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151 interesting cultural analysis topics for students.

October 6, 2021

As a broad concept, cultural analysis is an area of study that looks at the social and cultural aspects of everyday living and life in general. It focuses on the analysis of all the ways we develop interactions and relations with human society.

When writing a cultural analysis paper, students should remember that it affords them an excellent opportunity to explore various experiences through their chosen cultural themes.

Students are often assigned cultural analysis paper writing in school because it serves to conduct extensive research. Through selected topics and research, students are enabled with the ability to analyze global topics, investigate topics on various issues, as well as to understand the significance of different cultural backgrounds.

When assigned to write a cultural analysis essay, the first approach is to research topics filled with rich experiences and ideas, as this gives you room for so many things to write on. While writing your cultural essay, your abstract, introduction, main body, and conclusions are relevant. For more context, your article has to be detailed, flowing seamlessly for easy reading and understanding.

Interesting Analytical Essay Topics for Students

When writing an analytical essay paper, emphasis is paid majorly on the topic you are selecting because your topic affords you the level of depth necessary to carry out the needed analysis. Analytical topics writing demands interesting analytical topics to come out well. Here are some analytical essay topics to consider for your essay writing assignment:

• Analyze the impact of religion on our thinking and perception of life
• Analyze the core distinction between Islam and Christianity
• Write extensively on the health importance of Marijuana
• How is technology influencing human inertia
• What is the cultural symbolism of Halloween
• Analyze the effect of the Spooky season over time
• Explore the origin story of Halloween
• Explore the social impacts of religious doctrines and how it impedes growth
• Analyze the limitations of spiritual principles and how they negatively impact social life
• Analyze the importance of self-care practice to developing one’s mental health
• Analyze the effect on cultural differences and how it affects people’s perception of various subjects
• Analyze fast fashion as an unsustainable social lifestyle
• Effects of fast fashion on an economy
• Explore ways through which the social impact of fast fashion can be curbed
• Analyze the importance of therapy and why it’s essential for better mental health
• What factors promote peace and unity in multicultural states
• Why does Christianity frown on intermarriage between Christians and Muslims
• Exploring the limiting social and cultural beliefs of Christianity
• Exploring the cultural limitation of religion
• Analyze in well-constructed details the modern-day effects of slavery
• Analyze how technology is taking over the educational sector
• Explore the benefits of marketing beyond digital marketing

Critical Analysis Essay Topics for College Essays

There is a significant distinction between analysis paper topics and critical analysis topics. It is in its complexity. Your analysis topic changes shape the moment it requires you to carry out criticism. In this situation, your work on the topic moves beyond analyzing the work but also mirroring your work from a critical lens. In your critical analysis essay, you are not just exploring but picking up salient points and facts to help you form a solid judgment.

• Exploring in detail the inherent racism of the Olympics
• Exploring misogyny, misogynoir and racism in the entertainment industry
• A critical outlook structural racism
• Ways through which the implementation of gender roles confines genders in boxes
• A look into how excessive video game impacts health
• Exploring how video games influence children’s mental health
• A look into addiction, how it affects a system, and possible ways through which it can be curbed
• An exploration on how technology impacts educational growth
• Critically evaluate the pros and cons of the gradual decline of traditional learning and the burgeoning development of online learning
• Assess the benefits of single-parent families
• Critically evaluating the effects of global warming
• A look into how social media promotes freedom of speech
• Exploring in detail the importance of virtual communities
• Atheism: a form of religion on its own?
• Veganism and its social effect on healthy living
• Anti-drug campaign and the study of drug abuse and addiction
• Critical research on the concept of body positivity
• Interracial marriages and the origin of its social perception
• Inter-religious marriage and the challenges associated with it
• Study into the inherent nature of homophobia in the human society
• A study into how homophobia and religion connect
• The distinction between the positive and negative impacts of social media in young adults.

Good Cultural Criticism Essay Topics to Explore

As an integral part of human living, culture is multifaceted. What this entails in any essay writing or criticism through a cultural lens is that there are many subjects to touch on. To conduct and write a good essay on this topic, attention should be drawn towards exploring the complexity of culture and the various dimensions of living. Here are some cultural criticism topics to look into:

• The history of racism and how it has continued to affect healthy coexistence in Western societies
• Understanding the limitations of religion
• A look into the distinction between spirituality and religion
• A study of the history of the Olympics and its impacts on sports over the years
• A survey of literature and how it impacts various aspects of human lives
• Critical analysis on the subject of black hair
• How safe abortion ban translates to dictatorship
• Dictatorial tendencies prevalent with Western philosophies and ideas
• The cultural impact of Brexit on Europe
• The cultural impact of Brexit on the United Kingdom
• Critically evaluating structural racism in the workplace
• A study of overt and implicit racism
• Analyzing the influence of colonial rule on Africa
• How imperialism morphs into new slavery
• Exploring the concept of ethnicity
• The cultural impact of literature
• Analyzing the role of literature in shaping human consciousness
• A study of misogyny and how it affects human relationships
• Analysis of the cultural aspects within the literature
• A study of the importance of situating a literary work within a cultural context
• Importance of cultural context in writing
• Exploring literature from a cultural lens

Controversial Cultural Analysis Essay Topics

Your cultural analysis essay topics will differ slightly from your critical analysis topic. Unlike your critical analysis paper, the cultural analysis only requires that you situate your topic within a cultural context and does not require the bringing up and exploration of facts. It just simply requires you to analyze your topic within a cultural context.

• Discuss the impacts of Interracial marriages
• Discuss the strength and weaknesses of inter-religious marriages
• A study on the popularity of Tiktok today
• A study on how Tiktok culture has influenced music promotion
• How Tiktok and Instagram Reels is rewriting the terms of social engagement
• Does social media have an impact on culture?
• The cultural effect of fast fashion culture
• A study of the social preference of Ape products
• A study on the weakness and strengths of Apple products
• What Apple products have to say about capitalism
• The effects of television on society
• How Television sitcoms have effects on culture
• A discussion on how TV builds and promotes the culture
• The importance of representation in popular culture
• The influence of classical literature on life to date
• The cultural impacts of social media trends
• Effects of classical movies today
• Social media blackout: How social media blackout has been ingrained into society
• A cultural analysis of social media in creating bandwagons
• Exploring the impact of psychology on culture
• The cultural implications of following trends
• Elaborate on social media herd culture

Exceptional Literary Analysis Essay Topics for your Quality Essays

Just like in culture analysis essay topics, in literary analysis essay topics, the goal is to situate your essay topic within an academic context. It means that what you’re writing and what you’re going to write on must be drawn from a literary work. Here are some topics that fit within the category:

• A study of the symbolic nature of the “green light” in the Great Gatsby
• Understanding ethnicity within literary work of Langston Hughes
• The cultural impact of James Baldwin’s literary works
• The Harlem Renaissance literature and how it shaped the future of literature in America
• The symbolic depiction of the title “The Invisible Man” from Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
• Discuss Queerness through the study of Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
• An intensive review of the negro movement through the works of W.E.B Dubois.
• A comprehensive literary analysis of Double Consciousness by W.E.B Du Bois
• From a cultural perspective, a literary analysis of Audre Lorde’s collection of essays I am your Sister
• The continued relevance of Jane Austen’s literary works to date
• A realistic study of D.H Lawerence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover
• Explore the concept of realism and romanticism in the novel Jane Eyre
• The social relevance of James Baldwin’s Just Above my Head
• Social implications of Toni Morrison’s Sula
• An overview of the racist connotation in Joyce Cary’s Mister Johnson and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
• Detail how The Great Gatsby pictures came to be in the 1920s America.
• A cultural analysis of Bell Hooks All About Love
• The cultural impact of black literature
• A literary study of Samuel Selvon’s Ways of Sunlight
• A cultural analysis of Edwidge Danticat’s Breathe, Eyes, Memory
• The Societal relevance of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women

Textual Analysis Essay Topics on Engrossing Subjects

A textual analysis essay looks into the analysis of the writing technique of an author. The student pays attention to the language of the literary work and, in turn, draws out ideas from it to elaborate on the inherent message of the work or how the author’s language influences ideas. All of this is done using the student’s thoughts. Here are some topics within this category.

• Analyze the plays written by William Shakespeare
• Analyze the recurring theme within the various works of James Baldwin
• Discuss the theme of “the American Dream” that is prevalent within The Great Gatsby
• The theme of race and hardship in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
• The theme of a quest for belonging in Langston Hughes’s poem I Too
• A textual analysis of James Baldwin’s Another Country
• The exploration of the effects of racism in James Baldwin’s Go Tell it on the Mountain
• A study on the subject of marriage in the 19 century through Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
• Write a textual essay on any literary work of choice
• Write a textual analysis of any artwork of choice
• Analyze the characters in Baldwin’s Another Country
• A textual analysis of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple
• A textual analysis essay on the New Testament
• Analyze the characterization in any selected literary text of choice
• Write an analysis of any of Obama’s past speeches
• A textual reading of the work of Alice walker
• A study of the writing style and identity representation in Toni Morrison’s works.
• The use of language to draw attention in Toni Morrison’s novels
• The use of language to compel action in the literature of the Harlem Renaissance
• Write an essay on the importance of Zora Neale Hurston’s works
• A textual study of James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time

Critical Response Essay Topics for Study

A critical response essay is a more in-depth version of a textual analysis essay. Although you’re summarizing and analyzing the author’s works, at the same time, you’re making critical remarks and arguments through the various points you earn by highlighting outstanding things from the work. Here are some of them:

• Jane Austen literature is as relevant today as in the 19th century
• A study of salient points highlighted from Baldwin’s essay The Fire Next Time
• Write a critical personal response to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
• Write a critical personal analysis on selected Obama’s speeches.
• Using contemporary measures in the study of The Merchant of Venice
• Critical analysis of Alice Walker’s inclusion of lesbianism in The Colour Purple
• The portrayal of society in Oliver Twist
• The exploration of human desires in Lady Chatterley’s Lover
• A response to the depiction of black lives in Mister Johnson
• How care is portrayed in Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals
• A critical analysis of Audre Lorde’s poem “A Litany for Survival.”
• A critical overview of the role of art in human lives
• A study of how literature influences the perception of reality
• An analysis of the cultural context of literary works
• A critical response to the need for representation in literature
• The impact of art on revolution
• A critical study of revolutionary art
• An analysis of identity politics in literature
• Study of race relation in The Fence
• A critical overview of Toni Morrison’s Beloved
• The study of the cultural impact of revolutionary literature.

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Cultural Analysis Essay: Topics, Tips, & Example

Writing an essay on cultural issues is an exciting yet a challenging task to complete. Cultural analysis essays are assigned to those who study literature, business, marketing, and social work.

What is a cultural analysis? How to choose a topic for such an assignment? How to write a cultural analysis essay? You’ll find the answers to these questions below. This article contains cultural analysis essay topics, writing tips, together with cultural analysis example added as a bonus.

📝 What Is a Cultural Analysis?

🖊️ how to write a cultural analysis.

• 📃 Choosing a Cultural Analysis Topic?
• 📋 Cultural Analysis Essay Topics

📑 Cultural Analysis: Example of an Essay

🔗 references.

A cultural analysis essay focuses on social and cultural aspects of life : the ways people interact with each other, create communities, etc. It also explains how these interactions are based on the backgrounds and common practices of the participants.

Your cultural analysis essay can be short – for example, a 500-word essay . Or you can go for a long piece of writing. It depends on your topic and the number of arguments you want to cover.

In terms of the style, you can pick an expository , a descriptive , a narrative, or a persuasive type of essay. Your decision will depend on what you aim at when writing this paper.

You might be wondering: how to write a cultural analysis essay? And what exact steps should you take?

• First of all, you need to choose a topic you’re going to explore. It shouldn’t be too broad, as, for example, ‘Culture of Islamic countries.’ It will be best to focus on a particular event or a custom and explore it. Further, we’ll provide you with cultural analysis essay topics.
• Then you can focus on researching, formulating a thesis statement , and creating an outline . The outline is an essential part of your writing, as it helps you to ease the process.
• In the introduction, you should mention your thesis statement and cover what you’re going to discuss in your paper. Remember that it’s vital to intrigue a potential reader in your intro!
• Next, you’re going to focus on the main body . You can split it into several paragraphs. The number of paragraphs will depend on the length of your essay and the number of arguments.
• The conclusion is the last paragraph of your paper. Here, you should confirm your thesis statement by summing up your arguments.

Here , you can learn more about a step-by-step plan for your analytical essay.

📃 Cultural Analysis Topic Ideas: How to Choose

Here, you’ll find three important points that will help you to choose the right topic for your paper.

Cultural Analysis Topics: Point 1

First, choose a society or culture that you want to talk about . Let us take American culture and society as an example.

Cultural Analysis Topics: Point 2

Cultural traditions are reflected in many ways: in literature , cinema, etc. We suggest you use films (this is not boring). You can even write the cultural analysis essay based on your favorite movies .

Cultural Analysis Topics: Point 3

Now, you have to decide on the central issue of your cultural analysis essay . What particular aspect of American culture do you want to discuss, e.g., men/women, drugs , minorities, etc.?

Finally, you need to watch a movie (better twice) that depicts the problem you want to consider . Your major goal boils down to analyzing the film and making the final decision. The question is whether this or that cultural aspect is depicted as it is. This is exactly why the article is called “reflecting the reality.”

As you know, truth is not always shown correctly, especially in movies. For instance, many African Americans living in the United States are depicted as drug pushers or members of some gangs. However, this is not precisely what happens in reality.

Sure, you can take any culture or even sub-culture as the basis of your paper.

📋 80 Cultural Analysis Essay Topics

We’ve prepared 80 exciting topics for your cultural analysis essay. Let’s dive in!

• Changing role of the institution of the family in modern Western society.
• Social Media Role in Promoting Social Change .
• Male and female roles in American society: In the past and nowadays.
• Cultural Changes in America After World War II .
• Cultural stereotypes: How have they occurred?
• A Family System and Social Care Service Users .
• The role of marriage: Western and Eastern countries.
• Cultural Diversity Among the Hispanics .
• How are cultural minorities presented in American media nowadays?
• Cross-Cultural Management Problems .
• The role of traditions in modern American society.
• Role of Social Media in the Curriculum .
• Does the media help in promoting social tolerance?
• Culture and Diversity in Education .
• Origins of racism and discrimination in American society.
• Importance of Social Responsibility .
• The role of migration in modern American culture.
• Intercultural Communication Breakdown .
• New professional ethics in the United States: What has been changed in the last decade?
• A Development of American Society .
• Role of religion in modern American society.
• Social Problem, Its Components and Stages .
• Impact of Latin American culture on US culture.
• Social Media’s Effect on Democracy .

