Art and Religion in Traditional African Society Essay Example

Art and Religion in Traditional African Society Essay Example Art and Religion in Traditional African Society Essay Art and Religion in Traditional African Society Essay Art and Religion in Traditional African Society Throughout the world, changes in peopleâ„ ¢s lives are marked by important events, ceremonies and celebrations. Whether they are called confirmation, communion, graduation, birthdays, initiations or funerals, certain amount of rituals that characterized there activities and make them special are integrated. In Africa, these special activities or rituals constitute an important aspect of a rich socio-cultural and religious life of the people, and are expressed through various artistic means. Every stage of their lives, traditional Africans adhere to certain values, attitudes and thoughts which are products of their past experiences in relation to the environment and forces within and without, with a strong believe that the universe is given life by spirits that inhibit the fields they farm, the cloud that brings rainfall, the rivers from which they gather fishes and the wilderness where they hunt wild animals and build settlements. Given the existence of these spirituals, ways are sought to contact, to communicate and control their powers, thus, they engage in constant and faithful rituals, sacrifices and worship. In most cases, art, whether through performances or tangible objects, becomes the medium and point of contact. Notable among these manifestations of invisible spirits in tangible forms such as carved wood or stones (sculpture), is the power figure called Nkisi, from kongo. It embodies a spiritual force that is to be placed in a container and placed on the abdomen to wade away evil. To the Yoruba of Nigeria, the Geledeâ„ ¢ mask, gives identity and personality to the otherwise abstract and intangible spirits of their ancestors. The Ife people of Nigeria made ceremonial busts of their rulers, who were called Oni, to commemorate the reign of their leaders. The Isangui people from Gabon, produced wooden masks used also in ceremonies for a particular village meant to represent the spirits of all the deceased female ancestors of the village. These representations in mysterious and uncanny forms by the African artist, offers a means through which the emerging forces nature and the power of magic are expressed, thereby evoking an effective source for the spiritual embodiment and stability which provides religion with purpose and meaning, helping people to understand and cope with circumstances and occasionally explains the misfortune and other unexpected events of life. Granted, the traditional belief system that form the basis on which art in Africa is produced, expresses a respect for a universal life force which cannot be contacted directly, except through mediums that serves as intermediaries, these mediums are carved, built or arranged by a special and sacred few. Whether they are the Chiraraâ„ ¢ mask of Bambara meant to appease the spirits of agriculture or the Bundu mask of the Mende society, meant for initiation rites, the symbols, masks and figures of traditional Africa are imbued with power to mediate fertility, wealth, health, and divination. Where these traditional customs flourished, a continuity of the sacred order is sustained through initiations, sacrifices and worship, as seen in the Poroâ„ ¢ society of sierra-Leone and the Ifaâ„ ¢ worship of Oshogbo, Nigeria. The mystical characters encountered in these societies provides only but a surface penetration into their meanings and values. Although the bulk of traditional African art is centered on religions inspiration, yet, there are those whose excellent forms hold no religions significance whatever, such as the Ashanti gold weights, Dahomean brass and appliqueâ„ ¢ cloths, Yoruba house-post and the Cameroon pipe bowls. However, African religions vary in their emphasis, but all include some worship of nature-duties, the recognition of the power of the ancestors, the belief in an ability to foretell the future, and in the efficacy of magic. In the eastern part of the continent, family cults seem to have primacy, while in the western potion; gods who represent the forces of nature are most prominent. Yet both beliefs are found everywhere in Africa, even in the simple cultures of the extreme south. The custodians of these deities, divinations and ancestral figures are specialist whose techniques, shrines and methods very widely. Oracles that are consulted to reward good and punish evil, magic that creates confidence and hope or dispels fear is ubiquitous and finds its expression in the charm, which is wrongly and ignorantly seen us evil because of its fetishâ„ ¢ connotation â€Å" a term derived from Portuguese feiticoâ„ ¢, meaning, things madeâ„ ¢, and from this again the misnomer for the re ligion of certain parts of Africa, fetichism. Furthermore, the esthetic drive and religions expressions of art in Africa is not only rendered or restricted to two and three-dimensional forms of expressions, but are also found in music, dance and storytelling. Everywhere, song and dance contributes immensely to worship. Singing takes the fundamental form of antiphony between leader and chorus, while the drum is sometimes the sole and always the principal instrument played to accompany song. The dance beat known in its ritual forms, is based on great ingenuity in execution of complicated steps and bodily movement, depicting spirituality, victory or quest as in the case of the Chiwaraâ„ ¢ dance, Bambara, Mali. Dancing is the supreme expression of worship in every traditional African religion. African folklore includes myth, tale, proverbs and riddle which are closely integrated into the life of the people, and which are striking in their unity over the continent. Then myths explain the nature of the world and the forces that rule it, thus, sanctioning social structures and the ancestral cults by the account they provide of group origins and early clan adventure. By reference to sacred tales, priest derived authority, ritual force and magical power. The myth of Faâ„ ¢ a being with sixteen eyes as told in the Dahomean folklore, is of important reference on this point. The general belief that African art is a result of inspiration cannot be overemphasized following the treads and development of the African civilizations. Religion is an important part of the cultures that make up the vast African communities, and is interrelated with other facets of life far more intimately than among humans. Thus, the supernatural world is part o the workaday round, to be met without fear and with full knowledge that for every ill there is a remedy, for every problem a specialist who can help with a solution and for every awe, a call for reverence. As such, religion becomes immediate to life, not removed from it; a fully functioning part of universe that encompasses both the living and the dead with a system of that is strong and sure because, for the traditional African, each day of his life is a fulfillment of the pragmatic test to which he continuously experience. REFERENCES M. Hershovits The Background of African Art (University Microfilms international, London 1978) The language of African Art: A Bicentennial Exhibition From Museum of African art 1976 â€Å" 1978 (Davis) Vogel, Susan M. Anesthetics of African Art (The Centre for African art, New York: 1986) Berman, Esme (1993), Bermanâ„ ¢s Art and Artists of Africa, in Charda Jacqueline, 2006, African Art and Architecture, Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2005. Christopher Roy (1999), Art and Life in Africa. www.uiowa.edu/africat. Willet, Frank (2003), African Art: An introduction. 3rd Ed. Thames and Hudson.

