Week 2- “what is culture”
Actions for ‘Assignment 1, Week 2- “what is culture”’
Created by Jingwen Huo on 23 July, 2016 18:40
Culture is a difficult term to define. It can be defined in a lot of ways, for example The Centre for Advance Research on Language Acquisition defined culture as the
shared pattern of behaviours and interactions, cognitive constructs and understanding that are learned by socialization.
But in fact, culture is not that difficult to understand. The example of culture is in everywhere around us. Some people believe that culture is art, music, art
exhibitions and literature. But this is an incomplete understanding. Culture can also be shown in people’s daily life, such as what they wear, eat, speak and believe.
Culture is not only tangible things (material culture), it can also be thoughts or ideas, which is Nonmaterial culture.
Different countries have their own unique culture. Culture plays an important role in our lives and affects people in many ways. It influences people in different
ways, leading to people from different countries having different food preference, activities, ideas, behaviours, lifestyles and life attitudes. For example, Chinese
people love eating dumplings; Australians prefer to eat fish and chip; Italians like pizza and pasta; which is the result of different diet-culture.
For prepare my tweet, I got lots of information from the internet and books. For example the book ‘Introduction to Sociology’ and ‘Preparing to Study Abroad: Learning
to Cross Cultures’ As well as from the experiences in my life. Since I left my own country at 16 and came to Australia, I have a relative understanding of culture. I
have a broad understanding of many different cultures and have learnt to accept the cultural differences of people which is important as it allows better communication
and cooperation with people of different cultures.
Reference:
• Opentextbc.ca. (2016). Chapter 3. Culture | Introduction to Sociology – 1st Canadian Edition. [online] Available at:
https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter3-culture/ [Accessed 22 Jul. 2016].
• Duke, S., Reinemund, S. and Bouyer, K. (n.d.). Preparing to study abroad.
• Giddens, A. (1996). Introduction to sociology. New York: W.W. Norton.
Week 3 Discussion on Culture and Identity
Actions for ‘Week 3 Discussion on Culture and Identity’
Created by Zac Richards on 26 July, 2016 09:21
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The image I have provided for this week, is a picture of a whole bunch of people at a barbecue together on Australia Day. I chose this image because I believe that a
fundamental part of the Australian identity, is the concept of mateship and togetherness. This is especially so, when it comes to an important day for Australia. We
don our blue, white and red colours, or our green and gold; and we gather up our mates and have a few snags on the barbie. This is significantly representative of the
way in which Australians may typically identify, as well as being a medium of cultural expression (in the form of having a barbecue and watching the cricket on
Australia Day). This is so, as being there for your mates is how we, as Australians, get through our lives. We are there for each other to celebrate life and all the
good things that come along with it. It’s that sense of community that is alive when we all get together with family and friends, to celebrate what is important to us.
As previously mentioned, mateship and togetherness is a fundamental part of the Australian identity; alongside with celebrating what life has to give us. To further
emphasize why mateship and togetherness are important parts of the Australian identity; I will give a contemporary example of how these qualities were practiced.
Earlier this year, in the North-West of Tasmania, floods destroyed farmland and homes across the entire region. The response that Tasmanians had was to roll up our
sleeves and help a mate out, who had lost something in those floods. This sense of mateship brought a sense of togetherness in the broader Tasmanian community; which
comes to show how mateship can be used to bring goodness to bad times.
To conclude, the image provided shows an intersection of Australian culture and Australian identity; in the form of having a barbecue on Australia Day with friends and
family. This photo reflects only a small fraction of what is it to be Australian.
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