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ChristinaS

Page history last edited by Christina Shoaf 14 years, 3 months ago

 

 

Week 15

Final Wiki Assignment: (500+ words) Using Wise as your source, post about what you have taken away from the readings and discussions in this class. What have learned about yourself or others cultures/co-cultures? What insights, if any, have you experienced? Feel free to discuss several different topics but remember to cite the text (any chapter is fine).

 

            During this semester I have taken many concepts and words of wisdom from Wise and have applied them to my everyday rituals. For instance in chapter one Wise dedicated a section to identity, he mentioned two concepts that I thought were the same “Personal Habits” and “Cultural Habits.”  Personal habits are the way I do certain things without thinking (Wise, 2008, pg.12). Cultural Habits are the way we do certain things without thinking (Wise, 2008, pg.12). See the difference between cultural and personal habits are; that cultural has to do with how a group of people think and personal have to do with how an individual thinks. For instance my personal habits would be putting on deodorant after bathing, while on the cultural side of things, some Indian cultures do not believe in wearing deodorant. This shows that my personal habits would not be tolerated by the Indian’s culture habits. After finding out why people’s cultural habits may be opposite from my personal habits. I learned that each culture has its own ways of thinking when it comes to cultural and personal hygiene.

I liked chapter 4 more than others because it emphasized the importance of music. It even took time to point out the real creators or originators of certain genres. For instance in the Lipsitz states: "White Americans have demonstrated many times a pathological need to control, contain, and even take credit for Black culture," (Wise, 2008, pg.83). For example in a film called Cadillac Records they play out a scene where Chuck Berry and black man who sang rock and rock was discriminated against and even had some of his material stolen by white artist. In the film the club pro-motors didn't believe that a man of his stature could have possibly made this type of music. This example showed that music was not good until the listeners found out what culture was really producing the music that they listened too. But today this is not the case, we have a wide variety of music and can listen to anything we like, as well as give credit where credit is due.

Another topic that interests me was the concept Deterritorialize: which means to erase or suppress the makers of a territory (Wise, 2008, pg.15). This made me think about the time when slaves were limited to the amount of group interaction they could have. The one meeting place that they created was the church. And out of hate whites would frequently burn the churches or bomb them, in order to get rid of black and also to scare them. This concept taught me that territory is only temporary and is usually separated by cultures. From the discussions and readings I have learned life lessons. This class has helped me to become more expressive and opinionated about cultural topics. I have also become interested in many of my classmates ways of thinking when addressing the discussions. I enjoyed all the experiences and teaching that this class had to offer and I hope that when I go other places I can open their eyes to some of these topics that are often thought about but never fully discussed.

 

Week 13

Option #1: How do you define your own cultural/co-cultural territories? Be specific and use examples.

 

 

     In this chapter of “Territories of Cultural Globalization,” I came across the concept of audiotopias which basically consist of cultures creating their own cultural space where they can spend their leisure time. In the chapter they introduce the chapter by stating “These territories are intimate, local, and global, and the means by which we territorialize can consist of a myriad of signs and markers, each within their own histories and trajectories (some quite global),” (Wise, 2008, pg.108). I would define my cultural territory as a place of reflection and forgiveness, with a group of people who share the same beliefs as me. An example of this would be church, during the slave days African Americans would gather together for church, but their church did not just consist of reading the bible, it also included gospel music. Gospel music is a kind of Christian music that is known to be very rhythmic and has been was created by West Africans during the slavery. Gospel music served as an outlet for slaves to express their joy and sometimes convey secret messages through song. But today church is a place where I can rejoice in gospel music with other Christians (those of who are mainly black). It our personal territory creation that can not be corrupted by outsiders, it is also a creation that has been embraced by many non-black Americans. Because of the up beat tempos and the strong and melodic vocalist that sing the songs. This territory is a safe and positive place where my culture can enjoy each others company and focus on one person who gave his life for us.

 

Week 12

Option #1: Select one song or artist/band or genre of music that you would use to exemplify your personal or a co-culture you belong to and the role it plays in signaling who you “are.” Be specific and use examples.

