Friday, July 12, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
COM 325 / Week Three Discussion: Gender Role and Age
How have gender roles and age grouping changed over the past two hundred years in America? Compared to other cultures in the world, how important are gender roles and age reverence in America? In what way(s) do our gender roles and attitudes toward age differ from that of other cultures?
COM 325 / Week Three Discussion: Why Is Family Extremely Important to a Culture?
How has the family unit helped a civilization sustain its traditions and weather through challenges? In modern society, family as a cultural institution is undergoing rapid changes. Some changes look very controversial depending on your perspective. Just a reminder--not all traditional family structures have been beautiful. In China, the traditional family unit imposed foot-binding on women for nearly one thousand years until the early 20th century. Also, in ancient China, in rare cases, family members were even allowed to practice cannibalism - sons would cut their bodily flesh to add into an herbal soup that would heal their parents. Nevertheless, despite the unsavory aspects of outdated family structures, we have to be careful how we embrace the change in our family tradition. Family is the cell of the entire cultural body. What's your perspective in regard to change vis-a-vis continuity?
COM 325 / Week Three Discussion: Deep Structure Institutions and Identity
Our multiple identities (- gender, age, kinship, occupational, national, ethnic, religious, territorial, educational, partisan, ideological, etc.) are developed through deep structure institutions - school, church, family, association, team/group, community, state, etc. These identities profoundly influence our behavior, values, and lifestyles. Give us an example (or two) that shows how your culture makes you feel proud of "who you are" or makes you feel embarrassed of "who you are." In which way(s) do you feel your culture to be oppressive and in which way(s) do you feel your culture to be empowering? Have you ever tried to challenge the deep structure institutions? Think about how Hermione Granger tried to challenge the house-elf system with SPEW.
COM 325 / Week Three Discussion: "Culture Produces and Is Reproduced by Institutions of Society"
When Delgado said that "culture produces and is reproduced by institutions of society," what do you think he meant by these words? Give us some examples to show that culture produces institutions of society and is produced by institutions of society. To me, the "Pledge of Allegiance" was the institution produced by culture during the Cold War years to differentiate us from atheist communist nations. In turn, this institution (- One nation, under God) has reinforced our tradition of being a Christian country. What else can you think of?
MA 260 / Week Three Discussion: Radio and Advertising
Why did Herbert Hoover
believe that "the quickest way to kill broadcasting would be to use it for
direct advertising"? How did radio, the medium of the people, become a medium
for advertising, i.e. a commercial medium?
MA 260 / Week Three Discussion: Radio Programming as a Cultural Mirror?
How did early radio programs reflect the racism in American society?
MA 260 / Week Three Discussion: How Does Radio Contribute to the Ethos of American Culture?
How has American
society, our political participation, our business, and our culture, benefited
from the boom of radio communication in the 1920s-1950s?
MA 260 / Week Three Discussion: How Did Government Regulation of Radio Help To Consolidate the Network Structure of Broadcasting Media?
The Radio Act of 1927 seemed to create "law and order' in radio communication and facilitated radio stations to act in the public interest. But some will argue that government regulation actually led to an oligarchy control of radio communication by the "big three" networks, which was a perfect model for commercial rather than public broadcasting. What's your take on this debate?
COM 325 / Week Three Discussion: Deep Structure: Are We Destined to be the Prisoner of Our Culture?
Western pioneers were smart to follow the wagon ruts of frontiersmen before them in order to arrive at Oregon City before the winter came. A civilization's deep structure (God, family, and history) differentiates one culture from another. It is also exactly where the civilizations clash with each other in our contemporary world; technology only facilitates this clash. It is time for all the civilizations to seriously reflect back on their deep structure and ask themselves: are we destined to be the prisoner of these "ruts"? Can we stop using suicide bombers or drones to solve our differences?
MA 260 / Week Three Discussion: Wired or Wireless? How Did Radio Set off the Battle between Wired and Wireless Television, Video Service, and Internet?
Please describe the battle between wired and wireless technology in the past century. What's the true nature of this technological battle? Is technological progress a "natural" outgrowth of human genius or a social construction by which the powerful people, not the geeks, determine which technology flourish and which technology have to be quietly killed before they are "born." Think about how the electric car got killed by GM, the oil industry, and the California state government in the nineties.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
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