HUMANITIES PROGRAMME2020 CAPSTONE PAPER Introduction This study encompasses the analysis of cultural diffusion of South Korean beauty to Singapore as influenced by the forces of globalisation, focusing on cultural adoption and adaptation by Singapore’s youth. However, diffusion does not necessitate homogeneity and commodification, and may instead result in heterogeneity and cultural hybridity. Hence, this research…

When I was a child, a visit to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi in the Bay of Islands was an experience that I would never forget. The beautiful architecture and stunning performances engraved a picture of joyous harmony into my mind, and I left Auckland with the impression that the Māori were proud and embraced in their own society. Ten years later, upon further research, I realized that I could not be more wrong.

Fake news is not a new phenomenon. However, the unprecedented speed and volume of its propagation is great cause for concern. The digitisation and subsequent democratisation of the media landscape has allowed actors such as foreign governments and radical fringe ideologues to have a far easier time disseminating information.

For the purposes of this paper, fake news will be characterised as news articles that are intentionally and verifiably false and could mislead readers. This definition is the most reflective of the current phenomenon and is widely agreed upon by academics. This paper will address responses to fake news with regard to young people.

Existing literature by Powell and Zwolinski (2011), and Synder (2010), suggest that the ethical argument for sweatshops through a moral lens of the individual does not hold, hence this capstone project hopes to approach the argument from a different angle. This project aims to explore the ethical concerns of sweatshops, the progress that fast fashion brings to the socio-economic scene of certain countries where sweatshops are commonplace, as well as some ethical points of contention — are sweatshops sources of economic and social progress for these labourers, or are they convenient sources of exploitation? This project considers both the ethical and unethical concerns of sweatshops in a socio-economic dimension, then evaluating the necessity of sweatshops in terms of the ethical lenses of deontology and utilitarianism.

In 2007, the cost of two Epipens was about USD$94. Today, those two same pens cost USD$700. It is a very common theme of headline news: Dramatic rises of pharmaceutical drug prices in the thousands of percents. This trend has raised the concern about the pharmaceutical industry’s profit-oriented pricing strategies that is unfair for their clients and particularly disadvantages lower and middle income families. This thus calls into question the ethics of pharmaceutical pricing. Because the pharmaceutical products in question have such a critical impact on the lives of many, this creates an even more pressing need for regulation in the pharmaceutical industry. Many suggestions have been put forth to address this pertinent issue, each providing a different perspective. In this paper, we aim to present analysis of solutions put forth by relevant voices in the field, and thus conclude with new insights on the regulation of pharmaceutical prices, to ensure a more ethical practice.