• Cultural unification mechanisms: How does it work? 
• The Meaning of Theology for the Present Society .
• Social media and global culture: A myth or reality? 
• Gender & Society. Intersectionality and Feminist Activism .
• The role of national cultures. 
• Why Make a Step Family a Real Family?
• How is culture used in advertising? 
• Hip-Hop in Japan and Cultural Globalization .
• The role of holidays and celebrations in American culture. 
• Direct and Indirect Social Influences on a Person .
• Multicultural societies: Positive and negative aspects. 
• Gun Control: Social Contract Broken in the US .
• The role of subcultures in American society. 
• Freedom Significance: Social and Political Aspects .
• American Revolution and its role in American culture. 
• Social Issues: The Uses of Global Poverty .
• World War II and its influence on world culture. 
• Effects of Technology on Society .
• The role of religion in Islamic countries. 
• Cultural Safety and Transcultural Nursing .
• The role of feminism in American culture. 
• American Culture Reflection in Sport .
• The role of feminism in post-Soviet countries. 
• Social Media: Ethical Issues and Theories .
• Female and minorities in politics: Why it becomes important nowadays? 
• The Effect of Music on Culture .
• Hip hop culture and its influence on American society. 
• Effect of Gaming on People’s Social Lives .
• Gender and Social Movements .
• Race relations in the United States: Has the situation improved in the 21st century? 
• Heritage and Culture in African American Literature .
• Do social networks support personal identity or suppress it? 
• Culture Diversity and Healthcare Delivery in Australia .
• What are the roots of international culture? 
• Foreignism, Media, Imperialism Influence on Culture .
• Social networks and its impact on national cultures. 
• Family Support and Intervention in Substance Abuse Among Adolescents .
• Mexican culture and its influence on American society. 
• Nuclear family : What has changed in the 21st century? 
• Science, Technology and Society: Implications for Education .
• Freedom of information and its impact on international culture. 
• Popular Music in the Modern Culture .
• Do national cultures lose their significance in the rise of international culture? 
• “Religion in Society: A Sociology of Religion” by Ronald Johnstone .
• How did the technological revolution change European culture? 
• Rap in American Culture .
• Changing female roles in Islamic countries. For this topic, you can choose two Islamic countries: the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia . And discuss and compare the way female roles are changing. 
• Canadian Political Culture .
• Indigenous people and their impact on American culture . Here you can pick one particular area of American culture that indigenous people influenced. It could be, for instance, literature or cinema.
•   Social Media Helps to Bridge Divides .
• The influence of religion on modern American politics . For this topic, you can focus on how Bible teachings are reflected in contemporary American laws. 
• Social Groups and How They Work .
• American popular culture and reasons for its acceptance worldwide . You can discuss the origins of this phenomenon and why American culture got accepted all over the world. 
• Family Structure and Its Effects on Children .
• Fighting gender stereotypes in mass media . For this topic, you can choose European Union and discuss how it fights gender stereotypes and sexism in the media. 
• Teen Pregnancy Prevention in Modern Society .

In this section, we’ve prepared a cultural analysis essay example for you.

You’ll see excerpts from an essay on social networks and their influence on national cultures in the table below. We hope you’ll get inspired by your paper!

Social networks and their impact on national cultures

• Ideas for culture essay & paper topics – California State University, Fresno
• Use of social media to promote national culture worldwide – URFU
• Guidelines for academic papers in Literary or Cultural Studies – Stiftung Universität Hildesheim
• The Practice of Cultural Analysis – Stanford University Press
• Film Analysis – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Write Your Essay | UNSW Current Students
• Writing Across Cultures and Contexts: International Students in the Stanford Study of Writing – Stanford University
• Cross-Cultural Analysis – The University of Alabama

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List of Interesting Cultural Research Paper Topics

Cultural research paper topics allow students to explore people’s historical aspects, actions, ideas, and narratives that they have copied or altered over time. People express their cultures via various symbols and language. Additionally, different aspects of culture affect people’s mindsets.

When pursuing cultural students, students write research papers, essays, and articles on varied topics. However, most learners struggle to select the best titles for their papers. That’s because the topic that a student selects influences the path they take when completing this assignment. For this reason, we’ve come up with this guide with a list of interesting cultural research topics for learners to consider.

Discover a vast array of captivating cultural research paper topics with the expertise of our professional dissertation writers . Our dedicated team is ready to assist you in selecting compelling topics and crafting high-quality research papers that meet the highest academic standards.

How to Choose Cultural Research Topics

The internet is awash with cultural research ideas from which students can choose what to explore. However, not every topic you come across will be suitable for you. For that reason, consider the following aspects when choosing your cultural topic for research.

• Select a topic that meets your writing assignment requirements
• Settle on a topic you find interesting
• Pick a topic that meets the scope of your assignment

In addition to these criteria, check the available research to select a topic you will find sufficient information for before you start writing your paper. Also, brainstorm concepts and create a research question around the topic. Here are different categories of cultural research paper topics from which you can choose your favorite title.

Cultural Anthropology Research Topics

If you find cultural anthropology interesting, pick your topic from the following ideas.

• How traditional food can reflect a nation’s history
• Analysis of the refugees’ impact on the cultures of the European countries
• How Christian traditions differ from one culture to another
• How countries in the Soviet Union moved from communism
• Effects of liberalism on the education system
• Analysis of a communistic nation’s cultural values
• Causes of political division in the United States
• Why most people in the Netherlands love cycling
• How people view the death concept in Africa
• How the English language influences the American culture as the common language

Cultural Diversity Research Paper Topics

Perhaps, you’re interested in cultural diversity. In that case, consider these ideas for your research paper.

• Analysis of cultural diversity’s role in schools
• How cultural diversity influences modern society
• How significant is cultural diversity in this century?
• How multiculturalism and pluralism affect the American citizens’ lives
• Psychological counseling associations to cultural diversity
• How cultural diversity affects the medical industry
• How migration affects cultural diversity of the Asian land
• How cultural diversity affects people’s interactions
• Demonstrating critical thinking with special attention to diversity and multicultural issues
• Cultural diversity as a reason for not tolerating racism

Cross-Cultural Communication Research Topics

Cross-cultural communication is among fields with excellent topics for cultural research. Here are some of the best ideas in this field.

• Approaches to cross-cultural information exchange
• Practical cross-cultural dialogue strategies
• Intercultural dialogue and translation
• Teaching cross-cultural communication and culture
• Cross-cultural information exchange artifacts
• Factors enhancing cross-cultural dialogue competence
• Cultural and health-related issues between ethnic minorities and healthcare providers
• The adaptation of international students to American campuses
• Low-context cultures versus high-context cultures- Cross-cultural perspective
• Assessing cross-cultural effectiveness

Cultural Psychology Research Topics

If interested in cultural psychology research, consider these ideas for your papers and essays.

• How cultural psychology has evolved over the years
• How cultural psychology affects diversity
• Filial piety and personality among the British citizens
• Impacts of famous artists on the global culture
• Impacts of COVID-19 on the US political atmosphere
• Comparing women’s emotions and gender stereotypes as exhibited by men’s superior thinking
• Influences of cross-cultural psychology
• Social and self behavior among the United States’ Red Indians
• Analyzing the unemployed graduates’ experiences in the United Kingdom
• How parenting stress relates to the stigma of a mother with an autistic child

Cross-Cultural Research Topics

Cross-cultural research paper topics cover psychological behavior and processes across different cultures. Here are topic samples in this category.

• Communication styles among different cultures
• How attitudes towards conflicts differ among cultures
• How people from different cultures approach the same task differently
• How different cultures approach knowing
• Why humans should respect and work with people from different cultures
• The attitudes of different cultures towards disclosure
• How decision-making styles differ among cultures
• How non-verbal communication promotes a culture
• What determines business communication across cultures?
• How history and social organization affect modern society

Cultural Studies Research Paper Topics

When pursuing cultural studies, writing research papers is unavoidable. Here are cultural research paper topics to consider for your papers and essays.

• How stigma affects the efforts to prevent sexually transmitted diseases from spreading
• Challenges encountered by people with social disorders and anxiety
• How films influence the audiences’ cultures
• How songs promote feminism
• Coping mechanism for culturally different people
• How cultural studies facilitate the promotion of brands in global markets
• How people perceive the old and the youths in their cultures
• How cultural studies can help in promoting businesses internationally
• Cultural traits exhibition in exotic and indigenous animals
• Influence of associating with a particular language on a person’s culture

Cultural Geography Research Topics

Cultural geography focuses on cultural changes in various geographical settings. Here are topics to explore in this category.

• Explaining the cultural concept
• Analyzing a culture area and the culture itself
• Analysis of cultural landscapes
• Cultural ecology and culture history
• Focusing on the institutions
• Understanding cultural geography
• The history of cultural geography
• Understanding feminist geography
• Explain the evolution of urban geography
• Analysis of the geography of space and sexuality

Chinese Cultural Research Topics

Are you interested in studying Chinese culture? If yes, this list has the best cultural topics for research paper that you can explore.

• Evaluating Cultural Revolution in China
• The Chinese government and Tibet
• Culture-bound psychiatric syndromes in China
• The Chinese culture and silk road
• Cross-cultural competency in China
• How culture influences the Chinese politics
• Effects of Buddhism on the Chinese culture
• Chinese medicine and culture
• Childhood illness treatment in traditional China and religion
• The cultural perspective of the human stomach in China

Research Topics on Community-Centered Cultural Adaptation

Are you interested in community-centered cultural adaptation research? If yes, here are topics to consider for your papers.

• Stage-setting and professional consultations for cultural adaptation purposes
• Preliminary cultural content adaptation
• Iterative cultural content adaption with members of the community
• Cultural adaptation with meetings and community feedback
• Role of language during cultural adaptation
• The concept of cultural adaptation
• Factors that limit community-centered cultural adaptation
• How conflict of interest can hinder community-centered cultural adaptation
• How gender influences community-centered cultural adaptation
• How to enhance community-centered cultural adaptation

Cultural Analysis Topics for Research

Perhaps, you’re interested in analyzing a cultural aspect or phenomenon. In that case, consider these ideas for your research paper.

• Analysis of cultural phenomenon in your community
• Analyzing the influence of TikTok on local culture
• Analysis of “the dab” popularity
• Analyzing the effects of bandwagon on the culture
• Analysis of the normalization of the holocaust in some cultures
• Analyzing religious beliefs as a cultural phenomenon
• Analyzing the popularity of sitcoms
• Analyze the fan base of your favorite celebrity
• Analysis of social media as a cultural phenomena
• Analyzing cross-cultural fashion trends

Cultural Analysis Essay Topics

If interested in analyzing the culture, pick the idea to write about in this list.

• Analyzing drug use by sportspeople
• Analyzing homelessness in America
• Communication differences between males and females
• Analyzing obesity trends across age brackets
• How sports influence culture
• Analyzing multicultural identity
• Analysis of modeling and body size aspects of a culture
• Effects of multicultural families on the involved parties
• Analysis of gender role changes over time
• How being raised by a single parent affects a child- A cultural perspective

Unique Cultural Analysis Paper Topics

Are you looking for a unique topic for cultural research? If yes, this section has a good idea for you.

• Why are cultural studies essential?
• How society treats people based on their cultures
• How the minorities cope in a different culture
• How feminism affects the culture
• How isolated communities can conserve their cultures
• How religion influences culture- Use the Muslim community as a case study
• Describe the cultural commonalities among human beings
• Explain the correlation of sex and attitude as cultural tools
• The influence of associating with a particular language on a person’s culture
• How exotic and indigenous groups exhibit cultural differences

Pick your topics from this list and then take your time to develop them through research to come up with solid papers or essays that will earn you the top grades.

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A List of 185 Interesting Cultural Topics to Write About

Culture is a set of knowledge, behaviors, and beliefs shared by a group of people. You would probably agree that it’s an integral part of humanity. It’s no wonder that students are often assigned to write about it.

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That’s why we came up with a list of interesting and creative culture essay topics. Whether you are writing a research paper, an essay, or a speech, our list of culture topics is for you. You can find various topics from popular culture and funny aspects of culture to cultural diversity. They will be useful for middle school, high school, and college students.

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• 🔝 Top 10 Topics
• 🏺 Western Culture Topics
• 📚✍️ Cultural Criticism
• 🎥 Cultural Phenomena
• 🧔👓 Subculture Topics
• 🧑🤝🧑 Socio-Cultural Topics
• ⛩️🕌 Cultural Diversity
• 👥 Cultural Anthropology

🔝 Top 10 Cultural Topics

• What causes culture shock?
• Cultural appropriation in fashion
• The Cold War’s impact on culture
• Women’s role in Italian culture
• Global impact of American culture
• How to preserve cultural diversity
• Pros and cons of cultural globalization
• Cultural differences in East Asian countries
• How do people assimilate into a foreign culture?
• Cultural background’s effect on one’s personality

🏺 Western Culture Topics to Write About

Much of today’s culture takes roots in the Western world. With this subject, the possibilities are endless! You can write about ancient civilizations or modern European culture. Sounds interesting? Then have a look at these topics:

• Write about a Greek myth of your choice.
• Research the history of the ancient Roman theater.
• Pick a Greek philosopher and describe their legacy.
• The heritage of the Roman Empire in the modern world.
• Discover the history of the Olympic Games .
• How did Christianity spread throughout Europe?
• The architecture of ancient Britain.

• How did the Great Plague influence western culture?
• Write about the key Renaissance artists .
• How did humanism emerge in British culture?
• Pick a European country and analyze how its traditions developed.
• The impact of the Renaissance on Europe’s worldview.
• Research the latest archeological discoveries of western civilization .
• How did the Protestant Reformation influence German culture?
• The legacy of the Renaissance artworks.
• What was the effect of the 1848 revolution on art?
• The role of scientific discoveries in Europe’s socio-cultural formation.
• Analyze the influence of colonization of African culture.
• Describe the highlights of the Enlightenment period .
• How did Brexit affect the British lifestyle?
• Did the American Revolution bring change in culture?
• What attitude does Poland have about their World War II heritage?
• How did the technological revolution impact everyday life in Europe?
• The influence of World War I on French culture.
• Write about European fashion during a specific period.

📚✍️ Cultural Criticism Essay Topics

Cultural criticism looks at texts, music, and artworks through the lens of culture. This type of analysis suggests that culture gives an artwork a specific meaning. The following topics will guide you towards an excellent critical essay:

• Analyze the cultural aspects of your favorite novel.
• Ethnicity in Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates .
• What’s the meaning of financial stability in The Great Gatsby ?
• Discover social changes in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind .
• The effect of industrialization in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath .
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and its context.
• Representation of race in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison .
• Note the cultural features of The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais.
• Write about the main character’s mindset in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini .
• What are the main character’s values in A Bronx Tale ?
• Hispanic customs in The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle.
• Discover cultural clashes in Fury by Salman Rushdie.
• Pick a movie and analyze the cultural impact on your perception of the plot.
• Discuss the beliefs of white women in The Help .
• Does the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding portray Greek-American culture correctly?
• How did the background story in Slumdog Millionaire change your perception of the main character?
• What’s the meaning of gender in Bend It Like Beckham ?
• Far and Away : integration into a new society.
• Pick a painting and analyze its cultural background.

