An Ontological Essay from the Perspective of Tanabe Hajime’s Metanoetics Essay Example

An Ontological Essay from the Perspective of Tanabe Hajime’s Metanoetics Essay Example An Ontological Essay from the Perspective of Tanabe Hajime’s Metanoetics Essay An Ontological Essay from the Perspective of Tanabe Hajime’s Metanoetics Essay An Ontological Essay from the Perspective ofTanabe Hajime’s Metanoetics Abstraction:As we follow the manner of metanoetics, or philosophical manner of penitence, emptiness will come up as the true topographic point of the political and religious. We Begin from the cardinal inquiriesWhat is being? What am I? What is the sense and intent of my being? What is my relationship with everything else that is?In seeking to reply these inquiries we found that the ontological, religious and political coexist in emptiness, attesting themselves as the conditions of the true human manner of being: in an interconnection with all comparative egos. Introduction: On emptiness and the ontological skyline. Long has passed since doctrine stopped being a echt concern about how to live in the rational sense, every bit good as the moral and the simply matter-of-fact. What will here be set Forth is non a method or a philosophy, non even a system foreign to the West, for the development of metanoetics as a doctrine must be lived- rather than understood1. For that, one must non merely read the corresponding literature, as could be the instance of this research paper, but must put itself up face to face with the bounds of our being in the universe, i.e. , our human status. a. The philosophical significance of A†ºA «nyatA? . That which determines us as human existences is beyond anything that might exceed cultural, cultural, spiritual or sexual barriers. By this we mean that we are looking for a status that does non imply a first individual. A theory of the human passions, for illustration, requires the passions themselves- universal as they may be- to be attached to aegothat identifies them as such, that holds them throughout clip, and organizes them spatiotemporally. This manner, they conform an individuality that lasts and ever holds a protagonist portion. This individuality is calledegoand is itself a substance. Theegoas a substance is understood as â€Å"a manner of being harmonizing to which an entity preserves itself 1 Tanabe Hajime tells us in the foreword toDoctrine as Metanoetics,aˆâ€ ¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ e?â€Å"aa?-a? ¦a? ®aâ€Å"?a ­Ã‚ ¦aˆ? (ZangedA? to shite no tetsugaku) , published in 1945, that he found himself in a moral and philosophical quandary: on one manus, as a philosopher, wise man and moral mention to his pupils, he should knock the patriot and imperial political stance of 2nd universe war Japan: a political stance that was taking 100s of Nipponese citizens to their decease for the incorrect ideals. On the other manus, as a good citizen of the Nipponese Empire, he did non with to disgrace his state fueling the sezession motions that would split a state in a clip of crisis. Therefore, faced with such impotence and weakness to get the better of the moral demands of such fortunes, he resigned to his chair in doctrine and fled to the mountains to reflect on his powerlessness. From this experience arisesmetanoeticsas a doctrine.Vid. Hajime Tanabe, Doctrine as Metanoetics, erectile dysfunction. James W. Heisig, trans. Takeuchi Yoshinori, James W. Heisig, and Valdo Viglielmo,Nazan Studies in Religion and Culture( Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986 ) . pp. xlix-lxii self-identically† 2. We look for something that does non mention to one or another peculiar human being, non even to the topic in general as a nonnatural structure3, but instead to a human manner of being â€Å" that does non acknowledge grasping by the ego†4. Buddhist idea has called this manner of being, which transcends subjectiveness as a substance,emptiness(A†ºA «nyatA?, in Sanskrit, c ©? (kA «) in Nipponese ) 5. We must first understand whatA†ºA «nyatA?agencies. Nishitani Keiji tells us: â€Å"Emptiness in the sense of A†ºA «nyatA?is emptiness merely when it empties itself even of the point of view that represents it as some â€Å"thing† that is emptiness†6. Therefore, because of this, merely on the point of view of emptiness can we â€Å" become manifest in our ainsuchness7 as concrete human existences, as persons with both organic structure and personality. And at the same clip, it is the point at which everything around us becomes manifest in its ainsuchness†8 If emptiness is man’s and everything else’ssuchness, and is besides, â€Å"in Buddhism â€Å"non-ego† [ c„‘ (muga) ] †9 we could reason that man’s true nature does non come to be from the point of view of subjectiveness as we understand it now, but possibly from the point of view of a non-subjective subjectiveness in the sense that Nishitani speaks of a personal impersonality10 ; or in the sense in which Masao Abe says that the â€Å"unachievable itself is the true Self†.11 2 Keiji Nishitani,Religion and Nothingness, trans. Jan Van Bragt,Nazan Studies in Religion and Culture ( Berkeley: University Of California Press, 1983 ) . p. 112 3 â€Å"The propositionI think[ †¦ ] contains the signifier of any of understanding’s judgements as such and accompanies all classs as their vehicle. Immanuel Kant,Critique of Pure Reason, trans. Werner S. Pluhar ( Indianapolis: Hackett, 1996 ) . (KrV) p. 387, A 348 of the academy edition. 4 Nishitani,Religion and Nothingness. p. 107. 5 It is of import to maintain in head that c ©? (kA «) , emptiness, is non the same as c„? (mu) , nothingness. The 2nd term, harmonizing to Van Bragt’s glossary, refers to the western void of Heidegger and Sartre (Nichts, neant) as a comparative void. Merely when we speak of absolute nothingness c µÃ‚ ¶ac„? (zettai mu) , can we place nothingness and emptiness. Tanabe uses the term ‘absolute nothingness’ while Nishitani utilizations ‘emptiness’ . Our rubric retains the Sanskrit for aesthetic grounds. Harmonizing to our statement, absolute void and emptiness refer to the same vacuity.Vid.The glossary entries â€Å"Emptiness [ c ©?kA «] † and â€Å"Nothingness [ c„?mu] † in the glossaries ofibid. pp. 296 y 300 severally, and James W. Heisig, Thomas P. Kasulis, and John C. Maraldo, eds. ,Nipponese Doctrine: A Sourcebook,Nanzan Library of Asiatic Reilgion and Culture( Capital of hawaii: University of Hawaii, 2011 ) . pp. 1252 and 1259, severally every bit good as â€Å"absolute nothingness† p. 1249. 6 Nishitani,Religion and Nothingness. p. 96. The topic, allow us remember Kant, can merely stand for itself objects through the purea prioriintuitions of clip and infinite. ( Kant,Krv. B73 ) it can non stand for to itself anything that is non itself in a clip and infinite. The topic could merely stand for emptiness as a â€Å"thing† . For Kant, emptiness can non be represented, for this would intend that we could hold the representation of pure intuition of infinite as such. 7 The term suchness in Nipponese is a ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å¡a ®Y (nyojitsu) . a ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ (nyo) , which means â€Å"like† , â€Å"such† , â€Å"thus† and a ®Y (jitsu) , which means â€Å"truth† .Vid.Nishitani,Religion and Nothingness. p. 304 â€Å"Suchness† 8 Ibid. p. 90 ( Italics ours ) 9Ibid. pp. 33 and 300. 