Abstract
This paper examines the human rights violations of other cultures, including bride price, genital mutilation, genocide, and infanticide, arguing that it is wrong to turn our backs on these "cultural" practices simply because they are traditional and that we must combat them and bring them to an end.

From the Paper
"It has long been accepted that practices seen as human rights violations in our culture are acceptable in other cultures simply because they are an accepted part of the culture there. Such horrific practices as bride price, infanticide and genital mutilation occurring in other cultures around the world are viewed in our culture from a detached perspective that intimates that it would be inappropriate for us to intervene there because we would be violating another country's longstanding culture. This paper will examine the issue..."

Tags:ethics, cultures, genital mutilation, bride price, genocide, infanticide, human rights violations

Abstract
The paper points out that Japanese and Chinese cultures are independent of one another in that they have accepted their own cultural ideas of others, focus on gender and religious beliefs over the course of time. However, the paper discusses how these views do parallel one another to a significant degree in that as time has elapsed many of the ideas that have survived are correlated between cultures, with individualized philosophies making them unique. For example, the paper notes that the Japanese are taught specific culture attitudes that they exhibit in every day life. The paper relates that the typical Japanese individual views those from other cultures as "outsiders" in Japan, regardless of the residency status of the person ("Japanese Culture", 2007, sec. 1) and this is because the Japanese individual is traditionally taught to be part of a group that is comprised of members of his or her own culture. The paper clarifies that this is not to suggest that the Japanese individual practices rude behavior to others or does not associate with those from other cultural groups. The paper notes that the Japanese individual is taught that despite differences that may exist, a decision can be reached in which both parties will be satisfied with the outcome, and so in most cases individuals foreign to Japan will not witness hostility from those in the Japanese culture.

From the Paper
"The Japanese and Chinese cultures are independent of one another in that they have accepted their own cultural ideas of others, focus on gender and religious beliefs over the course of time. However, these views do parallel one another to a significant degree in that as time has elapsed many of the ideas that have survived are correlated between cultures, with individualized philosophies making them unique. For example, the Japanese are taught specific culture attitudes that they exhibit in every day life. The typical Japanese individual views those from other cultures as "outsiders" in Japan, regardless of the residency status of the person..."

Tags:chinese, japan, culture

Abstract
This essay compares and contrasts the political cultures of the Canada and the United States, arguing that despite debates over the apparent differences in the political cultures of the two countries, the underlying corporate domination of political relations in both societies suggests that apart from superficial political differences the political cultures of Canada and the United States are likely to increasingly converge in the near future.

From the Paper
"A Comparison and Contrast of the Political Cultures in Canada and the United States Introduction Canada and the United States are two liberal democracies that, although they share a common continent and have had extremely close social, political, economic and cultural relationships for generations, possess radically distinct political cultures."

Tags:power, culture, politics

Abstract
This is a comparison essay between the cultures of humans and primates. Multiple areas of similarities and differences are discussed, including social relationships, learned behaviors, tool-making, food-finding, language systems, and mating and kinship strategies.

From the Paper
"There are many big differences between primates and human culture. Studies of primates have revealed some similarities to humans, however. Scientists used to believe that learned behavior was the important divide between humans and other animals, but now they have found that monkeys and apes also depend on learning. Humans and other primates have differences in degree of learned behavior rather than kind of learned behavior. Observations show that monkeys learn from first-hand experience, but that, in contrast, humans learn much more. For example, humans learn to make and use tools to a much greater extent than chimpanzees and orangutans do."

Tags:primates, humans, culture

Abstract
This paper examines the concept of colliding cultures, which includes the image of colliding worlds as is graphically illustrated several literary works such as "Master Harold... and the Boys", "Dream on Monkey Mountain" , and "No Sugar." According to the paper, these works encapsulate racism and present the colonial experience as having no temporal boundaries. The paper concludes by stating that all the associations of oppression and subservience are present in these works and their characters.

From the Paper
"The Concept of Colliding Cultures in 'Master Harold... and the Boys', 'Dream on Monkey Mountain', and 'No Sugar.' In Fugard's play, the impact of colonialism is fully apparent in the subservient role and demeanor of Sam and Willie. Meanwhile, the arrogant, ignorant, but privileged seventeen-year-old white boy holds power over the two mature men. This play encapsulates racism and presents the colonial experience as having no temporal boundaries. As Beck..."

Tags:collision, ideology, culture

Abstract
In this article, the writer discusses that the concept of colliding cultures, as illustrated in 'Master Harold... and the Boys', 'Dream on Monkey Mountain', and 'No Sugar' contains both negative and positive implications. The writer notes that all three plays demonstrate that when cultures collide, the inevitable result is domination and oppression, which originate in racism because competing ideologies also are at work. The writer maintains, however, that the plays also are based on an alternate meaning of colliding cultures which involves illumination of one culture by another, as well as exposure of the value and dignity of the oppressed by comparison with the lack of humanity by the other. The phenomenon of changing identity as one of the main outcomes of colliding cultures is an important theme in all three plays, and this is explored along with strategies to indicate altered identity such as shifting forms of language.

Outline:
Introduction
The Meaning of Colliding Cultures
Manifestations of Colliding Cultures
Consequences of Colliding Cultures
Symbolism and Imagery
Conclusion
Works Cited

From the Paper
"Hally is situated in a privileged class since he just happens to be the son of the proprietors, and so he can lord it over the black men. Hally has been culturally and socially conditioned to be the men's master but, in fact, he relies on them for emotional support. In an ironic reversal, they are the boys while he is the master. While Hally illustrates white dominance, he is too immature for the segregation but is quite capable of extreme racism against his friend Sam. There is a mutual emotional bond between Sam and Hally, and Sam is Hally's intellectual equal so that segregation is not possible."

