Is ethnocentrism learned from our environment? Is it a natural part of how our mind works? Many intercultural educators believe that ethnocentrism is learned . . . but is this true? In this month’s Deep Culture Podcast, Emre Seven and Joseph Shaules explore what brain and mind sciences can tell us about ethnocentrism. We hear about caste labeling from Ishita Ray, and Daniel Glinz tells us how language learning can expand our cultural self.
Are emotions the same everywhere in the world? In this episode, Zeina Matar and Joseph Shaules explore the challenge of adjusting to different emotional “logics” across cultures. We look at research into whether “basic” emotions are the same around the world, and argue that emotion is a “constructed” . . . and thus highly cultural, experience.
People often talk about culture in simple terms–as when someone says: I want to learn about ‘the culture’. In fact, culture is a highly complex phenomenon. In this episode, Joseph Shaules and Ishita Ray discuss how complexity theory can help us understand the dynamic nature of culture. They touch on emergent properties, fractals, and the “simplification bias” – our tendency to experience complexity in simple ways. We also hear from Emre Seven and Zeina Matar and explore the challenges of developing a more complex understanding of culture.
Do you identify more as a global citizen than with a particular country or community? Is it possible to go beyond one’s cultural point of view? In this episode, Joseph Shaules, Daniel Glinz, Ishita Ray and Emre Seven discuss what it means to be a global citizen or to have a global mindset. Daniel–who has wide and deep intercultural experience–believes it’s not possible to be “global” since we can never fully go beyond our local perspective. And this is backed up by insights from brain and mind sciences as well. If so, then just what is a global mindset?
Joseph Shaules and Yvonne van der Pol explore why it can be so hard to talk about culture and measure cultural difference. They discuss three ways of looking at culture . . . as being, doing, and seeing. They discuss “classic” research into cultural difference (e.g. Hofstede) and argue that brain-mind sciences are shedding new light on cultural difference and can help us make better sense of our intercultural experiences.
