International Students Essay

Attention getter- â€Å"Did you have a lion in your backyard when you were growing up?† â€Å"Did you have to hunt for your food?† Reveal Topic- These were the questions asked by my classmates when I first moved to the United States. Often times, international students are asked bizarre questions about their culture. Frequently, international students are asked what their names mean and although most may know, some don’t have the slightest idea. My name, Taiwo, means first of the twins to be born and the first to taste the world. From the audience survey I received back, only 2 out of 16 people that took the survey knew the meaning of their name. Most questions asked of international students can be humorous but some are very offensive. Credibility Statement- I moved to the United States when I was 12 years old, and my biggest problem was readjusting to the weather, which by the way I’m still not adjusted to. In Nigeria, my home country, there are only two seasons which are the wet and the dry season. Although I am not an international student, I can relate because I had to go through so many changes and at one point it was unbearable. Each year, Johnson County Community College is home to international students from more than one hundred countries with their own cultures, skills, and struggles. Preview of main points- Today, I am going to inform you about international students struggle with challenges like cultural and social adjustment. Connective- First, I would like to explain I. International student’s struggles with cultural adjustments. A. According to Gregory Trivonovitch, there are four transitional stages: a honeymoon, hostility, integration/acceptance, and finally, the home stage. 1. The honeymoon stage is described as the stage full of joy and excitement because most international students that are just arriving are captivated with everything new. They  a excited to start studying at a United States university. The second stage is hostility that â€Å"is characterized by frustration, anger, anxiety, judgementalism, fear, and sometimes depression† (Claremont). The third stage  is integration and acceptance, meaning when international students start to feel comfortable and relaxed in their new environment. At this stage they can join different clubs like the international club. The international club at Johnson County Community college â€Å"brings together students from America and around the globe for educational and social activities† (Johnson County Newspaper). The last stage is the home stage. This final stage is the â€Å"feel at home† stage that allows the students to absorb both their culture and the American culture. 2. Students go through these stages because they feel that they have lost but at the same time gained their identity. B. The anxiety and stress of being separated from their families, relatives, and their friends in their native countries can be overwhelming for them. 1. Leaving a culture and surroundings that one is very familiar with while transitioning to a new one can be difficult. 2. For instance, my friend john, an international student, said he asked one of his friend to â€Å"hook up†, meaning he wanted to hang out, but his friend taught he meant to â€Å"hook up† â€Å"hook up† as in sexually. John also mention how difficult it was for him to adjust to this new lifestyle and is still learning how to. Connective- Now that I have informed you about international students struggle with cultural adjustment and along with it explaining the four stages of cultural shock, II. I am going to explain international students’ struggles with social adjustment. A. International students usually stay in the United States for a short period of time or depending on how long they study for. They face sets of challenges such as interacting with others and making new friends. B. â€Å"International students may also experience a loss of social status and self-respect because their social standing in their home country may not be recognized in the U.S.† (Eunyoung). 1. Even though their suffering might be too much there are ways to manage. As mentioned earlier, the Johnson County Community College International club is a great way to network. a. The club â€Å"is an organization that works to increase international understanding and friendship† (JCCC brochure). b. This club as many goals in mind like â€Å"support for new students, social activities that increase awareness about American culture, fundraising activities to support scholarships for international students† and more (JCCC brochure). 2. Fear of belonging and coping with it. Conclusion- In closing we have learned the struggle international students face with challenges like cultural and social adjustment challenges. International students badly need to be given full initial and ongoing explanations of what is expected of them, how the system works, and where to get help. Being in a country you’re not familiar helps you learn. If you go to a foreign country you are not familiar with, these tips will be very useful in adjusting without any complications. Bibliography â€Å"Stages of Cultural Adjustment.† CGU Writing Center. Claremont Graduate University, n.d. Web. . Hurtado, David. â€Å"Students Clubs Aim to Increase Involvement.† The Campus Ledger 21 Sept. 2012: 6. Print. Johnson County Community College International Club. Johnson County: n.p., 2012. Print. Eunyoung, Kim. An Alternative Theoretical Model: Examining Psychosocial Identity Development of International Students in the United States. Rep. Project Innovation (Alabama), n.d. Web.

A Travel

I will talk about my trip to Egypt and Palestine, and I visited two cities in Egypt, Luxor and Aswan. I also visited two cities in Palestine, Jerusalem and Beit Lehem. I travelled in the beginning to Egypt and the program for my trip includes I visit first Luxor city and then visiting Aswan. Luxor and Aswan are located south Egypt, and travelled by train from Cairo to Upper Egypt, where the distance was about 700 kilometres. When I arrived to Luxor I went to area called alleyway rams and there are statues in this way and these statues were with sphinx’s body and the head of a ram.On other side of the River Nile there are temples and tombs which include the valley of Kings and valley of Queens. ‘Luxor has world’s greatest open air museum’ the tour guide said. After that I went to Aswan it is located on River Nile. I visited many of the archaeological sites like island of Elephantine in the River Nile, and I visited Abu Simbel area which located in Nubia, sou th Aswan about 300 kilometres. Abu Simbel area includes the Great Abu Simbel temples includes two temples: first temple called Great Temple for the King Ramesses II and anther temple called Small Temple.After I visited Egypt I flew to Palestine, and when I arrived I went Jerusalem city which located in west bank in Palestine. I went to Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of Rock Mosque and are located in the old city Jerusalem and these mosques are very old. And then I went to Beit Lehem city is located in west bank and located south Jerusalem city about 10 kilometres. I visited where Jesas was born because Beit Lehem city as birthplace of Jesas. When I finished my visit I went back again to Egypt, and I stayed a few more days and then returned to Sweden.

A Division of Parody Productions Essay

1. FACTS: Parody Productions, LLC is a company that sale his playing cards over the internet. The product portrays well-known players from a sports team’s history. The plaintiff in this suit, Ronald Swoboda, is included in the New York Mets Hero Deck. Swoboda claims that he has never given Parody permission to use his image. He further contends that through his attorney he sent Parody a cease and desist letter. Parody refused to stop selling cards with Swoboda’s name and images. In response, Swoboda filed the instant lawsuit to enjoin Parody from the continued use of his name and likeness and for damages for violating his right to publicity, and, alternatively, damages for unjust enrichment. The trial court sustained the exception of lack of personal jurisdiction and this appeal followed. See more: Satirical elements in the adventure of Huckleberry Finn essay 2. ISSUE: The issue is â€Å"Did Court of Appeal of Louisiana approve lack of personal jurisdiction of an internet merchandiser?† 3. DECISION: Affirmed 4. REASONING: Since 1945, technology has advanced to such a degree that it is possible for sellers to reach consumers in their homes worldwide. The onset of the Internet has created a lapse between the method of doing business in 1945 and the legal system’s ability to keep up with technology. The â€Å"purposeful availment† requirement for the exercise of personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant ensures that it will not be haled into a jurisdiction solely as a result of a random, fortuitous, or attenuated contact, or by the unilateral activity of another party or a third person. In Quality Design, the court ruled that Tuff Coat’s website was a passive one, whereby information about its product was provided, but actual sales were arranged via telephone or mail.

Just in Time (JIT) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Just in Time (JIT) - Essay Example The strategy can be applied in UAE also. Gorica Group can implement this in their organization but there are some difficulties that the organization can face to implement this strategy. Just in time is a famous concept introduced in Japan in 1950. This business concept has significant contributions in the domain of production strategy or manufacturing business. Before the advent of JIT big manufacturing or product based organizations across the world were facing significant difficulties to manage their inventories. Companies across the world were storing high amounts of inventories in their warehouses. Inventory related problems were eating into their profitability. It was a significant matter of concern for the organizations. Returns on investments were low and inventory carrying costs were high. Philosophy of JIT is simple but it has utter importance as far as the inventory management is concerned. After the Second World War, Toyota President raised his voice and asked the Japanese automobile industry to pull up their shocks to compete well with the American automobile industry. During that period, American automakers were manufacturing nine times higher than the Japanese counter parts. It was the time when Japanese people first came up with this idea. With the help of this essay JIT will be discussed. Here in this study JIT will be defined in an elaborate fashion. The paper will also discuss various fundamental techniques related with Just in Time. The essay will analyze whether the concept is successful in Japan or not. In addition to all these it will also try to find whether the concept can be implemented in UAE. The concept will also be discussed on the context of an organization. Methodology is an integral part of any research paper. Importance of methodology cannot be denied at all. Methodology brings proper structure to a report. It is the way or process through which information and data are collected.

My philosophy of education for learners with special needs Assignment

My philosophy of education for learners with special needs - Assignment Example In order to establish such an environment, I will assume the role of a guide; promote the respect for people and diversity; and give room to the child’s inherent curiosity to direct their learning. When the I acts as a guide, the student’s desire to learn is fulfilled; they learn to find answers, practice previously learnt skills, and discover themselves. Students can be helped to respect and appreciate themselves, their environment and others by being encouraged to share ideas, instilling discipline in them, and by being encouraged to dialogue such as through class meetings. When students are given a chance to study what interests them and what is meaningful to them, they get motivated to learn. The teacher should thus develop a curriculum that revolves around the interests of students and that is pegged on intrinsic motivation. In conclusion, I believe that every child should be given an opportunity to learn in an environment that is safe and that is motivating. Given that every student is unique, I hope to provide an atmosphere that takes into consideration the unique needs of the learners while giving them room for self

Literature 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Literature 4 - Essay Example ading as well as for their recreation on the one hand, and for the character building and moral uplift of the innocent minds on the other, the writers take it as their moral obligation and professional duty to create such theme which portrays dutiful, honest and chaste as the follower of good, while liars, dishonest and trouble-creating characters as the representatives of evil. The writers also cite the fate of the transgressors and disobedient to the ways of the Creator, by which they look after keeping the children far away from the wrong-doing and evil. The same can be witnessed by going through the novel under analysis. Renowned fantasy writer Nancy Veglahn in her work has posed the question ‘who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Women know – and likewise men know what evil lurks in the hearts of women’ (2003, p.114). By her proposition, she simply views that both male and female are can assess and comprehend with the negative and evil thoughts growing in the hearts of the members of their opposite gender; it is therefore, they portray each other as monsters and evils in their works because of the very reality that they are actually fearful of the hidden emotions prevailing in the breast of each other. Hence, the writers of both the sexes are psychologically aware of the flaws and faults of the individuals belonging to opposite gender; consequently, they project, promote and highlight these negative traits and characteristics in such an astounding way that it creates the same image in the innocent minds of children while their reading the fantasy, so that they could im agine the evils in the same lines on which they have studied them. Here arises the question whether there exists or not any need for the specification of gender identity in the literature meant for children. The theorists are of the opinion that since children have to take various responsibilities on the foundation of their gender in future, so there must be established the

