Monday, May 14, 2012
DAY 61 - Work and Study
I was absent today so you all had time to catch up and continue studying for Tuesday's test.
DAY 60 - Introduction to Sociology
We spent the day on the Introduction to Sociology - here's the complete lecture Sociology - we finished at the point of Hubert Blumer's theory on Symbolic Interactionism.
I used the example of the five dollar bill. Holding up a real $5 bill and a piece of paper with a happy face and the number 5 on it you all agreed that the two items were pretty much the same - each a piece of paper, each with 5s on it, each with a face. True the real bill is more colourful, is on higher quality paper and has ink on both sides, but still, very very similar.
Given the choice, all of you would choose to keep the real $5 bill over the fake one BECAUSE of the meaning it has to you. It has value that is transferable into an item of value from a store, for example. That is the idea of Symbolic Interactionism - that we react to things based on the meaning they have to us.
Remember, Test next Tuesday!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
DAY 59 Anthro Test Review
Culture as an Adaptive Mechanism - Culture is the complete set of learned human behaviour patterns. It is an "ancient", or evolutionary tool or technique to obtain food/safety in a particular environment.
How are Cultural Traits transferred?
Discovery - someone uncovers something that already exists and it's useful - e.g. mould that kills bacteria, E=mc2, fire, radio waves.
Inventions - people create new tools and uses of things they discover or create. Metal, agriculture, the wheel, printing press, modern telecommunications.
If, and when, people create good things or discover useful things, they spread to other cultures through trade, discussion, etc. We call this, Diffusion of Innovation.
Cultural Universals - marriage, importance of meal-time, transportation, music, complex communication, entertainment, social hierarchy structures, architecture, religion (ways of explaining the unexplainable), etc.
Does culture evolve or is it static? ALWAYS evolving - just look around at your own lifetime. People are very clever and there are more of us around than ever, so new ideas will continue to develop at an accelerating rate.
What mechanisms cause cultural evolution?
Alienation - feeling disconnected from or unwanted in a situation. e.g. environmental groups want to change how Canada deals with the oil sands, they see the damage being done and want that to stop. Their anger (alienation) over the oil sands makes them take action. Eventually society might take a different stand on the oil sands - if this happens culture will have changed in Canada.
Conformity - wanting to alter your behaviour or attitude to match that of a group that you want to be part of.
So, over time, attitudes and behaviours change in general. The catch-phrase I've used is this:
Change occurs when reality conflicts with a new idea - tension rises to a crisis point at which time it must be resolved. The resolution is the change.
Sometimes there are barriers to change:
- traditions
- religious beliefs
- money
- human nature = avoid change
- dominant paradigm (paradigm is the framework through which we think about something).
- cultural values
Forces that help cultures change -
- "acts of God"
- new technology - Google, Facebook
- charismatic leadership: Hitler, Trudeau, Mao, Ang Sun Sui, Dalai Lama, Gandhi.
- Media
- Pop Culture: sports celebs, music celebs, Hollywood celebs
Ethnocentricity and Subjective Validity.
Can you explain a big cultural change that has happened somewhere in the world?
How are Cultural Traits transferred?
Discovery - someone uncovers something that already exists and it's useful - e.g. mould that kills bacteria, E=mc2, fire, radio waves.
Inventions - people create new tools and uses of things they discover or create. Metal, agriculture, the wheel, printing press, modern telecommunications.
If, and when, people create good things or discover useful things, they spread to other cultures through trade, discussion, etc. We call this, Diffusion of Innovation.
Cultural Universals - marriage, importance of meal-time, transportation, music, complex communication, entertainment, social hierarchy structures, architecture, religion (ways of explaining the unexplainable), etc.
Does culture evolve or is it static? ALWAYS evolving - just look around at your own lifetime. People are very clever and there are more of us around than ever, so new ideas will continue to develop at an accelerating rate.
What mechanisms cause cultural evolution?
Alienation - feeling disconnected from or unwanted in a situation. e.g. environmental groups want to change how Canada deals with the oil sands, they see the damage being done and want that to stop. Their anger (alienation) over the oil sands makes them take action. Eventually society might take a different stand on the oil sands - if this happens culture will have changed in Canada.
Conformity - wanting to alter your behaviour or attitude to match that of a group that you want to be part of.
So, over time, attitudes and behaviours change in general. The catch-phrase I've used is this:
Change occurs when reality conflicts with a new idea - tension rises to a crisis point at which time it must be resolved. The resolution is the change.
