American Culture Collage
Name:
A) Your project is to create a collage of print images (not drawn) that represents American
culture and demonstrates all ten of the cultural universals. Divide your paper into ten sections.
Each section will contain all the images of one cultural universal. You can divide your paper any
way you like, just make sure there are ten sections.
For example
B) You will provide a “key” for your collage on a separate paper to show exactly what each
image represents and which cultural universal it fits under.
Background
Economics
Themes
Food,
Clothing,
Shelter
Attitude
toward the
unknown
Communication
Arts
Recreation
Family
Key
Political
Organization
Your key will show which cultural universals correspond to a section. You will also write an
explanation of the images you chose for that section on your key. What is the image and how
does it represent that particular cultural universal?
Political Organization
Example
I included a picture of the
President, the Capital Building,
and the Supreme Court Justices to
represent the three branches of
our government. These are the
heads of the most powerful levels
of government in our society. The
nuclear bomb represents our
militaristic nature and our leaning
toward war rather than peace.
And the picture of fully outfitted
riot police represents law
enforcement at its most brutal.
American Culture Collage - Brainstorm ideas
Name:
Fill out this brainstorm sheet before you even look at a magazine or newspaper. Write down
ideas or images that come to mind when you think about each cultural universal in our American
society. Make sure you include all the subtopics within each cultural universal.
Background – Time, geographic setting, physical description of people
Themes – Values (what is important), ethics (what is right and wrong), symbols
Economics – Technology, division of labor, trade and money, transportation
Food, Clothing, Shelter
Political Organization – Government, law enforcement, war and peace
Family and Kin – Marriage, family groupings, child training
Attitude toward the Unknown – Religious beliefs and practices, death rituals
Communications – Language, number systems
Arts and Esthetic Values – Art, music, dance, drama, literature
Recreation – Games, sports, leisure time
Artist’s note
Name:
1) What resources did you use and why did you choose those particular ones?
2) What is the most powerful image in your collage? Why?
3) Are you proud of your final product? Why or why not?
4) If you were to make another American Culture Collage in ten years, what do you think
would be different about the images?