What constitutes literacy is not a single value-free standard but the product of the values of particular cultures at particular points in their histories. The history of literacy efforts in the United States and Canada is examined to discover their philosophical roots and ideological underpinnings. (IS)

Historically, the Pueblo Indians appealed to artists and writers' colonies in Santa Fe-Taos (New Mexico), inspiring a superficial art and, on a deeper level, inspiring a desire to explore and communicate the Pueblos' intrinsic values. The deeper appeal crucially influenced the establishment and continued productivity of the Santa Fe-Taos American…

In this interview social scientist and professor, Seymour Martin Lipset discusses those aspects of U.S. culture and character that make it unique. Considers a broad range of influences and phenomena, including divine providence, social stratification, the absence of radicalism, and shifting ideological positions. (MJP)

Profiles this year's winners of the Charles Frankel Prize, awarded to individuals who have stimulated and expanded public understanding of the humanities. The recipients are Rita Dove (poet), Doris Kearns Goodwin (historian/author), Daniel Kemmis (mayor/author), Arturo Madrid (professor), and Bill Moyers (television producer). (MJP)

Sketches the biographies of 12 Hispanic women who contributed to Texas history. Suggests 13 activities pertinent to instruction on the topic. Describes the compilation of 20,000 items for the Texas Women's History Project by historian Ruth Winegarten. (GG)

Reports a survey of 66 history textbooks, published after 1980, to determine the extent of sex equity content. Found that no examined text met the sex equity policy of the Ontario Ministry of Education. Describes the treatment of females as inaccurate, marginal, incidental, and trivial. Provides examples from the texts surveyed. (LS)

Describes the use of "Water Crossings," a Project WET activity, with preservice elementary teachers in a science methods course. Discusses how the activity integrates applications from physical science with history and geography concepts. Explains that the teaching strategy used is a version of the scientific method. (WRM)

Unit from English studies program at University of Bielefeld was presented to students using songs, illustrations, literature, social history. Objectives were to help students connect their lives with target culture (TC), forge links between concrete examples and wider structures of the TC, and challenge students to look at own culture with eyes…

Profiles an interdisciplinary college course studying the history of Route 66, as well as the material and popular culture associated with the highway. Students studied the history of roads in the United States, traveled the length of Route 66 in Illinois, wrote personal essays, and conducted oral interviews. (MJP)

Examines the phenomenon of pragmatic transfer as a possible basis for cultural stereotypes. Data from second language (L2) German learners of English are compared with data from native speakers of American English. Results suggest that the German English L2 speakers produced responses more in keeping with German rules of speaking and conventions…

British Commonwealth universities inherited the class system for classifying degrees. However, increasing global marketization has brought with it increasing demands for student exchanges, particularly with universities in North America. Hence, Commonwealth universities are considering adopting grade point averages (GPAs) for degree classification…

Sacred and cultural geography is a universal feature of indigenous religious practices across Native North America. However, in a growing number of cases, conflicts have developed between Native North American religious practitioners and land-managing federal agencies. The contentious situations often come down to Indian peoples struggling to…

This book, issued in observance of the Columbus Quincentennial and on the occasion of the 27th International Geographical Congress, addresses a broad range of contemporary topics including environmental change, dynamics of the world economy, human needs, wants and rights, political order and change, and contemporary cultures. The format is one of…

This paper argues that the ways of speaking characteristic of a given speech-community cannot be satisfactorily described or explained in purely behavioral terms, that they constitute a behavioral manifestation of a tacit system of cultural rules or scripts, and that to understand a society's ways of speaking, it is necessary to identify and…

A comparative study of turn-taking in North American and Spanish conversation investigated (1) differences in styles for the two cultures and (2) any resulting misinterpretation of communicative intentions. Data for the first were drawn from two dinner parties, one with four American women, conducted in English, and one with four Spanish-speaking…