Sometimes there are barriers to change:
- traditions
- religious beliefs
- money
- human nature = avoid change
- dominant paradigm (paradigm is the framework through which we think about something).
- cultural values
Forces that help cultures change -
- "acts of God"
- new technology - Google, Facebook
- charismatic leadership: Hitler, Trudeau, Mao, Ang Sun Sui, Dalai Lama, Gandhi.
- Media
- Pop Culture: sports celebs, music celebs, Hollywood celebs
Ethnocentricity and Subjective Validity.
Can you explain a big cultural change that has happened somewhere in the world?
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
DAYS 40 - 44 (April 12 - 18)
You all did a marvellous job getting going on the two projects, Subcultures at School and Food & Culture Day, in my absence, so thank you for that. Mrs. Boychuk reported to me that you were a good group to work with and that those present (most of you) really got into the projects.
It was helpful to have a few days to get caught up with me so that's what we have done for the past few days. I was able to direct you, to cajole you into finishing, and to guide you with your questions. Most of your Subcultures at Schools projects are done and your Food & Culture Day work is coming along nicely. Due to mid-term reports coming out this Friday we also spent a day or so getting everyone caught up on any missing work. Again, it's helpful to have me around to guide you to what you need to get caught up on.
Well done everyone!
It was helpful to have a few days to get caught up with me so that's what we have done for the past few days. I was able to direct you, to cajole you into finishing, and to guide you with your questions. Most of your Subcultures at Schools projects are done and your Food & Culture Day work is coming along nicely. Due to mid-term reports coming out this Friday we also spent a day or so getting everyone caught up on any missing work. Again, it's helpful to have me around to guide you to what you need to get caught up on.
Well done everyone!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
DAYS 34 - 39 Culture Projects in My Absence
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, April 2, 3, 4. Library Lab.
Introduced last Friday, here's the Subcultures at School Project. Here's the Marking Sheet for it.
I have left extra copies with Mrs. Boychuk and she has extra copies of the school map too.
Thursday, April 5. Classroom, 308.
Use this period to complete your project - most of you will have produced a poster-type board so today's the day to put it all together and wrap up the project. Please ensure your names are on them :-)
Tuesday, Wednesday, April 10, 11. Library Lab.
Introduced Friday, March 30, Food and Culture Day Preparation
This is one of the highlights of the course and a good chance to show off a part of yourself that you don't normally get to show off - you're cultural / ethnic / national background. Because every one of us has some ancestry from outside of Canada it's important to highlight it for the school.
Here's the handout and marking sheet for it: Food and Culture Day & Marksheet.
We will hold the event on or around Wednesday, April 25 Monday in period 3 - that's the day we'll set up tables and your boards in the Bearpit and run the event for the period.
Introduced last Friday, here's the Subcultures at School Project. Here's the Marking Sheet for it.
I have left extra copies with Mrs. Boychuk and she has extra copies of the school map too.
Thursday, April 5. Classroom, 308.
Use this period to complete your project - most of you will have produced a poster-type board so today's the day to put it all together and wrap up the project. Please ensure your names are on them :-)
Tuesday, Wednesday, April 10, 11. Library Lab.
Introduced Friday, March 30, Food and Culture Day Preparation
This is one of the highlights of the course and a good chance to show off a part of yourself that you don't normally get to show off - you're cultural / ethnic / national background. Because every one of us has some ancestry from outside of Canada it's important to highlight it for the school.
Here's the handout and marking sheet for it: Food and Culture Day & Marksheet.
We will hold the event on or around Wednesday, April 25 Monday in period 3 - that's the day we'll set up tables and your boards in the Bearpit and run the event for the period.
DAY 33 Viet Nam, Cultural Change, Sub-Cultures at School.
We continued and finished today with my lecture on How Cultures Change.
Included here is a link to a James Burke, "The Day the Universe Changed" episode wherein a Scottish Witch Trial occurs 300 years ago. The events in the clip are easy to understand, a suspected witch is tortured, tried and then burned alive at the stake. What we see is quite barbaric and meaningless because we (tend not to) do not believe in witches or such crude means of holding a trial and certainly we do not think it's right to burn people alive any more. But what the people involved in this trial saw was something entirely different - a witch who needed to suffer and then be burned alive so that her soul could be saved and then sent heavenward on the smoke of the fire.