10 Nishitani explains that he is non â€Å"Using the term â€Å"impersonal, † in its ordinary sense, as the opposite word of personal† but that it refers to something elemental, more basic than the â€Å"personal† [ †¦/†¦ ] A quality is implied here oftranspersonality, orimpersonality.† Subsequently he says, â€Å"The non-differentiating love that makes the Sun rise on the immorality every bit good as the good, on the enemy every bit good as the ally, contains, as we said, the quality of non-ego. [ †¦ ] The Sun in the sky makes no picks approximately where to reflect its beams [ †¦ ] There is no selfishness in its polishing. This deficiency of selfishness is what is meant by non-ego, oremptiness(A†ºA «nyatA?) †ibid. pp. 40, 59-60. 11 Masao Abe,Zen and Western Thought( Capital of hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 1985 ) . p. 12 Nishitani does non touch accidentally to a locative position when he says â€Å"the point of view ofA†ºA «nyatA?† . Emptiness must non be understood as a ‘thing’ , but as a topographic point a †°Ã‹â€  (basho) .12 Heisig explains what Nishida understands asbashoas follows: â€Å"The topographic pointof this logic refers every bit much to where one is coming from as to where one is traveling. It is non a affair merely of bodily location† . 13 This suggests that adult male, on one manus ‘comes’ from atopographic pointdifferent to this concentric point of view, to which it wishes to return, and, on the other, it is bound to this ‘standpoint of subjectivity’ . The inability to dwell in thetopographic pointof emptiness, the non being able to travel back to our home-ground14, to our naturalness (jinen hA?nen) 15, because of self-attachment ; the ultimate inability to exceed our ainego,is our human status. B. The ontological skyline Thetopographic pointof emptiness is a topographic point where theegois continuously displaced. The inability to brood in thetopographic pointof emptiness belongs to anontological skylinethat ever determines our experience. The skyline is perceived as being in the far distance by the egoistic subjectiveness due to the fact that it is foreign to its point of view. In the metaphysical tradition, that which illuminates the skyline, that presence, has been called being,and the darkness that limits this visible radiation, that stands â€Å"behind† the line of the skyline has been calledvoid. However, the visible radiation that vanishes behind the skyline does non disappear ; it becomes morning behind the skyline. Our human status entails non being able to see the entirety of being or being â€Å"as a whole† 16 and therefore remain standing ashore looking to that skyline and separating objects in the darkness of void. First, the universe appears under the strategy of representation, that is, as objects set up in a clip and infinite ; objects that are already at that place in a universe governed by the rule of sufficient ground.Self-naturepushes theegoto indulge in existences themselves17. Returning to theKernel of TruthHeidegger provinces: â€Å"Precisely in the grading and planning of this 12Vid.entry â€Å"topographic point(basho) † in the glossary of Heisig, Kasulis, and Maraldo, eds. ,Nipponese Doctrine: A Sourcebook. p. 1260. 13 James W. Heisig, The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School, inThe Religious Philosophy of Hajime Tanabe. The Metanoetic Imperative, erectile dysfunction. James Heisig and Taitetsu Unno,Nazan Studies in Religion and Culture( Fremont, CA: Asiatic Humanities Press, 1990 ) .p. 29. 14 a‚‚a (moto) in Nipponese.Vid.the glossary entry for â€Å"Ground† in Nishitani,Religion and Nothingness. pp. 297-8. 15 â€Å"Literally being what one is oneself in virtuousness of the Dharma that makes things to be what they are† Tanabe,Doctrine as Metanoetics. p. 299 n. 2 This term besides relates to the impression of  ¬c„?a?ˆc†°Ã‚ © ihonrai-muichimotsu) which means that things have nil by nature, that is, nil if qualities are merely given by the thought transcendental topic, for without the topic there are no qualities. Then adult male should non hold anything by nature, when idea of apart of its nonnatural representative topic strategy. 16 This impression besides appears in Martin Heidegger, On the Essence of Truth, inBasic Hagiographas, erectile dysfunction. David Farrell Krell ( New York: Harper Perennial Modern Thought, 2008 ) . â€Å"However, from the point of position of mundane computations and preoccupations this â€Å"as a whole† appears to be incalculable and inexplicable. It can non be understood on the footing of the existences opened up in any given instance [ †¦ ] † P. 129. 17 We take this penetration chiefly from Martin Heidegger, What Is Metaphysics? , inBasic Hagiographas, erectile dysfunction. David Farrell Krell ( New York: Harper Perennial Modern Thought, 2008 ) . pp. 94-5. omniscience, this mere knowing, the openedness of being gets flattened out into the evident void into what is no longer even a affair of indifference, but is simply forgotten.†18. Our inquiries go beyond the existences themselves, beyond representation. Merely as Heidegger inWas ist Metaphysik?we wonder for an original19 void, which we have called absolute void or emptiness. We shall endeavour to clear up that in the following subdivision. II. The Topographic point of Nothingness Harmonizing toWhat is Metaphysicss?In scientific oppugning â€Å"The relation to the universe that pervades all the scientific disciplines as such Lashkar-e-Taibas them- each harmonizing to its peculiar content and manner of being- seek existences in themselves in order to do them objects of probe and to find their grounds.†20 â€Å"Science- says Heidegger subsequently on- wants to cognize nil of the nothing.†21 Nishitani, nevertheless, says the followers: â€Å"Nothingness† is by and large forced into a relationship with â€Å"being† and made to function as its negation, taking to its construct as something that â€Å"is† nil because it â€Å"is not† being. This seems to be particularly apparent in Western idea, even in the â€Å"nihility of nihilism.†22 Let us be clear so: harmonizing to this position, void is merely something in resistance to being. That is, it is a complement to the binary compound being/nothingness. Nothingness is â€Å"nonbeing pure and simple†23, or â€Å"The complete negation of the entirety of being† 24 of which scientific discipline wants to cognize nil about, because it merely cares about being, which begs Heidegger to inquire the inquiry â€Å"But when we give up the nil in such a manner, do we non profess it? †25 In this essay, the nil or nothingness appears as a force that breaks the composure and the sense of being ; as an â€Å"indeterminateness of that in the face of which and for which we become dying [ it ] is no mere deficiency of finding, but instead the indispensable impossibleness of finding it†26. In nothingness â€Å"All things and we ourselves sink into indifference. [ †¦ ] The fadeout of existences as a whole that closes in on us in anxiousness oppresses us. We can acquire no clasp on things.

