How Culture Functions and Why It Changes

How Culture Functions and Why It Changes

Culture wouldn’t exist if it didn’t provide some value to those who adopt and live it. The fractious nature of individual and group preferences, however, along with the rate of change in every aspect of our lives makes this issue among the most difficult for humans to confront and manage.

Functions of Culture

Presented by James O'Rourke

Cultures universally respond to human problems and challenges by developing systems to deal with them. 

Run time: 6 minutes

How do Cultures Change?

Presented by James O'Rourke

Cultures change because of internal forces such as discovery and innovation. They also change because of external forces such as diffusion and borrowing. 

Run time: 6 minutes

Ethnocentrism

Presented by James O'Rourke

All cultures, to one degree or another, display ethnocentrism, or the tendency to evaluate an outsider by the standards of one’s own culture.  

Run time: 3 minutes

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Presented by James O'Rourke

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Featured Speakers:

  • Linda Rutherford, SVP & Chief Communications Officer, Southwest Airlines
  • James S. O’Rourke, American rhetorician and Professor of Management at the University of Notre Dame. 
  • Amanda McKendree, Arthur F. and Mary J. O’Neil Director of the Fanning Center for Business Communication, Associate Teaching Professor, University of Notre Dame.

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