Living in a World of Warcraft: the Complex Sociality of Virtual Worlds

Living in a World Of Warcraft: The Complex Sociality of Virtual Worlds Through the convergence of gaming, the internet and Web 2. 0 technologies, the virtual worlds of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) have emerged: complex new social and cultural environments that bring with them tremendous opportunities for learning. This convergence of contexts, a defining feature of new media, combines the potential sociality of the internet with the fun and challenge of gaming, blurring the lines between entertainment, play, information and socialisation (de Freitas & Griffiths, 2008, p. 1). Through fantasy-styled role-playing MMOG (MMORPG) World of Warcraft (WoW), I will explore evidence of the benefits and drawbacks of these new forms of sociality, and examine ways in which of MMORPGs show potential to develop new social practices and ways of learning, both from a player/learner perspective (Jenkins, 2006; Shaffer, Squire, Halverson & Gee, 2005, p. 106), and in terms of studying and u nderstanding social dynamics of human groups on a larger scale (Szell & Thurner, 2010, p. 14). WoW's enormous success exemplifies the massive social phenomenon of online gaming and virtual worlds (Shaffer, Squire, Halverson & Gee, 2005, p. 106). Released in 2004, Steinkuehler & Williams describe WoW as â€Å"the latest step in a progression of social games† (2006, p. 887), referring to the many evolutions in this style of game since its early origins in Dungeons and Dragons-style pencil and paper games (Bradford, 2010, p. 7). Socialisation and the building of relationships is central to the game, which attracts an extremely broad audience worldwide: within 5 years of release, WoW's subscriber base grew to 11. 5 million (Bradford, 2010, p. 56). Steinkuehler & Williams posit that – as new social environments outside of home, school and work – virtual worlds can provide a social context akin to â€Å"pubs, coffee shops, and other hangouts† (2006, p. 889).Cha t channels within the game not only facilitate in-game activities, they also carry â€Å"constant conversation about the game and topics well beyond it† (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006, p. 894), to the extent that the in-game social interaction is considered by some players to be more important than the actual gameplay (Stetina, Kothgassner, Lehenbauer & Kryspin-Exner, 2010, p. 473). The virtual worlds of MMOGs – such as WoW's Azeroth – are â€Å"known for their peculiar combination of designed ‘escapist fantasy' and emergent ‘social realism'† (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006, p. 887).Indeed, opportunities for socialisation in virtual worlds are incredibly diverse, evidenced by the unusual records WoW holds for the â€Å"Most People at a Virtual Funeral† and â€Å"Largest Virtual Beer Festival† (Guinness World Records, 2012). Real-world issues can impact the virtual world too, exemplified by WoW's annual â€Å"Running of the Gnomes †, where low-level pink-haired gnome avatars – most created or â€Å"rolled† specifically for the event – run through dangerous terrain to a designated location and, by grouping together, â€Å"form a heart for breast cancer awareness† (Iserloth, 2012).The event raises money for the Cleveland Clinic for vaccine research, and this year exceeded the $1,000 goal (O'Neal, 2012). Such events epitomise the unique social culture of MMORPGs: impervious to the physical boundaries of real-world events, creative player-instigated socialisation takes full advantage of the flexible social environment of the virtual world. Games, in all of their various forms, have given rise to â€Å"new forms of sociality† (Bradford, 2010, p. 63), as evidenced by the role Communities of Practice play in game culture.Bradford's research shows that, whether a game is designed to be played with others or not, â€Å"communities which cluster around games constantly engage i n negotiations over strategies, experiences and opinions† (2010, p. 56). Like most video games, WoW is surrounded by a powerful network of knowledge (Gee, 2003, p. 187) through these Communities of Practice, consisting of â€Å"a content domain, a group of persons interested in this domain and a shared practice to increase the effectiveness of each member† (Wolf, K, 2007, p. 191).There are also communities dedicated to a seemingly endless wave of user-created media, from webcomics created using WoW screenshots to highly-produced â€Å"machinima†, a convergence between games and cinema which combines film-making techniques with computer-generated imagery (CGI), rendered in real-time using game engines (de Freitas & Griffiths, 2008, p. 13). Players forge reputations amongst these robust communities (Shaffer, Squire, Halverson & Gee, 2005, p. 106), participating in forums to share advice on how to advance in the game, hosting news sites or writing FAQs and walkthrou ghs.Along with in-game social facilities, they make up â€Å"a crucial component of MMORPGs† (Bradford, 2010, p. 58), necessitating the learning and development of â€Å"effective social practices† (Shaffer, Squire, Halverson & Gee, 2005, p. 106). Despite the growing popularity of gaming culture, a lack of understanding of the social contexts of gamers still produces stereotypical views of gamers, attributing to them â€Å"deviant behaviours and emotional problems† (Stetina, Kothgassner, Lehenbauer & Kryspin-Exner, 2010, p. 477).In a recent example, Colleen Lachowicz, a Democratic Party candidate for the Maine State Senate, was the subject of a campaign organised by the Maine Republican Party in October 2012 to make public what they called Lachowicz's â€Å"bizarre double life† (Benedetti, 2012) as an orc in WoW. A website created for the campaign proclaimed â€Å"Maine needs a State Senator that lives in the real world, not in Colleen’s fantasy w orld† (Colleen's World, 2012), and a mail-out, featuring images of Lachowicz's avatar with highlighted quotes including â€Å"I love poisoning and stabbing! and â€Å"I can kill stuff without going to jail† was posted to voters (Maine Republican Party, 2012). Lachowicz's casual comments typify the playful tone of MMOG socialisation (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006, p. 899) and the misinterpretation, whether accidental or deliberate, is evidence of stereotyping due to a lack of understanding of the complex social culture of MMORPGs. When considering the social potential of MMORPGs, it is also important to acknowledge â€Å"problematic play†: playing excessively at the detriment of real-life priorities and relationships (Snodgrass, Lacy, Francois Dengah II, Fagan, 2011).Not all players are effected and numerous studies show that many cases of problematic play are associated with pre-existing psychopathological problems (Stetina, Kothsgassner, Lehenbauer & Kryspin-Ex ner, 2010, p. 474; Snodgrass, Lacy, Francois Dengah II & Fagan, 2011, pp. 1212-1213) including depression, OCD and low self-esteem. Certain player motivations may increase risk of problematic play, such as reliance on online socialisation and escapism as a coping strategy (Stetina, Kothsgassner, Lehenbauer & Kryspin-Exner, 2010, p. 478).A 2011 study suggested playing with real-life friends or family minimises problematic play, by helping to retain awareness of the real world (Snodgrass, Lacy, Francois Dengah II & Fagan, 2011). Furthermore, such play can enhance existing relationships (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006, p. 891). While immersion – â€Å"experienc(ing) the avatar as ‘I'† (Bradford, 2010, p. 57) – can play a role in developing problematic behaviour, it is important to note that not all immersive play is problematic (Stetina, Kothsgassner, Lehenbauer & Kryspin-Exner, 2010, . 478). Immersion plays a vital role in games such as WoW, allowing players to â€Å"think, talk and act in new ways† and â€Å"inhabit roles that are otherwise inaccessible to them† (Shaffer, Squire, Halverson and Gee, 2005, p. 105), creating a more level playing ground for socialisation and situated understanding (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006, pp. 891-892). With their complex economic, social, political and cultural systems and the potential to access the data of thousands of online players at any given time (Szell & Thurner, 2010, p. 14; Shaffer, Squire, Halverson and Gee, 2005), MMOGs are potentially ideal environments for researching â€Å"collective human phenomena and social dynamics† (Szell & Thurner, 2010, p. 314). In 2007, Lofgren and Fefferman suggested that WoW could be used as a tool to â€Å"substantially boost the reality quotient of disease simulators† (Vastag, 2007), following an in-game epidemic of the virtual disease â€Å"Corrupted Blood† in 2005. Corrupted Blood, introduced through a downloadable upda te, was a highly infectious â€Å"de-buff† designed to make combat more challenging in a new area of the game, accessible only to higher level players.A programming error allowed the disease to spread beyond the intended area into heavily populated areas of the game, â€Å"mimicking the travel of contagious carriers over long distances that has been the hallmark of many disease outbreaks in history† (Lofgren & Fefferman, 2007, p. 625). Lofgren and Fefferman noted that players' â€Å"dedication to the virtual community† (2007, p. 627) provoked diverse reactions – some risking their own character in an effort to heal others, others logging out in â€Å"a panic response† (Vastag, 2007, p. 264) and some even propagating the chaos by intentionally spreading the disease (Vastag, 2007, p. 64) – approximating to â€Å"reactions of people in real-life situations of danger† (Lofgren & Fefferman, 2007, p. 627), suggesting MMORPGs hold great prom ise in terms of measuring social dynamics and collective human response for purposes of scientific research. At its core, gaming culture relies on effective cooperation and collaboration, both in-game and through communities of practice outside of the game. Participation in video games and the communities surrounding them teaches and encourages players to engage in â€Å"effective social practices†, establishing and building upon new and effective forms of entertainment, pleasure and sociality. Bradford, 2010). The success and popularity of these unique worlds has shown immense potential for further study into large-scale social dynamics and human phenomenon, potential which has yet to be fully explored. As contexts and media forms continue to converge, it seems certain that the millions of players whose avatars inhabit the rich virtual worlds of MMORPGs and other online games will continue to create and explore new and innovative opportunities for socialisation and learning. Works Cited Benedetti, W. (2012). Republicans out Democrat in World of Warcraft Witch Hunt.Retrieved from http://www. nbcnews. com/technology/ingame/republicans-out-democrat-world-warcraft-witch-hunt-6283586 Bradford, C. (2010). Looking for my corpse: Video games and player positioning. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 33(1), 55-64. Retrieved from http://www. informit. com. au Colleen's World. (2012). Retrieved from www. colleensworld. com de Freitas, S. , & Griffiths, M. (2008). The convergence of gaming practices with other media forms: what potential for learning? A review of the literature. Learning, Media and Technology, 33(1), 11-20. doi:10. 080/17439880701868796 Gee, J. P. (2003). What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York, NY: Palgrave Mamillan. Guinness World Records. (2012). Retrieved from www. guinnessworldrecords. com Iserloth, A. (2012). World of Warcraft gathers for breast cancer. Retrieved from http://www. universitychronicle. net/index. php/2012/10/22/cancer-wow-walk/ Jenkins, H. (2006). War Between Effects and Meaning: Rethinking the Video Game Violence Debate. In D. Buckingham & R. Willett (Eds. ), Digital Generations (pp. 19-31). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.Lofgren, E. T. & Fefferman, N. H. (2007). The untapped potential of virtual game worlds to shed light on real world epidemics. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 7(9), 625-629. doi:10. 1016/S1473-3099(07)70212-8 Maine Republican Party. (2012). Candidate's Bizarre Double Life Raises Questions. Retrieved from https://www. mainegop. com/2012/10/candidates-bizarre-double-life-raises-questions/ O'Neal, A. (2012). World of Warcraft players go pink to raise money for breast cancer research. Retrieved from http://www. examiner. com/article/world-of-warcraft-players-go-pink-to-raise-mo

A Class Without A Teacher Essay

One of the most awaited moment in school life- Absence of a teacher in class. This is the time when a classroom can change into a parliament, jungle, market or even a mix of everything! Gossip, food, naughtiness, laughter and craziness overrule books, law, discipline and silence. The most perfect time to relax and enjoy and exercise our right to freedom of everything we can think of. Beings students, our prime motive is to break rules, have fun and cherish the good memories rather than crying over bad times, abiding school rules, stay numb and work like robots. Once a teacher enters the classroom, we find silence at its perfectness and everyone is busy with their assigned work. But after all, students are students and once the teacher leaves, shall their true identities be revealed. Teaching by video conferencing makes a classroom without physical presence of teacher. This kind of advancement in teaching slowly minimizes the personal care and interactive nature of teacher. Now, we’re focused on giving teachers the support they need to excel in the classroom. That support should come in many forms, including individualized professional development, cutting-edge educational technology and state-of-the-art lesson plans. One of the things I hear most often when I talk to teachers is that they’re eager for more chances to work together, to learn from each other. New teachers want regular access to colleagues with experience who can help them grow into the profession. Experienced teachers, likewise, want to become leaders in their schools by mentoring new teachers. I was recently talking to teachers in Denver, an innovative school district that is trying some new approaches. They told me one of the best changes is a new emphasis to work in groups. They said the spirit of the collaboration reminds them of why they became teachers in the first place. Perhaps most importantly, teachers must have a voice in creating the future of teaching. They have a unique understanding of where their profession needs to go and what they need to do their best work for students. We have an obligation to benefit from their wisdom. That is why all the work we do at the foundation is in partnership with teachers.

My philosophy for advanced practice nursing Essay

My philosophy for advanced practice nursing (APN) is an extension of the philosophy of my nursing practice. I plan to form a partnership with my patients in which compassionate, holistic, evidence based care will lead to the patient maintaining optimal health and wellness. Advance Practice Nurses focus entirely on the patient by compassionately addressing every aspect of the patient’s needs. My goal is to educate and encourage the patient to become responsible for his/her health by working diligently with the healthcare team. An APN’s primary focus should be to address and remove the underlying cause of illness rather than to merely alleviate the presenting symptoms. This can be done by addressing underlying issues that can hinder the healing process and establish a plan to remove these obstacles in order to promote holistic healing. I value treating the whole patient (emotional, genetic, environmental, social, physical, spiritual, and other factors) and offering means of wellness in conjunction with traditional options (Nightingale, 1954). Nurse Practitioners provide the patient with a holistic care that includes not only exercise, nutrition, environment, and stressors, but also considers the client’s cultural world view (Dossey, 2010). When this approach is taken, each patient is able to experience an individualized plan of treatment. As I step out of the role of bedside nurse and embrace the role of an APN, I look forward to the additional responsibilities of diagnosing and treating patients which will afford me a greater role in the improvement of my patient’s health. This advanced role in designing and implementing plans of treatment empowers the APN to provide complete patient care. The APN role also allows me the opportunity to educate my patients, their families and the community on measures to improve health and prevent future illnesses. I look forward to advancing as a professional because, as I do so, I can make a difference by implementing and improving patient care and teaching others. References Dossey, B. (2010). Holistic nursing: from Florence Nightingale’s historical legacy to 21st-century global nursing. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 16(5), 14-16. Nightingale, F. (1954). Notes on nursing: What it is and what it is not. In L.R. Seymer (Ed.), selected writings of Florence Nightingale (p.123-220). New York: Macmillan. (Original work published 1859).

Article Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Review - Article Example belief and understanding that if only the next biggest competitor could be eliminated that business could somehow get better, the fact of the matter is that the competition that these two firms provide to each other as well as the ideas that are ultimately â€Å"borrowed†/stolen between the two are yet another reason why the firms continue to operate with such a high premium placed on innovation, design, and development. This tense competition is further interesting due to the fact that the article raises the specter of Internet Explorer and Netscape as well as the resurrection that Apple experienced as a result of the iPad under Steve Jobs ultimate direction. What these cases help to bring to the mind of the reader is the fact that as soon as a single firm gains market dominance and somewhat eliminates a rival, the ability of the dominant firm to continue to efficiently innovate and design quality products necessarily decreases. In this way, the reader can appreciate the way in which the firms in question are currently locked in competition; meaning that this ultimate translates to increased quality to the end user. Gupta, Poornima. "Insight: Apple and Samsung, frenemies for life| Reuters." Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com. Reuters, 10  Feb.  2013. Web. 24  Feb.  2013.

The Environmental Rhetoric of the Simpsons Essay

The Environmental Rhetoric of the Simpsons - Essay Example Todd claims that the popular culture imagery in social commentary is the rhetoric of visual arguments (Todd, p. 137). Visual arguments show persuasive messages to the audience. Blair argues, â€Å"Visual argument is to use symbols to communicate and it can convince the audience (Todd, p. 138). The symbols or comical characters that might be presented through visual argument can convince people. For example, showing a visual argument about the environment and what is needed as process to protect the environment. Some visual images can be able to convince, because they might have personal or social experiences, which affect the individuals. The visual argument evidence is relevant because Todd quotes them from the argument and advocacy, which make visual arguments credible to solve problems that the affects the environment. These evidences are persuasive to the audience because they like to watch the visual arguments. Visual arguments show the environmental problems and the result if no care is followed of the process to help the environment. Todd claims that the nuclear power plant of the Simpsons represents the environmental politics of the real world. There should be visual explanations about the power plant regarding the negligence, which characterizes company standards for disposing of nuclear waste. Wastes are leaking out of the trashcan in a plant coffee room is a painful image. Watching trashcan full of waste in a coffee room and ignoring it is a sign of danger to the environment. T

Australia Study(Issues for Australias presentation) Essay

Australia Study(Issues for Australias presentation) - Essay Example Others believe that parents and schools should be responsible for inculcating moral values and shaping behaviour of children. In this paper we will discuss who should be responsible for teaching ethics to Australian children. A brief background of the country and culture will be presented in this paper. The role of parents, teacher, and social institutions in providing education of ethics to children will be discussed. Australia is placed in the Southern Hemisphere and constitutes most part of the Australian continent. The country is fairly developed economically and militarily. It is the thirteen largest economy of the world. The country is also placed second on the Human Development Index. Australia is also a highly urbanized country meaning most of the population resides in the urban centres. The country is member of all the notable world organizations and enjoys a dominant position in the world due to its financial position. The quality of life and life style standards in Australia are very high, and corruption level is extremely low (World Audit Organization, 2001). This has included Australia in the list of developed worlds. Financial markets of the country are very developed and this has made the country integrated with the world. Australian culture is individualistic in nature. People follow westernized trends and this is evident in cinemas and theatres of the country (Teo & White, 2003). American pop culture is famous in the country and the society is independent. People live their lives in an independent way without family pressures typical in the eastern societies. Individualist culture is prevalent and people see themselves as individuals rather than as collective units. Australian culture is also influenced by the immigrants who constitute a significant minority. Immigrants are also growing at a fast pace because the population of the country is not growing rapidly. Immigrants have now become

Presentation and written submission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Presentation and written submission - Essay Example Those trades that took place were carried out at substantial discounts. These disruptions in market activity had a fundamental role in the transmission and amplification of the US financial market. The global financial crisis of 2007 - 2009 led to uncertainty in the US financial market causing the problem of adverse selection. Adverse selection is a situation where only one party to a financial contract has better information as compared to the other leading to only low-quality products being available in the market. The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of adverse selection in causing reduced lending, investment and economic activity as a result of little willingness to lend among US lender. Adverse Selection Adverse selection refers to an asymmetric information problem which takes place before a transaction is carried out. It is when possible bad credit risks are the most active in seeking out loans. This therefore leads to the likelihood of those that are most likely to cre ate an undesirable/adverse result being selected (Philippon & Skreta, 2010, p. 22). For instance, those that seek to carry on big risks are more likely to be the most keen to take loans since they know they aren’t likely to pay it back. ... An asset’s market price will manifest the quality expected based on the quality of all assets that are for sale in the market if buyers can’t be able to assess its quality. Adverse selection can arise from this asymmetric information between buyers and sellers. Sellers of high quality assets will pull back from the market as prices fall hence leaving assets that are of only low-quality (lemons) for sale. The result may be the reduction or halt in the trade of the asset since buyers are wary they will be left with an asset that is overpriced (lemon) if they transact. Moreover, this leads to the credit crunch since such assets can no longer act as collateral for other transactions. In both post-crisis episodes and the global financial crisis of 2007–09, adverse selection played a key role (Coval, Jurek & Stafford, 2009, p. 19). Increases in Uncertainty It gets more difficult for lenders to screen out good credits from the bad ones whenever there is a striking incre ase in uncertainty in financial markets. A reduction in investment, lending and aggregate activity is caused by lenders becoming less willing to lend due to their inability to solve adverse selection. The increase in uncertainty can grow out of a recession or failure of large financial or nonfinancial institution. However, uncertainty regarding interest rate dynamics and government policies seem to have in recent times of financial instability in developed market countries played a major role in reduction of investment, lending and aggregate economic activity (Caballero & Krishnamurthy, 2009, p. 86 - 88). Data A table of USA’s financial and economic data from the year 2003 to 2011 Year Lending

Fundamentals of Communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fundamentals of Communication - Assignment Example The ethical issues should be analyzed well in advance when one understands the ideology behind the communication understandings because ethics is something that plays a very tacit role within any society of the world. This concept of the ethical issues within the book has been covered very appropriately. This is the reason why I believe it should be mentioned duly within this paper. Also this ethical issue construct needs to be given emphasis because it is necessary to speak in such terms to achieve what the eventual goals are for the organization and how it wishes to expand its network across the different domains and dimensions of the society. The need is to reach the masses and let the message be known easily so that there are no problems encountered by the people who remain a very significant part of the society nonetheless (Alberts, Nakayama & Martin, 2009). When the communication regimes are based on the basic element of dealing in an ethical manner with one another, the success is indeed guaranteed. This will be highlighted in the different zones where ethics has been employed and where it should be made use of to make sure that communication remains significant at the end of the day. It i s in essence a fundamental part of any communication setting which has come about with the passage of time, and which shall remain more important in the changing eras. What is required here is an understanding of the different ethical issues which come about in the discussion of communication. This is because communication feels that it is incomplete if ethical understandings are not reached upon quite clearly. This will set the basis for finding out other issues and concerns within the communication mechanisms. But if the ethical issues are properly gauged and realized, then the communication concerns will be dealt with in a proper manner. The need of the hour

Iraq's Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Decolonization as a Violent Phenomenon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Decolonization as a Violent Phenomenon - Essay Example He wrote his most influential work, The Wretched of the Earth, during the Algerian liberation movement when Algeria was a French colony. Fanon talked about violence towards the colonizers and described the Algerian French relationship during the colonial period which ended in the 1960s. Fanon said, â€Å"decolonization is a violent phenomenon† (Fanon b 37). He believed that violence was the only way to abolish colonialism. Fanon was one of the strong-willed who believes that violence would be the only way to rid Algeria of colonialism. This essay will focus on Fanon’s argument that violence is the only way to eliminate colonialism and his reasons for the belief. The film, â€Å"The Battle of Algeries†, which was directed by the Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, shows the environment Fanon lived in when he formed most of his opinions on decolonization. The film also offers a clear example of how Fanon’s ideas of anti-colonialism violence were applied during the years leading up to the liberation of Algeria in 1962. Decolonization is getting rid of colonial rule and obtaining independence (Fanon a 5). One of Fanon’s resolute beliefs was that the only way to get rid of colonialism was through violence. In The Wretched of the Earth, he states: Decolonization is the meeting of two forces, opposed to each other by their very nature, which in fact owe their originality to that sort of substantiation which results from and is nourished by the situation in the colonies. (Fanon b 27) Fanon’s personal experiences in Algeria impressed on him that there was only one way to respond to colonialism, revolution through violence. Colonies always breed conflict, because of the oppressive atmosphere the natives endure.  

Aspects of the Tragiccomedy As I Lay Dying Essay Example for Free

Aspects of the Tragiccomedy As I Lay Dying Essay William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is both comic and tragic in many ways throughout this book. This is a story of a family who carts their dead mother, Addie, to be buried in her hometown in Jefferson. There are fifteen monologues from this book including one from Addie. The family goes through horrendous obstacles in order to complete their trip. Addie is the heart and soul of this family yet she never wanted this life. Addie’s father would tell her, â€Å"The reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time. 169. So she took Anse for a husband and gave him Cash and Darl. After she had Darl she made Anse promise to bury her in Jefferson when she died. But Anse wanted more kids. Addie had an affair with Mr. Whitfield and had Jewel. She gave Anse Dewey Dell for the negative of Jewel and last Vardaman. Addie is bitter about her life and doesn’t show the love and affection towards her kids except to Jewel her favorite. As long as she is around this family the more suffering she will bring to them. All her children except Jewel want her love and kindness but she rebukes them. In the beginning of their journey Jewel takes horse with him, but Anse is against this because he feels it is disrespectful towards Addie. Jewel should be riding in the wagon with everybody else. They come to a bridge which has just collapsed because of the weather and the river is moving very fast. It will take the trip longer if they go around so the Bundren family makes up a plan and goes through it. Cash and Darl make their way across the broken bridge when the wagon tips. Darl was supposed to hold on the coffin but instead lets it go hoping that God will take care of her and that would end their trip. However, Jewel went into the river to rescue his dead mother from the river and foiled Darl’s plans. Cash has a broken leg but he’s lucky because it was the same leg he had broken before so he is not begrudging it. Cash holds off on medical treatment until they bury Addie. When they come to rest at Mr. Gillippsie’s barn Darl has had enough of this trip all he wants to do is end it and send Addie on her way, peaceful like in her sleep. So Darl sets the barn on fire, livestock and all. However, Jewel comes to the rescue again and saves the coffin from being burnt. Vardaman knows Darl set the barn on fire but lke a good brother he keeps it to himself and doesn’t tell anybody. The rest of the family suspects it is Darl and are going to deal with him after they bury Addie. Darl introspectively has an insight to his family’s secrets. He has discovered that Dewey Dell is pregnant and is going into town to get a treatment for an abortion; Jewel is not Anse’s son, and by that thought he taunts Jewel to no end. He knows Anse is going to Jefferson for a new set of teeth even if he has to beg, steal or borrow. Anse takes money from Cash and Dewey Dell, and then he sells Jewel’s horse to pay for a new mule team to get them to Jefferson. When they do reach Jefferson Addie is passed due and ready for the ground. Anse borrows a couple spades in order to dig the grave and they lay her to rest. Betrayed by Dewey Dell and assaulted by Jewel, Darl is taken away to the asylum. Only Cash understands him; only Cash and Vardaman pity him. Referring to himself in the third person, a sign of extreme self-estrangement, Darl says: Darl is our brother, our brother Darl. Our brother Darl is in a cage in Jackson where, his grimed hands lying light in the quiet interstices, looking out he foams. Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. To the end it is a search for kinship that obsesses Darl, and his cryptic row of affirmatives may signify a last, pathetic effort to proclaim his brotherhood. Howe The characters in As I Lay Dying do not clearly communicate to one another. Each goes and does whatever they need to do for themselves with little regard for the other. Addie Bundren was a very private woman and would not have it any other way; I believe she passed that quality to her kids. Because, if they did talk to each other maybe there would be a better bond with all of them instead of guessing and tip toeing around the matter. In this tragic comedy book the irony is seeing what you hate inside multiply itself by 5. This is what Addie Bundren created. Dewey Dell is in the same place her mom was only a little worse off because she is not married. Darl is goes mad and heads to an insane asylum. Vardaman is trying to piece everything together and still believes his mom is a fish. Jewel is kinder to his mother in death then he was when she was alive and I believe he regrets that. Cash has one good leg and still has his carpenter tools, he’ll make it through somehow. Anse cannot live without a wife so when gets his teeth in Jefferson he introduces the children to their new mother.

Ho Chi Minh City Essay Example for Free

Ho Chi Minh City Essay Trung nguyen is the most famous coffee brand in Vietnam. It was created in 1996 by Mr. D? ng Le Nguyen Vu. During student life in medical school of Tay Nguyen, Mr. D? ng had a question about coffee farmers’ life. Although the price of a cup of coffee wasn’t cheap, but why, farmers were still poor. This question encouraged him to find the answers. He and his company suffered from many accidents, but they kept on trying. Those experiences brought them a good background for opening more shops and expanding their business widely. And in early 2004, they introduced G7 to the customers. This step turned Trung Nguyen history to the new page, they became the biggest and the most famous firm selling high-quality coffee powder. II. Strategy Trung Nguyen first opened their first coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City in 1998 and received some positive feedbacks. In 2001 they had built over thousands coffee shops all over Vietnam and became top-rated brand in Vietnamese coffee industry. They did Franchising, the step which was different from all other Vietnamese firm, they were the first. After 5 years, Trung Nguyen not only could gain the trust, the belief of Vietnamese customers but also customers in other countries like Singapore, Japan, Cambodia, etc. In 2006, Trung Nguyen invested and built the biggest high-quality G7mart system of stores for selling products. In June 2012, Trung Nguyen created the new strategy. That was creating the string of quick shops, which allows customers to choose some various kinds of coffee beans and the owner of the shop will mix them together for making the customers’ own styles. The evidence for the development of this strategy is the profit which grows 15% per week Trung Nguyen’s customers are not only the elder, the people who understand clearly about coffee but also, they have products for the young, who begin drinking coffee like student, teenager, etc. III. Revenue-Potential Growth. Although the economics go down, Trung Nguyen still makes profit, and improves themselve powerfully. In 2011, their revenue and production improve up to 151%, and the first six months in 2012, they gain up to 178% compared with the same time in 2011. The biggest evolution of Trung Nguyen is their G7 powder became the leader of coffee powder in Vietnam at the rate 37. 8% In the near future, Mr. D? ng plans to join the world stock market and in the next 10 years, he tries to invest more than 800 million USD to build new factories and some additional options.

The Compass: History, and Impact of the Invention

The Compass: History, and Impact of the Invention

Women-and Minority-Owned Businesses Adapt to New Economy Essay

â€Å"Women-and Minority-Owned Businesses Adapt to New Economy†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Women-and Minority-Owned Businesses Adapt to New Economy† written by Yvette Armendariz was an article that I found in the archives of the Arizona Republic (October 6, 2002) via the internet. This article dealt with the readings from class over the past couple of weeks, especially dealing with women and Global Economy. As the title reads, women-owned businesses are adapting to the new economy, the economy after the New York September 11th attacks. This article is a year old, but I thought that it still had merit and was worth writing about. In this article there are 4 companies mentioned. Two are owned by Caucasian women and the other two, by men of ethic backgrounds. The companies owned by the wo...

Jamaican Culture and Society Essay examples -- American History

Jamaican Culture and Society I. Introduction- Retracing the Remnants of Colonialism: When discussing and analyzing contemporary Caribbean culture one must not fail to acknowledge the dreadful legacies of colonialism and imperialism. Contemporary Caribbean society, politics, and economics thinly veil the ramifications of a colonial and hegemonic past. Due to the remnants of colonial institutions such as slavery and the plantation system, the Caribbean has experienced a range of negative societal effects, namely the consolidation of a unifying cultural identity. The demise of colonialism in the Caribbean did not mark the end of social stratification based on racial and ethnic divisions. The prevailing racial distinctions and hierarchy that characterized colonialism via the institution of slavery have historically thwarted any systematic attempt to create a distinct national cultural identity. Thus, this study of the Jamaican culture and society will intimately relate racial ideologies and social class structures in order to illustrate the dynamics of the Jamaican cultu ral identity crisis. II. The Emergence and Implications of a Social Caste System: The post-colonial period in the Caribbean posed the challenge of creating nation states with thriving societies that would meet the desires and destinies of their inhabitants. Jamaica, which recently attained its independence from Great Britain in 1962, was indeed no exception to this challenge. In fact, Jamaica, like many of its Caribbean counterparts, "had an inordinate difficulty in creating and maintaining a strong, cohesive national sensibility" (Knight, 307). The difficulty of creating a cohesive national identity initially emerged in the post-emancipation period in J... ...liography- Excerpts taken from: Michelle Cliff’s essay, "If I Could Write This With Fire." Henriques, Fernando. Jamaica: Land of Wood and Water. Maggibbon & Kee: London. 1957 Knight, Franklin. The Caribbean: The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism. Oxford University Press: New York, 1990. Lawson, Winston Arthur. Religion and Race: African and European Roots in Conflict- A Jamaican Testament. Peter Lang Publishing: New York, 1996. Morris, Mervyn. "Making West Indian Literature" University of the West Indies 2013. Web 9 May 2015. http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1280&context=anthurium Nettleford, Rex. Caribbean Cultural Identity: The case of Jamaica- An Essay in Cultural Dynamics. UCLA Publications: Los Angeles. Nettleford, Rex. Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica. William Morrow & Company: New York, 1972.

