The article titled The Nez Perce Nation talks about the history of one of the largest and powerful tribes to have inhabited the Plateau culture area. Once a flourishing indigenous civilization, the article documents Nez Perce’s decline and marginalization under the pressure of colonial settlers and Christian missionaries. As the commercial and territorial interests of…
Category: Society
Arab Identity: The views of Sayyid Qutb, Sati al-Husri and Taha Hussein
The first text in question is Milestones by Sayyid Qutb. One of the pioneers of the idea of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, his martyrdom for his cause has enhanced his standing in contemporary Islamic revivalist movements. Qutb is a passion advocate of his beliefs about nationality in the Islamic context. He begins his essay emphatically…
Religious trends in Latin America
Religion plays a major part in the political affairs of several Latin American countries. Christianity (of various denominations) has strong roots in the region, going back to the time of early colonial settlers. Religion in the region has been in the news recently, with the impending visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Cuba….
Sociological Explanations for Apparent Health Inequalities in Society
In the early years of the twenty first century, with so much evolution in sociological thought having already taken place, no scholar can dismiss theories concerning health inequalities in society. All societies of past and present exhibited fissures in terms of class, gender, age groups, etc. Sociologists have discovered valid correlations between these social parameters…
Film review: Blow (2001) by Ted Demme
Blow (2001) is a biographical motion picture about the notorious American cocaine smuggler George Jung. The movie is an adaptation from the book Blow: How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All authored by Bruce Porter in 1993. The writing team of David McKenna and Nick…
A response to ‘Ending an Epidemic’ by Sadie F. Dingfelder
The article titled ‘Ending an Epidemic’ by Sadie F. Dingfelder first appeared in the March 2010 (Vol 41, No.3) edition of Monitor. It talks about the phenomenon of teen violence, especially carried out by their boyfriends or dates. Upon reading it, I felt appalled by what is happening to teenage girls across the country. The…
The Butterfly Circus: Summary and Analysis
The Butterfly Circus, a short film featuring Nick Vujicic in the lead role, is one of the best short films of its genre. The direction is skillfully and effectively handled by Joshua Weigel. The screenplay is crisp and compact as demanded by the short-film genre. The script written by the duo Joshua and Rebekah Weigel…
Article Review: Why Hispanic Children Lag Behind (March 16, 2007)
The first article taken for review is titled ‘Why Hispanic Children Lag Behind’ (March 16, 2007). The article takes up a key issue facing educators in America – namely, creating a level playing field for pupils of different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. The underperformance/under-education of Hispanic children is a concern, as they consistently lag behind…
A response to The Human Condition: The Public and The Private Realm
The reading titled The Human Condition: The Public and The Private Realm is very informative and insightful. It deliberates on what all social, psychological and physiological conditions that bears upon the public and private realms. Indeed, in many cases the very validation of reality happens through the acknowledgement of other occupants of the public space. …
American Apartheid by Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton
The book American Apartheid by Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton is an eye-opening book that throws light on the issues of poverty and seclusion among African Americans. Contrary to many illusions and simplistic assumptions about the economic backwardness of blacks in America, Massey and Denton show that the community’s poverty is directly linked…