The Residential Advisor, or RA, subculture is confined strictly to dormitories. People who have yet to attend college or have never resided in a dorm, may have a lack of knowledge or interest in this particular subculture. Even as a college freshman living in the dorms, I did not have substantial information covering this unique group, which is why I chose to observe them for my ethnography. Although I live with many residential advisors in Naismith Hall, I found myself that I didn’t know much about their potential artifacts, rituals, and languages confined to this individual subculture. With the help of consistent observations, interviews with RAs from different dorms, and reflections of observations, I have received an entirely new view and appreciation of this professional position.
For an ethnography to occur successfully, one must observe the chosen subculture as well as interview subjects, to obtain enough information to help outsiders who are unfamiliar with the group understand and become more aware of what this particular group is a part of. My living situation was an advantage for both observing and interviewing the RA subculture. I was lucky enough to be located almost directly in this subculture: in the dorms. This allowed me to have my fair share of choices on whom to interview and observe. Without hesitation, I chose the RA on my floor, Mahdi. The second person I chose to interview was one of my close friends named Emma who was an RA at a college in Ohio for two years. This opened up the subculture to potential differences and similarities by not being confined to one dorm or one university. One of the differences I noticed right off the bat was that at this particular school in Ohio, they were called Community Adv...
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...ions; however, there are requirements for the job that most applicants follow.
The word “job” comes across as hard work, and chores, but the thing that is often overlooked is the deeper meaning that comes with it. Many people may look at the residential advisor position and believe they are only there to get the residents in trouble when they break rules. After my observations, interviews and overall reflection on their subculture, I came to the realization that being a residential advisor is much more than writing residents up for alcohol or noise complaints. It is about the relationships built and the idea that you’re helping others the way you were, or weren’t, during your freshman year in the dorms. The RAs may be there for the free room and board as well as the pay, but they are initially there to make the best they can out of the resident’s dorm experience.
Rebekah Nathan starts her undercover anthropological study with the a couple of research questions: “What is the current culture at AnyU (my pseudonym for my university) as an example of the American public university? How do contemporary American students understand their education, and what do they want from it? How do they negotiate college life? What
The subculture that I picked out to study during this semester was the Rapids Volunteer Fire Company. I am a part of this subculture already and would like to express how important this volunteer job really is. Many people do not think of local volunteer fire companies that often when not much is really going on in your community. However, volunteer fire companies have a really important role in their community. Not only do they help keep the community safe, they try to keep the community involved in what is going on. Mike stated that he likes to “help people and better my community during my free time” (M. Moore, personal interview, March 28th, 2016). Since volunteer fire companies are not on duty twenty-four hours so people have to dedicate time
A subculture can consist of any small group outside the central or key majority group. The groups can range from an organized crime group, to an Asian American group, to a religious group, to even a hippie commune. The main focus of this unit is the immigrant subcultures. The immigrant subculture that is becoming more commonplace every day in the United States is the Mexican Americans. Mexican Americans have many religious traditions, ceremonies, customs, as well as art and music forms. There are also various cultural traditions. Mexican Americans have their own identity on the contrary they still have distinct American characteristics.
Schensul, Stephen L.; Schensul, Jean J. & LeCompte, Margaret D. (1999). Essential ethnographic methods: observations, interviews, and questionnaires (Book 2 in Ethnographer's Toolkit). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Looking at the big picture, subcultures and countercultures are both cultures that have their own values and norms. They are both capable of being a culture within a culture. A subculture is a smaller culture that exists within a larger culture but fit within the dominant culture, where as a counterculture is an opposition to the norms of society and contradict the dominant culture and norms. Both cultures dress and behave in different ways than average citizens of a society and are usually identifiable by their different appearances. A subculture can have its own beliefs, norms and values, but they are usually able to exist within mainstream culture. Their manners may be different enough to make them stand out, but they aren’t against society.
It is commonly understood that the perceived culture in Texas is traditional, meaning that we do it the way our grandfathers did it and change can only bring bad results. The individualistic beliefs of state politics can be seen in the support for private business, opposition to big government, and the individual is the important person and anybody else is of little or no importance. Through these ideas, the political subculture of Texas will be defined.