Managing Life Cycles Influences in an Organization :: essays research papers

Managing Life Cycles Influences in an Organization For everything in life there is a season, and the same holds true for business. There is a life cycle that successful businesses inevitably pass through. They endure the perils up start-up, often on a shoestring; they grow to greater size and stability, permitting the owners to think about building wealth for themselves and their employees; and they progress to a point where owners have to think about valuing and succession or sale of the business (Forbes p9). Your intelligence gathering--what you need to know and when you need to know it--will vary depending on the cyclical speed of the industry life cycles. When you recognize cyclical trends you will be able to determine effective intelligence strategies. If you work in a relatively new industry you will want to identify potential (new or would-be) surprise competitors. Near the end of the growth stage, you will need intelligence that will help hold market share during the market's eventual decline ( Inside R & D, p NA). Start Up Stage The start up stage is the most trying stage. A newly formed company is still testing out the waters. Expenditure is high and usually greater then the revenue due to start up costs and other start up fees. This is the time where you need to have strong management personnel that will stick with the company during the not so lean times. They have to have clear defined goals that they can pass on to their department.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Each stage also demands different talents and perspectives, and new leaders usually have to be brought in as businesses progress. The visionary who is well suited to leading a new business through its early experimental stages is often poorly equipped to guide the venture through the expansion and integration stages, when sales and organizational skills become more important than bold thinking and creativity (Garvin, 2004).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The manager?s job is three-fold. They need to: 1) decide what needs to be done and how it is to be accomplished; 2) continually react to market conditions, 3) make sure his and his employees' efforts support that continually changing vision. Without a strong leader at the helm, the vision of the firm will be quickly outdated and the firm will be overrun by increased costs and declining sales (Osheroff p21). The goal of management is to see that rules are followed, budgets are met, and metrics are achieved.

Analysis Of Economic Performance Of Canada Economics Essay

Canada is among the top 10 trading states in the universe and its economic system is dominated by service sector. It is one of the wealthiest states and it ‘s a member of administration of economic cooperation and development ( OECD ) and G-8. The impressive growing of Canada ‘s fabrication, excavation and service sections have transformed the North American state from an agricultural economic system to a extremely industrial and modern economic system ( canada economic construction ) . Canada ‘s biggest trading spouse is USA, 80 % of its exports are to USA and imports 65 % from USA ( canada economic system ) . Canada has experienced a high economic growing, even when a planetary economic crisis was impacting most economic systems of universe ( canada economic study ) The purposes and aims of this study are to measure the economic public presentation of Canada. The study discusses about the macroeconomic indexs and balance of payments from 2006 boulder clay today. The study besides discusses about the future positions of Canada. Gross Domestic Product can be defined as â€Å" the sum of goods and services produced by a state over clip † . Canada ‘s economic system is really extremely developed. Foreign Trade is the foundation of Canadian economic system. Foreign Trade is responsible for approximately 45 % of Canada ‘s Gross Domestic Product. Canada is one of those states that are a major exporter of energy ( merchandising economic system 2010 ) . Canada ‘s existent GDP has grown by 0.8 % in the last one-fourth of 2010, led by exports. All major subdivisions increased their end product in the last one-fourth of 2010, except the fabrication industry. The largest sector lending to the GDP growing was the excavation and oil and gas sector. Canada has seen so many ups and downs during the recession period. But 2009 has been the worst twelvemonth for Canada in footings of economic growing as the GDP fell to -2.46 % . But Canada being a major exporter of so many merchandises has somehow gained back its place as GDP rose to 3.07 % . Canada is one state in the universe that has seen a budget excess when the recession was striking so many economic systems severely. But finally in 2009-2010, Canada ‘s excess started shriveling and the state for the first clip in last six old ages witnessed a shortage. Although, Canada was in excess for so many old ages still the % alteration in the figures as seen from the graph below was really less. The excess growing in 2009 was merely 0.15 % as compared to the old twelvemonth where the growing was 1.96 % .In 2010 the state faced a shortage and the growing rate went down to -0.03. Exchange rate is the monetary value of one national currency such as Canadian dollar expressed in footings of in another currency, illustration US dollar or basket of currencies ( Bank of canda ) . Canada has flexible exchange rate system this can be shown from the undermentioned line graph. In 2006 it was 0.88 which increased boulder clay 2008 and because of recession during 2009 it decreased. Motion in Canadian dollar shows how domestic and external factors co relate with each other. These factors play an of import function at different points of clip. The factors are economic public presentation, involvement rates, rising prices rates, Canada ‘s public debt, trade and current history balance etc ( Bank of canda ) . Canada Balance Of PaymentsCurrent HistoryThe balance of payments can be defined as â€Å" the economic dealing of the state ‘s occupants with the remainder of the universe â€Å" ( fxwords ) and the Trade is the â€Å" difference between the exports and imports ( fxwords ) . â€Å" Canada has been in a trade shortage since past few old ages ( 2005-2009 ) because it has imported more than it exported. But in 2010, state ‘s exports increased and finally it the trade balance started lifting ( from -27231 to -23309 ) . The above graphs are similar beacause there is a strong relationship between the trade balance and the current history balance. When the trade balance is diminishing the current balance is besides diminishing and vice-versa. This means they are straight relative to each other.2. Capital and Financial AccountCanada ‘s balance on capital and fiscal history has shown a uninterrupted betterment as the figures went up from -22768 in 2006 to 55546 in 2010. When a state has a positive capital and fiscal history, it has more debits than credits. It is said that a state should non hold any restraints on capital motion because it attracts more Foreign Direct Investment.In Canada stock exchange volumes and capital market deregulating are encouraged by Portfolio Foreign Investments and the investors diversify their portfolio hazard by puting in more than one market ( investopedia ) . Canada is a state full of natural resources, engineering and many other agencies of production. Even Bankss and other fiscal establishments are stable in this state. Canada has been a state of low involvement rate and low rising prices rate. This is the ground why the state has developed more than any other state even after go throughing a bad stage of fiscal crisis ( economic system ticker 2008 ) .Future GDP EstimatesThere has been an addition in the GDP growing in the first one-fourth of 2011.The state has overcome with the recession at a faster rate than any other state. At the terminal of 2009, Canada was in the figure 10 place for universe rankings. Forecasters expect that by the stopping point of 2015, Numberss will make $ 1,971.44 billion in US dollars. Because the economic system of Canada is a mixture of many things and with this state being one of the most critical of all providers of agricultural merchandises, it is expected that the economic system will stay strong ( econ omic system ticker 2008 ) .

Women’s Prisons / Correctional Facilities

History regarding the matters of incarcerated women has dictated that there is such inequality with regards to sexual preferences in the criminal justice system. Even prior to 1870, the society has enacted upon an unforgiving outlook regarding nonconforming women. Crowded in unsanitary, small and terribly ventilated rooms in men's institutions, incarcerated women were horribly abused by male guards and by the whole system of the place itself. Through the years, the call for improving this system has been heard and acted upon by the government. Today, almost every state in the country has erected their own penal institutions for women which are also administered upon by staffs and officials in which the majority are women. However, even if improvements regarding these implementations have been accomplished by the government, there is still a clamor regarding indifferences with men's and women's equality in correctional facilities. LESS CONCERN FOR WOMEN'S PRISON/CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES Due to the dominance of men with regards to the number of incarcerated population than women, more studies are provided for men than for women. Due to this, there have been many unrecognized concerns regarding women and their system of incarceration. Back in 1993, there was a conference that tackled this matter regarding incarceration of women and they found out many conclusions that resulted from a detailed look at the matter. â€Å"Officials of the National Association of Women Judges, which gathered here last weekend for its 15th annual conference, cite a number of court-ordered studies that taken together portray a kind of built-in bias against female convicts in criminal- justice and corrections systems around the country. (Hinds, 1993). They found out results that the number of female population has tripled in number over the past decade that there is a need for more focus regarding the number of jails and prisons and also improving the system as well. They also found out that states have lesser number of alternative prisons for female offenders who are nonviolent, compared to male nonviolent offenders. Findings were also tracked regarding the matter that women tend to have a longer serving time than women due to the fact that they are placed in less crowded facilities than men. Another point that drew concern was that most states only have so few prisons that most women are moved far away from their homes making it harder for their families to visit. Another matter is that prisons for women provide lesser job-training programs. Vocational training is also very limited leaving female inmates to choose between few options such as clerical work or homemaking. Adding up to these, studies also showed that women are not adequately taken cared of health-wise. There are only few states that offer obstetrics and gynecology. Hinds, 1993). CONCLUSION Inequity towards incarcerated women can be pinpointed out one by one with the help of critical analysis and comprehensive study. But with lack of interest regarding this subject matter, the concern for a study of women and their incarceration system has become bleak and overshadowed by the huge concern for men. Though both genders commit criminal offenses whether minor or major, there must still be equal considerations or specific characterization with regards to the system. There can be many examples of this dark side of the criminal justice system, for instance, many structures for incarcerated people are all planned and based on the men's point of view. The health care system, the pregnancy considerations, the design of the structure relating to women, and other female concerns are less addressed. There is a need for further studies of this matter to achieve equal considerations.

