Culture is a way of life and a common identity. It includes our values, beliefs, customs, languages and traditions. Culture is reflected in a peoples history, in their heritage, their language and their religion. Culture is embedded in the foods we eat, the way we celebrate holidays and other special days. Its how we express ideas and creativity.
Culture measures peoples quality of life and the health of a society. Through culture, a group of people develop a sense of identity and belonging, and the ability to empathize with and relate to one another. Language, religion, and ethnicities are all chapters in our text in Human Geography.
For Post #2, you will search for and identify and write about (at least) one element/aspect of culture a language, a religion, or an ethnic group.
I hope you will search for and identify a language, religion, or ethnic group (or theme relating to one of these elements) that is different from your own. That is, select something you dont know much about. As we go through this course, take the opportunity to look around Earth and locate and identify things you hadnt heard about or thought much about.
You may also write about, for example, cultural appropriation, cultural syncretism, cultural imperialism, or other such issues around the topic of culture.
What does the world lose when it loses a language, or a religion, or a unique ethnic group?
Write a 2 page (500-word) post about your language, religion, or ethnic group.
1st paragraph: about half a page if you are double-spacing your writing. Introduce your topic. Why did you choose this topic? What was it that drew you to it?
2nd paragraph: another half a page, give a quick summary of what you learned. Just some of the major facts about your topic.
NOTE: As you read the articles and films and learn more about your topic, what is it that fascinates you? Is there anything that gives rise to more questions? Has anything horrified you, saddened you ? Puzzled you? I want you to write in the 1st person, I learned .. or I thought it was fascinating to learn that ... What resonates with you?
3rd paragraph: another half a page. Did the article or website you looked at discuss any sustainability issues with the language, religion, or ethnic group? For example, we lose indigenous languages all the time. Their preservation is a matter of sustainability. They are practiced by very small numbers of people, and as numbers of indigenous or other traditional peoples decline, or they become more assimilated into dominant cultures, fewer people use the language, and it can decline, and eventually die out. World ethnic/cultural groups are also in danger of interruption by outside influences.
4th paragraph: another half page. Reiterate your topic, a few quick facts, your major learnings/understandings, and any concluding statement you have about the exercise.
Write 1 (one) response to a classmates post. Your response should be about 175-200 words (about3/4 page). Please include links to any sites you use.
Some sites you may find useful to begin your search: Dont feel you need to limit yourself to these sites. They may serve as a jumping off point for you.
25 endangered languages you need to listen to before they disappear: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/endangered-languages-dead-listen-speakers-audio-belarusian-wiradjuri-cornish-a8268196.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
FAQs on endangered languages: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/faq-on-endangered-languages/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Endangered Language Project: http://endangeredlanguages.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
What is an Endangered Language?: https://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/what-endangered-language (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
The Race to Save Disappearing Languages: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/04/saving-dying-disappearing-languages-wikitongues-culture/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Why we must save dying tongues: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140606-why-we-must-save-dying-languages (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Cultural Survival: https://www.culturalsurvival.org/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
7 of the Worlds most endangered ethnic groups: https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/7-of-the-worlds-most-endangered-tribes/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
7 African ethnic groups on the verge of extinction due to assimilation and land-grabbing: https://atlantablackstar.com/2016/05/21/7-african-ethnic-groups-on-the-verge-of-extinction-due-to-land-grabbing-and-assimilation/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Pueblo of Acoma, on Cultural Preservation: http://www.puebloofacoma.org/Cultural_Preservation.aspx (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
This article is a few years old, but the impact matters. Who are the religious and ethnic groups under threat from ISIS: https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/08/world/meast/iraq-ethnic-groups-under-threat-isis/index.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
This is old, but presents an interesting demographic argument. White Europeans, an endangered species?: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2008/02/27/white-europeans-an-endangered-species/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
The American Folklife Center: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