Black Boy Essays (1138 words) - Discrimination, Hatred, Racism

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Understanding The Concept Of Depression Sociology Essay

Understanding The Concept Of Depression Sociology Essay A comparison of the social constructs of emotion in Asian and Western cultures shows that Asians are more prone to experience depression and suicidal behaviors than are Westerners. Studies highlighting the cultural similarities and differences in display rules, the emotion regulation norms, and the physical and emotional expression of depression in these two cultures are cited to support this claim. The Basic Emotion, Component, Appraisal, and Neo-Jamesian theories show that only elements from each provide a complete explanation of why Asians are predisposed to depression because of culture. The Social Constructionist Theory offers a thorough explanation of this phenomenon. The problems and possible remedies facing Asian cultures and the heightened risk of depression among its members are also addressed. Culture and the Understanding of the Concept of Depression Through numerous studies on cultural relativism and cultural categorization of emotion, emotion is shown to be, to a degree, contingent on cultural factors such as display rules, social roles, and culturally determined appraisals. The interpretation of depression eliciting stimuli and situations and expression of depression, in particular, is also influenced by these cultural factors. Furthermore, the social constructionist view of depression makes it possible to compare the concept of depression in Western and Asian cultures. The contrast between the relatively individualistic nature of Western cultures and the collective nature of Asian cultures, and their associated norms for emotion regulation, may offer differing perspectives of depression and therefore help form a cultural observation of depression within the two cultures. The cultural display rules, socially learned performances, and emotion regulation norms that guide the interpretation of and behavioral responses to depressi on in these cultures reveal that Asians are more prone to depression and suicidal behaviors than are Westerners. Cultural differences between Western and Asian cultures in individualism-collectivism (I-C), a dimension of cultural variability, show a strong possibility that Asians are predisposed to more negative emotions than are Westerners. Individualistic cultures, most of which are Western, promote individual needs, wishes, desires, and values over group and collective ones (Matsumoto, 1990). Consequently, hierarchical differences in status or power are minimized while equality is emphasized (Matsumoto, 1990). In contrast, collective cultures, many of which are Asian, promote the opposite; they stress the needs of a group, individuals identify themselves as members of a group, and ones social role is defined by an entrenched system of hierarchical differences and vertical relationships (Matsumoto, 1990). The I-C difference is also related to the social distinction between ingroups and outgroups (Matsumoto, 190). Members of individualistic cultures tend to display more negative emotions to in group members and more positive emotions to outgroup members. Conversely, members of collective cultures tend to display more positive emotions to members of ingroups and more negative emotions to those of outgroups (Matsumoto, 1990). These display rules should predispose Asians to more negative emotions, which may result in depression, at least in the social interactions with outgroups. Power distance, another dimension of cultural variability, which refers to cultural differences in status and power, is positively correlated to cultures that are more individualistic and negatively correlated to those that are more collective. This dimension may already show that Asian cultures foster more opportunities for the occurrence or passive harboring of negative emotions, while Western cultures seem to dissipate many of these potential risks. The importance of equality and the needs of the individual in Western cultures may make it less likely for people to experience depression on a large, societal scale. On the other hand, the vertical relationships encapsulated in collective cultures may make it more likely for people to acknowledge their differences from one another and any perceived inadequacies with those higher in power and status may contribute to the occurrence of depression. A Japanese-American comparison study by Matsumoto (1990) explored the relationship between I-C and PD cultures and the display rules of the members of those cultures. The study was conducted in two sessions; the first measured display rules through the subjects judgment of the appropriateness of displaying emotions in different situations, and the second measured how they judged the intensity of the same emotions. The results of the experiment supported the views that Japanese display rules made it appropriate to show negative emotions to outgroups and lower-status others while American display rules allowed people to express negative emotions more openly in ingroups (Matsumoto, 1990). In addition, Americans rated happiness in public and to outgroups as more appropriate than did Japanese. The Japanese display rules, indicative to some degree of Asian cultural display rules at large, show that in order to foster ingroup harmony and maintain the hierarchical differences in power and st atus, people find negative emotions to be appropriate when interacting with outgroups and lower-status others but not with ingroups and higher-status others. These display rules may reveal that Asian cultures are less tolerant than Western cultures of negative emotions in ingroups, which discourages them to express and share their negative emotions with their ingroups. A further finding from Matsumotos study suggests that although Asians may be more likely to express negative emotions to outgroups, they mask their negative feelings in the presence of others (Matsumoto, 1990). Overall, Asian cultures seem to discourage any expression of negative emotions whether with ingroups, outgroups, or those of different status. Emotion regulation norms for Asian and Western cultures also demonstrate a greater likelihood for depression among Asians than among Westerners. Since emotion regulation refers to the ability to manage and modify ones emotional reactions in order to achieve a desirable outcome, it reflects the different ways that culture tries to achieve social order (Matsumoto, Yoo, Nakagawa, 2005). Two aspects of emotion regulation, reappraisal-the way individuals appraise an emotion-eliciting situation to change its impact on the emotion-and suppression-the inhibition of emotional expressive behavior-can be used to compare Asian and Western cultures. Individualistic cultures are associated with more reappraisal and less suppression because these cultures value emotions and free expression more than collective cultures, which are associated with less reappraisal and more suppression in order to maintain ingroup cohesion and harmony (Matsumoto et al., 2005). Studies have linked emotion regulation t o different types of adjustment. Individuals high in reappraisal and low in suppression experienced more positive and less negative emotions, were more open in sharing their emotions with others, had better social support, were less depressed, and reported higher self-esteem, optimism, and life satisfaction; in essence, reappraisal has been associated with positive outcomes and suppression with negative emotions (Matsumoto et al., 2005). These conclusions can also be applied to individuals from Asian and Western cultures at large-Asians may feel more negative emotions, have less social support, and be more depressed than Westerners. Although suppression has been associated with negative consequences on the individual level, a study by Matsumoto et al. (2005) shows that it may have positive consequences on the social level. Suppression may play an important cultural function in organizing and maintaining cultural systems and groups. Thus, the social order is preserved at the expense of the emotional well-being of the individual. Part of their study, which held data about country-level emotion regulation, reveals that emotion regulation is positively correlated with both positive and negative indices of adjustment (Matsumoto et al., 2005). In other words, while individualism may promote high levels of both positive and negative adjustment because it values free, uninhibited emotional expression, collectivism may promote only either positive or negative adjustment. Despite the fact that suppression in collective cultures may lead to greater social harmony and a high level of positive adjustment, individuals may sti ll experience negative consequences. Therefore, while Asian countries and cultures may report a relatively positive adjustment for society in general, individuals themselves may report negative adjustment. This phenomenon may very well show that Asians who suffer from depression are stifled by cultural emotion regulation norms from receiving psychological or emotional help and support. The Social Constructionist Theory has helped define the social constructs of Asian cultures that make Asians more prone not only to negative emotions but also to social anxiety, a precursor to depression. Cultural display rules, social roles, and emotion regulation norms have effectively contributed to the predisposition of Asians to be more passive, non-assertive, and anxious in interpersonal situations than Westerners (Okazaki, Liu, Minn, 2002). The results from a study that examined differences between Asian American and White American on a trait measure of social anxiety and self-reports of anxiety-related emotions during a 3-min social performance task indicated that Asian Americans reported more anxiety than White Americans (Okazaki et al., 2002). Their data also revealed that some differences among Asian Americans of various ethnicities in their levels of social anxiety are related to their levels of acculturation. If there are indeed significant differences among Asian Ameri cans depending on their level of acculturation to American culture, they would be due to whether Asian Americans still prescribe to Asian social constructs of emotion. Although Asian Americans reported more social anxiety, they did not behave in an observably different manner than White Americans during the anxiety-provoking social task (Okazaki et al., 2002). In light of the emotion regulation norms that guide behavioral responses, both Asian Americans and Asians may be less willing to express any type of strong emotions, positive or negative, in front of people. This