Abraham Lincoln: President of the USA Essay

Abraham Lincon was born Febuary 12, 1809 in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. Born in a farming family, with tradgedy around him, Lincon perservered. Lincon became the sixteenth president of the United States, and guided America through some of it’s biggest struggles, such as the Civil War. In a world full of â€Å"You cannot do it†, Lincon ignored hate, and through each failure, found success. Abraham Lincon was birthed by Nancy Lincon and Thomas Lincon. Two years before Lincon was born, his mother had a daughter name Sarah. Thomas Lincon was the traditional frontier farmer. Lincon grew up seeing his father as ignorant, and did not admire his father. Both of Lincon’s parents worshipped at an anti-slavery church, that was very contriversal during the time in the slave state of Kentucky. See more:  The 3 Types of Satire Essay Lincon once shot a turkey while on the farm, and the sight of blood and dying repulsed him, that day Lincon knew he was never going to be a marksman. Lincon’s mother at age thrity four died of a â€Å"mill sick† disease. The widowed Tom Lincon re-married, and moved the family to Ohio. The summer of 1828, Lincon read the Declaration of Independence and was drawn into it. After that Lincon began reading books on law, and attending political meetings. In 1831, on a trip to New Orleans Lincon witnessed the brutality of slavery, and it was there where he formed his opinon on slavery; injust. In 1833, Lincon ran for state legislature, and lost. Instead, Lincon was state assemblyman, and would soon go represent Henry Clay’s Whig party. Lincon soon had a growing repuation. Lincon ran for State Legislature against Stephen Douglas, and lost. Lincon had many ups and downs with women, his first wife, dying and then he met Mary Todd and married. Servants who worked for Mary found her very obnoxious. A close friend of Lincon called the Lincon household as â€Å"Domestic hell on Earth†. Abe and Mary’s son Eddie, died, and Mary was very devestated. Later that year, they had another child named William. Abe’s father Tom became ill, and died, and Abe did not attend the funeral or mark his grave. In 1858, Abe ran against Douglas for U.S. Senate and was defeated. In 1857, the Dred Scott case came along. Abe compltely supported the case, and believed that all men should be equal. Douglas always thought that Lincon was preaching for â€Å"Negro citizenship†. Abe preached slavery was ethucally wrong. Later, Abe was nominated for president, and succeeded. Now began the fight for Abe to end slavery. Abe believed that the only way to beat slavery and change the constitution is to change the will of the people (Keneally 65). Abe stated that the Civil War was not to free slaves, but to save the union. Abe had the union victory at Antietam, which would serve as a baisis for his first Emancipation Proclamation. On January 1, 1863, Abe freed the slaves in the rebel states. After his first term, Abe was re-elected as President of the United States. Earlier in the month of April 1865, Abe had a dream he died of asassination. On April 14th, the Lincons went to John Fords Theatre to see Laura Keene’s benifiet performance of the â€Å"Our American Cousin†. It was there in the box seating of the John Ford theatre that Abe was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth. After the shoot, Booth jumped on stage and yelled â€Å"sic semper tyrannis†, the audience believing it to be part of the play since Booth was a well-known actor. Abe passed later that night and became the bloodied nation incarnate (Keneally 175). Before I read this book, the only thing I really knew about Abe Lincon was that he freed the slaves, and was known as â€Å"Honest Abe†. Abraham Lincon was sort of a totured soul. He lost his mother, and never really got along with his father. Abe never had much luck with the ladies, but seemed like a man who would do anything for a woman he loved. I envy Abe in a way. Abraham Lincon should really be a synonym in the dictionary behind the word â€Å"Perserverance†. Abe ran for an election, and was defeated, ran again, and was defeated. Ran again, and was defeated. And so on, and so forth. Out of all of Abe’s defeats he found the greatest thing of all; success. Not once did Abe ever give up. I am sure he thought about it many times, and reached his breaking point all to much, but he never let that stop him. Abraham Lincon was a man of many things, he had a roughness about him, and was disportionally awkward and clumsy. Abe had many failures from being defeated countlessly, and death of family and friends, he overcame it all. Abe is debatedly one of the best Presidents of the United States, and through defeat, he found success and his legacy will remain forever.

