The Rise of Asian American Cinema

This project won second place in the 2017 Signature Course Information Literacy Award. The award recognizes exemplary student work that achieves the learning outcomes of the Signature Course information literacy requirement, that students will be able to create and execute a research strategy, critically evaluate information, and use citations. This paper was self-nominated for the award by Stephanie Adeline, with support from Dr. Charlotte Canning and Dr. Paul Bonin-Rodriguez. It was submitted in their Spring 2016 Signature Course, “Arts, Your Money, and the Nation.” This project was chosen because Stephanie made smart use of sources, and evolved her search technique as she worked on this paper and better understood the information she needed. Her way of connecting art and money necessitated a wide variety of sources. As her professors said “…[Stephanie’s] paper draws on comparative methodologies and makes use of media studies, cultural studies, Asian studies, international relations and history…[drawing on] an expansive body of work from scholarly books and journals in communications, anthropology, and media studies, as well as extensive newspaper articles and the primary readings of the films themselves.”Canning, CharlotteBonin-Rodriguez, PaulUT Librarie

Lolita Fashion: A trans-global subculture

While there are some who would argue that the origin of Lolita fashion can be traced back to fiction (namely, the 1955 novel, Lolita, which was adapted to film in 1962 and again in 1997) and has relevance to sexual attractiveness with reference to the young, this popular style developed more recently into a subcultural identity in Japan as a distinctive style in its own right. This article regards Lolita as an independent street fashion and subculture and explores this particular culture that Lolitas (those who wear this distinct fashion style) have created. Although a small-scale subculture, Lolitas demonstrate an obvious way of thinking and behaving which reinforces their identity of which fashion plays a significant role. The fashion style suggests escapism through fantasy as it can be interpreted as a visual resistance against conventional culture and is therefore of interest to a range of disciplines including fashion, culture and behaviour theorists. The article explores this subculture in the UK context to provide a better understanding of British Lolitas and evaluates the marketplace to offer a retail-marketing perspective

Remember Gerhard Richter in the Thunderstorm of Beethoven: The Influence of Cross-Sensory Coupling on Memory, Intercultural Communication, and the Verbalization of Paintings and Sounds

This interdisciplinary study focuses on the perception and verbalization of messages conveyed through instrumental music, soundscapes, and contemporary paintings. International young-adult university students learning German participated in a series of experiments conducted at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany. To incorporate globalization and cultural difference into this analysis, the author compared the reactions of Western and Asian participants to auditory and visual stimuli. This paper explores the concepts of mixed media, cross-sensory coupling, and esthetic synesthesia, and throws new light on the contribution of cross-sensory coupling to verbalization and to long-term memory processes, from encoding to retrieval. In addition, the author demonstrates how intercultural communication is based upon universal emotions aroused by contemporary paintings, instrumental music and soundscapes

Factors Affecting Tourist Satisfaction with Theatrical Performances: A Case Study of 'The Romance of the Song Dynasty' in Hangzhou, China

This study, for the first time, attempts to explore the factors affecting tourist satisfaction with a theatrical performance, The Romance of the Song Dynasty in Hangzhou, China. Four factors are identified to have affected tourist satisfaction: “Performance,” “Venue Environment,” “Service,” and “Stage Facilities”. These theatrical performance factors are examined to assess the relative influence on tourist overall satisfaction. Tourists have the highest satisfaction with “Stage Facilities” among all factors, however, “Service” is the most influential predictor of tourist overall satisfaction. Tourist demographic and travel characteristics towards these four theatrical performance factors reveal several significant differences. Discussions and implications are provided to theatre operators to improve tourist satisfaction with theatrical performance not only in Hangzhou, but also in the whole China

Cultural Differences in Self-Presentation on Social Networking Sites: A Cross-cultural Comparison Between American and Japanese College Students

