Culture We can think about culture a couple of different ways: Big C – which is an overarching general concept of culture that can be applied to all culture groups Little c—which is the particulars of a specific cultural group Let’s look at Big C in a little more depth Big C is learned behavior. Culture is not something we are born with; we learn it over our lifetime. Culture is shared. While we each have our own cultural peculiarities, we share a large part of our culture with others. Culture is symbolic. It gives meaning to things. Language might be the most important example of the symbolic nature of culture. Language is one of the primary ways that we communicate with one another. Culture is non-biological. Again, we’re not born with it; we learn it. Biology provides some parameters for behavior; we know that everyone’s biological make-up is slightly different; however, because we share culture, we can benefit from others’ biological parameters. Culture is holistic. Ideally, culture is all-encompassing. It is a blueprint for living and tells us how to respond in any given situation. Of course in reality, culture doesn’t give us all the answers. That’s when we see culture change. Lastly, culture is integrated. Think of it as a clock. Clocks have an intricate mechanical system that work together to make the clock operational. Culture is also a system – a system of institutions that work together to meet the needs of the group. As for little c, we’ll be looking at particulars throughout the quarter, so we’ll be returning to it again. Levels of culture Cultural traits can be grouped at several different levels. At the upper levels, the traits are general and most people don’t think about their culture at the upper levels. Nevertheless, these levels do impact our cultures even if we’re not aware of it. The levels of culture, except for the idiosyncratic, are stereotypes. This is not necessarily bad unless you use the stereotypes as a basis of discrimination. We can use these stereotypes to develop a general expectation in hopes that we don’t totally bomb when we travel to a new place and meet new peoples. [slide] International: this is often referred to as Western culture or Eastern culture. Historically, the division fell along two lines: religion and industry. Eastern culture is usually thought of as non-industrial; however, through the process of development, this line is less clear than it used to be.Eastern culture also refers to a different way of thinking which is best exemplified in the East’s religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, etc. Interdependence of people is a defining characteristic of “eastern” philosophy. Duty to family over self is stressed. The other thing that encapsulates eastern culture is their approach to healing—in the east, it is generally believed to be ancient, naturalistic traditions…think acupuncture and herbal remedies. Western culture is industrial; capitalism rules and behavior geared for independent success is stressed. Western cultures are primarily Christian. Obviously none of these broad geographic areas are all one thing or the other, but think in terms of dominance. Eastern cultures do encourage people to develop their skills; it’s just that it is not for themselves, but for their group (which can be family, village, or some other entity). In western cultures, duty to family is not absent; it’s just not stressed as strongly. In regards to health, highly educated doctors and scientifically developed medicines are predominant. Again, keep in mind that the East vs. West mentality or approach is rapidly breaking down through the process of globalization. [slide] National: Just as the word implies, we’re talking about a country’s culture. For instance, if someone talks about the Irish, certain mental pictures come to mind. Within the national culture, there are sub-cultures. Subcultures exist within the framework of the national culture, which in and of itself is a subculture of international culture. Subcultures incorporate values and norms from the national culture, but perhaps not all of the values and norms. [slide] First let’s look at regional culture. If I was to talk about the United States in terms of the South, the Midwest, or the Southwest, we start to make some assumptions about the culture of individuals from those geographic regions. [slide] Same thing with state-level culture. I’m originally from Ohio, so I’m going to use Ohio and Kentucky as examples. Many Ohioans view Kentucky as backward, with people living in remote hollows, little access to education, and steeped in the culture of the Civil War-era south. Mint juleps and the Kentucky Derby are inseparable from Kentucky’s culture. When people find out I am from Ohio, I often hear comments like, “That’s too bad,” or “Oh, Ohio,” and even “Is the election fraud really that bad there?” We all have ideas about what each state is like. [slide] The next subculture I want to talk about is the local culture. This could be along the lines of urban vs, suburban vs. rural. It could be something like Seattle vs. Tacoma. It could be a neighborhood. There are a lot of ways to view the local. When I told friends I was moving to Seattle, most said, “You’d better be willing to drink a lot of coffee.” That is an example of a local trait. A local trait might also be something along the lines of Emo, Grunge, or even occupations. [slide] There are also counter-cultures. Counter-cultures go against something in the mainstream or dominant culture. The classic example of a counter-culture is the hippie/protest movement during the 1960s in the United States. A more recent example is the anti-globalization movement. [slide] The final level of culture I want to discuss is the idiosyncratic culture. This refers to our personal culture. We are influenced by and choose norms from all of the previous levels of culture to create our personal cultures. Our family and friends are often most influential but as we mature and move away from home, our personal culture may begin to look nothing like the culture we grew up in.For your culture map assignment, you’ll need to incorporate elements from each level of culture in to your graphic representation of your idiosyncratic culture. [slide] Moving on. Culture is both overt and covert. What we mean by this is that there are elements of