Role of Government in Capitalism Essay Example

Role of Government in Capitalism Essay Example Role of Government in Capitalism Paper Role of Government in Capitalism Paper Free market capitalism is a system of  economics  that minimizes government intervention and maximizes the role of the  market. A free market economy is based on supply and demand with little or no government control. A completely free market is an idealized form of a market economy where buyers and sellers are allowed to transact freely (i. e. buy/sell/trade) based on a mutual agreement on price without state intervention in the form of taxes, subsidies or regulation. Government  regulations, trade barriers, and labor laws are generally thought to distort the market. In practice, no country or jurisdiction has a completely free market. How Much Government is needed in the free capitalism arena? Should we expand our faith in free market capitalism, or do we need government intervention in each and every aspect of business economy? The role of government just considered is to do something that the market cannot do for itself, namely, to determine, arbitrate, and enforce the rules of the game. Railroads, Parks, Highways are an excellent example. A good society requires that its members agree on the general conditions that will govern relations among them. The basic roles of government in a free society is to provide a means whereby we can modify the rules, to mediate differences among us on the meaning of the rules, and to enforce compliance with the rules. According to Adam Smith, self-interest (not selfishness), property rights and division of labor are three important interrelated pillars of economic growth. Some of the market values include the below and the failure can happen if we miss any of the below qualities. * Discipline * Honesty and trustworthiness * Tolerance * Cooperation * Courtesy * Enterprise * Responsibility Market failure occurs due to many reasons. Some of those reasons are: * Monopoly power * When producers do not fully bear total costs of products or are unable to capture all benefits of producing products. * When there is a common property resource. Common property is nobodys property, hence the property is misused. * Lack of information, misinformation or asymmetry of information. * Risk and/or uncertainty * Economic Bubbles * Environmental Pollution. * Exploitation of Workers. * Unsafe and Ineffective Products. * Corporate Fraud and Theft. * Neglect of Public Goods. * Neglect of Social and Public Investments. * Hidden Information. * Inability to Plan. Boom and Bust Cycles. * Lack of Markets. * Poverty and Economic Inequality. * Lack of Opportunity and Economic Mobility. There are a host of other areas where free markets will not work efficiently and promote public welfare without some government intervention. For example, areas of product safety, workplace safety, airwaves allocation, oil and gas exploration. Therefore gov ernment intervention is essential for the working of free and competitive markets. Role of a government in a market economy should: * Provide a legal system to make and enforce laws and to protect private property rights. Provide public goods that individuals or private businesses would not provide. * Correct market failures such as external costs and economic slowdown (unemployment) * Maintain competition by regulating monopolies * Stabilize the economy by reducing unemployment and inflation and promoting economic growth. We can give two great examples where government intervention is needed 2001 dot. com bubble and subprime mortgage crisis. For 2001 . com bubble, government has to step in and put some regulations in the market to curb the crisis. In late 2008 US financial markets seemed near collapse. The financial community’s near collapse had been most directly ignited by the subprime mortgage crisis; a situation in which the nation’s housing bubble burst and millions of Americans were no longer able to pay their home mortgages. Lending had essentially frozen. A great name in banking, Lehman Brothers, went bankrupt while Wall Street powers Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, facing failure, were sold. One estimate is that the total Federal Reserve aid package, at its peak, reached $3. 3 trillion. Through its Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and other initiatives, the government assisted companies considered â€Å"too big to fail. The government undertook various stimulative measures including tax breaks, bond sales, and direct injections of federal money to prop up the badly faltering economy. In a centerpiece of the stimulus effort, about $800 billion was spent on such projects as road construction, extension of unemployment benefits, help to states in meeting Me dicaid costs, and high-speed rail transportation. National unemployment was in the 10 percent range, and the government decided to use all of its powers to quickly build jobs and otherwise rescue the economy to avert a total crash. Some of the government programs might put the country in more and more debt situation and for example cash for first-time homeowners, cash for clunkers, payroll tax reductions a year at a time, Obama Care, subsidies for electric vehicles, cash for investments in green energy, taxes on medical devices, a Fed that now is not just managing inflation, but also trying to improve the economy through artificially low interest rates over a very long period of time and a major increase in new regulations. All of these interventions have impacts on the costs of products and services, prices of those products and services. Even biggest democratic countries like India are planning to privatize lot of government sectors for example trash, transportation. The government currently ties a noose around the neck of the free market in a multitude of ways. It has rules and regulations, favors to special interest groups, currency debasement by inflating the money supply etc. , All these things disrupt the free market. There is no doubt that government alone cannot make an economy work for the betterment of all its citizens. It does need to partner with a  progressive  private sector to make that happen. Limited government and show the presence wherever needed, makes government the strongest ally in the business world and we can create a better business together. References: http://books. cat-v. org/economics/capitalism-and-freedom/chapter_02 http://highered. mcgraw-hill. com/sites/dl/free/0073525006/928301/McAdams_10e_Chapter_1. pdf governmentisgood. com/articles. php? aid=13;print=1

