HUMA1000 (L3) Cultures and Values:

Self, Family, and Society

Dr. Yun ZHANG

Questions:
What is Culture?
What is Value?
What is the significance of
understanding cultures
and values through the
lens of self, family, and
society?
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 What is Culture (Wenhua )?

Culture (to tend, grow,

cultivate): knowledge, beliefs,
arts, morals, customs, law
Wenhua (transform by
writing)
(writing, written word, pattern
literature originally pattern)
(to transform, to convert)
How does culture allow
individuals to cultivate and
grow?
a cultured
person 2
 What is Value
Value: price, worth, power,
strength, courage; meaning
Values: principles or standards
for an action; abstract concepts
of what is important and
worthwhile;
How do we comprehend the
value/worth/meaning of our
existence as individuals?
What values one has to
uphold to live a meaningful
life?
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Why Study Cultures and Values?
Because they are
IMPORTANT!!
Oswald Spengler: The
Decline of the West
Cultures as meaningful units for
history
High Cultures (Eight) are living
things and have life cycles; the
culture phase is followed
by the civilization phase.
Civilization symbolizes the decline
and decay of a Culture. 4
The Nature of This Course
Humanities based
Multidisciplinary (historical
narratives, philosophical writings,
literary texts, filmic
representations)
Comparative perspectives
(Chinese and Western; cultural
norms and specificities; avoid
stereotypes)

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Three Key Values: Self, Family,
and Society

cultivate the self, regulate the

family, govern the state, and bring
peace to the world.

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Three Key Values: Self, Family,
and Society
Topics to be covered (Self)
conceptions of the
self/individual; the
celebration of the autonomy
of an individual;
individualism in American
Culture; technology and
individualism; national
strengthening and
individualism;
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Lonely cowboy is a powerful icon for American individualism

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Topics to be Covered (Family)
Why are family values
important? Do family
values have cultural
differences or
similarities? Does
feminism enhance the
healthy development of
the family or harm the
family? How should we
understand the gender
roles in the family?
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 Topics to be Covered
(Society)
How should we position
ourselves in relation to
others? Are humans by
nature social or not? Does
individual liberty have limits?
What is the relationship
between individual liberty
and social/government
control? How to understand
ourselves as socially
conscious individuals?

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What You Need to Do for the
Lectures
Attendance
PRS bonus questions
(three of them will be
counted as bonus points)
Reading
Finish required readings
before class
Discussion
Express and share your
ideas!!
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Two Quizzes (mid-term and
final term)
Contribute to Canvas online
discussion
Essay Writing
The chance to be nominated for the
Wallace C K Siu Prize!!

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Essay Prompt No.1 (Provisional)

Technology and individualism,

and the building of a good and
fulfilling life. (week 2, 4, 5)

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Essay Prompt No.2 (Provisional)

Feminisms in China and the

West, the relationship between
women and the domestic arena
(family)(week 7, 8[1]).

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Essay Prompt No.3 (Provisional)

Humans existence and self-

positioning in the society.
(week 8[2])

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