Ministry people, if you’re a college student in the United States you might have heard of these two words. They are one of the most influential subculture on campus. They are distinguished from the society by their cultural patterns. They have different style, dress, and activity from rest of the society which makes them a subculture. People often think they don’t do anything besides hanging out with their fellow friends who follow the same ministry but that’s totally different. They are involved in many social activities such as helping international students on campus, making international students feel like home away from home, and many more. In one Ministry there are different people, and these people have their own different story of
There is something about the ideology of a subculture that sparks an interest in me. Maybe it is intriguing due to its members’ originality, courage to stand up for beliefs, or freely expressing their own self- identity. A subculture forms by individuals taking a risk, separating themselves from the mainstream, and forming their own distinctive norms, not caring what the “normal” members of the mainstream society think of them. Or do they care? Maybe that is the exact statement a subculture is making. Maybe these individuals are forming these groups so that people will care. Maybe their rebellious attitude is a final, somewhat desperate approach to getting that response. The images being portrayed in most subcultures are indeed attention- getting. Perhaps then, attention- seeking is the main goal of these groups. In analyzing the specific subculture of “punk”, these questions seem to fall towards the greater issue of “external vs. internal”. External indicates that this subculture is making a statement, merely through an image culminated on the exterior. Internal suggests a deeper, often political, and vigorously bold statement, such as protesting for citizens’ rights, rebelling against class structure, or publicly claiming a self- identity. Also, was punk a movement that said what it wanted to, and is now only a historical memory of the past? Or is America carrying out the motives of what England’s punk culture did at the time?
The sixties was a decade of liberation and revolution, a time of great change and exciting exploration for the generations to come. It was a time of anti-war protests, free love, sit-ins, naked hippie chicks and mind-altering drugs. In big cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Paris, there was a passionate exchange of ideas, fiery protests against the Vietnam War, and a time for love, peace and equality. The coming together of like-minded people from around the world was spontaneous and unstoppable. This group of people, which included writers, musicians, thinkers and tokers, came to be known as the popular counterculture, better known as hippies. The dawning of the Age of Aquarius in the late sixties was more than just a musical orgy. It was a time of spiritual missions to fight for change and everything they believed in. Freedom, love, justice, equality and peace were at the very forefront of this movement (West, 2008). Some wore beads. Some had long hair. Some wore tie-dye and others wore turtle-neck sweaters. The Hippie generation was a wild bunch, to say the least, that opened the cookie jar of possibilities politically, sexually, spiritually and socially to forever be known as one of the most memorable social movements of all time (Hippie Generation, 2003).
I am also interested in this position because it combines aspects of college counseling and residential life. I have been an active member of residential life throughout my undergraduate years. As a sophomore, I was chosen as a customs person and was responsible for mentoring eight first year students as they adjusted to college life. I was charged with creating a community within the dorm and was available for any
According to Cambridge dictionary culture, is defined as ‘The way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time’ (Cambridge English Dictionary). Culture is rich and diverse. It is originated in the most ancient stages of society’s development and it is inextricably linked with the human history. There is a constant process of enrichment of cultures, the creation and dissemination of cultural treasures and achievements.
The presence of survivalists or preppers as an American subculture can be traced back as early as the 1930’s. During World War II, as new homes and buildings were constructed, builders were adding bomb shelters to their structures. Occupants would then keep these bomb shelters or bunkers stocked in case of impending Nazi attack. Advancing to the 1960’s and 1970’s, survivalist intentions changed due to differing circumstances. Preppers of this period were mainly hippies working to elude government entities that they felt were betraying them in support of the New World Order. Later, intentions shifted to prepping for Y2K, and what many thought to be a widespread catastrophe marking the beginning of the end.
The 90s also marked the beginnings of punk going mainstream. For the first time in America, punk was getting played on major radio stations and snapped up by major record labels. Punks, with their DIY ethos, do not like major record labels. To many people selling your record to a major record label is what they term as ‘selling out’. As Dan Ozzi notes in his article, “The quickest, most surefire way for a punk band to piss off its loyal fanbase was to put their Herbie Hancocks on a contract with a major label. The resulting outrage was real. DIY venues like 924 Gilman in Berkeley refused to book any major label acts” (Ozzi). Loyal fans would call any album that came out on a major record label as ‘trash’ and they would say it sounded ‘too polished’.
Walking down to the elementary, the place where we grew up. Wondering what has changed, if anything has changed. Telling jokes to lighten the mood and shooting our opinions back and forth about what this next generation would be like. Whether they would be as rowdy as our current classes are or more quiet and to themselves. Maybe, all of this new technology would be pressed on to them. Will the students be able to get down to work when told or will they barely be able to focus. We even thought that the students might resemble a senior class. The kids will probably even react how a normal highschooler will when offered a reward for their hard work. This next generation seemed more ready to learn when we entered the classroom, due to the fact that they didn’t even glance in our direction or look away from what they were learning. Just them not being distracted from a special guest entering the room showed us that the next generation of students were ready for what came their way. These reactions proved that this subculture was the right choice.
There are individuals that live in fear of showing their true identity to the world because they simply fear that society won’t accept them for having a different sexual orientation. Society advocates that individuals should be able to be proud of who they are, but yet they judge homosexuals for being different. People are taught not to judge others based on their race or religion, so why do they still discriminate against homosexuals? The homosexual subculture is not accepted by society, looked down upon, and misjudged; however, they are human beings and deserve to be treated equally.