Human Interest

What made the world the way it is?  The spread of people, ideas and goods--Geographers refer to this as diffusion and these 5 podcasts all center on what factors promote the spread of some phenomena, and what obstacles and barriers exist to the diffusion of others. 

Tags: podcast, medical, diffusion, culture, popular culture, globalization.

What made the world the way it is?  The spread of people, ideas and goods--Geographers refer to this as diffusion and these 5 podcasts all center on what factors promote the spread of some phenomena, and what obstacles and barriers exist to the diffusion of others. 

Tags: podcast, medical, diffusion, culture, popular culture, globalization.

What made the world the way it is?  The spread of people, ideas and goods--Geographers refer to this as diffusion and these 5 podcasts all center on what factors promote the spread of some phenomena, and what obstacles and barriers exist to the diffusion of others. 

Tags: podcast, medical, diffusion, culture, popular culture, globalization.

How about "cross-polination" and "cross-fertilization" in cultures?

unit 3

Unit 3

Talk about Eurocentrism. I'm a huge fan of Wikipedia for its value as an informal source of information; if I need to learn about a topic I am not familiar with, Wikipedia is a great place to get a preliminary idea of what I am learning about. It's disappointing to see the distribution of information on the site is so skewed, considering that there are so many other regions of the world with long, rich histories, than just those encompassed within the circle shown in the map. I feel like that is symptomatic of a number of issues currently plaguing western academic circles- we tend to not view the rest of the world as being important, which is not only untrue, it's both insulting and ignorant. I hope this disparity is addressed and corrected over the course of the next couple of years.

Do we speak their language?

unit 3

I find the social aspect of this absolutely fascinating; gender may be entirely a cultural construct, but we can see its influences in every aspect of human life. Women are responsible for 90 percent of linguistic changes that occur over the course of our lifetimes- because men resist such changes due to their (mostly) feminine origins. A good, witty read for those interested.

This superhero is more than just something to bring joy to children in Pakistan. This hero empowers women to think they can be strong like the Burka Avenger.

This is an awesome, heartwarming story, and I highly recommend people to watch the trailer for the show offered on the website- it seems very cool, and like something kids will actually want to watch (unlike a great deal of educational television). For a nation that is plagued by such a great deal of bigotry and gender inequality- with female infant mortality rates contributing to a gender distribution of 108 men to 100 women- it is so good to see a program such as this being released from Pakistan. Young Muslim women are so deprived of positive and powerful female role models, allowing for the continued systematic abuse and mistreatment of women in many parts of the Middle East, including Pakistan. This show looks promising, from both a critical and humanitarian perspective, although I fear for the lives of its creators and that its showing will be suppressed in the very nations that need it the most. Terrorist organizations and religious extremists fear education and empowerment more than any army, as only those two factors can truly combat these movements effectively, and they will show no mercy should they ever be given the chance to cease the production of this program. I applaud its creators for their bravery, and hope that they are able to get their message across.

Why do Indians love Cricket? As with most modern day countries, colonialism has something to do with it. However, the British never intended to promote Cricket in India. It was the local elite of India that first pushed to incorporate the game into Indian culture. Desperate to gain the prestige that the British attached to the game, the elite began the practice of playing Cricket in India. In the years following independence, the game has spread to the other classes of Indian society. The game has become the national pastime for the nation.

this is an interesting reason for a game to spread. it was a game played by the elite, so it never really lost the appeal of being a sport of the rich.

i have tried to watch a cricket match before but it seemed so odd, i dont really fully understand the game but the people playing (especially inians) were playing more than a game, for them it seemed like they were playing for their country and it was a great honor to them. unlike a sport like soccer where people play for other countries teams.

Very interesting look at how language changes over time.  Examples:  landline, "friend IRL", and vinyl.

unit 3

Fantastic images for our modern day terms.

Very interesting opposite of Saint Nick that came from a lore displaying Satan figure. I've never heard of this Krampus character but from the origins of it, the character makes it feel very mysterious and give a little spookiness to the holidays. In addition, it gives refugees the chance to explore European culture as a way to adapt to different culture. 

With new movies always coming out, its nice to hear films that are based on true stories or myths come to the theaters. Krampus is a movie that came out recently and is based on a myth that originated in Austria. This is scary tail of a beastly creature coming out Christmas and deals with the bad kids. Krampus is known to beat bad kids with birch branches or to be taken to his lair to be eaten or tortured. An interesting myth, people always look at Christmas as a good time with family.

The other side of the war on drugs. -Lon

Very important insight

This is no question that living on a train is a radical decision to make. It is a direct challenge to the idea that you are suppose to settle into one particular area. While I doubt that this specific phenomenon will catch on, our society is becoming more mobile.  People are becoming less tied down to one specific area. The Millennial generation is changing many of the previous social norms. The Millennial generation is waiting longer than any previous generation to marry and start a family. Many are even questioning the institution of marriage itself.  Members of the older generations, will decry these changes. This is a familiar cycle that occurs through out history. The Older generation always decries the changes instituted by the Younger generation.

Unit 3:

Shines insight on stereotypes that are commonly used throughout the world. Reading this article really made me think about stereotypes that are so commonly used they are considered acceptable. It's a ridiculous idea to think that all people under a culture act and behave the same way. 

