Culture And Humanity In The New Millennium

Publisher Description

In 2006, a cartoon in a Danish newspaper depicted the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb in his turban. The cartoon created an international incident, with offended Muslims attacking Danish embassies and threatening the life of the cartoonist. Editorial cartoons have been called the most extreme form of criticism society will allow, but not all cartoons are tolerated. Unrestricted by journalistic standards of objectivity, editorial cartoonists wield ire and irony to reveal the naked truths about presidents, celebrities, business leaders, and other public figures. Indeed, since the founding of the republic, cartoonists have made important contributions to and offered critical commentary on our society. Today, however, many syndicated cartoons are relatively generic and gag-related, reflecting a weakening of the newspaper industry's traditional watchdog function. Chris Lamb offers a richly illustrated and engaging history of a still vibrant medium that "forces us to take a look at ourselves for what we are and not what we want to be." The 150 drawings in Drawn to Extremes have left readers howling-sometimes in laughter, but often in protest.

Globalization defines our era. While it has created a great deal of debate in economic, policy, and grassroots circles, many aspects of the phenomenon remain virtual terra incognita. Education is at the heart of this continent of the unknown. This pathbreaking book examines how globalization and large-scale immigration are affecting children and youth, both in and out of schools. Taking into consideration broad historical, cultural, technological, and demographic changes, the contributors—all leading social scientists in their fields—suggest that these global transformations will require youth to develop new skills, sensibilities, and habits of mind that are far ahead of what most educational systems can now deliver. Drawing from comparative and interdisciplinary materials, the authors examine the complex psychological, sociocultural, and historical implications of globalization for children and youth growing up today. The book explores why new and broader global visions are needed to educate children and youth to be informed, engaged, and critical citizens in the new millennium. Published in association with the Ross Institute

This book discusses the notion of “Hong Kong as Method” as it relates to the rise of China in the context of Asianization. It explores new Hong Kong imaginaries with regard to the complex relationship between the local, the national and the global. The major theoretical thrust of the book is to address the reconfiguration of Hong Kong’s culture and society in an age of global modernity from the standpoints of different disciplines, exploring the possibilities of approaching Hong Kong as a method. Through critical inquiries into different fields related to Hong Kong’s culture and society, including gender, resistance and minorities, various perspectives on the country’s culture and society can be re-assessed. New directions and guidelines related to Hong Kong are also presented, offering a unique resource for researchers and students in the fields of cultural studies, media studies, postcolonial studies, globalization and Asian studies.

Horror Culture in the New Millennium: Digital Dissonance and Technohorror explores the myriad ways in which technology is altering the human experience as articulated in horrific storytelling. The text surveys a variety of emerging trends and story forms in the field, through both a series of critical essays and personal interviews with scholars, editors, authors, and artists now creating and refining horror stories in the new millennium. The project posits a rationale for the presence of technohorror as a defining concern in contemporary horror literature, marking a departure from the monstrous and spectral traditions of the twentieth century in its depictions of frightful narratives marked by the qualities of plausibility, mundanity, and surprise as we tell stories about what it means to be human. As our culture explores the dichotomies of the born/made, natural/artificial, and human/computer—all while subsumed within a paradigm shift predicated on the transition from the traditions of print to emerging digital communications practices—these changes form the basis for horrific speculations in our texts and technologies. Ultimately, Digital Dissonance: Horror Culture in the New Millennium explores that paradoxical human attraction for peering into the darkness as translated through our lived experiences in an era of rapidly evolving technologies.

This is a ‘Whole Earth Catalog’ for the 21st century: an impressive and wide-ranging analysis of what’s wrong with our societies, organizations, ideologies, worldviews and cultures – and how to put them right. The book covers the finance system, agriculture, design, ecology, economy, sustainability, organizations and society at large.

Prominent scholars in this book move boldly beyond critique to show how and why the critical functions of a democratically informed civic education (not merely professional training) must become the core of the university's mission. They show why higher education must address what it means to relate knowledge to public life, and social responsibility to the demands of critical citizenship. Moreover, they show why democratic forms of education and various elements of a critical pedagogy are vital not only to individual students, but also to our economy and our democratic institutions and future leadership. Visit our website for sample chapters!