Material Witness: After the Fact

This week you have the option of reading a chapter from After the Fact called, Material Witness. This chapter deals with the changing situation with material goods in the first half of the 19th century (1800s).
In this chapter the authors of the book want to address: what are the challenges that historians’ face when working with physical objects when trying to reconstruct the past?
So first you need to read the Material Witness chapter, and then answer the following 3 questions:
1. Besides the objects themselves, what are some of the sources of information that can be used to help us understand material culture?
2. How did the changes to buildings, discussed at a number of points in the chapter, reflect social and cultural changes that the US was going through in the late 18th and early 19th centuries?
3. How is the idea of a “consumer revolution” as described on page 13 (last page) reflected in the differences between the two major paintings Quilting Frolic (pg. 5) and the parlor engraving (pg.11)?

Managing Dynamic Organizational Change

When an organizational change is implemented, it is critical that the organization has a strong vision in place. Unfortunately, during times of change and uncertainty, many organizations have not developed a clear vision, which has resulted in many issues.
Select a Middle Eastern organization that underwent a change due to internal or external factors. Then, address the following:
1. Share information about the change and what caused the need for the change.
2. Explain why the change was successful or unsuccessful.
3. Create a unique and powerful vision for the change, which could have guided the change from the get go.
Explain how the developed change vision is aligned with and different from the organization’s vision

Minimum Wage Arkansas Analysis

In the context of wages and salaries I want to share with you two terms—wage compression and wage inversion. These are clues for you to think about as you analyze this scenario.
Wage compression takes place when an organization hires new people, for example, at a rate that may be close to that of more tenured employees. Let’s say you are earning $15 per hour and have been in the job for 3 years. Perhaps due to labor market conditions (shortage of workers, for example, that forces your employer to pay $13 per hour for a new, inexperienced entry level worker. Actually this has been happening currently due to the Democrats giving away so much money that many people are making as much or more from not working than by working and have taken themselves out of the available labor pool.
You may have experienced the fallout from this in trying to go to a restaurant or order take out, but the restaurant is so short of staff that it can’t take care of customers in a timely manner.
Wage inversion occurs when an employer hires new, inexperienced entry level workers at a higher pay than experienced employees that have been on the job longer. Let’s say you earn $15 an hour and have 3 years experience. Your employer hires an inexperienced entry level worker at $18 an hour. This is wage inversion.
In both of these scenarios, you are going to feel you are not being treated fairly, and in the context of Herzberg’s satisfier/motivator Theory ( which I hope you have studied in other courses), you are now dissatisfied, and may not be motivated to do your best. You will likely not put forth as much effort, or may look for another job that pays more, becoming a turnover statistic. Ironically, your old employer may end up having to pay more to hire your replacement than they would have had to pay you to keep you.
I am providing this because this has relevance to this little case, and because it happens all the time—it may have happened to some of you.
According to www.govdocs.com (November 13, 2018) the minimum wage in Arkansas was $8.50 in 2018, and on November 6, 2018 Arkansas Voters passed Issue 5 to increase the state minimum wage to $9.25 January 1, 2019.
1. Analyze the impact of this increase in the state minimum wage on: a. Employees b. Employers
2. This increase in the state minimum wage is: a. An opportunity b. A Threat C. Both and opportunity and a threat
3. What does a company do about this (other than the obvious of raising the
minimum wage)?

Principles Essay: Critical Refection & Application

Learning Outcomes for this Assessment:
1. Cultural Contexts: Apply understandings of culture and concepts of a cultural self to develop a
framework for understanding cultural contexts of interactions and subsequent analysis of personal attitudes and actions.
2. Power Relations: Critique the role of power in intercultural interactions and relations
Task details: Answer both questions
Use the TEEL structure for your paragraphs, critically reflecting with at least one example from your observations or experience and an in-text reference;
Topic sentence,
Explanation and Example,
Evidence (reference) and
Link back to main idea of the paragraph.
Draw on your IAT results and own experiences and reference the key points made in the readings with intext references
1.Complete the IAT test (Australia)for one or two of the following categories
(Gender, Race, Sexuality, and/or Skin Tone), then consider your results and why they were, what they were (select test results that show a bias)…
1. Which of Kandola’s (2013) 3 ways of holding bias is most applicable to your results?
Where/how do you think this bias may have developed in your life?
How could/has this bias created a “coercive” power relation (Cummins, 2009) for others in your present and future professional life?
How can you make your power relations more collaborative (Cummins, 2009)?
2.Using the texts by McIntosh (1988), Gorski (2016), Bali (2016), and Cummins
(2009) as well as either Fong or Schimmel address the following…
1. How does privilege result in unearned power?
According to Cummins (2009), how is this power exercised by dominant groups against other groups? Connect this explanation of the use of power by a dominant group to the examples discussed by Fong (2018) or Schimmel (2005).
How does power/privilege influence our understanding of diversity and inclusion?
How can unearned power/privilege be used to promote equity and equity-literacy?

Elements of Short Story

Part 1: short story
Consider the six common elements of a short story, including character, point of view, plot, setting and context, conflict and tension, and crisis and resolution.
Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word short story that uses each of the six elements listed above. Grammar and punctuation variations are acceptable if they serve the needs of the piece.
Part 2: Writer Q & A
Imagine you are being interviewed for a literary magazine.
Use a question and answer format where you create and answer questions in 350 words regarding what
you learned from writing your short story.
Create questions and provide your responses that describe the use of plot, character, setting, and
theme in your short story.