• Compare depictions of Christ from different continents.
• Discover the context of Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People .
• What’s the context of Punjabi Ladies Near a Village Well ?
• Discuss the symbolism of Girl with a Pearl Earring .
• Write about social roles based on Homer among the Greeks by Gustav Jäger.
• Select a song and analyze how culture is reflected in the lyrics.

🎥 Cultural Phenomena Topics for an Essay

Cultural phenomena refer to developing certain beliefs or preferences among many people. It is also called the bandwagon effect . Keep in mind that the fact of something becoming popular is not a phenomenon. This notion is more concerned with the process of gaining fame than with fame itself. Take a look at these helpful topic ideas for your paper:

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• Describe any cultural phenomenon in your area.
• Reasons why TikTok gained popularity in the U.S.
• How did the Pokemon Go! fad spread across the world?
• Analyze the percentage of people worldwide who like McDonald’s .
• What factors made “the dab” popular?
• Can the bandwagon effect explain bullying ?
• Discover cross-cultural fashion trends.
• Does social media facilitate cultural phenomena?
• Pick a celebrity and analyze their fanbase.
• How can you explain the high demand for Apple products?
• What made sitcoms popular?
• Write about Thanksgiving celebrations outside the U.S.
• Reasons why famous authors from the past remain influential.
• Does effective marketing cause the bandwagon effect?
• Discuss the tendency to follow trends for social acceptance.
• Choose a classic movie and analyze its popularity.
• Examine similar TV talent shows across nations.
• Discover why some dishes are considered “America’s favorite.”
• Explore the psychological side of cultural phenomena.
• List criteria needed for becoming a famous musician.
• Analyze the bandwagon effect in history.
• Why was holocaust normalized in some nations?
• Explain why Nike products are popular all over the world.
• Did the bandwagon effect play a part in the Renaissance?
• Can the spread of religious beliefs be called a cultural phenomenon?

🧔👓 Subculture Topics for an Essay

The term “subculture” means “a culture within a culture.” In other words, it’s a smaller group, inside a larger one, with its own beliefs and interests. You can write about a specific subculture or discover why such groups form. Feel free to use these essay topics:

• Write about the athletic community.
• Are marketing strategies aimed at subcultures effective?
• Why is the deviation from social norms considered dangerous?
• What makes the Amish stand out?
• Can a subculture serve as a basis for a culture?
• Does the U.S. benefit from cybersport?

• Tell about a social group that you’re a part of.
• Clothes as an identifier of a subculture.
• Pick a religious organization and describe it.
• Why did the anime community grow worldwide?
• Explain why some subcultures are considered dangerous.
• How do social groups emerge?
• Should parents encourage children to join an interest group ?
• Describe the way people develop mutual beliefs cross-culturally.
• How does social media influence one’s lifestyle?
• Which interest group does your family belong to?
• Do subcultures benefit society?
• Analyze the Social Disorganization Theory concerning subcultures.
• How did hipsters influence global fashion trends?
• What are the requirements for becoming a skater?
• Discover the history and lifestyle of Goths .
• What is the basis of scumbro culture?
• Belonging to an interest group as a healthy social practice.
• What are the most popular subcultures amongst generation Z ?
• Discuss the importance of the hairstyle for subcultures.

🧑🤝🧑 Socio-Cultural Essay Topics

Let’s break the word “socio-cultural” in two parts. Social aspects include people, their roles, and available resources. Cultural factors refer to language, laws, religion, and values. Therefore, socio-cultural issues revolve around the unique design of a specific culture. Here are some topic ideas on this subject that you might find helpful.

• Describe the social stigma attached to single mothers .
• What pushes the elderly to the edge of poverty?
• Do marketing strategies vary from country to country?
• Is receiving psychological assistance culturally accepted in developing countries?
• Can art be misunderstood because of the socio-cultural context?
• Compare the average wage in the U.S. and the country of your choice.
• Does the increased use of technology in schools affect society?
• What factors push Americans to abuse drugs ?
• Which socio-cultural aspects make drunkenness acceptable?
• Describe the social environment in a country that legalizes slavery .
• Why do Christians get persecuted in some countries?
• How does information overload impact modern teenagers?
• Is child abuse justified outside the U.S.?
• Does technology affect the emotional maturity of children?
• Free education in Europe: pros and cons.
• Prove that the U.S. healthcare system should help the homeless.
• How often does cyberbullying occur worldwide?
• What does successful life mean for a third world country citizen?
• Does globalization put the national identity in danger?
• The importance of developing cultural sensitivity .
• Write about various religions in America .

• Discuss the correlation between the economic level and crime rates .
• Manifestations of ethical egoism in modern society.
• Cross-cultural missionary work: pros and cons.
• Does social stigma towards HIV contribute to its spread?

⛩️🕌 Cultural Diversity Topics for an Essay

America is one of the most diverse nations in the world. Each culture has its language, customs, and other factors that enrich a country like the U.S. The life of a culturally diverse community has its advantages and challenges. In your paper, unpack one of the aspects of such an environment. Take a look at these essay topics:

• Discuss ethnic groups within the U.S. which have the highest suicide rate .
• Is it essential for American psychologists to develop cultural competence ?
• Describe the basic principles of cultural respect.
• Prove that racism should not be tolerated.
• Does the American education system embrace ethnic minorities?
• Analyze the benefit of ethnic inclusiveness for the U.S. food industry .
• How can managers encourage a multiethnic environment in the workplace?
• White about the challenges of second-generation Americans.
• Should the term “ immigrant ” be banned?
• Discuss the advantages of the U.S. as a multicultural nation.
• Prove that the English language proficiency test shouldn’t be required for U.S. citizenship.
• What is the effect of prejudice against ethnic minorities?
• How does diversity find a place in American traditions ?
• Describe the culture shock experience of an international student.
• Is transracial adoption becoming more common in the U.S.?
• What is cultural narcissism, and how can you avoid it?
• Effective strategies for conflict resolution in a diverse environment .
• What multiculturalism policies currently exist in the U.S.?
• Analyze the heritage of a specific nation.
• Should learning a second language be mandatory in America?
• What are the stereotypes associated with different ethnicities?
• Describe the benefits of ethnic diversity.
• Write about the widespread interracial marriages in the U.S.
• How can one avoid cultural ignorance?
• Are the Americans guilty of ethnocentrism ?

👥 Cultural Anthropology Topics for a Paper

Cultural anthropology is a study of beliefs, practices, and social organization of a group. The shaping of ideas and the physical environment are in the focus of this study. In other words, anthropology discovers why people live the way they do. This list will help narrow down your attention on this subject.

• Why are social networks commonly used in the U.S.?
• Explain the popularity of online shopping worldwide.
• Will e-books replace paper books in developed countries?
• Artificial intelligence technologies in Japan.
• Pick two American states and compare their laws.
• Why is cycling so prevalent in the Netherlands?
• How architecture reflects a nation’s history.
• Why is it easier to receive citizenship in some countries than in others?
• Explain why Americans have a strong sense of national pride.
• Analyze the perception of time in tropical countries.
• Are most Swiss households wealthy?
• Discover how language reflects a cultural worldview.
• Does the country’s economy affect the self-esteem of its citizens?
• Reasons for the political division in the U.S.
• Analyze the difference in lifestyles between the Northern and the Southern states .
• Why is it common in some countries to be bilingual ?
• Analyze the cultural values of a communistic nation.
• How can liberalism affect the education system?
• What’s the social meaning of disease in third world countries?
• Examine how the two-child policy affects the Chinese lifestyle.
• Free health care: pros and cons.
• Write about the way the former Soviet Union countries transitioned from communism.
• Do Christian traditions vary from culture to culture?
• Analyze the impact of refugee presence in European countries.
• Does traditional food reflect the history of a nation?

We hope you were able to pick a culture topic for your paper after reading this article.

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Good luck with your assignment on culture!

Further reading:

• 497 Interesting History Topics to Research
• 137 Social Studies Topics for Your Research Project
• 512 Research Topics on HumSS (Humanities & Social Sciences)
• How to Write an Art Critique: Examples and Simple Techniques
• 430 Philosophy Topics & Questions for Your Essay
• 267 Hottest Fashion Topics to Write About in 2024

🔍 References

• So You’re an American?: State.gov
• A Brief History of Western Culture: Khan Academy
• What Exactly is “Western Culture”?: University of California, Santa Barbara
• What is Cultural Criticism?: University of Saskatchewan
• What is a Subculture?: Grinnell College
• Socio-Cultural Factors and International Competitiveness: ResearchGate
• Cultural Diversity: Definition & Meaning: Purdue Global
• What Is Cultural Anthropology?: US National Park Service
• Cultural Anthropology: Encyclopedia Britannica
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Exploring Global Cultures: Topics for Your Next Cultural Research Paper

Table of contents

• 1 How to Choose a Cultural Research Topic to Write About 
• 2.1 Cultural Diversity Research Topics
• 2.2 Anthropology Research Topics
• 2.3 Subculture Study Ideas
• 2.4 Heritage and Preservation Studies
• 2.5 Identity Research Topics
• 2.6 Socio-Cultural Essay Ideas
• 2.7 Psychology Research Topics
• 2.8 Western Civilization Essay Ideas
• 2.9 Cross-Cultural Study Topics
• 2.10 Stereotypes and Misconceptions Studies

Cultural research papers are a gateway to exploring the intricate web of human societies and their diverse practices. Such papers cover a broad range of cultural analysis topics, each offering a unique perspective on how communities shape and are shaped by their civilizational norms and values. 

Whether it’s delving into the realms of cultural diversity topics, examining cross-cultural psychological patterns, or investigating specific phenomena, these subjects provide a rich ground for academic inquiry. 

Research topics on culture not only deepen our understanding of human interactions and beliefs but also highlight the importance of nuances in shaping societal dynamics. Engaging and informative, they encourage a deeper exploration of the ethical fabric that weaves together the global human experience, making them both fascinating and essential for a comprehensive understanding of the world.

How to Choose a Cultural Research Topic to Write About 

Choosing a topic for a cultural research paper is a strategic and thoughtful process. Start by identifying your interests in this vast field. Are you fascinated by cross cultural psychology research topics, intrigued by diverse communication practices, or curious about specific cultural phenomenon topics? Pinpointing an area that genuinely interests you is crucial for sustained engagement with your research.

• Consider the scope of your chosen topic. Aim for a balance, selecting a specific subject to be manageable yet broad enough to provide ample material for exploration. For instance, within the realm of cultural psychology research topics, you might focus on how different civilizations perceive mental health.
• Ensure there is sufficient information available. Conduct preliminary research to confirm the availability of resources and data. This step is vital, especially for topics like social analysis or cultural diversity, where empirical evidence is key to a robust paper.
• Think about the relevance and originality of your topic. Strive to contribute new insights or perspectives, particularly in fields like anthropology, where there is always room for fresh interpretations of ethical phenomena.
• Lastly, consider the academic and societal implications of your topic. Select a subject that not only adds value to academic discourse but also has the potential to enlighten and inform broader societal understanding, like studies in diversity or society communication practices. This approach ensures that your work is intellectually fulfilling and socially impactful.

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List of Cultural Research Paper Topics

Embarking on an ethnic research journey opens doors to a world of interesting anthropology research topics. From the complicated field of cross-cultural psychology to the beautiful tapestry of diversity, these cultural topics for research paper cover various areas related to anthropology, communication, and social phenomena, giving you a wide range of interesting culture to research.

Cultural Diversity Research Topics

• Language’s Role in Shaping Identity Across Cultures
• Norms Comparison: Eastern and Western Societies
• Indigenous Civilizations’ Response to Globalization
• Diversity in the Workplace: Opportunities and Challenges
• Media Representation of Varied Societies and its Effects
• Multiculturalism’s Evolution in Urban Environments
• Educational Systems’ Approach to Global Diversity
• Music’s Influence on Ethnical Integration
• Culinary Traditions as a Reflection of Societal Diversity
• Festivals as a Platform for Promoting Diversity

Anthropology Research Topics

• Varied Traditions of Healing in Global Civilizations
• Marriage Customs Across Different Societies
• Kinship and Family Structures: An Anthropological View
• Societal Responses to Natural Disasters: A Comparative Study
• Local Cultures’ Adaptation to Tourism
• Birth and Death Rituals in Diverse Societies
• Religion: Beliefs and Practices Worldwide
• Technology’s Impact on Traditional Societal Roles
• Non-Western Perspectives on Time
• Clothing and Adornment from an Anthropological Lens

Subculture Study Ideas

• Hip-Hop’s Social Influence and Evolution
• Cyberpunk: Blending Technology and Aesthetic
• Skateboarding’s Cultural Journey
• LGBTQ+ Community’s Internal Subcultures
• Gaming’s Social and Cultural Impact
• Punk Fashion and Identity
• Coffee Culture’s Shift from Niche to Mainstream
• Teen Subcultures in the Age of Social Media
• Green Movements: Environmental Awareness as a Subculture
• Fitness Trends and Digital Age Subcultures

Heritage and Preservation Studies

• Ancient Manuscripts’ Digitization for Heritage Preservation
• Museums’ Role in Protecting Ethnical Legacies
• Intangible Heritage Threats in the Modern Era
• Historic Sites’ Architectural Conservation
• War’s Effects on World Heritage
• Indigenous Languages and Oral Traditions’ Preservation
• Heritage Tourism: Balancing Benefits and Risks
• Legal Strategies for Heritage Protection
• Traditional Arts and Crafts Revival
• Post-Colonial Societies’ Heritage Perspectives

Identity Research Topics

• Diaspora’s Impact on Identity Formation
• Bicultural Existence in a Globalized Era
• Art’s Reflection of Societal Identity
• Language Loss and its Effect on Identity
• Social Media Influences on Youth Identity
• Fashion as a Cultural Expression Tool
• Gastronomy’s Role in Defining Societal Identity
• Race and Identity Intersections
• Second-Generation Immigrants’ Identity Challenges
• Popular Culture’s Influence on National Identity

Socio-Cultural Essay Ideas

• Bilingualism and Multilingualism’s Societal Effects
• Gender Roles: A Global Cultural Comparison
• Mass Migration’s Social Impact
• Social Hierarchies: A Global Cultural Analysis
• Global Economic Inequality’s Cultural Dimensions
• Social Media as a Cultural Change Agent
• Urbanization’s Societal Consequences
• Religion’s Influence on Socio-Cultural Norms
• Aging Populations and Societal Shifts
• Education’s Influence on Societal Values

