FOCUS QUESTION
• LIST ANY FOREIGN PRACTICES THAT DIFFER GREATLY FROM
AMERICAN CULTURAL PRACTICES
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
• WHAT ARE CULTURAL UNIVERSALS AND WHY DO THEY EXIST?
• WHAT DO THE TERMS ETHNOCENTRISM AND CULTURAL
RELATIVISM MEAN?
• WHAT FACTORS ACCOUNT FOR VARIATIONS AMONG AND WITHIN
CULTURES?
WHAT ARE CULTURAL UNIVERSALS?
• CULTURAL UNIVERSALS – GENERAL FEATURES COMMON TO ALL CULTURES,
SUCH AS COOKING, DANCING, ATHLETIC SPORTS, FUNERAL CEREMONIES, AND
MEDICINE
• ALL SOCIETIES HAVE DEVELOPED CERTAIN COMMON PRACTICES AND BELIEFS
• CULTURAL UNIVERSALS CHANGE OVER TIME AND FROM SOCIETY TO ANOTHER
WHY DO THEY EXIST??
• BECAUSE SOME NEEDS ARE SO BASIC THAT ALL SOCIETIES MUST
DEVELOP CERTAIN FEATURES TO ENSURE THEIR FULFILLMENT
ETHNO – WHAT??
• ETHNOCENTRISM – TENDENCY TO VIEW ONE’S OWN CULTURE AND GROUP AS
SUPERIOR TO OTHER DIFFERENT CULTURES
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
• CULTURAL RELATIVISM – BELIEF THAT A CULTURE SHOULD BE
JUDGED BY ITS OWN STANDARDS RATHER THAN BY THOSE OF
ANOTHER CULTURE
• XENOCENTRISM IS AN EXTENSION OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM; IT IS
THE BELIEF THAT THE PRODUCTS, STYLES, OR IDEAS OF ONE’S
SOCIETY ARE INFERIOR TO THOSE THAT ORIGINATE ELSEWHERE
ACTIVITY #1
CREATE A DRAWING OR ONE PANEL CARTOON THAT ILLUSTRATES
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM
VARIATIONS BETWEEN CULTURES
• SUBCULTURE – GROUP WITHIN A SOCIETY WHICH SHARES
VALUES, NORMS, AND BEHAVIORS THAT ARE NOT SHARED BY THE
ENTIRE POPULATION
• COUNTERCULTURE – SUBCULTURE WHICH REJECTS THE MAJOR
VALUES, NORMS, AND PRACTICES OF THE LARGER SOCIETY AND
REPLACES THEM WITH A NEW SET OF CULTURAL VALUES
SUBCULTURES
• THE CULTURES OF GROUPS WHOSE VALUES AND NORMS OF BEHAVIOR
DIFFER FROM THE DOMINANT CULTURE
• MEMBERS OF SUBCULTURES INTERACT FREQUENTLY AND SHARE A COMMON
WORLD VIEW
• SUBCULTURES SHARE SOME ELEMENTS OF THE DOMINANT CULTURE AND
COEXIST WITH IT.
COUNTERCULTURES
• SUBCULTURES CREATED AGAINST THE VALUES OF THE
DOMINANT CULTURE
• MEMBERS REJECT DOMINANT VALUES AND DEVELOP PRACTICES
THAT DEFY NORMS AND VALUES OF THE DOMINANT GROUP
• NONCONFORMITY IS AN INDICATOR OF COUNTERCULTURE
ACTIVITY #2
• LISTEN TO THESE SONGS THAT DEMONSTRATE ASPECTS OF SUBCULTURE AND
DISCUSS HOW THE MUSIC/LYRICS REPRESENT THE SUBCULTURE’S ACTIONS,
BELIEFS, NORMS, VALUES
• “EAT IT” – WEIRD AL
• “TACO GRANDE” – WEIRD AL
• “BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY” – QUEEN
• “MY IMMORTAL” – EVANESCENCE
• “MY MOM STILL CLEANS MY ROOM” – MXPX
• “TUBTHUMPING” – CHUMBWUMBA
• “VIVA LA VIDA” – WEIRD AL