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American Culture
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What is American Culture?

American culture is one of the most expansive and contested subjects in academic study, examined across disciplines including sociology, history, media studies, literature, and political science. Its academic appeal lies in the tension between a shared national identity and the enormous diversity of regional, ethnic, and generational experiences that shape everyday American life. Because the United States has long functioned as both a cultural producer and a global influence, students are regularly asked to analyze how values, norms, and narratives are created, challenged, and exported across borders and generations.

The papers archived on this topic reflect a wide range of approaches. Some take a media-focused lens, examining how television, reality TV, and figures like Walt Disney have shaped moral standards and public behavior. Others use literary analysis, with works like To Kill a Mockingbird serving as entry points into deeper cultural arguments. Historical and ethnographic approaches appear as well, including explorations of Algonquin tribal influence and early French contact in Michigan. Several papers move into policy and sociological territory, addressing topics such as divorce, heteronormativity, emotional literacy, and the cross-border influence of American culture on Canadian politics.

A strong essay on American culture requires a focused, arguable thesis rather than a broad survey of everything "American." The most effective papers isolate a specific cultural product, event, or phenomenon and use it to make a larger claim about national values or social patterns. Primary sources, case studies, and concrete examples carry more analytical weight than generalizations. The most common pitfall to avoid is treating American culture as monolithic — strong essays acknowledge complexity and contradiction rather than presenting a single, unified narrative.

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Research Paper Doctorate

The Yiddish Radio Project and preservation of Jewish-American voices

Jewish-American Experience and the Yiddish Radio Project

Paper Undergraduate

Cross-cultural analysis of American and Japanese cultures

Edward Tylor (1832-1917) defines culture as a collection of customs, laws, morals, knowledge, and symbols displayed by a society and its constituting members. Culture is form of collective expression by groups of people. Since the dawn of industrial revolution and later, due to an increased integration of cultures across nations, cross-cultural analysis has assumed much import in scholastic discourse within psychology, anthropology, and psychology. Present study is an endeavor to make a cross-cultural assessment of American and Japanese culture. More differences than similarities have been found in both the cultures. Where Japanese culture fosters Aimai, meaning ambiguity and vagueness, Americans are intolerant to this characteristic. Based on Hofstede's four dimensional theory of cross-cultural analysis, findings regarding individualism-collectivism index, power distance index, uncertainty tolerance, and masculinity-femininity index of American and Japanese people have been presented. Secondary research of pertinent literature and rigorous comparative analysis reveals that while both cultures are monocentric and value masculinity, they are diametrically opposed in uncertainty avoidance and individualism-collectivism index. The paper is divided in seven sections each highlighting different but interconnected theme regarding cross-cultural analysis of American and Japanese cultures.

Essay Doctorate

Linda Myers' expatriate assignment failure at SK Telecom in South Korea

This is a four page paper. It is about cross-cultural human resources issues, and Hofstede's cultural dimensions are mentioned in the essay. The essay is about a Harvard Business Review article called "The Would-Be Pioneer." The case study is about an American woman who accepts a management position in a South Korean firm, and what goes wrong. Full analysis is given.

Essay Undergraduate

Time perception differences between American and Japanese cultures

¶ … culture might influence the perception of time. Provide an example from two cultures and explain how each culture differs in its members' perception of time.

Paper High School

Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup cans and American consumer culture

This is a three page paper. It is about meaning in art and sociological meaning especially. the picture chosen for this paper is Andy Warhol's soup cans, A link is given, and other references are used too. The argument uses pathos, ethos, and logos to make the point that the Warhol painting is about sociological issues in aMerica today related to consumerism, materialism and conformity.

Paper Doctorate

Evolution of credit cards from gasoline stations to American Express

The first issuers of credit cards were post-World-War I-era merchants whose customers began arriving from more distant locales by the first automobiles that were widely available to ordinary Americans (Stephy, 2009).

Research Paper Doctorate

American culture defined by diversity and commercial export

America is the land of contradictions: fast-food restaurants with low-carb menus; prefabricated pizza parlors next to organic juice stands; "Trading Spouses" and "Trading Spaces." With an income disparity as large as…

Paper Undergraduate

American imperialism and globalization in Smith's analysis

There are many countries that perceive the United States of America as an example of imperialism. There are many cultures that adamantly resist western culture, western practices, and western ideals. They are enraged and repulsed by the thought of assimilating things, cultural objects, or systems from the west. Generally speaking, there are two sides to the debate regarding globalization. The debate is simple: one argument is that globalization is good; the other argument is the globalization is detrimental. Smith eloquently argues and fervently demonstrates the path and the agenda of American imperialism and the role of globalization in American imperialism. The End Game of Globalization tracks the course and final trajectory of America's plan of globalization. The paper provides a context within which to consider and evaluate Smith's opus, as well as provide a brief summary of the themes, points, and methods.

Paper Doctorate

Corporal punishment of children: Swedish policy and global perspectives

The paper demonstrates the validity of the argument and the counterargument for corporal punishment on children and adolescents. The paper furthermore attempts to view this issue from the perspective of the adults administering and questioning this issues as well as from the perspective of the young people on the receiving end of punishment. In this way, the paper aims to provide holistic context by arguing for both sides of the issues from more than one perspective.

Research Paper Undergraduate

Multicultural literacy and teaching culturally diverse American classrooms

Multicultural Newsletter What is Multicultural Literacy? Approaching the subject of multicultural literacy for the first time a student might think it has to do with getting minorities to become literate – to be able to read and write in English or in their native language. That would be wrong, albeit it is a good goal in terms of bringing all students up to speed in communication skills. What is important to remember about multicultural literacy is that by the year 2020, an estimated fifty percent of the student population in American public schools will belong "…to an economic, ethnic, racial, religious, and/or social class minority" (Stevens, et al, 2011, p. 32). Teachers and counselors must be fully knowledgeable vis-à-vis the culturally relevant issues that are present when the classroom is diverse, as it clearly is becoming today and will continue to be in the near future as well.

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