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Josue Ibarra
Professor Jon Beadle
English 113B
11 May 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 shaped 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. There are
others that are not part of the academic culture because school was not there strength. School is
the starting point in the academic culture, but there are individuals that do not finish their
education. 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 adopted 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

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culture. Those elite people are the teachers, professors, staff, principals, advisors, etc. They
already embraced the academic culture and are currently part of it. When I mean embracing the
academic culture, I mean being successful within the culture and away 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 not 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 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 am a few steps closer from getting

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my bachelors degree because I completed my first semester in college. I go to school to learn
and to associate with members of my culture in order to help shape my self-identity. I define myself to be an educated person. The way I talk to my professors and fellow classmates is
considered to be appropriate. For example, good morning professor, how is your day going?
This type of language is considered to be educated because there is no foul language involved.
As a college student, the way of life you share with other college 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 members of my culture to know that I am well prepared
when it comes to FAFSA. I demonstrated my capacity by helping them complete their FAFSA
application before March 2nd. There were a few words that students were not familiar with like
independent or dependent. Independent means that someone needs support from others and
dependent means that he or she can survive on their own. I believe that I 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 their 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,

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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 high 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
presented in front of class, I was not prepared because I lack presentation skills. My first
presentation was in the 7th grade and presented a plant project. 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 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 self-identity 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

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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. There are certain cases were
members of the same culture have different views. In other words, they are considered part of the
subculture. 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. I personally believe that the word peer does not really connect with the academic
culture because there are other words. 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. The disadvantages that most students have is their economic status. When money is
involved in education, there tends to be inequality between the students. When I am in the
classroom, I feel connected with my 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 as long as we are using an academic language in the room and
using school books. The academic culture is everywhere as long as the members of the culture
implement it.

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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.

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.

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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.

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