Week 3
Due: 5pm, Friday, September 12, in your Collab dropbox folder
This week, I’m asking you to write about a question we brought up -- but didn’t fully discuss -- in class. In these first weeks of the semester, we are spending time discussing how national character arguments create powerful, though problematic, arguments about culture. In this writing assignment, please describe your understanding of the difference between “national character arguments” and “culture” or “social norms.” If we dismiss national character arguments, can we still talk about culture? How? If we talk about culture, how is that different than describing the world in national character generalizations? How can we acknowledge cultural differences without resorting to stereotypes or national character arguments?