Political, Social and Economic Reasons for the Decline of the Western Essay

Political, Social and Economic Reasons for the Decline of the Western Roman Empire - Essay Example This essay presents a thorough analysis of possible political, social and economic factors, that could be considered as reasons to the decline of Western Roman Empire to different extent The political reasons surround the Barbarians, wars with Germanic tribes, growing power of Attila the Hun and the Hunnic Empire, and eventually the fall of the Western Roman Empire. In 15 AD the army of Garmanicus Caesar marched to Teutobergensis Saltus, The massacre had been performed by the joint coalition of German warriors. The Germanic groups spread all the way from Rhine in the west to River Vistula in the east and from Danube in the north to the Baltic seas in the south In AD 450, Attila threatened the empire and started preparing for an attack on Gaul and later invaded it. An alliance was made between the Romans and the Goths and in the Battle of Chalons, Attila is forced to retreat. In AD 452 Attila finally invaded Italy, where he laid the foundations of the republic of Venice. With the victory of Attila in Italy, the power of the Western Roman Empire weakened. The long tension over the Rhine-Danube frontier contributed a significant amount to its failure. The social reasons for the decline of the Western Roman Empire are often given as declining population, diseases, succession of emperors. Diseases had been a major problem for all empires and the Roman Empire surely suffered as diseases and plagues started spreading . Another reason is that of the people in empire being poisoned by the water that was carried through lead pipes. The succession of emperors has indeed played the most important part in the decline. The first Roman emperor had established that the emperor will designate the next emperor and based on approval by the senate, the emperor will take the thrown. This rule was followed for only the first few emperors and

WEEK 2 DISCUSSION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WEEK 2 DISCUSSION - Essay Example There were several statistically significant findings depicted in the results. The most significant was that 82% of the respondents agreed that workload was a major cause of stress in workplaces. This finding was consistent with findings from a previous study by Topper. Ongori and Joseph, (2008) found out that occupational stress had several effects on the employees and was one of the major causes of employee’s turnover. Moreover, the study findings showed there are several stressors in organizations that require addressing. Some of the stressors identified include increased workload, insecurity regarding the future, inadequate resources in the work places, organizational conflicts, and the poor communication methods used in some work places. The results were quite mixed with those from previous studies. The researchers attempted to establish the credibility of the findings by repeatedly comparing them with those from previous studies regarding stressors in work places (Ongori & Joseph, 2008). The authors presented the hypothesis of the study, which was that there are occupational stressors that reduce the productivity of workers (Ongori & Joseph, 2008). The hypothesis was inferred and not clearly stated. However, the research findings supported the hypothesis since the sources, effects, symptoms, and interventions of occupational stress were identified. Although the study made use of random sampling, it could also have been conducted through online self-administered surveys. This would have resulted in a higher number of respondents and the sample would have been homogeneous since it would include respondents from private as well as public institutions. The results were analyzed using quantitative method or the statistical package for social science (SPSS) method. However, analysis using mixed method could have been another appropriate method. It would have allowed the researchers to analyze the stressors more adequately.

Automatic Speech Recognition Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Automatic Speech Recognition - Research Paper Example The creation of ASR system had an aim to provide people with a machine that can translate each word spoken by them in real time. The system still has enough to incorporate and advance more. There still is a gap between expectations from ASR systems and their performance. The ASR systems are meant to recognize the speech of human beings without being interrupted from the speaker’s accent, choice of words, noise or other features. Commercially available ASR systems need a lesser amount of speaker training and have the capability to recognize the continuous speech vocabulary with higher efficiency along with a broader range of vocabularies being captured. Commercial companies are often found to claim that ASR systems provide 98 to 99 percent accuracy provided that they are working under optimal conditions. Optimal conditions are when the users have speech habits which are in line with the training data, when the users have proper speaker adaptation and when the process is carried out in a noise-free environment. It can be explained from this information that recognition rates for heavily accented people may be lower than others. Although there still is a room for improvement in Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems, there are a number of application areas which benefit from its use. Telecommunications is one of the major application areas as speech recognition software acts as an interface that directly transfers data through a communication system into the information system. Today, inquiry systems, dialing assistance and telephony interpretations are some of the examples where ASR systems are used. Office automation is another area that benefits from the use of ASR. The crucial application areas of ASR include ASR in CAD applications and providing input using direct command in computers. Medical applications also make use of this technology for

Reasons for pursuing this graduate degree (LL.M), where you plan to Personal Statement

Reasons for pursuing this graduate degree (LL.M), where you plan to practice in five years, and the contributions you hope to make to the legal profession - Personal Statement Example Currently, I am working at HSBC securities (USA) INC, debt capital markets, at the transaction management desk. Part of my duties include, documenting analyses for Latin America companies both high yield and investment grade companies that come to the U.S market in debt offering. This assignment has given me valuable insights on law firms, as I get to interact with the best law firms around the World. In my role, am royal to my customers, and I maintain a great relationship with the best law firms around the world. With no doubt; certain assignments have been demanding in the law firm such as providing efficient and accurate service to financial institutions. Following this, I have evaluated the need to pursue LLM programs. The reason for pursuing this program is to improve my knowledge while analyzing us documents, and provide accurate and efficient services to financial institutions in my professional. It borne in mind; education lays a strong foundation to our skills, talents, and abilities. In my career, I would like to achieve more in the future. Indeed, I intend to transform my legal profession with my skills and abilities by providing efficient services to financial institutions. My skills in Banking, finance law, and corporate will enhance a strong foundation in my career. While working in the law firm, my knowledge on law firm has increased, giving me a better understanding on areas I need to improve. At this point, I evaluated the need to have adequate knowledge, skills, and abilities that would be helpful in my career. Pursuing the course in New York will be an added advantage since I would like to impact the US law firms with my skills. The knowledge acquired will be considerable in any other country such as Brazil. In five years, I want to have transformed law firm in the United States, and in my country Brazil. As mentioned earlier, I have learnt a lot on my current job. I have analyzed and examined diverse ways that would improve

Offshore Outsourcing and the Globalization of Australian Services Research Paper

Offshore Outsourcing and the Globalization of Australian Services - Research Paper Example The study will examine the affects of offshore outsourcing as an implication of the process of globalization on the Australian through the primary and secondary research. Liptrot suggests that â€Å"Globalization is not a phenomenon. It is not some passing trend. The present research has identified that today it is an overarching international system shaping the domestic politics and foreign relations of virtually every country, and we need to understand it†. Another view of globalization is put forward by Porter who is of the opinion that â€Å"Globalization is much like fire. The fire itself is neither good nor bad. Used properly, it can cook food, sterilize water, and heat our homes. Used carelessly, fire can destroy homes and forests in an instant†. Both of these definitions provide a newer view of globalization that is not restricted in any way. The paper tells that offshore outsourcing in Australia has remained in the spotlight for a few years now and the close ti es that Australian companies have with US-based companies serve as stimulants for offshore outsourcing in the region. The author has rightly presented that offshore outsourcing is expected to acquire momentum in Australia in the following years as globalization continues to have implications on industries around the world. While Australian has become well known for IT-based outsourcing, the region is steadily developing a reputation for outsourcing in more areas.

