CultureShock! Melbourne


Book Description

A city with a reputation to maintain, Melbourne is famous variously for being Australia’s coffee capital, the Europe of Australia and consistently ranked amongst the top most liveable cities in the world. CultureShock! Melbourne takes both long- and short-term residents through the city’s inner workings. The city offers world-class urban landscapes and experiences, spiced with a uniquely Melburnian spirit: a stroll along the Yarra River surrounded by a glittering skyline and artisanal sandwich in hand, top-drawer entertainment, restaurants helmed by celebrity chefs, or even a simple breakfast of toast with smashed avo’ and a flat white at a legendary café along a boulevard. Get the most out of your stay in Melbourne with this essential guide to one of the jazziest, most cosmopolitan cities in the world. About the Series CultureShock! is a dynamic, indispensable series of guides for travellers looking to truly understand the countries they are visiting, working in or moving to. Each title explains the country’s customs, traditions and social and business etiquette in a lively, informative style. CultureShock! authors, all of whom have experienced the joys and pitfalls of cultural adaptation, are ideally placed to provide warm and helpful advice to those who seek to integrate seamlessly into diverse cultures.




CultureShock! Australia


Book Description

CultureShock! Australia is chock-full of information that will help you assimilate effortlessly into life in the land Down Under. Written in an easy-to-read style, this book covers all the basics for settling in, including the options you should consider before deciding whether to have a pool in your backyard or a full-fledged garden in the front, and what to do when your teenagers assert their rights. Peer beneath the laid-back veneer of the Australian people and learn more about what they hold dear as well as their attitudes towards ‘tall poppies’ and multiculturalism. Discover how to entertain guests around the ‘barbie’ and what to do when given a ‘shout’. Find out more about how to speak Strine as well as how important leisure is in the Australian working world. CultureShock! Australia is the only guide you will need to fully understand the Aussie people and their culture and truly enjoy your stay in the land of the Southern Cross.




CultureShock! Bahrain


Book Description

Although Islamic teachings are conservative, the social climate in Bahrain is fairly liberalised. This temperate society has allowed room for business growth and trade. Discover the rich traditions of Bahraini attire and the significance of the ubiquitous mosques in this small desert shaikdom. In CultureShock! Bahrain, gain insights into business etiquette and glean tips on socialising and settling in—all vital to setting up home and working in this rapidly developing Middle Eastern society.




Psychology Culture Shock


Book Description

Crossing cultures can be a stimulating and rewarding adventure. It can also be a stressful and bewildering experience. This thoroughly revised and updated edition of Furnham and Bochner's classic Culture Shock (1986) examines the psychological and social processes involved in intercultural contact, including learning new culture-specific skills, managing stress and coping with an unfamiliar environment, changing cultural identities and enhancing intergroup relations. The book describes the ABCs of intercultural encounters, highlighting Affective, Behavioural and Cognitive components of cross-cultural experience. It incorporates both theoretical and applied perspectives on culture shock and a comprehensive review of empirical research on a variety of cross-cultural travellers, such as tourists, students, business travellers, immigrants and refugees. Minimising the adverse effects of culture shock, facilitating positive psychological outcomes and discussion of selection and training techniques for living and working abroad represent some of the practical issues covered. The Psychology of Culture Shock will prove an essential reference and textbook for courses within psychology, sociology and business training. It will also be a valuable resource for professionals working with culturally diverse populations and acculturating groups such as international students, immigrants or refugees.




Possible Spaces of Somali Belonging


Book Description

What happens when Somalis migrate to countries with which they have few cultural ties? What helps Somalis to feel at home in their new Western countries of residence? Possible Spaces of Somali Belonging explores representations of Somali resettlement to understand the mechanics of contemporary belonging and the challenges faced by Western societies as they attempt to ‘integrate’ Somali migrants. How do particular representations contribute to or detract from Somali belonging? In the contexts of Australia and Italy—taken as case studies—Somalis are marginalised in different ways. With a multi-disciplinary approach, this book examines different forms of Somali representation in Australia and Italy that engender a sense of belonging and expands exclusive definitions of nationhood. Islamic Studies Series - Volume 21




Culture and Identity in Study Abroad Contexts


Book Description

This book examines the effects of a study abroad experience on students' culture and identity and the impact of these effects on their readjustment to their home culture. It explores issues of culture and identity from the perspective of French students studying in Australia. Issues of perceived cultural proximity between France and Australia, a relative lack of prior knowledge of the host country before the period of study and the impact of distance all influence aspects of these students' experiences. Employing long-term and cross-sectional studies focusing on culture shock, reverse culture shock and cultural identity issues, the author investigates the cyclical journey of French academic sojourners and examines the impact of the acculturation and repatriation processes and the language experiences on their perceptions of cultural identity. Once the students had traversed the difficult stages of culture shock and reached the stage of full recovery (adjustment), they no longer wished to go home. What impact has this process had on the returnees who faced the insularity of their home society once they returned home? Is the French community beginning to acknowledge the start of a brain-drain of the educated French overseas? What are the implications for borderless higher education? What value should be placed on pre-departure preparation from participating institutions and the individuals themselves, both on a linguistic and a psychological level? This book poses questions relating to these issues.