The Philippine Revolution Against Spain Essay

1996 is a significant year for Filipinos all over the world. It marks the centennial of the Philippine Revolution, which started in 1896 and officially ended in 1902. The amount of literature generated during and after the Revolution, coupled with the continuing fascination on this period by historians and alike which have produced an infinite number of scholarly works, have validated the widespread perception that this was the most glorious page in the history of the Filipino people. The Philippine Revolution ended more than three centuries of Spanish colonial rule which began when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founded the settlement of Cebu, the oldest Philippine city, in 1565. The Revolution is also heralded as the first anti-colonial independence movement in Asia. The Filipino proclamation of their independence two years after the outbreak of the Revolution was a momentous event for Filipinos of all persuasion. The Revolution began with the masses through the Katipunan, a secret, revolutionary, mass-based organization, and was later embraced by the middle class. Indeed, the Revolution was one of the few times where there was a convergence in the nationalist movements of the masses and the elite. The Katipunan The Katipunan (meaning â€Å"Association†) planned and initiated the Philippine Revolution. It was founded in Tondo, Manila, by Andres Bonifacio and a few other fellow urban workers on July 7, 1892. Its full Tagalog name is Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan nang manga Anak ng Bayan (Highest and Most Venerated Association of the Sons and Daughters of the Land). From its inception, Katipunan was forged by blood, with all its members enacting the traditional blood compact and signing their names with their own blood. The foremost goal of the Katipunan was political, the separation of the Philippines from Spain. Its members also recognized and performed a civic duty which was mutual assistance and the defense of the poor and the oppressed. The Katipunan was steered by Bonifacio, who became known as the Supremo (Supreme) of the Katipunan, and he was ably supported by Emilio Jacinto, who emerged as the â€Å"Brains of the Katipunan.† Philippine historians regard Bonifacio as the â€Å"Great Plebeian† because he came from a poor family in  Tondo and worked as a warehouse clerk. Despite his poverty, Bonifacio was able to educate himself by reading the works of Rizal and the French revolutionists. Because of its brotherhood appeal, Katipunan was swift in recruiting members from the peasants and the working class. Philippine historian Reynaldo Ileto points out that the Katipunan belonged to a long tradition of social movements in Philippine history which fortunately have been disparaged and branded by authorities and the elite as â€Å"illicit associations† and its members as bandits. Like most of these popular movements, the Katipunan was clothed in millenarianism. In their writings, Bonifacio and Jacinto described the pre-Spanish period as an era of kasaganaan (great abundance) and kaginhawaan (prosperity). The demise of this glorious era was a result of the tyranny of Spanish colonial rule. The Katipunan then envisioned the future as one marked by kalayaan (independence), a state of being where there would once again be liwanag (knowledge) and kasaganaan (prosperity). Kalayaan would mean a return to the pre-Spanish condition of prosperity, bliss, and contentment. But it entailed cutting ties with the colonial mother, Spain, and the birth of a nurturing real mother, Inang Bayan or Motherland, meaning Philippines. From the start, the Katipunan drew inspiration from Jose Rizal, whose nationalist writings stirred an oppressed nation into action. His two novels, the Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) and the El Filibusterismo (The Subversive), denounced the decadent colonial order presided by the incompetent and abusive colonial officials and the backward and immoral frailocracy. In the 1880s, Jose Rizal and his fellow ilustrados launched the Propaganda Movement in Europe where they vigorously campaigned for the implementation of the much needed reforms in the Philippines. Their failure to force Spain to institute reforms convinced the Katipunan that the call must be for revolution and not reform. In 1892, Bonifacio sought the counsel of Rizal on their planned revolution and the latter cautioned them because of its untimeliness and the people’s unpreparedness. Events forced Bonifacio and the Katipunan to launched the revolution. On August 23, 1896, the Katipunan was discovered by the Spanish authorities, prompting Bonifacio and the Katipuneros to tear their cedula (identification card), which symbolized their colonial oppression, and to declare in Pugad Lawin the beginning of the Philippine Revolution. The Spanish execution of Rizal on December 30, 1896 further emboldened the  religious Filipinos who saw Rizal’s martyrdom as similar to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, i.e., to redeem his people. Ethnicity and the Creation of National Identity Initially, the Revolution appeared to be an entirely Tagalog affair. The first eight provinces to rise in arms were all in the Tagalog region and its adjacent areas: Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pampanga, Manila, Laguna, Cavite, and Batangas. Even among these provinces, fighting was minimal except for Cavite, Bulacan, and, of course, Manila. Most of the principal revolutionary leaders were Tagalogs, and their initial appeal of support was directed towards the Katagalugan or the Tagalog people. This was not surprising since prior to the Revolution, Filipinos did not think of themselves as one homogenous race. Identity was instead linked with regional ethnicity. The Spanish policy of divisiveness aimed at effecting colonial rule promoted and encouraged regional isolation and ethnic distinctions. By the nineteenth century the term â€Å"Filipino† referred to the Spanish insulares or those born in the Philippines. The Filipinos in general were loathingly called indios and their identity was rooted on their regional origin or ethnic affiliation: Tagalog, Kapampangan, Cebuano, Ilocano, Ilonggo, etc. In the first two years of the Revolution, battles raged mainly in the Tagalog provinces. Outside the Katagalugan, responses were varied. Pampanga, which was close to Manila, was uninvolved in the Revolution from September 1896 to the end of 1897, perhaps because the conditions which drove the Tagalogs to rise in arms were not totally similar in Pampanga. For instance, friar estates or church monopoly of landholdings which triggered agrarian unrest in Tagalog areas was not pervasive in Pampanga. Besides apathy, there were those, such as some Albayanos of Bicol, who were even apprehensive of rumors of a â€Å"Tagalog rebellion† aimed at ousting the Spaniards and exercising Tagalog hegemony over the non-Tagalog ethnic groups. Historian Leonard Andaya claims that what brought the Revolution to the non-Tagalog areas was Aguinaldo’s policy of encouraging his military officials to return to their home province and mobilize local support. For instance, the Revolution came late in Antique, and it was due to General Leandro Fullon, an Antiqueno principalia general of Aguinaldo, who went to his home province to spread the Revolution. Even after the Revolution spread to the rest of Luzon and  the Visayas, there were still suspicions as to the real motives of the Tagalogs. For example, the Iloilo elite changed the name of their provisional revolutionary government and called it the Federal State of the Visayas since they did not want to recognize the supremacy of Aguinaldo and the Tagalogs. They preferred instead a federal arrangement composed of the three main island groups – Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. These reservations and suspicions by non-Tagalogs were somehow reinforced by the initial writings and proclamations of key Tagalog personalities of the Revolution. Bonifacio wrote a revolutionary piece which he entitled â€Å"Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog† or â€Å"What the Tagalogs Should Know.† Aguinaldo, in his memoirs, wrote chapters entitled â€Å"The Tagalog Government Begins† and â€Å"Long Live the Tagalogs.† But in the absence of a general, generic term to collectively refer to the inhabitants of the archipelago, Filipino being a term originally reserved for the Spanish insulares, Tagalog may have appeared to the leaders of the Revolution as a logical substitute because of its indigenous element. In due time, however, Aguinaldo’s proclamations gradually introduced the idea that all the inhabitants of the Philippines are Filipinos. Tagalog became less used and in its place Filipino was increasingly mentioned. The Revolution likewise assumed a national character. The declaration of Philippine independence was both significant and symbolic in the imagining and forging of a Filipino nation-state. Although there was a gradual acceptance of the term Filipino, nonetheless up until the early American period, Tagalog was still occasionally used. General Macario Sakay, a Tagalog general who continued the war against the Americans even after Emilio Aguinaldo was captured, called his government in 1902 the Tagalog Republic, although its charter noted that Visayas and Mindanao were included in his Republic. Filipino Women Revolutionaries Like ethnicity, gender played a significant role during the Revolution. As early as 1892, the Katipunan had a women’s chapter, Katipuneras, which was mostly made up of the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters of the Katipuneros. While the Katipuneros men held clandestine meetings in the interior or back of a house, the Katipuneras provided the diversionary tactics in the living room for passers-by to see. Some of these Katipuneras  were Gregoria de Jesus, Andres Bonifacio’s wife, who became known as the Lakambini or First Lady of the Katipunan; Jose Rizal’s sisters; and Melchora Aquino who was also called Tandang Sora (Old Sora). Tandang Sora became a legend because she was a medicine woman who stitched the wounded and cured the sick. Her home was used by the Katipunan for their clandestine meetings and she served the Revolution by rendering her â€Å"medical† expertise to Katipunan members. There were also numerous Filipinas who distinguished themselves in the battlefield. In 1896, Gregoria Montoya y Patricio, upon the death of her Katipunero husband, led the charge of a thirty men unit while holding a Katipunan flag on one hand and a sharp-bladed bolo (machete) on another hand. She used a white piece of cloth, commonly used during mass, to ward off bullets. Another Filipina revolutionary was Agueda Kahabagan who fought the Spaniards armed with a rifle, brandishing a bolo and dressed in white. Teresa Magbanua, on the other hand, earned the sobriquet â€Å"Joan of Arc† of the Visayas for the valor she displayed in many battles. But Filipino women’s participation during the Revolution was not confined to actual fighting. Rosario Lopez, a scion of the wealthy hacendero Lopez clan of Negros, donated firearms to the revolutionary cause. Similarly, women of Cavite utilized their business connections to form a network of contacts for the Revolution. The Filipino Red Cross, established in 1863, became another venue for women participation in the Revolution. In 1899, the Red Cross, under the leadership of the wife of Emilio Aguinaldo, had thirteen chapters spread out from Ilocos Norte to Batangas. Conventional female activities such as sewing and cooking were utilized outside the homes to serve the needs of Filipino troops. Struggle Between the Masses and the Elite Aside from ethnicity and gender, class conflict was central to the Revolution. In the aftermath of the outbreak of the revolution, most of the ilutstrados or the nineteenth century middle class denounced the Katipunan and renewed their loyalty to Spain. Many ilustrados immediately condemned the revolution as an irrational action of uneducated masses. Some, like Rizal, believed that it was an ill-timed and ill-prepared struggle. But many did so out of allegiance to Spain. Later when the Katipunan was winning battles, some ilustrados gradually turned around and embraced the revolution. These ilustrados, though driven by nationalism like the masses,  fought to preserve their social status and economic wealth. Their interests and agenda vastly differed from the objectives of the Katipuneros. Other ilustrados preferred to remain fence-sitters until the tide of the Revolution was clear. In a study of the municipal and provincial elite of Luzon during the Revolution, Milagros C. Guerrero concluded that well-to-do Filipinos as well as municipal and provincial officials refused to join the Revolution during 1897 and early 1898. There was even hesitancy even after they did