Cross-Cultural Blog

Today we have our last video-conference of the Fall between Orebro University in Sweden and Stanford University in California. We tried to listen to student feedback and revise the lesson plan so there were fewer tasks to complete this time. Instead, students can spend more time working with each other and discussing the doxa or cultural values conveyed by their texts.

This time, on the Stanford side, the texts are student generated Visual Arguments - sharp, creative visual depictions of the Stanford Research-Based Arguments. On the Swedish side, the texts are cultural blog posts.

The students are examining visual argument strategies, what messages they convey, how they work rhetorically, and what might need to be revised in making a successful visual argument.

Participants - can you please post a comment and give us your feedback on this session? YOUR WORDS WILL SHAPE FUTURE SESSIONS

• What did you learn about VISUAL rhetoric today and how you can convey an ARGUMENT visually
• What was most memorable moment or element of the video-conference exchange? What surprised you the most?
• Explain your CCR Image - how did you create it? What does it mean?
• What new insights do you have about diverse cultures or ways of working together that you can use for your future?

Thank you!
Be sure to include your name and institution.

Continue reading "Sweden and Stanford discuss Student Produced Visual Arguments" »

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

Hi.
We chose to write about the swedish king since it has came to our attention, during other maratech meetings, that some americans had they idea that sweden was a lead by a king that accted as a dictator. This is however not the case at all. in fact - the swedish king has no power what so ever and are not even allowed express his politcall views, due to the risk that his opinon may influence some swedish people.

Instead the actual power are possesed by politicians elected by the people in public elections every fourth year. In Sweden we offen have very high participation in our elcetions, the usual sats is that about 90% of the people vote. The swedish constitution is strongly influated by Montesques theories, about dividing the power into 3, one that makes laws (the parliament), one that executes the laws (the goverment) and one that looks to the laws beeing followed (the courts and the police force).

The primary function of the swedish king is instead to represent the country in different situations.
It is debated in Sweden if we want to remain a monarchy and keep the king and recent studies say that about 60% of the swedish people want to keep the king.

We hope to have a nice discussion with our american friends about this topic. Forgive eventuall wrong spellings or bad english in general. ;) /Grettings from Linus and Sebastian, Group B

Picture of the Swedish king Carl XVI Gustaf
http://denriktigasportbloggen.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/kungen.jpg

Posted by Rhetoric Class, Orebro University at 08:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

These are four of the buildings in our campus. Next to the building is a picture of a person representing the style of the students attending each house.

First, we have ”Musikhögskolan”, in which the music students reside. Next to it is a girl Ola saw in the library this afternoon. ”Perfect!”, Ola thought, ”she’ll be perfect for representing the music students!”.

Second, is ”Forumhuset”. In here there are a lot of rhetoric students and other humaniora students.

The third is a picture of ”Långhuset”, which roughly translated means the Long House, which is a pretty good name considering its lenght. The coridor feels neverending – and here’s a picture of it. The people residing this house are mostly economic students, and such. We didn’t find any good pictures of an economic student, which isn’t strange, given this is the first Monday after payday, which means they are all at home being hung over from the wekend’s escapades.

Prismahuset, is the next house. In here we find the nurse students. This is a picture that says it all!

Over and out from Ola och Olof, Group A

Posted by Rhetoric Class, Orebro University at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

There is no good word in English for “Fika”. The closest we can think of is “have some coffee”. In Sweden we “fikar” everyday, at least once a day but usually several times. If you go shopping, meet friends, just hang out or when you’re at work, in school, on your first date and especially when you visit someone you always fika, otherwise you haven’t really seen each other. Fika is a very important part of the Swedish culture. We would like to describe fika as a simple way to hang out, see each other and to keep up. Usually you drink coffee or tea together with something to nibble on. In Sweden we love sweet things like all kind of buns, chocolate cake, cheese cake, cookies etcetera… MMmmmm-MMmmm!!! But you can also fika with ice-cream as well as a sandwich or a smaller lunch, or anything you like.

Continue reading "In Sweden we like to Fika" »

Posted by Rhetoric Class, Orebro University at 06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Today, students are connecting three ways across three continents. From the American University in Cairo, Egypt to Orebro University in Sweden, all the way to Stanford University in California, students are video-conferencing in real time to discuss cultural blog entries and differences in living accommodations, education, and cultural values (doxa).

According to the Lesson Plan, students will first introduce themselves and then discuss their blog posts that show aspects of their culture.

After sharing their differences, they will be creating a brochure TOGETHER as a team --> and composing a visual argument to launch their imaginary new company.

Students, please take a moment to write a comment on this blog entry with your response to your experiences connecting today. Be sure to include your name and institution.

• What did you learn about rhetoric and cross-cultural communication today?
• How did you resolve any technical difficulties (we know you had some!) What was your solution?
• What was most memorable moment or element of the video-conference exchange? What surprised you the most?
• Explain your GROUP BROCHURE - how did you create it? What does it mean?
• What new insights do you have about diverse cultures or ways of working together that you can use for your future?

Thank you!

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (45)

Today we are holding the first of three video-conferences between Stanford and Orebro Sweden. Our focus today is getting to know each other and conducting a rhetorical analysis of website and cultural artifacts (objects and clothing).

We started off in a large auditorium room with all groups connecting, then the students met in small groups working on a lesson plan , and they created team names to share with the whole class again back in the virtual auditorium.

Students, please take a moment to write a comment on this blog entry with your response to your experiences connecting today. Be sure to include your name and institution.

• What did you learn about rhetoric and cross-cultural communication today?
• What was your GROUP TEAM NAME and rationale for your name?
• What was most memorable moment or element of the video-conference exchange? What surprised you the most?
• What new insights do you have that you can use for your rhetorical analysis work, your research project, or future intercultural communications?

Thank you!

Continue reading "Orebro-Stanford: first of three connections!" »

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi AUC students!

I have a question for you guys. I'm researching the impact of the "green" (environmental) fashion trend across cultures, and I'm wondering if you could help me by telling me a bit about what you have experienced in Cairo. In America, being "green" is currently somewhat of a fashion trend: lots of people wear shirts that promote recycling or "going green," and many celebrities have begun to endorse environmentalism. This has led me to wonder, however, if the trend has to do more with fashion than actual environmental function.

What do you think? What is the "green" trend like in Cairo? Do you feel that it is important to appear environmentally-conscious? If so, does this pressure influence your choices as a consumer? And what is your perspective on the "green" trend in the U.S.?

I would love to read your comments. Thanks for your help!!

-Kelly

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 09:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Hey everyone,

Today in class, we had a special Halloween party! We were encouraged to come to class in costume, and we had food (a whole variety- bananas, candy, granola bars, cupcakes, apples, pumpkin bread, and apple cider). It was great to be able to hang out, talk with each other, and generally relax during an otherwise stressful time. This is definitely just one more reason why we love Stanford!