Psychology Research Topics

• Superstitions’ Psychological Underpinnings in Various Societies
• Emotional Expression: A Cross-Cultural Study
• Decision-Making Influences Across Cultures
• Childhood Development in Diverse Environments
• Personality Shaping through Societal Norms
• Mental Health Approaches in Different Societies
• Immigrant Families and Acculturation Challenges
• Resolving Ethnical Conflicts: A Psychological Perspective
• Behavioral Norms’ Cultural Foundations
• Cultural Communication Practices Paper Proposal: Human Motivation from a Global Perspective

Western Civilization Essay Ideas

• The Renaissance’s Influence on Western Civilization
• Democracy’s Roots in Ancient Greece and Rome
• Industrial Revolution’s Societal Transformations
• Christianity’s Impact on Western Societies
• Philosophical Foundations of Modern Western Thought
• Enlightenment’s Role in Modernity Shaping
• Western Art Evolution from Baroque to Modernism
• Western Societies’ Ecological Footprint
• Colonial Legacy in Western History
• Science’s Progression in Western Context

Cross-Cultural Study Topics

• Work Ethic Comparisons Across Societies
• Effective Communication in Diverse Settings
• Leading in Multicultural Environments
• Love and Marriage: Global Insights
• Parenting Styles’ Ethnical Variations
• International Business Adaptations
• Health Practices: A Global View
• Educational Systems: International Comparisons
• Negotiation Styles in Diverse Contexts
• Eldercare Approaches in Different Civilizations

Stereotypes and Misconceptions Studies

• Hollywood’s Role in Perpetuating Stereotypes
• Racial Stereotypes’ Origins and Impacts
• Gender Assumptions in Societal Contexts
• Media’s Influence in Stereotype Formation
• Stereotypes in International Diplomacy
• Misconceptions’ Psychological Aspects
• Socioeconomic Assumptions in Urban Life
• Stereotyping in Educational Environments
• Youth Culture’s Battle with Stereotypes
• Society’s Age-Related Assumptions and Realities

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373 Culture Research Topics & Ideas for Essays and Papers

18 January 2024

last updated

Culture research topics include various human behaviors and beliefs, offering a deep dive into societal norms, values, traditions, and symbols that have shaped and continue to shape civilizations across time and space. Themes encompass many areas, such as linguistics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, history, and arts. Topics also may include investigating the effects of globalization on indigenous cultures, the role of pop culture in shaping societal values, impacts of cultural assimilation, or tracing the evolution of language in a particular region. Studies in this field illuminate the tapestry of human existence, providing rich insights into unique human histories. Thus, culture research topics are not only intrinsically fascinating but also have crucial implications for policy, education, and understanding of identity, community, and coexistence in an increasingly diverse and interconnected world.

Hot Cultural Topics

• Unearthing Indigenous Histories Through Technology
• Cryptocurrency’s Influence on Art and Culture
• Ethical Dilemmas in Genomic Data Sharing
• The Intersection of Environmentalism and Fashion Trends
• Debating Authenticity in Social Media Influencer Culture
• Exploring Minority Representation in Hollywood
• Augmented Reality as a Cultural Experience
• Redefining Gender Norms in Video Gaming
• Street Art as a Political Commentary
• Future of Libraries in the Digital Age
• Culinary Trends Sparked by Plant-Based Movements
• Cultural Shifts in Privacy Perception Post-Social Media
• Language Preservation in a Globalized World
• AI and the Transformation of Creative Industries
• Mental Health Narratives in Popular Music
• Eco-Cities: Blending Urbanism and Sustainability
• Cross-Cultural Understanding Through Travel During Pandemic
• Consumerism and Minimalism: Contrasting Cultural Phenomena
• Unconventional Family Structures in Contemporary Literature
• Futurism in Architectural Design and Cultural Identity

Easy Cultural Essay Topics

• Influence of Digital Art on Cultural Identity
• Food Traditions as Cultural Symbols
• Relationship Between Language and Cultural Heritage
• Rise of E-Sports and Its Cultural Significance
• Virtual Reality in the Realm of Cultural Preservation
• Social Media as a Tool for Cultural Exchange
• Influence of Climate Change on Cultural Practices
• Anime and Manga: Japanese Culture’s Global Reach
• Cultural Perception of Privacy in the Era of Big Data
• Reality TV’s Effect on Cultural Stereotypes
• Cultural Implications of Urban Green Spaces
• Nostalgia and Culture in Retro Fashion Trends
• Understanding Cultural Context in Classic Literature
• Cultural Diversity in Modern Cinema
• Significance of Cultural Festivals in Building Community
• Influence of Sci-Fi on Our Perception of Future Cultures
• Cultural Perspectives on Mental Health in Popular Literature
• Globalization’s Effect on Indigenous Cultures
• Street Food and Its Connection to Local Culture

Interesting Culture Topics to Research for Essays and Papers

• Maori Culture and Traditions
• Intricacies of Japanese Tea Ceremony
• Voodoo Practices in Haitian Culture
• Celtic Traditions and Mythology
• Arab Bedouin Traditions and Nomadic Lifestyle
• Native American Tribes and Their Cultural Diversity
• Balinese Rituals and Spiritual Practices
• The Complexity of Tibetan Buddhism
• Greek Orthodox Customs and Traditions
• Culture of the Sami People in Scandinavia
• Andean Cultures: Incas and Their Descendants
• Mayan Civilization: Ancient Practices and Beliefs
• Yoruba Religion and Cultural Traditions in West Africa
• Nomadic Culture of the Mongolian Steppes
• Diverse Cultural Practices of Australian Aboriginals
• Culture of the Maasai Tribes in East Africa
• Persian Poetry and Its Cultural Significance
• Dance Forms and Culture of Polynesian Islands
• Cultures of the Amazon Rainforest Tribes
• Korean Hanbok and Traditional Dress Culture

Cultural Anthropology Topics for a Research Paper

• Decoding Symbolism in Ancient Mayan Art
• Understanding Power Structures in Tribal Societies
• Exploring Ritualistic Practices of the Australian Aborigines
• Influence of Globalization on Indigenous Cultural Practices
• Rituals and Customs: A Comparative Study Between Maasai and Zulu Tribes
• Investigating Linguistic Diversity in the Amazon Rainforest
• Dynamics of Cultural Adaptation in Refugee Communities
• Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation
• Comparative Study of Death Rituals Across Cultures
• Cultural Contexts of Folklore and Mythology in Slavic Societies
• Digital Anthropology: Social Media and Cultural Practices
• Cultural Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality in Pacific Island Societies
• Transcultural Psychiatry: Mental Health Across Cultures
• Insights into Cultural Healing Practices of Native American Tribes
• Foodways and Culture: A Study of Mediterranean Societies
• Dynamics of Social Change in Post-Colonial Societies
• Material Culture: Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Artifacts
• Cultural Interpretations of Climate Change in Arctic Communities
• Cultural Factors in Public Health: A Case Study of Sub-Saharan Africa
• Sacred Spaces and Cultural Identity: An Exploration of Hindu Temples

Cultural Criticism Essay Topics

• Postmodernism and Cultural Representation in Media
• Interrogating Orientalism: Western Perception of Eastern Cultures
• Deconstructing the Beauty Standard in Pop Culture
• Eco-Criticism and Interpretation of Environmental Narratives
• Analyzing Power Structures in Classic Literature
• Cultural Bias in Artificial Intelligence Systems
• Culture and Censorship: Freedom of Expression in Various Societies
• Unpacking Gender Stereotypes in Advertising
• Culture of Fear: Media Representation of Terrorism
• Colonial Narratives and Indigenous Voices in History Textbooks
• Cyber Culture: The Dark Side of Online Communities
• Cultural Appropriation vs. Appreciation: A Thin Line
• Cultural Hegemony and Minority Representation in Film Industry
• Ethnocentrism in Anthropological Research: A Critique
• Understanding Whiteness: Critique of White Privilege
• Body Image and Self-Esteem: A Critique of the Fashion Industry
• Religion and Cultural Bias in Western Feminist Discourses
• Consumer Culture and Critique of Fast Fashion
• Mental Health Stigma: Cultural Perspectives and Criticisms

Cultural Diversity Topics for an Essay

• Navigating Cultural Diversity in Multinational Corporations
• Multilingualism and Cultural Identity in Diverse Societies
• Cultural Diversity in Urban Design and City Planning
• Influence of Cultural Diversity on Public Health Policies
• Diverse Cultures: Integration Challenges in Immigration Policies
• Cultural Diversity and Ethical Considerations in Clinical Trials
• Understanding Cultural Diversity in Early Childhood Education
• Cultural Diversity in Contemporary Literature: A Critical Analysis
• Representation of Cultural Diversity in the Animation Industry
• Multiculturalism and Its Influence on National Identity
• Promoting Cultural Diversity through Public Broadcasting
• Cultural Diversity and Inclusivity in Tech Industry
• Managing Cultural Diversity in International Space Missions
• Challenges of Cultural Diversity in Peacekeeping Missions
• Influence of Cultural Diversity on Artistic Expression
• Linguistic Diversity and Cultural Preservation
• Cultural Diversity in Global Climate Change Dialogues
• Cultural Diversity and Adaptation Strategies in Sports Teams
• Diversity in Cuisine: Culinary Traditions Across Cultures
• Cultural Diversity and Conflict Resolution in Global Diplomacy

Culture Heritage Research Topics

• Preservation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems
• Exploring Cultural Landscapes and Their Conservation
• Digital Archiving and Cultural Heritage Preservation
• Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage
• Cultural Heritage Tourism: Balancing Preservation and Promotion
• Intersections of Cultural Heritage and Climate Change
• Restitution of Cultural Artifacts: Ethical Considerations
• Reconstructing Cultural Heritage in Post-War Regions
• Maritime Cultural Heritage: Underwater Archaeology Challenges
• Cultural Heritage and Memory: Significance of Oral Histories
• Revitalization of Endangered Languages: Strategies and Challenges
• Historic Urban Landscapes: Conserving Cultural Heritage in Cities
• World Heritage Sites and Their Sustainability Issues
• Conservation of Ancient Manuscripts and Rare Books
• Sacred Sites and Cultural Heritage: Managing Religious Tourism
• Cultural Heritage and Identity in Diaspora Communities
• Management of Archaeological Sites: Balancing Research and Preservation
• Investigating Looting and Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property
• World Cuisine as an Element of Intangible Cultural Heritage

Cultural Phenomena Topics

• Unraveling the K-Pop Phenomenon: Cultural and Global Implications
• Cryptocurrency Culture: A New Financial Phenomenon
• Cross-Cultural Analysis of Conspiracy Theories
• Spread of Internet Memes: A Modern Cultural Phenomenon
• Cultural Aspects of the Global Wellness Movement
• Globalization and the Cultural Phenomenon of Fast Food
• Cyberculture and the Emergence of Virtual Communities
• Reality TV and Its Cultural Repercussions
• Influence of Celebrity Culture on Youth Values
• Pandemic Culture: Changes in Behavioral Patterns Due to COVID-19
• Examining the Cultural Phenomenon of Social Activism in Digital Spaces
• Coffee Culture: A Global Phenomenon With Local Variations
• Influence of Anime and Manga on Global Pop Culture
• Cultural Phenomena of Aging Societies in Developed Countries
• Nerd Culture and Its Influence on Entertainment Industry
• Fashion Trends as Reflections of Cultural Change
• Online Gaming Communities as Cultural Phenomena
• Cultural Shifts in Attitudes Toward Mental Health
• The Phenomenon of Remote Work and Cultural Implications
• Cultural Perception and Adoption of Renewable Energy Solutions

Cultural Psychology Research Topics in Culture Studies

• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Emotional Expression
• Psychology of Superstitions in Various Cultures
• Analysis of Collectivist vs. Individualistic Cultural Psychologies
• Cultural Factors Influencing Child Development
• Cultural Psychology of Grief and Mourning Rituals
• Understanding Perception of Time in Different Cultures
• Body Language and Non-Verbal Communication Across Cultures
• Examining the Cultural Context of Dreams
• Cultural Influences on Human Memory
• Cultural Diversity and Its Effects on Learning Styles
• Cognitive Biases and Cultural Influences: A Comparative Study
• Cultural Influences on Risk Perception and Decision-Making
• Psychological Perspectives on Folklore and Mythology Across Cultures
• Understanding the Cultural Aspects of Empathy
• Interplay of Language and Thought in Cultural Psychology
• Cultural Differences in Coping Strategies for Stress
• Cultural Influences on Perception of Pain
• Influence of Culture on Self-Esteem and Self-Concept
• Psychological Analysis of Taboos Across Different Cultures

Environmentalism and Culture Research Topics

• Cultural Practices in Biodiversity Conservation
• Green Architecture: Cultural and Environmental Interactions
• Cultural Perceptions of Climate Change in Island Nations
• Understanding Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Environmental Stewardship
• Environmental Ethics in Native American Cultures
• Ecotourism and Its Influence on Local Culture
• Influence of Environmental Movements on Contemporary Art
• Cultural Factors Affecting Renewable Energy Adoption
• Influence of Traditional Farming Practices on Biodiversity
• Cultural Aspects of Waste Management Practices
• Sacred Natural Sites and Their Role in Conservation
• Cultural Landscapes and Strategies for Their Preservation
• Impact of Climate Migration on Cultural Identity
• Rituals and Myths Related to Nature Across Cultures
• Impact of Environmental Policies on Indigenous Cultures
• Understanding Cultural Dimensions of Urban Green Spaces
• Influence of Culture on Perceptions of Genetically Modified Organisms
• Culture and the Transition to a Circular Economy
• Perceptions of Water Scarcity in Different Cultures
• Cultural Responses to Deforestation in Rainforest Communities

Gender and Culture Research Topics

• Exploring the Cultural Construction of Masculinity
• Perception of Beauty Standards Across Different Cultures
• Cultural Interpretations of Transgender Identities
• Influence of Cultural Norms on Gender Equity in Education
• Understanding Gender Roles in Indigenous Cultures
• Implications of Matrilineal Societies for Gender Equality
• Cultural Factors Affecting Women’s Political Participation
• Gender Dynamics in Traditional Rituals and Festivals
• Intersectionality of Gender, Culture, and Religion
• Gender Representation in Global Advertising
• Investigating Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Literature
• Cultural Perception of Non-Binary Gender Identities
• Influence of Gender Roles on Career Choices Across Cultures
• Cultural Factors Influencing Maternal Health
• Gender Dynamics in Migration and Displacement
• Influence of Culture on Men’s Mental Health
• Gendered Spaces: A Cultural Perspective
• Culture and Gender Inequity in Access to Healthcare
• Cultural Perspectives on Domestic Roles and Responsibilities