 

 

     As I read through this chapter called Global Music, I came across a quote from the music scholar Kun stating “music is experienced not only as sound that goes into our ears and vibrates through our bones but as a space that we enter into, encounter, move around in, inhabit, be safe in, learn from,” (Wise, 2008, pg.77). This quote brings back memories of music that moves my soul and defines my co-culture. I listen to many different genre’s of music but my favorite would have to be acoustic. The artist that exemplifies my co-culture would be India Arie, who has a song called “I am not my hair.” This song talks about the basic hair styling’s that women do to their hair. But the point she is trying to get across is that with or without hair it does not define that person. In this song they mentioned women who have encountered breast cancer, and inspired them to be comfortable with or without hair. The reason this particular song hits home for me is because I have had two family members who have passed away from breast cancer. In the song India Arie says “Breast Cancer and Chemotherapy took away her crown and glory,” this displays how some people might feel when losing their hair during cancer, but as the throughout the song she encourages women to be strong and embrace the there beauty, because beauty is not your hair. This song plays the role of instilling appreciation for the characteristics that we have on the inside.

 

 

 

 

Week 11 Question 8

 

Wise and Kjeldgaard (pp. 71-72) discuss the idea of the “consumptionscape” – how we construct our culture through the act of consuming local, regional, national, or global goods. Within the context of this chapter - describe your own consumptionscape and how it impacts your cultural self.

 

     The reading gives many examples about the idea of consumptionspace. One of the examples talked about how “the urban youth in Greenland don’t see themselves within this discourse of deprivation,” (Wise, 2008, pg.72). Basically meaning that others may see them as deprived or lacking consumption, but in their minds they believe their life is the same as other youths. For example when I was younger my mom had me attend schools in predominately rich areas. I attended these schools because my mom worked at a well known law firm and she wanted me to be close to her. I was looked at differently right off the bat because I was black and because of the area in which I was living in. My teachers gave me more attention than the other students because they assumed that my educational background would not be like the other students. But once they saw that my understanding of the material was above most students they started to treat me as equal. Because they judged me based on my skin color and location, they felt that I was deprived of their standard of education capabilities. As a person who has spent most of her life around other who are not like me, I have managed to consume the proper education that most assume black are deprived of. So my consumptionspace comes in the form of defying all odds and graduating from San Jose State University.

 

 

Week 10

Often the media we consume reflects our culture(s). Select a television program or movie that embodies or bridges your culture(s) or co-culture(s). Describe that particular cultural aspect(s), explain why you think that TV program or movie is a good representation of your co/culture, and how this links into the text.

 

            Wise states, “Your “true self” is your genetic heritage,” (Wise, 2008, pg.13). While this holds to be true I also believe that we add to our own heritage as well as culture. For instance I am a female basketball player who does not fit the typical stereotype of a female basketball player being lesbian. If I were to select a movie that reflects my culture I would pick “Love & Basketball.” This move displays a black woman who plays and loves the game of basketball, and when it comes to dating she doesn’t quite approach it like most teens. She starts to catch feeling for her childhood friend and next door neighbor Quincy, who also happens to be the star of high school basketball. The fact that Monica is a black female and is interested in ball and only ball, describes the mindset that I had all the way through high school onto today. Most teenagers are focused on being in a relationship. While Monica on the other hand sees basketball as her relationship and her first love, until Quincy comes around and shows interest. She then has to learn how to cop with her feelings for basketball as well as her feeling for Quincy. This is the closets representation I could think of that was a black female who played basketball and still immolates my culture.

 

Week 9 (Wise)

Strategic essentialism is a way to express an “essential identity” (which in practicality do not exist) but it is important to express that identity (gender, race, ethnicity, etc) at a particular time and place (p. 14). See text for examples.

Recall a time and place where you either practiced strategic essentialism or witnessed it practiced by a friend, relative, or co-worker (not in the media or via hearsay). Be specific. How did it make you feel? Was it effective?

 

            Wise touches on many topics in chapter one, and goes on to introduce the chapter as “stories of the struggle for identity; to find out for oneself who one is, and to be that in the face of what everyone else seems to think you should be,” (Wise, 2008, pg.2). I have seen many examples of individuals in high school hiding their sexual preference from parents, family, friends, and peers. As a teenager I was involved in a traveling basketball team, so most my time was spent around females. We were on the road a lot so majority of our time during the summer was spent together as a team, playing against other female traveling teams. This is where I met my good friend Donnie, we pretty much hung out all the time, even when we weren’t playing basketball. During our down time we would go to the movies and engage in other activities that teenagers did. I started to notice a clothing pattern when I was hanging out with Donnie, she would dress more feminine when we hung out with her parents and more masculine clothing when she would hangout with me. This was starting to confuse me because I thought it was just a phase, but it seemed like she was trying to hide this identity from her parents. The next year came around and she started dressing like a boy everyday, and she finally gave in and told her parents that she liked females. Donnie expressed to me that it was difficult to walk around dressed as a girl because it wasn’t apart of her identity. She didn’t want to tell her parents because they would always push her to dress in female clothing and talk to more boys. But dating boys was not what made Donnie happy, so by telling her parents what her sexual preference helped lift a heavy burden off of her back, and freed her of hiding her sexual identity as a lesbian.

