Blog Entry #1

What I took away from class discussion is first how do we define culture. To understand culture, it must be viewed from a holistic stand point, that is across time and space and all dimensions of human interest. So culture is our traditions, beliefs, rituals, norms, values, morals, customs and other capabilities that make you unique to your family, your peers and your society. Culture is also integrated, learned and shared. For example, belonging to a religion is unique to being part of a culture, you are integrated into the religion, taught it's values and share it with others who follow that religion.
What also struck me as interesting were the main genres of culture: material, verbal,  and customary. Folk speech, for example is verbal. I remember when i was in Indiana visiting family, when we went to the grocery store they didn't sell soda, they sold "pop" (same thing but that's just what they called it). This type of culture is learned informally through family and peers. an example of material would be the kind of food a particular group eats, for example if you are raised in the south it is normal to eat grits. Finally customary would be certain traditions, like decorating a tree during Christmas, cutting the cake at a wedding, or going to church on Sundays. as we discussed in class, one of my customary traditions going to church with my grandparents every easter (even though i am not very religious) it is a family tradition. Of course all three of these genres have fuzzy boundaries, and can be combined at times, like a wedding vow can be customary and verbal.
Finally, there are culture groups we are accustomed to seeing. Pop culture is what is perpetuated by the media to be en vogue. Elite culture is seen as wealthy, upper class, that is usually taught by scholars and less temporary, like Beethoven. And folk culture is culture that is passed down through generations.