Globalization and Culture Topics

• Understanding the Cultural Implications of Globalized Media
• Cultural Resistance to Globalization in Indigenous Communities
• Globalization and the Spread of English: Implications for Linguistic Diversity
• Influence of Globalization on Local Music Genres
• Exploring Cultural Homogenization in Global Cities
• Food Culture in the Age of Globalization: A Case Study
• Globalization and the Commodification of Indigenous Cultures
• Globalization and the Transformation of Traditional Art Forms
• Diaspora Communities: Navigating Globalization and Cultural Identity
• Transnational Cinema: Cross-Cultural Influences and Globalization
• Implications of Globalization for Indigenous Knowledge Systems
• Globalization and Changing Gender Norms: A Cross-Cultural Study
• Cultural Hybridity in Globalized Fashion Trends
• Internet Culture and Globalization: A Complex Relationship
• Globalization and Its Effect on Cultural Heritage Preservation
• Influence of Globalized Education on Cultural Diversity
• Cultural Adaptation in Global Marketing Strategies
• Globalization and Transformation of Religious Practices
• Impact of Global Migration on Cultural Diversity
• Understanding Globalization’s Effect on Cultural Autonomy

Intercultural Communication Topics

• Intercultural Communication in Multinational Corporations
• Exploring Communication Barriers in Intercultural Marriages
• Interpretation of Non-Verbal Cues Across Cultures
• Intercultural Communication in Virtual Teams
• Analysis of Humor in Intercultural Communication
• Influence of Cultural Stereotypes on Intercultural Communication
• Examining Intercultural Communication in Healthcare Settings
• Challenges of Intercultural Communication in Diplomacy
• Influence of Social Media on Intercultural Communication
• Impact of Language Proficiency on Intercultural Communication
• Intercultural Communication in International Development Projects
• Implications of Cultural Taboos in Intercultural Communication
• Intercultural Miscommunication: Case Studies and Analysis
• Influence of Cultural Dimensions on Communication Styles
• Intercultural Communication in Refugee and Immigrant Integration
• Strategies for Effective Intercultural Communication in Education
• Investigating the Role of Empathy in Intercultural Communication
• Impact of Intercultural Communication on Global Marketing Strategies
• Ethics in Intercultural Communication: A Critical Review

List of Culture Research Topics

• Cultural Perspectives on Death and Afterlife
• Influence of Pop Culture on Youth Identity Formation
• Understanding Culturally Specific Healing Practices
• Martial Arts as Cultural Phenomena: A Comparative Study
• Street Art and Its Cultural Significance
• Dynamics of Food Culture: Traditional vs. Modern
• Exploring the Cultural History of Tattoos
• Cultural Aspects of Aging: East vs. West
• Cultural Factors Influencing Childbirth Practices
• Language Revitalization in Endangered Cultures
• Cultural Significance of Traditional Dress Codes
• Examining Body Modification Practices Across Cultures
• Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Agriculture
• Analysis of Cultural Aspects in Cybersecurity
• Influence of Culture on Parenting Styles
• Representation of Culture in Animated Films
• Cultural Practices in Disaster Management and Preparedness
• Cultural Transformation in Post-Colonial Societies
• Cultural Understanding of Mental Health Disorders
• Decoding Cultural Symbolism in Mythology and Folklore

Multiculturalism and Diversity Research Topics

• Multiculturalism in Children’s Literature: A Content Analysis
• Exploring the Dynamics of Multicultural Teams in Organizations
• Multicultural Education and Student Achievement: An Empirical Study
• Influence of Multiculturalism on Urban Design and Architecture
• Multiculturalism and Its Effect on National Identity
• Implications of Multiculturalism for Social Justice Education
• Perceptions of Diversity in the Media Industry
• Understanding the Challenges of Multicultural Counselling
• Cultural Diversity and Innovation in Start-Up Ecosystems
• Effect of Multiculturalism on Interpersonal Relationships in Diverse Societies
• Diversity and Inclusion in the Tech Industry: Case Studies
• Cultural Diversity in the Judiciary: An International Comparison
• Multilingual Education in Multicultural Societies: Best Practices
• Multiculturalism and Its Influence on Public Health Policies
• Social Cohesion in Multicultural Neighborhoods: A Field Study
• Cultural Diversity in Political Representation: A Global Perspective
• Inclusion of Minority Cultures in National History Curriculum
• Multiculturalism and Its Influence on Contemporary Art Movements
• Challenges of Managing Diversity in Higher Education Institutions
• Multiculturalism and the Transformation of Urban Food Culture

Sociology of Culture Research Topics

• Sociological Perspectives on Cultural Taboos
• Culture and Social Class: Interplay and Implications
• Cultural Factors in the Sociology of Deviance
• Exploring Cultural Capital in Educational Achievement
• Sociological Analysis of Food Culture and Social Status
• Subcultures and Their Influence on Mainstream Society
• Sociology of Cultural Assimilation in Immigrant Communities
• Cultural Factors Affecting Social Mobility: An Empirical Study
• Sociological Dimensions of Popular Culture
• Understanding Cultural Factors in Health Disparities
• Sociology of Aging in Different Cultural Contexts
• Exploring the Sociology of Cultural Trauma
• Cultural Context of Social Movements
• Sociological Analysis of Celebrity Culture
• Cultural Dimensions of Urban Sociology
• Influence of Culture on Social Networks
• Sociological Perspectives on Cultural Appropriation
• Cultural Factors in Gender Inequality: A Sociological View
• Understanding the Cultural Aspects of Gentrification
• Sociology of Culture and Social Change: Case Studies
• Cultural Transformation and Its Sociological Implications
• Understanding Cultural Stigma in Mental Health
• Body Image Perceptions Across Different Cultures
• Cultural Influences on Societal Trust and Cohesion
• Sociology of Music: Exploring Cultural Genres
• Cultural Factors in Youth Gangs and Deviance
• Cultural Nuances in the Sociology of Emotions
• Exploring the Cultural Context of Aging Societies
• Cultural Perspectives on Social Stratification
• Sociological Implications of Intercultural Marriages
• Cultural Narratives in Gender Identity Construction
• Sociology of Art: Understanding Cultural Expressions
• Understanding Cultural Perspectives on Human Rights
• Cultural Factors in Environmental Sociology
• Cultural Interpretations of Religious Symbols
• Sociology of Language and Cultural Identity
• Cultural Influences on Children’s Socialization Processes
• Exploring the Cultural Dynamics of Social Protests
• Sociological Perspectives on Cultural Heritage and Identity
• Cultural Context of Intergenerational Relationships

Subculture Research Ideas

• Gothic Subculture: A Sociological Perspective
• Exploring the Culture of eSports Enthusiasts
• Punk Rock: An Ethnographic Study of Rebellion and Resistance
• Exploring the Vegan Subculture: Beliefs and Lifestyle
• Cosplay Subculture: Identity and Community
• Street Art: A Study of Subcultural Expression
• Influence of Hip-Hop Subculture on Urban Fashion
• In-Depth Study of the Online Gaming Subculture
• Psychedelic Subculture: Perception, Art, and Social Norms
• Understanding the Straight Edge Subculture: Music and Morality
• Subculture and Identity Formation in Adolescents
• Tattoo Subculture: Expressions of Individuality or Conformity?
• Exploring the Subculture of Comic Book Fandom
• Bodybuilding Subculture: Discipline, Lifestyle, and Body Image
• Subcultural Study of Skateboarders: Rebellion or Recreation?
• Hacker Subculture: Values, Beliefs, and Ethos
• Exploring the Subculture of Minimalist Lifestyle
• The Culture of Craft Beer Enthusiasts: A Subcultural Analysis
• Unveiling the Mysterious World of Secret Societies

Western Civilization Essay Topics in Culture Research

• Democracy and Its Origins in Ancient Greece
• Influence of Renaissance Art on Western Culture
• Exploring the Cultural Significance of the Magna Carta
• Western Civilization and the Emergence of Scientific Thinking
• Christianity’s Influence on Western Morality and Ethics
• Enlightenment Thought and Its Influence on Modern Western Society
• Fall of the Roman Empire: A Pivot Point in Western Civilization
• Imperialism and Western Civilization: A Historical Analysis
• Historiography of the French Revolution in Western Discourse
• Industrial Revolution: The Engine of Western Progress
• Influence of Western Civilization on Global Legal Systems
• The Age of Exploration: Western Civilization Expands
• Western Civilization: From Gutenberg’s Press to the Internet
• Interpretations of the American Revolution in Western Thought
• Historical and Cultural Analysis of Western Romanticism
• Contribution of Western Civilization to Modern Medicine
• Development and Influence of Western Classical Music
• The Influence of Western Philosophy on Modern Thought
• The Role of Western Civilization in Shaping Modern Economics
• Western Civilization and Its Influence on Modern Democracy

To Learn More, Read Relevant Articles

509 capstone project topics & good ideas, 572 motivational speech topics & good ideas.

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50+ Out of the World Cultural Research Paper Topics

You have all needed to develop fast and quality articles, essays and research projects by examining and selecting your chosen topic. The writing ideas in this post were developed by experts and professionals in the cultural field, and thus we highly recommend the topics to all writers, including online writers.

With our back, you will waste none of your energy and time figuring out what and how to write about a given topic. Select your topic today as it makes time and energy cheap.

Let’s begin with defining what culture is:

Culture refers to the way of life of a particular group of people – the behaviours, values, beliefs, and symbols they accept, generally without thinking about them. They are passed on through communication and imitation from one generation to the next.

Below are some of the professionally tailored cultural research paper topics guaranteed to give you a first-class in your assignment. Be sure to use them as inspirations towards substantive writing prompts.

Cultural Research Paper Topics

• Investigating the benefits of cultural studies in promoting brands in international markets.
• Perception differences among youth and the old population of disabled people.
• Examination of different coping mechanisms of being culturally different in society.
• Impact of films, songs, and feminism on promoting women equality.
• Conservation of culture in isolated communities.
• Influence of religion on culture: A case study of the Muslim community
• Cultural commonalities for all human beings on earth.
• Correlation between attitude and sex as tools of culture.
• Exhibition of cultural traits in indigenous and exotic animals.
• How association to particular languages influences culture.

Cultural Anthropology Research Paper Topics

• An evaluation of the cultural anthropology of our time

The effects of cultural anthropology to the missionary.

• The role of women in modern society as opposed to the traditional roles.
• What are the peculiarities of the Zulu community culture in Southern Africa?
• Examination of various religious practices in the United States of America.

The influence of English as a common language on American culture.

• Exploration of the long-term impacts of physical labour on the physical appearance of humans.
• How stigma affects efforts on stopping the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
• How is the concept of death viewed in Africa?
• What is the anthropological perspective on the development of the modern United States of America?

Cultural Diversity Research Paper Topics

• Evaluate the significance of preserving cultural diversity in the 21st century.
• What is the role of cultural diversity in modern society?
• How pluralism and multiculturalism have impacted the lives of American citizens.
• Associations of psychological counselling to cultural diversity.
• Demonstrate critical thinking about psychology with a special mention on multicultural issues and diversity.
• Effects of cultural diversity in the medical industry as a whole.
• Evaluate the role of cultural diversity in schools
• Impacts of migration on the cultural diversity of Asian land, especially on mental health.
• Cultural diversity’s impact on the interaction process and performance.

Cultural Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Personality and filial piety among British citizens.
• What are the cross-cultural perspectives on human developments in Central America?
• The self and social behaviour among Red Indians in the United States of America.
• Factors that influence cross-cultural psychology.
• Implication of cultural psychology on diversity.
• Life experiences of unemployed graduates in the United Kingdom.
• The relationship between parenting stress and stigma with parent-child interactions in mothers with autistic children.
• Comparative analysis of gender stereotypes of superior thinking in men and emotions in women among students
• How has Covid-19 affected the political atmosphere in the United States of America?
• Analyze the impact that famous artists have on world culture.
• Discuss the evolution of cultural psychology as a topic since the 17th century.

Cross-Cultural Research Paper Topics

• How does culture affect social and emotional development?
• Compare and contrast the features of language and culture.
• Impacts of social organization and history in modern society.
• Members of any culture perceive their behaviour as logical. Validate this statement.
• Determinants of cross-cultural business communication.
• The roles of attitudes toward accents and dialects in creating barriers in international business communication.
• Description of socio-linguistic as a tool of differentiating economic classes.
• Influence of environmental factors on the development and character of cultures.
• Climate and topography affect the transport and logistics, settlement, and territorial organization. Elucidate.
• Describe how Africa’s population size and its density and the availability of natural resources influence the continent toward export and domestic markets.
• Discuss ways in which conceptions of authority affects cross-cultural psychology, more so in India.
• The role of non-verbal communication in promoting culture.

Best Cultural Research Paper Topics

• The evolution of the amount and type of sexism over the years.
• Analysis of the impact of Michael Jackson on popular culture in the world.
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• Reasons for the emergence of female culture in closed communities.
• Influence of native culture on human psychology.
• Causes of assimilation of people in the foreign culture.
• How cultural studies in colleges and universities have helped demystify cultural myths and misconceptions.
• Why children need to stay with their grandparents at least once in a while

You might have considered this task a hard nut to crack, but with the comprehensive guide and topics above, I am sure that you can now navigate your way easily.

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84 Cultural Psychology Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best cultural psychology topic ideas & essay examples, 🎓 interesting topics to write about cultural psychology, ✅ simple & easy cultural psychology essay titles, ❓ cultural psychology questions.

