EU Culture By Simone Caramel Eurogems aps What
EU Culture By Simone Caramel Eurogems aps
What is culture? • Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere) meaning "to cultivate” • Kroeber, A. L. , & Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of culture • When the concept first emerged in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe, it connoted a process of cultivation or improvement, as in agriculture or horticulture
What is culture? • In the nineteenth century it came to refer first to the betterment or refinement of the individual, especially through education, and then to the fulfillment of national aspirations or ideals • In the mid-nineteenth century some scientists began to argue that culture signifies a universal human capacity
What is culture? • In the twentieth century the term was used in two senses: • to refer to the evolved human capacity to classify and represent experiences symbolically and to act imaginatively and creatively • it referred to distinct ways that people living in different parts of the world classified and represented their experiences, and acted creatively
What is culture? • "A culture is a configuration of learned behaviors and results of behavior whose component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society" (p. 32). • Linton, R. (1945). The Cultural Background of Personality. New York.
What is culture? • "Culture. . . consists in those patterns relative to behavior and the products of human action which may be inherited, that is, passed on from generation to generation independently of the biological genes" (p. 8). • Parson, T. (1949). Essays in Sociological Theory. Glencoe, IL.
What is culture? • "Culture has been defined in a number of ways, but most simply, as the learned and shared behavior of a community of interacting human beings" (p. 169). • Useem, J. , & Useem, R. (1963). Human Organizations, 22(3).
What is culture? • "Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i. e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other as conditioning elements of further action. “ • Kroeber, A. L. , & Kluckhohn, C. (1952). Culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions. Harvard University Peabody Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology Papers 47.
What is culture? • "Most social scientists today view culture as consisting primarily of the symbolic, ideational, and intangible aspects of human societies. The essence of a culture is not its artifacts, tools, or other tangible cultural elements but how the members of the group interpret, use, and perceive them. It is the values, symbols, interpretations, and perspectives that distinguish one people from another in modernized societies; it is not material objects and other tangible aspects of human societies. People within a culture usually interpret the meaning of symbols, artifacts, and behaviors in the same or in similar ways. " • Banks, J. A. , Banks, & Mc. Gee, C. A. (1989). Multicultural education. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Culture definition - Summary • culture could be defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization. These shared patterns identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.
Culture • • • Knowledge Religions Languages Heritage Customs Traditions
Culture • • • Food Dressing Arts Dance Music Songs
Culture: dynamic process • Social behaviour • Interaction • “. . constantly evolving values, beliefs, knowledge and traditions” • Change in time and in space • Learning process • Improvement
Cultural Heritage
Cultural heritage • Cultural heritage is a group of resources inherited from the past which people identify, independently of ownership, as a reflection and expression of their constantly evolving values, beliefs, knowledge and traditions. It includes all aspects of the environment resulting from the interaction between people and places through time • A heritage community consists of people who value specific aspects of cultural heritage which they wish, within the framework of public action, to sustain and transmit to future generations
Cultural heritage
European Cultural Heritage • All forms of cultural heritage in Europe together constitute a shared source of remembrance, understanding, identity, cohesion and creativity • The ideals, principles and values, derived from the experience gained through progress and past conflicts, foster the development of a peaceful and stable society, founded on respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law
Cultural heritage
Knowledge & Education • • • Family School Environment (friends, people in general) Books Media (TV, Radio, Newspapers) Internet sources
Knowledge & Information • Does the knowledge belong just to what we learn from the books or from the school? • Filtered information and secondary source • Rigidity • Stereotypes • Pre-juices • Imitation of models
Culture – dynamics • • • Culture changes in time and space What we learn could be already old Importance of learning Pre-juices: to judge before…knowing Importance of knowledge and information
A new book is already old
What kind of information? • • • Primary source Direct knowledge Direct experience Learning Dialogue
Touch by hand • • Primary source could be trough: To look with our eyes To listen with our ears To touch with our hands
Importance of. . • Dialogue • Creativity • Informal learning
EU Culture • • • Cultural identity Cultural diversity Intercultural dialogue Intercultural learning Non – formal learning “Unity in Diversity”
Intercultural dialogue
Intercultural dialogue • • • European Cultural identity European Cultural diversity Diversity inside each country (space) Diversity with the time spending i. e. Istambul 2005 is different from Istambul 2008 (time) Integration of minorities Multicultural and intercultural exchange Intercultural awareness Cultural cooperation Awareness of cultural diversities Social Inclusion and integration
Culture & Values • Culture, values and citizenship are strictly related • Culture is for instance connected with the following values: • Respect • Tollerance • Comprehension
Intercultural dialogue • How intercultural dialogue can be translated into concrete actions that can inspire others and be adapted to different contexts? • Best practices (booklet) • Methods • Results
EU Programs about culture • Education and Culture • Youth in Action Program – Youth Exchanges – European Voluntary Service – Training Courses – Seminars
Intercultural learning • • Learning Flexibility Adaptivity Elasticity Research Seeking for the truth Interactions Cooperation • • Comprehension Tollerance Solidarity Respect Communication Mutual exchanges Dialogue Mutual understanding
No - learning • • • Rigidity Fix ideas Stereotypes No research Closed mind • • Conflicts Walls No dialogue No respect False perceptions No comprehension False knowledge
EU Cultural diversity • Respect for people’s cultural origins is at the heart of the EU programs, as is the desire to fight against racism and xenophobia – forces that undermine European values and people’s solidarity
Open the mind • to travel • to go abroad • to know other languages, other cultures, other way of living • to dialogue and interact with youngsters of different cultures
EU - Education and Culture • Life Long Learning Program – Comenius – Grundtvig – Erasmus – Leonardo da Vinci
Activities • • Conferences Seminars Debates Cultural workshops Cultural visits Exhibitions Videos Forum
Activities • • • Performances Debates Campaigns Events Mobilities Creativity, Dialogue, Informal Learning
Outcome • • Best practice handbooks Guidelines CD-ROM/books Websites Models Brochures Booklets Follow up (dissemination, sharing experience with other NGO’s, with other students)
EU motto • “UNITY IN DIVERSITY”
Unity in diversity • The motto means that, via the EU, Europeans are united in working together for peace and prosperity, and that the many different cultures, traditions and languages in Europe are a positive asset for the continent • Preservation and valorization of local cultural heritage and identity, and of cultural minorities
Education & training • EU objectives: • improving the quality and effectiveness of education and training systems; • facilitating access to education and training systems; and • opening up EU education and training systems to the wider world.
Erasmus • Erasmus is the EU's flagship education and training programme, enabling two hundred thousand students to study and work abroad each year, as well as supporting co-operation actions between higher education institutions across Europe. It caters not only for students, but also for professors and business staff who want to teach abroad and for university staff who want to be trained abroad.
Erasmus • the Erasmus programme places great importance on mobility and furthering career prospects • Studies show that a period spent abroad not only enriches students' lives in the academic field but also in the acquisition of intercultural skills and self-reliance. • Around 90% of European universities take part in Erasmus and 1. 9 million students have participated since it started in 1987.
Erasmus For students: • studying abroad • working abroad • linguistic preparation
EU Culture program • Objectives: • to promote cross-border mobility • to encourage the transnational circulation of cultural and artistic output • to foster intercultural dialogue
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