observation may support the view that Asians are exposed to social rules that increase the likelihood for anxiety, and subsequently depression, because those same rules prevent them sharing their emotional burdens with others. This culturally embedded formula for Asians to experience more social anxiety than Westerners is reinforced by culturally relevant risk factors for suicidal behaviors among Asian American youths. Asian American youths are at greater risk for suicide than majority group youths (i.e. White Americans and African Americans) because they experience risk factors that every youth experiences such as antisocial behaviors, substance abuse, and lack of familial stability, and those related to acculturation to the majority culture such as discrimination, alienation, and identity confusion (Lau, Jernewall, Zane, Myers, 2002). Asian American youths who fail to acculturate properly and develop an adaptive ethnic identity are prone to maladjustment, which entails life dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, pessimism, and depression. It is primarily the parents of Asian American youths that confound their efforts to acculturate and thus contribute to stress and frustration (Lau et al., 2002). Acculturat ion stress and intergenerational acculturation conflicts have been identified as factors that influence suicidal behaviors among Asian youths in Great Britain (Lau et al., 2002). A struggle between Western cultural norms and Asian cultural values can be seen in the parent-child conflicts of Asian American youths. A medical record abstraction at a mental health outpatient clinic identified correlates of suicidal behaviors in a sample of 285 Asian American youths (Lau et al., 2002). The records pointed out that adolescents were at the greatest risk for suicidal behaviors and were more prone to depression than were younger children. Consequently, depression was a strong predictor of suicidality as well (Lau et al., 2002). The data showed that youths who were less acculturated and experienced high parent-child conflict were at significantly greater risk than youths who were more acculturated and had lower conflict. Interestingly, youths who were diagnosed as suicidal displayed a higher number of internalizing symptoms and fewer externalizing symptoms (Lau et al., 2002). Perhaps the cultural sanctions against expression of negative emotions and the Asian cultural tendency to portray mental disorders as shameful and the tendency to downplay such disorders as temporary emotional states that do not r equire treatment, medical or otherwise, contribute to the prevalence of suicidal behavior among Asian American youths (Lau et al., 2002). Asian Americans as a whole, including both youths and adults, have had their mental health needs neglected by United States federal mental health policies (Nagayama Hall, Yee, 2012). This neglect is perpetuated in part by the three myths about Asian Americans: they are a small group; they are a successful group and do not have any financial or cultural problems; and they do not experience mental health disparities (Nagayama Hall, Yee, 2012). Although many, especially White Americans and the government, see Asian Americans as the model minority, they are not by any means exempt from problems surrounding their social and cultural position in the United States. The first myth is debunked by data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census showing that Asian Americans are proportionally the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. The second myth can be disproven by the sheer fact that not all Asian Americans receive the same education and opportunities to advance in society. Some groups have l ess education, greater unemployment, and higher poverty than others (Nagayama Hall, Yee, 2012). Moreover, even Asian Americans who are successful by educational, employment, and income standards encounter problems associated with their ethnicity. The stress of acculturation contributes to the occurrence of mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders. Their overall success in integrating with American culture belies the reality that many experience mental health disparities due to clashing cultural values and display rules; as a result, this conflict and the neglect of their mental health needs predispose them to an increased risk of depressive symptoms and behaviors and (Nagayama Hall, Yee, 2012). A specific look into the avoidance of mental therapy in South Korea further strengthens the argument that Asian cultures foster societies in which Asians are more likely to experience depression and less likely to seek help for it. Academic and corporate pressures contribute to an alarming rate of stress and suicide among South Koreans (Kim, Won, Liu, Liu, Kitanishi, 1997). Many Koreans, however, largely resisted Western psychotherapy for their growing anxieties, depression, and stress. The Buddhist and Confucian values that dictate much of South Korean society emphasize stoicism and modesty while subordinating individual problems and concerns to the good of society. In line with these ethics is preservation of face, or dignity for the family (Kim et al., 1997). If they do seek help, Koreans are compromising the dignity of their families by indirectly stating that they need mental therapy because their families are at fault. Koreans decide not to seek professional psychotherapy or c ounseling because the culture considers open expression of emotional problems as taboo. Thus, many Koreans forgo mental help and cope with their problems on their own (Kim et al., 1997). However, the suicide rate has doubled in Korea between 1999 and 2009 and it may continue to grow if Koreans do not seek therapy or some form of counseling to cope with depression and stress (Kim et al., 1997). The problem of depression in Korea is mirrored in other East Asian cultures perhaps because they all share the same cultural prohibition of expressing negative emotions to both ingroups and outgroups and the view that depression is not a serious mental health problem. A dangerous threat that can result from ignoring cases of depression and when individuals neglect or are incapable of seeking mental aid is a rising suicide rate. China, India, and Japan accounted for more than 40% of all world suicides in 2006 (Beautrais, 2006). Surprisingly then, although many Asian cultures believe that suicide is a source of personal and family shame, much of the worlds reported suicides occur in Asian countries. Problems of underreporting cases of suicides and suicide attempts such as inaccuracy of reports, prohibitions against the collection of suicide data, and the stigmatization of suicide make it difficult to assess the true numbers of suicides that occur in Asian countries. Nevertheless, limitations aside, there is still an alarming number of suicides that take place in Asian countries every year. As in Western countries, mental illness is strongly correlated with suicide in Asian countries (Beautrais, 2006). Indeed, many of the life stresses that cause dep ression-poverty and marital, family, and relationships problems-are equally shared by Asian and Western countries. However, some cultural, historical, and contextual features of suicidal behavior in Asia may show that life stresses may more often lead to suicide than in the West (Beautrais, 2006). The struggles of young rural families involving early marriage, low social status, and lack of personal autonomy; economic stresses for Asian businessmen who are pressured to work long hours and drink away their stress; and academic stresses for adolescents in Japan and Korea who compete for admission to prestigious schools may invariably lead to suicide. Not only do the societal conditions in which Asians live may engender more cases of depression and suicide, but also the social constructs of emotion particular to Asian cultures. While the Social Constructionist Theory argues that social roles, emotion regulation norms, and cultural display rules explain why Asians may be more prone to depression than Westerners, appraisal theories help highlight the role of appraisal as interpretations of emotion-eliciting situations in this phenomenon. Appraisal, which is involved in reappraisal in emotion regulation, is defined as the evaluation of an event. Appraisal, therefore, plays a significant role in emotion regulation because it allows an individual to interpret a situation as positive or negative, thereby influencing the emotion felt. Whereas in Asian cultures, appraisal is framed by values that promote embeddedness, power distance, and hierarchy, in Western cultures, appraisal is perceived through values that promote individualism, egalitarianism, and affective autonomy (Matsumoto et al., 2005). Asian cultures assess appraisal through the collective mind, or through the socially desirable outcomes of ingroup harm ony and maintenance of power distance. Therefore, Asians may tend to appraise situations as positive or negative depending on the goals of their societies. However, because Asians may appraise emotional situations under the context of social values, they may run the risk of both diminishing positive emotions and exaggerating the negative emotions for the individual. For example, if an Asian youth receives a relatively poor grade based on his parents standards, he may ignore the fact that although he did not please his parents, he scored the highest out of his class. Nonetheless, the youth appraises the situation negatively because he places the needs of the group (his family) ahead of his individual needs and concerns. In contrast, a Western youth may appraise the situation differently, seeing his performance as satisfactory and thereby feeling happier and less stressed. Appraisal theories are thus contingent on the social goals and values pertaining to culture. Component theories further elaborate how components that lead to depression occur more often in Asian cultures than in Western cultures. In addition to appraisal, subjective feeling, action readiness, expression, and instrumental behavior are all emotion components that help construct an emotion. Through Ortony and Turners conclusion that emotion components are dissociable elements and the results of the study by Okazaki et al., (2002), we can see that depression is caused by various components that by their own may not be indicative of the emotion. Asian cultures define these components in relation to social order and harmony, once again subordinating the needs and desires of the individual to those of society. Naturally, appraisals and behaviors that reflect restraint and inhibition of expressing negative emotions are more prevalent and readily used in Asian cultures. However, even if one were