Ibarra 1

Josue Ibarra
Professor Jon Beadle
English 113B
24 February 2016
Academic Culture
Culture is, in the words of E.B Taylor an English anthropologist and the founder of
cultural anthropology, That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society
(Department of religious studies). Culture not only lets you be a member of society, but lets you
be closer to people. When a group of people share their values and beliefs, it is considered a
culture. Culture operates in different kinds of spaces. In other words, culture is shaped by space
and it shapes certain spaces. In my personal life, I am part of the academic culture. The academic
culture is shape by school and other learning resources which are considered space. The
academic culture impacted my self-identity when I started to realize the values, norms, beliefs,
and language behind the culture by embracing my education and becoming an educated person.
The academic culture is a universal culture that almost everyone is part of. It is a culture
that brings success to an individuals life. The academic culture leads the individuals to success
by embracing the values which are citizenship, respect for others, and respect to self. All of these
values help shape the individuals self-identity. We adapted these values when we started school
because they define the academic culture. People belonging to the academic culture are
distinguishable because they are educated by the elites of the academic culture. Those elite
people are the teachers, professors, staff, principles, advisors, etc. They already embraced the
academic culture and are currently part of it. When I mean embracing the academic culture I

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mean being successful within the culture and way from it. In other words, being part of the
academic culture will bring the individual success because of the knowledge learned from
education.
The academic culture is shaped by space and it shapes certain spaces. When we talk
about space, we are talking about location, but the way an individual perceives the space. For
example, a classroom is any kind of room. Students perceived the room to be a classroom
because of the presence of the professor and staff. Our respect towards our professor is
important. Language is involved in the way students speak to the professor. It is an educated
language because there is no foul language involved when the professor or the student are
speaking. The classroom shapes the self-identity of an individual because he/she knows the
morals associated with the classroom. It is good to follow directions and it is bad to not follow
the directions of the professor. The classroom not only shapes the academic culture, but the entire
school itself. The library, the field, auditorium, the office, cafeteria, classroom, and so forth. It is
the way we perceived the space as part of the academic culture.
The academic culture impacted my self-identity by embracing the values and languages
when I communicate with members of my culture. In the article Culture and Communication by
Anastacia Kurylo states that A culture is any group of people that share a way of life (3). In
other words, way of life refers to the way culture involves their members through language,
values, and so forth. I personally relate to this because the academic culture shaped my selfidentity once I perceived the space that shapes my culture. I take myself to be in the academic
culture because it is a culture that brings success to my life. I go to school to learn and to
associate with members of my culture in order to help shape my self-identity. I define my-self to
be an educated person. As a college student, the way of life you share with other college

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students may include a specific language such as the words quad, ombudsman, registrar, and
FAFSA, as well as specific norms about where, when, and how to study (Kurylo 4). Kurylo
implies that being a college student is being part of a culture because the way students
communicate with members by using language and shared values. I could relate to this quote
because being a college student is being part of the academic culture. When I was in high school
I helped my fellow classmates do their FAFSA, the language involved was academic. The
classroom helped shape my identity to become an educated person. I wanted the members of my
culture to know that I am well prepared when it comes to FAFSA. I believe that could be
successful as other members of the academic culture. My next step is graduating college. If my
members of my culture have done it, I know I could follow their footsteps because we share the
same values.
The academic culture not only brings success to your personal life, but it helps the
individual grow its self-identity. In the article Self-Identify and Culture by Ronald Jackson,
Cerise Glenn, and Kesha Williams, it says that, The self is something which has a development;
it is not initially there, at birth, but arises in the process of social experience and activity that is,
develops in the given individual as a result of his relations to that process as a whole and to other
individuals within that process (Mead). In other words, the individual possesses a highly level
of consciousness, which gives the people the ability to self-reflect as they interact with members
of their culture. Communication is key to the development of the self-identity. When I first
started presenting in front of class, I was not prepared. I did not embrace the academic culture, so
it affected my self-identity. My classmates and my shared values were not connecting because
they did embrace the academic culture. I was not fully aware of my culture. They knew that this
is the first step to have a successful life. As the years went by, I have been getting the practice to

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present in front of the class and I realized that I am part of the academic culture because I am in
school no matter what. The classroom shapes my culture and I should embrace it. My selfidentity developed because of the process of social experience and activity. Within those
activities, the whole academic group shared language, values, beliefs, and so forth.
Academic culture is related to all the levels of school, but as the level of education
increases so does your self-identity develops. Once I reached the university level, I became
aware that my career is closer than I thought. I need to start behaving the way I am going to be in
my career job. Academic culture sits between the in-depth analysis of university culture and the
nature of disciplines (Brick 97). Brick implies that the academic cultures values and ways of
behaving are shared by the people who work and study in universities. In other words, maturity
is involved to what Brick is saying because people at the university level were not forced to go to
college. In the previous years before college, it was the law that we have to go to school. I truly
value the academic culture whenever I am in class learning because education will lead me to a
successful life and develop my self-identity by having a series of social experiences with
members of my culture.
In every culture, there is a sense of everyone sharing the same values and beliefs. This
idea sort of creates equality between members of the same culture. Academic cultures are often
described as collegial with an emphasis on the archaic term peer. In a group of peers, where
everybody is supposedly equal, everyone would be treated in the same way, and be given the
same opportunities (Roxa, Martensson, and Alveteg 101). In other words, the academic culture
brings individuals together because they all believe in the same values. Everyone in the academic
culture has the right to be successful in life because the opportunity was given right from the
beginning of their education years. When I am in the classroom, I feel connected with my

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classmates because we have the same goal each week. For example, there was a time when I
needed to form a group in order to do a project. Communication within the group flows smoothly
because the language we implement is understandable. Most of the words we say is, prompt,
project, procedures, theme, and so forth. We know what is right or wrong when doing the project.
If we are working in my room, the room itself creates an academic space. The academic culture
is everywhere as long as the members of the culture implement it.
I truly value the academic culture ever since I embrace my education. The academic
culture impacted my life when I learned the cultures values, which are citizenship, respect for
others, and respect to self. These values are only implied when the academic culture shapes the
space I occupied. The classroom is any kind of room, but the way the people in the room make
the location seem academic. My self-identity is also reflected by the academic culture. I identify
myself to be an educated person because the culture itself prepares you to have a successful life.
I could notice my self-identity when I communicate with members of my culture and people
from other cultures. I also embrace other cultures that I am part of, but the academic culture will
always be special for me.

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Works Citied
Jackson, Ronald, Cerise Glenn, and Kesha Williams. "Self-Identity and Culture." Inter/cultural
Communication: Representation and Construction of Culture. Los Angeles:
SAGE, 2013. 117-39. Print.
Kurylo, Anastacia. "Culture and Communication." Inter/cultural Communication:
Representation and Construction of Culture. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2013. 3-23.
Print.
Roxa, Torgny, Katarina Martensson, and Mattias Alveteg. Understanding and Influencing
Teaching and Learning Cultures at University: A Network Approach. High Educ
Higher Education 62.1 (2010): 99-111. EBSCO. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.
Simms, Maria. Academic Culture: A Students Guide. Literacy and Numeracy Studies 15.1
(2011): 97. JSTOR. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.
"Department of Religious Studies." Department of Religious Studies. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb.
2016.