American Imperialism in the Philippines (1903) and Mary H. Fulton, On Term Paper

American Imperialism in the Philippines (1903) and Mary H. Fulton, On Christian Missionaries. Document analysis - Term Paper Example First, both documents reflect a common drive to conform to gender expectations. On the one hand, in the document â€Å"American Imperialism in the Philippines,† the attitude of President William McKinley in defending the colonization of the Philippines is plain machismo and ego in action. McKinley said, â€Å"That we could not give them back to Spain -- that would be cowardly and dishonorable.† Refusing to get the booty of war is in fact an honorable thing to do, especially when the booty which McKinley says â€Å"had dropped into our laps† has been fighting its own war against the Spanish regime for years already. Insofar as the Filipinos are concerned, when the Americans came, they were already winning. They won the fight against the Spaniards; they were not rescued by the Americans. â€Å"The Filipinos had also declared their independence and established a republic under the first democratic constitution ever known in Asia. Their dreams of independence were crushed when the Philippines were transferred from Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898), which closed the Spanish-American War.† (Philippine History)... Gender dictates that the male sex is courageous, brave and honorable. And to colonize the Philippines is what an honorable and courageous man would do. On the other hand, Mary H. Fulton writes of the Chinese women, â€Å"Then they notice my clean, short finger nails, and contrast them with their long ones,—often a finger in length,— which indicate that they are ladies of leisure.† Again, this is the work of gender and the need to conform. Chinese women go through the inconvenience of unnecessarily long finger nails and the pain of bound feet all in the name of femininity and pride. Chinese tradition regards the lotus feet and long finger nails as signs of a good woman because its makes them the epitome of affluence and good fortune. It means that they can afford to pay for people to do the chores for them and even carry them on their backs. The men in America celebrate while the women in China suffer all in the name of conformity with their prescribed gender role s. Another human trait common to both documents is the belief in God. Broadly speaking, all man regardless of creed or religion believes in the existence of a supreme being. Even the self-confessed atheists have something that rules over their lives and to whom they turn to in times of need. To the believer, this God could be Jesus Christ, Allah, Yahweh, the Roman and Greek Gods or the pagan’s ancestors’ spirits. To the non-believer, this could be himself for it can be argued that if he does not believe in a god that rules over man, therefore he rules over himself and he is his own god. McKinley admitted to have acquired the wisdom on what to do with the Philippines after he knelt down and prayed to God for guidance and enlightenment: â€Å"I am not ashamed to tell

Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 6

Operations Management - Essay Example For example the case study for Mark and Spencer that is involved in providing high quality fashionable products, product design is very essential so as to produce products that are highly competitive in the market (Vilcox & Thomas 2007). The company is known for innovation of its fabrics from its own textile technologies laboratories that is part of the product design. The process of product design however requires the input of several resources so as to come up with a presentable product in the market. The most essential requirement for the design of products in the apparel industry the raw material used to design the product. For the final product to be highly competitive in the market, the used raw materials should be of high quality although relatively low priced (Paulin & Hillery 2009). The raw material should be provided as low prices so as to regulate the product cost in the market. To enhance the constant provision of the raw materials, Mark and Spencer invested in a close re lationship with its materials suppliers. Due to these factors the company is known for the use of easy synthetic fibre to design its clothing. The company also prides in the application of high health and hygiene standards in the processing of their food products. The company has invented the design of new styles by providing new brands over shorter periods (Malcom 2007). Despite operating in a highly competitive market, Mark and Spencer has embraced innovation using the latest technology to suit the changing trends, the fashion and design sector (Jones 2006). The values of quality and service which were used by Mark and Spencer however led to higher prices of the products. Designing of products is essential because in determine different characteristics of the product as well as how well the product functions (Jones 2006). The essential activities involved in product design include research and development, marketing and engineering. Some of the factors of the product that are dete rmined by the design process include the products cost and quality (Beauchamp, Norman & Arnold 2008). The main purpose of design is to develop a product or service that appeals to the consumer at convincing prices and at the same time. For the product to achieve this it has to be designed using high quality but low cost raw materials. The technology applied in the development of the product also determines the p

