In this thesis, three websites are explored in-depth and serve as a case study for an intercultural comparison of websites as public relations tools. The websites of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPDB), and Citibank were evaluated for this specific study because they represent three models of current banks operating in a culturally-evolving Chinese society. The two-way symmetrical model of public relations and the personal influence model have provided basic framework for this thesis. To establish the two-way symmetrical public relations via the website, these three banks employ different public relations strategies due to the different organizational structure and operating systems. In addition, culture has played an important role for banks to build relationships with their various publics. Specifically, Confucian ideology, the foundation for Chinese culture, provides insights for this thesis. To cater to the publics, ICBC adhered more strictly to Chinese culture norms, while SPDB's website is a reflection of a hybrid of Western and Chinese culture. Moreover, although Citibank does not make many efforts to culturally cater to its Chinese publics, Citibank successfully built its reputation and image through building a business-oriented and expert website. / Master of Arts

This essay uses social constructionism and intersectionality to argue that the narrator in The Woman Warrior is experiencing feelings of identity confusion due to the different stereotypes of femininity that American and Chinese culture hold. The experiences are caused mainly by Chinese society, American society, her mother, and the talk-stories told in the book. She also establishes her identity through all four of these categories and comes to the conclusion that the concept of femininity is a stereotype and should not be adhered to as it furthers the patriarchal view of women.

Esta pesquisa analisa a historiografia que abordou a formação das culturas afro-americanas e os intercâmbios culturais entre africanos e euro-americanos, mostrando como ela tem sido marcada por uma coexistência contraditória de premissas universalistas e particularistas a respeito da natureza da cultura. Tais contradições já podem ser observadas na antropologia culturalista de Franz Boas, que desliza entre duas definições de cultura por um lado, como um espírito orgânico e estável e, por outro, como um agregado histórico e dinâmico de costumes e ideias , apontando a permanência e a mudança como aspectos simultâneos dos contatos culturais. Melville Herskovits fundamentou-se na obra boasiana e herdou essas contradições ao realizar seu estudo sobre as culturas afro-americanas, representando-as simultaneamente como uma aculturação, na chave da descontinuidade com o passado, e como uma preservação de africanismos, na chave da continuidade com as culturas africanas. Tais dificuldades desdobram-se até o debate contemporâneo em torno do conceito de crioulização e da obra de Mintz e Price, que descreve das culturas afro-americanas ressaltando ao mesmo tempo a criatividade e a sobrevivência de estruturas africanas. Autores filiados à chamada corrente afrocêntrica tentaram resolver esses impasses minimizando a transformação e privilegiando a continuidade com o passado, no que intensificaram o dualismo implícito na vertente particularista de análises anteriores. Uma outra tradição de estudos sobre os intercâmbios culturais em sociedades coloniais incluindo autores como Gilberto Freyre, Fernando Ortiz e outros associados ao pensamento pós-colonial desenvolveu um modelo conceitual distinto, centrando-se nas ambivalências e inversões presentes na dimensão afetiva dos contatos culturais. Com isso, esses autores compreenderam o intercâmbio cultural a partir de uma lógica dialética, desconstruindo raciocínios dualistas, abraçando o caráter autocontraditório dos fenômenos e propondo, assim, uma alternativa teórica aos modelos herdados do culturalismo antropológico. / This work analyses the historiography which has studied the formation of African-American cultures and the cultural exchange between Africans and Euro-Americans, sustaining that it has been characterized by a contradictory coexistence of universalistic and particularistic presuppositions about the nature of culture. These contradictions can already be observed in Franz Boass Anthropological culturalism, which moves between two definitions of culture on the one hand, as an organic and stable spirit and, on the other hand, as a historical and dynamic aggregate of customs and ideas , indicating permanence and transformation as simultaneous aspects of cultural contact. Melville Herskovits was grounded on Boass ideas and inherited these contradictions when he studied African-American cultures, representing them simultaneously as an acculturation, focusing a discontinuous relation with the past, and as a preservation of africanisms, stressing a continuous relation with African cultures. These difficulties have unfolded themselves up to the contemporary debate about the concept of creolization and Mintz and Prices work, which describes African-American cultures focusing cultural creativity and the survival of African structures at the same time. Authors of the so-called afrocentric perspective have tried to solve this impasse by minimizing transformations and stressing continuity with the past. By doing so, they have intensified the dualism implicit on the particularistic arguments of previous analyses. Another tradition of studies about cultural exchange in colonial societies including authors such as Gilberto Freyre, Fernando Ortiz and others associated to post-colonial thought has developed a different conceptual model, which focuses on the ambivalences and inversions that can be observed on the affective dimensions of cultural contacts. These authors have interpreted cultural exchange through a dialectical logic, deconstructing dualistic thoughts, embracing the self-contradictory nature of the fenomena, and thus indicating a theorical alternative to the models inherited from anthropological culturalism.