Love in the English Medieval Period Essay Example for Free

Love in the English Medieval Period Essay INTRODUCTION The romance of Courtly Love practiced during the Middle Ages was combined with the Code of Chivalry. There were strict rules of courtly love and the members of the courts practiced the art of courtly love across Europe during the Middle Ages. The romance, rules and art of courtly love allowed knights and ladies to show their admiration regardless of their marital state. It was a common occurrence for a married lady to give a token to a knight of her choice to be worn during a medieval tournament. There were rules, which governed courtly love, but sometimes the parties, who started their relationship with such elements of courtly love, would become deeply involved. Examples of relationships, which were stirred by romantic courtly love, chivalry and romance, are described in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Chaucer’s Wife of Bath. Many illicit court romances were fuelled by the practice and art of courtly love. The most fertile field of the romance genre was the Arthurian romance. Closely related to the romance tradition were two idealized standards of behavior: chivalry and courtly love. Many modern people think of chivalry as referring to a mans gallant treatment of  women, and although that sense is derived from the medieval chivalric ideal, chivalry includes more than that. Many modern people think of chivalry as referring to a mans gallant treatment of women, and although that sense is derived from the medieval chivalric ideal, chivalry includes more than that. Broadly speaking, chivalry, derived from the old French term for a soldier mounted on horseback, was a knights code of conduct. There was no single set of chivalric rules, but the existence of popular medieval chivalric handbooks testifies that chivalry was a well-known concept. Knights formed a distinct segment of medieval society, which was often thought of as being composed of three classes: those who pray (the clergy), those who fight (the nobility), and those who work (the peasants). Most knights belonged to the nobility, if only because a knights equipment horses, weapons, armor, required considerable resources to fund. Violence, often bloody and horrific violence, was at the heart of what knights did. As highly skilled and well-armed fighting men, knights could be a force either for creating social chaos or for maintaining public order. Unit 1- Background research on courtly love and chivalry 1.1 Courtly love developed in the twelfth century among the troubadours of southern France, but soon spread into the neighboring countries and eventually colored the literature of most of Western Europe for centuries. It originated in the writings of the poet Ovid Ars Amatoria (‘The Art of Love’). Andrà © the Chaplain (or Andreas Cappellanus), took as his model, Ovid’s ‘Ars Amatoria ‘ (the Art of Loving). Ovid’s work concerns how to seduce a woman, and among its rules are appropriate forms of dress, approach, conversation, and toying with a lady’s affections, all designed to amuse. In the Ars Amatoria, the man is in control, and the woman is simply his prey. But Andrà © turned the Ars Amatoria upside-down. In his â€Å"Liber de arte honeste amandi et reprobatione inhonesti amoris† (â€Å"Book of the Art of Loving Nobly and the Reprobation of Dishonourable Love†), the woman becomes the mistress of the game. It is she who sets the rules and passes judgment on the hopeful suitor. In Ovid’s work the lover sighs with passion for his pursuit, but in le Chapelain’s Liber the passion is pure and entirely for the love of a lady. The rules outlined in Andrà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s work are in many ways far  from the reality of the times. In the medieval world, women rarely had any power to speak of. The nobility were warriors, and the arts of war, leadership and politics occupied their minds. More often than not, a noblemen thought of his wife, (or future wife) as a breeder, a servant, and a source of sexual gratification (his, not hers). Fidelity on her part was absolutely necessary to ensure the validity of the bloodline. Fidelity on his part wasn’t an issue. Under any other circumstances, le Chapelain’s Liber might have remained an interesting literary exercise (as Ovid’s Ars Amatoria was intended to be); or it might have been ignored or laughed out of serious literary circles. But with the historical background at precisely the right stage of development, in the court of Eleanor and under the guidance of Marie, Andrà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s ‘Art of Loving Nobly’ was literature to be lived. Two women who had a particular influence on the development of romance were Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen first of France and then of England, and her daughter Marie, Countess of Champagne (in Eastern France). Eleanor brought to the English court her interest in poetry, music and the arts, all of which were cultivated at the court of Aquitaine where she grew up (her grandfather William was the first known troubadour poet). In the vernacular narratives that were written for and dedicated to Eleanor-early ‘romances’-we find an emphasis on the sort of love relationship that is depicted in troubadour poetry, commonly known as ‘courtly love’ (fin’amors in Provenà §al, the language of troubadour poetry). The ‘courtly love’ relationship is modeled on the feudal relationship between a knight and his liege lord. The knight serves his courtly lady (love service) with the same obedience and loyalty, which he owes to his liege lord. She is in complete control of the love relationship, while he owes her obedience and submission (a literary convention that did not correspond to actual practice!) The knight’s love for the lady inspires him to do great deeds, in order to be worthy of her love or to win her favor. Thus ‘courtly love’ was originally construed as an ennobling force whether or not it was consummated, and even whether or not the lady knew about the knights love or loved him in return. The ‘courtly love’ relationship typically was not between husband and wife, not because the poets and the audience were inherently immoral, but because  it was an idealized sort of relationship that could not exist within the context of ‘real life’ medieval marriages. In the middle ages, marriages amongst the nobility were typically based on practical and dynastic concerns rather than on love. The idea that a marriage could be based on love was a radical notion. But the audience for romance was perfectly aware that these romances were fictions, not models for actual behavior. The adulterous aspect that bothers many 20th-century readers was somewhat beside the point, which was to explore the potential influence of love on human behavior. Social historians such as Eric Kà ¶hler and Georges Duby have hypothesized that courtly love may have served a useful social purpose: providing a model of behavior for a class of unmarried young men that might otherwise have threatened social stability. Knights were typically younger brothers without land of their own (hence unable to support a wife) who became members of the household of the feudal lords whom they served. One reason why the lady in the courtly love relationship is typically older, married and of higher social status than the knight may be because she was modeled on the wife of the feudal lord, who might naturally become the focus of the young, unmarried knights desire. Kà ¶hler and Duby posit that the literary model of the courtly love relationship may have been invented in part to provide these young men with a model for appropriate behavior, teaching them to sublimate their desires and to channel their energy into socially useful behavior (love service rather th an wandering around the countryside, stealing or raping women like the knight in the ‘ Wife of Bath’s tale). Ovid described the symptoms of love as if it were a sickness. The lovesick knight became a conventional figure in medieval romance. Typical symptoms: sighing, turning pale, turning red, fever, inability to sleep, eat or drink. Romances often contained long interior monologues in which the lovers describe their feelings. For the troubadours of 12th C France who introduced it into literature, Courtly love had two basic, essential characteristics: Love is irresistible and it is an ennobling force. No one is exempt from the service of the God of love who rules this world and extramarital sexual love, sinful to Christians, is the sole source of worldly worth and excellence. All the other characteristics of love that appear in the Canterbury Tales, for example, are simply trappings  decorations. These belong to the general body of love literature. Yet these trappings, so ludicrous when exaggerated, have caused courtly love to be confused with romantic love and have brought it into disrep ute. Since love is irresistible, nothing done under its compulsion can be immoral; since humans are worthless unless they acts under this compulsion, the necessity of practicing love in incumbent on each person. Courtly love not only approves and encourages whatever fans and provokes sensual desire, it not only condones fornication, adultery, and sacrilege, but it represents them as necessary sources of what it calls virtue. Love is a union of heart and mind as well as body. Sensuality for its own sake, the enjoyment of fleshly delights of and for themselves, is contrary to courtly love. The wanton and the promiscuous practice such love. Hence, in the courtly love code fidelity is its greatest virtue and infidelity its greatest vice. Yet the Roman Church formally condemned both principles of courtly love. Archbishop Stephen Tempier at Paris condemned the irresistibility of love and love as the sole source of human worth on March 7, 1277. 1.2 What is Chivalry? Chivalry is a system of discipline and social interaction that is derived from the warrior class of medieval times, especially and primarily the class of trained warriors who participated in the Crusades (12th-14th centuries). Chivalry has a discipline because those ancient soldiers trained themselves daily through learning and practicing the arts of attack and self-defense. These arts gave rise to the idea of control of the body, mind, and speech in the Knight. Further, the idea of social interaction developed because the Knight originally followed carefully the orders of his superiors who were interested only in battle with those who were eligible to fight, that is, civilians were not to be engaged in battle. From this idea of engaging only other Knights developed the idea of treating enemies and friends fairly and equally. Men who excelled in battle were honored with Knighthood, an honor first granted by Knights only. Then, later, as the honor of being a Knight grew, both Monarchy and the Church (Eastern Orthodox as well as Roman Catholic) began to participate in the selection and creation of Knights. While the ideals of Knighthood were often violated by the Knight warriors themselves, yet the  ideals survived as Knighthood came to be thought of as an honor to be bestowed upon those who had proven themselves worthy. When the practice of the volunteer army and the need for Knights as warriors faded away, the concept of the honorable and self-disciplined Knight remained, and the rank and status of Knight began to take on aspects of minor Nobility that one could achieve (rather than having to be born into). As an honor and status that men sought, Knighthood became a valuable gift and boon for Kings and Church to grant, either individually as a ‘Knight Bachelor’ or as membership in an Order of Chivalry. Chivalry sets a standard of conduct that transcends era or culture. It maintains a code of conduct that traditionally [upholds] a practical guide to living in a changing world, and it provides discipline within an undisciplined environment. Chivalry embraces a spiritual path of personal development that combines bravery and gentleness with a fierce compassion for the welfare of others. The knights interest and goal in life is to protect those who cannot defend, be it physical, spiritual, or economical and to fulfill a desire for personal excellence. UNIT 2 The chivalrous ideal and courtly love in ’’Sir gawain and the Green Knight’’ and ’’The Wife of Bath ’’ 2.1 A knights behavior toward women, at least in the romance tradition, was governed by another standard known as courtly love. Medieval writers did not necessarily use that term, but it is a convenient modern label for an idea that appears frequently in medieval literature. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the poets term for it is courtesy. Scholars have debated whether courtly love was a social reality or purely a literary fiction, but in either case, it was a pervasive and influential notion. The ties between the romance genre and the courtly love tradition were well established even at this time, for when Cappellanus offered his rules of love, he brackets them with a story involving a knight on the way to the court of King Arthur. The courtly lover was a man (often a knight) who devoted himself to the service of his beloved lady, making himself her servant; if he was a knight; all of his brave deeds were dedicated to his lady. Marriage to others was not a barrier to such love affairs, which were to be kept secret, with clandestine meetings and messages between the lovers relayed by go-betweens.  The lovers usually exchanged gifts or favors, normally a personal item such as a ring, glove, or girdle, all of which appear in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. True lovers became faint or sick with the strength of their love; sleeplessness, lack of appetite, and jealousy were all symptoms of true love. A lover was expected to have fine manners and display perfect gentility. As with chivalry, the tension between courtly love and Christian morality was unavoidable. Much of the courtly love tradition assumed that the lovers would consummate their relationship sexually, regardless of whether they were married. A more Christianized version of courtly love placed the lover in courteous but decidedly chaste service to his beloved. Like chivalry, courtly love may have been more of an ideal than an actual practice, but that did not lessen its cultural importance. At first glance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight seem to be a relatively simple story about the quest of a knight in Arthurian Camelot. Upon further examination, however, it becomes clear that interwoven within the simple plotline is an intricate relationship between men and women with an emphasis on the values of the time. Throughout this work, we are privy to a variety of literal and figurative dichotomies including those between men and women, court values and church values, girdle and pentacle, the Green Knight and Sir Gawain, Guinevere and Morgan de Fay, and the Virgin Mary and Lady Bertilak. During the medieval period, the court and the church were of utmost importance codes of chivalry in the court were substantial factors in dictating the etiquette and specific behaviors of people as demonstrated through its literature. What seems to have happened in medieval literature is this: the pre-courtly love literature presented a fairly accurate portrait of womens role in society. Then, with the advent of courtly love some authors felt the need to conform the role of women in literature to that which was assigned to them by the philosophy of courtly love. (Malcor). In a sense, the medieval work in question does not seem to draw exclusively from either the pre-courtly or courtly genres in its discussion of the role of women, rather we see a multitude of different women portrayed in clearly contrasting manners. Most notably, Lady Bertalik becomes a major figure of this work, as well as a symbol of knightly virtues, or lack thereof. In the third part of Sir Gawain  and the Green Knight, the story turns to Sir Gawain and Lady Bertalik; on three successive days, Lady Bertalik meets Sir Gawain in his bedchambers and attempts to seduce him. During the first two days, though tempting, Gawain manages to remain a model of both courtly and religious restraint and behavior; meanwhile, Lady Bertalik extends herself as the aforementioned ‘’fairly accurate portrait of womens role in society.’’ While some women of the time succeeded in being entirely pure, it was not uncommon for damsels to try and seduce men as they traveled about the lands. The third morning, however, Gawain succumbs to his own fear of death and accepts the lesser of two gifts offered by Lady Bertalik on promises that the magical girdle will protect him from all harm. ‘’[The girdle] was wrought of green silk, and gold, only braided by the fingers, and that she offered to the knight, and besought him though it were of little worth that he would take it,’’ while in reality, Lady Bertalik is knowingly tricking the unsuspecting knight (Weston, Part III). In addition, Lady Bertaliks gift is a strong symbol of womanhood and parallels both facets of pre-courtly and courtly literature. Like Lady Bertalik, the girdle is similar to the depiction of pre-courtly realism in which women maintained their outward appearance, but also had inner, wild sexual desires that were often unleashed as it is meant to be tied, but then removed to allow for free movement and expression. In slight contrast, the girdle may also illustrate the more courtly and idealistic viewpoint due to its restrictive qualities, which in theory, forces the girdle-clad to appear as a woman. The idea of the girdle enforcing a female faà §ade is lost, however, when Gawain, himself, dons the green article; thereby, excusing the idea that the girdle has any semblance of courtly qualities. For purposes of this argument that Sir Gawain and the Green Knight entertains two separate depictions of society through literature, the realistic and the philosophical it is Guinevere who plays Lady Bertilaks opposite. Though she appears only briefly in this text, her role in courtly society is quite obvious. Seen at the opening feast given by her husband, King Arthur, Guinevere sits regally, but quietly beside her husband. While she expresses some momentary discontent when Arthur first offers himself up to the Green Knight it is almost entirely based upon her role as a  woman and the wife of the king. In this particular piece of Arthurian literature, Guinevere is defined by specific binaries; she is only what the king is not and she behaves the way that Lady Bertalik does not. Given this role, Guinevere exemplifies the pre-courtly disposition of behavior and remains the passive and silent, but perfect queen. As demonstrated through the actions and general social conduct of Lady Bertalik and Guinevere, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight displays a variety of women in several blatantly contrasting roles. While this, does substantiate the suggestion that the behavior of women has been projected differently throughout medieval literature. Like most medieval literature, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight participate in several important literary traditions that its original audience would have instantly recognized. Medieval poets were expected to re-use established source materials in their own works. Modern readers sometimes mistakenly take this as evidence of how lacking in creativity and originality the Middle Ages were. In reality, much of the interest of medieval literature comes from recognizing how one work of literature pulls against those that came before it, makes subtle changes from its sources, and invests old material with new meanings. One can read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as simply a rollicking tale of adventure and magic or, alternatively, as a lesson in moral growth. However, understanding some of the literary and cultural background that Sir Gawain and the Green Knight draws upon can provide modern readers with a fuller view of the poems meaning. 2.2 The Prologue and Tale of the Wife of Bath are among the most popular parts of The Canterbury Tales, and also cause a lot of trouble for critics. There are many various opinions about the character of Alison, ranging from utter individuality of the character to her being only a refined archetype of the old go-between. Many consider the disparity of her Prologue and Tale so problematic that there is need to explain the duality of her personality, and again many others focus on the common features of the Prologue and Tale. Probably the only thing about Wife of Bath’s Tale on which the critics agree is that its narrative voice and choice of topic is distinctly feminine, the  world of her tale is inhabited by women with occasional obedient men. Alison is a feminist of her own making. Although many say that in the end she still submits to the rule of the patriarchal world, they do not take into account the time of her creation. When Alison struggles for respect in her own household, there is absolutely no awareness of feminine desire for equality, and it will still need several centuries before the Precieuses movement starts in France, influencing the whole Europe. Alison lives in a patriarchal world with strict views of women, and her domestic revolution seems outrageous in her times. Yet, in her Prologue, she argues that there is need for a distinctly feminine voice and tradition. Judging by Alison’s Prologue, it seems extremely difficult for a woman to accept her position in the male tradition. In her Prologue, she therefore uses the traditional patriarchal ideas and expression, and yet she bends them to suit her purpose. When she argues for marriage as an equally important alternative to virginity, she quotes St. Paul, the major male authority that prefers virginity. But it is obvious that the educated account of texts she shows the reader is only knowledge acquired from her husbands, as the read er is later to realize. She is incapable of reading the texts for herself; otherwise she would not use Jerome’s interpretation of the encounter of Jesus and the Samaritan woman beside a well. She would use the source text to impeach Jerome’s interpretation. But the Wife of Bath lacks the knowledge that it was not Jesus but the Samaritan woman herself who said she had no husband. Although the mind of the Wife is captured in medieval paradigms about women, she would gladly argue with Jerome just like she argued with her clerk husband, had she the knowledge of the original biblical text. The Wife also draws a decisive line between the biblical texts, which in no way express any obligation concerning the number of marriages, and the Church tradition created by men with no experience of marriage. What St. Paul says is not a rule, it is only advice: â€Å"Advice is no commandment in my view./ He left it in our judgment what to do† (CT, 278). After her biblical lecture where the Wife uses many examples from the Old Testament to show there are no strict rules established about marriage, she moves on to what she promises at the beginning of her Prologue, to experience: If there were no authority on earth Except experience; mine, for what it’s worth, And that’s enough for me, all goes to show That marriage is a misery and a woe; (CT,  276) Yet, as she has also shown, women’s reputation for zealous confessing paradoxically opened up opportunities of empowerment, as a number of female sham mystics, working with their attend- ant priests, created a lucrative theatre of spirituality in which the woman was the center of attention. The Wife of Bath’s Tale itself is another genre-experiment, which enacts the Wife’s speculation: By God! If women had written stories, As clerkes han withinne hire oratories, They wolde han written of men moore wikkednesse Than al the mark of Adam may redresse. (III (D), 693–6) The Tale is the retelling of a fairy mistress tale in which a knight finds that he can save his life only if he can find the answer to the question of what women want most. He goes on a quest in search of the answer and meets a loathsome old hag who tells him that women most want to have control over men. The knight escapes death at the hands of his enemies, but in return must marry the old hag. In bed on their marriage night, she persuades him to face her, whereupon he finds that she has transformed into a beautiful young girl. She asks him whether he would prefer to have her beautiful by day or by night, but tired by now of trick questions, the knight leaves the decision in her hands. Because he has capitulated to her, she promises to stay young and beautiful always, and they live happily ever after. What a synopsis effaces is the way in which this story can be adapted to prompt various responses. In