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 04:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry is part of a CCR blogging exchange between Stanford, the American University of Cairo, and Orebro University in Sweden. Students have been asked to post a "university culture" entry introducing something about their university culture (or national culture) to an audience of students across the world. Then, other students will comment and we will soon have a rich dialogue, as students develop ways of writing for international audiences and hopefully learn about ways of life across the globe.

http://www.stanford.edu/about/speak.html

Greetings from the Farm! This is Asli, Jonathan, and Kelly, three “frosh” at Stanford University. Even though we’ve only been here a month, we’ve already been exposed to many of the wacky sides of Stanford. While it’s true that most freshmen here were admitted based on stellar SAT scores that reflect an ability to communicate well, formal English is a rare thing once you’re actually here. Whether you’re grabbing a coffee from the CoHo, hanging out with your RoHo or even hosting a ProFro, knowing your Stanford lingo is one of the first and most important skills to pick up.

The fact that Stanford students use so many abbreviations may make it sound like we’re always in a rush. However, the opposite is true: students here are typically pretty relaxed. Our lingo reflects Stanford’s laid-back and sometimes quirky mentality. Why say “Memorial Auditorium” when “MemAud” sounds so much cooler? We’re writing to you right now from our PWR class, which stands for “Program in Writing and Rhetoric.” We look forward to communicating with you and learning about your schools. Maybe you can come visit us at Stanford and try some EANAB’s (equally attractive non-alcoholic beverages)! But if you come during “Dead Week” (study week before finals), don’t be scared off by our primal scream (a midnight stress-relief tactic)! Talk to you soon!

P.S. For more Stanford slang, check out www.stanford.edu/about/speak.html

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 04:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry is part of a CCR blogging exchange between Stanford, the American University of Cairo, and Orebro University in Sweden. Students have been asked to post a "university culture" entry introducing something about their university culture (or national culture) to an audience of students across the world. Then, other students will comment and we will soon have a rich dialogue, as students develop ways of writing for international audiences and hopefully learn about ways of life across the globe.

Hey! How’s it going across your respective pond? We’re Molly, Helena, and Ketaki and we’re from Washington State, Montana, and Northern California. We’re all freshman at Stanford, and we really like it here. One of the main things about Stanford that’s so great is the freedom we have to explore our interests and try new things; no one is expected to have a major until two years after they’ve started here. This philosophy extends beyond the academic portion of the campus to sports and other extracurricular activities.
Stanford culture is different from anything we’ve ever experienced. Even though everyone here has achieved something incredible, most people are extremely humble and relaxed. It’s easy to make friends because people are open to new possibilities. Even other parts of California aren’t necessarily as laid back and accepting as Stanford. It’s such a surreal feeling to ride your bike past palm trees and fountains every day on the way to class. All of us are still getting used to the idea of actually being students here!
I hope you like your school as much as we enjoy Stanford. We’re really looking forward to video conferencing with you!
And, as they say in California: PEACE out, yo! If you're ever in the Bay, don't hesitate to hit us up for some fro-yo!
- Molly, Helena, Ketaki

Continue reading "Hella Chillin' by the Bay" »

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This entry is part of a CCR blogging exchange between Stanford, the American University of Cairo, and Orebro University in Sweden. Students have been asked to post a "university culture" entry introducing something about their university culture (or national culture) to an audience of students across the world. Then, other students will comment and we will soon have a rich dialogue, as students develop ways of writing for international audiences and hopefully learn about ways of life across the globe.

Greetings from Stanford! Our names are Aliya, Zanny, and Meredith and we are freshmen here at Stanford. Yesterday was a big day on campus. It rained for the first time this quarter, the first rain we experienced as freshmen. We did not know how to react. “I never thought it rained in California!” “Oh my god, my bike seat is soaked!” “Yay, puddles!” Students’ reactions were a mix of horror, disbelief, and excitement. Sure, most of us complained about the wet and cold weather, but—to be honest—we all enjoyed the change of pace. Most Stanford students ride their bikes to class, and you can imagine the effect of sleeting rain on the average bicyclist. Each of us responded differently to the weather. Zanny was feeling rebellious and decided to tough it out and bike to class. She was extremely disappointed with this decision; her hood wouldn’t stay up and she was drenched from head to toe. Meredith decided to go all out with the rain gear. She put on rain boots and a raincoat and carried an umbrella as she walked to class, to scared to bike. After witnessing a spectacular bike collision as she was unlocking her own bike, Aliya decided that the safest bet was the long trudge to classes, with or without an umbrella.
The rain affected more than just our travel plans. The gloomy weather required many cups of hot cocoa, cider, and tea; incessant rain forced all of us to change out of drenched clothes several time. We communed with our peers in dorm lounges, sharing our horror stories and complaints as well as our hopes for brighter days ahead.

Continue reading "California Sunshine?" »

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry is part of a CCR blogging exchange between Stanford, the American University of Cairo, and Orebro University in Sweden. Students have been asked to post a "university culture" entry introducing something about their university culture (or national culture) to an audience of students across the world. Then, other students will comment and we will soon have a rich dialogue, as students develop ways of writing for international audiences and hopefully learn about ways of life across the globe.

int main()
{
printf("hello, world");
return 0;
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Here at Stanford, we are chill most of the time, or so it seems. We live under the warm Californian sun. It’s warm 90% of the time and clouds always look lonely. So it’s really hard not be relaxed when you’re not solving differential equations, and even sometimes when you are. But we somehow manage to find time to work and time to relax, which is essential to surviving as a student. We aren’t competitive but we are ambitious. We come to Stanford with high expectations of ourselves and don’t cut ourselves short by pushing each other down. It’s a collaborative environment because we know we need cooperation in order to be successful. But it’s not just about working and being successful in our own eyes. Our difficult workload is always balanced by the tendency to enjoy the sun and each other’s company.

Continue reading "California Culture" »

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry is part of a CCR blogging exchange between Stanford, the American University of Cairo, and Orebro University in Sweden. Students have been asked to post a "university culture" entry introducing something about their university culture (or national culture) to an audience of students across the world. Then, other students will comment and we will soon have a rich dialogue, as students develop ways of writing for international audiences and hopefully learn about ways of life across the globe.

No, really, it is more than you'd imagine!

Hello! Our names are Lea, Raina, and Christopher, three freshmen at Stanford University. We’ve been having an amazing time here, getting to know our fellow classmates. We love the fact that everyone trumps the stereotype of simply being a good student.

While we’re all passionate about academics and intellectually curious, we also have whole other identities as artists, athletes, actors, activists, and aesthetes. It is always so exciting to learn about our classmates’ lives, loves, and accomplishments, both inside and outside of the classroom. Everyone is so impressive! For example, one student holds the Guinness World Record for juggling, while others own their own companies and non-profit organizations. Most impressively, everyone is very humble about their accomplishments, always willing to take a moment to share about their life experiences or to explain a homework concept to others.

We also know how to have a good time! Late night conversations, parties, fountain hopping (we run around at night and jump into various fountains on campus), art and comedy shows, and spirited sports games only begin to cover some of the quirky, fun-filled, fantastic experiences that we have had so far!

Continue reading "More Than You'd Imagine" »

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry is part of a CCR blogging exchange between Stanford, the American University of Cairo, and Orebro University in Sweden. Students have been asked to post a "university culture" entry introducing something about their university culture (or national culture) to an audience of students across the world. Then, other students will comment and we will soon have a rich dialogue, as students develop ways of writing for international audiences and hopefully learn about ways of life across the globe.