Esta pesquisa analisa a historiografia que abordou a formação das culturas afro-americanas e os intercâmbios culturais entre africanos e euro-americanos, mostrando como ela tem sido marcada por uma coexistência contraditória de premissas universalistas e particularistas a respeito da natureza da cultura. Tais contradições já podem ser observadas na antropologia culturalista de Franz Boas, que desliza entre duas definições de cultura por um lado, como um espírito orgânico e estável e, por outro, como um agregado histórico e dinâmico de costumes e ideias , apontando a permanência e a mudança como aspectos simultâneos dos contatos culturais. Melville Herskovits fundamentou-se na obra boasiana e herdou essas contradições ao realizar seu estudo sobre as culturas afro-americanas, representando-as simultaneamente como uma aculturação, na chave da descontinuidade com o passado, e como uma preservação de africanismos, na chave da continuidade com as culturas africanas. Tais dificuldades desdobram-se até o debate contemporâneo em torno do conceito de crioulização e da obra de Mintz e Price, que descreve das culturas afro-americanas ressaltando ao mesmo tempo a criatividade e a sobrevivência de estruturas africanas. Autores filiados à chamada corrente afrocêntrica tentaram resolver esses impasses minimizando a transformação e privilegiando a continuidade com o passado, no que intensificaram o dualismo implícito na vertente particularista de análises anteriores. Uma outra tradição de estudos sobre os intercâmbios culturais em sociedades coloniais incluindo autores como Gilberto Freyre, Fernando Ortiz e outros associados ao pensamento pós-colonial desenvolveu um modelo conceitual distinto, centrando-se nas ambivalências e inversões presentes na dimensão afetiva dos contatos culturais. Com isso, esses autores compreenderam o intercâmbio cultural a partir de uma lógica dialética, desconstruindo raciocínios dualistas, abraçando o caráter autocontraditório dos fenômenos e propondo, assim, uma alternativa teórica aos modelos herdados do culturalismo antropológico. / This work analyses the historiography which has studied the formation of African-American cultures and the cultural exchange between Africans and Euro-Americans, sustaining that it has been characterized by a contradictory coexistence of universalistic and particularistic presuppositions about the nature of culture. These contradictions can already be observed in Franz Boass Anthropological culturalism, which moves between two definitions of culture on the one hand, as an organic and stable spirit and, on the other hand, as a historical and dynamic aggregate of customs and ideas , indicating permanence and transformation as simultaneous aspects of cultural contact. Melville Herskovits was grounded on Boass ideas and inherited these contradictions when he studied African-American cultures, representing them simultaneously as an acculturation, focusing a discontinuous relation with the past, and as a preservation of africanisms, stressing a continuous relation with African cultures. These difficulties have unfolded themselves up to the contemporary debate about the concept of creolization and Mintz and Prices work, which describes African-American cultures focusing cultural creativity and the survival of African structures at the same time. Authors of the so-called afrocentric perspective have tried to solve this impasse by minimizing transformations and stressing continuity with the past. By doing so, they have intensified the dualism implicit on the particularistic arguments of previous analyses. Another tradition of studies about cultural exchange in colonial societies including authors such as Gilberto Freyre, Fernando Ortiz and others associated to post-colonial thought has developed a different conceptual model, which focuses on the ambivalences and inversions that can be observed on the affective dimensions of cultural contacts. These authors have interpreted cultural exchange through a dialectical logic, deconstructing dualistic thoughts, embracing the self-contradictory nature of the fenomena, and thus indicating a theorical alternative to the models inherited from anthropological culturalism.

