M.C. Escher :: essays research papers

The Dutch artist Maurits C. Escher (1898-1972) was a draftsman, book illustrator, tapestry designer, and muralist, but his primary work was as a printmaker. Born in Leeuwarden, Holland, the son of a civil engineer, Escher spent most of his childhood in Arnhem. Aspiring to be an architect, Escher enrolled in the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Harlem. While studying there from 1919 to 1922, his emphasis shifted from architecture to drawing and printmaking upon the encouragement of his teacher Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita. In 1924 Escher married Jetta Umiker, and the couple settled in Rome to raise a family. They resided in Italy until 1935, when growing political turmoil forced them to move first to Switzerland, then to Belgium. In 1941, with World War II under way and German troops occupying Brussels, Escher returned to Holland and settled in Baarn, where he lived and worked until shortly before his death. The main subjects of Escher's early art are Rome and the Italian countryside. While living in Italy from 1922 to 1935, he spent the spring and summer months traveling throughout the country to make drawings. Later, in his studio in Rome, Escher developed these into prints. Whether depicting the winding roads of the Italian countryside, the dense architecture of small hillside towns, or details of massive buildings in Rome, Escher often created enigmatic spatial effects by combining various -- often conflicting -- vantage points, for instance, looking up and down at the same time. He frequently made such effects more dramatic through his treatment of light, using vivid contrasts of black and white. After Escher left Italy in 1935, his interest shifted from landscape to something he described as "mental imagery," often based on theoretical premises. The lavish tile work adorning the Moorish architecture suggested new directions in the use of color and the flattened patterning of interlocking forms. Replacing the abstract patterns of Moorish tiles with recognizable figures, in the late 1930s Escher developed "the regular division of the plane." The artist also used this concept in creating his Metamorphosis prints. Starting in the 1920s, the idea of "metamorphosis" -- one shape or object turning into something completely different -- became one of Escher's favorite themes. After 1935, Escher also increasingly explored complex architectural mazes involving perspective games and the representation of impossible spaces.