This dissertation explores cultural and platform differences in self-presentation on social networking sites (SNSs) between Japanese and American college students utilizing Impression Management, Media Ecology, and Uses and Gratifications theories and approaches as theoretical frameworks. While Facebook is popular among American college students, Mixi, a Japanese originated SNS, as well as Facebook are popular among Japanese college students. This dissertation investigates the relationship among social culture, the types of SNSs, and the users\u27 self-presentation on SNSs. Previous studies suggest SNS users employ subtle techniques to improve ones\u27 presentation on SNSs, therefore the present study focused on the number of SNS friends and sensitive picture postings (i.e., partying, drunk, sexy, or illegal picture postings) on SNSs. Five hundred and eighty-three American and 496 Japanese college students participated in the survey, which provided the basis for analyses. The results of the present study demonstrate cultural and SNS platform differences on self-presentation on SNSs. Reflecting regional culture, Japanese Mixi users included limited types of friends on Mixi compared with American and Japanese Facebook users by not including teachers and parents. However, contradict to previous studies, Japanese Facebook users had the largest number of SNS friends followed by Japanese Mixi and American Facebook users after controlling for preexisting conditions (i.e., gender, perception of extraversion, perception of popularity, and the length of membership with the SNS). The similar pattern surfaced in the frequency of sensitive picture postings on SNSs. When the above controlling variables were included in the analyses, Japanese Facebook users posted sensitive pictures the most frequently followed by Japanese Mixi users and Japanese Facebook users. Furthermore, the present study found Facebook and Mixi dual users friended significantly more people and posted significantly more partying and drunk pictures on Facebook than on Mixi. However, the same individuals did not change the frequency of posting sensitive pictures between Facebook and Mixi. The results added evidence to media ecology. The mediation analyses helped to understand underlying mechanisms of sensitive picture postings on SNSs. The present study found that the Japanese SNS dual users posted drunk pictures on Facebook significantly more frequently due to the perception of injunctive norms. Likewise, the present study found American Facebook users posted sensitive pictures because of the perception of disinhibition. Theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed and possible future research is presented

Marugame Udon An Analysis of Tenant and Stand-alone Restaurant

Nowadays, food is being used to spread and exchange the culture of a nation. In Indonesia, particularly in big cities such as Jakarta and Bandung, there are many specialty restaurants that offer an international menu representing the image of a country. Lot of people knows Japan from their signature food such as sushi and ramen. Marugame Udon is one of many franchises that introduce Japanese culture through food. This brand has two types of restaurants. First, the tenants which are located inside malls or shopping centers and there is also stand-alone restaurants. This research aims to identify the difference between their interior design in both places and its impact on customers’ perception. The method used in this research is comparative-descriptive. The physical environment has an important role in giving stimulus to the guest\u27s experiences. However, this is still influenced by the functional and social factors where the place is located. Another subject that will be discussed in this paper is whether or not the design is authentically Japanese or mere cosmetic. Keywords perception, interior design, brand image, restauran

Impacts of WeChat on Millennials’ Perceptions and Consumption Behaviors in the Hotel Industry

Social media, known as interactive Web 2.0 Internet-based applications, has deeply changed and reformed interpersonal communication and business operation with the wide spread of Internet and the development of technology. In the past few years, since mobile apps are becoming more and more popular, the access of social media is not limited to tablet computers only, but is also available for almost all kinds of smart phone devices, such as iPhone, Android, Symbian and so on. The function of social media is not confined to real- time message transmission or information sharing any more. It has expanded to a widely range of features, such as online purchase and payment, e-commerce business, and service for different types of social events. Social media plays an increasingly important role in daily personal life as well as in business activities. People are not merely considered as social media users, but also the component of social media itself. As a result, it is very crucial for people to realize the importance and impacts of social media, especially for those business operators. WeChat (Weixin in Chinses, literally “micro message”) is a cross-platform instant text and voice messaging communication service for multiple mobile devices, developed by Tecent in China, first released in the January of 2011. It is claimed to provide “the new way to connect” and create “a way of life”. It is free to download, install and register, and support all kinds of smart phone platforms with multiple language versions, such as Chinese, English, Japanese, French, and Spanish. WeChat provides its users different ways to communicate and interact with friends innovatively through instant text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, group messaging, lively video sharing, location sharing, money transferring, and contact information sharing. Among all the WeChat users, Millennials is the majority. With the growing-up of Millennials, they are becoming more and more powerful and important to the society and will be the next target segmentation for most of the industries in the very near future. Especially for the hotel industry, the industry that urges to attract Millennials patrons for further substantial development, how to attract Millennials is becoming a critical issue for those hotel operators