 

 

 

Week 8

The telegraph changed reality by, for the first time, separating transportation from communication. This had many capitalism to the idea of the multilevel transformative nature of technology. Impacts ranging from the development of monopoly

Ideology of the internet – how has it changed reality (culture/communication) in general and for you specifically?

 

            The internet has changed culture and communication drastically. Modes of communication in the past took more time to get from point A to point B. internet has given our culture the ability to stay in contact with family, friends and business people across the world. The sources of communication that we now use can be received and sent within seconds. We have access to large amounts of internet communication tools like email, instant message, blogs, video chat, etc. Cultures now have more than one way send and receive messages, and are no longer limited to the telephone or mail services. Internet has also added to the ways that we can communicate, giving us alternatives as to how we choose to communicate daily. In the reading Carey says “the future is often regarded as cause for a revitalization of optimism,” (Carey, 2006, pg.134). I think this statement set the road map for inventions that have changed the reality of culture and communication, pushing us from generation of the telegraph to the present day internet.

 

 

 

Week 6

Carey (p.152) states that "we are awash now in nostalgia for the future." In what ways does your nostalgia for the future impact the present? That is, unlike nature, we construct our worlds teleologically (designed or directed toward a final result). How are your actions now designed to create you specific future? Please avoid generalities dealing with education to get a better or good job, make you smarter, etc.

 

 

In chapter 7 Carey brings up a term “nostalgia” which is basically defined as longing for the past or the pursuit of happiness. This term affects how we display our actions going towards the future. For example, when my grandmother passed away from breast cancer in December of 2000, I made it my highest priority and goal to do what makes me happy and surround myself with positive people. My grandmother lived a life where she was always happy and doing things to make her and others happy. I remember one day when I came home from school I saw grandmother mowing the lawn with a face mask on. She was just in her beginning stages of cancer, but she still wasn’t allowed to do certain things and mowing the grass was one of them. But she couldn’t stand seeing her lawn look a mess, so she decided to do what would make her happy and mowed the lawn. This is just one basic example that showed me that you have to live doing what keeps you happy. From middle school on I have done the things that make me smile, which consist of getting good grades, playing basketball, staying connected with family and only associating myself with friends who have positive outlooks on life. In the reading I came across a quote that said “Keep the faith, lift your eyes from today’s troubles, things are bad but the good old future is about to arrive and straighten things out,” (Carey, 2006, pg.152). From this quote I see the inspiration that my grandmother lived her life through. This in turn motivates me each day to do as I please, laugh and smile more, and stay positive through all of life’s trials and tribulations.

 

 

Week 5

Compare and contrast your own space-binding and time-binding cultural aspects. Which of your cultural characteristics fit into each category? Be specific and concentrate on just one or two in each category.

 

     Both space binding and time binding are apart of my culture. According to (Carey, 2006, pg.122) space binding is a culture whose predominant interest was in space- land as real estate, voyage, discovery, movement, expansion, empire, control. My space binding culture consist of check ing the daily updated stories that they post on the openning page of my AOL email account. Reading these daily stories give me the chance to be updated on local news, entertainment, lifestyle tips, etc. This is considered space binding because it allows all those who check their email to also receive the news and other facts for the day.

     My time binding cultural aspect would have to fall under the verbal basketball techniques. During practice, meetings and workouts my coaches and teammate revert to past and present techniques that former basketball players have used to enhance their basketball skills. For example our weight coaches always emphasis the importance of footwork and how past basketball players excuted certain drills. Time binding as stated by (Carey, 2006, pg. 123) has to do with "cultures with interests in time- history, continuity, permanence, contraction, whose symbols were fiduciary, oral, mythopoetic, religious.....". Space binding has to do more with media and how it expands daily, while time binding is more about history and continuing the ritual. But bot of them compare because they both consist of something that you incorporate into your culture wether it is taught to you or simply in your everyday presence.

 

 

Week 4

 

How will new technology affect the development of your future “cultural-self?” Using technological developments of past “communication revolutions,” project into the future. Think about how culture in the past might have been influenced by the technology of the time and how new technologies (say in 15 years – 2024) might impact our personal cultural selves. Try to use specific, rather than general, historical references or concepts from the text.