We come from a variety of backgrounds and ethnicities. For instance, of our group of three students, one is from a public school in Indiana, another grew up in Taiwan, and another has moved 14 times between four countries. Stanford is a very active campus and has many student-athletes. The sun is almost always shining and we are always outside. We consider ourselves more laid back than our east coast peers; less competitive and more friendly. Everyone here is treated with the same respect. Even between boys and girls, different races and ethnicities, and different levels in school. Everyone is so excited to be here and to meet other people here. We present ourselves as people rather than a list of accomplishments. We tend to become good friends with people before we find out the amazing things they have done. As a community, we are a little quirky. For instance, Stanford student love to go “fountain-hopping” where we all run around and jump into fountains. We also have an annual tradition of “full moon on the quad” where everyone gathers and kisses as many people as they can.

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry is part of a CCR blogging exchange between Stanford, the American University of Cairo, and Orebro University in Sweden. Students have been asked to post a "university culture" entry introducing something about their university culture (or national culture) to an audience of students across the world. Then, other students will comment and we will soon have a rich dialogue, as students develop ways of writing for international audiences and hopefully learn about ways of life across the globe.

Hi this is Andrew and David: two average Stanford Freshman with a need to explore!!

Steam tunneling has been a long existing tradition at Stanford. Beneath the campus that so many have called home there is an intricate catacomb of tunnels that wind under the engineering building and center of campus. One can find themselves coming up in one of 250 connected buildings including a chapel at the far end of the quad. Recently almost every known entrance to the steam tunnels has been locked shut keeping eager Stanford students away from their beloved tradition due to the possibilities of lawsuits or injuries. It isn’t uncommon, however, to see one of

these locks cut or a manhole cover open. I believe this is a metaphor of the Stanford community. There is a strong sense of tradition that many value more than the risks present in pursuit of such tradition. Stanford students are curious, eager to explore even the darkest of places and navigate their way through a catacomb of life. They are assertive, keeping a watchful eye over everything in their community, and not afraid to protest something they find unreasonable or even unjust.

Continue reading "Stanford “Steam Tunneling”" »

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 09:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry is part of a CCR blogging exchange between Stanford, the American University of Cairo in Egypt, and Orebro University in Sweden. Students have been asked to post a "university culture" entry introducing something about their university culture (or national culture) to an audience of students across the world. Then, other students will comment and we will soon have a rich dialogue, as students develop ways of writing for international audiences and hopefully learn about ways of life across the globe.

Being bored at Stanford is impossible. Stanford has an intellectual community, but it is very friendly, welcoming, and open. Everybody at Stanford has a “baby” – they have something they are really passionate about and they put a lot of time and effort into pursuing it. Stanford prides itself on not taking itself too seriously. Instead of having a formal marching band, the band dresses up in crazy costumes for sports games and makes inappropriate formations and instead of marching, everyone runs crazily between formations. Stanford is not only an intellectual community but also emphasizes extracurricular activities and sports: the students are very well-rounded. Students take an interest in each other’s lives. The campus is often referred to as the “Stanford Bubble.” Almost everyone lives on campus and the campus itself is like a little city. Most people rarely venture into the nearby affluent suburb of Palo Alto. Having all the students on campus promotes a strong community feeling, also shown in the inclusion of the whole student body in events instead of having exclusive parties or meetings. There is a lot of emphasis put on exploration and fun in addition to academic achievement. Having a great experience is a huge part of Stanford life out of the classroom.

Continue reading "Bubbles and Babies: Excitement on the Stanford Campus" »

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry is part of a CCR blogging exchange between Stanford, the American University of Cairo, and Orebro University in Sweden. Students have been asked to post a "university culture" entry introducing something about their university culture (or national culture) to an audience of students across the world. Then, other students will comment and we will soon have a rich dialogue, as students develop ways of writing for international audiences and hopefully learn about ways of life across the globe.

Stanford has 8,000 acres of land and is the second biggest campus in the world…so it’s really BIG.

We think the dynamic between Stanford and its surrounding area is really interesting The town outside Stanford called Palo Alto is a fairly small town full of silicon valley techies. Although the biggest city, San Francisco, is an hour away, the campus is still incredibly active and friendly in its bubble.

Stanford students enjoy their tight knit campus community, but they also reach out often to neighboring communities with education or volunteering efforts. Student traditions include frolicking in the fountains as well as spelunking in the steam tunnels.

Continue reading "8,000 Acres Is Not Enough: Stanford Reaching Out" »

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry is part of a CCR blogging exchange between Stanford, the American University of Cairo, and Orebro University in Sweden. Students have been asked to post a "university culture" entry introducing something about their university culture (or national culture) to an audience of students across the world. Then, other students will comment and we will soon have a rich dialogue, as students develop ways of writing for international audiences and hopefully learn about ways of life across the globe.

Hey, we’re Paige and Atira, and we’re freshmen at Stanford University! Upon our arrivals at Stanford, the first taste of Stanford life we received was when we approached the doors to our dorm, carrying all our life belongings in two large suitcases. The initiation into the dorm consisted of a loud megaphone welcome from multiple people clad in coordinating t-shirts and mardi gras beads. After the loud wake-up call, they gave us t-shirts of our own, a room key, and a bag of information regarding New Student Orientation. This was our official joining into the Stanford community. A month later, dorm life continues to be the focal point of life on campus. The sense of belonging and collaboration translates into the dorm as well as academics. There’s a competitive atmosphere, but everyone is encouraged to work together towards a greater goal.

Continue reading "Dressing up in the Dorms: Living at Stanford University" »

Posted by Stanford Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe Class at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (18) | TrackBacks (0)

Today we are piloting our first cross-cultural rhetoric video-conference WITHIN the US. Students from Aurora, Colorado will be connecting with students at Stanford.

The task? Rhetorical analysis of image of the American Flag - from diverse perspectives! Not only are there diverse nationalities at each institution, but Colorado and California have very different cultures. In addition, Aurora is a small community college and Stanford is a research one graduate university - so what can we learn from each other? How might we better understand America and its diversity?

Students, please take a moment to post a comment to this blog entry with your response to your experiences connecting today. Be sure to include your name and institution.

• What did you learn about rhetoric and cross-cultural communication today?
• What was most memorable moment or element of the video-conference exchange? What surprised you the most?
• What new insights do you have that you can use for your rhetorical analysis work, your research project, or future intercultural communications?

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 07:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (20) | TrackBacks (0)

The way to license music is increasingly becoming easier with the emergence and popularity of creative commons. Game developers can find suitable background music not in the traditional way (like securing license from the publisher by paper documentation) but using online licensing solutions. It could be possible to find suitable songs as theme for the games which does not usually happen in the past. With the increasing supply of music but decreasing demand, music publishers face a challenge to find suitable solutions to market music; one of them is offering consumers a free license of the music.

However not it is not a full license, but offering them a short sample say 45 seconds is enough even for game developers and film movie directors.

