Western Culture
The Parthenon was built approximately 2500 years ago and dedicated as a temple to Athena, the Greek goddess. It was used by the Athenians first as a church, then as a mosque, before later becoming an archeological ruin (British Museum, n.d.). Its use as a gunpowder store during the 1687 Venetian reign in Athens caused its roof to be blown off, leaving the Parthenon a mere ruin, and destroying most of the sculptural decorations. Just as the nineteenth century was commencing, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which controlled Athens at the time, obtained permission from the Ottoman rulers to remove the surviving structures and transport them to Britain. They are, to this day, on the display in the British museum. The Greek government has, since the 1980s, fought to have the sculptures returned to Athens, a stand that has been supported by the EU, UNESCO,…...

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References

TED Case Studies. (n.d.). The Elgin Marbles. TED. Retrieved from  http://www1.american.edu/ted/monument.htm 

The British Museum. (n.d.). The Parthenon Sculptures. The British Museum. Retrieved from  http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/news_and_press/statements/parthenon_sculptures.aspx

Western Culture -- Archeology and Perspective (2 paragraphs/250-300 wds)
Imagine that you were Howard Carter. Consider the following questions in a two-paragraph essay. How would you feel as you stood before the sealed door, ready to open King Tut's tomb? What would you most want to discover and understand about the past? As you entered the room that had been sealed for over 3000 years, what would you be looking for? How would you begin trying to make sense of what you found?

As I stand before a door that has been sealed for 3,000 years, preparing to enter the place that was intended to be undisturbed for all eternity, I wonder whether the people who created this monument would consider me any different from the many grave robbers who looted treasures from places like this for monetary enrichment. I know that my purpose is intellectual, historical, and anthropological, but I wonder…...

Many have underlined the importance of the various techniques that he used, mixing painting with writing, collage and adding elements which apparently had nothing in common with the rest of the composition. I believe that the technique itself is extremely important for the construction of meaning. In asquiat's works, the meaning is to be found hiding behind various layers. Although the scenes are often realistic (familiar street imagery), the message is to be deciphered through an effort of the intellect. Everything has a why and the receiver of the message must decode it.

Andy Warhol, a representative of pop art is to be admired amongst other things for having managed to make people wonder what art really was. The Campbell's tomato soup painting showed what man had become. An industrial product orientated towards consumption. His is a rational and not emotional interpretation of humanity. One of his most famous works are…...

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Bibliography:

Grayling, A.C. "Meditations for the humanist: ethics for a secular age." Oxford University Press, 2005

Herrick, Jim. "Humanism, an introduction." Prometheus Books, 2005

Honour, Hugh. "Neo-classicism (style and civilization)." Penguin (neo-classics). 1991

"Rationalism vs. Empiricism," Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, retrieved April 24, 2009 from  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/

Western Culture Clash Creates oadblocks
Western Companies Imposing Western Culture

Western Culture Clash Creates oadblocks for Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris failed to incorporate French cultural norms and values into the development of the European Disney theme park. By analyzing French tourism behavior, bringing French executives into the decision-making process, and respecting the value provided by French investors, Disneyland Paris would have experienced more stable growth and greater local acceptance. The French people, known for their tremendous pride in culture, heritage, and traditions, do not embrace changes to their habits. French ethnocentrism, combined with a distaste for the forcefulness used by American companies to spread Westernized culture, left Disneyland Paris, formerly Euro Disney, facing an uphill battle to gain acceptance.

Disneyland Paris Situation Analysis

Intent upon building a superior park environment that demonstrated the exquisite quality of the Disney brand, corporate leaders spent capital in ways that appeared excessive to the more conservative French investors. Misunderstanding…...

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References

Schaefer, R.T. (2008). Sociology: A brief introduction (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Walker, A. (1995). Disneyland Paris nears stability. Hotel & Motel Management, 210(6), 4. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Wenhe, Y. (2009, November 1). The fretful Euro Disneyland. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 1(2), 87-92. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Due to religious prejudice, most of the non-stone Mayan materials were burned by the Spanish. The Mayan civilization did not leave a mathematical legacy to the est, it simply beat the process by hundreds of years. However, in the modern age, as scholars look more and more into the Mayan calculations, they are able to deduce astromical records prior to recorded estern observations, as well as some of the predictions for natural disasters, weather events, and even seasonal migrations. In a typical example of the misinterpretation of a non-estern culture's science, some have postulated that the Mayan caldendar actually predicts the end of the earth in 2012. Instead, what is more likely is that 2012 is the end of a 5,126-year cycle from the Mayan long-count calendar; there may well be atmospheric or celestial convergence, but for the Maya, it was equivalent to a spritual rebirth -- not literally the…...

