Global political economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global political economy - Essay Example and definition that real free trade is both beneficial and possible. Question one According to Aristotle democracy is usually not the best form governance. This is also true for oligarchy and the monarchy rule. The rule in democracy is for and by the people who are named in the government type. Aristotle’s main litmus test for styles of governance can be defined as whether or not he viewed them as ultimately virtuous or non-virtuous. According to Aristotle (5) asserts that the decision-making process that takes place within a true democracy as ultimately non-virtuous. This is due to the fact that Aristotle previously defined virtue as a trait that is less common than non-virtue. Therefore, by very definition, rule by majority would be much more likely to display non-virtue than virtue. According to Aristotle, the reason that democracy is unable to present a high level of virtue among the citizenry of a given region/nation is due to the fact that democracy is ultimately based o n a flimsy and misunderstood representation of the word freedom. Aristotle (7) reported that, â€Å"democracies define freedom badly... Everyone lives as he wants and toward whatever end he happens to crave†. What this ultimately represents is its schizoid system in which a litany of human wants, needs, and desires are all represented under the umbrella term of democracy; therefore somewhat whitewashing the term to appear to represent the desires and needs of a broad number of people. However, due to the fact that these individuals must be grouped by their handlers in order to speak to a specific range of needs, democracy rarely represents the needs of the people, masses, or the society at large. According to Aristotle a democracy is the rule of the majority and rule of the poor. When making a decision on the non-virtous and the virtous. Aristotle views that the rule of the majority in practise it is non-virtous because it is too hard to find the majority who can be virtous. The rule of the majority and the poor under a democracy does not aid the city state to attain its telos. As consequence, Aristotle is of the belief that a democracy is not a good form of rule because both the rule of the poor and majority does not attain the telos of the city state. Another reason why the democracy is not a virtous form of government is actually rooted in a concept of equality in a democracy. To Aristotle, a good government is one which is rules aristocratically; meaning that it based on merit (Aristotle 5). In Aristotle’s defination, a democratic is the one has the most people have a participation in the ruling. Thereby, there is at least an approximation of participation of on an equal basis because all the persons have equal participation rights. For Aristotle, the second determinant of whether or not democracy is a normal form of government that should be practiced around the world, he relies upon the definition and understanding of the concept

Current issue of media Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Current issue of media - Research Paper Example Traditional media is further divided into two: electronic and print media, where electronic media refers to television and radio and print refers to all print media like newspapers and magazines. Digital Media or New media includes the internet, cellphones and other mobile devices. Like every invention, the media too has its pros and cons. These give birth to our topic of discussion i.e. current issues in the media and their solutions. Since traditional media allows controlled communication of information, it serves as a source of promoting tradition and culture. The reason why traditional media holds such importance is because it targets to the masses. The positive aspect of this media is by far greater than that of new media, but, being a mass media it can play a significant role in shaping the minds of the people. Societal aggravations are greatly heated up with the wrong portrayal through the mass media. Thus, it can be said that this is the biggest flaw in the traditional media is the uncontrolled flow of information. This information needs to be monitored carefully as this kind of media ensures wide-spread coverage of the content. On a societal scale, the inappropriateness of the content is one issue that has been highlighted for decades now (Garry 215). The nature of programs, even cartoons for that matter, is deemed unhealthy owing to explicit subliminal messages and violent actions shown in them. However, this comes with a simple solution like selected viewership options, child-locks etc. Newspapers are by far the safest media as far as keeping the societal harmony and values intact is concerned. The content is highly filtered and relatively less aggravating as the other mediums. That being said, Advertising has seen a positive trend in the recent years. With the clutter of hundreds and thousands of brands, each trying to get their share in the market, there is an increase in the marketing clutter on the traditional mass media. Whether these brands ind ulge in ethical advertising is another debate altogether, but the media should be responsible to ensure that at least misleading product ads and infomercials are not given airtime, as it demonstrates false information which is against the ethics of a media aimed at targeting the masses. With the advent of technology, the birth of the internet, mobile devices etc. have brought about a change in the popularity of the mass traditional media. The importance and ‘mass coverage’ element is still intact, though there is a rapid shift of the people towards other media like e-papers, e-news, websites, social networking sites, blogs etc. Where these media stand for technological advancement, modernity and mobility, there are several issues attached to them as well. The basic change in media has been because of the introduction of two mediums, namely, the internet and the cellphones. The internet has brought about a positive change in the world through its endless benefits, some o f which are absolute connectivity, availability of information on almost every topic in the world, Job search and hiring, interactive Marketing Avenue for companies, readily available product review, online education opportunities, and video conferencing programs like Skype etc. But, like mentioned earlier, everything comes with its pros and cons, so does this highly beneficial media. People can