to experience components of depression, the full manifestation of the emotion may not occ ur because depression and other mental health disorders are looked down upon in Asian cultures (Beautrais, 2006). The individual would likely associate an experience of depression, despite having all the components that form depression, with a general negative emotion that can be overcome by sheer willpower or other non-professional therapy; in addition, the individual can choose to ignore one or several components of depression to deny that they are depressed. Unfortunately, component theories, like appraisal theories, do not offer a full explanation of why Asians may be predisposed to depression because they do not ensure the full manifestation of depression. The Basic Emotions Theory may support the universality of depression, but does not explain why or how Asians are more prone to experiencing it. The study on social-anxiety for Asian Americans and White Americans by Okazaki et al., (2002) showed that facial expression is not a primary or even reliable indicator of emotion. Likewise, another study exhibiting display rules in Japanese and American subjects showed that while the Japanese felt the same emotions as the Americans, they did not show negative emotions to strangers (Matsumoto, 1990). Facial expressions of emotion are but one part of socially defined components that generate an emotion. Depression is interpreted differently by Asian cultures than it is by Western cultures due to differing social values and roles (Beautrais, 2006). Moreover, the expression of depression is inevitably different for Asian cultures and Western cultures because of cultural display rules. In short, the Basic Emotions Theory merely states that depress ion exists, but not to what degree individuals in different cultures experience it. There is a link between the Neo-Jamesian Psychophysiological Perspective and a study by Arnault Kim (2008) that shows that Japanese and Korean women had higher somatic distress and depression than American women. The results of the study showed that there were certain somatic distress symptoms unique to depression among the Asian women: gastric and abdominal upset, weakness, dizziness, aches and pains, and palpitations (Arnault Kim, 2008). Through a comparison with American women, Japanese and Korean women were found to experience culturally-specific somatic symptoms. This finding supports the psychophysiological perspective that each emotion has its own pattern or signature of bodily changes. Therefore, according to this perspective, depression should also have its own unique signature of bodily changes. Although the study may support the claim that emotions are equivalent to physiological changes or can be purely defined by them, it also showed that the somatic symptoms felt by t he women were culturally-specific. American women would not be able to experience the same symptoms as the Asian women did, and they would probably not label their symptoms collectively as depression. Furthermore, the Japanese and Korean women used an idiom of distress used to describe their symptoms that highlighted the importance of cultural values and beliefs. The Social Constructionist Theory is, therefore, the best theory illustrating how Asians are more prone to depression and suicidal behaviors than are Westerners. It encompasses elements from the Appraisal theory, Component theory, Basic Emotions theory, and Neo-Jamesian Psychophysiological Perspective. Emotion components that form the emotion of depression are all influenced by the social norms of a particular culture. Asian cultures, which value embeddedness, power distance, and hierarchy, evaluate emotion components and somatic symptoms according to these cultural orientations. On the other hand, Western cultures evaluate emotion components and physiological symptoms according to individualism, egalitarianism, and affective autonomy. The culturally specific evaluations of Asian cultures increase the likelihood of people experiencing depression than in Western cultures. The downplay of negative emotions may also reveal that in Asian cultures, negative emotions are relatively hypo-co gnized concepts, emotion concepts that are not so thoroughly mapped out in a cultures emotion lexicon. Nonetheless, the expression of negative emotions is confounded and inhibited by a cultural reluctance to acknowledge that people have mental health problems. Socially learned performances, syndromes, and language all contribute to create a high disposition for depression in Asian cultures. While Asian and Western cultures seem to be the primary culture groups in the world, we can observe similar cultures such as that of the Utku if we focus on the more fundamental I-C dimension of cultural variability. The Utku society shares more values and traits with collective Asian cultures than with individualistic Western cultures. The Utku value ingroup harmony over individual needs and desires, which have the potential to disrupt society. Parents show affection to their children up until a certain age around 3 and 4 years old, in order to assimilate them into the larger social context of society (Briggs, 1970). Adults expect children to eventually abandon their childish, selfish ways and adopt a communal mindset of equal distribution of food and goods. In order to maintain their social harmony, the Utku try not to exhibit anger, which would be detrimental to the carefully monitored society by causing conflict and breaking relationship ties. In their efforts to avoid anger, they have effectively made it a hypo-cognized concept, indirectly doing away with one of the precursors to depression. Because none of the Utku claim to be angry and no one can observe any signs of anger, the Utku may not even experience depression. By eliminating not only anger but also negative emotions in general, the Utku may only perceive positive emotions. Unlike other collective cultures like Asian cultures, the Utku have a relatively limited and simple emotion vocabulary and thus may not even consider depression to be an emotion concept, much less experience it. While studies on cultural display rules and emotion regulation norms suggest that individuals in collective cultures are more prone to negative emotions, this does not seem to be the case for individuals in Utku society. The only possible instances where depression may have occurred, in Raigili and Saaraks sullen moods when their mother no longer carries them, do not guarantee that the children felt depression (Briggs, 1970). Even if they felt sadness, it would have been construed and interpreted through social values; they experience emotions through the context of their society. In essence, the Utku reveal one exception to the commonly held view that individuals in collective cultures are more prone to depression. The comparison of Asian and Western cultures and their disposition for depression brings up a problem of the immutability of culture. If Asians are truly more prone to depression because of culture, then how do we rectify this problem, if there even is a solution save the complete upheaval of deeply entrenched social norms and values? Even with the evidence citing that Asians experience more depression and are at greater risk of suicidal behaviors than are Westerners in America and in their native countries, the global rates of suicide in Asia seem to increase every year. The medical findings can be a starting point to influence government health, economic, and educational policies to change or perhaps sway cultural values. While the thought of completely or irreversibly altering a cultures values and beliefs is not only near impossible but controversial, government and public awareness of depression and suicide may help decline the rampant number of suicides that occur in Asia. Ther e is an important distinction to be made between countries and cultures-countries may comprise of one or several cultures, and conversely, a culture is not indicative of any countrys beliefs or values (Matsumoto et al., 2005). Changes in other dimensions like international politics have translated into changes in public sentiment and even cultural values. There is a great possibility for governments of collective cultures to perhaps assuage the dangers of emotion suppression and allow for more open and free expression of emotion. They can also try to establish medical and mental health institutions that allow people to meet with psychiatrists privately to prevent the patient from any associated familial or individual shame for having depression. The medical records of Asian American outpatient youths and U.S. mental health policies that neglect the special needs of Asian Americans can help direct attention to the increased likelihood among Asian Americans to feel depression. The transcultural study by Kim et al., (1997) showed that even Asian students have developed coping methods to deal with stressful events. Health reforms that pair Asian patients with those of same ethnicities may alleviate any barriers to full expression of emotion and provide a chance to better diagnose and remedy depressive symptoms among low acculturated Asian Americans or immigrants. An observation that American psychiatry should be more sensitive to the relationship between the mind/emotions and the body would also help assess and treat Asian patients who experience depression and stress (Arnault Kim, 2008). Programs to help Asian immigrants to become acculturated with American or Western culture may dissipate any tension between Asian values and Western values. Understanding of emotion concepts across Asian and Western cultures could also be more easily facilitated through these acculturation programs. These civil policies and other measures may make it easier for Asian Americans to adopt American or Western culture while at the same time not relinquishing their native Asian cultures. This process of integration would ensure that they do not lose their cultural identities but rather focus on the values and emotion constructs that promote emotional well-being and health. Although Western cultures seems to be a better culture in terms of emotional expression and general individual well-being, it is far from perfect and may even be worse than Asian cultures in maintaining social order. Cultures all share the desire for social order (Matsumoto et al., 2005). Western cultures seem to promote this relatively well by emphasizing individualism, egalitarianism, and affective autonomy. Individualism ensures that the needs of the individual are met and attention and care is given to the individual who has problems. Egalitarianism promotes the idea that everyone, regardless of any actual differences in power or status, sho

