International Club
A college campus is a place where cultures collide. Every aspect of the campus can be simplified to being its own unique group subject to different norms and traditions. These group differences can be anywhere from the art department’s use of symbols to express themselves, to shared practices in the wellness center, to the rituals honoring an individual, such as of Doc Farber for the political science department. As with the expectations of this assignment we were supposed to choose a group that would serve as an interesting subject. It took a while to decide just what to choose, but then it dawned on us what group to choose; the International Club. It served as a great subject for diversity, culture, and an organized political …show more content…
As they are too small of a group, they cannot be fully considered a tribe, but can at least be compared to one. By the definition in the textbook that sodalities are “formally organized institutions that unite the geographically scattered residence groups” and “give the society greater cohesiveness,” (Peoples and Bailey 2015) the different countries where members are originally from seem to serve as some basic form of a sodality. Having members from various countries allows them to come together and form a “tribe” of unique people with a common interest. Another aspect of tribes that the International Club appears to mimic is their organization of political leaders. While the group is somewhat dependent on the university and their club advisor, it is still autonomous. There are usually eight executive positions to be held, and there is about equal mixing of egalitarian and ranked society traits. In order to run for an executive position, the member must present a case for themselves, typically explaining achievements related and/or unrelated to the focus of the position, but there is no necessity of any “inheritances,” which leaders of a tribe sometimes …show more content…
It is not the practicing of a religion that is similar, but the cultural construction of the organization, specifically a communal religious organization. According to the textbook, members of a communal religious organization “gather periodically to perform rituals that benefit the group as a whole.” (Peoples and Bailey 2015) These benefits would be the gaining of information about different cultural knowledge, behaviors, and social norms found around the world. There are no definite religious leaders in a communal organization, just as in the International Club, because at their meetings each week, a member would give a short, educational presentation about their own country and culture. Perhaps, then, if one were to attempt to describe the “religion” that they practice there, it would be cultural relativity, and their rituals are done through their presentations. Elections of new officers could even be considered as a type of initiation ritual, because it is tied to recognition of a new social status within the
A college campus is a place where cultures collide. Every aspect of the campus can be simplified to being its own unique group subject to different norms and traditions. These group differences can be anywhere from the art department’s use of symbols to express themselves, to shared practices in the wellness center, to the rituals honoring an individual, such as of Doc Farber for the political science department. As with the expectations of this assignment we were supposed to choose a group that would serve as an interesting subject. It took a while to decide just what to choose, but then it dawned on us what group to choose; the International Club. It served as a great subject for diversity, culture, and an organized political …show more content…
As they are too small of a group, they cannot be fully considered a tribe, but can at least be compared to one. By the definition in the textbook that sodalities are “formally organized institutions that unite the geographically scattered residence groups” and “give the society greater cohesiveness,” (Peoples and Bailey 2015) the different countries where members are originally from seem to serve as some basic form of a sodality. Having members from various countries allows them to come together and form a “tribe” of unique people with a common interest. Another aspect of tribes that the International Club appears to mimic is their organization of political leaders. While the group is somewhat dependent on the university and their club advisor, it is still autonomous. There are usually eight executive positions to be held, and there is about equal mixing of egalitarian and ranked society traits. In order to run for an executive position, the member must present a case for themselves, typically explaining achievements related and/or unrelated to the focus of the position, but there is no necessity of any “inheritances,” which leaders of a tribe sometimes …show more content…
It is not the practicing of a religion that is similar, but the cultural construction of the organization, specifically a communal religious organization. According to the textbook, members of a communal religious organization “gather periodically to perform rituals that benefit the group as a whole.” (Peoples and Bailey 2015) These benefits would be the gaining of information about different cultural knowledge, behaviors, and social norms found around the world. There are no definite religious leaders in a communal organization, just as in the International Club, because at their meetings each week, a member would give a short, educational presentation about their own country and culture. Perhaps, then, if one were to attempt to describe the “religion” that they practice there, it would be cultural relativity, and their rituals are done through their presentations. Elections of new officers could even be considered as a type of initiation ritual, because it is tied to recognition of a new social status within the