Human Resource Management and the Banking Sector Essay

tHuman resource management and the banking sector By Imran Samad Human resource management (HRM) has long been overlooked in the corporate sector in the country where a small section, comprising mostly the multi-national companies was practising the same. With the growing realization of proper HRM in the corporate sector, it has grown into an important activity. Now the head of HRM is an important member of the senior teams of any thriving business. Although the idea is new for many local businesses where entrepreneurs are at the beginning of the learning curve yet in reality the theme is getting support from the organized entrepreneurs. The banking sector has grown from a few institutions primarily involved in deposit acceptance and trade finance into a complex multi player markets where large number of commercial banks, financial institutions and specialized banks are operating with various products and activities. The banking has become a complex activity within the financial market linked directly and indirectly with an over-all national growth and its impact as an integral part of regional segment of a global banking environment. Almost every bank and financial institution is involved in various functions in a day’s job and thus requires a highly effective team and appropriate manpower to run the show. Corporate goals are translated into viable realities and profits only with human element who play their due role in achieving the desired results. Thus even the high automation would require proper man behind the machine to make things happen. This idea has been realized by top managements in progressive banks. Like many other organized sectors, banking requires a multi layer manpower for its various requirements of professionals and support staff. The range may require reasonably educated security guards on the one end and a highly educated and trained professional as head of corporate finance at the other. With liberalization of activities within the banking sector, for example, more emphasis on consumer and house finance and personal loans, etc. banking has turned itself into a more market-based business where banks have expanded their reach more to customers’ door steps in a big way making banking more practical. This has further highlighted the need for proper deployment of man-power to run banks efficiently. For many years, HRM banks like other institutions have been handling this sensitive activity through respective personnel departments. This means human resources were managed like other physical assets e. g. pieces of furniture, calculators, equipment and appliances. Personnel departments were primarily engaged in approval of leaves, handling of staff loans, issuance of show cause, conducting disciplinary enquiries and termination from service. Recruitment was a routine function and was done in a mechanical way to hire people with specific educational background irrespective of their real value to the institution. Success stories of large banking companies have been evident of the fact that HRM is quite different from management of physical assets. Human brain has its own peculiar chemistry. Its strong sensory and decision-making capacity has to be greatly emphasized by the employers. The work force constituting all levels of employees are constantly thinking in many dimensions. On the one hand it is the assigned duty and task they are to perform and for which they are paid by their employer, on the other they think of their long run goals and objectives. By no means, their brains can be controlled to think beyond the current situation of employment. Managing this educated, skillful and trustworthy work force is not an easy job. A few of the current challenges faced by the banking industry in terms of human resource management may be the following: Effective work force:Â  A time-consuming and hectic job is to hunt the right talent. Its just sitting by the river and waiting for the right fish to catch. Higher the professional value of the vacancy, tougher is the search. Identifying the right stuff followed by negotiation is the element which makes the job tough for the employer. Banks are keenly interested to fill up two types of breads of professionals. Ones who are outstanding professionals with high job hopping attitude – these are those who come in – work for some time and then leave for better prospects. Others are those who are keenly picked-up, trained and are some how retained to be developed as future management within the bank. Management trainees are a growing popular phenomenon where freshly qualified business graduates are engaged by banks and a certain percentage of these well equipped professionals stay back within the organization to grow into the footsteps of senior managers. Banking jobs being apparently lucrative for many, attract a large number of candidates against advertised vacancies in media creating a large data base management problem. This has been facilitated by specialised hiring agencies who may take up the job of hiring in case of large number of vacancies. Right people:Â  The most difficult agenda of HRM across the banking sector is to retain the right people. Sudden growth of retail banking and other services has put pressure on HR mangers in banks to engage more professionals within shorter span of time thereby attracting manpower in other banks on attractive packages has made the job market very competing. A bank in a normal course invests time and money to hire and train the appropriate work force for its own operations. This ready-made force is often identified and subsequently picked-up on better terms by others. Compensation:Â  How much to pay to the right employee and how much to the outstanding performer. Banks have traditionally followed pay scales with predetermined increments, salary slabs, bonuses and time-based fringe benefits like car and house advance, gratuity, pension, etc. The situation is not the same anymore. An increment of Rs500-800 per annum is no more a source of attraction for a professional anymore. A basic pay with traditional formulas of linkage with medical and other facilities has no soothing effect today. A promise of future growth, learning culture and corporate loyalty is out of dictionary and does not mean anything to this energetic and competent performer today. A waiting period of 3-4 years in each cadre haunts the incumbents who strongly believe in immediate compensation. There are examples to this. Thanks to the car financing modalities car is no more a fantasy item any more. A freshly hired professional requires a brand new car or car loan on resuming office quite contrary to his previous breed of bankers who would wait for the job seniority to qualify for a car loan. Job satisfaction: Everybody in the bank wants to work in the preferential department, preferential location, city of his own choice and boss of his liking. An administrative deviation from any of these results in lowered job satisfaction. Although hiring is normally based on regional requirement matching the area of activity with that of employee’s nativity yet other elements like appointment in the department of choice and preference makes the job of HR manager quite challenging. What the HR manger cannot afford is the dissatisfied employee who not only disrupts the smooth working himself but also spreads the negativity to others by his de-motivated attitude. Morale boosting:Â  What has long been overlooked is the morale boosting of the employees by the organizations. Human beings even if satisfied of material wellbeing need to be appraised and encouraged constantly. Smart banks have realized this need and have taken steps to keep their work force motivated through proper encouragement like man of the month awards, repeat get-togethers, conferences, sports events, dinners, company sponsored travel, reunions, etc. This is the way employees create a feeling of belongingness.

Some Theories of Child Rearing - 1665 Words

CHILD REAERING The different methods that parents form their childrens progress have been a usual basis of theorizing by researchers and by parents themselves. In the scientific perspective, a large amount of the empirical work connecting parental behavior to developmental products in children has been created by those who work in psychology, sociology and criminology. But added disciplines have given equal theories and techniques consist of historians, anthropologists and biological sciences (Macloed et al 2008). For instance, a finding from ethology has established the biological source and evolutionary meaning of the childs affection towards the parent, while studies in physiology, endocrinology and genetics have given great influenced in understanding of parenting and its influence on children. However, there are further pressing and practical motivations that motivating the recent concerns in this subject. The head in this rising subject concerning large and possibly rising amount of children with significant educational, social and health dilemmas, tied with a belief that varying the family setting may be a strong way of developing childrens lives and life chances (Barnes 1995). Some theories have been offered to explicate the psychological meaning of parent child relations and why they are greatly connected with childrens well-being. In the initial half of the twentieth century, learning on these wide theoretical points was erratic, but did not inhibit hardShow MoreRelatedChild Abuse And Neglect Cause Juvenile Delinquency1156 Words   |  5 PagesChild Abuse and Neglect cause Juvenile Delinquency Strain theory describes the idea that there are certain events and conditions in an individual’s life that are disliked and involve the inability to achieve goals, loss of positively valued stimuli, and presentation of negative stimuli (Brezina and Agnew). Child neglect and abuse can be described by this theory, and often is, because of its elements and the effect it has on children. Before the idea of child abuse and neglect causing juvenile delinquencyRead MorePeople who want to have children should take a child-rearing course1205 Words   |  5 Pages(CBS News, 2010) After that, she stated that she smoked a cigarette to compose herself, then proceeded to shake the baby again, possibly killing her child through traumatic head injury. Incidences like this are relatively common. According to 1998 statistics from the Public Health Agency of Canada, â€Å"there were an estimated 21.52 investigations of child maltreatment per 1,000 children in Canada.† Presently, the Can adian government adopts the liberal stance that parenting is primarily a private activityRead MoreThe Discontinuous View Of Development Essay834 Words   |  4 PagesThe discontinuous view of development is that child development is in certain stages. The children have different ways of â€Å"thinking, feeling, and behaving,†(Berk) than adults. Our book describes it as â€Å"a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times.†(Berk pg. 6) I interpret the specific times as stages. Piaget believed in the discontinuous view of development. He developed the four stages of cognitive development. Those stages are sensorimotor, pre-operationalRead MoreHow I Raised My Child to Find Success in Life Essay849 Words   |  4 PagesYun-Ru Lo During the course of raising my child, I have notice a gradual shift in my child, MiMi’s, personality. She changed from a very active and having difficulty focusing and following rules child to a child who knows when to be active and when to remain calm and is able to focus when needed. One parenting adjustment I made as I raised my child is to shift from a permissive rearing style to authoritative rearing style. Therefore, besides having some spelling and writing difficulties, my child’sRead MoreCulture and Child Rearing Essay1733 Words   |  7 PagesCulture and Child Rearing Practices The purpose of this paper is to express the different ways culture affects child-rearing practices. Culture and child rearing are both essential in child development. Culture and ethnicity can have a deciding effect on the child-rearing techniques that families implement throughout the world. Differences such as methods of discipline, expectations regarding acceptance of responsibilities and transmission of religious instruction will vary among families. TheRead MoreBeing the Child of a Parent with a Mental Illness1727 Words   |  7 Pages Being the child of a parent who has a mental illness involves considerable risk to the child’s secure attachment and long-term mental health. Parental mental health concerns place children at a significantly greater risk of lower social, psychological and physical health than children in families not affected by mental illness. (Mayberry et al, 2005). Living with a parent suffering from a mental illness can have huge negative effects for the developing child. It has been proven numerous times thatRead MoreUnequal Childhoods1095 Words   |  5 Pagesthrive as they grow up. However, based on the studies in Unequal Childhoods by Dr. Annette Lareau, it is shown that cultural logic of child-rearing and the general success of children’s academic studies are significantly dependent and impacted by economically societal differences and family setting. 　　　　Annette Lareau invites her readers to a new perspective of child-rearing, where people are not just individual human beings, but rather class subjects. Her book, Unequal Childhoods provides the best meansRead MoreThe And Family Therapist Is Influenced By Personal Experiences That Impact And Transform An Individual1111 Words   |  5 Pagesworked tirelessly to obtain the help my child my needed. Being a parent of a special needs child leaves little to no option of failing; hence my child has taught me to be strong, even in the most difficult and darkest times of my life. This experience inspired me to help other families and individuals encountering hardship. As I began the arduous task of finding a proper diagnosis for my child, I encountered the unique challenges of being a migrant raising a child with special needs in this country.Read MoreBenefits Of A Child With Autism1154 Words   |  5 Pagesworked tirelessly to obtain the help my child desperately needed. Being a parent of a special needs child leaves little to no option of failing; hence child has taught me to be strong even in the most difficult and darkest times in my life. Furthermore, encountering the unique challenges of raising a child with autism inspired me to help other families and individuals experiencing hardship. As I began the arduous task of finding a proper diagnosis for my child, I encountered the unique challenges ofRead MoreThe Role of Women and Marriage in Socrates The Republic Essay1030 Words   |  5 Pagesfind the true meaning of justice and the creation of the ideal city Socrates finds that while many of the element of the city have been properly set forth he forgot to take into account the place women will have in the city and the idea of child-rearing. After some careful discussion about the nature of women and how it would relate to their particular role in the city Socrates and Adeimantus come to the agreement that the women will be assigned their roles in the same manner as the men of the city