An Open Campus is a Bad Idea Essay -- public school

Wandering kids. Bumper to bumper traffic. Drug dealing. Is this the picture drawn when local students have fifty minutes of freedom during lunch to do whatever they please? Students should not be allowed to leave their school campus during lunch. An open campus would lead to truancy, disturb local businesses and neighborhoods, and cause crime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Truancy can occur among students if an open campus is accepted. If students have the privilege to leave school for fifty whole minutes on their own, then they have the freedom to not come back. It would break the trust between students and educators, and harsher rules would have to be enforced on the open campus rule. Numerous students who decide to ditch the remaining periods would have an excessive amount of in-school absences. This could lead to parent conferences and suspension, and possibly expulsion in some cases. When a student misses or skips a class, the information taught that day would not be accessible in the same format which others have learned. One?s academic grades can be effected from lack of information by truancy. Irresponsible students who choose to take the risk of leaving their school after lunch for the remainder of the day will not have this opportunity if an open campus is kept closed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Local businesses and neighborhoods can be disturbed if open campuses are permitted during the lunch hour. When groups of students are on their break, they can cause a commotion and be quite noisy among one a...

Mass Communications Essay

Communication has developed and still continues to develop. Over the centuries, many forms of communication have developed that have made the transmission of messages among people faster and more efficient. These include the radio, television, the print media as well as telephones. With technology and globalization improving at a fast rate, certain factors have influenced the way these different channels of communication operate in ensuring their audiences are satisfied with the services they offer and also the media houses make profits. Some of the trends affecting the delivery of content are: convergence, increasing audience control, and media mobility. The focus of this essay is to analyze the impact and relevance of convergence, increasing audience control and media convergence on Radio. Radio is a means of communicating by using electromagnetic waves or frequencies to detect signals and transform them to sound and its history of radio can be dated back in the late 19th century. Back then, the radio was a simple device whose usefulness was seen during the wars and battles as it was used to send telegraphic messages to people fighting in far places. Since then, radio has developed and is used for other purposes such as educating, advertising, relying information and entertaining people. In addition, it has created a livelihood for many people who depend on it. ? Convergence Convergence refers to the way in which various communication systems are linked so as to foster faster and better ways or relaying information. Basically, it is the merging of technologies. In media, convergence is the linking of technology with media content as well as the communication networks. As technological improvements continue to advance as each day passes, people in the radio business have embraced the changes and have become better. Radios initially used to be big equipments; but they have been modified and transformed such that they can be small as the size if a pen. Convergence nowadays is seen by how the internet has linked up with radio such that people from any corner of the world can listen to different radio stations in other countries. Before the internet came to use in 1969, people could only listen to radio stations within their regions. â€Å"The arrival of new digital communication technologies have facilitated the delivery of digital signals through various platforms and improved audio visual quality (Chan-Olmsted, 2006). † With the advancements in digital technology and the internet, people can now choose on what they would like to listen and from anywhere. Internet has enabled people to listen to music online, download and upload whatever they like. Moreover, it has generated new experiences both socially and business wise such that people from different regions meet and interact and businesses can advertise their products to more people thus expanding their markets. Convergence is also being enhanced in radio in through pod casting such that individuals can download their favorite programs on MP3 players. The disadvantages that come with convergence is that mobiles such as the iphone and the internet are taking over the functions of the radio networks are slowly being eroded away. For radio stations to be able to tap on the convergence advantages , they need to have experts working for them that is the employees, employers as well as the private consultants who advice them. This will be good because they will always be keen and updated on what is happening so that they know whish areas need to be improved on or the ways in which technology will be incorporated into the system. Moreover, professional consultants will advice them on what competitors are doing so that the can also try similar strategies. ? Increasing audience control Nowadays, the audience especially the younger generation that is technologically more advanced and conversant with how things work influences the activities of radio stations. This is because what they listen to, read or watch determines there preferences. â€Å"Although they have a variety of things to choose from, they are influencing time, prices and the portability of media use (Chan-Olmsted, 2006). † These preferences make them request or demand for programs they like and even suggest for what things they would like to see. Since the audience is means everything to the radio owners, they are forced to give in to their customers requests. This has enabled radio stations to benefit from the customers ideas as they always work on improving their services and retain their audiences. The shortcomings of audience control is that media houses need to change the way they operate so as to meet the demands of customers and at the same time offer quality services. In doing so, they will have to invest on the latest machinery and technologies and sometimes they have to overstretch their budgets to do away with the pressure or sometimes they do not have the funds hence they risk losing their audience. ’ Media houses have to contemplate on how to internalize new technology and be responsive to the new media audience. Another disadvantage is that the audience once they do not get what they want, they will opt to down load things on the internet or shift to their competitors. ? Media Mobility Media mobility refers to the ease with which the technologies in communication can be accommodated and enhanced so as to diversify the uses of the radio. The radio while being serving as a communication channel also links technologies with customers, markets and technology. â€Å"The globalization of mobility directly involves the way in which service integration and network integration relate to one another (Hardy, Malleus & Mereur, 2002). †Mobility can be seen in the way the radio is incorporated with various devices making it more portable and more flexible thus increasing the rate of acceptance. Most mobile phones nowadays have evolved and have radios. This was mainly a marketing strategy used by the mobile companies to attract the younger generation and we can say that it has helped in expanding the usage of telephone. Furthermore, some DVDs especially home theaters and televisions have been modified to perform many functions and the radio is one of them. The usage of radio has expanded to accommodate many things and people are always eager to know what will come next. All these coupled by various enhancements such as the ear pieces have made radio more attractive. The disadvantages that come with incorporating all these new things is that the focus shifts from the radio to the other devices as it is being used to complement the other functions of the device. In addition, the costs of certain software and hardware is high therefore this limits research at times especially now when the global economy and markets are not doing well. To tap on the advantages, radio companies will need to be regularly updated on new technologies as well as invest in training and educating their staff so that they become better at what they do as well as find better marketing strategies. In addition, radio companies need to budget properly so that they have enough funds to run their businesses as well as accommodate new strategies that are beneficial to the business. Conclusion These factors have greatly impacted the things we purchase and what we listen to. Moreover, they influenced and enabled businesses to develop and grow as they do their advertisements, promotions and marketing strategies using it. I as well as other Americans have been exposed to a variety of products thus making it easier to purchase commodities especially those manufactured in far off areas. We therefore need to support the work done by researchers as well as radio stations so as to benefit through things like media mobility which link the old and new systems. References Chan-Olmsted, S. M. (2006), Competitive Strategy for Media Firms: Strategic and Brand Management in Changing Media Markets. Routledge, p. 204 Hardy, D. , Malleus, G. & Mereur. J. N. (2002). Networks: Internet, Telephony, Multimedia: Convergences and Complementarities. Translated by Michael Byrne,De Boeck Universite

