Discussion Post

First, make sure that you have read the reading assignment - Universals, Culturals, Personals.  Next, visit the "How To Tell If You're An American" website by clicking on the link provided http://www.zompist.com/amercult.html.  Explore the American list, then select two other cultures and read through those lists.  You will see a sentence that says, "These pages are all organized by nation or culture. Robert Delaney has put up an interesting page with the same information organized by subject."  Click on the last part and you can choose a subject and compare the differences between various cultures

For our first discussion, I want you to think about what "American culture" means.  As you understand from your reading of Universals, Culturals, Personals, we are dealing with the Culturals level.  Everyone will have individual distinct differences from the list that fall in the Personals level.  Also, please note that some information on the lists is getting somewhat dated (examples, some of the celebrities or television shows listed). However, I think overall the site still has a lot of merit and is worth exploring.  Once you've explored the site, answer the following questions in an initial post to the discussion board.

• 1.    What did you think of the American list?  Did you find the information to be generally accurate?  What caught your attention?  Try not to get too caught up if you disagree with one or two things on the list (Personals level).  I'm curious if you feel that overall the list describes Americans.
• 2.    Obviously, pop culture changes all of the time and some of the examples given may be dated.  Who or what would you include as examples of TV shows, actors, etc., to illustrate the U.S. dominant culture today?
• 3.    What other cultures did you choose?  What caught your attention?  Did you find anything listed within those cultures that you wish that the dominant American culture followed?  Why?
• 4.    What would you add to the American list?
• 5.    Think about the reading you did in chapter 1 of our textbook.  Does this list stereotype Americans?  Why or why not?  What is the difference between generalizing and stereotyping?  (Make sure to carefully read that section in the text.)  How do we avoid stereotyping and yet study culture?  How are they different?