Culturalism and structuralism in international relations

During the last 60 years scholars of political science have debated many fundamental issues concerning three broad dimensions of the research process: the scope and objectives of research, the methods of theory generation, and the methods of empirical analysis. In these discussions, conventional research practices and proposed alternatives have been challenged. Recently it has become apparent that comparativists hold widely divergent views about the nature of political leadership and the solutions
required to realize more fully the potential of comparative politics to produce knowledge about leaders in democratizing systems. Which, if any, of three existing approaches (RCT, Culturalism and Structural Theory) do you believe represent an advance, and which do you consider to be a step in the wrong
direction? Why? Illustrate your answers using examples and show the strengths and weakness of the methodological approaches you choose to discuss.

Historical Analysis Essay Progress

Directions: Choose one (1) from the following three options below and write an
essay.
Option #1
Responding to Mike Rose’s article “Blue Collar Brilliance,” write an essay that argues for a “cognitive
biography” of a blue collar job you are familiar with. You may write about a job you currently or
previously have been involved with or one which your friends or family have been engaged in.
In order to argue for a “cognitive biography,” you will need to apply direct sentences (three quotations)
from Rose’s article which describe the “on the job intelligence” needed in the job you are writing about.
In your conclusion, put into your own words what you think the meaning is of Rose’s idea that a
separation between mind and body “cripple[s] our ability to talk across cultural divides.”
NOTE: If you write about food service or factory work, be sure to include new elements of “cognitive labor”
to avoid repetition.
Option #2
Responding to Kenneth Goldsmith’s “Go Ahead: Waste Time on the Internet,” write an essay in which
you examine the critiques of the “Internet” brought up in his article.
In your body paragraphs, discuss how you, your friends / family, coworkers, spend time on the internet.
How do they feel about it? Incorporating their views as evidence, respond by agreeing, disagreeing, or
both, to Goldsmith’s views in the article.
Be sure to directly quote at least three times from Goldsmith to compare to your (or others’) view of the
issues raised in the article.
Option #3
Responding to Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?,” write an essay in which you
examine your relationship with the search engine(s) you use.
Compare either Carr’s anxieties or his praise concerning internet search engines and online reading
with your experience using this technology.
Directly quote at least three times from Carr’s article in your analysis of internet usage and reading. Ho

Cultural Differences in Marriage and FamilyLife

The purpose of this assignment is to learn about cultural differences in marriage and family life, while connecting with international students on campus. The objectives are:
Promote interaction between international and domestic students
Demonstrate an understanding of cultural views of marriage/family life
Compare cultural differences in marriage and family life
Part 1: Interview
You will be conducting an interview with an international student on campus. The purpose of the interview
is to learn about cross-cultural differences in marriage and family life. Think about what topic you would
like to know more about…marriage, cohabitation, divorce, singlehood, family living arrangements, etc. To
prepare, write 8-10 questions to guide the interview. Select from the following or write your own:
What are the main reasons that people get married in your culture? Do they marry for love?
What is the typical age that people start dating and get married in your culture?
How do relationships start? Are they arranged? What is dating like?
How do you go about getting engaged in your culture?
How are multicultural marriages viewed in your culture?
How important is it that you marry someone of the same race? …the same religion? Please explain.
Describe your family living situation.
What is the typical family size? Who is considered the head of the household?
How important is family?
How does your culture view divorce? What does it mean to be a divorced person in your culture?
How does your culture view single parenting?
How does your culture view cohabitation?
How does your culture view adults who remain single?
What family rituals or traditions are important to you?
During the interview, you are to ask questions, listen, and take notes (you may record with permission of
the interviewee, but that is not required). You may not get to every question on your list, and you certainly
may ask follow up questions to the comments made by the interviewee.
Part 2: Interview Summary
As soon as you can after the interview, you should type up the interview summary from your sets of
notes. Write down everything you remember about the responses. Use a pseudonym for the student (not
the real name). Include the age and home country of the student. Please include the following heading at
the top of your interview summary: An Interview with _____ (pseudonym), age _____, from ______
Date and Location of Interview: ______
Part 3: Analysis and Reflection Paper
The following questions should guide your reflection:
What topics did you want to learn about and why? (1 introductory paragraph)
How do the views of this student on marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and/or singlehood reflect the
broader views of his/her culture? Why is knowing about culture important?
Connect what you have learned from the interviews to our course material. You should include at least
three cited references to course material in your reflection.
How are the student’s views and cultural views on marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and/or singlehood
different or similar to your own? Provide examples and a possible explanation.
What else would you like to know about this culture in relation to marriage and family? How could you
go about learning that?
Before this interview, how much interaction did you have with international students on campus? What
have you learned about international students from this experience?
Describe what you have learned about conducting interviews. Were there any surprises during the
interview?
What have you learned about yourself in this process?

Economic vs. Industrial Espionage

Provide a detailed description of the difference between Economic vs. Industrial Espionage analyzing the risk formula for countering threats. As part of your response discuss how international hotel rooms are the enemy’s gateway to economic and industrial espionage, providing examples. Include a discussion on how US citizens traveling abroad continue to be the target of foreign intelligence collection activities.