human culture, means of communication ever more varied and technologically advanced. (shrink)

L’information est, fondamentalement, de l’ordre de l’utilitaire. À l’inverse, la communication ne saurait se réduire à l’échange d’une simple marchandise. Mais communiquer, c’est autre chose, comme l’a démontré Dominique Wolton dans ses travaux ou Michel Maffesoli quand il parle de « reliance » : c’est rajouter du ciment social ; c’est la « colle » du monde actuel. L’imaginaire de la mondialisation est la juxtaposition des fragments collés par la communication disséminée par des moyens technologiques. Néanmoins, de telles (...) technologies aident certes à créer de nouveaux imaginaires, mais elles ne sont pas, en soi, suffisantes. Encore faut-il que les imaginaires culturels communiquent entre eux, à l’épreuve de l’altérité : la traduction, de ce point de vue, est une interface incontournable. La traduction de Michel Houellebecq au Brésil servira d’illustration concrète.Information is fundamentally utilitarian, but communication cannot be reduced to a mere exchange of merchandise. Communication is something else, as Dominique Wolton has demonstrated in his work, or Michel Maffesoli when he discusses the French concept of “reliance” . Communication is the cement that binds society, the glue that holds our world together. Globalisation, in our imagination, is a juxtaposition of fragments that are glued together by communication disseminated through technological means. However, although these technologies clearly play their part in developing new imaginative conceptions, they do not suffice in themselves. The imaginative conceptions of different cultures have to communicate and confront their differences. Translation, from this point of view, is a uniquely necessary interface. Translations of Michel Houellebecq in Brazil are used here as an illustration. (shrink)

This essay concerns itself with the Lawyer cartoon, a thematic subgenre of the “The New Yorker Magazine” cartoon, which focuses on the legal profession in the US context. An examination of the cultural meaning of this phenomenon is carried out on the strength of ethnography of communication, which discloses the cartoon as a cultural, social and rhetorical artifact. Among the findings of this study are the structural components, functions, and the rules of configuring the Lawyer cartoon toward it becoming (...) a matter of “risibility” as well as a matter of cultural symbolism. By presenting the attorney as an abnormal character with excessive and hypocritical characteristics, the Lawyer cartoon points to the ascriptions of a disrupted self, making the profession appear as fundamentally inauthentic. (shrink)

This paper reports on collaborative research undertaken with the African Australian Christian Impact Centre (CIC) in Perth, Western Australia. It is part of a larger university philosophy outreach program in which the researchers seek to create opportunities for those on the educational and social margins, and young people, to engage in ‘doing philosophy’, and to learn from them about their experiences. We were interested to evaluate whether the collaborative philosophical inquiry methods we use in our university teaching could be beneficial (...) outside of a formal educational setting, for members of the culturally diverse, faith-based community of CIC. In this multi-method evaluative study, we examined the extent to which participation in a series of Community of Inquiry (CoI) sessions improved or did not improve participants’ self-assessment of: (1) their competence and confidence in communicating with others in different contexts; (2) their competence and confidence as a ‘thinker’; and (3) their social competence and confidence. Our findings on ‘communication’ are discussed in this paper. The facilitated philosophical discussions led to insights about ‘speaking out’ and ‘listening’, particularly with respect to participants’ experiences of cultural and generational differences. We suggest that participation in CoI in a faith-based community setting has the potential to significantly increase confidence in communication skills, and lead to greater intergenerational, intercultural, and intercommunity sensitivity. (shrink)

Recent work on the emergence and evolution of human communication has focused on getting novel systems to evolve from scratch in the laboratory. Many of these studies have adopted an interactive construction approach, whereby pairs of participants repeatedly interact with one another to gradually develop their own communication system whilst engaged in some shared task. This paper describes four recent studies that take a different approach, showing how adaptive structure can emerge purely as a result of cultural transmission (...) through single chains of learners. By removing elements of interactive communication and focusing only on the way in which language is repeatedly acquired by learners, we hope to gain a better understanding of how useful structural properties of language could have emerged without being intentionally designed or innovated. (shrink)

