How to Study Culture
How to Study Culture
CULTURE
Culture, in anthropology, the patterns of behavior and thinking that people
living in social groups learn, create, and share. Culture distinguishes one
human group from others. It also distinguishes humans from other animals. A
people�s culture includes their beliefs, rules of behavior, language,
rituals, art, technology, styles of dress, ways of producing and cooking
food, religion, and political and economic systems. (2)
NOT CULTURED
Educated and sophisticated: generally educated and informed about the arts
and related intellectual activity.
ARE YOU CAPABLE OF LEARNING CULTURE
1. Do you need to live in clean hotels or homes?
2. Can you give a three month trip, less than three months is not a
cultural study.
3. Mechanical function, to see patterns.
LEARNING THE CULTURE
- LEARN THE LANGUAGE
Learn the language to learn the culture
- LISTEN WITH MISTRUST
Listening to people describe there culture in English or French is
not going to teach you, it will teach you want they think should be.
- WHAT YOU SEE - NOT WHAT YOU HEAR
A culture will tell you what they want to be, however you will see
what they are.
- BOREDOM IS NEEDED
Observation of common characteristics of a culture only starts when
the mind has time enough to think, a bored person is going to see
what things are common, connecting observances and grouping them
into categories.
- NO TRANSLATORS
A translator will present a world he or she wishes you to know, not
the whole spectrum, you will only learn what they present, they are
incapable of stopping themselves from hiding dirty laundry.
- GOOD AND BAD
A culture should see a positive so they can say the bad.
- PHOTOS EXPLAIN CULTURE
- LEADING THE WITNESS
- LEARN THE LOCAL NAMES OF PLACES
- STUDY THE MODERN CULTURE
- What the modern culture strives to do is their vision of the
future. The heroes of the culture are their future.
- INCLUDE ALL PHOTOS
- INTRODUCED TO IMPORTANT PERSON
- INTRODUCED TO PEOPLE WHO SPEAK ENGLISH
- COLLABORATED OBSERVATIONS
Observe the culture, see if you can see common repeated
characteristics.
- THE INVITATION TO SIT
- HOTEL
- No AC
- No private bath
- GIVE THEM PERMISSION TO TALK
- Say hello
- Stop and play with children, (Can be dangerous)
- DO NOT FORCE TALK
- SELF-PROPHESIZING BY READING BOOKS
- DO NOT EXPLAIN COMPARISONS OF YOUR COUNTRY
- THE BOTTOM - MIDDLE - TOP OF CULTURE
-
WALK - DRIVE - OR BUS
Making choices
Walk or Drive a car?
CULTURE CHANGES WHEN:
1. Political Districts Change
2. Rivers
3. Mountains
4. Language
5. Country Borders
6.
GLOSSARY
cultural cringe
Australia sociology feeling of cultural inferiority: a sense of
embarrassment caused by a feeling that your national culture is inferior
to others (2)
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