the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the narrative framework is deployed to allow Gawain, as hero, to demonstrate extreme chivalric behavior and win audience approval. Chaucer’s adaptation is more radical. The hero is a rapist, forced into the bargain set by the ladies of the court to save his life. There is no indication that he is remorseful, nor that the quest is penitential. He comes upon the hag because he spies on some young girls dancing in a wood, and much less emphasis is put on the grotesque appearance of the hag than in other romance versions. The radical change, however, is that he walks into the bargain with the hag without knowing his part in advance. She accompanies him back to the court where the bargain is uttered in public. The quest is, therefore, manipulated so that instead of being morally enhanced, the hero is humiliated. He has no chance to dem onstrate Florent’s stoicism as all his opportunities for displaying bravery and chivalry are pre-empted by powerful and cynical  women. The values of chivalry are transposed ironically into a lecture given by the transformed hag to her husband on their wedding night in bed. The relationship between Prologue and Tale is not so much the simple matter of the Tale being adapted as the wish-fulfillment of the invented narrator; rather the two sit in parallel, drawing attention through their internal juxtapositions of authorities and lived experiences, to the gap between official society and its mores, as enshrined in textual traditions, and the operation of other behaviors and performances. Her struggle is not one for domination in the relationship, as both her Prologue and Tale show. It is a struggle for love. She wants to be treated like a beloved lady in the courtly tradition, and repay her loving husband with respect and obedience. The essentially better view is that â€Å"as a kind of special representative of Chaucer in the matter, she believes in harmony between partners, however it is arrived at† (Stone, 85). Of course, it is difficult to pass judgment on Chaucer’s personal views, as Chaucer was very careful about revealing his opinions, but the choice of the topic, and the portrayal of the shrewish wife as an understandable and rather likeable character might be a certain sign of Chaucer’s own attitude. For all the problems in her first four marriages, Alison does not lose hope yet. In her climactic marriage with Jankin, the only one that ends up as a success, she is looking for love. She already has enough money and a good social standing, she could be very satisfied as a widow, a woman no longer subjected to any man’s whim, and yet she decides to marry again. Alison needs her own money and the independence it gives. The General Prologue suggests that she also needs her own work and the status that goes with success. But she wants love as well and, in her relationship with Jankin, is romantic enough to believe that it will make money irrelevant .When Alison finds out she lost not only her money, which by the right of marriage now belongs to her husband, but also her integrity as her young husband tries to change her into an obedient wife with no life of her own, she starts to fight him. But before the physical struggle is described, Chaucer gives us a mental picture of Alison’s state, a picture of a tormented woman who lacks the words to defend herself, while her husband has all the available verbal weapons. CONCLUSION The poet positions Gawain at the center of the unresolved tensions between chivalry, courtly love, and Christianity. Gawain is famed as the most courteous of knights. In one sense, this creates the expectation that his behavior will be irreproachable; in another, it assumes that he will be the most delightful of lovers for the lady who can snare him. The Lady of Haut desert exploits this tension to the fullest as she attempts to seduce Gawain. But the poet has also made clear that the beloved lady whom Gawain serves first is the Virgin Mary. As a thoroughly Christianized knight, he is forced to walk a fine line in defending himself. He cannot offend a lady, but neither can he give his hostess what she wants, because in doing so, he would be committing a sexual sin, as well as breaking chivalric loyalty and honor by betraying his host. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight cannot, therefore, be called a straightforward romance. It makes use of most of the conventions and ideals of the Arthurian romance, yet also points out its contradictions and failings. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is not an anti-romance, however, nor is it a parody, despite its lightness and good humor. When Chaucer laughs at Sir Thopas, he is mocking a tired genre, but when the Gawain-poet laughs, it is the generous laughter of friendship. The poets conservative and traditional approach to his timeworn material is what allows him to make it so engaging: He understands and thoroughly appreciates the conventions of his genre. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight manages to highlight the weakest points of the chivalric tradition while still appreciating everything that makes chivalry so attractive, especially its uncompromising devotion to the highest ideals, even if those ideals are not necessarily attainable (accomplished). Andreas got the Christian world to accept his concept of love by the device of the double truth. Although Christian teaching and his De Amore are basically irreconcilable, they may exist side by side each in its own sphere. His main purpose was to provide a pseudo-psychological and logical basis for the ideas and ideals of the troubadours. Reasoning and building on the nature of love and of humanity, he showed that love is the greatest good in this world, that it constitutes earthly happiness, and that it is the place of origin of all earthly good. Andreas proposed logically that if humans are viewed solely as rational and natural creatures, subject  only to the laws of nature and reason, then they must enroll in the army of the god of love and seek the pleasures of the flesh so that they may be ennobled and grow in virtue and in worth. Aware of the immoral and heretical implications of his work, Andreas wrote On the Rejection of Love where he condemned Courtly love and implicitly retracted all he had written. A strong possibility exists that Chaucer knew of the so-called double truth. He would have been aware of the dangers involved in writing romances of Courtly Love, the risk of an accusation of upholding immorality and heresy. He possibly set out to meet these dangers: 1. He is not interested in giving Courtly love a logical and philosophical grounding; he simply uses it as a vehicle for his love stories. 2. Andreas suggests he writes from experience. Chaucer states again and again that he is not writing on love from personal knowledge from experience or from his own feelings on the subject. Chaucers status is always as a non-participant in lovea rank outsider. His relationship to love and lovers is to be their clerk, their servant and instrument to gladden them and advance them in their individual cause. He doesnt participate because he is unsuitable. Chaucer did strive for religious orthodoxy when, in the words of the Parsons Tale, he protests that he will stand for correction. If his repudiation is not in fear, it might be a salve to a Christian conscience revolted at the utter incompatibility of Courtly Love with the tenets of Christian morality and faith. SUFFERING Love brings with it love melancholy or suffering. This was studied and in fact written on at length during the Renaissance, but it was known and made part of the fictional lover during Chaucers time. All in all, Chaucer’s attitude to women in The Canterbury Tales can hardly be judged as anti ­feminist. His portrayals of women are splendid and still attractive centuries after. He does not assert the male dominance in all his tales but he realistically employs different narrators to express different attitudes. Some of the tales question the medieval system of authorities, yet none of them is openly subversive. Chaucer’s female narrators cannot be judged by today’s standards of feminism and when they are looked at from the medieval point of view, the undertone of feminism in their behavior and tales emerges. They are concerned with bettering the conditions for women; they challenge the authorities in their tales. And although the women of the male tales are no revolutionaries, they are still humane enough for a modern  reader to enjoy. Chaucer does not portray women’s struggle for self-assertion, he unfolds the complex web of his society. Chaucer’s attitude to women as shown in his works is more complex than that of his contemporaries, and at the same time remains within the borders given by the society. Chaucer is a very careful poet and as such may be found inconvenient by some modern feminists. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Primary sources: Sri Gawain and the Green Knight Wife of Bath Secondary sources: Umbetro, Eco. Cum se face o teza de licenta, Polirom, Bucuresti, 2006 Dutu, Carmen. Eseuri si dizertatii. Metodologia crearii unei lucrari stintifice, Editura Universitara Bucuresti, 2012 G. C. Thornley and Gwyneth Roberts. An Outline of English Literature, Longman, Essex, 2008 Chretien de Troyes. Arthurian romances, Penguin Books Ltd, Englad 1991 Andreas Capellanus, The art of courtly love, Columbia University Press, New York 1960 Bruce J. Douglas. Evolution of Arthurian romance from the beginnings down to the year 1300, Gloucester, Mass Peter Smith 1958 Michel, Pastoureanu. La vie quotidienne en France et en Angleterre au temps des chevaliers de la Table Ronde, Hachette, Paris, 1976 [ 1 ]. Courtly love. Modern term popularized by C. S. Lewis to describe the various kinds of love between man and woman described in the works of *trou- badours and others between the 11c and the 13c. The range of feeling ran from the dutiful respect owed a lord’s wife, to the adulterously sexual. One relationship was excluded, that between husband and wife. The genre first appeared in Provence and then spread through Europe. Appearing at much the same time as Arthurian tales, the two created a potent and memorable mix of *chivalry and romance. The French phrase amour courtois is a 19c coin- age. – Cf. Aubade; Pastourelle [ 2 ]. b. 43 BCE, Roman who wrote a parody on the technical treatises on loving. [ 3 ]. The Ars amatoria (English: The Art of Love) is an instructional book series elegy in three books by Ancient Roman poet Ovid. It was written in 2 AD. It is about teaching basic Gentlemanly male and female relationship skills and techniques. [ 4 ]. Andreas Capellanus was the 12th-century author of a treatise commonly known as De amore (About Love), and often known in English, somewhat misleadingly, as The Art of Courtly Love, though its realistic, somewhat cynical tone suggests that it is in some measure an antidote to courtly love. [ 5 ]. Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages . As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France (1137–1152) and of England (1154–1189). She was the patroness of such literary figures as Wace, Benoà ®t de Sainte-Maure, and Bernart de Ventadorn. She belonged to the French House of Poitiers, the Ramnulfids. [ 6 ]. Marie of France, Countess of Champagne (1145 – March 11, 1198) was the elder daughter of Louis VII of France and his first wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. [ 8 ]. French bishop of Paris during the 13th century. He was Chancellor of the Sorbonne from 1263 and bishop of Paris fro m 1268.He is best remembered for promulgating a Condemnation of 219 philosophical and theological propositions (or articles) that addressed ideas and concepts that were being discussed and disputed in the faculty of Arts at the University of Paris. [ 9 ]. Chivalry is as much about the skills and manners of a warrior class as with a literature derived from the deeds of those warriors, but presented in an idealized fashion which returned to define the manners of the warriors. Chivalry was a collocation of qualities made into a coherent ideal: skill and courage, and a craving for glory or fame acquired through knightly skills and its necessary courage. [ 10 ]. Linda Ann Malcor Ph. D is an American scholar of Arthurian legend. She was selected as an Overseas Associate Member of the Late Antiquity Research Group.

