culture – Page 2 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

How Proper Body Language Can Help You Make the Right Impression while Traveling Abroad

By Guest PostDecember 16, 2012Culture, Holidays 'n Travelsanna mathews, asian continent, body language, culture, custom, dining behavior, east, Europe, everyday life, fiji, france, italy, Mexico, middle east, nepal, nigeria, right impression, rules of behavior, south america, traveling abroad, uk

In everyday life the way we express ourselves with our body language is very important. This is equally important when travelling abroad and when you may be coming into contact with people who have different cultures and customs. Follow our tips below for how to behave during your holiday.

Body language generally

Body language is a curious thing as when we are unable to communicate in any other way it can say a lot about the way we are feeling and is a way of expressing ourselves and maybe even making ourselves understood. It is quite possible however that a gesture or form of body language that is perfectly acceptable in one country will cause some sort of offence in another so its use should be careful and considered and it is important to understand what is and is not acceptable in the country you are visiting. (more…)

Mutations in Genes that Modify DNA Packaging Result in form of Muscular Dystrophy

By Guest PostNovember 22, 2012Sciencebiopsies, chromatin structure, chromosome 4, culture, daniel g miller, devastating disease, dna sequence, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, family history, fshd, genetic deletions, genetic disorder, genetic material, genome, leiden university, medical geneticists, michael bamshad, muscle cell, muscle toxic dux4, mutation, protein, rabi tawil, rochester, silvere, smchd1 gene, stephen tapscott, symptom, the netherlands, university, van der maarel, Washington

A recent finding by medical geneticists sheds new light on how facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy develops and how it might be treated. More commonly known as FSHD, the devastating disease affects both men and women.

FSHD is usually an inherited genetic disorder, yet sometimes appears spontaneously via new mutations in individuals with no family history of the condition.

“People with the condition experience progressive muscle weakness and about 1 in 5 require wheelchair assistance by age 40,” said Dr. Daniel G. Miller, University of Washington associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Genetic Medicine. Miller and his worldwide collaborators study the molecular events leading to symptoms of FSHD in the hopes of designing therapies to prevent the emergence of symptoms or reduce their severity. (more…)

Advancing the Digital Humanities

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2012Educationafrican american literature, arizona, aurasma application, bryan carter, cable television, culture, devices, digital format, digital humanities, internet, ipads, iphones, jeremy patrick gesuale, ken mcallister, mobile network, music, o2, online course, phone calls, smartphone, social media, surfing, Technology, telegraph, uk, university, voicethreads, web

Bryan Carter, a UA assistant professor of Africana studies, is among faculty members in the arts and humanities more readily employing consumer-based technologies in educational, creative, interdisciplinary and engaging ways.

Take a guess – what are the most common uses for devices like smartphones?

Earlier this year, the UK-based mobile network O2 reported that, on average, people use their smartphones to access the Internet, communicate via social media and listen to music. Other popular uses, as explained by an article in The Telegraph, include playing games and making phone calls. (more…)

For Presidential Candidates, Image May Trump Debate Issues

By Guest PostOctober 25, 2012Politicsaudience, Barack Obama, candidate, celebrity, Chicago, culture, debate, elocution, gaffes, george bush, grammar, image, impression, indiana university, john kerry, linguistic anthropologist, logan cente, massachusetts gov, message, michael lempert, michael silverstein, mitt romney, modern campaign, political life, political marketing, politician, Politics, power grip, president, presidential candidate, press, republican opponent, tmzization, university, voyeurism

The wide swings in debate performances by this year’s presidential candidates reflect the fact that in modern campaigns, a candidate’s image is the message, according to linguistic anthropologists who have studied presidential campaigns.

Candidates send important messages to voters through even their smallest gestures, the researchers say. For example, in this year’s first debate, President Barack Obama often looked down at the podium and was criticized for appearing disengaged. In subsequent debates Obama directly addressed his Republican opponent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and increased the use of a hammering hand gesture sometimes called the “power grip.” (more…)

First Digital Resource Explores 1918 Flu Epidemic

By Guest PostOctober 14, 2012General, Health1918, american, american history, americans, canteen volunteers, culture, detroit chapter, digital collection, digital encyclopedia, general public, hathitrust, history, howard markel, influenza epidemic, influenza victims, john wilkin, medical policy, medicine, michigan, motor corps, online, public health, red cross, united states, university

ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan has established the largest digital collection of materials relating to the 1918 influenza epidemic in the United States.

“The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918: A Digital Encyclopedia,” created by the Center for the History of Medicine in partnership with the U-M Library’s MPublishing, documents 50 diverse communities in the United States during fall 1918 and winter 1919—a period when the effects of influenza caused the deaths of an estimated 650,000 Americans (and 50 million people worldwide). (more…)

Breaking a Genocide’s Silence: Rwandan Storytelling Exhibit Centerpiece of New National Archives

By Guest PostOctober 12, 20122 commentsPolitics1994, ann arbor, catalyze, conversation, culture, david wallace, english, for, grenade, hope, kakuze josiane, marriage practices, michigan, mission, mukakayange veronique, national archives, neighbourhood, painful stories, patricia pasick, perpetrator, project, resident, resilience, rwanda history, rwandan, rwandan culture, rwandan genocide, simple question, stories, storycorps, storytelling tradition, strength, university, work history, young person

ANN ARBOR — One of the casualties of the 1994 Rwandan genocide was the culture’s storytelling tradition. Resurrecting it has been the mission of a project called Stories for Hope for the past four years.

Now 99 narratives—conversations between youths and elders—will go on exhibit at the newly built Rwandan National Archives, which were decimated during the violence. On Oct. 12, the archives open again for the first time in nearly two decades. (more…)

Witch Hunts Targeted by Grassroots Women’s Groups

By Guest PostSeptember 5, 2012Culture, Economy, Generalalcoholism, anuradha chakravarty, basanti, chicken eggs, culture, disease, domestic abuse, economic, factor, gender equality, government, grassroots movement, India, jalpaiguri, livestock, loan, loan program, michigan, microcredit, microcredit group, native india, plantation worker, practice, self help, social movement, sociologist, soma chaudhuri, state university, stomach illness, tea plantation, tradition, tribal people, village, witch, witch hunts, witchcraft, women

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Witch hunts are common and sometimes deadly in the tea plantations of Jalpaiguri, India. But a surprising source – small groups of women who meet through a government loan program – has achieved some success in preventing the longstanding practice, a Michigan State University sociologist found.

Soma Chaudhuri spent seven months studying witch hunts in her native India and discovered that the economic self-help groups have made it part of their agenda to defend their fellow plantation workers against the hunts. (more…)

African-American Males Most Likely to Lose Academic Scholarships, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2012Culture, Education, Generalacademic success, african american, charles menifield, culture, dormitories, Environment, holistic approach, hope scholarships, male, missouri, retention rate, scholarship, tennessee residents, university

MU researcher recommends a “holistic” approach to student scholarship retention

COLUMBIA, Mo. — College student retention and low graduation rates are the most significant problems associated with state-provided financial aid. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that African-American males are the most likely to lose state lottery-funded scholarships with academic stipulations. Charles Menifield, a professor in the Truman School of Public Affairs at MU, found that more than 50 percent of African-American males lost state-funded scholarships over the course of a four-year academic career.

“Race turns out to be one of the best predictors of scholarship retention rates,” Menifield said. “This research strongly suggests that colleges and universities that desire to maintain diversity should at minimum target minority students, particularly African-American males, and determine how best to improve academic success.” (more…)

Tag Archives: culture