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)

Hej Anders' students in Sweden,
Below, you'll find introductions of the groups of Stanford students you'll be working with this quarter. Can't wait to meet you,
Helle

Posted by Helle Rytkonen at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hey, everyone. My research-based argument is on the negative portrayal of minorities, in particular, Black women in advertisements. I think it's a pretty interesting topic, seeing that by analyzing their absence from or portrayal in advertisements, you're also receiving a history lesson about African American women. By using examples of a L’Oreal ad, an Intel ad, and a Dutch Sony PlayStation Portable ad, the paper explores the ways in which minorities are excluded from popular culture by being left out or negatively portrayed in advertisements. It is relevant to have a discussion regarding this issue because the exclusivity found enhances the divisions between people of different races instead of encouraging diversity and unity.

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

MOlly McCoy is a freshman who plans to major in psychology. Growing up in Los Angeles as the daughter of an actor and a model, along with her education at an all-girls high school has provided her with first hand experiences on the effects of advertising on modern young women, along with a passion to combat the sexism that still exists today.

ShARA Esbenshade is a freshman planning to major in history who throughout her bicultural upbringing by a Hungarian mother and American father has always had a passionate interest in Hungarian history, politics, and identity.

JamaiCA Osorio is a Freshman from Honolulu Hawaii who plans to major in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. Jamaica was raised by a historian and musician and plans to study Hawaii’s History further under her father after graduating from Stanford in 2012. Most of Jamaica’s life has been spent teaching people about Hawaii.

Molly’s paper: This paper discusses the progression of sexos in advertising and how it has instigated past and current gender stereotypes, especially towards women. It closely analyzes the irony existing within the Dove campaign and within its owner company Unilever, which promotes contradicting ideals with the Axe advertisements. Through these opposing campaigns, the paper unveils the ulterior motives of advertising companies that appeal to audiences through any means possible to sell their product.

Shara’s paper: The resurgence of ethnocentric nationalist rhetoric in contemporary Hungary has triggered fears internationally of the anti-Semitic policies of 1930s Hungary repeating themselves, for the 1920s and 30s were characterized by a cultural concept of the nation similar to the prevalent national identity within Hungary today. In researching 1920s rhetoric and politics in Hungary, I theorize that culturally and ethnically defined national identity opens the door to ethnocentric and potentially racist or xenophobic beliefs, actions, and policies, as revealed in analyses of political posters about the treaty of Trianon and the subsequently estranged Hungarian minority. At first glance, current-day rhetoric reflects the pattern shown by 1920s and 30s Hungary, but the situation today is complex, and does not fit easily into the pattern established during interwar Hungary. While the striking similarities in rhetoric and national identity are cause for alarm, there is also a widespread desire among Hungarians to avoid the aggressive and harmful ethnocentrism of the past.

Posted by Stanford, Visual Rhetoric across the Globe at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Hello, we are Zoe Leavitt, Cameron Foreman, and Julie Hernandez, freshmen at Stanford enrolled in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric. We researched anti-drug advertisements, rhetorical techniques of televangelists, politicians, and infomercial salesmen on TV, and sexual imagery in food advertising, respectively. The things we discovered surprised and intrigued us, and we hope they will inform you as well.

Your World on Drugs: How Anti-Drug Advertising Has Shaped America’s View of Drug Users and Abusers Over Time

This paper first explores the varied strategies employed by anti-drug advertisers in the government-funded War on Drugs program. It will use ads published by the Foundation for a Drug Free World as a lens through which to consider the negative portrayal of minorities in many War on Drugs advertisements and the possible consequences of these images on society. It also investigates the fear tactics, authoritarian voices, and focus on abstinence emphasized in the War on Drugs program and how they may have adverse affects on teenagers.

Rhetoricians: The different faces that influence our country
A comparison of televangelists, politicians and infomercial salesmen

The ability to reach a wide spread audience has caused a great demand for TV air time for different groups of people, including the three that I closely examine, televangelists, politicians, and infomercial salesmen. For the first time, I relate these three very different spokesmen and draw parallels between their styles. I take this a step further and express what affect this newly created link has had on our country.

Bigger is Better…In Terms of Burgers: Sexism in Food Advertisements
From Julie: From my research, I’ve argued about and analyzed the persuasive rhetoric that food advertisements use to sell and publicize their products. I’ve demonstrated the way that the female body in particular is used to create an ideal standard of beauty that women are to try and imitate only to realize that impossible standards have been set leaving one’s only resort to purchase products publicized in ads. I’ve looked at different ads that exploit the female body in ways that make women self-conscious about their own image. The image to the right for example, is an ad for Dannon Light Yogurt comparing a skinny female body to that of an enlarged pear leading consumers to believe that yogurt is a better snack than a pear or any other fruit when it comes to dieting.

Posted by Stanford, Visual Rhetoric across the Globe at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Hello! Our names are Molly, Alex, Lydia and Jon. We are all Stanford students writing for our Writing and Rhetoric Class, Visual Rhetoric across the Globe. We are each writing about individual topics that we are very interested in, and we are stoked to share our research with you!

Molly's Entry:

The Indian film industry is one of the largest in the world. Recently it has been greatly influenced by Hollywood Beauty standards mainly that regarding the Western cult of thinness. Traditionally Indian women have been revered for being voluptuous and full figured, but with globalization and the transmission of Western beauty values, the Indian beauty standard is changing. In Bollywood the new standard of thinness has been embraced, yet this is greatly affecting Indian cultural norms and how the everyday woman perceives herself in relation to the idealized woman in Western and now Indian cinema. This is causing Bollywood films to be more and more Western oriented, and to a degree it is causing them to lose the qualities that once separated them from Hollywood.

Lydia's Entry:

The development of a sexy, confident, rebellious, and cool image of a cigarette smoker has been a helpful tool used by tobacco advertisers in order to market their product to teens who are more susceptible to be affected by such images. Camel cigarette brand in particular has used this tactic of developing the ethos of a cigarette smoker in order to broaden their consumer base to the underage smoker. In the following article, Lydia Santos analyzes these tactics and their affects on the teenage consumer by analyzing specific Camel advertisements and other tactics of targeting teens used by tobacco companies.

Alex's Entry

Given that gender is – at least to a degree – socially constructed, the media has tremendous power to shape our culture’s expectations regarding gender roles. In the following article, I will examine several advertisements and explain how masculinity is constructed in our culture, giving particular attention to the relationship between male sexuality and representations of masculinity. I will show how the media’s vision of masculinity does not represent the values of all men, causing feelings of confusion and alienation for ordinary males.

Outgrowing Sportsmanship: The Social Significance of Pokémon’s Rise and Fall

Born in 1996, Pokémon transcended the medium of videogame and begat an international obsession. Since then, its popularity has waned, but it is still substantially large among children. Older gamers have moved on and embrace more action-packed, visceral multiplayer games, such as Super Smash Bros. Beyond a simple switch in franchise, however, the abandonment of Pokémon in favor of these other popular games represents a change in ideology, the rejection of friendliness and sportsmanship in favor of hyper-competitiveness and malice. This essay examines the subtleties of this switch and the aspects of Pokémon that caused it.

Posted by Stanford, Visual Rhetoric across the Globe at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

We are two students working on analyzing various forms of advertising media. In Christian's research project, he explored advertising campaigns that have advertised the adult entertainment Mecca of Las Vegas and how the images conveyed reflect the image of both Las Vegas the destination and Las Vegas the residential community. Alan is looking into the concept of corporate image management, meaning the use of advertising by corporations to sell themselves to the public rather than any specific product or service.