UNIT 3 CULTURE

This article is written to compare and contrast various ways to teach young school children about global cultures. On one hand, we can relate all cultures to each other, due to their common goals and views. For example, all families around the world aim to do what's best for each other, love and cherish one another, and try their hardest to succeed economically. On the other hand, cultures are extremely different around the world, with different music, clothing, and underlying views on life. We can continue to say that popular culture has diffused so greatly, with advanced technologies and means of transportation, so it has influenced and homogenized our landscape quite a bit. Folk culture is obviously still a powerful force, but popular culture does have some effects around the world. I believe that children need to understand the importance of maintaining diversity thy preserving folk culture but they also need to acknowledge the pros and cons of the global diffusion of popular culture and how it connects us at a global scale. 

I think Teaching Cultural Empathy: Stereotypes, World Views and Cultural Difference is a helpful article for teachers to read. This article considers ideas I constantly come back to, whilst collecting resources and ideas for teaching students about cultural diversity and identity. How do I teach students, that ‘people and cultures are different all over the world’ (Dixon, 2015, April 2), but also the same?

Dixon suggests that we need to teach that people and cultures worldwide are the SAME and DIFFERENT simultaneously.  In this way, students can appreciate the rich diversity of cultures and societies, whilst at the same time learning values of humanity and empathy, which unite us all.

I believe by recognising and appreciating the rich cultures of students in the classroom, we can explore and learn about cultural diversity in an honest, rich and non-stereotypical way and allow students to feel valued at the same time. In addition, as students know each other, this helps them relate to ‘people from other places, who speak other languages’ and follow different religions to their own (Dixon, 2015, April 2). Furthermore, this should help increase intercultural understanding in the classroom by developing a ‘socially cohesive’ environment that ‘respects, and appreciates cultural, social and religious diversity’ (MYCEETA, p. 7).

References

Dixon, S. (2015, April 2). Teaching cultural empathy: Stereotypes, world views and cultural difference. National Geographic. Retrieved April 7, 2015, http: http://blog.education.nationalgeographic.com/2015/02/04/teaching-cultural-empathy-stereotypes-world-views-and-cultural-difference/

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training, and Youth Affairs. (2008, December). Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians. Melbourne: Author. 

Why do Indians love Cricket? As with most modern day countries, colonialism has something to do with it. However, the British never intended to promote Cricket in India. It was the local elite of India that first pushed to incorporate the game into Indian culture. Desperate to gain the prestige that the British attached to the game, the elite began the practice of playing Cricket in India. In the years following independence, the game has spread to the other classes of Indian society. The game has become the national pastime for the nation.

this is an interesting reason for a game to spread. it was a game played by the elite, so it never really lost the appeal of being a sport of the rich.

i have tried to watch a cricket match before but it seemed so odd, i dont really fully understand the game but the people playing (especially inians) were playing more than a game, for them it seemed like they were playing for their country and it was a great honor to them. unlike a sport like soccer where people play for other countries teams.

In Venezuela, women are confronted with a culture of increasingly enhanced physiques fueled by beauty pageants and plastic surgery. The man at the beginning says that inner beauty does not exist and that's something that women who are not pretty invented just to justify themselves. This man happens to be the leader of the Miss Venezuela pageant. Another interesting thing he tells us is that in the rules of this contest, the girls don't have to be completely natural. They just have to be beautiful, but where that beauty comes from doesn't matter. For many people in Venezuela, beauty means perfection. Even though Venezuela's economic struggles mount, the search for an idealized and often inflated figure continues. Mannequins are being pumped up to match their outsized human counterparts. One of the workers at the clothing store says that when they had less developed mannequins, they sold less. So not only were mannequins being portrayed as busty because it was the ideal image, but because it also made them more money.

Venezuela added a whole new level to the unrealistic beauty standards that mess with some females minds. Putting these mannequins in numerous stores is just sickening. At least in the United States when we go to the mall, we don’t have a model staring us down (unless you’re in Victoria Secret). Yet, what is even worse is that the sales actually went up in one of the stores that introduced these mannequins according to the cashier. The only heartening bit of this clip was the cashier who actually went against societal norms by holding inner beauty above outer beauty.

A large part of me can’t grasp why more people don’t believe in inner beauty. As the 28 year old who looked like she was about to have surgery aptly stated, it is all due to “social pressure.” Yet, the last women interviewed about her body image caused by “social pressure” said she will never be “fully satisfied.” In fact, she already wants to get another boob job. If one realizes she will never be happy trying to chase the ridiculous standards of beauty, then why do it? The pressure will never get any better if you’re unfilled to begin with and going along the same path again is just nonsense. Yet, none of those women seemed to really ponder the norm. It’s why I wasn’t even remotely amazed that when asked “where this standard of beauty came from,” the male hand an answer and the female didn’t. At the same time though my parents raised me to understand there is more to outer beauty. So it is easy for me to pick apart their logic partly due to my social environment.     

I think it is amazing to think how much one person can stand behind the scenes and yet play such a huge role in how a whole country sets its standards for beauty. I feel sorry for the women of Venezuela, they are being sold a lie.