You Need to Check Out These 70 Most Liberal Colleges in America

You Need to Check Out These 70 Most Liberal Colleges in America SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re politically active, you may want to go to a college where the students, faculty, and administration share your values. You’ll be more likely to find student groups that are aligned with your interests and beliefs and you'll probably have a more enjoyable college experience. In this article, I’ll give you the names of some of the most liberal colleges in the United States. Furthermore, I’ll detail the traits of liberal colleges, explain possible advantages and disadvantages of liberal colleges, and advise you how to find liberal colleges that could be a good fit for you. Traits of the Most Liberal Colleges Liberal colleges are very politically left-wing. They're more accepting of different sexual orientations and gender identities, and students tend to favor liberal positions like ending the War on Drugs, outlawing private prisons, and raising the minimum wage. The most liberal colleges tend to be private liberal arts colleges.Very liberal students are often drawn to small liberal arts colleges because these schools offer a more progressive education. For example, at Reed College, grades are recorded, but deemphasized and not distributed to students, and professors serve more as mediators in class discussions as opposed to being lecturers. Furthermore, the most liberal colleges usually reflect the political leanings of their locations. Many of the most liberal colleges are located on the west coast and in the Northeast, both known for being extremely liberal places. Possible Advantages of Going to a Liberal College If you're very liberal, then you'll probably be happier and more comfortable around like-minded people. You're more likely to make friends who share your political and social views. Your professors are also likely to be very liberal, and you'll be receiving an education that coincides with your values and beliefs. Liberal colleges are known for being extremely tolerant and culturally sensitive. LGBT students and students from underrepresented backgrounds may feel more supported at liberal colleges. The college is more likely to offer support services and organizations for these students. Also, very liberal colleges tend to be less strict and structured. Many liberal colleges pride themselves on being less focused on grades and big lecture classes and more focused on collaboration and self-actualization. They often have a much more permissive culture, and they tend to be less likely to harshly punish students who engage in "extracurricular" activities that are stereotypically associated with college life. If you're liberal and go to a conservative college, it's possible that you'll feel isolated and ostracized for your beliefs. You'll find more Bernie Sanders fans at liberal colleges. (Marc Nozell/Flickr) Possible Disadvantages of Liberal Colleges If you're very liberal, you may benefit from being exposed to different viewpoints. Having your beliefs challenged and being around diverse opinions can help you learn and grow. If you're very liberal and attend a liberal college, you may just be surrounding yourself with people who are likely to echo your beliefs. While liberal colleges are tolerant of people from different backgrounds, they tend to not be very tolerant of conservative viewpoints. Many of the students at the most liberal colleges view conservatives as closed-minded or ignorant. If you want to be in an environment that welcomes diverse viewpoints, you may not feel completely comfortable at the most liberal colleges. Furthermore, the most liberal colleges and students are becoming notorious for protesting and taking action against speech they consider insensitive or offensive. Many people believe these colleges and students have become hyper-sensitive. Because most colleges tend to lean liberal, and the majority of college faculty members are liberal, you don't have to attend the most liberal colleges to be around liberal people and ideologies. The only colleges that have a reputation for being more conservative are many of the religious schools, the service academies, and public colleges in the most conservative states. Finally, the less structured environment at the most liberal colleges may not be beneficial to you. Some students need more structure and discipline to excel. Also, the lack of emphasis on grades and a traditional curriculum at some of the most liberal colleges may not suit your educational needs and could negatively impact some of your future job opportunities. The Most Liberal Colleges Let's go through two rankings of the most liberal colleges, so you can get a sense ofwhereyou might want to look if you're hoping to attend a particularly liberal school. Niche Niche is a website that provides reviews, rankings, and statistics about neighborhoods and schools. It provides many different college ranking lists from the overall best colleges to the top party schools to the most liberal colleges. The Niche rankings of the most liberal colleges are based on a political poll of 50,000 students from 747 colleges. A full 80% of the rankings is based on student survey responses regarding the students' personal political leanings. The remaining 20% is based on student survey responses regarding the political leanings of other students at the college. The List I'm giving you the top 50 most liberal colleges according to Niche, with #1 being the most liberal. Most of these colleges are private colleges and many are small liberal arts colleges. Some of the public universities that made the top 50 are University of Vermont, UC Santa Cruz,SUNY Purchase, andPortland State University. UC Santa Cruz (Casey Marshall/Flickr) School Location Acceptance Rate 1. University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA 51% 2. San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA 70% 3. Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL 92% 4. Mills College Oakland, CA 87% 5. University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA 17% 6. Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA 51% 7. Bard College Annandale-On-Hudson, NY 58% 8. Portland State University Portland, OR 92% 9. American University Washington, DC 29% 10. Oberlin College Oberlin, OH 34% 11. New York University New York, NY 28% 12. Howard University Washington, DC 41% 13. Sarah Lawrence College Bronxville, NY 53% 14. Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr, PA 38% 15. Smith College Northampton, MA 32% 16. Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY 24% 17. SUNY Purchase College Purchase, NY 74% 18. Carleton College Northfield, MN 21% 19. Wesleyan University Middletown, CT 16% 20. University of Washington Seattle, WA 46% 21. SUNY New Paltz New Paltz, NY 44% 22. Northwestern University Evanston, IL 9% 23. Kenyon College Gambier, OH 34% 24. Fashion Institute of Technology New York, NY 47% 25. University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 33% 26. CUNY Hunter College New York, NY 40% 27. Western Washington University Bellingham, WA 85% 28. Columbia University New York, NY 7% 29. Roosevelt University Chicago, IL 70% 30. Denison University Granville, OH 37% 31. University of Oregon Eugene, OR 83% 32. University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA 66% 33. Barnard College New York, NY 15% 34. Morgan State University Baltimore, MD 64% 35. SUNY Buffalo State College Buffalo, NY 58% 36. Occidental College Los Angeles, CA 42% 37. New College of Florida Sarasota, FL 69% 38. University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA 57% 39. Emerson College Boston, MA 46% 40. Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA 11% 41. Northeastern University Boston, MA 27% 42. Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 64% 43. Boston University Boston, MA 25% 44. Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME 14% 45. California State University - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 46% 46. San Jose State University San Jose, CA 67% 47. Spelman College Atlanta, GA 40% 48. California State University - Dominguez Hills Carson, CA 54% 49. Ithaca College Ithaca, NY 71% 50. University of Vermont Burlington, VT 67% Rally of the "Carleton College Dems" (cursedthing/Flickr) Princeton Review The Princeton Review rankings for the most liberal colleges are based on students' responses to the question "Politically, are you left-wing, Democrat, middle, Republican, right-wing?" The List All of these colleges are small, private colleges with the exception of Clark University (Worcester, Massachusetts) and Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island), which are progressive private research universities. Schools that made both the Niche and Princeton Review lists are Bryn Mawr and the University of Vermont. The schools on the Princeton Review list are ranked from 1-20. School Location Acceptance Rate 1. Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr, PA 38% 2. Bennington College Bennington, VT 63% 3. Reed College Portland, OR 35% 4. Earlham College Richmond, IN 62% 5. Sarah Lawrence College Bronxville, NY 53% 6. Grinnell College Grinnell, IA 25% 7. Pitzer College Claremont, CA 14% 8. Scripps College Claremont, CA 28% 9. Mills College Oakland, CA 71% 10. Brandeis University Waltham, MA 34% 11. University of Vermont Burlington, VT 67% 12. Clark University Worcester, MA 55% 13. Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY 36% 14. College of the Atlantic Bar Harbor, ME 76% 15. Carleton College Northfield, MN 21% 16. Whitman College Walla Walla, WA 43% 17. Brown University Providence, RI 9% 18. Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA 50% 19. Lawrence University Appleton, WI 68% 20. Wesleyan University Middletown, CT 22% Marlboro College (Jared and Corin/Flickr) Student Reviews of Liberal Colleges Niche also offers student reviews of colleges. Here are some comments written by students about some of the most liberal colleges in the United States. I tried to include positive and negative comments about each school related to its very liberal environment. UC Santa Cruz There are some classes that really drill in the necessary skills needed for you future career. Other classes show you different aspects of other studies, which may be great for finding the perfect major. Overall, I would say that community is that best part of this college. It has taught me to be more open-minded and to always question the everything. Hippies everywhere! Public service announcement: if you need to be on psychedelics or smoke weed to have a better appreciation for the nature around you, you're doing something wrong! Nature is beautiful sober. Grinnell College Grinnell is extremely accepting of people from all walks of life. We have tons of programs and groups on campus to accommodate all students, such as Concerned Black Students, Cultural Diversity Panel, Spectrum, and Queer Students of Color. It was a great experience, but it requires that you are self-motivated. I thought I was at first and it was a hard wake-up call. You will be beaten, but you will come out better for it. Smith College Northampton is a perfect college town, very liberal, artsy, hipster, and worldly. So is the food. So many different types of restaurant options are available. Smith trusts its students, and it's also a school very concerned with social justice, so even seemingly trivial violations are taken very seriously and reported. Skidmore College I've learned a lot about issues that make people uncomfortable (especially in the United States) like race relations, radical environmental initiatives and the true significance of privilege. If you want drugs, then you will be able to find them relatively easily, and more than just your basics. Pot is smoked by more people than not. Alcohol is also very widely used. Most of campo just wants you to be safe and discreet, so if you are then you probably won't have any problems. For the most part, you need to be pretty obvious and obnoxious to get in trouble. Skidmore College How Should You Use These Lists of the Most Liberal Colleges? If you want to go to a very liberal college, you should research the colleges on the Niche and Princeton Review lists that interest you to determine if they’re schools you should apply to. There are many factors to consider to determine if a college is a good fit for you including location, selectivity, support services, and the majors offered. Look at the school’s website, and use guidebooks, college finders, search websites, and other ranking lists to help you in the college selection process. If possible, consult with teachers, counselors, parents, current students, and alumni. What Should You Do If You Want to Attend a Liberal College, but a School You're Considering Isn't on EitherList? Just because a school you're considering didn't make either list doesn't necessarily mean that it's not liberal. As I mentioned previously, most colleges tend to be more liberal than conservative. If you want to go to a college with a liberal atmosphere, look at the school's website to see if there are student groups that are aligned with your political and social views. There may be student groups for Democrats, feminists, or LGBT students. Similarly, there may be student groups that advocate for more liberal organizations or causes like Planned Parenthood, NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), climate change, or affirmative action. Also, you can consult other sources that evaluate or grade how liberal a college is. On the Niche profile for each college, under "diversity" for each school's guide, there is a category called "political activity" that describes the political activity on campus. For example, this is how Harvard's political activity is described: Harvard possesses a largely liberal political base, but conservative political groups do make their presence felt. Nearly every student has an informed opinion, and the Institute of Politics provides an excellent forum for discussion and debate of current political topics. On the College View college finder, you can select that you're "only interested in schools with a very liberal climate" and search for colleges that fit that criteria. Furthermore, there are 20 other search categories to help you narrow your college search. Finally, remember that the political leaning of a college is often reflective of the city or town where the college is located. Colleges in the Northeast and on the west coast tend to be more liberal, and colleges in the South tend to be more conservative. You can determine if a specific city or town is liberal by looking up the candidates it supported in the last election and its views on various political and social issues. From the city of Liberal, Kansas, which is ironically more conservative What's Next? Since liberal arts colleges are predominantly liberal, you may be interested in checking out our rankings of the 28 best liberal arts colleges in the country. Also, if you want to go to a selective college, you should take a look at the colleges with the highest SAT scores. Finally, because college tuition prices continue to rise and you may be worried about how you're going to pay for college, I recommend you read this post on how much college really costs. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

