What is culture? There are many academic definitions of culture and these definitions vary widely largely because the word “culture” is applied in different contexts. Based on the accumulated EDU604.90 course materials, the published definition I found that resonates best with me is from Schwartz (1993) as follows: “Culture consists of the derivatives of experience, more or less organized, learned or created by the individuals of a population, including those images or encodements and their interpretations (meanings) transmitted from past generations, from contemporaries, or formed by individuals themselves.” This is a sufficiently broad definition to incorporate all the perspectives we have covered in this class. I have also update my original mindmap created in Unit 1 of this course. Reference: Theodore Schwartz et al. (eds.) (1993). New Directions in Psychological Anthropology. [Online]. Publications of the Society for Psychological Anthropology. (No. 3). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available from: Cambridge Books Online <http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511621857

Additional Reference I located an excellent reference source called, “What is Culture? A Compilation of Quotations” by Helen Spencer-Oatey (2012). Recognizing the variable definitions and interpretations over the course of history, Spencer-Oatey compiled a detailed overview broken down into twelve key characteristics of culture as follows: Culture is manifested at different layers of depth Culture affects behavior and interpretations of behavior Culture can be differentiated from both universal human nature and unique individual personality Culture influences biological processes Culture is associated with social groups Culture is both an individual construct and a social construct Culture is always both socially and psychologically distributed in a group, and thus demarcations are imprecise Culture has both universal (etic) and distinctive (emic) elements Culture is learned Culture is subject to gradual change The various parts of a culture are all, to some degree, interrelated Culture is a descriptive not an evaluative concept I found these to be an excellent reflection of what we have covered. Reference: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts. Available at GlobalPAD Open House http://go.warwick.ac.uk/globalpadintercultural

Conservative/Liberal Race & Ancestry Family Origin Parents Extended family Values Appearance Mind map Socioeconomic Media in general Role models Evolving Geography Inherent stereotypes Climate Culture Ethnicity Traditions Music Appearance Education Type Dedication Language Religion Ritual Historical context Current Relevance Location Accessibility Quality Approach Literature Teachers Type Dogma Conservative/Liberal