Cultural Borrowing and Diffusion

My volleyball manager and I have been scanning in the homework from Friday.  I was hoping to have pictures up and ready to go today, but it didn't happen.  (If you didn't do the pictures, it'd probably be a good idea to get them done.)

We still don't have the website set up for you to download documents, but that will be coming soon.

We've been discussing culture the past several days.  Today we introduced the terms "cultural borrowing" which is when something from one culture makes its way to another culture.  (Even though, I don't plan on returning any of the pizza I "borrowed" from Italy, it's still considered cultural borrowing...)

And "cultural diffusion" is how all that cultural borrowing happens.  Word of mouth, travelling to other cultures, TV, movies, internet, etc...

I'll try to have some pictures up tomorrow, but I may write about 9/11 instead, as that's what we'll be discussing.

If you want credit for reading and discussing the blog, discuss cultural borrowing and cultural diffusion.  Can you give me any examples of phrases that have made their way into the English language?  Write a couple down on a piece of paper, and have the adult you discussed with sign it.

Here's my example of cultural borrowing:  Hasta la vista, baby.  (Method of cultural diffusion?  The movies.)

Short

I don't have time to post right now.  I'm planning on posting later this weekend.

Actually, if you want extra credit for Monday, go play the Middle East Geography Games.  Play countries - the middle column.  Print out your scores, take a picture of them, or take a screen shot of them and email it to me.

See you Monday.

Culture and the Games

Many students have homework tonight.

If they didn't finish their ingredients of culture pictures, they were to take them home and complete them for homework.  True enough, a lot of students DID finish them, so chances are they're not lying to you if they say they got it done.

We read The Hunger Games during class today.  We're at the point where I can start to tie some social studies content in with it.  For instance, Katniss has never ridden in a car before.  She's never taken a shower - let alone a warm one.  She's never ridden in a train.  So, that gave us a chance to discuss the standard of living in the seam.

We also discussed dictatorships a bit, and the propaganda they put out, as well as issues dealing with human rights - like the freedom to travel.

If you want the extra credit for reading and discussing tonight's blog, discuss The Hunger Games.  Tell the adult you read the blog with what's happened so far.

Then, find a scrap of paper and write "I would have helped Katniss if she was digging through my trash looking for food."  Have the adult sign it.  (You see, even in the extra-credit code sentence I'm trying to instill cultural values in you.)

Photo credit: The Hiking Artist.

More Difficult Ingredients

We've been discussing culture, and the ingredients of culture.  I tried to order them by difficulty, going from the easier to the more complex.  For instance, food is a part of our culture.  Most students already understand food.  In fact, sometimes I think it's all they think about.  ...Especially 5th hour...

And they understand language, and dress.  Most have a general concept of religion, government, customs and the arts.

But ethnicity?  Standard of living?  Values?  These are a little bit more difficult.  In fact, even academics bicker about their exact meanings?  Are ethnicity and race the same thing?  How does nationality fit in?  Is there a choice component?

And how do we gauge standard of living?  Is it just GDP, or is it more than that?

And, as a colleague always says, "We may value our valuables, but they are not our values."

So, we discussed some of the more difficult concepts today.  I did give students a paper, but it is NOT homework.  I don't care if you work ahead, but make sure you bring an AR book along with you if you're an over-achiever.  Don't distract the rest of the class.

If you read consider discussing the ingredients of culture - giving an example for each.  If you do this, find a scrap of paper and write down the ingredient, and its example.  Then have the adult sign the paper.  Put in the extra credit tray tomorrow.

Culture

We introduced culture today, and went over some of the ingredients that go into making a culture.  Ethnicity, dress, language, customs, etc...

We came up with definitions and examples for each, and we discussed stereotyping.

I hope everyone got the concept that when viewing a culture, you have to stereotype.  You have to generalize.  And just because we all break the stereotypes in some way, that doesn't mean we're "un-American."

For instance, we may list hot dogs and popcorn as American foods, but we should still recognize that there are people in America who do not like hot dogs or popcorn.

At any rate, there's no homework for tonight.  However, students should bring their colored pencils tomorrow.  (Along with what they generally bring...)

If you want extra credit for reading and discussing the blog today, you should read and discuss the blog with an adult.  Then, on a sheet of scrap paper write the phrase: "I'll take something to believe: something with long sleeves because it's unpredictable."  Then have the adult you read the blog with sign the paper.