Research Topic Exploration 1

This exercise is preparation for the Research Paper Assignment posted in the previous blog entry.

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One of the broad topics for your research paper is culture - another is globalization, which we will discuss next class period. The “Research Paper Assignment” handout contains specific instructions for the essay assignment, along with general guidelines for how to narrow down the broad topics into a manageable, relevant, and interesting topic. However, first it is important to explore the terms and arrive at some general, mutual understanding of what they mean.

Definitions of Culture
According to The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, culture is “the sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another. Culture is transmitted through language, material objects, ritual, institutions, and art, from one generation to the next.” In essence, culture is the shared set of assumptions, values, and believes by which a group of people organizes their common life. Culture also refers to refined music, art, and literature. One who is well versed in these subjects is considered “cultured.”

Culture is sometimes compared to an iceberg – only a small part of it visible, the observable behavior.

Universal, cultural, and personal behaviors occur in all cultures:

UNIVERSAL behaviors refer to the ways in which all people are the same (for example, all people share basic needs for food and shelter).

CULTURAL behaviors refer to what a particular group has in common (for example, each of us learns a set of behaviors and beliefs from the people we grow up with, such as the kinds of houses we build and the kinds of foods we eat).

PERSONALbehaviors refer to the ways in which each individual is different from other people (for example, I'm good at math or I don't like chocolate).

ACTIVITIES

Learning Audit
For about 5-10 minutes, reflect informally in writing about your own culture. What is your culture? What attitudes, customs, and beliefs do people in your culture have in common? What distinguishes your group from another? Give some examples of language, material objects, ritual, institutions, and art that are passed on from one generation to the next. In what ways is your culture visible to people?

Share some of your observations in your small group. Reflect on the differences and similarities of your observations.

Documentary
View the 21-minute documentary titled Everybody's Ethnic: Your Invisible Culture. Take careful notes of anything that captures your attention and anything that helps you understand the concept of culture better. Use the following questions as a guide, noting specific examples from the video.

What is culture?

How do cultural groups tend to view themselves – and how do they tend to view others

How is culture learned?

In what ways do cultures differ? Note at least five examples of behaviors and beliefs that vary among cultures?

What does ethnocentric mean?

How do mass media, such as radio, television, and the Internet influence cultures worldwide.

Café Discussion on Everybody’s Ethnic
From the choices listed below, pick two topics that you would like to discuss and go to a table labeled with one of your topics. Use your video notes to prompt your memory. At each table, the group should appoint a facilitator and a recorder and discuss the assigned questions for the topic they have chosen below. The recorder should write the highlights of the discussion on the flipchart/board provided. After 7 minutes, each student should move to another table and repeat the process. During the second conversation, the recorder should add to the notes provided by the first group.

TABLE 1: DEFINITON OF CULTURE

The video begins by suggesting that a culture is like a path formed over time by frequent use. In what ways is this comparison true? How does this apply to your own life?

The video also compares culture to eye color. How is a culture like eye color? How does this relate to your personal experience?

Explain the following sentence: “Two hundred years ago there were no Hispanics, Orientals, Indians or Native Americans, or Africans.”

TABLE 2: LEARNING & UNDERSTANDING CULTURE

How is culture learned? How have you been taught your culture?

The video states: “Albert Einstein was once asked how it felt to be a genius. He replied: ‘What does a fish know of the water in which it swims every day?’” What does this have to do with understanding of culture? How does this observation relate to your personal experience?

TABLE 3: DIFFERENCES AMONG CULTURES

Discuss at least five examples of behaviors and beliefs that vary among cultures?

For each example, identify your culture’s corresponding behavior or belief.

Why do people in many nations view American culture with suspicion or even fear?

TABLE 4: ETHNOCENTRISM

What does ethnocentric mean? Is ethnocentrism good or bad, or both?

The video talks about countries that drive on the right side of the road versus those that drive on the left. What does the side of the road you drive on have to do with understanding of other cultures? Reflect on this with personal observations and/or experiences.

TABLE 5: MASS MEDIA & CULTURE

Discuss ways in which mass media, such as radio, television, and the Internet, influence cultures worldwide.

Discuss ways in which mass media portrays your own culture.

After the discussions have ended, the reporters of each group will summarize their discussion, followed by a brief class discussion on the topics.

One-Minute Paper
Write a quick response to the following question: What was the most important thing you learned in class today?

Resources:

Everybody's Ethnic: Your Invisible Culture. DVD. Learning Seed, 2001.

Hirsch, E.D., et al., eds. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. Third Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.