In his research project, Alan touched upon a variety of current examples of prominent corporate image management, such as GE's "ecomagination" campaign and provided an analysis of the contributions that corporate image can play in forming the company-consumer relationship. Even for those without direct involvement in corporate marketing policy, these issues and the knowledge carried with them are important keys in the understanding of modern society, and should be of ample value to all readers. As new communication methods bring corporations closer to consumers, the relationship between company and customer becomes increasingly more personal, based on the persona of the company that is portrayed through their corporate image.

As a past resident of Las Vegas of seven years, Christian Ollano has been exposed to the plethora of suggestive and racy advertisements that promote and form the image of Las Vegas popular to the world today. But this is provocative image is not the only side of Las Vegas that exists. For years, many have been lost in the misconception that Las Vegas is solely and adult entertainment capital, but in fact, it is a metropolis composed of two contrasting ideals of community. On one side there is a quaint residential community and on the other, an enticing adult getaway. After thorough research, it has been discovered that both these entities survive through a clashing co-dependence, one in which unbalanced power allows the casino industry to promote and uphold a racy and controversial identity of the city as a whole. This is a public image of the city that has been disseminated and made popular by Las Vegas marketing agencies, casino companies, and pop culture. In order to fix this problem, the casino sector will have to tame their strategies in an attempt to create a healthy and mutual co-existence between the two entities.

Posted by Stanford, Visual Rhetoric across the Globe at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Introducing the creative work of three distinguised Stanford students: Samara Nichols, Bart Thompson, and Katherine Disenhof. Analyzing souces of viusal rhetoric, they each produced extensive research-based arguments on their respective topics. The following images concisely summarize their projects.

The Darfur conflict has the potential to become a multi-million death genocide--the blood on the hands of our generation. In looking at the ways that the media has covered the topic, and more importantly what the media has not covered in their presentation of the issue, we can discover ways to better solve the Darfur problem and eliminate this devestating tragedy right now.

Posted by Stanford, Visual Rhetoric across the Globe at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hello, our names are Pallavi, Kanoa, and Catalina, and we are students at Stanford University, in the course Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe. Our three respective topics are fairness creams and social mobility, portrayal of racism in political cartoons across history, and negative media portrayals of elderly people.

Older people are negatively portrayed in the media, from magazine advertisements, to health care commercials, to beauty products. Their roles are often those of the simple, feeble, overly conservative, physically or mentally deficient. Furthermore, they are underrepresented in advertisements, and when they are advertised they are shown in an excessively negative light. Negative media portrayals of older people have a detrimental effect on how they feel about themselves, as well as how younger people view the prospect of aging. This paper explores the ways in which our preconceived notions about older people are shaped by the media and the degree to which they are ingrained.

Skin lightening is a phenomenon that has for years been quietly sweeping Asia into frenzy, particularly in the Indian Subcontinent. Presently, the fairness cream industries are not as discrete about their products as they were in the past. Fairness product advertisements monopolize all mediums of communication with deliberate intent, and promise a better life to their consumers. Companies such as Fair and Lovely and Ponds are thriving on well-believed notions that fair skin is superior to one that is dark, and are using this emotional vulnerability of the consumers to unscrupulously promote their products. The companies clearly state that fairness will lead to success both corporately and socially, thus fueling a plethora of existing insecurities that ultimately, and selfishly translate into reaping windfall profits from their sale of a ‘promise.’

The purpose of this essay is to explore the change in perspective of racism and U.S. relations in Hawaii using political cartoons. The author focuses on political cartoons from the annexation era, circa 1875-1905, to understand societal assumptions of race and U.S. relations in early Hawaii. He then focuses on cartoons of today to see the change of these key issues throughout Hawaiian history. Political cartoons give a definitive lens in which we can understand how Hawaii has changed, due to the social change of the islands. He then argues how cartoons can help to shape the future of Hawaii.

Posted by Stanford, Visual Rhetoric across the Globe at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Megan, Benamy, and Aidan of Stanford Group F present their original research and arguments.

From all of us:
We are three Stanford undergraduates writing for our Writing and Rhetoric class. We invite you to read and learn from our research. The topics we are writing on were all individually chosen, so they have special significance to each of us. It's our pleasure to share our work with you.

From Benamy:
My research concerns the campaign for clean coal in America. The campaign is led by the special interest group, the "American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity," which runs a slew of ads across the media, which have profound affects on public opinion of clean coal. This public opinion and active lobbying by ACCCE all have affects on energy policy in America. I argue that the ads mislead the American public with misinformation and by using empty rhetoric. The energy policy these strategies promote is wrong for America.

From Megan:
My argument will discuss the current forms of exploitation of the Maori culture utilized by New Zealand advertisers. Domestic exploitation by ignorant and insensitive advertisers will be analyzed along with international exploitation by advertisers misusing the Maori culture for financial gain. The argument’s main purpose, however, will be to analyze exploitation so that recommendations can be made for solutions that will prevent and reduce it. Social advertising will be given as a concrete example of a successful solution. This example, along with other plans for change recommended by a New Zealand marketing authority, will provide the argument with the information necessary to extrapolate a proactive plan of action for the Maori.

From Aidan:
In 1980, more than 120,000 Cuban refugees came to the United States. Many of them were gay. No government or religious agency would assist them. The gay and lesbian community in the United States (gay church groups in particular) pulled together to resettle these refugees, and help them assimilate into U.S. culture. Much of the rhetoric they employed in recruiting sponsors for these refugees relied on the ideas of brotherhood and unity across culture. But things did not quite go as originally envisioned – language barriers, class differences, racial tensions, and different expectations on the part of refugees and sponsors all got in the way of making the initial utopian ideals a reality.

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In a second video conference connection between Uppsala University, Sweden, and Stanford University, students had an opportunity to discuss Globalization. We started by considering alternative definitions of Globalization (see PPT on the Workshop Page) and then brought it home when students checked out the shirt labels of their colleagues to see where even their clothing was from (thanks to Helle Rytkonen for this idea!).

Professor Patrik Mehrens offered a great discussion of Max Hamburger as a response to McDonald's invading Sweden, and we also examined the website for IKEA as a globalization force - bringing Swedish values (design, food, even social practices like coffee breaks) to the rest of the world, especially the USA.

Students had a chance to pick their own McDonald's website to analyze, exploring how Doxa is represented in the visual rhetoric of websites, and then, using super creativity, they designed their own websites!

Check out all the Group web designs and visual rhetoric on the Workshop Page

We invite everyone who participated to comment here on the experience:

What did you learn about rhetoric across cultures? (From sharing a cultural artifact, from the discussion, from making a visual rhetoric argument together as a team?)
What new insights do you have? (about cultural communication, doxa, or ads?)
What ideas do you wish you could continue to discuss?
What improvements to the video conference process can you suggest for next time?

Thank you! See you for the Dec 1 connection

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 10:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (27) | TrackBacks (0)

Today, students at Uppsala University in Sweden and Stanford University will be connecting for the first of three video conferences. Today's focus is on the Rhetorical Situation of Political Cartoons; it seems an appropriate topic (topoi) given that we are on the eve of the US presidential election.

