Lesson 7: Day 1 God Grew Tired of Us

HW: Read Dan Buettner's Thrive  For 2 days from now.

In order to better understand the culture that we live in, sometimes it is easier to examine those in a different culture to find revelations about our own culture.  Like the fishbowl metaphor, if the fishbowl is our culture, we are like the fish swimming in it.  That makes it very difficult to notice the water.  So, to help us become more sociologically mindful about the ways that our own culture influences us, let us examine refugees who are from a completely different culture.  To do this, we will watch the documentary "God Grew Tired of Us."  (Click here to watch the movie via mediacast Start from 12:45, and today we will watch roughly 30 min).  Think of it like an ethnography where you get to follow Sudanese refugees to examine all the ways that they have to adjust to American culture.  Pay special attention to the values that are so difficult to adjust to.

When I was in undergrad at Loyola University Chicago, we had a class where we got to meet with Lost Boys and hear about their struggle.   Here is a website dedicated to the Lost Boys of Sudan in Chicago.  This movie wasn't out yet though.  But then, a few years ago my mom happened to meet and talk to one of the lost boys in the film and she recommended it to me for sociology.  I'm so thankful to her for that. Anyway, in the movie we see numerous cultural differences.

To speak about culture in a more distinct way, think in terms of the way sociologists might explain all the components of culture; culture is made up of material culture as well as the nonmaterial: gestures, language, norms, mores, folkways, taboos, values.

As you watch:  

• Describe the cultural differences that the Sudanese men experienced using those concepts.  
• Have you ever met anyone from a different country? 
• Did you notice or discuss any cultural differences? 
• What component of culture (from the terms above) did those differences fall under?