• Culturally Informed Psychological Assessment They do not posit a single culture, requiring the assessor to discern these cultures and their influence on a person’s psychological behavior.
• Multicultural Psychology as a Subspecialty of Psychology Over the past 30 years, the study of culture minority issues in the field of psychology has grown to what can now be seen as a significant and dynamic subspecialty in the context of American […] We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Emerging Issues in Multicultural Psychology Modern multicultural psychologists have been challenged by the impact that the internet has had on the society, particularly among the young people.
• Culture, Emotions, and Psychology Relationships The most profound understanding of the relation of culture to psychology and emotional response starts from defining a culture, which is varied across nations and studies.
• Contemporary Issues in Cultural & Cross-Cultural Psychology The difference between cultural psychology and cross-cultural psychology emanates from the fact that psychologists in cross-cultural psychology commonly use cultural frameworks as a means of assessing the universality of psychological practices and processes, while psychologists […]
• Socio-Cultural Approach to Psychology This is influenced by a transmission of resources from the care givers to the dependencies. The kind of attention and language the child gets is from the surrounding.
• Cross-Cultural Psychology Study The relationship between cultural and cross-cultural psychology is from a definition point of view. Quantitative and qualitative research methodologies are the most effective in cross-cultural psychology studies.
• Cross-Cultural Psychology in Contemporary Psychiatry Also, contemporary psychiatry embraces cross-cultural psychology, which recognizes the diversity in the growth and development of psychological notions influenced by cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Clinical neuropsychology integrates neuroscience and clinical psychology to understand biological factors […]
• Racial Profiling in Cultural Psychology The idea that some cultures are superior to others is compatible with the issue of racial identity non-apparently existing in society.
• Hewlett-Packard: Application of Cross-Cultural Psychology The HP Company should effectively collaborate with all the stakeholders and employees to receive broader views and alternatives of what to implement.
• The Impact of Culture on Aging: Psychological and Sociological Analysis Analyzing the impact of American culture on the process of aging, disease management and pain control, we should first identify the main features of American mentality.
• Emerging Issues in Cross-Cultural Psychology The new economic order has been due to the fact that different cultures have enabled their people to utilize the cultural competitive advantage to achieve it.
• Psychology in Afghan Sociocultural Context Fundamental reasons for such an attitude towards the science of human behavior lie in the “popularity of psychological myths,” the presence of “therapeutic techniques with poor empirical support” and the advancement in the field of […]
• Psychological Impacts on the Culturally Diverse Individual It is also important to note that the social-political factors often have very pronounced psychological impacts on the human as well as the societal life.
• African American Culture: Psychological Processes The evolutionary perspectives of the African American community are mostly based on their survival from the period of slavery to the period of racial discrimination and segregation in America.
• Multicultural Psychology: Cultural Identity and Racism It is a branch of psychology that tries to comprehend and represent the psychology of different people, groups and organizations adequately for the purpose of equal treatment due to the fact that there is a […]
• Cross-Cultural Psychology: Similarities and Differences in Belief Systems and Behavioral Patterns These similarities and differences in cultural backgrounds have led to emergence of cross-cultural psychology, a study on the interaction between diverse human culture, belief systems and behavioral patterns.
• The Role of Socio-Cultural Psychology on Society This may be in respect to the view of the majority with regard to how one is to express the self.
• Universal Concept of Cross-Cultural Psychology Cross cultural psychology is the term used to refer to the studies done on the processes of the mind and human beings’ behavior using scientific methods.
• Cultural Psychology: Critical Thinking Examples
• The Convergence Between Cultural Psychology and Developmental Science
• Trends in Cultural Psychology
• How Cultural Psychology Impacts Nonverbal Communication
• Cultural Evolutionary Theory: How Culture Evolves and Why It Matters
• The Cultural Psychology Concepts and Theories
• Cultural Psychology of Ethnic Minorities
• Methodological Problems in Cross-Cultural Psychology
• Differences in Cultural Psychology Between East Asia and North America
• Cultural Psychology in Clinical Research: Practice with Portuguese Immigrants
• Using Ethnographic Methods for Cultural Psychology Research
• Stereotyping in Cultural Psychology: Multiple Perspectives of Culture
• Psychology: Effects of Culture on Online Shopping
• Cultural Psychology: Effect of Ramayana on Various Cultures and Civilisations
• Nationalism in Cultural Psychology
• Gender and Gender Roles in Cultural Psychology
• Cultural Psychology Effect on Emotional Regulation
• Understanding Culture Clashes and Catalyzing Change in Cultural Psychology
• Cross-Cultural Psychology of Organizational Behavior
• Western Culture and the Spread of Serial Murder: Cultural Psychology Perspective
• The Difference Between Cultural Psychology and Cross-Cultural Psychology
• Cultural Psychology: Definition & Challenges
• Types of Comparative Studies in Cross-Cultural Psychology
• Cultural Psychology as a Scholarly Discipline
• Cultural Psychology and Its Significance to Consumer Research
• The Constructivist Perspective of Cultural Psychology
• W.E.I.R.D. in Cultural Psychology or Euro-American Centrism
• Stereotypes in Cultural Psychology: Individuals as Homogeneous Products of Culture
• Cultural Psychology: Answers the Big Questions of Life in Each Culture
• The Psychological Cultural Model by Hazel Rose Markus and Alana Conner
• Eight Cultural Conflicts That Make Us Who We Are
• Whiting Model in Cultural Psychology: Cultural Learning Environment
• Cultural Psychology: Independent and Collectivistic Cultures
• Cultural Psychology of Health in India: Modern Medicine and Traditional Systems
• The Nijmegen School of Cultural Psychology: Culture as a Behavior Regulating System
• Aspects of Language Use in Cross‐Cultural Psychology
• An Evaluation of the Cultural Psychology of Our Time
• The Effects of Migration on the Cultural Psychology of Asian Land
• How Music, Art, and Drama Influence the Cultural Psychology
• Contributions to Indigenous and Cultural Psychology
• What Is the Relationship Between Cross-Cultural Psychology and Cultural Psychology?
• Is Cultural Psychology Part of Social Psychology?
• What Is the Role of Cultural Psychology in Nonverbal Communication?
• What Are the Main Goals of Cultural Psychology?
• How Would You Differentiate Cultural Psychology From Other Branches of Psychology?
• What Is the Difference Between Indigenous Psychology and Cultural Psychology?
• How Is Cultural Psychology Related to General Psychology?
• What Is the Basic Concept of Cultural Psychology?
• Where Does Cultural Psychology Come From?
• Is Cultural Psychology a Natural Science?
• What Are the Approaches to Culture Psychology?
• Who Is the Father of Cultural Psychology?
• Is Cultural Psychology the Same as Cross-Cultural Psychology?
• What Does Cultural Psychology Teach?
• Why Is Social Cultural Psychology Important in Our Society?
• How Does Cultural Psychology Differ From General Psychology?
• What Is the Scope of Cultural Psychology?
• Is Cultural Psychology Relevant Today?
• What Is the Nature of Cultural Psychology?
• What Are the Current Issues in Cultural Psychology?
• Are There Similarities in Cultural Psychology Between East Asia and North America?
• Why Is Cultural Psychology Often Confused With Cross-Cultural Psychology?
• What Does Cultural Psychology Focus On Today?
• How Are Cultural Psychology and Personality Related?
• What Is the Unique Contribution of Cultural Psychology?
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50 Culture Essay Topics — Best Ideas for College Students

From time to time, students have to observe various aspects of spiritual and material worlds and values. This process is frequent for History, Anthropology, Philosophy, Sociology classes. Talking about culture in the USA and other countries and conducting culture research helps to develop various skills and ways of thinking. Writing about it boost your creativity and help to formulate interesting thoughts while supporting them with reasonable evidence.

In college, young people are faced with a wide range of writings, and the culture is one of the most interesting essay topics to be assigned. It's always interesting to compare and analyze the development and importance of different customs around the world and find ways to understand contemporary popular art. But to express your opinion appropriately, it's important to decide on a subject matter first. And, if you don't have culture essay topics at hand, we are glad to help.

In this article, we offer you 50 topics for an essay in which you can explore customs, traditions, lifestyles, and art from different perspectives.

Choosing Your Topics

It is not that easy to select essay topics on this issue— there are too many of them! We can only pick the most relevant ones and give a hint on how to choose the best topic ideas.

• If your professor does not assign a topic, specify whether you can choose one on your own.
• Check your social media accounts for trends.
• Brainstorm with your college friends.
• Write down all possible topics that culture conveys well.
• Search for the sources in your college library or online (e.g., Google Scholar).
• Pick only credible references and fresh ideas to cover in your paper.
• Decide which of the topics can be supported by most of the sources.
• Think about the culture you're more-or-less familiar with.
• Stay original — don't be afraid to come up with new topics!
• Think of the reasons your theme to be rejected. If you doubt, it's better to consult your professor before writing.

Now, if you need some inspiration, you may use the ideas offered below.

The American Culture Essay Topics

Here, it's obvious that you should cover issues related to the history of the United States. Here are some of them:

• The customs of American tribes that still exist in today's lifestyles.
• The difference between the North and South American cultures.
• "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and its culture influence in the history of the US.
• Best pop culture products with their ideas on the Civil War.
• The impact of the most known works in American literature on the rest of the world.
• The role of the so-called Beat Generation in the development of American art heritage.
• The origins of rock'n'roll and dance music.
• Why do some works of art fall under certain genres?
• The evolution of cinematography in the United States.
• Massive amounts of immigration and its influence on native American society.

Note: While writing on American art and customs, make sure you have enough reliable evidence from history.

Canadian Culture Topics

As you may know, Canadian traditions and ways of living look significantly different from one people have in the United States. The essay example topics below can help you analyze different culture aspects of these countries and come up with a good paper:

• The way Canada is showed in South Park.
• Avril Lavigne and other famous Canadian rockers in the US.
• How did Canadian hockey change sports development?
• Why is Canada frequently associated with cold and ice?
• Living in a chilly region with warm hearts.
• Ukrainian and Russian diaspora in Canada.
• Ethnicity groups that shaped the Canadian way of living.
• Canada — before and after the exploration.
• Famous Canadian actors and actresses.
• Wild animals living in Canada that have an impact on their art and customs.

Note: If you're writing an essay about a foreign country, the simplest strategy would be to compare its lifestyle with the one you have in your homeland.

Pop Culture Topics

In the context of culture influence, the issue of pop art is exciting. If you think about soap operas and Britney," you're in the essence of that concept. Here are some interesting ideas for you:

• The impact of popular art on marketing.
• The connection between modern pop art stars and social networks.
• Several ways to become popular today.
• Sexism and feminism in the United States.
• The top preferred reality shows.
• Iron Man as the reflection of all heroes.
• Heroes 3: Of Might and Magic.
• Pop culture influence of Japanese anime on the life of students.
• What makes Pokemon so popular?
• Comparing different trends in culture.

Note: Remember that phenomena that have mass accessibility aren't always perfect. That is a good thought for an argument or persuasive essay.

World -Related Topics

These culture essay topics cover all regions, so you have a great variety of options to choose from. It is always a good decision to select the area (country, state) that interests you or that you've been to:

• Generational trends in everyday life.
• The way customs and art are different and similar in Japan and China.
• Russian and Slovenian heritage and customs.
• Customs and traditions of the Middle East.
• The Chinese culture: leisure activities as a form of art.
• The impact of Eurovision on world music trends.
• Famous rock and metal bands from the United Kingdom.
• A geisha in the Japanese culture.
• Carnivals and other holidays in Brazil.
• Things that make the Australian lifestyle so exciting.

Note: When comparing different lifestyles and customs, remember that there are historical reasons for everything. Even to discuss any heritage issue or custom of another country, you have to provide enough evidence.

Cultural Analysis Topics

If you need to write a paper on one of the analysis essay topics, we recommend using credible, up-to-date external sources and conduct in-depth research to analyze the specific issue from all possible aspects. Grab one of these ideas if you like:

• Promotion of social changes nowadays.
• "Strength lies in differences, not in similarities." Do you agree with this statement?
• Things that make a motion picture popular.
• Reasons why some music albums fail.
• Modern pieces of art and their difference from retro.
• A specific TV show that you like.
• Revealing human worst traits on the example of a chosen antagonist.
• Traveling and learning art and customs.
• How does learning a foreign language help to get closer to the culture of people who speak it?
• The origins of siesta and its role in the countries where they follow this tradition.

Note: Whatever topic you choose, analyze the concepts and phenomena objectively. Any analysis assignment requires a diligent approach and thoughtful background research.

Now, you have a full list of wonderful topics for culture essay. If you need more help or a custom essay written from scratch for you, contact professional writing service online!

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How to Write a Cultural Analysis Paper

M.t. wroblewski.

Students don't always believe it, but sometimes the most difficult part of writing a paper is settling on a topic -- and then narrowing that topic sufficiently. Such is often the case with a cultural analysis paper, which affords you many interesting choices. First you have to choose a culture or a country. Then, after studying its cultural influences, you must choose the one that interests, if not fascinates, you the most. Right from the outset, start saving information, chronicling the websites you visit and a jotting a brief overview of what you found there -- just as a tourist visiting a country for the first time might do.

Settle on a focus for your cultural analysis paper. Writing a paper on a country's entire “culture” is far too broad, no matter what the assigned length of the paper. So consider a specific cultural event, custom, celebration, influence or even cultural phenomenon. Choosing "religion" or "music" might be tempting, but even these ideas are much too broad. Narrow the focus even more by limiting your research to a facet of the religion or one form of music. With a specific and narrow theme, you can focus your research with great precision, enabling your paper to teem with rich, colorful details that will set it apart.

Develop a working thesis statement for your cultural analysis paper. Think of this statement as the answer you would give someone who asks, “So what is your cultural analysis paper about?” A thesis is the guiding force of any paper, and every sentence and every paragraph of your paper ought to amplify, illustrate and support the thesis in some meaningful way. Continue to tweak, refine and improve your working thesis statement until you are ready to turn in your paper; this is how important the thesis is.

Write an introduction for your cultural analysis that sets a tantalizing stage for the paper. Provide a brief overview of the culture you have chosen to profile and then segue to your theme. Place the theme in context by explaining what it is that makes it such a profoundly important part of the culture. Then lead directly to your thesis statement. Altogether, you might devote up to five paragraphs to your introduction.

Develop your theme in the body of the cultural analysis paper. The body represents the bulk of the paper and where you must convince the reader of the veracity of your thesis statement. With this vital task at hand, start at the beginning to make your case, assuming the reader knows little to nothing about your topic. Slowly build your case with evidence, examples, statistics and quotes. A cultural analysis paper affords great opportunity to allow the reader to truly “experience” a cultural theme, so choose descriptive words with care and share your enthusiasm for the topic.

Conclude your paper by giving the reader something to ponder. Too often, students end papers as though they have written the definitive and last word on a subject. But the world continues to turn, so try to “point forward” -- or, better yet, find a source who points forward and makes a prediction about the future of your cultural theme.

Try to put your paper aside for at least one day and return to it with a refreshed pair of critical eyes. If you can't be your own worst critic, find someone to assume this role for you. Then edit and proofread your paper carefully.

• 1 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Sociology
• 2 Michigan Statue University: Rhetorical Analysis of Cultural Artifact
• 3 Winthrop University: Cultural Events Analysis
• 4 Purdue University Online Writing Lab: Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements

About the Author

With education, health care and small business marketing as her core interests, M.T. Wroblewski has penned pieces for Woman's Day, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal and many newspapers and magazines. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Northern Illinois University.

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Sociology of Culture Research Paper Topics

The sociology of  culture  and, the related, cultural sociology concerns the systematic analysis of culture, usually understood as the ensemble of symbolic codes used by a members of a society, as it is manifested in the society. Culture in the sociological field is analyzed as the ways of thinking and describing, the ways of acting, and the  material  objects that together shape a people’s way of life. Contemporary sociologists’ approach to culture is often divided between a “sociology of culture” and “cultural sociology”—the terms are similar, though not interchangeable. The sociology of culture is an older concept, and considers some topics and objects as more-or-less “cultural” than others.