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Works Cited

Adler and Pouwels. (2007). World Civilizations: to 1700. New York: Cenage.

Barclay, E. (January 15, 2009). "Mexico's Unconquered Maya Hold Tight to Their Old Ways." The National Geographic. Cited in:

 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/01/090114-unconquered-maya-missions.html 

Coe, M. (2005). The Maya. New York: Thames and Hudson.

The New Testament both influenced Western political philosophy and it influenced the geo-political landscape of the Western World. Greek political philosophy, which is related to New Testament political philosophy, has dominated the way that Americans perceive their governmental systems. The ways the Western justice systems work were in part based on New Testament thought in the same way that Christian morality influences public opinion of leaders and citizens. Christianity has also undoubtedly influenced the geo-political landscape in the Western world. For example, Christianity quickly became the adopted official religion of the European continent. The teachings of the New Testament became so important as to fuse matters of Church and state in the Holy Roman Empire. Similarly, disputes over New Testament theology and metaphysics led to two of the most decisive incidents in the history of the world: the schism between the eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, and the…...

When concerning the media present in India one might observe that the western world has deeply influenced it. The Indian movie making business is entitled Bollywood, in reference to the American Hollywood. Not only have the Indians named their movie industry Bollywood, but they have also incorporated several western cliches into their movies, so as for them to depict aspects from the western culture.

Not only do foreigners express their appreciation for Indian films, as they are also known to come to India to practice Buddhism or yoga. A great percentage of the Indians leaving their home country in favor of a better developed country are technological talents. The most feasible reason for their departure is that they cannot properly exploit their aptitudes in India. Apparently, globalization has made it possible for them to be properly rewarded for the abilities that they have.

Factors such as people wearing tight clothes and considering…...

The similarities between the two perspectives - the Vedic and the Transcendentalist ones - start with the stress over the virtues of intuition when it comes to both social and spiritual knowledge. Truth must agree to an individual intuitive notion of truth, seem to say the Transcendentalists, and part of this truth can be found within nature. Maintaining a Christian approach (which means that the doubts they were expressing were connected rather to the teachings of the church than to the words of the Gospel), they held that religious knowledge is also a matter of intuitive abilities, rather than of rituals and practices. Later on, they started to question some aspects of the Bible, meaning the miracles described there, as being uncertainly of divine nature, but possible signs of pious mythology.

The concept of original sin was contradicted by the transcendentalist authors, who believed in the innate goodness of man and…...

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Reference List www.emersoncentral.comThe Transcendentalist, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a Lecture read at the Masonic Temple, Boston, January, 1842, Retrieved March 10, 2007 at  http://www.emersoncentral.com/transcendentalist.htm 

Transcendentalism. (n.d.). The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from Answers.com Web site:  http://www.answers.com/topic/transcendentalism 

Hodder, Allan D - "Ex Oriente Lux": Thoreau's Ecstasies and the Hindu texts, Harvard Theological Review, 86 (4), 1992, pp. 403-438

Hutchinson, William R. - the Transcendentalists as Church Reformers: Conflict and Experimentation in American Unitarianism, 1836-1853, Yale University, 1956

Harmony
Why did harmony develop almost exclusively in western culture and not in tribal or Asian cultures?

Harmony is a unique concept depending primarily on the geographic region of origination. The concept of harmony however predates to early biblical times with a particular emphasis on collaboration. The term harmony originates from the Greek work "harmonia," which refers to the concept of a joint agreement, collaboration of joining together. Modern, tonal harmony as society is familiar with, originated in western civilization in roughly 1600. It most common place began with music as a means to use simultaneous pitches (Nettles, 1997). The concept of harmony however, expands to societal norms and uses including the use of collaboration to solve complex problems.

The concept of harmony developed exclusively in western culture for numerous reasons. Harmony in societal terms is needed to help provide a quality and meaningful way of life. This has occurred in both western…...