See, for instance, this tiny piece of Daryl Cagle's cartoon on the election (I'm not posting the whole thing for copyright reasons):

We'll be examining a lot of cartoons from Cagle's Professional Cartoon website and also reading scholarly articles about political cartoons as powerful cultural texts that both reflect and shape structures of power.

In the video conference, students will have a chance to select and analyze both Swedish and American cartoons that are particularly strong examples of Doxa, or cultural values. And then students will get a chance to "talk back" or modify/create their own political cartoon about cultural values and diverse audiences! (See Workshop Page)

Here, we invite everyone how participated today to post a comment and give some feedback:
* What did you learn about rhetoric across cultures?
* What was most memorable?
* What new insights do you have?
* What ideas do you wish you could continue to discuss?
* What improvements to the video conference process can you suggest for next time?

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (23) | TrackBacks (0)

Tomorrow, Monday, October 6, we'll kick off the first of 14 videoconferences at Stanford with partners in Sweden, Australia, and Russia - with many more connections to come!

Two classes will connect to discuss Beauty Standards, Body Image, and Gender Norms Across the Globe (the lesson plan will be linked here). Teams will have a chance to watch several videos, comment on the issues, bring up points from assigned articles and readings, and then together, as a globally-distributed team, develop a concept for a NEW TOY, DOLL, or VIDEO AD that would promote a different kind of beauty standard, body image, or gender norm.

Teams examined John Riviello's Barbie Doll Flash Animation http://www.johnriviello.com/bodyimage/barbie.html as well as a trailer for the NewBoy Muslim Barbie, Fulla: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WqmCAzxUxI and then compared two videos on Altered Bodies:
Dover's Evolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U and Korea's 200 Pound Beauty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj4ZGKanyJ4 Students also discussed assigned readings (see extended entry).

Students who participated in this video conference, please take a moment to reflect on the experience in a comment of about 50-100 words in response to this blog entry. In your comment, consider:

- what you learned about visual rhetoric across cultures
- how the technology worked in terms of facilitating or inhibiting cross-cultural rhetoric and understanding
- what you found memorable about the experience and what you learned the most!

Also, please share with blog readers what your group focused on and what you learned from it. If you had time to develop a NEW toy, doll, video ad idea, or op-ad concept, please describe that here or post any links / material from your group work!

Continue reading "Stanford-Sweden First Video Conference" »

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Background Image: Ferghana Valley, the most fertile region of Uzbekistan, a reference to women's traditional roles and source of respect as mothers and a symbolic of women as seeds of change in Uzbekistan, as the people who drive Uzbekistan forward from tradition to modernity by changing their own roles in society.

Continue reading "Madina' s Visual Argument" »

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LANGUAGE IS THE KEY
by: Lydia, Alicia, Janessa, Shefali, Charity and Andrea

For our final day of video conference, group LAJACS presented their visual arguments related to each person's research papers.

Continue reading "LAJACS Conversation Club" »

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

members: Andrea, Janessa, Charity, Shefali, Alicia, Lydia

Group LAJACS started today’s video conference with a check-in question regarding movies and our preferred genres. After a short discussion and exchange, we proceeded with watching trailers and clips that our members selected.

Read more...

Continue reading "LAJACS StoryBoard from May 12, 2008" »

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Download file

In today's class, we decomposed a short film of our choosing (we chose the Diesel ad on global warming) into a series of story board box outline. We decided that the short 90 second clip could be divided into the following chronological order:

Continue reading "5/12 Group C: Storyboard Activity " »

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

How effectively does a website convey its argument? In our most recent video conference, we looked at different websites related to our respective individual topics and examined to what extent they establish their credibility (ethos) and how they could be useful in a research argument.

Continue reading "Group B (Cultural Perception) on Effective Websites" »

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Members: Alicia, Andrea, Shefali, Janessa and Charity

Today's video conference started with a discussion about holidays, such as those in American culture, Filipino culture, Indian culture and French culture. The members exchanged ideas about events like the Philippines' Independence Day, Labor day and holidays in Indian and French culture. This short discussion gave us all a glimpse of a different culture and it was a very educational and enriching experience.

Continue reading "Group D Discussion (AJACS)" »

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April 20, 2008

During my half a dozen travels to the Republic of Uzbekistan in the last ten years I have witnessed the reality of the rampant “Americanization” that Rice-Oxley describes in the his article, “In 2,000 Years, Will the World Remember Disney or Plato?” Families that never before had one telephone, now have one cell per member of the household. Women who used to wear long, beautiful, flowing dresses and headscarves, now dress in American and European fashions. The alphabet has changed from Cyrillic to Latin. Mentalities have changed- young girls who ten years ago would have pictured themselves as mothers and housewives now dream of medical school (a definite improvement!). I would like to use images as a medium to explore how some of these changes came about, to study how images are a reflection and a vehicle of change.

Continue reading "Conflicts of Tradition and Modernity in Uzbekistan: Madina's Research Topic" »

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Through a preliminary search, I found sources describing how comics capture a specific culture, since they in the past they have often been directed at a specific audience (for example, American comics are directed at the American public), as well as how they are spreading and evolving through the Internet.

Continue reading "Kristine's Research Topic: Discovering Culture in Comics" »

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

April 28, 2008- UPDATE
I have been able to check out possible sources for my paper through Google Scholar and Socrates. I've been able to find several interesting books on the Nanjing Massacre which offer different insights about the event. I've found a book that contains journal entries from a German soldier who was in Nanjing at the time, as well as the more popular books pertaining to this matter such as Iris Chang's Rape of Nanking. I've also found some films and documentaries that might be useful to my research through the Stanford library.
Aside from what I have found, I'm also considering an interview with my Chinese history professor to be able to get a better perspective about this event. I intend to contact the Hoover Library/Archives to be able to have access to some historical documents concerning the Nanjing Massacre and Sino-Japanese relations.

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Previous Freewrite Entry: http://www.stanford.edu/group/ccr/blog/2008/04/shefalis_research_freewrite.html#comments

This is my updated inspiration map based on the research sources I compiled while creating my research log. I will focus on the success of the Montana Meth Project, its comparison to past initiatives, and its inspiration for natonwide meth projects. I will also look at the national perspective on the project through news articles and documentaries and observe the community's perspective by looking at local news articles and interviewing my Montanan roommate.

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

https://coursework.stanford.edu/portal/site/Sp08-PWR-1-41/page/de4a348f-e1cb-47a6-00cd-1ce45f1c137a
Research log update:
After some initial research on Google Scholars, I compiled a list of about 10 sources for my topic. i organized the sources according to how each fits under the larger theme, instead of by source type. I did it this way because it gave me a better view of potential body paragraph topics to explore. However, to incorporate the diversity of sources, I marked the different sources with different color, so I'll have a visual grasp of the types of sources I have so far.
Image as follows:

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Vietnam's economic and social achievements that have taken place since the 1990s have been incredible. Vietnam has become the second-fastest growing economy in Asia, with the presence of many foreign investments and the adoption of a free-market economy. However, with this move towards capitalism and globalization, is Vietnam losing its identity? Why was the terrible war fought and won just to revert back to the American ideals the Vietnam government resented? Are foreigners capitalizing off of Vietnam's move toward capitalism?