Tags:oppression, domination, humanity, class, struggle

Abstract
This essay is an in-depth analysis of intellectual property law in an historical context. The specific history can be divided into two periods of cultural development, morality and literacy. The concept of intellectual property (individual ownership of creative work) was not present in oral cultures, but it is enshrined in law in literate cultures. This essay draws on the works of communications scholars like Walter Ong and Dan Lacy in order to establish these facts, and then proceeds to analyze them using one of Marshall McCluhan's most famous insights, that "the medium is the message." What this essay shows is that the medium of information preservation in oral cultures is fundamentally different than that of literate cultures. One medium supports the concept of intellectual property, and one does not. In other words, the medium determines the morals of the time. What is considered theft in literate culture is just sharing in oral culture. This examination of intellectual property in historical context is especially relevant today, with the current legal disputes over intellectual property in the music industry.

From the Paper
"At this moment in 2001, intellectual property is a hot topic. The right to own an idea is being debated in fields as disparate as medicine and the music industry. In historical context, however, intellectual property is a relatively new concept. The first modern copyright law only emerged in 1710 and the People's Republic of China did not have a copyright system until 1991. In contrast, the first known cave painting dates to 31,000 BC. Humans have been creating for thousands of years, but those expressions were only defined as personal property quite recently. The exact moment of this definition is still debated by experts: some say it came with the first copyright law, some say it began with the printing press in 1436, and others say that it emerged with "the artist with a markedly individual personality" in 6th century BC Greece (Ploman and Hamilton 5). Regardless of the specific point of division, copyright as we know it today was not present in ancient oral cultures (Bettig 11) and is not present in modern oral cultures like that of the Balinese (Ploman and Hamilton 4). Why the concept of intellectual property is evident in highly literate cultures and not in oral cultures can perhaps be best understood in terms of the social and political context of their respective historical periods. One explanation that emerges is that the chosen mediums of oral and literate cultures are qualitatively different and that each engenders a different set of social norms to guide intellectual production. What this paper seeks to do is to pursue this line of questioning by discerning what the medium was for each culture, analyzing the nature of each medium, and, finally, explaining how the medium determined whether or not the concept of intellectual property emerged."

Tags:copyright, intellectual, literacy, mccluhan, ong, orality, property

Abstract
This paper is divided into two parts. The first part of this paper discusses a micro-culture of which the writer is not a part. It discusses the concepts of micro-cultures and provides a better understanding of the various types of micro-cultures that exist. The second section of the paper discusses a micro-culture of which the writer is a part. This section provides real-life examples, explains more about micro-cultures and describes a little bit about the writer.

Table of Contents:
Abstract
A Micro-Culture That Does Not Include Me
Micro-Culture that Does Include Me
Closing Thoughts

From the Paper
" When referring to the micro-culture of Religion, what is being referred to for the purposes of this paper, is a micro-culture that consists of people who share common thoughts, beliefs and perceptions, more specifically, faith in God. However, the faith that defines this micro-culture also creates several other positive attributes that help to define the culture itself, such as respect for one's elders, leaders and government. Pride in one's country, patriotism to be more precise, is a key ingredient. Core values that are exemplified by the Religious micro-culture encompass honesty, integrity, respect, trust, and humility; these core values have helped to shape positive religious movements for hundreds upon hundreds of years and helped to establish America so many years ago (Welty, 1981)."

Tags:values, religion, community, Christianity

Abstract
This paper looks at how the early cultures that populated the nascent Western World were all unique. It looks at how proximity, difficulty and a mastery of seafaring technology allowed for a transfusion of cultures over the years, most predominantly through Christianization. It attempts to show how long before the age of Westernization, traditional western cultures blossomed, spreading as far away as Africa and the middle west and providing the basis for culture that would one day spread far and wide with traditions like Halloween and the "middle earth" that captivated Tolkien, Hollywood and eventually the world.

From the Paper
"Unlike their northern neighbors, the Scandinavians were not aquatic warriors; they were village-oriented farmers, fishermen, and hunters. They operated on a very local level, but were forced to establish lines of communication with other villages to establish lines of defense against the attacking Vikings. Together, the "northmen" established a large defense fleet called the ledung to protect themselves from the invaders, preserving not only their little villages, but also their families, fish, lands, and game. The Norse mythology pervaded the Scandinavian culture, an orally purported religion that claimed no divine text, but instead was a collection of tales that asserted the earth was a flat disc in which the gods lived in the center, separated from the humans by a rainbow, the Bifrost bridge."

Tags:christianity, vikings, saxons, gods, druids

Abstract
This paper defines the term 'culture', then discusses the difficulty in defining various cultures. It shows that, when cultures cross, ambiguities occur, and this causes even more problematic definitions. It also looks at examples of instances where specific cultures do mix and what the consequences are.

From the Paper
"In our ever-expanding, modernizing world, it is inevitable that cultures will come into contact with each other (Schwartz). Actually, it is inevitable that almost every cultural group will come into contact with every other cultural group at one point. It is at this point when we witness "crossing cultures." Crossing cultures is the interaction of two distinct cultural groups, whether through working together, living together, or even just communicating with each other. The result, as we have studied in this class, is not always easy to predict. It is not always the case that people of different cultures will interact with ease. It is not always the case that they can live with each other without some type of conflict, or misunderstandings. Often, the beliefs held by two groups can contradict each other, and even more problematic, their ways of life can contradict also."

Tags:anthropology, cross