70 Sociology of Culture Research Paper Topics

• Acculturation
• Art and society
• Author/Auteur
• Body and cultural sociology
• Celebrity culture
• Censorship and the regulation of expression
• Civilizing process
• Consumption of music
• Consumption rituals
• Consumption, mass consumption, and consumer culture
• Cultural capital
• Cultural critique
• Cultural imperialism
• Cultural relativism
• Cultural reproduction
• Cultural resistance
• Cultural studies
• Cultural studies in Britain
• Cultural tourism
• Culture and economy
• Culture and the state
• Culture industries
• Culture jamming
• Culture: conceptual clarifications
• Cyberculture
• Disneyization
• Elite culture
• Emotion: cultural aspects
• Fans and fan culture
• Fantasy city
• Gender and culture
• Highbrow/lowbrow
• Ideological hegemony
• Idioculture
• Information society
• Marginal art
• Mass culture and mass society
• Material culture
• Multiculturalism
• Mythogenesis
• Nature and culture
• Organizations and culture
• Popular culture
• Popular culture and leisure
• Popular culture forms
• Popular culture icons
• Postmodern culture
• Production of culture
• Science across cultures
• Simulacra and simulation
• Simulation and virtuality
• Sociocultural relativism
• Sociology of taste
• Symbolic classification
• Video Games
• What is culture?
• Youth culture and consumption

Definition of Culture

To produce a definition of culture, one can examine the concept in the abstract, that is, explore the concept theoretically from a variety of standpoints and then justify the definition that emerges through deductive logic. Or one can explore how the concept is used in practice, that is, describe how sociologists, both individually and collectively, define culture in the research process and analyze how they inductively construct a shared definition. This essay takes the latter collective-inductive approach to defining culture. Such an approach is inherently sociological and does not presume to produce an independent definition for the field, rather it seeks to document how successful participants in the field have been in producing a shared definition for themselves. To produce such a ”working” definition of culture, one starts by examining the social science roots that have helped determine the current status of the sociology of culture.

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The focus on culture in sociology has flourished over the past twenty years, as evidenced by the fact that the Culture Section in the American Sociological Association has become one of the largest and is still one of the fastest-growing sections in the discipline. The growth of interest in culture is also nicely documented by the number of survey review articles and books written during this period (e.g., Denzin 1996; Crane 1994, 1992; Hall and Neitz 1993; Munch and Smelser 1992; Peterson 1990, 1989, 1979; Alexander and Seidman 1990; Wuthnow and Witten 1988; Blau 1988; Mukerji and Schudson 1986). As is clear from the reviews, interest in cultural analysis has grown significantly. The focus on culture in all spheres of research has increased tremendously; and culture is now readily accepted as a level of explanation in its own right. Even in traditionally materialist-oriented research arenas, such as stratification and Marxist studies, cultural activities and interests are not treated as subordinate to economic explanations in current research (e.g., Halle 1994; Nelson and Grossberg 1988; Bourdieu 1984; Williams 1981, 1977). Cultural studies and analysis have become one of the most fertile areas in sociology.

The rapid growth in the focus on culture and cultural explanation has produced some definitional boundary problems. The term culture has beenused in contemporary sociological research to describe everything from elite artistic activities (Becker 1982) to the values, styles, and ideology of day-today conduct (Swidler 1986). Along with art and everyday conduct, included among the ”mixed bag” of research that takes place under the auspices of the sociology of culture is work in science (Latour 1987; Star 1989), religion (Neitz 1987), law (Katz 1988), media (Schudson 1978; Gitlin 1985; Tuchman 1978), popular culture (Peterson 1997; Weinstein 1991; Chambers 1986), and work organization (Fine 1996; Lincoln and Kalleberg 1990).

With such an extensive variety in the empirical focus of research in culture, the question for many participants in the field is how to translate this eclecticism into a coherent research field. This goal has not yet been reached, but while a coherent concept of culture is still evolving and the boundaries of the current field of sociology of culture are still fluid and expanding, it is possible to explore how different types of researchers in the social sciences, both currently and historically, have approached the concept of culture. In this inventory process, a better understanding of the concept of culture will emerge, that is, what different researchers believe the concept of culture includes, what the concept excludes, and how the distinction between categories has been made. This essay will provide a historical overview of the two major debates on the appropriate focus and limitations of the definition of culture, and then turn to the contemporary social context in an effort to clarify the issues underlying the current concept of culture.

The Culture-Social Structure Debate

From the turn of the century until the 1950s, the definition of culture was embroiled in a dialogue that sought to distinguish the concepts of culture and social structure. This distinction was a major bone of contention among social scientists, most noticeably among anthropologists divided between the cultural and social traditions of anthropology. Researchers in the cultural or ethnological tradition, such as Franz Boas (1896/1940), Bronislaw Malinowski (1927, 1931), Margaret Mead (1928, 1935), Alfred Kroeber (1923/1948, 1952), and Ruth Benedict (1934) believed culture was the central concept in social science. ”Culturalists”maintained that culture is primary in guiding all patterns of behavior, including who interacts with whom, and should therefore be given priority in theories about the organization of society. This position was countered by researchers in the structural tradition, such as A.R. Radcliffe-Brown ([1952] 1961) and E. E. Evans-Pritchard (1937, 1940) from the British school of social anthropology, and Claude Levi-Strauss ([1953] 1963) in French structuralism. ”Structuralists” contended that social structure was the primary focus of social science and should be given priority in theories about society because social structure (e.g., kinship) determines patterns of social interaction and thought. Both schools had influential and large numbers of adherents.

The culturalists took a holistic approach to the concept of culture. Stemming from Edward Tylor’s classic definition, culture was ”. . . 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” ([1871] 1924, p.1). This definition leaves little out, but the orientation of the late nineteenth century intended the concept of culture to be as inclusive as possible. Culture is what distinguishes man as a species from other species. Therefore, culture consists of all that is produced by human collectivities, that is, all of social life. The focus here stems from the ”nature” vs. ”nurture” disputes common during this period. Anything that differentiates man’s accomplishments from biological and evolutionary origins was relevant to the concept of culture. That includes religion as well as kinship structures, language as well as nation-states.

Following Boas, the study of culture was used to examine different types of society. All societies have cultures, and variations in cultural patterns helped further the argument that culture, not nature, played the most significant role in governing human behavior. In addition, the cultural variances observed in different societies helped break down the nineteenth-century anthropological notion of ”the psychic unity of mankind, the unity of human history, and the unity of culture” (Singer 1968, p. 527). The pluralistic and relativistic approaches to culture that followed emphasized a more limited, localized conception. Culture was what produced a distinctive identity for a society, socializing members for greater internal homogeneity and identifying outsiders. Culture is thus treated as differentiating concept, providing recognition factors for internal cohesion and external discrimination.

Although this tradition of ethnographic research on culture tended to be internal and localized, what is termed an ”emic” approach in cognitive anthropology (Goodenough 1956), by the 1940s there emerged a strong desire among many anthropologists to develop a comparative ”etic” approach to culture, that is, construct a generalized theory of cultural patterns. In the comparison of hundreds of ethnographies written in this period, A.L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn sought to build such a general definition of culture. They wrote, Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e., historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other as conditioning elements of further action ([1952] 1963, p. 181).

Milton Singer (1968) characterized this ”pattern theory” definition as a condensation of what most American anthropologists in the 1940s and 1950s called culture. It includes behavior, cultural objects, and cognitive predispositions as part of the concept, thus emphasizing that culture is both a product of social action and a process that guides future action. The pattern theory stated simply that behavior follows a relatively stable routine, from the simplest levels of custom in dress and diet to more complex levels of organization in political, economic, and religious life. The persistence of specific patterns is variable in different arenas and different societies, but larger configurations tend to be more stable, changing incrementally unless redirected by external forces. In addition, the theory emphasized that the culture from any given society can be formally described, that is, it can be placed in formal categories representing different spheres of social life to facilitate comparison between societies. As such, universal patterns of culture can be constructed.

In comparison, anthropological structuralists in this period conceive of culture less comprehensively. The structuralists’ concept of culture is made distinct through emphasis on a new concept of social structure. Largely through the efforts of Radcliffe-Brown, a theory emerged that argues social structure is more appropriately represented by a network or system of social relations than a set of norms. The structuralist argument is intended to clarify how actors in a society actively produce and are socially produced by their cultural context. By distinguishing the actors and interaction in a social system from the behavioral norms, structuralists seek to establish a referent for social structure that is analytically independent of the culture and artifacts produced in that system. The production of culture is thus grounded clearly in an international framework. Norms of interaction are also produced by interacting participants, but the question of causal primacy between culture and social structure can be considered separately. The initial effort here is simply not to reify the origins of culture.

The exact relationship of culture and social structure, however, becomes the central issue of the structuralist/culturalist debate. For example, how to identify the boundaries of a society one is researching is problematic when the society is not an isolate. Structuralists tend to give social relations, that is, the extent of a network, priority in identifying boundaries, while culturalists focus on the extent of particular types of cultural knowledge or practices. Since both elements are obviously operating interdependently, the efforts to disentangle these concepts make little headway. The arguments to establish causal priority for one concept vis-a-vis the other settle into a fairly predictable exchange. Structuralists base their priority claims on the fact that the interaction of actors in a society is empirically preliminary to the development and application of cultural elements. Culturalists respond that interaction itself is at least partially cultural phenomenon, and that in most complex societies cultural patterns have been well established prior to ongoing social relationships.

By the late 1950s, the concept of culture was becoming increasingly important to sociologists. To help resolve the now tired debate over cultural and structural foci and precedence, A.L. Kroeber and Talcott Parsons published a report in the American Sociological Review titled ”The Concepts of Culture and Social System” (1958), which seeks to establish some ground rules for differentiating the two concepts. At least for sociologists, many of whom identify explicitly with the structural-functional theories of the anthropological structuralists, acknowledgement of a separate social system component that delimits the scope of culture is not difficult. More difficult is ascertaining where the appropriate limits for the concept of culture lie within this domain. Kroeber and Parsons suggest restricting the usage of culture to, ”transmitted and created content and patterns of values, ideas, and other symbolic-meaningful systems as factors in the shaping of human behavior and the artifacts produced behavior” (1958, p. 583). This definition emphasized the predispositional aspect of a cultural referent, limiting the scope of culture to a cognitive perspective, and concentrates on a carefully worded description of ”symbolic-meaningful systems” as the appropriate referent for culture. While no longer the omnibus conception of a traditional, Tylor-derived approach, this type of cultural analysis is still potentially applicable to any realm of social activity.

The High-Mass Culture Debate

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the concept of culture became enmeshed in a new debate that like the previously documented dialogue has both influential and significant numbers of participants on each side of the dispute. Sociologists, however, are more central to the discussion, pitting those who support a broadly conceived, anthropological interpretation of culture that places both commonplace and elite activities in the same category, against a humanities oriented conception of culture that equates the identification of cultural activity with a value statement. This debate attempts to do two things: to classify different types of cultural activity, and to distinguish a purely descriptive approach to the concept of culture from an axiological approach that defines culture through an evaluative process.

That an axiological approach to culture can be considered legitimate by a ”scientific” enterprise is perhaps surprising to contemporary sociologists entrenched in the positivistic interpretation of science, yet a central issue for many sociologists in this period was how and whether to approach questions of moral values. For example, the critical theorist Leo Lowenthal (1950) characterized this period of social science as ”applied ascetism” and stated that the moral or aesthetic evaluation of cultural products and activities is not only sociologically possible, but also should be a useful tool in the sociological analysis of cultural differentiation.

These evaluative questions certainly play a part in the analysis of ”mass culture,” a term that the critic Dwight McDonald explains is used to identify articles of culture that are produced for mass consumption, ”like chewing gum” (McDonald 1953, p. 59). A number of commentators, including both sociologists and humanists, observe the growth of mass culture production in the post-World War II United Stated with a mixture of distaste and alarm. The concern of McDonald and critics like him is the decline of intrinsic value in cultural artifacts, a decline in quality that stems from, or is at least attributed to, a combination of economic and social factors associated with the growth of capitalism. For example, mass culture critics argue that the unchecked growth of capitalism in the production and distribution phases of culture industries leads to a ”massification” of consumption patterns. Formerly localized, highly differentiated, and competitive markets become dominated by a single corporate actor who merges different sectors of the consumer landscape and monopolizes production resources and distribution outlets. Within these giant culture industry organizations the demand for greater efficiency and the vertical integration of production lead to a bureaucratically focused standardization of output. Both processes function to stamp out cultural differences and create greater homogeneity in moral and aesthetic values, all at the lowest common denominator.

Regardless of the causes of the mass culture phenomena, the critics of mass culture believe it to be a potentially revolutionary force that will transform the values of society. One critic states that ”mass culture is a dynamic, revolutionary force, breaking down the old barriers of class, tradition, taste, and dissolving all cultural distinctions. It mixes and scrambles everything together, producing what might be called homogenized culture. . . It thus destroys all values, since value judgements imply discrimination” (McDonald 1953, p. 62).

In launching this attack, mass culture opponents see themselves as the saviors of a ”true” or ”high” culture (e.g., McDonald, Greenberg, Berelson, and Howe; see Rosenberg and White 1957). They argue that the consumption of mass culture undermines the very existence of legitimate high culture, that is, the elite arts and folk cultures. Without the ability to differentiate between increasingly blurred lines of cultural production, the average consumer turns toward mass culture due to its immediate accessibility. Further, simply through its creation, mass culture devalues elite art and folk cultures by borrowing the themes and devices of different cultural traditions and converting them into mechanical, formulaic systems (Greenberg 1946). Thus critics of mass culture argue that it is critical for the health of society to discriminate between types of culture.

Defenders of mass culture, or at least those who feel the attack on mass culture is too extreme, respond that mass culture critics seek to limit the production and appreciation of culture to an elitist minority. They contend that the elitist criticism of culture is ethnocentric and that not only is mass, popular, or public culture more diverse than given credit for (e.g., Lang 1957; Kracuer 1949), but also the benefits of mass cultural participation far outweigh the limitations of a mass media distribution system (White 1956; Seldes 1957). Post-World War II America experienced an economic boom that sent its citizens searching for a variety of new cultural outlets. The increase in cultural participation certainly included what some critics might call ”vulgar” activities, but it also included a tremendous increase in audiences for the arts across the board. Essentially mass culture defenders assert that the argument over the legitimacy of mass culture comes down to a matter of ideology, one that positions the elitist minority against the growing democratization of culture.

To extricate themselves from this axiological conundrum, many sociologists of culture retreated from a morally evaluative stance to a normative one. As presented by Gertrude Jaeger and Philip Selznick (1964), the normative sociological approach to culture, while still evaluative, seeks to combine anthropological and humanist conceptions of culture through a diagnostic analysis of cultural experience. The emphasis here is on elaborating the nature of ”symbolically meaningful” experience, the same focus for culture that Kroeber and Parsons (1958) take in their differentiation of culture and social system. To do this, Jager and Selznick adopt a pragmatist perspective (Dewey 1958) that accords symbolic status to cultural objects or events through a social signification process. Interacting individuals create symbols through the communication of meaningful experience, using both denotative and connotative processes. By creating symbols, interacting individuals create culture. Thus the definition of culture becomes: ”Culture consists of everything that is produced by, and is capable of sustaining, shared symbolic experience” (Jaeger and Selznick 1964, p. 663). In establishing this sociological definition of culture emphasizing the shared symbolic experience, Jaeger and Selznick also seek to maintain a humanist-oriented capability to distinguish between high and mass culture without marginalizing the focus on high culture. Following Dewey, they argue that the experience of art takes place on a continuum of cultural experience that differs in intensity from ordinary symbolic activities, but has essentially the same basis for the appreciation of meaning. Art or high culture is simply a more ”effective” symbol, combining ”economy of statement with richness of expression” (Jaeger and Selznick 1964, p. 664). As such, art, like all culture, is identified through the normative evaluation of experience.