Perhaps the country is giving way to a more western thought, but this doesn't necessarily mean that Vietnam cannot hold onto its own cultural and historical ideals as well. Its booming economy is giving it a greater role within the global financial stage. If anything, Vietnam is gaining more and more attention, and its traditions are being shared with the rest of the world.

Below is a collection of potential sources that will be used in the research of this topic:

Continue reading "Capitalizing off of Capitalism in Vietnam - Trisha's Research Topic" »

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

After researching a bit on google and google scholar, I found a number of articles and books that could possibly help me with my project. I actually found several opinion articles from several newspapers. I also was surprised to find English translations of Korean newspaper articles. A lot of what I found gave me new information that will definitely help me refine my ideas and thesis. I was worried at first about getting enough sources, but after researching a bit, I feel like there's a lot of potential.

Below is an image of my initial iceberg of sources:

My Original Freewrite: http://www.stanford.edu/group/ccr/blog/2008/04/charitys_research_freewrite_1.html

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Research Update by Julia Janssen
Darfur. The word alone brings up thoughts of violence, starvation and malnutrition. Images we've seen from the media flash through our minds of starved people, a hot desert, and tragic faces. But who takes these photos? Who is the person traveling miles from home to document these atrocities and what do they do when they are there? Do they help or just take their pictures and leave? Can anything be done? What are the risks of traveling to this region?

For my research project, I hope to explore the lives of photojournalists in the region. Kevin Carter, a Pulitzer-prize winning photographer, took a famous photo in Darfur and soon after committed suicide. In his suicide note, he wrote that he was "haunted by vivid memories of killings, corpses, anger, pain, starving or wounded children, and trigger-happy madmen." His story is the most famous because his story after taking the photo was the most controversial. Other photojournalists who did work in the region have journal entries online, such as Hillary Mayell of National Geographic.

In terms of background on the situation, I have found a few sites claiming global warming is the cause of the massive amounts of violence and human rights violations. In addition, there are many journals and articles describing the escalation of violence and waves of famine in detail.

Almost every major media outlet, such as newspapers and magazines like The New York Times, National Geographic, and Time Magazine, have had a feature story on Darfur. Each of these stories use visual rhetoric by photojournalists to lure in their readers. Analysis of how these media outlets use these images to cause certain emotions in readers may help to shed light on some of the techniques that photojournalists use to create images these media outlets will use.

Below is an Inspiration Mapping of my Preliminary Sources:

*I have not included the link to my previous freewrite because this revised version provides a much better explanation of my topic.*

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

After doing a little research, some unique perspectives have been opened up about the kind of media and characteristics of Japanese/Korean "waves". The topic has been explored and touched on by many news sources including magazines, periodicals but the reasons for these waves have not gone back into history. I would like to explore further whether this "wave" has spread only to the metropolis or if it has spread all throughout China. I also realized that new "books" or research material on the relatively new waves will not be available, so I must seek out sources about pop culture or contemporary trends in Japan and Korea and synthesize these sources for my own project. My research so far has consisted of documentaries, books, interview source, and online databases. The online databases so far has been the most specific about my topic, or pertinent.

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

After researching for my research assignment, I have decided to change the topic to include past examples of Olympic boycotts. For example, I will also research the 1936 and 1972 Olympic boycotts, which are very similar to the current 2008 Olympic boycotts. These past examples of Olympics being used to draw attention to political issues will provide a point of compairson and contrast, and shows how the conflicts are extended to multiple countries. A main point that I learned about my research is that I would like to compare and contrast past Olympic controversies with the current 2008 one concerning China and Tibet.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/ccr/blog/2008/04/catherines_freewrite.html#comments

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:11 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Research Update:

Previously, I have focused my research on online news articles and images. In order to gain a better understanding of my topic and possible avenues for my research argument essay, I need to expand my sources. At this point, it is important to commit to "shopping." New ideas for sources include books, scholarly articles, documentaries, YouTube videos, and interviews. Books can be found through the Stanford Libary Network and Socrates. The same can be done for documentaries. Scholarly articles can be found in the database resources I have access to through Stanford. YouTube videos would add to my previous research focusing on examples of visual rhetoric, not just information about context. It would be interesting to contact someone directly involved with the media's representation of the conflict, like an editor or journalist, and perform an interview.

My past research has had the narrow focus on the context of the Kosovo conflict and recent events including its independence. Now it is important to branch out and look at scholarly articles that deal with the role of the international media in conflict resolution, or sources about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how that has been presented in the media compares to how Kosovo has. Ultimately, my goal is to branch out as much as possible so that I can then focus on a specific part of the topic that can inform my thesis and argument for my upcoming essay.

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I want to write about the protest in Tibet for my research project. I think the current situation in Tibet resembles that of Korea during World War II. Tibet and Korea both wanted to be independent and actually showed their will for freedom to the global society through demonstration.
I will analyze the photos shown in the major newspapers in both the US and China. For example, the first picture is from People’s Daily, the largest newspaper in China. The second picture is from the New York Times. We can see that the themes of the photos are very different from each other. People’s Daily focused on Chinese mainland people’s antagonism against Tibet, while the New York Times focused on the brutality of Chinese police suppressing the protest.
One main concern about the topic on Tibet is that the photos usually don’t have profundity. The photos were just taken in chaos without any consideration or plans of the photographers.

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry has been posted by a group of students, working collaboratively across classes at Stanford (USA) and Orebro (Sweden). The students were asked to imagine that the members of their group would all be presenting their research ideas at one panel at a conference. What would the title or name of their panel be? They had to collaboratively come up with a title or name for your group – to do so, they needed to consider the similarities in their projects or their research interests. Many groups used the whiteboard to brainstorm and write your new group name and, at the same time to create a collage as visual rhetoric for their new global team identity. See the asisgnment sheet here, at the workshop page for April 21, 2008

We chose the name current silence because three out of our four topics have to do with media and their influence. And the other topic has to do with non-verbal communication.

Summary of Research Interests:

Continue reading "Group C Current Silence" »

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Research Freewrite
Beijing and Shanghai have been increasingly exposed to advertisements from their neighbors to the east: Japan and Korea. There has been a increasing trend in the “fashionable” Korean and Japanese products, clothes, and cuisine marked by pop culture imports such as Korea’s Winter Sonata TV Drama, Japanese face lotion, and the perception of female beauty from both countries. What the Chinese call “Han ri” and “hang Han” ) (literally “trendy Japanese” and “trendy Korean”) have swept the metropolitan areas, especially with the youth who are constantly exposed and more receptive to movies, music, and personalities from other countries. I will research questions such as: what were the origins of this East Asia import fad? What has influenced Koreans or Japanese and indirectly influenced the Chinese? What are the key perceptions of beauty, glamour, success that the Chinese see in their neighbors? How has Korean/Japanese imports been molded or integrated for the purpose of Chinese use? With China’s increasing appetite for global imports, metropolitan Chinese youth have adopted the Korean and Japanese food, fashion, and culture as their own when determining their own sense of style in the context of China’s economic liberation.

