This book engages in a critical reading of cultural knowledge. By cultural knowledge I refer to cultural dimensions as introduced by Geert Hofstede, Edward T. Hall and Fons Trompenaars. Their research has manifold been taught to individuals who will face an intercultural setting in their business career at some point in the future. It aims to create understanding for cultural differences in order to decrease emotional discomfort and enhance (business) success of those who acquire the knowledge. At the same time it claims to present a foundation for respect for cultural differences since it gives (an imaginative) room to them. If one studies the knowledge (s)he will be aware of cultural differences and therefore treat them with respect. The book is composed of two perspectives on cultural knowledge. In a first step the book turns to post-colonial theory. Post-colonialism argues how a Western perspective has framed cultural identities and how these representations are flawed by colonial thinking. In a second step a Levinasian perspective is taken on cultural knowledge. The French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas was deeply concerned with our way of approaching the Other. He understood the Other to be incomprehensible to our understanding. The Other’s otherness cannot be „grasped“ by framing her/him into categories. He argued that every encounter is of ethical nature and encouraged each individual to show infinite re-sponsibility (responsebility) towards the Other that is not confined by any pre-knowledge. The book concludes that cultural knowledge has been exposed to significant limitations. These limitations are mainly a product of control interests. Individuals who acquire cultural knowledge and are not (made) aware of its limitations face consequences that may compromise their respect for cultural differences. Even though cultural knowledge presents itself as foundation for respect, it prioritizes understanding for the sake of control. As a consequence respectful representations are not given and respect for cultural differences is only supported as long as it does not threaten control. Ultimately, this book shall present a plea for trainers and teachers of cultural knowledge to become acquainted with the limitations, reflect on them and forward this knowledge to their students. It shall also encourage researchers of cultural differences and other scholars to reflect and perhaps improve on it.

This volume constitutes a first step towards an ever-deferred interdisciplinary dialogue on cultural traits. It offers a way to enter a representative sample of the intellectual diversity that surrounds this topic, and a means to stimulate innovative avenues of research. It stimulates critical thinking and awareness in the disciplines that need to conceptualize and study culture, cultural traits, and cultural diversity. Culture is often defined and studied with an emphasis on cultural features. For UNESCO, “culture should be regarded as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group”. But the very possibility of assuming the existence of cultural traits is not granted, and any serious evaluation of the notion of “cultural trait” requires the interrogation of several disciplines from cultural anthropology to linguistics, from psychology to sociology to musicology, and all areas of knowledge on culture. This book presents a strong multidisciplinary perspective that can help clarify the problems about cultural traits.

Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the quality of health care received. In Unequal Treatment, a panel of experts documents this evidence and explores how persons of color experience the health care environment. The book examines how disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. Patients' and providers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior are analyzed. How to intervene? Unequal Treatment offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas. The committee highlights the potential of cross-cultural education to improve provider-patient communication and offers a detailed look at how to integrate cross-cultural learning within the health professions. The book concludes with recommendations for data collection and research initiatives. Unequal Treatment will be vitally important to health care policymakers, administrators, providers, educators, and students as well as advocates for people of color.

In this issue of Nursing Clinics of North America, guest editors Kellie Bryant of Columbia University School of Nursing and Tiffani Chidume of Auburn University College of Nursing bring their considerable expertise to the topic of The Culture of Care. Although it has long been debated whether caring can be taught, guest editors and authors here examine best practices and strategies to provide optimal patient care. This issue will also address caring for special populations that face specific challenges and/or have been historically marginalized, with a focus on Black mothers and the LGBTQ+ community. - Contains 14 relevant, practice-oriented topics including taking a trauma-informed care approach to patient care; how do we teach our future generation of nurses to provide emotional support to patients; bringing cultural humility to the bedside; healing after COVID-19; nurses and self-care; caring for patients who do not follow healthcare recommendations; and more. - Provides in-depth clinical reviews on the culture of care, offering actionable insights for clinical practice. - Presents the latest information on this timely, focused topic under the leadership of experienced editors in the field. Authors synthesize and distill the latest research and practice guidelines to create clinically significant, topic-based reviews.

Through different approaches like toys and play, children explore and know the rules and symbols of their communities and recreate roles and situations that reflect their sociocultural and 21st century plurilingual world. As a result, they learn how to subordinate desires to social rules, cooperate with others willingly, and engage in socially appropriate behavior. When they are evaluated together psychologically, there is a current need for action to increase the amount and quality of play provided to children. Since discrepancies are observed between urban and rural areas, as well as among different cultures, there is also a need for a research initiative where cultures can learn and take advantage of the experiences of each other. International Perspectives on Modern Developments in Early Childhood Education is an essential scholarly publication that identifies ways of intertwining key areas of early childhood education, including international approaches, intercultural education, bilingual/plurilingual education, and the role of play and toys as means for meaningful intercultural and multilingual learning. By incorporating a view of different cultures, societies, languages, and educational experiences in early childhood education, this volume provides data for international and intercultural exchange for the benefit of children. Highlighting a range of topics such as educational systems, play therapy, and games, this book is ideal for early childhood teachers, educators, academicians, researchers, professionals, psychologists, sociologists, and students.

Designed for communication/media educators and graduate students, Teaching Communication and Media Studies is a practical and conceptual guide to teaching university courses in communication and media studies. Relying on her extensive experience instructing graduate students on the ins and outs of teaching, Jan Fernback discusses theoretical and applied topics central to contemporary mediated communication instruction, offering instructors at all levels strategies they can use to create a successful classroom experience. Fernback also considers the logic, design and delivery of courses in communication and media studies, while encouraging readers to reflect on their own strategic pedagogical decisions. Supplemented with interviews of successful communication instructors and sample exercises, this book is a must-have resource for all those teaching communication and media studies courses, regardless of level of experience.