Ikea Company Culture: Comparison to Hofstedes Model

Ikea Company Culture: Comparison to Hofstedes Model INTRODUCTION Researchers have never been able to agree on a common definition of culture. Culture is something intangible, something abstract that is difficult to understand and identify exactly what it consists of. The cultural definitions that are focuses on two dimensions: culture systems of shared ideas, values, beliefs and meanings, that is, culture as cognitive systems, or culture as objects and events in a group, that is, culture as transmitted behaviour patterns (Bang, 1999). Culture is a collective phenomenon since it is shared by all people living in the same social environment. It is the collective mental programming which distinguishes the members of a group or category of people from one another. Furthermore, you can divide the cultures after various degrees of mental programming. National Culture is the mental programming at the national level, derived from ones country (Hofstede, 1991). Hofstedes theory:- In 1980, Hofstede conducted research internationally with the company IBM (through 64 countries) to highlight the role of cultural factors (Hofstede, 1991). These factors, called national dimensions, distinguish national cultures. His studies enabled him to distinguish the scales of values to classify, compare and group the countries according to their responses. These scales, which he named dimensions (4 for the first publication of his studies in 1980 and 5 for the edition of 2001) are as follows: Strong uncertainty avoidance / low uncertainty avoidance. Large Power Distance / Low Power Distance. Masculinity / Femininity. Individualism / Collectivism. Long-term Orientation and Orientation short term. The results of his investigations led him to establish indices for each dimension. Then he was able to place the surveyed countries (50 countries) based on their responses to a particular point of these indices. National dimensions of Hofstede are as follows: in terms of power distance (power distance): This concept refers to social inequality, including relations with authority. This can be defined as the degree of acceptance of those who hold less power in the institutions or organizations in a country where power is unevenly distributed. Individualism or collectivism (individualism): collectivism is the rule or not the collective interests over individual interests Masculinity (masculinity) in companies say male behaviours are clearly differentiated: the man must be strong, prevail and s of interest in material success, while the woman is supposed to be more modest, tender and concerned with the quality of life. Conversely, in societies so-called feminine roles between men and wom en become interchangeable. Tolerance for ambiguity (Uncertainty Avoidance): This is the level of acceptance of gray areas in society, relativism at the level of ideas. Temporal perspectives (long-term/short-term orientation): a country can be rated high on this criterion, which means a country with a high degree of long-term orientation corresponds to a culture that values strong perseverance and thrift. Conversely, a short-term orientation means being turned toward the past and present (Hofstede, 1991). These studies are recognized as classics for understanding cultural differences. According to Hodgetts and Luthans, they are a tool starting point to recognize cultural differences and give a direction to achieve business around the world in an efficient. Conversely, it should be noted that Hofstedes work has often been criticized. The main criticism is based on Hofstedes generalization. A countrys culture is a combination of its average citizens properties, or some sort of modal personality . It is a set of likely reactions of citizens with a common mental programming. The reactions leading to the results of Hofstedes study do not occur in the same persons, but only occur statistically more often in the same society (Hofstede, 1991). To confuse the individual level with community level is called the social science of the ecological mistake. It is based on confusion between personality and culture (Hofstede, 1991). These questionnaire data were made in the IBM study is collected from individuals, but for the study of cultures must be compared at the country level. This means that the average values calculated from the dimensions of the responses to each question for respondents from each country. Hofstede do not compare individuals, but what is called central tendency of responses from each country. There is hardly any individual who answer each question so that the average size for his or her group received. Average person from a country does not exist, only an average tendency to respond in a certain way for the whole group of respondents (Hofstede, 1991). This should be a warning not to use the land points that emerged from IBM examination to stereotype. Stereotyping occurs when assumptions about the collective properties of a group applied to an individual from the group (Hofstede, 1991). Another criticism is all about timing. Are Hofstedes research, commissioned by more than 30 years ago still relevant? Hofstede says that although the national characteristics of our modern times gives the impression of having