Voices from Vietnam: experiences of children and youth with disabilities,and their families,from an Agent Orange affected rural region

This study examines the experiences of young people with disabilities from ethnic minorities, and their families, in central Vietnam. The study is set in an area contaminated by Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Data were gathered from interviews with youth with disabilities and interviews and focus groups with mothers who had children with disabilities. Respondents expressed confronting multiple barriers to inclusion, education, health and well-being similar to other persons with disabilities and their families from around the world. Participants sought broad-ranging human rights as they described experiencing stigmatization and marginalization from negative social reaction toward disabilities and by residing in a location known for dioxin contamination. The participants’ voices are not only important in informing program responses to support implementation of Vietnam’s new National Law on Persons with Disabilities, but also timely as the US government considers proposed legislation providing material support for Vietnamese nationals affected by Agent Orange.     

Incorporating Multicultural Learning in Clinically-Based Education in the United States

This study attempted to explore and clarify the ambiguity surrounding cultural concepts, broaden and deepen the current understanding of cultural competency, and operationalize its core components in multicultural education in the United States. The research findings presented in this study were organized into three overarching themes: Level I: knowledge development; Level II: integrative processes; and Level III: practice evaluation. The findings contributed to the formulation of levels in multicultural learning and to the specification of core cultural components in clinical practice.     

中国特色解决民族问题正确道路自信的三重来源

中国特色解决民族问题的正确道路可为世界其他多民族国家的民族事务治理提供有益借鉴。道路自信的确立主要源于三个层面。一是道路选择的必然性。中国共产党用马克思主义的超越性视角解决了传统民族事务治理的内在困境,具有理论必然性;中国共产党通过解决中国社会各阶段的主要矛盾,成功扫清了民族问题产生的外在根源,是现实必然的选择。二是道路发展的连续性,体现为以人民为中心的民族政策主线的连续性和以国家复兴为核心的理想信念的连续性,初心和使命的高度一致有效保障了道路基本方向的正确性和稳定性。三是道路实践的有效性。政治层面,有效保障了个体权益,维护了群体权利,保证了国家安全;经济层面,实现了区域经济壮大和个体收入提高的协同增长;文化层面,在促进各民族文化的传承保护的同时,有力推动中华文化的创新延续。     

西部民族地区生态环境建设的文化思考

西部民族地区生态环境的恶化 ,直接影响了西部大开发战略的实施。本文立足于制度文化、物质文化、思想观念文化和生态文化教育 ,对西部民族地区生态环境建设作了些探讨     

论回族族源传说的基本结构

用结构主义人类学方法,比较六个回族族源的传说叙事结构,来探究回族文化的深层结构是一种尝试。多数文本的叙事结构一致性,沿着“唐王梦见回回(梦)———大臣圆梦,邀请回回(圆梦)———回回来华,辅助唐朝(请求贤士)———回回想家,唐王给他们娶亲,以求定居(人种和文化的交流)”的顺序来表述。在对不同传说对文化元素组合关系运用的共同性的讨论中,多个文本均是以回回/汉人、伊斯兰教/多神信仰、通婚/不通婚等三对基本的二元对立的关系组合来叙事,这正是回族日常生活中起主导作用的深层结构。     

Confucian Scholars and Specialized Scientific and Technical Knowledge in Traditional China, 1000–1700: A Preliminary Overview

In this essay, I will provide a preliminary overview of the relation between the Confucian scholars and the specialized scientific and technical knowledge in traditional China. I will begin by analyzing various elements in the historical background of traditional China that had various different effects on the scholars' attitudes to the specialized knowledge—classical Confucian ideas and phrases, practical reasons, etc. I will then look at the actual examples showing the varying relations between the Confucian scholars and the specialized knowledge. I will end with a comparative look at the situation in the West, where there were developments both for separation and for convergence between general scholars and specialized scientific and technical knowledge. I will show that the relation, on the whole, was ambivalent in traditional China. Although there was some kind of separation of scholars from the specialized scientific and technical knowledge, the separation was not clear cut, and there was no solid ground for such separation; at times, there were convergences between the two. There was a wide spectrum of attitude among the Confucian scholars toward the specialized knowledge, varying according to different individuals, different periods, and different subjects.     

Not So Great Expectations: Sex and Housewives in Hong Kong

The study explores the life of married women who are being described as having “good,” “normal,” “blessed” sexuality. The case of si-nais (housewives) in Hong Kong shows that we can never assume that married women (or any social category) are privileged by virtue of their status on the sexual hierarchy. The blessings of social respectability apparently enjoyed by these women may work to enable or hinder women's expression of their erotic desires and sexual fulfillment, depending on their special social circumstances. These women's imagination and experience of good sex is composed of a multitude of components. Women may feel good because they can achieve other psychological and social aims that are important in their lives (which could be related to the maintenance of marriage or the peace of the family). Women may feel good because of the erotic satisfaction that they derive from different pursuits including interests, leisure or other intimate relationships, rather than sexual fulfillment in terms of orgasm or physical pleasure. Women may reformulate their pleasures variously at different stages of their lives. Social respectability, orgasm, emotional intimacy, or any other specific element, may all enter or leave the formula for good sex.     

Disparities Between HIV Testing Levels and the Self-Reported HIV-Negative Status of Sexually Active College Students

The methodological issues of using self-reported human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing history to determine HIV infection status are understudied. This study aimed to assess the disparities between HIV testing history and self-reported HIV status, with a specific objective of estimating the prevalence of self-reported HIV-negative status in sexually active students who had never had an HIV test (inaccurate self-disclosure). Participants were recruited from four Hong Kong universities; 255 students were included in the analysis, with 16.1% of participants being men who have sex with men (MSM). Overall, 81.6% of participants reported they never had been tested for HIV, with inaccurate self-disclosure by 65.9% of participants. Among participants who used condoms inconsistently, only 20.2% had had HIV tests, with inaccurate self-disclosure by 66.7% of subjects. Among MSM students, only 36.6% had had HIV tests, with inaccurate self-disclosure by 61.0% of participants. Among MSM students who used condoms inconsistently, only 35.1% had had HIV tests, with inaccurate self-disclosure by 62.2% of participants. The findings raise concerns about the use of self-reported HIV status in clinical practice and research. The low prevalence of HIV testing found suggests that interventions to promote HIV testing should be continued.