Historically, religious frameworks—particularly conceptions of evil—have been tied to attitudes about criminal behavior and its corresponding punishment, yet views of transcendent evil have not been explored in the empirical literature on religion and punitive ideology. We examine whether and how different aspects of religiosity shape punitive attitudes, using a national sample of Americans. For both general punitiveness and views of capital punishment, belief in the existence and power of transcendent religious evil (e.g. Satan and hell) is strongly associated with greater punitiveness, while higher levels of religious practice (service attendance, prayer, and reading sacred scriptures) reduces punitiveness. The effects of other aspects of religiosity on punitiveness such as self-identified fundamentalism, scriptural literalism, and images of God are rendered spurious by accounting for perceptions of evil. We discuss these findings in light of cultural and comparative approaches to penology, arguing for the inclusion of conceptions of the “transgressive” sacred in studies of, and theories about, penal populism.

The Batman media franchise (comics, movies, novels, television, and cartoons) is unique because no other form of written or visual texts has as many artists, audiences, and forms of expression. Understanding the various artists and audiences and what Batman means to them is to understand changing trends and thinking in American culture. The character of Batman has developed into a symbol with relevant characteristics that develop and evolve with each new story and new author. The Batman canon has become so large and contains so many different audiences that it has become a franchise that can morph to fit any group of viewers/readers. Our understanding of Batman and the many readings of him gives us insight into ourselves as a culture in our particular place in history.

In Between: A Journey of Cultural Integration is a multimedia art installation that tells the story of a Korean girl’s cultural integration journey. The story was inspired from my personal experience of moving from South Korea to the U.S. In the 12’ x 14’ room, the narrative was delivered by media. The story was introduced by the projected text of a diary on a book in the middle of the room. The images that were projected on all four walls enhanced the narrative. The each viewer was forced to experience the installation alone and experience the loneliness of the journey. The successful collaboration between scenic and media was important for creating a cohesive design for this project. I worked with several projection designers to create the narrative development. Throughout the process, the boundary between scenic design and media design became blurry and I and my collaborators became a creative team as a whole. This project was intended to share my personal story of cultural integration with a broader audience by inviting them to have a different perspective view towards the immigration community in America. It also became my personal challenge to create a space that could tell a story without an actor. / text

Scholarship on the cultural status of the child in America has taken diverse and fruitful forms, yet there exists a significant ellipsis within theories of filmic spectatorship regarding cinematic children. This study engages the child figure's relation to the cinematic apparatus and analyzes spectator responses to the child's presentation as a desiring subject and desired object. Within contemporary American culture, the child figure generates at once a mise-en-scène of desire and a mise-en-abime of potential stigmatization, self-abjection and shame. The vexed relation to the image of the child that characterizes the contemporary adult citizen and, more pointedly, the adult spectator, is a symptom of the contradictory discourses of childhood at play in contemporary American media and within its political bodies. The Columbine shootings, the murder of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, the Catholic Church scandals, many well-publicized child abductions, and countless occurrences over the past decade have produced a climate of moral panic over children's endangerment. Yet, more than ever, the eroticization of children's bodies has inundated cinematic and other media productions, generating anxieties within the adult spectator concerning the propriety of gazing at children. Juvenile desires suggests that the dissonances produced by the contradictory signposts of moral panic and sexual objectification have too often given rise to a homophobically polarizing model of the adult spectator: one the one hand, the ostensibly heterosexual spectator whose relation to the child image is aesthetically distanced, moral, and nostalgic; and on the other, a perverse, likely homosexual spectator whose relation is libidinal, regressive, and genitally oriented. As a theoretical intervention and a reception study, this dissertation examines the term pedophilia as one both culturally over-determined and critically under-investigated. The deployment of the term pedophilia has the rhetorical effect of reducing the complex relations sustained among adult spectators and children to a space of inarticulate abjection or criminality. The dissertation proposes that a deconstructive queer theory can unsettle the recalcitrant association of pedophilia with homosexual pathology, and thereby afford a complex and nuanced account of the roles cinematic children play in generating visual and narrative pleasure across gendered and sexually oriented subject positions. / text

The Batman media franchise (comics, movies, novels, television, and cartoons) is unique because no other form of written or visual texts has as many artists, audiences, and forms of expression. Understanding the various artists and audiences and what Batman means to them is to understand changing trends and thinking in American culture. The character of Batman has developed into a symbol with relevant characteristics that develop and evolve with each new story and new author. The Batman canon has become so large and contains so many different audiences that it has become a franchise that can morph to fit any group of viewers/readers. Our understanding of Batman and the many readings of him gives us insight into ourselves as a culture in our particular place in history.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of English, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-86).