Week 3 — Readings & Resources · Culture

Course: Introduction to Sociology (SOC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Adeyemi
Objective covered: Objective 3 — Analyze culture (material and nonmaterial elements, values, norms, symbols) and apply the three perspectives to cultural phenomena.

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded, and there is nothing to buy.

This week's load is deliberately light: two short videos + 2–3 brief readings, grouped by the ideas from the lecture. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 45–55 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Reading order that matches the lecture: ① what culture is + material vs. nonmaterial → ② the elements (values, norms, folkways/mores, symbols & language) → ③ subcultures, cultural change & the three perspectives.

A habit to start now: before you trust any claim about a culture — in these readings, in the news, or from a chatbot — ask the sociologist's questions from class: Is this a real pattern or a stereotype? Material or nonmaterial? A folkway or a more? And whose culture is being treated as "normal"?

① What Culture Is · Material vs. Nonmaterial · Ethnocentrism vs. Relativism

Maps to Lecture Segments 2, 5 & 7. Culture is the shared, learned way of life; it splits into material (tangible objects) and nonmaterial (values, beliefs, norms, language). Includes cultural universals, culture shock, and the ethnocentrism/relativism contrast.

Reading — "What Is Culture?" (OpenStax, Introduction to Sociology 3e, §3.1)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/3-1-what-is-culture
Why it's assigned: the cleanest plain-language version of the definitions we drew on the board — material vs. nonmaterial culture, cultural universals, and the contrast between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism (with culture shock and xenocentrism). Free to read online in your browser.
⏱ ~12 min

② The Elements — Values, Norms, Folkways & Mores, Symbols & Language

Maps to Lecture Segments 3 & 5. Values (what's good), beliefs (what's true), norms (how to act); norms ranked folkways → mores → taboos; sanctions; symbols and language; and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis — as a hypothesis.

Video — "Symbols, Values & Norms: Crash Course Sociology #10"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGrVhM_Gi8k
Why it earns the click: a lively ~10-minute tour of values, beliefs, and norms — including folkways and mores — and how symbols carry shared meaning. Exactly Segment 3. Hosted by Nicole Sweeney.
⏱ ~10 min

Reading — "Elements of Culture" (OpenStax, Introduction to Sociology 3e, §3.2)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/3-2-elements-of-culture
Why it's assigned: walks through values and beliefs, norms (formal/informal; folkways and mores), sanctions and social control, and symbols and language — and explains the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as a hypothesis about linguistic relativity, the same careful framing we used in class.
⏱ ~12 min

③ Subcultures, Cultural Change & the Three Perspectives

Maps to Lecture Segments 6 & 7. Subculture vs. counterculture, cultural change and cultural lag (Ogburn), and how functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism each analyze culture.

Video — "Cultures, Subcultures, and Countercultures: Crash Course Sociology #11"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV50AV7-Iwc
Why it earns the click: a clear ~10-minute treatment of dominant culture, subcultures, and countercultures — the distinction we drilled in Segment 7. Hosted by Nicole Sweeney.
⏱ ~10 min

Reading — "Theoretical Perspectives on Culture" (OpenStax, Introduction to Sociology 3e, §3.4)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/3-4-theoretical-perspectives-on-culture
Why it's assigned: lays out the functionalist (culture creates cohesion), conflict (culture can serve dominant groups), and interactionist (meaning made in interaction) views of culture one at a time — the same three-lens move we ran on an advertisement in class.
⏱ ~9 min

Optional one-stop reference (free online text)

If you'd like one optional reference to skim this week, OpenStax Introduction to Sociology 3e, Chapter 3 ("Culture") covers everything in this module — what culture is, its elements, subcultures and cultural change, and the theoretical perspectives.
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/3-introduction
Why it's here: a reputable, currently-available reference you can return to in later weeks — entirely optional this week.

Pick-one quick path (≈22 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Watch Crash Course Sociology #10 — Symbols, Values & Norms (groups ①–②).
2. Read Elements of Culture (group ②), and skim Theoretical Perspectives on Culture for the three lenses (group ③).

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Adeyemi and use the OpenStax Chapter 3 reference above in the meantime. These links are provided for access only — no claim is made about their licensing or reuse terms.