What Is It Governance Information Technology Essay

What Is It Governance Information Technology Essay IT governance is the process for controlling an organisation information technology resource, where these resources are defined to include information and communication systems as well as technology. An organisation management and owners (represented by the board of directors ) share responsibility for governing both enterprise and IT. Enterprise governance is the process of setting and implementing corporate strategy, making sure the organisation achieve its objectives efficiently, and manage risk. It governance is an increasingly important part of enterprise governance because of organisational dependent on information and communication, the scale of IT investment, potential for IT to create strategic opportunities, and the level of IT risk. IT governance also required controlling the process to ensure that it complies with regulatory, legal and contractual requirements. Organisation structure Boards and executive management have long known the need for enterprise and corporate governance. However, most are beginning to realize that there is a need to extend governance to information technology as well, and provide the leadership, organisational structures and processes that ensure that the enterprises IT sustains and extends the enterprises strategies andobjectives. Strategic alignment focuses on ensuring the linkage of business and IT plans; defining, maintaining and validating the IT value proposition; and aligning IT operations with enterprise operations. Value delivery is about executing the value proposition throughout the delivery cycle, ensuring that IT delivers the promised benefits against the strategy, concentrating on optimising costs and proving the intrinsic value of IT. Resource management is about the optimal investment in, and the proper management of, critical IT resources: applications, information, infrastructure and people. Key issues relate to the optimisation of knowledge and infrastructure. Risk management requires risk awareness by senior corporate officers, a clear understanding of the enterprises appetite for risk, understanding of compliance requirements, transparency about the significant risks to the enterprise and embedding of risk management responsibilities into the organisation. Performance measurement tracks and monitors strategy implementation, project completion, resource usage, process performance and service delivery, using, for example, balanced scorecards that translate strategy into action to achieve goals measurable beyond conventional accounting. ITGI: ISACA recognized this shift in emphasis towards IT Governance in 1998, and formed the IT Governance Institute (ITGI) to focus on original research, publications, resources and symposia on IT governance and related topics. In addition to the work carried out by the ITGI, ISACA addresses the topic through a regular column in and occasional dedicated issues of the Information Systems Control Journal, conference sessions and tracks, and education courses. TheIT Governance Institute (ITGI)exists to assist enterprise leaders in their responsibility to ensure that IT goals align with those of the business, it delivers value, its performance is measured, its resources properly allocated and its risks mitigated. Through original research, symposia and electronic resources, the ITGI helps ensure that boards and executive management have the tools and information they need for IT to deliver against expectations. ITGI: ISACA recognized this shift in emphasis towards IT Governance in 1998, and formed the IT Governance Institute (ITGI) to focus on original research, publications, resources and symposia on IT governance and related topics. In addition to the work carried out by the ITGI, ISACA addresses the topic through a regular column in and occasional dedicated issues of the Information Systems Control Journal, conference sessions and tracks, and education courses. TheIT Governance Institute (ITGI)exists to assist enterprise leaders in their responsibility to ensure that IT goals align with those of the business, it delivers value, its performance is measured, its resources properly allocated and its risks mitigated. Through original research, symposia and electronic resources, the ITGI helps ensure that boards and executive management have the tools and information they need for IT to deliver against expectations. Publications: There are two major publications from ISACA in the field of IT Governance. COBIT VALIT COBIT: The Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) is a set of best practices (framework) for information technology (IT) management created by the ISACA, and ITGI in 1996. COBIT provides managers, auditors, and IT users with a set of generally accepted measures, indicators, processes and best practices to assist them in maximizing the benefits derived through the use of information technology and developing appropriate IT governance and control in a company. COBIT supports IT governance by providing a framework to ensure that: IT is aligned with the business IT enables the business and maximises benefits IT resources are used responsibly IT risks are managed appropriately COBIT Framework and IT Governance Areas: COBIT Product: Briefly, the COBIT products include: Board Briefing on IT Governance, 2nd Edition—Helps executives understand why IT governance is important, what its issues are and what their responsibility is for managing it. Management guidelines/maturity models— Help assign responsibility, measure performance, and benchmark and address gaps in capability Frameworks—Organise IT governance objectives and good practices by IT domains and processes, and link them to business requirements Control objectives—provide a complete set of high-level requirements to be considered by management for effective control of each IT process IT Governance Implementation Guide: Using COBIT  ® and Val IT TM, 2nd Edition—provides a generic road map for implementing IT governance using the COBIT and Val ITTM resources COBIT ® Control Practices: Guidance to Achieve Control Objectives for Successful IT Governance, 2nd edition—Provides guidance on why controls are worth implementing and how to implement them IT Assurance Guide: Using COBIT  ®Ã¢â‚¬â€Provides guidance on how COBIT can be used to support a variety of assurance activities together with suggested testing steps for all the IT processes and control VALIT: Val IT is a governance framework that consists of a set of guiding principles, and a number of processes conforming to those principles that are further defined as a set of key management practices. The Val IT framework will be supported by publications and operational tools and provides guidance to: Define the relationship between IT and the business and those functions in the organization with governance responsibilities Manage an organizations portfolio of IT-enabled business investments; and Maximize the quality of business cases for IT-enabled business investments with particular emphasis on the definition of key financial indicators, the quantification of soft benefits and the comprehensive appraisal of the downside risk Val IT addresses assumptions, costs, risks and outcomes related to a balanced portfolio of IT-enabled business investments. It also provides benchmarking capability and allows enterprises to exchange experiences on best practices for value management. Certification: Certified in the Governance of Enterprise Information Technology (CGEIT) is an advanced certification created in 2007 by the ISACA. It is designed for experienced professionals, who can demonstrate 5 or more years of experience, serving in a managing or advisory role focused on the governance and control of IT at an enterprise level. The certification is intended to: support the growing business demands related to IT governance increase the awareness and importance of IT governance good practices and issues define the roles and responsibilities of the professionals performing IT governance work Requirements: To earn the CGEIT credential, an individual must: Pass the CGEIT exam (first exam December 2008) Adhere to the ISACA Code of Professional Ethics Agree to comply with the CGEIT Continuing Education Policy Provide evidence of appropriate IT governance work experience as defined by the CGEIT Job Practice IT Governance experience Five (5) years required: Five (5) or more years of experience managing, serving in an advisory or oversight role, and/or otherwise supporting the governance of the IT-related contribution to an enterprise is required to apply for certification. This experience is defined specifically by the domains and task statements described in the CGEIT Job Practice. Specifically: A minimum of one (1) year of experience relating to the development and/or maintenance of an IT governance framework is required. The type and extent of experience accepted is described in CGEIT domain one (1) (see IT Governance Framework). Additional broad experience directly related to any two or more of the remaining CGEIT domains are required. The type and extent of experience accepted is described in CGEIT domains two (2) through six (6). These domains are:  § Strategic Alignment  § Value Delivery  § Risk Management  § Resource Management  § Performance Measurement Individuals can take the CGEIT exam prior to earning the above work experience. Substitutions for IT governance experience (2 years maximum) To recognize other management experience and/or the achievement of specific IT governance related credentials, advanced (post-graduate) degrees and certificates, up to two (2) years of the five years of required IT governance experience can be substituted. Specifically, each of the following will qualify (substitute) for one (1) year of IT governance experience, with a maximum of two years of substitutions being accepted. Other Management Experience—other management experience that is not specific to IT governance, such as performing consulting, auditing, assurance or security management related duties will qualify for up to one year of substitution. Specific Credentials, Advanced (Post-graduate) Degrees and Certificates—Credentials (in good standing), advanced (post-graduate) degrees and certificate programs which include an IT governance and/or management component or are specific to one or more of the CGEIT domains will qualify for up to one year of substitution. These include: Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) issued by ISACA Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) issued by ISACA Implementing IT Governance using COBIT and Val IT certificate issued by ISACA (available in 2008) ITIL Service Manager certification program Chartered Information Technology Professional (CITP) issued by the British Computer Society Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) issued by the American Institute of CPAs Project Management Professional (PMP) issued by the Project Management Institute Information Systems Professional (I.S.P.) issued by the Canadian Information Processing Society Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) issued by the Institute of Internal Auditors Certified Business Manager (CBM) issued by The Association of Professionals in Business Management Prince2 Registered Practitioner certificate from the Office of Government Commerce Advanced (post-graduate) degree from an accredited university in governance, information technology, information management or business administration (For example: Masters in Corporate Governance, Masters of Business Administration, Masters in Information and Operations Management, Masters of Information Systems Management, Masters in Information Technology) Exception: Two years as a full-time university instructor teaching IT governance related subjects at an accredited university can be substituted for every one year of IT governance experience. Applicants who have earned/acquired other credentials, advanced (post-graduate) degrees and/or certificates that include a significant IT governance and/or information management component and are not listed above are welcome to submit them to the CGEIT Certification Board for consideration. IT Governance Characteristics Sets direction and oversees compliance and performance Specifies the decision-making authority and accountability to encourage desirable behaviors in the use of IT Is a process for managing and controlling the use of technology to create value Are the rules and regulations under which an IT organization functions Ensures that everyone is playing by the same rules so that the computing environment works for everyone. Road Map for Implementing IT Governance The initial focus for developing an IT Governance Program is identifying needs and governance input rights and decision making based on:    Current state of IT within and supporting business organization and objectives      Internal and external requirements/regulations and applicable best business practices Business Alignment IT Business Executives set the IT Strategy, resolve issues, and shadow IT organizations eliminated Investment Board sets project priorities, costs,   oversees progress, reduced millions $ in costs Change Management and failures impacting users Changes managed actually blocked where not properly vetted or tested Number of user impact failures reduced from 200+ to Number of unauthorized application and infrastructure changes reduced to 1 or less per month Emergency changes reduced to less than 3% of total changes Improved results across the board, accountability built into personal performance evaluations Projects Projects on time, on budget increased by 60+% Improved from 40% SDLC compliance to 100% Technology Standards and architecture established and enforced via tech reviews reduced number of system software tools by over 50% 100% of the equipment on the network identified and none added unless authorized 24 hour server back-ups improved from 95% to 99.9% Security patches being performed within 24 hours of approval â€Å"System Admin Accounts† reduced by over 50% Governing Document Framework SAMPLE Conclusion: As we have discussed that in todays business environment information is the most valuable asset, therefore in order to protect the information we require a profound infrastructure that enables us to not only secure the information we have but to validate that information as well, plus enable the organization towards IT.