join. Many history books assert that class coflict was symbolized by the leadership struggle between Bonifacio and Aguinaldo. In contrast to the working class background of Bonifacio, Aguinaldo was an ilustrado and a former gobernadorcillo or town executive in his home province of Cavite. Aguinaldo’s ascendance to prominence as a result of his strategic victories in battles naturally brought him into conflict with Bonifacio over the leadership of the Revolution. In a sense, their bitter struggle reflected the falling out of the masses and the ilustrados during the Revolution. It started as a result of the intramural between the two factions of the Katipunan in Cavite – the Magdiwang and Magdalo. Their conflict had deteriorated such that each one refused to assist the other in battles. Moreover, in one of the battles in Manila, the Caviteno forces even failed to provide assistance to the revolutionaries of Manila. Bonifacio as Supremo of the Katipunan was invited to Cavite to resolve the factional differences and thus ensure a united front against the Spaniards in the province. Once in Cavite, the ilustrados maneuvered to ease Bonifacio from the leadership. In the Tejeros Convention of March 22, 1897, they voted to supersede the Katipunan with a revolutionary government and an election of the officers of the new government was conducted. Aguinaldo was elected as President while Bonifacio lost in several elections for key posts before he finally won as Director of the Interior. But a Caviteno, Daniel Tirona, immediately questioned his lack of education and qualification for the post, and insisted that he be replaced instead by a Caviteno ilustrado lawyer, Jose del Rosario. Insulted and humiliated, Bonifacio as Supremo of the Revolution declared the election and the formation of the new government void. What followed was a black mark in the history of the Revolution. Aguinaldo, upon the prodding of his fellow, ilustrados, ordered the arrest and trial of Bonifacio on the grounds of treason. A bogus trial found Bonifacio and his  brother, Procopio, guilty, and they were sentenced to death. Aguinaldo gave his approval and the Bonifacio brothers were shot on May 10, 1897, at Mt. Tala, Cavite. In rationalizing the fate of Bonifacio, Aguinaldo and his men claimed Bonifacio was establishing his own government which would have subverted the revolutionary cause. His elimination was necessary to maintain unity under Aguinaldo’s leadership. Ironically, Bonifacio, the father of the Revolution, became a victim to the ambition and self-serving interests the ilustrados as personified by Aguinaldo. Truce of Biak-na-Bato and the Betrayal of the Revolution The death of Bonifacio was a turning point in the Revolution. The stewardship of the Revolution was left to Aguinaldo and the elite. But the Filipinos and the Spaniards faced a long haul. Aguinaldo’s troops were being routed in Cavite and, thus, his revolutionary government moved to the more secluded Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan. At this time, Aguinaldo’s commitment to the revolutionary cause became suspect. His military advisers persuaded him to issue a declaration that his Biak-na-Bato government was willing to return to the fold of law as soon as Spain granted political reforms. These reforms included the expulsion of the hated Spanish friars and the return of lands they appropriated from the Filipinos; Filipino representation in the Spanish Cortes; freedom of the press and religious tolerance; equality in treatment and payment for both peninsular and insular civil servants; and equality for all before the law. This pronouncement by Aguinaldo proved that he and the ilustrados were willing to return to the Spanish fold provided there were reforms and the ilustrado interests were met. The standoff in the battlefield prompted both sides to agree to an armistice. The Truce of Biak-na-Bato stipulated that Spain would pay financial remuneration to the Filipino revolutionaries in exchange for the surrender of arms and the voluntary exile abroad of Aguinaldo and the other leaders. Toward the end of December 1898, Aguinaldo and the other revolutionary leaders went into voluntary exile in Hong Kong and they were given the initial sum of 400,000 pesos, most of which were deposited in a Hongkong bank and used later on to purchase more weapons. Distrust on both sides resulted in the failure of the truce. Both sides were only biding time until they could launch another offensive. The coming of the Americans marked the second phase of the  Philippine Revolution. In Singapore, Aguinaldo met U.S. consul Spencer Pratt who persuaded him to cooperate with the Americans. In February 1898, the American warship Maine was mysteriously sunk in the waters of Havana, Cuba. This incident was the immediate cause of the Spanish-American War. Admiral George Dewey who was stationed in Hongkong received a cable on April 25 announcing that war had commenced between the two countries. He was ordered to retake the Philippines and, on May 1, 1898, his flagship U.S.S. Olympia defeated the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay at a cost of eight wounded Americans and around five hundred casualties on the Spanish side. Back in Hongkong, Aguinaldo was told by U.S. consul Rounsenville Wildman that Dewey wanted him to return to the Philippines to resume the Filipino resistance. Aguinaldo claimed that the American officials prodded him to establish a Philippine government similar to the United States, and that they pledged to honor and support the Filipinos’ aspiration for independence. Spencer, Wildman, and Dewey would later deny having made any promise or commitment to Aguinaldo. Proclamation of Philippine Independence  and the Birth of the Philippine Republic With transportation provided by the Americans, Aguinaldo and his leaders returned to Cavite. They resumed their war offensive against Spain and reestablished the revolutionary government. Because of the exigencies of the time, Aguinaldo temporarily established a dictatorial government, but plans were afoot to proclaim the independence of the country especially since the Spaniards were reeling from defeat one battle after another. From the balcony of his house in Kawit, Cavite, Aguinaldo declared on June 12, 1898 the independence of the Filipinos and the birth of the Philippine Republic. For the first time, the Philippine flag, sewn in Hongkong by the womenfolk of the revolutionaries, was unfurled. Two bands played Julian Felipe’s Marcha Nacional Filipina which became the Philippines’ national anthem. The declaration further emboldened the fighting Filipinos. On June 18, 1898, Aguinaldo passed a decree calling for the reorganization of the provincial and municipal govern ments. In her article, Guerrero claims that following the liberation of Luzon from the hands of the Spaniards, elections were held in Cavite, Bataan, Batangas, and Pampanga in June and July; in Manila,  Tayabas (now Quezon), Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur in August; in Abra, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Nueva Ecija in September; in Nueva Vizcaya and La Union in October; and in Isabela, Catanduanes, Albay, and Sorsogon in December. The elected provincial and town officials were mostly the same local officials during the Spanish period. This was because the requirements for voting and nomination to public office were restricted to those who were â€Å"citizens of 20 years of age or above who were ‘friendly’ to Philippine independence and were distinguished for their ‘high character, social position and honorable conduct, both in the center of the community and the suburb’.† These provisions automatically excluded the masses in the electoral process, and insured continued elite supremacy of local politics, even by those who were Spanish supporters and sympathizers during the early phase of the Revolution. Since the ilustrados had exclusive control of the electoral process, the provincial and municipal reorganization merely resulted in perpetuating elite dominance of society and government. Guerrero claims that records of the period reveal the composition of the municipal elite was unaltered and local offices simply rotated within their ranks. But not all areas of Luzon came under the control of the ilustrados during the Revolution. In some towns, â€Å"uneducated† and â€Å"poor† masses were elected by an electorate who most probably did not meet the qualifications stipulated in Aguinaldo’s decree. Guerrero claims that the principalia or ilustrado local officials of Solano in Nueva Ecija and Urdaneta in Pangasinan complained over the election of the â€Å"uneducated and ignorant† who they argued were â€Å"totally incapable† of governing. But this was more of an aberration since the general picture was one of elite dominance and the alienation of the masses. Despite Aguinaldo’s order abolishing three hundred years of Spanish polo or forced labor, the local elite persisted in demanding personal services from the people, on top of the taxes levied against them. In some towns and provinces conditions were even worse as the elite wrangled among themselves, especially since Aguinaldo did not clearly delineate the responsibilities of the elected civilian and appointed military officials. This leads some historians to conclude that the masses in towns and countryside were the eventual victims of what transpired during the Revolution. The American entry into the picture convinced the remaining fence-sitting ilustrados to support the Revolution. When rumors of an  impending Spanish-American War were circulating in April 1898, several noted ilustrados led by Pedro Paterno offered their services to the Spanish governor-general. Yet when Aguinaldo returned from exile, several ilustrados serving in the Spanish militia, like Felipe Buencamino, abandoned the Spaniards and announced their â€Å"conversion† to the revolutionary cause. Indeed, the resumption of the revolution brought an electrifying response throughout the country. From Ilocos in the north down to Mindanao in the south, there was a simultaneous and collective struggle to oust the Spaniards. Months later, when the Filipino-American War commenced, many ilustrados played the middle ground, i.e., on one han d, they sent words of support to Aguinaldo and, on the other, started contemplating on an autonomous status for the Philippines under the United States. An example was the Iloilo ilustrados who eventually sided with the Americans since their economic interests – sugar production and importation – dictated collaboration with the new colonizers. Indeed, in the parlance of contemporary Filipino political culture, the ilustrados were the classic â€Å"balimbing† or two-faced. Despite the constant vacillation of the elite, Aguinaldo and his advisers tapped on their services in organizing the Philippine Republic. Aguinaldo was eager to prove that the Filipinos could govern themselves, and in the process it would legitimize the Philippine Republic. Moreover, since he and his advisers were ilustrados, Aguinaldo only trusted his own kind – the wealthy, educated, and politically experienced – in the matter of governance. Thus, he called on them to convene and create a Congress which would draft a constitution. He wanted a Philippine constitution to complete the required trimmings of a sovereign, nation-state – flag, army, government, and constitution. In his actions, Aguinaldo was advised by Apolinario Mabini who became known as the â€Å"Sublime Paralytic† because his spirit was not deterred by his physical handicap, and the â€Å"Brains of the Revolution† due to his intellectual acumen. On January 21, 1899, Aguinaldo proclaimed the Malolos Constitution which was drafted by the ilustrados of the Malolos Congress. Two days later, the Philippine Republic was inaugurated in Malolos, Bulacan, the new capital of the fledging government. The Philippine Republic was, however, short-lived. From the start, Aguinaldo’s forces were fighting the Spaniards without military assistance from the Americans. Except for the Battle of Manila Bay,  the United States was not a major force in the fighting. The American troops did not arrive in the country until late June, and they saw no military action until August. But events starting with the Spanish surrender of Manila on August 13, 1898, doomed the end of Philippine independence. Although the Spanish troops had been routed in all fronts by the Filipinos, the continuing presence of the Americans was unsettling. Questions on actual American motives surfaced with the continuous arrival of American reinforcements. It did not take long for the Filipinos to realize the genuine intentions of the United States. The precarious and uneasy Philippine-American alliance collapsed on February 4, 1899, when the Philippine-American War broke out and threatened to annihilate the new found freedom of the Filipinos.

