The topic of human-animal studies (HAS) remains largely ignored within the sociology classroom. While a few sociologists have encouraged teaching about animals, none has assessed whether incorporating nonhuman animals into the curriculum is effective. In this study, three instructors at two universities incorporated animal-related materials in…

This volume includes three sections of the 2021 NORDSCI international conference proceedings: (1) Education and Educational Research; (2) Language and Linguistics; and (3) Sociology and Healthcare. Education and Educational Research includes 15 papers covering the full spectrum of education, including history, sociology and economy of education,…

This article was meant to familiarize readers with ways in which the media and popular culture sexualize and stereotype girls and women and to raise awareness about the extent to which girls in the middle graders may be impacted by the sexualized media content they view. By framing the problem and its consequences through self-objectification…

This paper strives to provide an insight into the multifaceted relationships that young people have, examining the social, cultural and institutional discourses, which shape their lives. We set out to discuss, from an empirical poststructuralist perspective, the way in which Irish adolescents write about the reality of their lives and privilege…

The boundaries between entertainment, education, and commercialization collapse through Disney's reach into diverse spheres of everyday life. Disney's "innocence" is a promotional mask covering its aggressive marketing techniques and influence in transforming children into active consumers. Although Disney's films are joyous and…

Traces the changes in the depiction of childhood in science fiction films from the 1950s to the present decade. Argues that the contemporary science fiction representation of the sentimental child is a cultural idealization that opposes the social reality of the vanishing child. (FMW)

Discusses the social processes that undergird the media's influence on children's cultural lives. Discusses stories as cultural tools and how people claim stories as their own. Illustrates how one teacher of seven- to nine-year-olds exploited these processes for children's intellectual, social, and literacy growth. (SR)

The mass culture critique of advanced industrialized society calls forth such images as an omnipresent media; demagogic politics; a bleak, standardized aesthetic landscape; routinized work; and empty leisure; but the mass culture critique suffers from conceptual ambiguity and a paucity of research. The mass culture critique, from both radical and…

In this article, the author shares how media affects her as a teenager. The author says that media has such a relationship with the world today, specifically with teenagers like her. Media gives off so much information that can be valid or invalid, positive or negative. The media can persuade anyone to do something or to think a certain way.…

In the 1960s many teachers in the British secondary schools began a major effort to redefine their attitude toward the mass media in the light of certain social and cultural pressures. Changes in students made it necessary to provide materials of a less formal academic kind and to introduce literature, music, and art that would relate more…

Asks how art should be taught in the postmodern world. Argues that art education must change in two ways: (1) discussions of fine art must focus on the meaning of postmodern art and concepts; and (2) incorporating postmodern concepts to address the broad range of visual culture encountered by students. (DSK)

Examines consumer services delivered via the Internet. Discusses social and political factors (regulation, commercial alliances, copyright), specific applications (home banking and shopping, distance education, electronic mail, games, telecommuting), and constraints of data transmission. Since many applications are based on videoconferencing,…

The open-ended activities in this book are designed to extend the imagination and creativity of students and to encourage students to examine their feelings and values as influenced by the media. The activities focus upon the cognitive and affective pupil behaviors described in Williams' Model: fluent thinking; flexible thinking; original…

This program provides a new framework and approach for breaking the cycle of blame surrounding violent imagery in the culture and promotes an informed and rational public conversation about the topic. The goals of the program are to: (1) reduce exposure to media violence; (2) change the impact of violent images that are seen; (3) locate and…

This book examines the racist and sexist assault on today's youth which is being played out in the realms of popular and children's culture. The book interrogates the aesthetic of violence in a number of public arenas--talk radio, Disney animation, and in such films as "Pulp Fiction,""Kids,""Slackers," and…