Paul Smaldino, Cynthia Pickett, Jeffrey Sherman and Jeffrey Schank (2012) According to optimal distinctiveness theory (ODT), individuals prefer social groups that are relatively distinct compared to other groups in the individuals’ social environment. Distinctive groups (i.e., groups of moderate relative size) are deemed “optimal” because they allow for feelings of inclusion and social connection while […]
Category Archives: Ideas and Papers
Beyond dualism: the social construction of nature and human beings
Beyond dualism ± the social construction of nature and the natural and social construction of human beings Judith Gerber Department of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 1PY, UK Abstract: The dualism between society and nature and the processes by which nature is being socially constructed has become an area of increasing concern […]
Social Cognition | Group minds | Prof Deborah Tollefsen University of Memphis
This talk discusses some of the historical developments of the idea of group minds and the resurrection of the idea in contemporary philosophy of mind and cognitive science. I begin with a discussion of how the idea of group mind is part of the social imaginary. I then turn to consider the ways in which […]
Foucault on Sweden: ‘The end of the Human’
When he turned 30, in 1955, Michel Foucault left France. He thought he might never come back. The post-war religion of Parisian academia, namely a certain kind of Marxism, ‘suffocated’ him. He said he got tired of competing to quote Marx, Engels, and more rarely Lenin. He somewhat hoped to spend the rest of his […]
Interdisciplinary? Quote of the day
“In academia, people talk about interdisciplinary thinking and courses and programs, but Lord help you if you try to make an interdisciplinary career, unless you are already so high that there is nothing they can do to you.” –Jared Diamond
Cultural Stereotypes and the Symbolic Creation of Reality
Open, Closed, and Locked Images Cultural Stereotypes and the Symbolic Creation of Reality Ruth Lillhannus In psychology, symbols are often seen as unconscious, mental constructs that surpass cultural differences. For linguists, a symbol might be a linguistic form embedded in the speech act and for anthropologists again a material object with a collectively created meaning […]
Promoting Self-Reflexivity in Intercultural Education
Read the paper here Abstract Self-reflexivity — having an ongoing conversation with your whole self about what you are experiencing as you are experiencing it — is a crucial skill for interculturalists, and I have been seeking to promote it when teaching intercultural communication in English to students of varying nationalities. This article will review […]
The Phenomenological We | History of Distributed Cognition
The Phenomenological We | History of Distributed Cognition.