Understanding the religious behaviour of Muslims in the Netherlands and the UK

The position of Muslims in Western societies is the subject of intense study and debate. However, remarkably little attention has been paid to the practice of European Muslims and how Muslim religiosity relates to conventional measures of social and economic integration. In this paper we draw on theories of secularization, assimilation, revitalization and integration to explore the correlates of attendance at religious meetings for Muslims of different backgrounds in the Netherlands and the UK. We conclude that patterns of religiosity and secularisation cannot be generalised across national contexts.

Parents, television and cultural change

This paper develops a model of cultural transmission where television plays a central role for socialization. Parents split their free time between educating their children which is costly and watching TV which though entertaining might socialize the children to the wrong trait. The free to air television industry maximizes advertisement revenue. We show that TV watching is increasing in cultural coverage, cost of education, TV's entertainment value and decreasing in the perceived cultural distance between the two traits. A monopolistic television industry captures all TV watching by both groups if the perceived cultural distance between groups is small relative to the TV's entertainment value. Otherwise, more coverage will be given to the most profitable group where profitability increases in group size, advertisement sensitivity and perceived cultural distance. This leads to two possible steady states where one group is larger but both groups survive in the long run. Competition in the media industry might lead to cultural extinction but only if one group is very insensitive to advertisement and not radical enough not to watch TV. We briefly discuss the existing evidence for the empirical predictions of the model.

Antecedentes y valoración del patrimonio cultural del Perú

El presente trabajo, pretende realizar un recuento histórico y una valoración de todo lo acontecido en la senda que ha recorrido a través del tiempo, desde las primeras concepciones el Patrimonio en el Perú hasta nuestros días, y a través de ese recorrido intenta hacer una valoración de los diferentes campos que tiene el Patrimonio Cultural del Perú, procurando visualizar sus avances y dificultades que presenta y analizar las causas que lo aquejan

Cultural relativism in the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council

This Working Paper aims to offer an up-to-date list of cultural relativist players and arguments with respect to human rights, constituted by China, Viet Nam, Myanmar, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Malaysia and Cuba. This working paper argues that Indonesia, Iraq, Colombia and Mexico are not in the same cultural relativist group of states maintained by renowned scholars, notably Cristina Cerna and Dianne Otto. As such, apart from this form of cultural relativism based on the respect for the self-determination of indigenous peoples and communities, this working paper exposes two different categories of radical cultural relativism based on revolutionary discourse and/or radical Islamism, as well as targets the credibility on the latter two based on the information facilitated by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

Escola i diversitat lingüística i cultural: desafiaments i oportunitats. El paper d'un Servei Educatiu de Zona com a agent d'innovació i canvi

Davant dels nous reptes educatius que planteja l’augment de la diversitat lingüística i cultural al conjunt del Sistema Educatiu Català, el present treball descriu els resultats i experiències obtinguts en les tres primeres fases d’un projecte de recerca centrat en la identificació d’indicadors vàlids que permetin dissenyar i implementar estratègies educatives inclusives adequades per atendre la diversitat lingüística i cultural present als nostres centres. La part central de la memòria descriu les primeres dades d’un estudi quantitatiu , realitzat en diferents moments del període d’escolarització (Pàrvuls 5 anys , segon i sisè de Primària i segon d’ESO) a quatre centres públics de Vilafranca del Penedès a finals del curs 2009-2010 , sobre el coneixement de català i de castellà i les possibles influències que en aquest hi juguen els factors de diversitat lingüística i cultural. El segon bloc d’aquest projecte presenta un seguit d’experiències i propostes d’assessorament centrades en el procés de sensibilització inicial sobre les implicacions educatives a nivell d’aula i de centre de la diversitat lingüística i cultural. També es presenta, com a annex final, un recull dels principals materials emprats en aquest procés d’intervenció en centre. A la part final del treball, s’hi desenvolupa una reflexió sobre les condicions que poden afavorir la implementació d’aquestes estratègies a nivell de centre i de sistema educatiu; i sobre el paper que , en aquests processos de canvi i millora educativa , hi podrien jugar els Serveis Educatius de Zona del Departament d’Ensenyament de la Generalitat de Catalunya.