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References:

1) Dahlhaus, Carl. Gjerdingen, Robert O. trans. (1990). Studies in the Origin of Harmonic Tonality, p. 141. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09135-8.

2) Erhardt III, Erwin. "History of Economic Development." University of Cincinnati. Lindner Center Auditorium, Cincinnati. 7 November 2008.

3) Friedman, Milton. "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits." The New York Times Magazine 13 September 1970

4) Nettles, Barrie & Graf, Richard (1997). The Chord Scale Theory and Jazz Harmony. Advance Music, ISBN 3-89221-056-X

According to Confucianism, on the other hand, the desire to help others in need can and should arise naturally. The desire to help others therefore becomes a pleasurable activity, not a chore.
Part of the reason for the difference in approach to duty and goodness among these different societies is that Christian mythology is based on martyrdom. Jesus Christ died; he made the ultimate sacrifice of his life in order to help other people. Because Confucian society is based more on personal responsibility for moral action rather than on faith, it makes sense that for the Confucian, good deeds come from within, not from external motivation. Christians are often motivated by a fear of God or of retribution; they are taught that they will "go to Hell" if they do this or don't do that. Confucians, who are not taught this concept of morality, view goodness as something positive to…...

Josiah Restores the Ancient Customs
The Bible contains two different accounts of King Josiah's reforms. These are found in 2 Kings 22-23, and 2 Chronicles 34-35. The two versions are on the whole similar, at least in the beginning, however, Chronicles adds an additional story that is only alluded to in the earlier account, and which is not described in detail. The basic intent of both tales is to hold up the actions of Josiah as worthy of praise. He is depicted as a great reformer, a king who restored the true traditions of Israel, and who faithfully followed the precepts of God ... once he had learned about them. It is clearly implied that, in some sense, Josiah will be punished for his having been brought up incorrectly, in a state of sin as it were, but at the same time, he will be rewarded for having rediscovered the commandments…...

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Works Cited

Al-Braizat, Fares. "Muslims and Democracy: An Empirical Critique of Fukuyama's Culturalist Approach." International Journal of Comparative Sociology (2002): 269+.

Bendle, Mervyn E. "Trajectories of Anti-Globalism." Journal of Sociology 38.3 (2002): 213+.

Cohn, Marjorie. "Understanding, Responding to and Preventing Terrorism." Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ) (2002): 25+.

Fore, Matthew L. "Shall Weigh Your God and You: Assessing the Imperialistic Implications of the International Religious Freedom Act in Muslim Countries." Duke Law Journal 52.2 (2002): 423+.

Asian, African and other non-white cultures were to be subjected to military, governmental, economic and missionary domination in order to help raise the world's positive reflection of the implied benefits of Western Civilization.
The absence of truly formal correlation between Western Culture and any one culture has become more apparent in the last century especially. During the Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, the idea of West vs. East became inextricably linked to a new conception of nation-building. Here, imperialist models were adapted which saw the two forms of government and lifestyle (i.e. capitalism and communism) engage in an effort at global domination of ideology and economic framework. The premise which drove forward the United States and its allies was this adopted notion of Western Civilization as reflecting modernity, moral progressivism and an inherent dispensation of Enlightenment principles.

Naturally, as memory of such Cold War struggles…...

Western Religion
In his book, "Western Ways of eing Religious," (Kessler, 1999) the author Gary E. Kessler identifies the theological, philosophical and societal ramifications of the evolution of religion in the West. Christianity, Judaism and Islam can be traced to a single origin but their divergence has been very marked. Kessler sets his thesis very early in the book. He avers that there are two approaches to religion. One is to be immersed in it -- as a practitioner; the other is to study it as an objective observer, looking in from the outside. This work is unique. The author challenges the traditional notions with his own opinions then follows it with the views of an expert on that notion (in the form of a speech or an essay). He avers that a student of religion has to approach the topic with honesty and openness. This often involves imagining the other's…...

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Bibliography

Kessler, Gary E. Western Ways of Being Religious. Mountain View, Calif.: Mayfield Pub., 1999.pp.