Australia’s Toxic Medical Culture


Book Description

This book explores dominance in Australia’s medical culture through the positioning of international medical graduates (IMGs). It argues that IMGs are ‘othered’ and ultimately positioned as an underclass, a positioning validated and reinforced by the intersecting inequalities of class, race and nation. It also suggests that the positioning of IMGs is organised through the dimensions of structural power, hegemonic power and interpersonal power, which allow an exploration of power relations between the structures of the health system, the Australian medical profession and the agency of IMGs. The Australian narrative presented to the world espouses a community of social justice and human rights. Instead, an historical lens traces the formation and persistence of difference represented in ethnocentrism, racism and xenophobia from 1788 to the present. The research presented is multidisciplinary in scope. An anti-oppressive theoretical framework enables the voices of lived experience to penetrate throughout and a social justice platform engages the participants and the reader into the interwoven conversations. The data set comprises a focus group, 10 individual interviews with IMGs and a selection of inquiry submissions revealing rich and sometimes shocking evidence to paint a stark picture. Other medical voices join the conversation via media responses to revelations of experiences not only by IMGs but also by Australian-trained doctors. It exposes a toxic culture endemic with bullying and sexual harassment.This book is of interest to practitioners, researchers and administrators in the fields of medical education, human resource management, legal studies, health sciences, social sciences, health services, government departments, universities and hospitals, as well as those tasked with duty of care and the provision of a safe workplace. The voices gifted to this study raise awareness of current issues within medicine in Australia at a very personal level and begin to formulate a policy and practical response to address these disturbing revelations.




Teaching in the Global Business Classroom


Book Description

This book is an excellent resource for university lecturers facing the challenges of working in multicultural classrooms as it examines all aspects raised from the different perspectives of the stakeholders. This book adds both research and practical examples to an already established approach to learning both in schools and universities. Whilst aimed at university business lecturers, secondary teachers and trainee teachers would also gain from the reflection of the impact of international students in relation to teaching and learning. Carole Marshall, Professional Development in Education The text is succinct, easy to follow, and broken up with helpful subtitles. . . this book is recommended for all new higher education teachers and demonstrators and as a resource for both lecturer-training and for continuing professional development purposes. Barbara Chandler, Studies in Higher Education One of the great challenges for teachers in many tertiary institutions is to effectively understand the complex multicultural classroom, both as a consequence of increasing international student mobility and as a result of the raised cultural diversity of domestic populations. Even more important is the need to devise practical and effective strategies that aid learning in growing international contexts. Carol Dalglish and Peter Evans, in Teaching in the Global Business Classroom, provide both and have written an excellent and invaluable guide that will help to avoid the mono-culturalism and Anglo-Americanism of many current approaches which act as barriers both to more effective learning and enhanced performance in the global business environment. Roger King, Open University and formerly of University of Lincoln, UK Dalglish and Evans text Teaching in the Global Business Classroom draws our attention to the possibilities of enriching the experience of the global business classroom for all parties. The contributors to the volume achieve this ambitious aim by delivering a highly accessible text, which offers a useful guide for teachers of global business classrooms. I certainly would like to have read this book in my early years of teaching as the volume provides a much needed injection of accessibility and evidence based recommendations and practical suggestions to a literature which has so far remained anaemic in these regards. Mustafa Özbilgin, University of East Anglia, UK The rise in international student numbers means that teachers face unique challenges arising from language and cultural differences in understanding. Teaching in the Global Business Classroom presents an educational framework for effective teaching and learning in the global classroom. It provides practical tools for teachers through suggestions for innovative curriculum design, lecture techniques, group work and participation activities, as well as the use of case studies and assessment methods. This book is an essential resource for teachers and lecturers looking to provide the best possible teaching experience for their students, but who may be unsure how to address the issues raised by the rise in ethnic diversity. It will also be of great interest to student teachers at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.




Culture and Customs of Thailand


Book Description

Thailand is rapidly industrializing, dramatically improving the living standards of its people, and gradually developing a more democratic society. Despite such profound changes, traditional Thai culture has not only survived, but has also, in many respects, prospered. Although famous for its food, and despite its increasing popularity as a tourist destination, Thailand remains relatively unknown to most Westerners. Culture and Customs of Thailand presents the traditional culture and customs against the backdrop of modern times. Thailand has always been an important Southeast Asian country. With a long-reigning monarchy, it is the only country in the region that has never been colonized by a Western power or suffered bloody revolutions and wars. It was the first Asian country to establish diplomatic relations with the United States, and has remained a constant ally. Thailand has emerged as a considerable economic force as the world's largest rice and rubber producer and remains a regional political power. Against this historical framework, Kislenko deftly introduces the traditional and modern strands of the dominant Buddhist faith and other religions, such as animism. Coverage includes literature, the arts, architecture-including the Thai Wat-food and dress, gender and marriage, festivals and fun, and social customs. Kislenko also balances the portrait with discussions of threats from globalization, AIDS and sex tourism, the drug trade, and corruption in business and government. Evocative photos, a country map, a timeline, and a chronology complete the coverage. This reference is the best source for students and general readers to gain substantial, sweeping insight into the Thais and their land of smiles.




Culture, Science, Society


Book Description

The closely interrelated essays in this volume address the question of the internal dynamism of the high culture of modernity in its paradoxical constitution as the complementary unity of strict opposites: the sciences (philosophy included) and the arts. Special attention is paid to the internal strains of these two great fields in our contemporaneity. It discusses on the one hand the role of experts and, on the other, that of the market in both of these areas . It also deals with the hermeneutical relationship between author - work - recipient and its historical transformations. Although essays deal with the complex philosophical issues, these are discussed in a clear way, approcheable for a person with a broad philosophical interest. They are, however, addressed primarily to philosophers, social scientists, culturologists and aestheticians.