Branches of Social Sciece Essay Example for Free

Branches of Social Sciece Essay It is a branch of science that studies the customs of human society and the way in which that society functions. Of particular interest is the study of the relationships between the people hat make up that society as well as the behavior of these individuals within that society. Social Science involves any discipline or branch of science that explores the social and cultural aspects of human behavior. The disciplines of social sciences draw from a variety of fields of study and although these different areas of social sciences vary far and wide, they all aim to understand and explain human society and behavior. This study of how groups of people behave is usually done with the aim of being able to predict how they will behave in the future. The Social Science disciplines are branches of knowledge which are taught and researched at the college or university level. Social Science disciplines are defined and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and the learned Social Science societies and academic departments or faculties to which their practitioners belong. Social Science fields of study usually have several sub-disciplines or branches, and the distinguishing lines between these are often both arbitrary and ambiguous. This branch of social science covers the study of the origin of human beings. Of particular interest is the study of the nature of the social relationships between people and how they have developed. Anthropology aims to give a whole and complete explanation of human nature. Anthropology is the holistic â€Å"science of man,† — a science of the totality of human existence. The discipline deals with the integration of different aspects of the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Human Biology. In the twentieth century, academic disciplines have often been institutionally divided into three broad domains. The natural sciences seek to derive general laws through reproducible and verifiable experiments. The humanities generally study local traditions, through their history, literature, music, and arts, with an emphasis on understanding particular individuals, events, or eras. The social sciences have generally attempted to develop scientific methods to understand social phenomena in a generalizable way, though usually with methods distinct from those of the natural sciences. The goal of anthropology is to provide a holistic account of humans and human nature. This means that, though anthropologists generally specialize in only one sub-field, they always keep in mind the biological, linguistic, historic and cultural aspects of any problem. Since anthropology arose as a science in Western societies that were complex and industrial, a major trend within anthropology has been a methodological drive to study peoples in societies with more simple social organization, sometimes called â€Å"primitive† in anthropological literature, but without any connotation of â€Å"inferior.† Today, anthropologists use terms such as â€Å"less complex† societies or refer to specific modes of subsistence or production, such as â€Å"pastoralist† or â€Å"forager† or â€Å"horticulturalist† to refer to humans living in non-industrial, non-Western cultures, such people or folk (ethnos) remaining of great interest within anthropology. The quest for holism leads most anthropologists to study a people in detail, using biogenetic, archaeological, and linguistic data alongside direct observation of contemporary customs. In the 1990s and 2000s, calls for clarification of what constitutes a culture, of how an observer knows where his or her own culture ends and another begins, and other crucial topics in writing anthropology were heard. It is possible to view all human cultures as part of one large, evolving global culture. These dynamic relationships, between what can be observed on the ground, as opposed to what can be observed by compiling many local observations remain fundamental in any kind of anthropology, whether cultural, biological, linguistic or archaeological. In this branch of social science, the study of the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services are covered. The main focus of economics lies in understanding and explaining how economies work and how factors contributing to economies interact with each other. Economics is a social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth. The word â€Å"economics† is from the Greek ÃŽ ¿Ã¡ ¼ ¶ÃŽ ºÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š [oikos], â€Å"family, household, estate,† and ÃŽ ½ÃÅ'ÃŽ ¼ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š [nomos], â€Å"custom, law,† and hence means â€Å"household management† or â€Å"management of the state.† An economist is a person using economic concepts and data in the course of employment, or someone who has earned a university degree in the subject. The classic brief definition of economics, set out by Lionel Robbins in 1932, is â€Å"the science which studies human behavior as a relation between scarce means havi ng alternative uses.† Without scarcity and alternative uses, there is no economic problem. Briefer yet is â€Å"the study of how people seek to satisfy needs and wants† and â€Å"the study of the financial aspects of human behavior.† Economics has two broad branches: microeconomics, where the unit of analysis is the individual agent, such as a household or firm, and macroeconomics, where the unit of analysis is an economy as a whole. Another division of the subject distinguishes positive economics, which seeks to predict and explain economic phenomena, from normative economics, which orders choices and actions by some criterion; such orderings necessarily involve subjective value judgments. Since the early part of the 20th century, economics has focused largely on measurable quantities, employing both theoretical models and empirical analysis. Quantitative models, however, can be traced as far back as the physiocratic school. Economic reasoning has been increasingly applied in recent decades to other social situations such as politics, law, psychology, history, religion, marriage and family life, and other social interactions. This paradigm crucially assumes (1) that resources are scarce because they are not sufficient to satisfy all wants, and (2) that â€Å"economic value† is willingness to pay as revealed for instance by market (arms’ length) transactions. Rival heterodox schools of thought, such as institutional economics, green economics, Marxist economics, and economic sociology, make other grounding assumptions. For example, Marxist economics assumes that economics primarily deals with the exchange of value, and that labor (human effort) is the source of all value. The expanding domain of economics in the social sciences has been described as economic imperialism. This branch of social science studies the institution of teaching in human society. Covered in this field of study are the processes by which knowledge is passed on and how specific skills are taught and learned. This process of education is examined throughout an individual’s lifetime, that is from childbirth and on to old age. Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive judgement and well-developed wisdom. Education has as one of its fundamental aspects the imparting of culture from generation to generation (see socialization). To educate means ‘to draw out’, from the Latin educare, or to facilitate the realization of an individual’s potential and talents. It is an application of pedagogy, a body of theoretical and applied research relating to teaching and learning and draws on many disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, sociology and anthropology. The education of an individual human begins at birth and continues throughout life. (Some believe that education begins even before birth, as evidenced by some parents’ playing music or reading to the baby in the womb in the hope it will influence the child’s development.) For some, the struggles and triumphs of daily life provide far more instruction than does formal schooling (thus Mark Twain’s admonition to â€Å"never let school interfere with your education†). Family members may have a profound educational effect — often more profound than they realize — though family teaching may function very informally. This branch of social science can be subdivided into two main sub-disciplines namely; human geography and physical geography. Human geography is mainly concerned with the built environment and the influence humans have on the spaces they occupy. Physical geography on the other hand looks into the natural environment. Of particular interest in this field is the study of how climate, vegetation & life, soil, water and landforms are produced and how they interact. Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two main sub fields: human geography and physical geography. The former focuses largely on the built environment and how space is created, viewed and managed by humans as well as the influence humans have on the space they occupy. The latter examines the natural environment and how the climate, vegetation & life, soil, water and landforms are produced and interact. As a result of the two subfields using different approaches a third field has emerged, which is environmental geography. Environmental geography combines physical and human geography and looks at the interactions between the environment and humans. Geographers attempt to understand the earth in terms of physical and spatial relationships. The first geographers focused on the science of mapmaking and finding ways to precisely project the surface of the earth. In this sense, geography bridges some gaps between the natural sciences and social sciences. Historical geography is often taught in a college in a unified Department of Geography. Modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline, closely related to GISc, that seeks to understand humanity and its natural environment. The fields of Urban Planning, Regional Science, and Planetology are closely related to geography. Practitioners of geography use many technologies and methods to collect data such as GIS, remote sensing, aerial photography, statistics, and global positioning systems (GPS). The field of geography is generally split into two distinct branches: physical and human. Physical geography examines phenomena related to climate, oceans, soils, and the measurement of earth. Human geography focuses on fields as diverse as Cultural geography, transportation, health, military operations, and cities. Other branches of geography include Social geography, regional geography, geomatics, and environmental geography. This branch of social science covers the study of the human past. It is a field of study that uses past accounts to examine and analyze sequences of events. It also sometimes attempts to investigate in an objective manner, the patterns of cause and effect that have led to particular events taking place. History is the continuous, systematic narrative and research into past human events as interpreted through historiographical paradigms or theories, such as the Turner Thesis about the American frontier. History has a base in both the social sciences and the humanities. In the United States the National Endowment for the Humanities includes history in its definition of a Humanities (as it does for applied Linguistics). However, the National Research Council classifies History as a Social science. The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. The Social Science History Association, formed in 1976, brings together scholars from numerous disciplines interested in social history. This branch of social science studies the institution of the rule of law in human society and it sometimes crosses over into the humanities depending on the aspect from which it is studied. Of particular interest are its origin and the way in which a supreme power in a state commands what is â€Å"right† and prohibits what is considered â€Å"wrong.† Law in common parlance, means a rule which (unlike a rule of ethics) is capable of enforcement through institutions. However, many laws are based on norms accepted by a community and thus have an ethical foundation. The study of law crosses the boundaries between the social sciences and humanities, depending on one’s view of research into its objectives and effects. Law is not always enforceable, especially in the international relations context. It has been defined as a â€Å"system of rules†,as an â€Å"interpretive concept† achieve justice, as an â€Å"authority†to mediate people’s interests, and even as â€Å"the command of a sovereign, backed by the threat of a sanction†. However one likes to think of law, it is a completely central social institution. Legal policy incorporates the practical manifestation of thinking from almost every social sciences and humanity. Laws are politics, because politicians create them. Law is philosophy, because moral and ethical persuasions shape their ideas. Law tells many of history’s stories, because statutes, case law and codifications build up over time. And law is economics, because any rule about contract, tort, property law, labour law, company law and many more can have long lasting effects on the distribution of wealth. The noun law derives from the late Old English lagu, meaning something laid down or fixed and the adjective legal comes from the Latin word lex. In this field of study, the theory and practice of politics is examined. Also covered is the description and analysis of political systems including political behavior. Political science is the branch of social science that deals with the study of politics and analysis of its system as well as political behavior. Political science is an academic and research discipline that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. Fields and subfields of political science include political economy, political theory and philosophy, civics and comparative politics, theory of direct democracy, apolitical governance, participatory direct democracy, national systems, cross-national political analysis, political development, international relations, foreign policy, international law, politics, public administration, administrative behavior, public law, judicial behavior, and public policy. Political science also studies power in international relations and the theory of Great powers and Superpowers. Political science is methodologically diverse, although recent years have witnessed an upsurge in the use of the scientific method . That is the proliferation of formal-deductive model building and quantitative hypothesis testing. Approaches to the discipline include rational choice, classical political philosophy, interpretivism, structuralism, and behavioralism, realism, pluralism, and institutionalism. This branch of social science involves the study of behavior and mental processes. Of particular interest is the application of this knowledge to the treatment of mental illness. Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals’ daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. The word psychology comes from the ancient Greek ψυχÎ ®, psyche (â€Å"soul†, â€Å"mind†) and logy, study). Psychology differs from anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology in seeking to capture explanatory generalizations about the mental function and overt behavior of individuals, while the other disciplines focus on creating descriptive generalizations about the functioning of social groups or situation-specific human behavior. In practice, however, there is quite a lot of cross-fertilization that takes place among the various fields. Psychology differs from biology and neuroscience in that it is primarily concerned with the interaction of mental processes and behavior, and of the overall processes of a system, and not simply the biological or neural processes themselves, though the subfield of neuropsychology combines the study of the actual neural processes with the study of the mental effects they have subjectively produced. Many people associate Psychology with Clinical Psychology which focuses on assessment and treatment of problems in living and psychopathology. In reality, Psychology has myriad specialties including: Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Mathematical psychology, Neuropsychology, and Quantitative Analysis of Behavior to name only a few. Psychology is a very broad science that is rarely tackled as a whole, major block. Although some subfields encompass a natural science base and a social science application, others can be clea rly distinguished as having little to do with the social sciences or having a lot to do with the social sciences. For example, biological psychology is considered a natural science with a social scientific application (as is clinical medicine), social and occupational psychology are, generally speaking, purely social sciences, whereas neuropsychology is a natural science that lacks application out of the scientific tradition entirely. In British universities, emphasis on what tenet of psychology a student has studied and/or concentrated is communicated through the degree conferred: B.Psy. indicates a balance between natural and social sciences, B.Sc. indicates a strong (or entire) scientific concentration, whereas a B.A. underlines a majority of social science credits. This is not always necessarily the case however, and in many UK institutions students studying the B.Psy, B.Sc, and B.A. follow the same curriculum as outlined by The British Psychological Society and have the same options of specialism open to them regardless of whether they choose a balance, a heavy science basis, or heavy social science basis to their degree. If they applied to read the B.A. for example, but specialised in heavily science based modules, then they will still generally be awarded the B.A. Covered in this branch of social science is the study of human society and social action. Sociology is the systematic study of society and human social action. The meaning of the word comes from the suffix â€Å"-ology† which means â€Å"study of,† derived from Greek, and the stem â€Å"soci-† which is from the Latin word socius, meaning â€Å"companion†, or society in general. Sociology was originally established by Auguste Comte (1798–1857) in 1838. Comte endeavoured to unify history, psychology and economics through the descriptive understanding of the social realm. He proposed that social ills could be remedied through sociological positivism, an epistemological approach outlined in The Course in Positive Philosophy [1830–1842] and A General View of Positivism (1844). Though Comte is generally regarded as the â€Å"Father of Sociology†, the discipline was formally established by another French thinker, Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), who developed positivism as a foundation to practical social research. Durkheim set up the first European department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1895, publishing his Rules of the Sociological Method. In 1896, he established the journal L’Annà ©e Sociologique. Durkheim’s seminal monograph, Suicide (1897), a case study of suicide rates amongst Catholic and Protestant populations, distinguished sociological analysis from psychology or philosophy. Karl Marx rejected Comtean positivism but nevertheless aimed to establish a science of society based on historical materialism, becoming recognised as a founding figure of sociology posthumously as the term gained broader meaning. Around the start of the 20th century, the first wave of German sociologists, including Max Weber and Georg Simmel, developed sociological antipositivism. The field may be broadly recognised as an amalgam of three modes of social thought in particular: Durkheimian positivism and structural functionalism; Marxist historical materialism and conflict theory; Weberian antipositivism and verstehen analysis. American sociology broadly arose on a separate trajectory, with little Marxist influence, an emphasis on rigorous experimental methodology, and a closer association wi th pragmatism and social psychology. In the 1920s, the Chicago school developed symbolic interactionism. Meanwhile in the 1930s, the Frankfurt School pioneered the idea of critical theory, an interdisciplinary form of Marxist sociology drawing upon thinkers as diverse as Sigmund Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche. Critical theory would take on something of a life of its own after World War II, influencing literary criticism and the Birmingham School establishment of cultural studies. Sociology evolved as an academic response to the challenges of modernity, such as industrialization, urbanization, secularization, and a perceived process of enveloping rationalization. Because sociology is such a broad discipline, it can be difficult to define, even for professional sociologists. The field generally concerns the social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, communities and institutions, and includes the examination of the organization and development of human social life. The sociological field of interest ranges from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes. In the terms of sociologists Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, social scientists seek an understanding of the Social Construction of Reality. Most sociologists work in one or more subfields. One useful way to describe the discipline is as a cluster of sub-fields that examine different dimensions of society. For example, social stratification studies inequality and class structure; demography studies changes in a population size or type; criminology examines criminal behavior and deviance; and political sociology studies the interaction between society and state. Deals with processes of human communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols to create meaning. The discipline encompasses a range of topics, from face-to-face conversation to mass media outlets such as television broadcasting. Communication studies also examines how messages are interpreted through the political, cultural, economic, and social dimensions of their contexts. Communication is institutionalized under many different names at different universities, including â€Å"communication†, â€Å"communication studies†, â€Å"speech communication†, â€Å"rhetorical studies†, â€Å"communications science†, â€Å"media studies†, â€Å"communication arts†, â€Å"mass communication†, â€Å"media ecology,† and â€Å"communication and media science.† Communication studies integrates aspects of both social sciences and the humanities. As a social science, the discipline often overlaps with sociology, psychology, anthropology, biology, political science, economics, and public policy, among others. From a humanities perspective, communication is concerned with rhetoric and persuasion (traditional graduate programs in communication studies trace their history to the rhetoricians of Ancient Greece). The field applies to outside disciplines as well, including engineering, architecture, mathematics, and information science. Additional Social Science disciplines and fields of study include: †¢Archaeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, features, biofacts, and landscapes. †¢Area studies are interdisciplinary fields of research and scholarship pertaining to particular geographical, national/federal, or cultural regions. †¢Behavioral science is a term that encompasses all the disciplines that explore the activities of and interactions among organisms in the natural world. †¢Demography is the statistical study of all populations. †¢Development studies a multidisciplinary branch of social science which addresses issues of concern to developing countries. †¢Environmental social science is the broad, transdisciplinary study of interrelations between humans and the natural environment. †¢Environmental studies integrate social, humanistic, and natural science perspectives on the relation between humans and the natural environment. †¢Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information. †¢International studies covers both International relations (the study of foreign affairs and global issues among states within the international system) and International education (the comprehensive approach that intentionally prepares people to be active and engaged participants in an interconnected world). †¢Journalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and comment via a widening spectrum of media. †¢Legal management is a social sciences discipline that is designed for students interested in the study of State and Legal elements. †¢Library science is an interdisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation and dissemination of information resources; and the political economy of information. †¢Management in all business and human organization activity is simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. †¢Marketing the identification of human needs and wants, defines and measures their magnitude for demand and understanding the process of consumer buying behavior to formulate products and services, pricing, promotion and distribution to satisfy these needs and wants through exchange processes and building long term relationships. †¢Political economy is the study of production, buying and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government. Branches of Social Sciece. (2016, Dec 24).