The Patient Safety Movement Essay Example for Free

The Patient Safety Movement Essay According to patientsafetymovement.org (2013), over 200,000 patients die each year due to preventable causes. This is more than the number of deaths from lung, breast and prostate cancer combined. With such a high number of patients at risk of preventable death, the idea of patient safety moved to the forefront of medical discussions in the early 1990’s with the release of the Institute of Medicine’s report To Err is Human. The report brought to light the issues of patient safety and the errors occurring every day in medical facilities across the country. Patient safety as defined by the Institute of Medicine is simply stated as having â€Å"freedom from accidental injury† (ahrq.gov). Patient safety is now considered a healthcare discipline concerned with reporting, preventing and analyzing adverse events in an effort to reduce or eliminate errors leading to undesirable patient outcomes. Some of the most common medical errors affecting patient safety are wrong site surgery, medication errors, and health care acquired infections. Other causes of medical errors are not directly related to â€Å"touching† the patient. These errors include hand-off communications, illegible handwriting, and poor coordination of care. Wrong site surgeries include operating on the wrong part of the body, performing the wrong operation, or operating on the wrong patient. While wrong site surgery is rare, (from 1995-2010, the Joint Commission received reports of 956 wrong site surgeries), it is probably one of the most preventable injuries affecting patient safety (National Patient Safety Foundation, 2014). Medication errors occur if a patient receives the wrong medication or if the patient receives the right medication in the wrong dose or wrong form. One of the most common errors facing the patient safety movement today, the Institute of Medicine estimates medication errors affect over 1.5 million Americans each year (NPSF, 2014). Health care acquired infections are infections occurring in patients while being treated for other medical conditions. These infections can be acquired while being treated in or out  of a hospital setting. Each year in the United States, approximately 1 in 20 patients contract a health care acquired infection. Errors in patient hand-off communications account for an estimated 80 percent of serious medical errors (patientsafetymovement.org, 2014). A lack of effective communication is responsible for these avoidable adverse events. Illegible handwriting leads to the misinterpretation of physician orders and has led to medication and treatment errors. Patients are at risk for error whenever more than one healthcare provider is involved in their care. Not all providers may have had access to the same information and this lack of coordination of care can result in medical error. In order to develop a patient safety culture in healthcare institutions across the country, several groups were created or formed to outline new patient safety initiatives as well as define the actions both providers and patients can take to prevent medical injuries due to preventable errors. One such group, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, (AHRQ), â€Å"is a home to research centers that specialize in major areas of healthcare research such as quality improvement and patient safety . . . and delivery systems (Pozgar, 2012, p. 541). The AHRQ is charged with the following initiatives: 1. Identify the causes of preventable health care errors and patient injury in health care delivery. 2. Develop, demonstrate, and evaluate strategies for reducing errors and improving patient safety. 3. Disseminate such effective strategies throughout the health care industry. As the AHRQ works to meet its initiatives, other groups such as the National Patient Safety Foundation establish action plans to address the challenge of eliminating medical errors. For example, in 2013, the foundation addressed nine areas in which patient safety errors occur and how these errors could be eliminated by following a well-developed plan. Included in those nine areas were medication errors, hand-off communication errors, and healthcare associated infections (patientsafetymovement.org). Other results of the patient safety movement include the way patients are identified. For example, two patient identifiers are used prior to providing patient care. These identifiers may include a patient’s name or date of birth. These identifiers are then matched to the patient record thereby ensuring treatment is provided to the right person. Many providers and facilities  have strict infection control guidelines including the use of hand washing and proper use of PPE (personal protective equipment), such as gowns, gloves, and masks. Other changes relate to the elimination of medication errors. For example, look alike or sound alike drugs are kept separated or repackaged in pharmacies to prevent giving a patient incorrect medications. In order to prevent wrong site surgeries, both the physician and the patient are involved in clearly marking the site prior to surgery as well as verbal communication between physician and patient as to the surgical site and what type of surgery the patient is about to undergo. Other safety actions include the members of the surgical team taking a â€Å"time-out† prior to surgery to confirm the correct patient, correct site, and correct procedure (Pozgar, 2012). Another initiative began in 2005, when Dr. Donald Berwick and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, (IHI) created a ca mpaign to save 100,000 lives (Levin, 2005, p. 94). â€Å"The campaign aims to enlist at least 1,500 hospitals across the United States to commit to six key evidence-based, safety and quality improvements that have the potential to save 100,000 lives over the next 18 months—and beyond† (Levin, 2005, p. 95). The six key-evidenced based improvements are 1. Rapid Response Teams. 2. Prevention of Central Line associated bloodstream infections. 3. Prevention of surgical site infections. 4. Prevention of adverse drug events. 5. Improved care for acute MI. 6. Prevention of ventilator associated pneumonia. Dr. Berwick and the IHI believed that this initiative could be successful at preventing patient medical errors and result in an unknown number of saved lives. The overall goal of all groups involved in the patient safety movement is to improve the quality of patient care through system improvement, education, and shared experiences to reduce the risk of medical error. Unfortunately, the goals of the patient safety movement and the current tort system do not go hand in hand. While the patient safety movement encourages open communication regarding patient medical errors, the risk of litigation causes many healthcare providers and institutions to remain silent regarding patient medical errors. In order to avoid lawsuits, many physicians practice â€Å"defensive medicine,† which can actually increase the risk of patient medical errors resulting in malpractice lawsuits. Some tort reforms have shown to be somewhat successful in reducing the overall cost of liability by keeping insurance premiums lower, keeping physicians in  practice, and capping the amount of damages paid to patients. However, while these reforms may have reduced the financial burden on healthcare providers, they do little to support the patient safety movement. The most widely cited concerns about the medical liability system relate to the systems impact on costs and access to liability coverage, its impact on patients safety, and the administrative burden of litigation. According to AHRQ, in order to address these concerns, the following reforms have been discussed: Full disclosure/early offer programs. Certificate of merit programs. Caps on damage awards, periodic interim payment rules, joint and several liability reforms, collateral source rule reform, and the abolishing of punitive damages. Pre-trial screening panels. Health courts Patient safety is one of the primary goals of reform efforts that focus on programs that promote full disclosure, early offers, and the collection and analyses of the root causes of medical errors (AHRQ, 2010). As with all movements, the patient safety movement is not without its critics. One criticism of the movement deals with physician burnout. The patient safety movement includes many new initiatives aimed at improving patient safety. Each of these new initiatives takes time to understand and implement in order to have the desired outcome. Unfortunately, many providers are faced with learning these initiatives on top of an already full day of patient care. Most facilities have not built in the time required to learn, understand, and implement new initiatives. At the time the IOM published the To Err is Human report, many in the healthcare field questioned the numbers revealed in the study as well as contending that the information in the report would focus undue attention on accidental deaths and prevent limited resources from being directed at other important quality improvement initiatives. Other critics do not agree with the focus on involving patients in their own care, believing that if a patient is already sick and in the hospital, the patient should not have the additional burden of making sure they are receiving the right medicine at the right time, etc. Whether a supporter or critic of the patient safety movement, everyone can agree that human errors do occur in the treatment of patients. In order to improve  patient safety, healthcare providers and facilities must continue to find ways to implement new initiatives that improve the overall quality and safety of the care provided to patients. References AHRQ. (2008). What Exactly Is Patient Safety? Retrieved from http://ahrq.gov Institute of Medicine. (2014). Retrieved from http://iom.edu/ Levin, A. A. (2005). Patient Safety- Rejecting the Status Quo. NC Med J March/April 2005, Volume 66, Number 2. Retrieved from http://ww.ncmedicaljournal.com National Patient Safety Foundation. (2014). Key Facts About Patient Safety. Retrieved from http://www.npsf.org/for-patients-for-consumers Pozgar, G.D. (2012). Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration (11th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones Bartlett Learning, LLC The Patient Safety Movement. (2013). Challenges Solutions. Retrieved from http://patientsafetymovement.org/challenges--solutions-/

Coca-Cola or Pepsi: The True King of Pop Essay -- essays research pap

He lets out an ahhh of satisfaction as he sets down the cup. There is an excited silence to the crowd as they wait to hear the verdict. Will he choose Pepsi or will it be Coca-Cola? It is a question that many wonder about and can be a very tricky question. Both sides say that theirs taste’s better and both have strong proof to back that up. But I am here to help settle the issue once and for all and show to you that taste isn’t everything one should judge. When all is done I will prove to you that in the end there can be no doubt that Coca-Cola is the king of pop.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To truly understand the complexities of what makes a soft drink one of the best you must first take a look at the appearance and package of said drink. Pepsi has always tried to go with the flashy look and now tries to play on American patriotism by having a red, white, and blue can. While this may be a nice touch, Coke doesn’t need to rely on playing on the people’s feelings. They have stayed with a classic look of red with white writing. This simple yet elegant stance shows to the world that they don’t need to spice up their appearance to entice customers, because they know it what’s on the inside that counts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now if you are a true beverage coinsure, you will of course take notice of the initial reaction of carbonation and air when you pop open your can. I know that some will argue that all pop sounds the same at this action, but you just need to listen ...

Classroom Activity on Cultural Diversity Essay

Cultural diversity is the diverse culture having people of different races, cultures, religions, nationalities, ethnic groups and backgrounds making up a community. Cultural diversity is a term used to mean that a group or area contains people from many different cultures and backgrounds. These areas are considered diverse because everyone is unique and different.. The phrase cultural diversity can also refer to having different cultures respect each other’s differences. The phrase cultural diversity is also sometimes used to mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. India is a land of diversity in race, region, caste, language, mate, landform, flora and fauna and so on. From ancient time till day India has repainted this diversity from very ancient time. Mature has shaped the country so. Rightly this land has been termed as â€Å"the epitome of the world. † In our country we will find people from different races. People in each race have their own culture. By culture we mean the characteristics of an individual society or of some subgroups within this society. It includes values, beliefs, notions, acceptable and non acceptable behaviour and other socially constructed ideas that members of the culture are taught as true. We will agree that culture has an impact on socialization process of students. Religion, food habits, festivals,clothing, arts,music etc. play an important role in shaping children during school years. The diversity or individual differences manifest in the works, views, discipline etc. Each element shapes the children through socialization within the families, school and in child’s environment. As a teacher we should know when the racial awareness begin in child. The foundation of self awareness is started around the age of 2-3 years. They learn about themselves, their physical differences, skin colour and begin to apply the skin colour. Around age 4, children learn to identify clearly the differences among people. At the age 5 or 6 years, they started asking questions about their physical differences and also begin to understand these differences. At the age of 7 or 8 years, the children understand that a person’s skin colour will not wash off, rather it will remain same as the person grows up. They learn to understand that how a person can become a member of several different groups like family, classroom, a culture etc. This is the time when the parents and teachers provide them accurate information about cultural diversity. A teacher can take the following activity in the classroom for making his children aware about our cultural diversity. Teacher may asked the students to write their names, nicknames and the names of their Grandmother with which they addressed her at home.