Cultural diversity between residents and staff is significant in aged care homes in many developed nations in the context of international migration. This diversity can be a challenge to achieving effective cross‐cultural communication. The aim of this study was to critically examine how staff and residents initiated effective cross‐cultural communication and social cohesion that enabled positive changes to occur. A critical hermeneutic analysis underpinned by Giddens’ Structuration Theory was applied to the study. Data were collected by interviews with (...) residents or their family and by focus groups with staff in four aged care homes in Australia. Findings reveal that residents and staff are capable of restructuring communication via a partnership approach. They can also work in collaboration to develop communication resources. When staff demonstrate cultural humility, they empower residents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to engage in effective communication. Findings also suggest that workforce interventions are required to improve residents’ experiences in cross‐cultural care. This study challenges aged care homes to establish policies, criteria and procedures in cross‐cultural communication. There is also the challenge to provide ongoing education and training for staff to improve their cross‐cultural communication capabilities. (shrink)

Community technology design has been deeply affected by paradigm shifts and dominant discourses of its seminal disciplines, such as Human Computer Interaction, Cultural and Design theories, and Community Development as reflected in Community Narratives. A particular distinction of community technology design endeavours has been their cultural stance, which directs the agendas, interactions, and outcomes of the collaboration. Applying different cultural lenses to community technology design, shifts not only practices but also directs the levels of awareness, thereby unfolding fundamentally distinct cultural (...) engagement approaches. Previous community technology design research indulged in cross-, inter-, and multicultural approaches to community engagement; it was occupied with meticulously deconstructing and reconstructing perspectives, interactions, roles, and agendas. We argue that when deeply immersed in joint design activities in long-term collaborations, we look beyond individual cultures and enter a transcultural mode of engagement. A transcultural community technology design endeavour supports a continuous creation and re-creation of new meanings, originating from individual entities yet being diffused and continuously reflected within the existing design space. We suggest that within community technology design, a context with abundant cultural diversity, a heightened awareness becomes a necessity. We exemplify different instantiations of the cultural engagement approaches within our long-term collaborations and technology design projects with indigenous communities in Malaysian Borneo and Namibia. A transcultural approach to indigenous knowledge preservation and digitisation efforts with indigenous communities opens up a controversial debate about protecting versus integrating local epistemologies. (shrink)

Persons in Community sounds a clear call for African voices to be heard in the global village. It explores the interface between traditional African ethics and contemporary issues, both locally and globally. The contributors to this book offer incisive perspectives on cultural values - such as ubuntu - in a wide range of areas: the workplace and Western capitalism, medical practices, government and political change, gender relationships and HIV/AIDS. What emerges is that there are distinctive and common strands in ethical (...) views from sub-Saharan Africa, which need to be examined, sometimes applauded, and sometimes challenged. (shrink)

The development of cultural heritage tourism (CHT) frequently encounters obstacles pertaining to community support, as the attitudes of the local populace typically dictate the outcome of tourism endeavors. The community's influence on these perceptions has been undervalued in traditional approaches, which has resulted in low levels of engagement and support for cultural preservation. This study aims to bridge this gap by investigating how different degrees of community involvement impact local perceptions of the advantages of tourism, the preservation of culture, (...) and general satisfaction with the results. Data was gathered from 300 participants who were actively involved in many heritages sites' tourism planning. The connections between perceptions of the advantages of tourism and community involvement (CI) were evaluatedby utilizing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results demonstrated that the perceptions of economic benefits (PEB), perceptions of cultural preservation (PCP), and community satisfaction (CS) are all positively impacted by greater CI. The aforementioned results underscore the significance of adopting participatory methodologies, implying that cultivating community engagement is vital for the sustainable growth of CHT. (shrink)