This raises the question of how two groups of highly intelligent people, one group from the 16th century and our modern group, could possibly see the event so differently? The answer, of course, is in our belief systems - if the common belief is that it's a good thing to catch a witch and then torture and burn her to save her soul then people will certainly follow that belief. If your belief is that witches do not exist and that torturing people is not acceptable behaviour then you will consider such behaviour unacceptable.
This idea of creating a reality (set of truths) based on beliefs, customs, teachings, values, etc. and then living your life accordingly has great implications for all societies. In fact, that is exactly how societies and cultures operate - whether or not the set of "truths" are correct or not!
We ended up with a fine example of a changing modern technology and how it swung the debate against the US involvement in the Viet Nam war in the early 1970s. Here's a link to that slideshow. Viet Nam War Portrayal in the Media.
I will be away for the next six classes (April 2 - 11) so I'll post one blog entry for those days - it will be called DAY 34 - 39. There are two projects for you to work on in there - Mrs. Boychuck will be with you for those classes, mostly held in the Library Lab, so please work well for her, she's a wonderful teacher and person.
Included here is a link to a James Burke, "The Day the Universe Changed" episode wherein a Scottish Witch Trial occurs 300 years ago. The events in the clip are easy to understand, a suspected witch is tortured, tried and then burned alive at the stake. What we see is quite barbaric and meaningless because we (tend not to) do not believe in witches or such crude means of holding a trial and certainly we do not think it's right to burn people alive any more. But what the people involved in this trial saw was something entirely different - a witch who needed to suffer and then be burned alive so that her soul could be saved and then sent heavenward on the smoke of the fire.
This raises the question of how two groups of highly intelligent people, one group from the 16th century and our modern group, could possibly see the event so differently? The answer, of course, is in our belief systems - if the common belief is that it's a good thing to catch a witch and then torture and burn her to save her soul then people will certainly follow that belief. If your belief is that witches do not exist and that torturing people is not acceptable behaviour then you will consider such behaviour unacceptable.
This idea of creating a reality (set of truths) based on beliefs, customs, teachings, values, etc. and then living your life accordingly has great implications for all societies. In fact, that is exactly how societies and cultures operate - whether or not the set of "truths" are correct or not!
We ended up with a fine example of a changing modern technology and how it swung the debate against the US involvement in the Viet Nam war in the early 1970s. Here's a link to that slideshow. Viet Nam War Portrayal in the Media.
I will be away for the next six classes (April 2 - 11) so I'll post one blog entry for those days - it will be called DAY 34 - 39. There are two projects for you to work on in there - Mrs. Boychuck will be with you for those classes, mostly held in the Library Lab, so please work well for her, she's a wonderful teacher and person.
DAY 32 How Cultures Change
Today we looked at some ideas around how cultures and societies change. It was really a full period clarification of the idea that:
"When ideology (new ideas) and reality (status quo) clash, tension might rise to a crisis point. When that crisis is resolved it's likely that culture/society has changed."
Here's my presentation - How Cultures Change.
"When ideology (new ideas) and reality (status quo) clash, tension might rise to a crisis point. When that crisis is resolved it's likely that culture/society has changed."
Here's my presentation - How Cultures Change.
DAY 31 Culture Intro Lecture Presentation
We spent yesterday and today going through my introductory lecture on Anthropology. Unfortunately this show is too big for Google Docs however it's on the school server under S:resources, Classes, Kovich, Triologies, Anthropology, etc. If you missed it in class please access it there.
DAY 30 - Culture and Anthropology Intro.
We spent part of the day discussing the meaning of "culture". I gave you some ideas to ponder including the fact that throughout our history as homo erectus, homo habilis, etc. etc. up to our current form of homo sapiens, we have been a relatively week member of the natural world, meaning that there are many extremely powerful, fast, cunning and otherwise deadly creatures in our environment that could kill us easily. Also, we have always had to search for food sources and compete with other species.
Our big advantage out there in the dangerous world has been our brain, but our brain does not work in isolation. Collectively, the knowledge and strategies that we have used for countless millennia have, in fact, given us a distinct advantage over all of the other dangers that we have faced. This collective knowledge and those collective strategies have enabled us to out compete all other species and to flourish. This is what we now call "culture".
In a simple sense culture can be thought of as a mechanism to adapt in order to find food and remain safe in hostile environments.
Of course today when we think of culture we think of the complete set of learned human behaviour patterns which we know are different from place to place and country to country. This is what our second unit will study, Anthropology - the study of human cultures.
We started my lecture on Culture as well . . . it's posted in tomorrow's blog entry.