Continue reading "Kenan's Freewrite" »

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Research Freewrite by Chun Pan, Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe

What is considered to be beautiful goes hand in hand with the trends and styles of the time, and is also influenced by cultural and social-economic factors. What used to be beautiful was long, straight black hair, pale skin, Chinese brands such as Pierre Cardin, and conservative clothing. Now, salons everywhere offer the popular procedure of dying the hair blonde, brands such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel are popping up everywhere (including fakes…), and the clothing style is becoming more and more revealing. In Beijing, there are even stores which sell surf clothing even though there is nowhere to surf! The new trends seem to remind us more and more of what it is like in United States. Globalization as well as the increases in wealth in China seems to be directing fashion in a new direction.

Continue reading "Chun's Freewrite" »

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Live burial in Nanjing, 1937 www.google.com
Things in history are sometimes obscure and convoluted. To this day, Japan still denies the existence of the Rape of Nanjing. Japanese textbooks make no mention of the atrocities that took place in Nanjing in those six long weeks of torture. There are attempts to erase the memory of those who died without dignity, those who were humiliated by the Japanese until their death. We know nothing of the tears and pain they went through. We couldn’t possibly fathom the degree of brutality that took place.

Continue reading "Andrea's FreeWrite " »

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This is a research freewrite which aims to help me start planning my research process for my research based argument.
Written by: Charity Apelo

Plastic surgery has become a popular beauty trend in Korea. Many Korean women and, surprisingly, men have undergone plastic surgery to get bigger eyes and sharper noses. In the past, those who underwent plastic surgery were rare and the exception, but in present times, things have changed. Now, it is normal and unsurprising for people to undergo surgery. In Korea, it is not, who got double eyelid surgery, but rather who hasn’t gotten eyelid surgery? My paper will try to address what has caused plastic surgery to become the norm rather than the exception. I will focus on how the media, whether it be ads, magazines, television, or newspapers, has greatly influenced this shift. A possible thesis: Through the establishment and intense promotion of beauty ideals and the downplaying of plastic surgery in the media, Korean society has become jaded by plastic surgery and sees it as the norm rather than the exception.

Continue reading "Charity's Research Freewrite" »

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Research Freewrite
By Shefali Tandon, Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe

The visual image I chose is that banner that is shown on the Montana Meth Project’s website. As the banner, it is the representation of the larger Project. The banner is a series of graphic photographs that are rotating. By rotating the photographs, the Project argues that there are several consequences to meth use. On each picture is a statistic. The statistic’s figure scrolls either up or down until it gets to the accurate amount. By doing this, the Project heightens the impact of the statistic and makes the figure’s significance more noticeable.

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We kicked off Spring Quarter with a videoconference workshop between Orebro and Stanford yesterday. This was the first meeting between students who will connect six times, as we seek to develop a curriculum in Global Learning based on rhetorical analysis of visual/multimedia texts and the collaborative writing of student-initiated projects. We are thrilled to have this opportunity for pedagogical development and research, and we thank the WGLN for making it possible!

For this first meeting, we focused on ads as culturally situated texts. We asked all the students participating to pick an ad that conveyed strong cultural messages; they would use this ad to learn about rhetoric by working through an analysis of the ad together.

We make the assignment sheet available on a dedicated Workshop Webpage: http://ccr.stanford.edu/workshops/040708.html . On that page, students can access the lesson plan for the video conference. They also can preview the video instruction, available on YouTube, especially useful for non-native English speakers to review the lesson at their own pace, and for visual learners to see the instruction through multimedia explanation. Then, they work on the task of analyzing their group ads. The product is a collaboratively written analysis of ONE AD. You can see the results on the posts that follow this one.

But it doesn't end there. The students then continue the learning, and the dialogue, by responding to each other's posts. As teachers, we comment as well, and often the richest learning happens here, when we all have time for careful reflection and deeper analysis. The questions and answers posted in the blog can lead to new research project ideas or the start of a rhetorical analysis paper.

We are excited about this assignment, but more excited about this great group of students participating this quarter!

Continue reading "Looking at Ads across the Globe" »

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In Group A, we discussed a Japanese blue jeans ad featuring Brad Pitt. The ad is taken of Brad Pitt facing to the right of the camera looking off into the distance. The background features rugged terrain with a road and mountainous scenery. We collaboratively decided that the ad reflects Japan’s idolization of American culture. The ad specifically targeted Japanese men who view American men as rugged and manly and connect the jeans with such qualities because Brad Pitt, a symbol of American sexiness, is used as a marketing tool. We also noted the difference between American ads and Japanese ads in that American clothing advertisements rarely, if ever feature prominent ‘A-list’ Hollywood actors, yet this advertisement uses Pitt to embody the supposed ‘ruggedness’ of American men.

(Edited by Chun) Here is the link to the ad
http://buzznet-00.vo.llnwd.net/media/jj1/2008/01/pitt-edwin/brad-pitt-edwin-jeans-03.jpg

Posted by Stanford: Visual Rhetoric Across the Globe at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)

The advertisement for a Peugeot car was the one we chose for our discussion in order to ensure an equal exchange of insight among ourselves. The Peugeot ad was something that all of us could relate to.

The Peugeot car ad featured a cartoon of a man with several 'cut-out' outfits to choose from. The advertisement's main goal was to attract consumers with its versatility which is reflected in the many outfits that the cartoon man could choose from. As we discussed the context of the ad, it could be said that it depicts a typical modern-day man and his typical busy lifestyle what with the various roles he has to play.

As we analyzed the ad further, we agreed that the desired target of this ad would be the European man. Some of us pointed out that the ad seemed to reinforce the stereotype of a man as the main buyer of cars. Women/wives/mothers are neglected. This also brings a family perspective to the picture because of the cut-out of a stroller. Could it be implying that the male is more involved in family affairs?

The cut-out clothes and the almost doll-like appearance of the male presents to us a very conflicting idea because it is clear that the man is the target for this ad, but how does it relate with family life?

Members: Andrea Sy, Charity Apelo, Janessa Nickell, Shefali Tandon and Alicia Navarro

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This ad is part of the Dove campaign, which strives to break the stereotype of the typical American woman, which is commonly seen as extremely thin. It relays American culture as superficial and obsessed with body image. The collage of various plastic surgeries and of infomercials seems to mock American culture, which seems to embrace both of these concepts. Also, the ad reveals the extremes that young American women are willing to go through to achieve the perfect body image by flashing quick images of pills and anorexic girls. Within the ad, the viewer realizes how damaging these images are to young girls, who are affected and influenced by these images at a very young age. Though the ad does reveal the increasing obsession with appearance in American culture, it also shows that there are others out there who are trying to stop this obsession from affecting future generations. Therefore, the ad also reveals that American culture is trying to change its ways.
The link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaH4y6ZjSfE

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The purpose of the diesel ad was we think at first to shock and make the people talk about the brand. It can
appeal to emotions because everybody is concerned by the global warming. this ad was reaaly controversial
because some people cannot get the humor or the satire of the ad. Everybody can be concern because it shows every part of the Earth.
The take home message of the ad is that times and climates change, but
diesel will remain. The jeans will be trendy despite change and perhaps
can withstand the test of time. Perhaps this ad is even in a sense
speaking to the durability of the jeans.
"Global concerns" It's appeal that by pointing out a variety of locations

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