What’s the Deal with Culture?

What is Culture?

Culture is anything that shapes your daily life: what you do, how you do it, when you do it, and where you do it.

Culture: The behaviors, beliefs, arts, and products (things) shared and learned by a group of people.

Discuss values, beliefs, & attitudes that you have learned and share

What are things you respect and take care of?

What is something you believe to be true? (about yourself, your future, when someone dies?)

What is your attitude toward people who seem different? Traveling to far away places? Spending money on yourself? Giving gifts? Treating your enemies?

How did you learn this stuff? What words or customs do you think of

when you talk about your beliefs?

Who teaches you what to value and how you think of yourself and treat others? How do they teach you? (rules, examples, stories…?)

What Else? Culture is learned. Process of learning one's culture is

called enculturation. Culture is shared by the members of a society. There is

no "culture of one.” Culture is patterned. People in a society live and think

in ways that form definite patterns. Culture is made up through a constant process of social

interaction. Culture is symbolic. Culture, language and thought are

based on symbols and symbolic meanings. Culture is random. Culture is not based on "natural

laws" external to humans, but created by humans according to the "whims" of the society. Example: standards of beauty.

Culture is internalized. Culture is habitual. It is taken for granted, and it is perceived as "natural."

So What Can Be a Culture?Some Definitions

Culture can be considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population: Edwardian culture, Japanese culture, the culture of poverty.

Culture can be considered with respect to a particular category, such as a field, subject, or mode of expression: religious culture in the Middle Ages, musical culture, oral culture.

Culture can be the most common attitudes and behavior that characterize the functioning of a group or organization: SGS culture, lacrosse team culture, troop culture.

What’s Cultural Identity?Your Cultural Identity is what shapes your culture

depending on various groups you identify with:

• Family Order• Place of Birth• Handedness• Parent/Non-Parent• Majority/Minority• Vegetarian/Non-Vegetarian• Alcoholism in the Family• More…

• Race • Ethnicity• Religion• Class Background• Age• Gender• Sexual Orientation• Ability

Race & Ethnicity: What’s the Difference?

Ethnicity refers to… Shared cultural practices and perspectives that

set apart one group from another Shared culture (customs, values, stories, etc…) Most common characteristics of various ethnic

groups are: Ancestry (who are your relatives?) A sense of history (shared past experiences?) Language Religion Forms of dress

Ethnic differences are learned, not inherited & can change for all people

Race & Ethnicity—What’s the Difference?

Race refers to… Biological traits that society has decided

are socially significant, meaning that people treat other people differently because of them. Skin color has been and is treated as socially significant.

Race doesn’t define a single culture Race implies knowledge of racism and

racial stereotypes Doesn’t require the person to do anything

to belong

So…? We have shared cultural identities and not

shared cultural identities. We have some common things, and many

uncommon things. Understanding our own and others’ cultural

identity helps understand differences in actions, values, and beliefs.

Understanding our own and others’ cultural identities helps us make friends and develop relationships across many differences.

Make a map of yourself that includes all your cultural identities.

http://www2.eou.edu/~kdahl/cultdef.html http://www.thefreedictionary.com/culture http://www.kidstylefile.com.au/ My Map Book by Sarah Fanelli