1. Take a few moments to share your answers to the
homework from Module 5 with your classmates.
2. To begin our International journey in Part Two of
this course, we consider the first and second points of view listed below
today, and we confront the third point of view in the next module:
First, that of Chief Seattle, who said to mankind, we are one family, that our
family is a part of nature, and that nature is the mother of all life. The
Web of Life is a video that begins with this observation, and goes on to
consider the possibilities and dangers of genetic control.
Second, we examine the German viewpoint flowing from Adolf Hitler whose rise to
power enabled Germany to return to its military grandeur, but ultimately led
to the death of six million Jews.
Third, we anticipate the viewpoint of Joseph Campbell.
During the next module of instruction, Joseph Campbell will say in The Power of Myth - The Hero Adventure
that there is a universal theme across cultures about the role of
heroes. The hero is one who undergoes a transformation of self, perhaps
through some kind of trial or ordeal, and who is born anew within that
environment for which he or she has prepared himself.
The German point of view we see in today's class in the video
Conspiracy is clearly one of
ethnocentric behavior with destructive results. Chief Seattle's
viewpoint may be ethnocentric, but it has inclusive and constructive results. An
ethnocentric behavior is based upon values and norms learned exclusively at one's home, at the
feet of one's parents, in the schools of thought, conditioning, and morality
regarded as suited to a specific culture, usually the culture of one's
birth. Ethnocentric behavior takes as the rule or norm, that is
regarded as appropriate to the culture you grew up in. The German people
sought to establish a race of super people. The Northwest Indians sought
to establish a community at peace with neighbors and in harmony with environment
and nature.
The Hero Adventure will convey a view embodying cross-cultural
relativity. Although Joseph Campbell's Hero Adventure is
concerned with universality of individual behavior, it may be possible for
entire societies to conceive of themselves as taking part in "The Hero
Adventure."
Margaret Mead's And Keep Your Powder Dry is
about a kind of "hero adventure" which she feels the American culture is
uniquely qualified to undertake. This cross-cultural anthropologist, who lived among
Pacific islanders and then British society, distributed her book among British
and
American audiences. We begin to read AKYPD, that ultimately describes
how America is qualified "to build the world new," during the next module of
instruction.
3. Preview of forthcoming Country Reports: The
South American Country Report Team will
present their country report to the class during Module 6, Lesson Plan 2.
Country teams can expect to receive a team grade. Only team members who
meet criteria A are eligible to receive the team grade. The team grade will be based
on the perception and impact created by criteria B, C, D, and E.
A. Every team member has a speaking part.
B. The team should create and display visual or aural aids: (such as
maps, graphs, photos, use of PowerPoint, actual artifacts, music, dancing, etc.)
C. The team should consider the audience needs and interests by passing out to the
class audience something of value for everyone to take take home, or to take part in:
(such as handouts, food, skits, passport/visa/currency information, travel brochures,
etc.)
D. Your report should include a selection of items from both objective culture and
subjective culture. (Objective culture
includes man-made articles visible to the senses like clothing, food, tools, homes, and
capitol cities; subjective culture includes
man-made articles like music, language, religion, political systems and methods of
socialization like schooling, child-rearing practices, and gender relations.
E. Pre-brief the instructor according to the guidelines in number 5 in the Country
Reports Link on the PSY 119 Course Home Page.
The class members should expect to respond by recognizing the elements of
objective and subjective culture unique to Asia or an Asian country or countries. As
the result of this country report and other country reports, class members should be able
to synthesize their findings in such a way as to compare and contrast specific objective
and subjective elements of culture found on each continent.
1. Every culture has its strengths and weaknesses.
Wisdom suggests considering both and ignoring neither when seeking to discover
those values worthy of preservation in an emerging world culture. Some
cultures have sought racial supremacy, and with some disastrous results.
2. When sending soldiers to foreign shores, war brings
about culture shock between any two persons of considerable ethnocentric
diversity.
3. Cross-cultural relativism does not erase the perceived
and therefore real need to address ethnocentric differences.
Cross-cultural relativism provides the possibility for acknowledged differences,
and therefore opens the possibility for channels of communication not closed by
ethnocentric behavior.
4. The hero myth into which we peer in the next module does seem to
spillover into many societies.
1. Read Chapter Twenty-Eight "Gimme A Break! Patterns of
Cooperation Among Mexican-Americans, African Americans, and Anglo-Americans"
pages 148-151 in Cross-Cultural Perspectives in America. Answer the
following questions in your notebook:
