SOCS 350 - Week 3 and Week 4 Discussions: Take a Walk. All A Graded.

SOCS 350 - Week 3 and Week 4 Discussions: Take a Walk. All A Graded. Week 3 Take a Walk (graded) Let's start this discussion by sharing public observations. Spend time either walking around or sitting and watching people in a very busy public place. Look for things that you associate with people from race/ethnic, cultural, gender, and social-class backgrounds that are different from your own. Look for the kinds of common interactions or behaviors between different groups and those like your own. For example, do they acknowledge the other's presence if eye contact happens to occur? Do any behaviors change in the presence of other groups? Consider what you expect to see based on your assumptions and understandings about persons of different backgrounds (how you expect them to dress, walk, talk, interact with each other, interact with others, etc). Make note of those things that catch your attention. Pay special attention to what you don't see as well. In two to three paragraphs, share your observations with the class. Please begin your post with, "In my observation..." This section lists options that can be used to view responses. Collapse All Print View Show Options Responses Responses are listed below in the following order: response, author and the date and time the response is posted. Sort by Read/Unread Sort by Response Sorted Ascending, click to sort descending Sort by Author Sort by Date/Time* (an instructor response) Collapse Mark as Read Acculturation Professor Morgan Email this Author 9/14/2014 9:25:08 AM To begin the discussion this week, let's be sure we're on the same page, before you take a walk... Why is "acculturation" an important part of socialization? What does acculturation have to do with taking a walk? Collapse Mark as Read RE: Acculturation David Smeed Email this Author 9/14/2014 3:54:34 PM I think the aspect of acculturation is important to examine before completing this walk. Acculturation, in short, is defined as an ethnic or racial group accepting and practicing the ways of another culture, typically at the expense of their cultures traditional ways (DeVry University, 2014). This idea of acculturation is especially present throughout our society today. In a previous week’s discussion post, Professor Morgan provided a video clip of an Asian women and a Caucasian man talking about where they are from. The Asian woman in that video is an excellent example of the topic of acculturation in the United States. That woman may have been raised in a traditional American way with absolutely no ties to her family’s heritage, however, in America because of the way she appears, she will still be viewed as an Asian living in America. People may even be surprised if she doesn’t speak her native language or dress the way of that culture. To her, she is an American, no different than any other American born in the country. However, if she was to go to and meet her relatives, they would consider her to be associated with America more than Asia. This idea is important before we go out and observe different people. There are many people who look like they should be/ act different because of the way they appear, but, in reality; they may be just the same. One of the most crucial aspects of this walk will be to point out how people are similar, not different. So far we have discussed the importance of difference and diversity. I think the idea of acculturation is important because it can show that while someone may look different, it doesn’t mean that they are different. If we can understand that while many people have differences in subcultures (with varying beliefs, values, etc.), appearance should absolutely not be the way in which someone tries to identify which sub-group they ascribe to. Everyone is different, but appearance (encompassing gender, race, clothing, etc.) should be the last thing that people look at when examining those differences. Reference DeVry University. (2014). Week 3 lecture: Acculturation. Retrieved from Collapse Mark as Read RE: Acculturation Virginia Smith Email this Author 9/14/2014 7:48:31 PM Webster defines acculturation as cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture. Understanding acculturation will impact the way individuals view other people. (an instructor response) Collapse Mark as Read RE: Acculturation Professor Morgan Email this Author 9/15/2014 7:28:28 AM Virginia, why would you suppose that I assign a walk, to better understand acculturation? Collapse Mark as Read RE: Acculturation Virginia Smith Email this Author 9/17/2014 12:02:09 AM Professor Morgan, The assignment of the walk allowed me to observe and pay closer attention to daily events and activities of people. Most of people are busy and do not see the details of interactions. If I pass someone in the hall, typically I just pass them. But in this assignment when passing someone in the hall I noticed more about the person, the body language, and the interaction. Collapse Mark as Read RE: Acculturation Nicholas Matzenbacher Email this Author 9/17/2014 5:06:13 PM Hello everyone- Virginia I couldn't agree with you more. My wife normally accuses me of being a non-sociable person who doesn't pay attention or enjoy my life surroundings (those are her exact words because she is a staring social butterfly). I tend to stay in "my bubble" because thats what makes me the most comfortable. I always look down at the ground or over everyone head when I'm around people. During the observation I actually followed the assignment as well, and took the time to notice things I never noticed before or might have always missed. I think is a eye-opening and good assignment. Especially for someone like myself who is non-observing and open to new things all the time. Collapse Mark