Exploring Culture Part 2

Based on the three internet articles on culture that were read for homework the previous night, we discussed the differing definitions of culture proposed by the various authors. Among these definitions were:

• Culture=diversity
• Culture is learned and taught
• Culture=high society
• Culture=biology
• Culture is changing

When considering how culture is learned and taught, we discussed that this process can be both direct and indirect. Culture can be learned through observation, mimicry, family, media, school, and experiences. Because culture is not static, but changes over time, we also created a short list of things that influence culture (and sometimes vice versa) including: technology, laws/public movements, societal content/discontent, medicine, economy, language (literacy), contact with other cultures (globalization), and food production (agriculture). We also created a list of ways in which people can differ, some of which may determine or is determined by culture. Our evolving list includes: gender, religion, ethnicity, ability, age, sexual orientation, sex, class, education level, profession, race, region, dialect, language, expressiveness, manners, morals, values, and community.

Finally, students shared the pictures of a cultural aspect they took around Plymouth from the previous day and explained what aspect of culture they were capturing and why they found it intriguing. We discussed some of the photographs in relation to the prior discussion on culture. Here is a slideshow of their pictures:



In the afternoon, students learned how to use Picasa to upload and share photoalbums. We also spent time going over the basics of photography composition and how to change various settings on most digital cameras. Students were presented with a photo editing challenge for the next class. Alison provided students with the link to Picnik, a free photo editing site, as well as some resources to help them learn about using the site. Students must choose an emotion provoking adjective, take several pictures exemplifying this adjective, and work on their own to find out how to edit the photos using Picnik. In the afternoon, students attended mini-seminars on various technologies, such as micro-blogging, gaming, and web 2.0, hosted by the MAET program.

Evening Assignments: 1) Readings for 49 Up; 2) Photo Edit Challenge with Picnik; 3) Start working on Inquiry #1, part 2.