The ethnography of study abroad: what is study abroad as a cultural event?

Recent research in the field of study abroad shows that study abroad participation among all U.S. students increased 20% since 2001 and nearly 200,000 U.S. students currently go abroad each year. Additionally, about 8% of all undergraduate degree recipients receive part of their education abroad. Although quantitative studies have dominated research on study abroad, my research project calls for a qualitative approach since the goal is to understand what study abroad is as a cultural event, what authentic cultural immersion is, how program stakeholders understand and perceive cultural immersion, and how cultural immersion in programs can be improved. Following the tradition of ethnographic and case study approaches in study abroad research, my study also pivots on ethnography. As an ethnographer I collected data mainly through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. The study abroad participants were a group of undergraduate native speakers of English studying Spanish for seven weeks in Cádiz, a small costal city in southern Spain, as well as program coordinators, host community members, and professors. I also examined the specific program design features, particularly the in-class and out-of-class activities that students participated in. The goal was to understand if these features were conducive to authentic immersion in the language and culture. Eventually, I elaborated an ethnographic evaluation of the study abroad program and its design features suggesting improvements in order to enhance the significance and value of study abroad as a cultural event. Among other things, I discussed the difficulties that students had at the beginning of their sojourn to understand local people, get used to their host families’ small apartments, get adjusted to new schedules and eating habits, and venture out from the main group to individually explore the new social and cultural fabric and interact with the host community. The program evaluation revealed the need for carefully-designed pre-departure preparation sessions, pre-departure credit-bearing courses in intercultural communication, and additional language practice abroad and opportunities to come in contact with the local community through internships, volunteer or field work. My study gives an important contribution in study abroad research and education. It benefits students, teachers, and study abroad directors and coordinators in suggesting ideas on how to improve the program and optimize the students’ cultural experiences abroad. This study is also important because it investigated how US undergraduate learners studying the Spanish language and culture approach and perceive the study abroad experience in Spain.

Quantitative analysis of image factors in a cultural heritage tourist destination

The tourism consumer’s purchase decision process is, to a great extent, conditioned by the image the tourist has of the different destinations that make up his or her choice set. In a highly competitive international tourist market, those responsible for destinations’ promotion and development policies seek differentiation strategies so that they may position the destinations in the most suitable market segments for their product in order to improve their attractiveness to visitors and increase or consolidate the economic benefits that tourism activity generates in their territory. To this end, the main objective we set ourselves in this paper is the empirical analysis of the factors that determine the image formation of Tarragona city as a cultural heritage destination. Without a doubt, UNESCO’s declaration of Tarragona’s artistic and monumental legacies as World Heritage site in the year 2000 meant important international recognition of the quality of the cultural and patrimonial elements offered by the city to the visitors who choose it as a tourist destination. It also represents a strategic opportunity to boost the city’s promotion of tourism and its consolidation as a unique destination given its cultural and patrimonial characteristics. Our work is based on the use of structured and unstructured techniques to identify the factors that determine Tarragona’s tourist destination image and that have a decisive influence on visitors’ process of choice of destination. In addition to being able to ascertain Tarragona’s global tourist image, we consider that the heterogeneity of its visitors requires a more detailed study that enables us to segment visitor typology. We consider that the information provided by these results may prove of great interest to those responsible for local tourism policy, both when designing products and when promoting the destination.

efundació.org : projecte d'organització, difusió i promoció de les activitats d'una fundació cultural d'abast comarcal a través de l'aplicació de les TIC

Aquest projecte parteix de la hipòtesi inicial que és possible tipificar un model d'organització, difusió i promoció de les activitats culturals, específic per a les fundacions i de possible generalització a altres entitats del sector, amb l'objectiu d'afavorir la creació d'un sistema de comunicació estructurat que faciliti aquesta tasca per mitjà de l'aplicació de les TIC.