Cultural identity refers to the feeling of belonging to a group with which you identify. The sense of identity we develop is part of the fabric of our being and shapes how we identify and perceive who we are. Our cultural identity is connected to many layers within our society, country, race, ethnic group, religion, sexuality, profession, hobbies, sports, social classes, generation, and any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture.
Most of us have a sense of cultural identity, even if we have not expressed it in words. In this assignment, you will introduce yourself AND explore your cultural identity through the humanities disciplines. Take a moment to think about the different disciplines within the humanities.
How do we define the Humanities?
The humanities can be described as the study of how people process and document the human experience and involves tapping into philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history and language to understand and record our world. Knowledge of these records of human experience gives us the opportunity to feel a sense of connection to those who have come before us, as well as to our contemporaries.
Humanities is an umbrella term for human modes of expression and experience and for the record keeping in areas like philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history and language, which helps us understand and record our world.
The humanities enrich our lives, shake up the mundane, and keep the world alive (Prior, 2018).
“The humanities can also be called a technique for living accessible to every human being who wants to do more with life. They offer a way of life filled with moments of critical thought and aesthetic pleasure, and they are urgently needed in our world” (Janaro, 2016, p. 3).
Humanities Examples:
- Examining the meaning behind great works of art or literature
- Discussing a film or novel
- Studying languages and philosophy of ancient cultures
- Examining traditions of another country
- Writing a book review
The humanities include ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, geography, history, religion, art and musicology.
You can find more in examples in your textbook if you’d like to briefly review them, though a deeper knowledge of them isn’t necessary at this time. The goal here is to explore a variety of humanity disciplines to find some that reflect your cultural identity. We will share this in our discussion as we reflect on our cultural identity.
Guidelines for this assignment:
- Briefly introduce yourself:
- You, your family, interests, etc.
- Where you are from
- Your major at ECPI and why you chose it
- You may also include a tradition, family photo, or food to help us get to know more about you.
- Provide two different examples from the humanities that reflect part of your cultural identity. You are encouraged to be broad-minded about what would qualify as a work in the humanities. For instance, a work of literature could be anything from a rhyme you learned in childhood to a spoken word poem on YouTube. You could also think about how your cultural identity relates to modern languages, classical languages, linguistics, literature, history, comparative religion, art, music, etc.
- Provide a few cultural examples as embedded photos or videos. Please use good judgment with your selections and remember we are in a professional academic setting. Also, recognize that works of art may be controversial and sensitive to others so be considerate in what you post. Please make sure your embedded examples are in addition to the two examples from what you shared in the previous section.
Note: Do not submit your post as an attached document on any of the discussion forums for this class. Copy and paste your written work into the discussion box and make sure that your grammar is correct. Also, make sure that your pictures are embedded within the post. - Please reply to at least two of your classmates. Be specific in the way that you comment and do not just offer generic feedback. Consider the following questions as you reply:
- What did you learn about their cultural identity?
- Do you have any cultural influences in common with them?
- Did their post make you think of other works that might have influenced you that you didn’t think of before?
- Are there influences that you may now want to explore because of the works your classmate shared?