Rites of passage of the spartan youth

Rites of passage of the spartan youth The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of rites of passage in the socialization of Spartan youth. Methodologically, our discussion will be based upon: a) ancient literary sources, in particular Plutarch, Xenophon and Pausanias, b) interdisciplinary approaches initiated by modern historians and sociologists, and c) archaeological evidence. Discussion will begin with an overview of the ancient Spartan educational system and, in particular, an assessment of the evidence for the participation of both boys and girls in festivals. It is concluded that the Spartans incorporated a system of rites of passage in their educational programme with the aim to achieving the greatest levels of socialization of their youth, both boys and girls, the main reason for which was the important role that kinetic activities played in the context of rites of passage. Key words: Rites of passage, Spartan socialization, Sparta youth. Introduction The fascinatingly complex Spartan tradition holds an important place in western political thought, while the influence exercised by the images and the fables of Sparta are still potent today. Amongst the numerous Spartan institutions admiration is caused by the eminent Spartan training [agogi], an education system which was under the guardianship and control of the State, which according to many historians lay behind Spartas success in becoming the most militarily successful Greek city-state (Kennell, 1995, Birgalias, 1999, Ducat, 2006, Koliopouos, 2004). Education was obligatory and uniform for all Spartans, a uniformity that enforced an important institutional restriction on the display of wealth, in contrast to other Greek city-states, in particular Athens. Uniformity in training and education was regulated in ancient Sparta through a system of Rites of Passage, this being defined as a ritual marking a transitional phase in a persons status in the context of social hierarchies, values and beliefs. Rites of passage are ceremonies surrounding events such landmark events as childbirth, coming of age, menstruation, marriage and death and are characterised by three phases: separation, liminality, and re-incorporation. Socialization is defined as the adoption of the behaviour patterns of any given culture, describing the process by which people are integrated and incorporated into society. The more effective socialization is, the greater the internalization of prevailing social norms and values. Social pressure and social coercion are not expressed via imitation but via the internalization of collective consciousness, spontaneously and at the same time via the obligation of the individual to accept the social norm (Durkheim, 2000, p. 17). The result of this public way of life was that each citizen of Sparta should accept the intense pressure of public opinion so that he could cope with the models of behaviour established by the Spartan society. Methodology The first category of sources upon we rely is historical evidence even though it contains plenty of voids caused by successive alterations throughout centuries. Subsequently, we will turn upon literary testimonies. At first we shall focus on historiography that provides an overall frame, in order to comprehend an era and secondly on texts of political theory and philosophy that offer direct testimonies regarding historical facts and thirdly on poetry and rhetorical speeches, (Alkman, Tyrtaios, Aristophanes, Isocrates) that light up Spartan society of the archaic and classical times. Of importance is the information from Herodotus and Thucydides, even though they present the Spartan structure of their times as very primitive. Lakedaemonion Politeia of Kritias presents the first idealized picture of Sparta, an idea that appears later in Xenophons Lakedaemonion Politeia. An analysis of Spartan society was also attempted by Plato (Politeia, Nomoi) and Aristotle (Politica). A common feature in both is a critical attitude towards the idealization of Sparta and towards the theory that presents the decline of the city as a result of contemporary political erosion. Additionally, Plutarchs work lays emphasis on the moral aspect of the education. The Lycurgus work constitutes the foundation stone of the key-elements of modern stereotypes. Since the 19th century and the birth of the science of history, through Mullers, Grottes, Foustels de Coulange projects, whose notions form a basis for the interpretation of social-politic character of Spartan society or through those of the 20th century (Nilssons, Jeanmaires and Finelys works), the issue acquired specific scientific and historical dimension. During the 20th century these approaches were enriched by the conclusions of comparative ethnology thus allocating the origin of different educational institutions and processes to a common Mediterranean past. A second instructive opinion shifts interest into the political, social and economic objectives of education, placing emphasis on its aristocratic character and on the spirit of contest, on the socialization of the young person and on the value system that youngsters inherit. (Birgalias, 1999, p. 387). Useful tools are the essays of comparative ethnology regarding age-related classes, testing and ceremonies, in order to reconcile literature with the archaeological evidence. Vidal Naque points out that literary, philosophical and historical texts, mythical narrations and social practices, on one hand, and the world of rituals related to political decisions , should be bridged. In his work, St. Hodkinson aims at presenting an overall picture of a complicated society, such as the Spartan, approaching it through diverse levels and different social groups. Modern scientific studies concerning Sparta attempt to comprehend its internal structures. (Powell 1988, 1989, Richer 1999, Cartledge and Spawforth 1989, Hodkinson and Powell 1999, Kennell 1995, Brigalias 1999, Ducat, 2006). Agogi and Spartan festivals Agogi: education of young persons, both girls and boys in Sparta which included, in addition to writing, reading and music, many kinetic activities such as games, gymnastics, sports, dancing, hunting and military exercises. These actions, apart from their incorporation into the daily educational program, were performed during public feasts and religious ceremonies where participation of youngsters constituted part of their agogi and also in the context of the rites of passages where kinetic activities held a leading role. In Sparta the body and the mind were exercised at the same time depending on the age of children. This parallel exercise dictated a concrete system of values. Agogi had clearly a social character and the function accomplished by it, was of great importance. As members of an organized society, i  ¶ndividuals are affected by the cultural level of the group, accept the educative effect of the whole and shape their personalities. The State is who determines the object ives and the means of each educational system. Spartan education aimed at infusing common harmony and at cultivating we at the expense of I. Agogi aimed, above all, at the homogeneity of the citizens.  ¶ Spartan festivals especially, Gymnopaidiai, Karneia and Yakintheia were the arena for competition between different age groups, and involved the participation of the entire body politic (Hodkinson, 2004, p. 298). Participation in religious and public events was compulsory for all youth and formed an official part of their training. Performance played an important role in these rituals and the kinetic-physical skills of young Spartans were assessed by the entire body politic (Athenaeus, 14, 630d-631b, Polignac, 2007, p. 70-71, Ducat, 2006, p. 263-265, Panagea, 2001, p. 68-71). Gymnopaidiai involved the participation of the entire body of citizens. As far as we know, each group participated with four dances: trichoria, a childrens choir, one of adolescents and another of adult males. Many scholars consider the contests of the Gymnopaidiai as tests of endurance for the children and an integral part of their education (Pettersson, 1992, p. 45-47). In the festival of the Gymnopaidiai we also identify elements of incorporation, such as dance or nudity, elements that played an important role in the integration of youth into the body politic. The game of sphere was another ritual that was assessed and characterised as a transition from adolescence to adulthood (Kennell, 1995, p. 60, Ducat, 2006, p. 270-274). At the Karneia, the role of youth was different from that in other festivals: firstly, the age of the participants was from twenty on, a rather marginal physical age for educational purposes; secondly, young Spartans didnt only participate in the events but were also responsible for organising them, which clearly indicates that they were indeed the future of the community. The participation of young Spartans in dance, contests and games constituted a great occasion of communication. Social bonds were thus strengthened and children spent more time outside, collectively and creatively. In this way young people developed better personal relationships, lived in harmony, rhythm, beauty and practically enjoyed a better quality of life. The celebration of the Yakintheia the other important religious festival of the Spartans provided a great opportunity for girls to show off their marriageable skills. In all three important religious festivals the young members of the community played a significant role, not at an individual level, as in the rites of passage, but, along with other participants of different ages, in the context of the body politic where they displayed the achievements of their training and were accordingly evaluated. The process of socialization was integrated with religious activity from an early age, confirming the socio-religious aspect towards which the educational system was directed. (Ducat, 2006, p. 276-277, Panagea, 2001, p. 68-71, Sigalos, 1959, p. 214-216, Baltrusch, 2004, p. 98). Exercising the body was the main aim of education. Young Spartans took part in many contests whose principal aim was to increase the feeling of competition amongst them. These contests mainly took place during cultural religious events, thus connecting the agogi, the education, with religious devotion. Besides the games, though, music and dance played fundamental role in such events. Dance and music had public and pedagogic function within Spartan society. All citizens participated collectively, as members of their own classes, undertaking roles hierarchically structured. Moreover, Spartan feasts were based on the unselfish attendance of citizens. Joint participation in dance under the guidance of the chorodidaskalos (dance instructor) constituted a major feature to the political and social life of Sparta. Distinction in these contests and in dances, success, and physical capacity along with morals were prominent elements of social classification. These factors had primary significa nce to the rank that someone would occupy in the social conscience. Public praise or reproach, success or rejection of a boy or a girl had decisive impact in their social recognition and status. Discussion Commenting on the fact that Sparta had been described as a democratic state, Aristotle (Pol. 1294 b 21-7) recognized that it featured certain democratic characteristics shared among the rich and the poor classes, such as uniformity in education, food provision and dress, sectors of everyday life in which the possession of wealth did not provide any advantage to its holder (Hodkinson, 2004, p. 300-326). Spartan children spent most of their childhood from around the age of seven up to the age of eighteen- training with other children, rather than living with their families. The effect of this companionship and co-existence on children was the constant experience of an intense pressure to conform to the social rules and the generally accepted models of behaviour. (Koliopoulos, 2004, p. 101). In history of education Sparta certainly possesses a concrete place. Most characteristic of all Spartan products is its constitutional system with which, for the first time, the city-state appears as the force practicing agogi, taking into account the total significance of this term. (Jaeger, 1968 p. 11). Spartan education was considered as a procedure where youngsters should participate in a common system and simultaneously a selected team should be distinguished. The principal objective was their suitable upbringing so that they could cope with their role as citizens soldiers (Legras 2005, p. 38). P. Cartledge (2004 p. 32) mentions that agogi was a system of education, training and socialization. It constituted an obligatory educational circle; a type of ordeal for young persons in order to reach the level of adults (Cartledge, 2004, p.129). Jeanmaire (1913) in his article on the Krypteia of Lacedaemonians and in his book of Couroi et Couretes (1939) interpreting the agogi refers to the survival of ancient initiative ceremonies influenced from comparative ethnology. He speaks of the rites of passage, the tests. Everybody, however, underlines the obligatory public character of the agogi and the fact that it was common to everyone. (Levy 2008, p. 76). Agogi lasted from the age of seven to the age of eighteen. Children spent most of their time living a communal life, especially after the age of twelve, and their education was basically divided into three circles based on the childs physical age, namely paides (children), meirakia (youngsters) and epheboi (adolescents). Each cycle included specific ordeals and a specific training program of intellectual and physical exercises. The Agogi constituted a range of initiative and educational cycle of age-related groups and processes. It was meticulously organized, comprehensive and competitive. Moreover, it accomplished a double function of socialization and education (Cartledge, 2004, p. 195). Exercising the body formed the nucleus of agogi. Young Spartans took part in many contests whose main aim was to increase the sense of competition amongst them. Activities of Spartan education were mainly concentrated on body training. During these festivals, fights and dances took place, where contestants demonstrated their bodily strength, the harmony of their body and their velocity in running. Distinction in these fights, success and physical ability constituted basic elements of social classification. Agogi made use of these contests, games, fights and dance in order for knowledge to be checked and the best one to be selected. The whole education was characterized by a spirit of rivalry in which awards of honors and rewards to the feat of competitions held a significant place, thus limiting discriminations based on origin and wealth. Competitions and processional demonstrations of rites of passage, that determined the physical ability of youngsters, passed also down to agogi. These events included public inspections of the skillfulness of young Spartans during festivals. The results of agogi were evaluated along with the kinetic and physical abilities of boys and girls (Kyle, 2007, p. 183, Kennell, 1995, p. 65-69). Participation in these rituals guaranteed a mutual recognition of social placement and confirmed the integration in the community, defining the first form of political identity. Writing and reading, music, poetry, dance, athletic contests, attendance at feasts, as well as participation in activities that to a modern way of thinking seem strange and bizarre, such as, pederasty and ordeals like theft and the Krypteia. All those constituted the diverse fields of expression, acquisition and application of the