FGCU Culture Ethnocentrism Cultural Relativism & Enculturation Discussion

For this assignment I would like you to explore the meaning of culture and related concepts.

Part 1:

Define the following terms:

1. Culture

2. Ethnocentrism

3. Cultural Relativism

4. Enculturation

Part 2:

A) Describe example from your culture (the culture you are most familiar with–e.g. American culture, Taiwanese culture, whichever you choose is fine, just note which culture it is) and describe an activity, event or practice or interaction that may seem odd from an outside/etic perspective but is perfectly ‘normal’ in that culture.

B) Speculate on why it seems perfectly normal if you are a part of this culture but ‘strange’ if you are not. Frame this in terms of anthropological concepts such as those from listed in Part 1.

Examples can include:

• Not making eye contact in elevators
• The one day a year where children run around the streets after dark, demanding candy from strangers
• Saying “How are you?” as a greeting but not really intending on listening to a heartfelt response

Essentially, I want you to examine aspects of what you do in your life, your cultural practices, and question why is it exactly that you do this? Total word count should be 500-700 words. Put word count in bold.