Our big advantage out there in the dangerous world has been our brain, but our brain does not work in isolation. Collectively, the knowledge and strategies that we have used for countless millennia have, in fact, given us a distinct advantage over all of the other dangers that we have faced. This collective knowledge and those collective strategies have enabled us to out compete all other species and to flourish. This is what we now call "culture".
In a simple sense culture can be thought of as a mechanism to adapt in order to find food and remain safe in hostile environments.
Of course today when we think of culture we think of the complete set of learned human behaviour patterns which we know are different from place to place and country to country. This is what our second unit will study, Anthropology - the study of human cultures.
We started my lecture on Culture as well . . . it's posted in tomorrow's blog entry.
Monday, March 26, 2012
DAY 29 Test 1, Psychology
Today's test will take you the entire period to complete properly - come prepared.
DAY 28 Gods Must Be Crazy
We began the day by reviewing our short discussion on Culture from Tuesday.
We watched much more of the film today (we skipped the parts about the revolutionaries on the run as that part of the story, about half the movie, has little to do with culture - there's a tie in at the end enabling the viewers to identify the real masters of the land as the local people and 'Xi, not the so-called "civilized" revolutionaries or the bumbling scientist and the school teacher).
Check out the synopsis and other information about The Gods Must Be Crazy! or check this one The Gods Must Be Crazy!
We stopped the film several times to discuss the meaning of the film work.
Monday is your first test on our Psych Unit - just a reminder!
We watched much more of the film today (we skipped the parts about the revolutionaries on the run as that part of the story, about half the movie, has little to do with culture - there's a tie in at the end enabling the viewers to identify the real masters of the land as the local people and 'Xi, not the so-called "civilized" revolutionaries or the bumbling scientist and the school teacher).
Check out the synopsis and other information about The Gods Must Be Crazy! or check this one The Gods Must Be Crazy!
We stopped the film several times to discuss the meaning of the film work.
Monday is your first test on our Psych Unit - just a reminder!
DAY 27 Students vs. Police Hockey Game
Because we had only a few class members today we watched more of the film.
DAY 26 Test Review and the Beginning of Culture/Anthropology
We did a review of the review sheet for next Monday's test today. This was a good time to get your thoughts and notes in order - everything on the test is on the review sheet, at least the main concepts are so there will be no surprises at test time.
Then we started to watch The Gods Must Be Crazy to introduce several ideas about culture and the different ways that people do things and see things around them.One of the best concepts in the opening of the film is the idea that people, when they live close to nature as we have done for the majority of our existence as a species (thousands/millions of years) have slowly developed ways to get food/water from the environment by developing clever ways of dealing with problems. For example the San ('Xi, the main character in the film is from the San group of people of the Kalahari Desert) know how to collect water overnight or how to obtain it easily from the roots of plants that are not too evident above ground. Modern, civilized people have actually adapted their environment to suit them. The San have adapted to suit their environment (for the most part).
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
DAY 25 Optical Illusions and Psych. Test Review
Here's the link to the Optical Illusions presentation that we looked at today - it's a fun way to demonstrate just how adaptable our brains are and just how vulnerable our brains are to over stimulation and/or incomplete or conflicting data through our eyes.
Here's the Psych Unit Review Sheet that I distributed as well - we'll plan the best day for our Psych Test together as a class.
The Psych Unit Test will be next Monday, March 26. Remember, the best way to study is to review your stuff several times a week - best time to start was in February, but if you haven't done that then start today!
Here's the Psych Unit Review Sheet that I distributed as well - we'll plan the best day for our Psych Test together as a class.
The Psych Unit Test will be next Monday, March 26. Remember, the best way to study is to review your stuff several times a week - best time to start was in February, but if you haven't done that then start today!
DAY 24 Freudian Slips!
Beginning our look at normal development and socialization from babyhood to adulthood, we looked at Freud and his Theory of Psycho Sexual Development.
We also had a look through the Freud PowerPoint presentation on the same topic.
Then we had a look at the fun questionnaire, What Gender is Your Brain, which is a quick (albeit completely unscientific yet fun) look at whether your brain is hard-wired more in line with a typically female or male brain in problem-solving thought patterns.
We also had a look through the Freud PowerPoint presentation on the same topic.
Then we had a look at the fun questionnaire, What Gender is Your Brain, which is a quick (albeit completely unscientific yet fun) look at whether your brain is hard-wired more in line with a typically female or male brain in problem-solving thought patterns.
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