LIR 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Vedas, Culture Of Asia, Chronemics
5 Jun 2018
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Lecture 1
Global Village (Marshall McLuhan)- Instant digital communication gives us access to each other
similarly to a small village
● Effects of New Media
○ All of our actions have an immediate reaction (everyone will know about it)
○ Everyone has access to our information that we choose to share with them
● Control vs. Understanding
○ Our main priority needs to be understanding that we can’t focus where the old
mechanical age used to focus when it comes to mechanics
■ Try to understand others and the system itself
● Mechanical vs. Electrical
○ We have to adapt and develop understanding
○ Mechanical-control others
○ Electrical-understand others
● Retribalization
○ Can lead to fragmentation
Martin and Nakayama (2007)
● Technological Imperative
○ Responsible use of technology
○ We don’t want to let our technology work the way we think about other languages
and cultures
● Demographic Imperative
○ Not everyone is connected to the internet
○ Privilege to access technology (not everyone has the privilege)
■ Access to information can be beneficial but can also limit the kinds of
topics we have knowledge on
● Economic Imperative
○ Important to have intercultural relations for economic benefit
■ International trade (shouldn’t be ignorant towards those we’re trying to
establish trade relationships with, can also get ripped off if we don’t know
how to negotiate in their culture)
● Self-Awareness Imperative
○ Becoming a better person by paying attention to distinctions of cultures
● Ethical Imperative
○ Conflicts arise from cultural ideas of what is right and wrong
Language and Intercultural Relations
● “Electric” Multilingualism vs. “Mechanical” Lingua Franca
○ Electric Multilingualism
○ Goal is to understand, not predict and master
■ Not just about knowing english and being able to get by
■ Learning a new language
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
○ Lingua Franca- Language of wider communication (English is the global version)
● Intercultural Competence
○ Working towards fluency
○ Learning about other cultures, not just the language
“That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and any other
habits acquired by humans who are members of society” -Edward B Tylor
“Our personal philosophy of life and the universe determines how we define reality and how we
act”- Jane Suderman
Lecture 2
WEEK 2 – Reading 1: Klopf & McCroskey (2007) - Culture: The Heart of Diversity
Culture: Complex whole, incl. knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, any other habits
acquired by human members of a society
- Edward B. Tylor (anthropologist) 1871
Broad Version of Culture – Consisting of non-biological parts of human life, environment
made by humans
1. Artifacts
2. Sociofacts
3. Mentifacts
Narrow Version of Culture – Acquired knowledge used to interpret experience and generate
behavior; rules for existing in our society
Learned – Behavior in culture is learned in early in life by parents/ other adults who are
important
Shared – Cultural patterns bind us together as an identifiable group; live harmoniously together
Adapted – Culture is an adaptation to surroundings; develop to conform to environmental
conditions and to available natural and technological resources
Explicit/Implicit – Cultures made of overt, explicit ways of behaving, feeling, and acting and
covert, implicit ways of behaving, feeling, and reacting
Changeability – Cultures constantly undergo change
Why Culture Changes
1. Cultural Borrowing – Cultures borrow heavily from other cultures
2. Disasters/Crises – Natural disasters (earthquakes) alter people's behavior
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
3. Environmental Reasons – Population growth, amount of arable land, industry
Ethnocentrism – Our culture is the center of everything, cultural traits seen as
natural/correct/superior to others
Cultural Universals – George Murdock conceived a list of 73 cultural universals considered a
part of every culture known to history or ethnography. Can add more to the list now
Cultural Impact on Life – 1. What is a Human's Relation to Nature?
2. What is the Modality of Human Activity?
3. What is the Temporal Focus of Human Life?
4. What is the Character of Innate Human Nature?
5. What is the Relationship of the Individual to Others?
WEEK 2 – Reading 2: Suderman (2008) - Understanding Worldview
Worldview: Translated literally from the German word "Weltanschauung."
● Refers to our personal philosophy of life and the universe; how we define reality/act
Culture's worldview = what it collectively believes & what it collectively remembers.
a) Belief systems
-spiritual/ philosophical traditions/ ideologies from which stem values
b) Historical experience
-memories of collective past, idealized/ fraught with challenges/ persecution/ both
Worldview + territoriality is core of conflict; worldview not easily altered + fundamental to
worth/identity
Spiritual Traditions: Belief systems based on questions about the meaning of life, origins,
purpose, & nature.
5 Powerful Religious and Philosophical Traditions
1. Hinduism
· Most ancient of world's major religions
· Oldest scripture [Vedas] 3k- 4k yrs. ago contain teachings and formulas for rituals;
MORE centered on ritual/ worship
· Brahman, the Supreme Being, the source of universal life, the soul of the world.
· Up to 33 million gods kept alive through thousands of years of storytelling.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Global village (marshall mcluhan)- instant digital communication gives us access to each other similarly to a small village. All of our actions have an immediate reaction (everyone will know about it) Everyone has access to our information that we choose to share with them. Our main priority needs to be understanding that we can"t focus where the old mechanical age used to focus when it comes to mechanics. Try to understand others and the system itself. We have to adapt and develop understanding. We don"t want to let our technology work the way we think about other languages and cultures. Not everyone is connected to the internet. Privilege to access technology (not everyone has the privilege) Access to information can be beneficial but can also limit the kinds of topics we have knowledge on. Important to have intercultural relations for economic benefit.