that changed and we wear the same clothes all over the world, we see the same movies, eat the same food, consuming the same products, performing the same sport, so has our deep-seated values are not changed and will not do it for centuries, despite an increasingly globalized world (Hofstede, 1991). It should also be taken into consideration that the four dimensions was chosen precisely because they differ between countries. Hofstede mentions nothing that is unique to a particular culture, indeed in this respect should each country be free to establish their own unique cultural dimensions. Trompenaars Hampden theory:-Trompenaars is another Dutch business author who is considered an authority on international culture and its effect on organizational work. Quite like Hofstede, Trompenaars Hampden Turner divide the cultural differences across six specific dimensions: particularism universalism collectivism individualism overall vision vision for detail ascribed status status acquired exogenous motivation motivation endogenous synchronic time time sequence Particularism universalism The first dilemma raised by the authors is the dilemma between sameness and uniqueness. Universalist cultures, like the United States, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, emphasizing the similarity impose common laws. Insisting on equality, they welcome diversity without discrimination, supporting access to voting for all and making everyone, even the political leaders to the same rules. In these cultures, the practical application of scientific discovery promotes rapid technical progress and development of production and mass consumption (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). Among individualistic cultures, there are particular to the side of France, Brazil, Poland, Mexico, China, Japan. Celebrating difference, these cultures energetic foster innovation, product development, sophisticated, refined, and customized. The situations are experienced in a non-industrial: they are personal, intimate and incomparable. However there may rise to xenophobic and discriminatory (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). Collectivism individualism Competing values individualism / collectivism is the source of the action and be open about the competition (individualism) or on cooperation (collectivism). In individualistic cultures, like the United States, Great Britain, Australia, the predominance of individual freedom encourages people to take charge. Emerge out of the ordinary people who mobilize immense resources to realize their dreams and explore the unknown, standing out strongly and the community. However, when this is concentrated in the hands of a strong man and greedy, these companies begin exploiting the weak (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). Collectivism is based on sharing. France, Singapore and Japan are cultures where it is believed to share the wealth of the surrounding world, so it forces companies to do the training of their employees, it supports long-term bank loans and are motivated by a desire to pass on to future generations a healthy environment. However overprotection may lead to attitudes of free riders and laziness for example, the social support system in U.K. which can easily be exploited by cons to gain financial support from the government. The individual, community member, is trapped in a generous system which requires him to share his wealth if necessary (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). Overall vision vision for detail Cultures advocating a vision of the whole are rather sensitive to quality than quantity. South Korea, Japan, France, Venezuela, Mexico are examples of countries with this holistic representation. The benefits of this vision are clearly in the importance given to quality (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). The vision of detail, the culture of precision, are for example the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and recently in Eastern Europe. These cultures analyze problems to find the defective component, and repairing it, arrive at a functioning level. Based on feedback, they increase the satisfaction of individuals constantly responding to specific requests of customers(Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). Ascribed status status acquired Cultures are characterized by two basic approaches concerning the social position: the status and acquired the status assigned. Individuals with assigned status often have a strong awareness of their duties towards society, either in financial terms or in moral terms. Their status allows them to transcend the daily battles for them success is not worth any price. They often occupy important positions, some deserved, others falling into the hands of incompetents (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). Exogenous motivation motivation endogenous Moral choices of an individual are often guided by virtue, which can sometimes be seen as quality inside sometimes outside the individual. Endogenous motivation often leads the individual to remain faithful to his convictions and his conscience, leaving him free to choose their goals and how to achieve them. People who belong to the British or American culture, feeling in control of their destinies, looking to move up the social order. The action is therefore a predominant value at the expense of others as the trigger for example. In this context, the heroes are often the figure of fantasy creatures or cruel (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). The advantage of cultures based on an exogenous motivation based on their contact with the living environment. Thus the Japanese and the Chinese are trying to imitate nature, while objects from manufacturer of dreams, seeking harmony. Instead of being depleted by opposing adversaries, they use their own energy to fight them (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). Synchronic time time sequence The final dilemma raised by the authors is the approach time. While the time sequence is divided into seconds and minutes that follow, the time is synchronic repetitive or cyclical events and opportunities repeating. American and Scandinavian cultures, belonging to cultures that measure time in sequence, attach great importance to the time: every minute is important because time is money. Thus, these cultures give rise to many studies on the time and movements. Youth will take some highly valued in a race against time to try to escape death. The individual, trapped in the prison of his employment time, no longer able to enjoy the moment (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). Central to the vision of synchronic time is the idea of right time, which is causing such methods just-in-time (JIT). Death does not represent a threat, being followed by a new birth. Several activities can be conducted in parallel, which may lead to permanent distraction. The time is determined by the situation: instead of arriving on time, it is more important to arrive at the right time, which requires an adjustment to others and involves allow time for others (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). IKEA COMPANY CULTURE COMPARISION TO HOFSTEDE MODEL Company Profile: IKEA was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, who gave his name to the company based on his initials, as well as from the first letters of Hemgà ¥rden Elmtaryd outside the parish Agunnaryd where he grew up in Smaland (Tore Kull, 1998). IKEA was originally a mail order company which after looking at the exhibited furniture could order them through a catalog. The catalog was to play a central role and came out for the first time in 1953 just in time for the first furniture exhibition opened (Tore Kull, 1998). The foundation had been created for IKEA concept, a catalog at the bottom to attract people to an exhibition, what is now the department store. The first store was built in Smà ¥land Älmhult 1958 and the second store was started up at Kings curve just outside Stockholm. This newly opened department store was a success, self-service was IKEAs sales model and so it has remained. Rational tag-self-storage, efficient and number of checkout counters and a lower pro portion of sales orders gave great impetus to the profitability and turnover. (Tore Kull, 1998) Today, IKEA has 202 stores in 32 countries with more than 127,000 employees worldwide. As of 2009, IKEA had net revenues of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 23.1 billion and net income of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2.5 billion. IKEAs Cultural Analysis: IKEA is known the world over, not least for its strong corporate culture. It has its roots in Smà ¥land and in the Swedish culture and is characterized by a number of values. In IKEA we talk about organizational culture as something unique. The so-called Ikea spirit as the founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad is humility before the task and cost-consciousness, should permeate the entire company. As a bearer of culture to management to maintain and disseminate the IKEA cultures values, which is essential for the company and its cultures survival. The maintenance of an organizational culture based on co-workers. In order to attract new employees, retain and develop existing staff have the organization and culture is constantly evolving. According to Salzer (1994), it is a problem for IKEA to maintain the organizational culture and achieve what you stand for in the organization of an international expansion. The IKEA culture is an informal type of culture that is based on a few core values. The values that best describes the IKEA culture is simplicity, cost-consciousness and humility. Their culture may be built around the values but the key is that the words are dressed in action. To IKEA, they mean nothing unless they are translated into action, as a manager you preserve the culture by being a good role model and act in accordance with company values. The values conveyed through symbols. Example of the small power distance related to IKEA, the way in which IKEA managers hands-on participation in daily work. For example, go down to the warehouse and help when something goes wrong, this would be unthinkable for a for a manager in a high power distance index. IKEAs managers are of different nationalities around the world and use different, individual leadership styles, which is not necessarily resemble a Scandinavian leadership model. The key, again, is that it has ikea in the bottom and that ones actions and leadership are based on IKEAs values. The importance of managers working in accordance with the culture illustrates that for IKEA culture takes precedence over the short-term profitability. Based on Hofstedes (1991) dimensions can be IKEAs organizational culture described by a small power distance. IKEA has a relatively flat organization where hierarchy is barely noticeable, the authority comes from knowledge and personality and not from the title and status (Nygaard Bengtsson, 2002). Salzer (1994) argues that the informal clothing style that prevails at IKEA is another example of this low power distance. Managers and employees operate at the same level, eat together and park in the same place (Salzer, 1994). IKEA managers way of hands-on participation in daily work illustrates the low power distance that exists at the company. Contributing down on the floor if something goes wrong is natural for managers at IKEA, it would however be unthinkable for say a director of an Indian or Chinese or French company. At IKEA, establishing a strong group cohesion with its employees is stressed on from the induction itself which is generally applicable in collectivist societies (Hofstede, 1991). At IKEA the