Just Mercy Discussion and Unit 2 Review

As students enter class, please take out Just Mercy and look for examples of how the culture constructs the dynamics of the death penalty in the US.

For the Discussion, please keep in mind these criteria:

Just Mercy Chapters 3-4:

Thinking like a symbolic interactionist, how does the language used by the police affect Walter?  How can the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis apply to the interaction between Walter and the police? 

The norms and subculture of death row.

Norms of death row

Norms of trials in deep south.

How institutions reproduce culture.

How institutions like Supreme Court can change culture.

Culture of death penalty in AL and the institution of politics

Cultural values (usefulness, practicality, self-help, individualism) create norms of intolerance

Real culture vs. ideal culture

For thought:

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pg 90-91 “…we would never think it was humane to pay someone to rape people convicted of rape or assault and abuse someone guilty of assault or abuse.  Yet we are comfortable killing people who kill, in part because we think we can do it in a manner that doesn’t implicate our own humanity, the way that raping or abusing someone would.  I couldn’t stop thinking that we don’t spend much time contemplating the details of what killing someone actually involves.”

Review for Unit 2:

Identify the following reactions to culture:

            Culture Shock -

           

Ethnocentrism -

            Cultural Relativity –

How is culture like a fish bowl?

What is material culture?

Why is it important?

           

What are examples of symbolic culture? 

Why is it necessary to understand symbolic culture? 

            What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis? What are examples of it in our culture?

            “Social Time; The Heartbeat of a Culture” by Levine and Wolf. 

Norms 

Folkways

Mores

Taboos

           

            Moral holidays

Moral holiday places

Sanctions

What is a subculture?

            What is a counter culture?

            Kohl’s Values Americans Live By.

            

            Why are values important to a culture?

            What are the US values?

            What is ideal culture?

            What is real culture?

            What is a value cluster?

            What is a value contradiction?

Dan Buettner's Thrive.

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Bemused in America and in Sociology...

Takeaway From Yesterday:
(number 5) Do you see how these values might shape your daily life? Can you give an example?

Today:  
Please open to page 22 and read the first artice "Supermarkets".  Annotate for examples of American values from the list below (or from your packet).

Today we talked about Bemused in America.  The article shows how someone from a country relatively similar to the United States, Germany(Western, industrialized, Democratic) can find many cultural differences that are quizzical and strange to him. These differences can be attributed to the different values that Americans have. For example, think about the Supermarket article. We like 24 hr stores because it is practical and efficient to have stores open all night and it allows us to control our time and shop whenever we want.  Here is the list of values (once again) that we compared to what the German author finds strange:

Kohl's "Values Americans Live By" is a really succinct explanation of American values.

American Values                                        vs.Other Cultures’ Values
Personal control/responsibility                   vs Fate/destiny
Change seen as natural/positive/Progress  vs. Stability/tradition
Time and its control                                     vs. Human Interaction
Equality/fairness                                          vs. Hierarchy/rank/status
Individualism/independence/freedom   vs. Group welfare/dependence
Self-Help/initiative                                    vs. Birthright/inheritance
Competition                                               vs. Cooperation
Future orientation                                     vs. Past orientation
Action/work                                                vs. “Being”
Informality                                                 vs. Formality
Directness/openness/Honesty                    vs. Indirectness/ritual/”face”
Practicality/efficiency                                 vs. Idealism/theory
Materialism/Acquisitiveness                        vs. Spiritualism/detachment
Achievement/Success                                   vs. Acceptance/Status Quo
Morality/judgement                        vs.Consequentialism/situational ethics


And here is how other cultures view American culture. Many cultures have "American" themed parties based on their perception of American culture.

And here is an Australian's perspective of strange things Americans do.

Odyssey Day 1 - Henhouse Prowlers

I was so excited to hear that the Henhouse Prowlers were performing at Odyssey 2018!  They are a blue grass band that I have seen over the years at other local performances (shout out to Capannari Ice Cream Shop in Mt Prospect).

The band explained the roots (culture) of blue grass and how the music does not include drums, but instead uses their voices and other instruments like a mandolin to create beats and harmonies.

The band not only performed but also spoke sociologically about their music and their experiences.  Aaron Dorfmann, SHS alum even gave sociology a shout out when he talked about following your passions.

The band spoke about travelling the world and how the US has a program to spread American culture around the globe.  The band has been to Eastern Europe including Russia and Turkmenistan and also to Africa including Niger and Mauritania.  They learned how hard it is to translate some things from English into other languages (as in their name - "prowler" presented a difficulty).  They also learned an appreciation for other countries' music.  In Niger they learned a folk song that they performed in the original language.

“Don’t fear loss. “ great advice from Henhouse Prowlers by way of Rogers Park to Uganda to Stevenson! Welcome back Aaron Dorfmann Thanks for the shout out to sociology! And the culture lesson! #Odyssey pic.twitter.com/HoYG5cullc

— Chris Sal (@Sociologysal) February 6, 2018