knowledge gained as well as the means employed for their socialisation. The testimonies we possess, stress the citys efforts to teach young children how to co-exist with children of the same age, older children and adults as part of a whole, as well as to initiate new members into its culture. (Sakellariou†¦.). The duty of the State and its educational program was to create the perfect citizen who demonstrated a deep sense of political, military and social duty, bore weapons for the defence and the glory of his city, governed its affairs, complied with its rules and maintained its values and traditions. Spartan education thus shaped the model of the citizen-soldier (Birgalias 1999, p. 388, Ducat 2006, p. 168). In addition, compliance to the accepted models of behaviour became subject to constant control, which comprises the totality of rewards and sanctions (praise and disapproval) with which society regulates individual behaviour. (Gizeli, 1993, p.119, Nova Kaltsouni, 1998, p. 80-84). The fact, after all, that education in Sparta was intensively collective contributed to the socialization of children and to the growth of their personality, thus leading to a smooth future incorporation into the society. During their education young Spartans were obliged to participate in the religious feasts of their city. The significance of such feasts, which were organized by the state, was crucial to their upbringing. In most of them, where the entire city was present, children of both sexes participated (Ducat, 2006, p. 251). Processions, masks, competitions and contests constituted part of Spartan festivals. Athletic events, dance and music the moral aim of which is always associated to the tendencies of constitution, all these are the basic elements of feasts. (Birgalias, 1999, p. 185-187). Most significant festivals were those of Karneia, Yakintheia and Gymnopaidia. Karneia is a rite of obvious importance for the community, Primitive rural ritual. (Brelich, 1969, p. 148). Î’asic education included primarily reading, writing, maths and musical acts (music, poetry, singing and dancing). Contests and different sports constituted major part of the agogi. According to Ducat (2006) three were the elements of Spartan education for young persons, the process of rites of passage and education organized by the state, the courses that like in other cities were provided by schoolteachers and the prolonged exposure to social institutions as long as children were in touch with choosing and voting for the best. Another characteristic feature of this era was the constant competition promoted among youngsters. (Ducat, 2006, p. 333-339). Thus, the attitude and behaviour of Spartan children was constantly supervised by the Paidonomos, the Ephors, the elderly and the women (Ducat, 2006, p.162). The historian Plutarch (Lycurgus 14.5-6) mentions that in certain religious ceremonies, which were particularly popular as spectacles and in which all citizens of all social ranks participated, including the Kings and the Senate, young girls composed songs which praised or mocked the deeds of the boys. Such songs that formed part of a game were in fact as effective as admonition by the adults. In this case, girls were being employed as an educational means for the amelioration of the boys. Girls learnt to become strict judges so that the young Spartan boys were obliged to make an effort to improve themselves and earn the public praise of the girls (Ducat, 2006, p. 162, Kargakos, 2006, p. 551). Pederasty was also incorporated into the military, ritualistic and educational system of Spartan agogi. The adult lover, the eispnilas, was responsible for the behaviour, the values, the performance and the character of his young beloved, the aitas. The relationship developed between a child and an adult male was in fact contributed to the childs gradual integration into adult society (Kennell, 1995, p.125-126, Kargakos, 2006, p.551). Emphasis was placed, therefore, on the process of socialization via the association of children with the older members of the community, during which attendance at political discussions played an important role (Birgalias, 1999). All decisions governing Spartan adolescence tended to stress the distinction between adolescents and younger children, as a way of integration into adult life. Educational practices and events during festivals, such as the games at Platanistas or the ritual stealing of cheese from the altar of Artemis Orthia, were performed at this age. According to Isocrates, successful stealing was publicly declared in order to attract the praise and respect of the others. Stealing and Krypteia constituted in a way a game of hide and seek, an exercise teaching children how to live and survive alone depending merely on the powers of nature and exclusively on their physical and mental strength (Xenophon, Lak. Pol. 2.9, Kennell, 1995, p. 122-123, Birgalias, 1999, Ducat, 2006, p. 202-203, Hodkinson, 2004, p. 205).   Reporting on the legislators orders in preparation of the new Spartan citizen for war, Plato (Law 1.633 b.) underlines the importance of communal meals, gymnastics, hunting and ordeals of endurance such as wrestling and the ritual whipping on the altar of Artemis Orthia. The game of sphere, the games at Platanistas, the ritual stealing of cheese from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia and the ritual whipping that later developed into the contest of karteria (endurance), were competitive games. The city of Sparta organised such public spectacles during which children and young men demonstrated their virtues and courage, and were accordingly evaluated (Ailianus, Poik.Hist. 14.7, Kennell, 1995, p. 65-69, Kyle, 2007, p.183). Apart from fighting, dance also played an important role in the education of young Spartans. Dance and ritual were interwoven and inextricably linked to all important Spartan rites of passage, namely the passages to puberty, adulthood and marriage. Practice in dance and song constituted the fundamental means of education and the maintenance of social institutions. The circle dance formed an indirect way for the foundation of the relationship between the citizen and the city, forming, as it did, a microcosm of the community. The circle creates unity, unifying members of a group with common characteristics (Papadopoulou, 2004). The chorostasio, the area where groups sharing common characteristics (sex, age, order) and common aims (invocation of the divine, celebration) performed dancing rituals, allowed individuals to observe and be observed, choose and be chosen. Consequently, dance and music functioned as social forces, especially in the context of religious ritual, and conveyed mess ages of uniformity and unity during public events. (Naerebout, 2004). No doubt, music and dance contests held central place in the most important Spartan festivals, more specifically the Karneia, Yakintheia and the Gymnopaidiai. In the Gymnopaidies, the social/educational role of dance is reflected on the simultaneous participation of individuals of different ages: children, adults and the elderly, all sang the works of famous poets (Athenaeus, 15.678 b-c). In Gymnopaidies children had a prominent role as long as the feast mainly included dancing (orchisi) of naked youngsters, where participants, with rhythmical movements, represented scenes of fight and pangratium. They practiced different gymnastic exercises and moved rhythmically their legs as if they were in the palaistra. (Athenaeus, 15,.678 b-c). They displayed a competitive character (Xenophon Ellinika 6.4 16). It is in these feasts where we can locate evidence of primitive rites of passage. The song contests during the festival of the Yakintheia had the character of initiation and aimed at the integration of young people into the adult community. During the second day of the Yakintheia various spectacles took place. A lavish feast was held in which children wearing tunics played stringed instruments and chanting hymns to the god, groups of young people sang traditional songs and dancers performed to the accompaniment of the pipe and sung hymns (Athenaeus 4.139 d-t). Agogi incorporated many elements of such initiative rites of passage moving further on adaptations of crucial importance in order to be functional within the frames of a political society.  ¶It converted premature inaugural rituals into a governmental system (Ducat, 2006, p. 181-188, Levy, 2008, p. 147-161). In these festivals the entire society participated, and this was a fact that strengthened social bonds. Young persons demonstrated their bodily kinetic abilities and were judged by the political body. These religious feasts incorporate and bring people into the heart of society. During these contests adolescents were grouped according to ancestral races and groups and took part in the competitions (Kennell, 1995, p. 51-52). Song and dancing contests also took place during the third largest Spartan festival, the Karneia (Euripides, Alkeste, 445-451). Scenes from the ceremonial ritual are depicted on a red-figured crater from the Spartan colony at Tarentum in southern Italy; dancers, bearing baskets on their heads, perform the kalathiskos dance next to a column inscribed with the word Karneios (Papadopoulou, 2004). For young persons who participated in the feast of Yakintheia this was equivalent to the passage from adolescence to the status of adult warrior. Processions, dance and fights were some of the activities carried out by youngsters who were taking part. The myth of Hyacinth might have been related to rites of outbreak in Sparta as many elements of initiative customs exist and this was considered as a festival of resumption of the world (Richer, 2004, p. 77-84). It was a compound complex religious ceremony. Nilsson (1912, 1955) tracks down an invocation of spring within the cheerful moment of celebration Brelich (1969) says that the contrast between joy and sorrow is marking a passage to a new era. The objective of Yakintheia was, maybe, the secure integration of young persons in society. Special mention should be made to the education of Spartan girls. The establishment of rites and contests for socialisation and the passage to womanhood were immensely important for both them and the Spartan State. Girls education took place in public and was not restricted to the house, nor were they excluded from the life of men (Birgalias, 1999, p.256, Ducat, 2006, p. 232-237). Spending a large part of their life in public would have helped them to fulfil their public role as good and responsible wives. (Ducat, 2006, p. 245, Cartledge, 2004, p. 640-641). State ceremonies, such as religious processions, festivals and competitions, promoted the participation of girls in public life and their equality to men. The education and training of Spartan women gained them Pan-Hellenic fame. With systematic physical exercise girls were trained to be fit, suffer the pangs of childbirth and give birth to strong healthy Spartan warriors. Xenophon (Lakedaimonion Politeia, 1.3-5) and Plutarch (Lycurgus, 14) inform us that in certain rituals accompanied by dance and song, women participated naked displaying their fitness, the ideal promoted by Spartan education (Kokkorou-Alevra, 2002, p. 131-133). Although athletic contests, (e.g. fighting, for girls and women) are testified elsewhere in Greece, those in Sparta constituted not only as part of religious ceremonies (as in the other Greek city-states) but more importantly they were incorporated into the educational system, which included girls from all social ranks. Various testimonies survive to the fitness of Spartan women: Alcmans Parthenia (11.58-9, 11. 45-9) gives a vivid account of the athletic contests; a bronze figurine dated to c. 500 BC (now in the British Museum) which depicts a young Spartan athlete or dancer is indicative of the freedom and the robustness of the girl; Pausanias (3.13.7) also mentions female contests during a festival in honour of Dionysus Kolonatas; Hysichius reports that women competed in racing (Ducat, 2006, p. 231). Similar reports can be found in Theocrituss Helens Epithalamios (11, 22-5) in which young girls participated in racing contests that took place near the baths of the River Eurotas. Plutarch suggests that exercise was an antidote to lethargy and adolescents were prepared for harmonious marriages because of the successful co-existence of boys and girls in the playground, a common training that inspired the Edgar Degas in his Spartan Girls Challenging Boys (c. 1860-1862, London National Gallery). Such training aimed to create women with a strong sense of responsibility and conscience. In no other Greek city-state were women so actively involved in public affairs, nor was their attendance in public assemblies so decisive. Spartan women, even though they werent official members of governmental and institutional bodies, took part in important decision-making acts, being allowed freedom of speech and able therefore to influence decision making. It follows, then, that they were not considered inferior to men. If the rites of passage were significant for a boy in order to become the ideal citizen-soldier, for girls such rites were important in order to make them good mothers and capable supervisors of their households. Marriage was for the girl what war was for a boy; both situations mark the perfection of their nature and the means of entry into a situation in which each one participates in the life of the others. (Vermant, 2003, p. 40-41). The participation of children in festivals was obligatory in ancient Sparta. Such occasions, in which elements of ancient rites of passage can be discerned, enhanced communal cohesion (Kitto, 2002, p. 278-280) with the establishment of public ceremonies incorporating adolescents into adult society, organised by the community and common for all young participants (Ducat, 2006, p.182). If any young individual failed in the ordeals, he/she was considered incompetent to become a full member of the community. During the rites of passage the young person refrained from communal life and had to fight to survive in the wild, guided by certain rituals and teachings. By incorporating certain elements of these archaic rites of passage into communal life, Spartan education succeeded in forming them into a strong political system. The innovative contribution of this article is the way the subject is approached by examining physical and kinetic activities and the role played by these elements, in the socialization of a young person.  ¶Living in an era of globalization and individualism, in a world lacking of exercise and of wise management of free time and, above all, in a period deprived of social coherence, it is Spartan agogi that teaches us the value of exercise and physical activities, the culture of the body, the opposition to materialism, the value of tradition and public feasts and its effectiveness in socialization and social cohesion Conclusion What this paper has set out to establish is that rites of passage, interwoven with kinetic activities, were incorporated into the agogi; the educational system of Sparta that played a pivotal role in the socialisation of youth. Sparta was a Greek city-state unique in the interrelationship between its educational system and its political, social and economic life, a system which conveyed and propagated a complete system of values that fully expressed Spartan society: education obligatory and uniform for all; both boys and girls; by not promoting me against us, learnt to define themselves as part of the whole rather than at an individualistic level, a way of upbringing and teaching inspired obedience, bravery, discipline and professional military ability.