attitude is to say we rather than I. I believe this is a clear proof that the IKEA culture is collectivist. IKEA culture is described, however as a feminine culture. What should characterize the relationship between manager and employee is an open, honest dialogue. Cooperation between colleagues to work well. Managers in feminine cultures are more intuitive than the firm (Hofstede, 1991) which fits well into IKEA, which is, as mentioned earlier, applying the decentralized decision-making. IKEA is characterized by low uncertainty avoidance, which is mainly manifested in the decentralized decision-making. Employees at IKEA are encouraged to make their own decisions, they are given freedom with responsibility and is expected to take initiative. (Internal IKEA materials, 1999) CONCLUSION IKEA HOFSTEDE ANALYSIS Small power distance Collectivism Femininity Low uncertainty avoidance IKEAs universal values

The Education of Nineteenth Century Women Artists :: Essays Papers

The Education of Nineteenth Century Women Artists The formal education of women artists in the United States has taken quite a long journey. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that the workings of a recognized education for these women finally appeared. Two of the most famous and elite schools of art that accepted, and still accept, women pupils are the Philadelphia School of Design for Women and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (the PAFA). Up until the early nineteenth century, women were mostly taught what is now called a â€Å"fashionable education† (Philadelphia School of Design for Women 5). Their mothers raised them to be proper, young ladies and expert housekeepers in expectation of marriage. If these women were fortunate enough to receive some kind of formalized schooling, they were to study penmanship, limited aspects of their mother language, and very little arithmetic (Philadelphia School of Design for Women 5). Unfortunately, this small degree of education was extremely constrictive to women. If they never married or were widowed at a young age, they really had no place to go. This form of women’s education created generations of women that were almost entirely dependent on their husbands and male relatives. During the nineteenth century, when the feminist movement was beginning, many schools were established specifically for the education of women, such as the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, and also for the education of both. In the beginning, women’s art schools mostly taught pupils practical applications of art. For example, female art students often studied drawing and lithographing, in hopes that they would be hired by industrial companies as designers. The Philadelphia School of Design for Women was one of the first all women’s art schools to establish this form of education. Founded in 1844 by a woman named Sarah Peter, the Philadelphia School of Design for Women was a school like none that had come before it. Peter was a wealthy woman of stature and decided to start this school in one of the rooms of her mansion and to hire a teacher to hold regular classes for women in art and design. (As a wonderful incentive for all women, tuition was free for the poor and the wealthy paid a very small sum.) Sarah Peter saw how truly poor the traditional education for women was and she strongly believed that every woman should â€Å"stand by her sex,† thus her reasoning for establishing this soon to become famous art school.

“Neat People vs Sloppy People” analysis Essay

â€Å"Neat People vs. Sloppy People†, by Suzanne Britt compares the day-to-day life and habits of â€Å"sloppy† people to notorious â€Å"neat† people. Britt’s point of view leans towards the sloppy person, causing the reader to conclude that the author is most likely sloppy in her own life. The meanings of the adjectives â€Å"neat† and â€Å"sloppy† seem to be flipped around when defined and exemplified. Someone reading this article is either going to be bothered by the context or is going to agree with the view of the messy side. The author’s hope is probably for others to appreciate the morals and intentions of the two different types of people. Read more: Good people short story  essay The author of this essay, Suzanne Britt is a poet, essayist, and teacher. Her essay â€Å"Neat People vs. Sloppy People† is from one of her books â€Å"Show and Tell†. The purpose of her essay is to highlight the differences of neat people and sloppy people by changing the meaning and purposes around this topic. The tone of her essay is humorous, yet straightforward. She is able to make jokes about both sides, while being assertive in her meaning of these two styles of life. Through contrasting the two types of people in this essay, Britt is able to convey her purpose of recognizing neat people as â€Å"lazier and meaner than sloppy people†(para. 1). She also states that â€Å"sloppy people live in Never-Never Land† because they never get anything done, since they depend on â€Å"someday† to get their task accomplished (para. 3). By looking at these two contrasting lifestyles, it is seems that she favors the sloppy side of life. Even though she talk s about the sloppy life as putting things off and collecting clutter, she recognizes it as a good thing. It is as though she switches the meanings of the two characteristics to make sloppy positive and neat negative, showing the author has a preference. This odd exchange of the two types of traits makes this article interesting since most would associate being sloppy as a negative. When analyzing these two traits it is seems that the characteristics that would normally describe a neat person describes a sloppy person. When stating, â€Å"neat people are bums and clods at heart†, the author uses derogative words to describe the person (para. 6). The term â€Å"neat† usually means organized and put together, which is what she means by the term â€Å"sloppy†. Sloppy people are stated to â€Å"give loving attention to every detail. When sloppy  people say they’re going to tackle the surface of the desk, they really mean it.