COURSE: GLOBAL STUDIES II

YEAR: 2015

University of South East- Asia

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Chapter 1:

CONCEPTS OF CULTURE

UNIT 1: WHAT IS CULTURE?

WHAT IS CULTURE?

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IS CULTURE THE SAME

EVERYWHERE?

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LET US HAVE SOME CONCRETE

IDEAS ABOUT CULTURE:

Explain what makes your culture unique

from others.

Do you agree with your culture?

Do you think other cultures have

something “ bad” or wrong about them?

Who influences you about your culture?

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OPENING VIGNETTE

NORTHERN AFRICA

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CASABLANCA

A Hollywood romance movie that was shown in the cinemas around the 1950s to 1960s. The setting of the movie was in French-occupied Morocco in North Africa. It stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

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INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

An adventure movie set

in Morocco as well as in

some of the most exotic

places in the world. It

stars Harrison Ford as

Indiana Jones. It is one of

the series of movies

about the adventures of

archaeologist-explorer

Jones.

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MOROCCANS

Moroccan men and

women are

characterized as

wearing clothes that

cover most of their

body. Men usually

wear head coverings

similar to the turbans

of the Indians. They

wear garbs as long

dresses that extends

from the shoulders to

the ankles.

Women wear

something similar

that at times only the

eyes are exposed12

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CULTURE

The language, beliefs, values, norms,

behaviors, and even material objects

that are passed on from one

generation to the next.

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MATERIAL AND NON-MATERIAL

CULTURE

Material culture the material objects that distinguish a group

of people, such as their art, buildings, weapons, utensils, machines, hairstyles, clothing, and jewelry.

Non-material culturea group’s way of thinking (including its

beliefs, values, and other assumptions about the world) and doing (its common patterns of behavior, including language and other forms of interactions)

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“The last thing a fish would ever

notice would be water” – Ralph

Linton (1936)

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CULTURE SHOCK

the disorientation that people

experience when they come in contact

with a fundamentally different culture

and can no longer depend on their

taken-for-granted assumptions about

life

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ETHNOCENTRISM

the use of one’s own culture as a

yardstick for judging the ways of other

individuals or societies, generally

leading to to a negative evaluation of

their values, norms,and behaviors

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SUMMARY

1. There is nothing “natural” about material culture.

2. There is nothing “natural” about non-material culture.

3. Culture penetrates deep into the recesses of our spirits, becoming a taken-for-granted aspect of our lives.

4. Culture provides the lens through which we see the world and obtain our perception of reality.

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SUMMARY (cont’d.)

5. Culture provides implicit instructions that tell us what we ought to do in various situations.

6. Culture also provides a “moral imperative”; that is, by internalizing a culture, people learn ideas of right and wrong.

7. Coming in contact with a radically different culture challenges our basic assumptions of life.

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SUMMARY (cont’d.)

8. Although the particulars of culture

differ from one group of people to

another, culture itself is universal.

9. All people are ethnocentric, which

has both functional and dysfunctional

consequences.

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Practicing Cultural Relativism

Cultural Relativism

- understanding a people from the

framework of its own culture

- try to understand a culture on its

own terms

- try to have an open mind about

other cultures

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Practicing Cultural Relativism

INDIVIDUAL WORKOn a piece of paper, write three situations

in which you show cultural relativism.1. Write three examples of cultures from

other countries that are not the same as in yours.

2. How can you show that you try to understand other people for doing such things? How can you show that you are practicing cultural relativism? Write your answers.

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