Contemporary society

About: Contemporary society is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3991 publications have been published within this topic receiving 91755 citations.

Numberjacks are on their way! A cultural historical reflection on contemporary society and the early childhood curriculum

Abstract: This paper considers the temporal aspects of the early childhood curriculum from a cultural historical perspective, and in doing so focuses on the role of play in early childhood education. Drawing on ideas derived from cultural historical theory regarding the historical basis of community practices and knowledge, the paper reflects on the type of experiences that characterise playful activity for some of today's young children. Examples from previous research conducted by the author are provided as prompts for personal reflection on the temporal dimensions of cultural historical theory and the early childhood curriculum in order to understand the role of contemporary play experiences in children's learning.

Divided Kingdom: A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present

Abstract: How has the UK evolved into the country it is today? This clear, comprehensive survey of its history since 1900 explores the political, economic, social and cultural changes which have divided the nation and held it together, and how these changes were experienced by individuals and communities. Pat Thane challenges conventional interpretations of Britain's past based on stark contrasts, like the dull, conservative 1950s versus the liberated 'swinging sixties', and explores the key themes of nationalisms, the rise and fall of the welfare state, economic success and failure, imperial decline, and the UK's relationship with Europe. Highlighting changing living standards and expectations and inequalities of class, income, wealth, race, gender, sexuality, religion and place, she reveals what has (and has not) changed in the UK since 1900, why, and how, helping the reader to understand how our contemporary society, including its divisions and inequalities, was formed.

Media and cultural theory in the age of market liberalism

Abstract: Containing new thinking and original surveys, Media & Cultural Theory brings together leading international scholars to address key issues and debates within media and cultural studies. Through the use of contemporary media and film texts such as Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and using case studies of the USA and the UK after September 11th, James Curran and David Morley examine central topics including: •media representations of the new woman in contemporary society •the creation of self in lifestyle media •the nature of globalization •the rise of digital actors and media. Ideal as a course reader, with each essay covering a different major area or advance in original research, Media & Cultural Theory is global in its reach. Through its engagement with broad questions, it is an invaluable book that can be applied to the studies of media and cultural studies students the English-speaking world over.

Visual Culture of Control.

Abstract: Current discussions regarding the notion of visual culture in art educational practice center the actions of the viewer as participant within the networks of visuality common in many contemporary societies. Surveillance technologies and techniques shift this notion of participation from active to passive, from seeing to being seen. This article explores the relationship between the gaze as structured by art educational practice and contemporary forms of surveillance, looking to theoreticians who analyze power as it is formed within complex visual networks. Visual culture is becoming a common term within the field of art education. Wliile the term is increasingly familiar, the parameters of prac tices informed by and responding to visual culture are far from agreed upon. WTien researchers in the field discuss visual culture, they might be discussing television broadcasts (Freedman, 2003), professional wrestling (Duncum, 2002), clothing stores (Tavin, Lovelace, Stabler, & Maxam 2003), tourism (Ballengee-Morris, 2002), or any number of related socio cultural activities. Although each of these activities is quite diverse, one similarity is that individuals who participate in these activities can relate to them; they are not relegated to the realm of 'high culture.' They are common, understood through direct processes of engagement, based in "practices of everyday life" (de Certeau, 1984). Media theorist Nicholas Mirzoeff (1993, 2005) has written widely on the topic of visual culture, defining it not as the products of consumer and/or high culture, but rather as a cultural tendency towards employing visual information as the privileged mode of representation and compre hension. In comparison to societies based in oral traditions or text-based media, many contemporary cultures communicate through and under stand each other primarily through images. This distinction is important, for two reasons: First, it affirms the importance for addressing visual culture-based approaches in art educational practice, as this is a field that is relevant to life in the 21st century. Second, it situates artistic production as generative, specifically pointing towards the role of the art educator as participant in the creation and understanding of contemporary forms of visuality. These forms of visuality are currently being formed, transmitted, absorbed, and repurposed at a rapid pace. The terrorist attacks of September 11th stand as one recent event that has dramatically shifted the landscape of contemporary visual culture. The real-time broadcast of the attacks on the World Trade Center twin towers have generated a variety of visual responses, from online art exhibitions presented as a forum for

Review of: Duckworth, Vicky and Ade-Ojo, Gordon (Eds.) Landscapes of specific literacies in contemporary society: exploring a social model of literacy. London: Routledge, 2015.

Abstract: Review of: Duckworth, Vicky and Ade-Ojo, Gordon (Eds.) Landscapes of specific literacies in contemporary society: exploring a social model of literacy. London: Routledge, 2015.