This document is from a 2015 Global Studies course at the University of South East Asia. It covers concepts of culture, including definitions of culture, material and non-material culture, culture shock, and ethnocentrism. It discusses how culture provides a lens and moral framework that people internalize unconsciously. It emphasizes that while cultures differ, culture itself is a universal human phenomenon. The document encourages practicing cultural relativism by understanding other cultures on their own terms rather than judging them.

1. COURSE: GLOBAL STUDIES II
YEAR: 2015
University of South East- Asia
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2. Chapter 1:
CONCEPTS OF CULTURE
UNIT 1: WHAT IS CULTURE?

3. WHAT IS CULTURE?
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4. IS CULTURE THE SAME
EVERYWHERE?
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5. 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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6. OPENING VIGNETTE
NORTHERN AFRICA
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8. 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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10. 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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12. 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 exposed
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18. 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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19. 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 culture
 a 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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20. “The last thing a fish would ever
notice would be water” – Ralph
Linton (1936)
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21. 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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22. 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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23. 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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24. 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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25. 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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26. 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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28. Practicing Cultural Relativism
INDIVIDUAL WORK
On 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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