Edwards, Rem Blanchard. Reason and Religion; an Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. New York,: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972.pp. 386

Paden, William E. Religious Worlds: The Comparative Study of Religion. Boston: Beacon Press, 1988.pp. 192

Proudfoot, Wayne. Religious Experience. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.pp. 263

Western Humanities
The Prevalence of Homosexuality in Ancient Greek Society and Mythology

In any study of Western Culture, there are certain elements which must be addressed to fully understand the development of said culture over time. Among the early cultures that have had a significant impact on this development is that of Ancient Greece. Western philosophy, science, and art are all infused with ideas and innovations which began in Greek culture. In the world of architecture, for example, the Greeks revolutionized the use of cement and arches, bringing about a new era in building design. Scientifically, the contributions of such great men as Archamedes and Pythagorus are used as the basis for much of our modern mathematics and technology. Great thinkers of the day such as Plato and Socrates are considered to be among the greatest philosophers of all time, and they are used as a reference point for many of the…...

In rare cases, mothers taught their daughters reading and writing. At 15, girls were expected to marry men their fathers chose for them. Interestingly, this was only the fate of wealthier girls. Peasant girls chose their own husbands when working in the fields (Fisher and Harlan).
Japan

According to Tomoko Shimoda, the traditional Japanese family is regarded as very important, also with specific roles for women, men and children. Although Western influence has standardized education and emancipated women, they are still generally regarded as mostly active and highly important in the household. Women maintain the family finances and care for the children, while the role of men is to be engaged in work, which mostly constituted the family business. Both girls and boys are educated, although boys are steered towards taking over the family business while girls are taught housekeeping and accounting skills. In the past, marriages were generally arranged, like…...

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References

Crystal, Ellie. Ancient Greek Education.  http://www.crystalinks.com/greekeducation.html 

Fisher, Grant and Harlan, Cheri Beth. The Roles of Men, Women and Children in Ancient Greece. http://chalk.richmond.edu/education/projects/webunits/greecerome/Greeceroles1.html

Shimoda, Tomoko. Representations of Parenting and Gender Roles in the Shoshika Era: Comparisons of Japanese and English-Language Parenting Magazines. Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies. 14 Jan 2008.  http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/articles/2008/Shimoda.html

Nonverbal Communication: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Nonverbal communication, often referred to as body language, is a form of expression that conveys messages without the use of words. It includes gestures, facial expressions, posture, and eye contact. Nonverbal communication plays a vital role in human interaction, conveying emotions, attitudes, and intentions. However, its significance and interpretation can vary widely across different cultures. This essay delves into the intricacies of nonverbal communication in various cultures, exploring how cultural factors influence the way people communicate nonverbally and the implications for cross-cultural communication.

1. Greetings:
Greetings set the tone for any interaction and often involve nonverbal cues.....

Outline for an Essay on Expat Dads in Korea

I. Introduction
A. Hook: Begin with a compelling anecdote or statistic highlighting the unique experiences of expat dads in Korea.
B. Thesis statement: Briefly state the central argument or claim of the essay, such as "Expat dads in Korea face distinct challenges and rewards that shape their experiences as fathers and cultural outsiders."

II. Body Paragraph 1: Challenges of Being an Expat Dad
A. Lack of social support: Discuss the isolation and disconnect that expat dads may feel due to being far from their extended family and support systems.
B. Cultural differences: Explore....

Emotional Development: A Comprehensive Examination

Introduction:
Emotional development, the gradual acquisition of the ability to express and regulate emotions, is a crucial aspect of human growth and well-being. This essay aims to explore the multifaceted nature of emotional development, examining the research, theories, and historical perspectives that have shaped our understanding of this complex process.

Research-Based Perspective:
Contemporary research has provided significant insights into the mechanisms underlying emotional development. Studies in neurobiology have identified specific brain regions and pathways involved in emotional processing, such as the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. Cognitive theories have emphasized the role of cognitive appraisals, beliefs, and expectations in....

Historical Perspectives:

The Evolution of Gender Roles Throughout History: Examining the Shifting Expectations and Norms
Gender Roles in Ancient Civilizations: A Comparative Analysis of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece
The Impact of Industrialization on Gender Roles: The Rise of the Patriarchal Family and the Marginalization of Women

Theoretical Approaches:

Feminist Perspectives on Gender Roles: Analyzing Power Dynamics, Oppression, and the Construction of Masculinity and Femininity
Gender Performativity and Judith Butler: The Subversive and Fluid Nature of Gender Categories
The Social Construction of Gender: How Society Shapes and Reinforces Gender Norms

Social and Psychological Implications:

The Psychological Effects of Gender Stereotypes: Examining the Impact....