 

            In the reading Carey states “Electricity can give us universally high standards of living, new and amusing kinds of jobs, leisure, freedom and an end to drudgery, congestion, noise, smoke, and filth” (Carey,2006,p.100). This sounds like the standard of living that we will probably reach in the next 15 years. As technology continues to advance I think about the writing formats that we have progressed to. In 1868 the first type writer was invented by Christopher Latham Sholes, this was considered to be the most useful business tool before computers were invented. Now we have a different generation where computers are the main business tools and typewriters are no longer used. The progression of computers are changing everyday, this tend to change my self culture. Because I deal with computers on a daily bases and they are constantly being improved, it is next to impossible for me to keep up with the latest and newest functions on the computer. Carey talks about the goal of going towards a new environment (Carey, 2006, p.91). In 15 years I see computer technology being so advance that we no longer have to used keyboards to type our thoughts or documents. Computers will be so advance that all we will have to do is think and our thoughts will be processed as we type today. This would save me much more time in the future because typing papers are a hassle and it will also speeded up the my thought process.

 

Week 3

 

What is the “value” of a college degree? Why did you choose to attend college and what are your expectations (specific or general) for earning a degree?

 

           The value of a college degree to me means that I have completed the highest education and also become an expert in a certain field. A college degree can shows that you are equipped with the skills to complete task in a specified field. A college degree to me means that I will be able to apply for good paying jobs and enter a career that I know about. The values of this degree, shows my hard work and dedication that was put forth to obtain the title of becoming a communication major.

 

 

The reason that I decided to attend college was, to get further educated and give myself all the possibilities of working in any job institution that I wanted. I also wanted to participate in colligate sports, so that I could compete with the best of the best and become a student of the game of college basketball. The expectations of being a student athlete is quite demanding, we are asked to maintain grades and dedicate the rest of our time to the sport that we are playing. Being in college and playing basketball has helped me to stay on track to achieve my goal one day becoming a college basketball coach. Majoring in communications will give me the tools that I need to communicate with my future players effectively, playing on the basketball team has opened my eyes to different styles of play and has also given me a chance to see the ins and outs of college basketball. In conclusion attending college and receiving my degree will be the gateway ticket to the life that I planned for myself.

 

Week 2

What communication rituals do you practice? Interrogate a media based communication ritual - trace its origins - where did it come from? How did you create/adopt this ritual?

 

 

 

Communication rituals are a big part of my life, especially now that I have been away at college. During my years in High school I would use a communication tool called AOL instant messenger. I would use instant message simply because it was a way to chat with my friends and not run up the phone bill, which my mom was always in my ear about.

 

 

            AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) was released in May of 1997; this is a messaging tool that is computer based and allows registered users to communicate in real time with other AIM users (http://www.answers.com/topic/aol-instant-messenger-1). It was created by AOL (America Online), which also supports text, chat, photo sharing, and online gaming (http://www.answers.com/topic/aol-instant-messenger-1). Since 1997, AIM has spread worldwide and people around the world are able to chat with friends and loved ones.

 

 

            AIM became apart of my life towards the end of my senior year. Everyone was going their separate ways and we wanted to keep in touch. So we all turned to AIM as an easy and accessible communication tool because it was on the internet as well as mobile devices. It is a great way for me to save money and still have full contact with my friends and family back home. The power of technology has provided me with an expanding social tool that has now become my communication ritual.

Comments (1)

Christina Shoaf said

at 11:24 pm on Sep 4, 2009

Communication rituals are a big part of my life, especially now that I have been away at college. During my years in High school I would use a communication tool called AOL instant messenger. I would use instant message simply because it was a way to chat with my friends and not run up the phone bill, which my mom was always in my ear about.

AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) was released in May of 1997; this is a messaging tool that is computer based and allows registered users to communicate in real time with other AIM users (http://www.answers.com/topic/aol-instant-messenger-1). It was created by AOL (America Online), which also supports text, chat, photo sharing, and online gaming (http://www.answers.com/topic/aol-instant-messenger-1). Since 1997, AIM has spread worldwide and people around the world are able to chat with friends and loved ones.

AIM became apart of my life towards the end of my senior year. Everyone was going their separate ways and we wanted to keep in touch. So we all turned to AIM as an easy and accessible communication tool because it was on the internet as well as mobile devices. It is a great way for me to save money and still have full contact with my friends and family back home. The power of technology has provided me with an expanding social tool that has now become my communication ritual.

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