Cultural Crossroads

Characterize these cultures:

• American culture
• Iowan culture
• Des Moines culture

Defining Culture

• " . . . an entire way of life of a group of people" (72).
• Learned and shared
• Guides how we live in, negotiate, and understand society.

Culture includes: language, gestures, clothing, beauty, customs, rituals, tools, music, parenting, beliefs, etc.

How does your culture differ from your classmates'?

Studying Culture

• Home culture
• The Other
• Ethnocentrism
• Cultural relativism
• What culture makes no sense to you?

Assignment: Experience culture shock.

Types of Culture

• Material: Physical objects
• Symbolic: Nonmaterial, beliefs, signs, gestures, language, labels, values, norms

Values: Widespread beliefs about good/bad, right/wrong

Define bad & wrong.

Norms: How we regulate values

Categories and Types

• Categories: Formal (laws) and informal (unwritten)
• Types: Folkways, mores, taboos

Sanctions

• Positive: Praise, rewards
• Negative: Penalties, punishment

What would you do if you could get away with it?

Thus:
If I want access to X, I must do/not do Y.
Society

What are you trying to access? How are you trying to access it?

Variations on Culture

• Multiculturialism
• Dominant culture (Hegemony)
• Subculture
• Counterculture

Culture Wars

Ideal versus Real Culture

Cultural Change

• Technology
• Cultural diffusion
• Cultural leveling
• Cultural imperialism

How has culture changed in your lifetime?