The Role Of Language

The Role Of Language Language is an essential from of communication. It allows people to convey and elaborate their perspective. However, there are many forms and styles of language. Different counties and religions have different ancestral languages and styles of speaking.I personally, am learning a second language to allow me the opportunity to communicates to a broader audience. Imagine what the world would be like if there was no talking or signing of any words. There would be panic, and mass confusion, the world would struggle to survive. Communication between individuals can occur in many ways, but the skill of communicating depends not only on the strength of ones vocabulary , but the ability to express one's thoughts and ideas clearly.People have always had the need to share their stories. From cave drawings, drums, and smoke signals, to the speed of the technological age, people have found many ways to entertain and converse.Sweet facial expressionSharing ideas has brought information , as well as "soul-to-soul" contact. As our world grows , expands, and becomes increasingly more interconnected by various technological advances, the need for effective interpersonal communication among different cultures has become crucial.We communicate not only with words, but perhaps even more forcefully by our body language and facial expressions. I have become influenced by the role of language, as it shows many faces in my life. Gestures, motions, and batting eyelashes, can be interpreted in different ways by different groups of people. Without the exchange of words we would not be able to interact with others.For me personally, the role of language has helped to get me through the rough and tough times of the sport I love; soccer. As a young child I developed a love for this sport and knew that this is what the future held for me.

Identify three government market failures and describe their effects Essay

Identify three government market failures and describe their effects. As in past government failures in the world - Essay Example In the end, there is market failure because the market fails to regulate itself to achieve economic efficiency. Market failure results when the government interferes with the market, often for its own good and success, rather than that of the economy. On the contrary, market failure may also happen owing too government inadequacies if it fails to, or insufficiently, intervenes. ‘Passive government failure’ refers to a scenario when government intervention would cause a socially beneficial mix of output. The housing bubble, BP oil spill, and payment of welfare benefits are three past government failures in the world that have had drastic effects on the economy and society. The global financial crisis, typified by the housing bubble is a good example of market failure. The downturn born of the housing bubble was a significant market failure that resulted from underpricing of risk, which a form of market distortion (Bernstein 1). There was an incorrect valuation of opportunity costs and risks. Pricing is a primary building block of capitalism, which demands that correct and important information about a market are provided in a timely manner. People borrowed into high-priced mortgages because of the underpricing of credit. It was either a case of ignorance about the market, because the only way they would pay off the high-priced mortgages is if the prices of houses continued to increase. Unfortunately, the bubble did not continue to inflate, prices plummeted, and many citizens were unable to service their debts. According to Bernstein, the profit motive coerced the actions of the lenders, because it is highly unlikely that they did not foresee such a ma rket failure. It is the duty of government regulatory bodies to enforce regulatory functions to prevent the housing bubble. The Federal Reserve and a myriad of government agencies focused on the

Case analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Case analysis - Essay Example At the time when HAG was issuing the bond, it had already diversified its business into mining coal. In terms of geography, most of HAG’s businesses were located in Vietnam. HAG, a renowned real estate company in Vietnam, was going to issue approximately ninety million US dollars of the nine point eight-five notes, which were the debt instruments, in Singapore in the year 2011. After deductions of all the estimated expenses that were payable, the company estimation of the net proceeds from this offering to be around eighty point seven million US dollars. From this perspective, the issue of notes led to several questions arising including the overall cost of the debt. In addition, the reasons HAG chose to raise money in a foreign country, Singapore, and not in its country, Vietnam. All these were to give answers to the costs at which HAG was borrowing the note issue in Singapore, the level at which it was borrowing and whether there was a likelihood of HAG being downgraded from its current rating position of B (Richard Ivey School of Business, 2013). Since it is difficult to obtain real figures on the bank loans proportions to the sector of construction and the real estate business in Vietnam, the government should issue strong regulations. These should be made to preventing the country from deepening further into inflation. High inflation rates in the country will force companies to issue notes in foreign countries. The regulation through limitation of the growth of Credit is important more so in the real estate business to help in putting inflation into check. The growth of credit can be controlled through the reduction of the amount as well as the pace of loan issuance to the sectors that are non-productive. Among the significant risk factors that affect the issuance of notes is the company’s cash flow volatility in Vietnam. In addition, the overall outlook of the