1. What is Culture?
FH-Prof. Dr. Jim Miller
STITCH MODULE: Intercultural Communication
Powerpoint Lecture 1
2. Which of these is an example of culture?
Klimt, Birch Forest, 1902 Beech forest in Slovenia
Both are, because both are the product of human activity
(the forest is managed)
3. Basic Aspects of Culture
Culture is much more than the Louve in Paris
or the Musikverein in Vienna
Culture covers everything—houses, clothes,
food, language, morals, values, ideas—even
the natural environment if altered by human
activity
4. Definitions of Culture
Culture is…
an historically-transmitted, socially constructed system of
beliefs, premises, symbols and their meanings that pertain to
a group of people.
Culture is…
. . . in your head . . . in the way you talk
. . . in your behavior . . . deeply felt
Culture is a system of resources for understanding
the world around you.
Culture is the set of “tools” that our families and
societies instill in us to get through life.
5. • Clothing
• Food
• what houses
look like
• how a
language
sounds
• etc., etc. etc.
• how clothing communicates
status
• what foods are tabu
• how different tones of voice
communicate different meanings
• how different types of
architecture are used
• etc., etc., etc
6. The Cultural Iceburg
In any society, most cultural meanings are to
be found “below the water line”
It takes intercultural skill to figure out what
things mean
Only when you begin to figure out what the
things “below the line” mean, can you begin
to act in a culturally appropriate manner
A foreigner almost never can figure out what
EVERYTHING below the line means
7. Effective Intercultural
Communication
Requires a profound knowledge of yourself
and your own culture
Requires an appreciation for cultural
difference and a willingness to accept other
cultures as just as valid as your own
Requires a knowledge of other cultural
systems
Requires a set of communication skills that
are often just as useful if applied WITHIN
your own culture as they are when applied in
an intercultural setting