† Britt makes the neat peop le seem bothersome and uncaring, while the sloppy people seem determined and nurturing. As stated previously, the term â€Å"someday† is used repetitively in the second paragraph to describe when the goals of a sloppy person will be made. It is evident that sloppy people never get anything accomplished in their lives, because they are held back by the word â€Å"someday†. However, the author seems to think someday is not always a bad thing. Britt states â€Å"sloppy people can’t bear to part with anything†, which creates the sense of possible hoarding problems by sloppy people. They never know when they just might need something and it would be a waste to have to rebuy something that they had previously. So, I guess she thinks that they are thrifty and not wasteful people. Neat people get rid of things too quick and can be uneconomical in the long run. This essay â€Å"Neat People vs. Sloppy People† analyzes two opposite lifestyles. By switching their meanings around, Britt is able to show just how different these two lifestyles are. She seems to imply that sloppy people are caring and will get to things done when needed. They are laid back and want to enjoy life by not worrying about keeping everything perfect. Sloppy people do not get caught up in the day to day rush of life and enjoy what they do. Neat people are not relaxed and worry about what others think too much. The author seems to feel that there is more to life than being spick-and-span. One can insinuate based on how she describes both neat and sloppy that Britt favors the messy side. The purpose of her essay is to convey how different each lifestyle is and how they can’t be one without the other. She uses humor almost in a satirical way in order to get her point across while being completely forward with the reader in her feelings towards both sides. By i ncorporating different techniques throughout her essay, Britt is able to portray her thoughts and feelings on the subject of neat verses sloppy people. After reading her article, a neat person might consider relaxing a bit and recognize that there just might be more to life than being spotless.

Life’s Greatest Miracle Essay

â€Å"Life’s Greatest Miracle†_ details the reproductive process from start to finish. It starts by discussing the crucial role DNA plays when it comes to reproduction, its so important due to DNA holding the chromosomes that give each human unique physical traits. From there they begin discussing the process of meiosis, the process of male sperm and female eggs. They describe sperm being more about quantity, whereas the female egg is all about quality. When the male sperm and a female egg meet, they create a union of chromosomes, taking unique traits from both the male and female, creating an individual that has unique traits. The documentary also makes use of microimagery, which gives the viewer very detailed and real time photos of the process that is a new human life and what it looks like during the developmental phases. From this point, they begin discuss the journey sperm takes upon sexual intercourse and the difficult nature of fertilization. It is amazing to think, that at the very beginning of ones conception you are a single cell. A single tiny cell that nature and nurture takes over and the same tiny cells grow to be strong and powerful enough to produce bones, vital organs and a brain over the course of only nine months. Throughout these entire discussions and processes, the documentary does not overwhelm you with scientific jargon and due to the nature of the subject; it was not as  uncomfortable as one might then when watching. It also helped that during the  entire documentary of the films and going through the scientific side of reproduction that they had a real time couple discussing their experience of pregnancy from start to finish. This made the material much easier to understand. These real life examples gave the documentary another dimension. This was actually my third time watching this documentary, after watching it once in High School and again in a previous college class. Their wasn’t exactly a shock factor or the material didn’t overwhelm me, which is seems to do to many people when they first watch it. After watching it though, it provokes your thoughts about the concept of life and the wonders of how in nine short months; two people can create a new life. Overall the material of reproduction, I agree with. I mean what is there to disagree with exactly? Reproduction is a scientific process like it or not. Yes, there are some unknowns and minor details that we might never find out. Unless you have some of your own beliefs about reproduction and life I just don’t see or understand how somebody could disagree and argue with the science and knowledge we have established in the process of reproduction. Also the video does increase the viewers’ knowledge of our beginnings. Many people know the concept of reproduction, and man has sexual intercourse with a women and if she is fertile, a baby can be conceived, whoever the documentary breaks down the science behind reproduction in detail, but like a stated previously they do an excellent job of not overwhelming the viewer with scientific jargon and the real-life couple they have speaking about their own pregnancy from beginning to birth makes it much easier to understand. Yes, I would recommend this video to another group of students. It was an excellent documentary on the process of reproduction and development. I would recommend this to be watched by future diversity classes and defiantly any type of sexuality class. The material is very informative, and something that any mature class can watch and understand without any issues.