Fandom High School

Bond had told his students to meet him down in the Danger Shop today. Which was set up as with a number of viewing stations, complete with several comfortable chairs and sound dampening walls around each station. "Good morning, and welcome to our last class. I had intended on a written exam," he had not, "but given the recent events instead we'll be doing something much more leisurely."

Gestured to the viewing stations. "These have been set up with a library of different media from around this world and several others. I would like you to find something that sounds like it would be interesting to watch and enjoy it."


[Class Roster]

On the plus side, Bond wasn't a pirate this week. On the minus side, he wasn't in the classroom, either. There was however a note on the board.

Class cancelled, because reasons.

Well, maybe that wasn't a minus to the class.

[ooc: sick, so no class. Sorry.]

Bond emailed his students to meet him down in the computer lab today.

"Good morning," he greeted them. "I hope that none of you are the worse for wear after the last few days. In light of the fact it may seem a good idea to take comfort in the familiar, today we'll once again be looking at what is familiar to you. I would like you to spend the first half of the class looking for examples of popular culture from your own worlds here. If your world is at a technology level where it wouldn't be available online, you have my permission to head to the library to see if there are any relevant books there. Once you've all found an example, during the second half of the class you'll share your examples, speak a few words about what place they have in your culture, and answer any questions your classmates might have."

"Get to it."

[Class Roster]

Bond was nowhere in sight today. There was, however, a sign up at the front of the classroom.

Class cancelled due to severe glitter hangover.

Not that Bond actually had a glitter hangover, but it sounded more interesting than 'woke up with a raging head-cold'.

[ooc: cannot brain. no class means no ocd.]

The desks in the classroom had been arranged in a rough circle, so no movie today, kids.

"Good morning, class," Bond greeted them. "And welcome back from your break. Speaking of which, one way to learn about a culture is to spend a period time immersed in it, so today I'd like those of you who went on the school trip to talk about what you learnt about the culture there, any one who instead went to their homes can discuss if they noticed if anything felt different once they were back there."

[ooc: wait for ocd]

[Class Roster]

Today's food offerings were back to hot drinks and pastries. Also popcorn. That and the projector screen might have given the class a clue about what this morning's class would involve.

"Good morning," Bond greeted the class once they'd all arrived. "Once again we'll be looking at a film, however today's offering comes from a non-US American culture. As such, not only do I want you to consider what kinds of concerns and values the culture that created this film might have, I also want you to be on the lookout for elements that you don't understand, for example jokes you don't eat, and also unfamiliar themes. For example, American films often have themes of individualism and exceptionalism, where the hero stands alone."

"With that in mind, let's start watching."

[Class Roster]

Bond did not have the projector screen up again his week, woe. The hot drinks and pastries were still there though.

"Good morning, clas. I hear that some of you had an interesting weekend courtesy of the island." His own had been fairly quiet, except for some of his trousers going missing. "While I doubt you particularly want to revisit it, it does provide an opportunity to touch on the idea of deep structures, which are those elements of our cultures that are so fundamental and ingrained that we don't so much learn as absorb them as we're exposed to expressions of them since before we can remember."

"Which of course raises the question of what happens to those deep structures when you're a newly blank slate, so today I'd like you to discuss any differences in behaviour that you observed in either yourself, or in others if you managed to avoid being affected by it, doubly so if they are things you'd never expect to see yourself doing, and if you believe these changes might have been attributed no longer know that people just do or don't do something."

[ooc: wait for ocd]

[Class Roster]

Bond had his class meet him in an ordinary classroom, with various pastries and hot drink set up near the door.

"Good morning, class," he greeted them once they'd arrived. "For those of you who haven't had a class with me before, I'm Professor Bond and this is Comparative Culture. Over the course of the semester we'll be looking at some of the similarities and differences between different human cultures. Now if we were at an ordinary school where we could make assumptions that we all came from the same culture, we'd begin by examining and deconstructing that own culture before moving on to other, but as that's not the case, we'll instead be looking at how dominant cultural norms might be conveyed through cultural artefacts. Translation: we're going to be watching a lot of films, looking at a lot of art, and eating a lot of food, with some theory sprinkled in as garnish."

"But all that is for later in the semester. This is the first week of class, which means we all get to do introductions. Which we can also use to start shaking loose some bollocks about cultural assumptions. Often different cultures will have different cultural norms, that is to say ideas of what's considered normal, expected, or polite behaviour, often to the point that a member of that culture will not even consciously think about those behaviours until presented with another culture's norms, which is one way that stereotypes are created, but cultures are also made up of individuals, and how closely a given individual adheres to any given norm will depend on any number of factors."

"So for your introductions, I would like your name, class, and two cultural norms from your home culture, large or small, one you feel you adhere to closely and one you don't. For example, and while as as a former member of Her Majesty's Navy I feel a connection to our naval tradition, I tend to prefer coffee over tea."

[Class Roster]