In sum, the high culture-mass culture debate shifted the focus on the concept of culture from a question of appropriate scope to a question of appropriate values. From a functionalist point of view, the health of a society’s culture is not simply an issue of what type of values are advocated, but of how culture serves a moral and integrative function. Yet the mass culture critique was often unable to distinguish the cultural values of elite intellectuals from the effect of these values on society. To escape from this ethnocentric quagmire, contemporary sociologists have generally turned away from an evaluative position toward culture.

The Contemporary Approach to Culture: Mapping the Terrain

As mentioned at the beginning of this essay, the contemporary approach to culture is quite eclectic. Despite the elaborate historical lineage of the concept, there is no current, widely accepted, composite resolution for the definition of culture.

Instead, culture is still currently defined through an extensive variety of perspectives, sanctioning a broad, historically validated range of options. While the omnibus definition from the cultural anthropology tradition has been generally relegated to introductory texts, and the elitist attack on mass culture has been largely replaced by an antiethnocentric, relativist position open to a wide spectrum of symbolic arenas and perspectives, many of the elements of these old debates still appear in new cultural analyses.

For example, as categorized by Richard Peterson introducing a review of new studies in cultural analysis at the beginning of the 1990s, culture tends to be used two ways in sociological research; as a ”code of conduct embedded in or constitutive of social life,” and as symbolic products of group activity” (Peterson 1990, p. 498). The first perspective is clearly indebted to the traditional cultural anthropology approach and indeed is used to analyze and characterize social units ranging from whole societies (e.g., Cerulo 1995; Bellah et al. 1985) to specific subcultures (e.g., Hebdige 1990, 1979; Willis 1977). Empirical applications using this perspective are also made to geographically dispersed social worlds that organize collective activities (e.g., Lofland 1993 on the peace movement; Fine 1987 on Little League baseball; Latour and Woolgar 1979 on scientific research in biology; Traweek 1988 on scientific research in physics). The second perspective takes the more concrete course of treating culture as specific socially constructed symbols and emphasizes the production and meaning of these specific forms of cultural expression. Most examples of this latter form of cultural research are conducted in substantive arenas collectively known as the ”production of culture” (Peterson 1979; Crane 1992), however, the range of empirical focus for this perspective is considerable and includes research in such areas as the moral discourse on the abortion issue (Luker 1984), the politics and aesthetics of artistic evaluation and reception (DeNora 1995; Lang and Lang 1990; Griswold 1986), and the motivational and ideological context of organizational, professional, and work cultures (e.g., Fine 1996; Martin 1992; Katz 1999; Fantasia 1988; Harper 1987; Burawoy 1979).

From the array of activities mentioned above, it is clear that the contemporary concept of culture in sociology does not exclude any particular empirical forms of activity, except perhaps through an emphasis on shared or collective practices, thus discounting purely individual foci. Since all collective social practices are potentially symbolic and therefore culturally expressive, any collective activity can be reasonably studied under the rubric of the sociology of culture. This ”open borders” philosophy has at times made it difficult for participants in the sociology of culture to establish any kind of nomothetic perspective for cultural theory. The vast differentiation and sheer complexity of the expression of culture in various forms of social life resists ready categorization. Instead, participants in the sociology of culture have usually opted for the preliminary step of surveying and mapping the terrain of research in the sociology of culture with the goal of helping to define emerging theoretical perspectives in the field. Two particularly informative efforts are the contributions of John Hall and Mary Jo Neitz (1993) and Diana Crane (1992, 1994).

In Culture: Sociological Perspectives (1993), Hall and Neitz provide an excellent overview of the substantive and theoretical directions in which research in the sociology of culture has proliferated. They identify five ”analytic frames” (p. 17) through which researchers can focus on particular aspects of culture and that emphasize associated processes of inquiry. The first frame is a focus on ”institutional structures”: that is, research on culture specifically linked with social institutions and such issues as the construction of social and personal identity and conventional or moral conduct (e.g., Bellah et al. 1985; Gilligan 1982; Warner 1988). In the second analytic frame, Hall and Neitz describe ”cultural history” and the influence of past cultural practices on the present. Research in this area includes a focus on the significance of rituals (e.g., Douglas 1973; Goffman 1968, 1971; Neitz 1987), the effects of rationalization on social processes and cultural consumption (e.g., Foucault 1965; Mukerji 1983; Born 1995), and the creation of mass culture (e.g., Ewen 1976; Schudson 1984). In the third analytic frame, Hall and Neitz focus on ”the production and distribution of culture” with a special emphasis on stratification and power issues. Research in this area includes work on the socioeconomic differentiation of cultural strata (e.g., Gans 1974; Bourdieu 1984; Lamont 1992), gender and ethnic cultural differentiation and their effect on inequality (e.g., Radway 1984; Lamont and Fournier 1992), and the production of culture (e.g., Becker 1982; Gilmore 1987; Hirsch 1972; Coser, Kadushin, and Powell 1982; Faulkner 1983; Crane 1987). The fourth analytic frame, ”audience effects,” looks at how cultural objects affect the people who consume them and the precise patterns of shared meaning and interpretive ideology that provide a compatible environment for the popular and critical success of particular cultural forms (e.g., Wuthnow 1987; Baxandall 1985; Long 1985). Finally the fifth analytic frame, ”meaning and social action,” refers to how actors in varied mainstream and subcultural settings use culture to guide behavior and establish social identity. In a range of ethnic, political, and ideological contexts, participants use visible expressive symbols and styles to assert cultural difference and communicate the social and personal significance of cultural objects (e.g., Rushing 1988; Ginsberg 1990; Schwartz 1991; Fine 1987).

These frames serve different purposes. For the nonsociologist or for sociologists from outside the field of culture, they provide a guide to current cultural research and a reasonably accurate descriptive picture of research segmentation within the field. For the sociologist of culture, however, these frames represent not only a ”division of labor in sociohistorical inquiry, in the sense that any particular frame seems to generate boundaries. . . ”(within in the field), as Hall and Neitz claim (1993, p. 19), but a strategy to bring analytic coherence to a field that has experienced remarkable growth and empirical diffusion over a relatively short period. As such, in the future these frames may emerge through collective activity as problem areas within the field of culture that will guide empirical and methodological tendencies within particular research communities and influence theoretical interaction, that is, co-citation among researchers. The precise impact in the field, however, still remains to be seen.

A somewhat different mapping, primarily in terms of theoretical emphasis, is offered by Diana Crane in her book The Production of Culture (1992) and through her efforts as editor of The Sociology of Culture: Emerging Theoretical Perspectives (1994). Like Hall and Neitz, Crane seeks to help codify research segmentation in the field of culture, but she does not try to accomplish this daunting task simply by producing a comprehensive survey of current research in the field. Instead, she attempts to give the reader a guide to theoretical issues in the sociology of culture, particularly the place of the concept of culture in the discipline of sociology as a whole, and how the centrality of culture as a variable in mainstream sociological models will determine the significance of future research in the field.

To start, Crane argues that culture has traditionally been regarded as ”peripheral” to mainstream concerns in American sociology because of its relationship to classical theory (i.e., Marx, Weber, Durkheim). In comparison to the emphasis by these theorists on social structure, organization, and market forces, cultural elements have been consistently treated as secondary in their impact on peoples’ behavior and attitudes, particularly surrounding significant life issues (e.g., economic considerations). One reason for this secondary status may be the difficulty classical and mainstream theorists have in conceptualizing and documenting everyday cultural practices. Crane states, ”To American and some British structuralists, culture as a concept lacks a suitably rigorous definition” (Crane 1994, p. 2). And from Archer (1988, p. 1), ”the notion of culture remains inordinately vague. . . In every way, ‘culture’ is the poor relation of ‘structure.”’ Thus culture, approached as the values, norms, beliefs, and attitudes of a population or subgroup, is treated as ”an implicit feature of social life. . .” (Wuthnow and Witten 1988, p. 50-51), difficult to put one’s finger on, and therefore difficult to document through specific empirical referents.

But Crane argues that culture in contemporary society is much more than implicit features. She states, ”Culture today is expressed and negotiated almost entirely through culture as explicit social constructions or products, in other words, through recorded culture, culture that is recorded either in print, film, artifacts or, most recently, electronic media” (Crane 1994, p. 2). Further, contemporary sociologists of culture have tended to focus on this ”recorded culture” as the principal empirical referent through which various types of contemporary culture are expressed and thus can easily be explored. Not surprisingly then, the primary direction through which the new sociology of culture has proliferated is in areas like art, science, popular culture, religion, media, technology, and other social worlds where recorded forms of culture are readily accessible. These culture subfields have become the central substantive foci through which the field as a whole has undertaken to build theoretical coherence.

At the same time outside the boundaries of the field of culture per se, it is also clear from recent research in the 1990s that the concept of culture has gained significant relevance in many mainstream areas of the discipline that have traditionally been dominated by macrostructuralist approaches. For example, in both Ewa Morawska and Willfried Spohn’s (1994), and Mabel Berezin’s (1994) contributions to Crane’s The Sociology of Culture: Emerging Theoretical Perspectives, the impact of cultural forces are discussed in a variety of macroinstitutional contexts. Morawska and Spohn’s focus on examples from the historical perspective includes research on the effect of ideology in the macrostructural analysis of revolution and social change (e.g., Sewell 1985; Skocpol 1985; Goldstone 1991), issues of working-class consciousness and capitalist development (e.g., Aminzade 1981; Cal-houn 1982), and the articulation of new forms of religious and ideological doctrines in a social-institutional context.Additional examples in organizational or economic contexts (e.g., Dobbin 1994; Granovetter 1985) only further emphasize the point, that the expanding application of cultural analysis to mainstream models means that for many sociologists, culture is more an explanatory perspective than a substantive area of study. As such, future limitations on the explanatory potential of cultural analysis in sociology will likely be conceptual, not empirical, and the above research suggests a broadly fertile spectrum of empirical possibilities.

Finally, a significant elaboration of the explanatory potential of cultural analysis has taken place in a field organized largely outside the discipline of sociology. ”Cultural studies,” identifying a loosely connected, interdisciplinary network of scholars from a wide spectrum of perspectives, including the humanities, the social sciences, the arts, and various status-specific programs (e.g., ethnic studies, feminist studies, gay and lesbian studies), has produced a tremendous number of new kinds of cultural analyses that have implications for the sociology of culture. The approach to cultural analysis, however, is often radically different, both empirically and theoretically, than that conventionally used by sociologists. Cultural studies approaches range from a cultural text-based analysis that interprets meaning and sources of social influence directly from cultural objects (e.g., Hooks 1994; Giroux 1992; see Fiske 1994), to complex interpretative decodings of narratives around issues such as identity politics (e.g., Trinh 1989; Hall 1992) and postcolonial repression and resistance (e.g., Appadurai 1990; Grossberg et al.1992). As a consequence, the history and emerging relationship of cultural studies to sociology is rather piecemeal. Indeed, Norman Denzin (1996) characterizes the potential association to be one of ”colonization”; that is, ”the attempt to locate and place cultural studies on the boundaries and margins of academic, cultural sociology” (Denzin 1996, p. XV). Others see the possibility of more reciprocal exchange with the possibility of a ”revitalization” for sociological cultural perspectives (Seidman 1996). Whichever way the relationship develops, it is clear that efforts to rethink the concept of culture, the impact of cultural values, and approaches to cultural analysis that take place outside of sociology and even outside of academia will have an invigorating effect on the sociological conceptualization of culture. These battles (i.e., ”culture wars”) already have had important consequences for policy and resource allocation in education (e.g., Nolan 1996; Hunter 1991). There is no reason to think that sociology will or should be immune to these external influences.

In sum, there is a new appreciation of the salience of culture as an explanatory perspective in contemporary sociological research. Whether it involves the convention-setting influence of art worlds, the moral authority of organizational cultures, or the facilitation of class privileges through habitus, the concept of culture is used to explain behavior and social structure from a distinct and powerful perspective. The future elaboration of this perspective in sociology looks very promising.

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Culture and Sustainability pp 191–227 Cite as

Using the Cultures Framework for Research

• Janet Stephenson 2  
• Open Access
• First Online: 23 March 2023

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This chapter is designed to guide academics and students who wish to undertake research using the cultures framework. It offers a structured approach to cultural research that can be used by researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. The variables and dynamics depicted by the framework are able to be discovered, described and analysed using a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The framework can also be used as a meta-theoretical framing. It invites interdisciplinary endeavours and multi-method research approaches, and operates well as an integrating framework. Further research on culture and sustainability is needed to build up a better understanding of, amongst other things, universal cultural processes, transforming unsustainable meta-cultures, and the multiple roles that culture can play in sustainability transitions. The chapter concludes with suggesting further potential contributions to sustainability research  from each of the nine perspectives of culture described in Chapter 2 .

You have full access to this open access chapter,  Download chapter PDF

Introduction

I cannot think of a single research topic relating to the human/sustainability nexus that does not have a cultural component. From globally influential paradigms and the practices of fossil fuel majors to the operations of small businesses and the daily lives of households, culture is involved. Yet as a research topic, culture is often remaindered—applied as a loose label for a collection of features of social existence that sit unexamined alongside other deeply analysed phenomena. Apart from the fraction of researchers trained in forms of cultural analysis, the slippery, qualitative features of culture can seem too hard to investigate by researchers interested in sustainability issues. The cultures framework addresses this difficulty by offering a structured way to approach cultural research that can be used by researchers from almost any disciplinary background. As described in earlier chapters, the framework has been sufficiently tested to have confidence that it can fruitfully guide research endeavours.

Over the 12 years since the framework was first introduced in the literature, it has been used with a broad range of research approaches. It has been used with qualitative methods, quantitative methods and mixed methods. It has been used to formulate research design, as an analytical frame for the interpretation of existing data sets, and as a conceptual framing for meta-reviews of data. It has been used by individual researchers from a single discipline as well as by interdisciplinary research teams. It has underpinned undergraduate studies, postgraduate dissertations and extensive research programmes. It has been used to design research-based interventions and as an evaluation framework. And as shown in earlier chapters, it has been applied to a wide variety of problems and fields of enquiry.

This chapter is designed to guide academics and students who wish to undertake research using the cultures framework. For most of the chapter, I discuss the use of the framework to explore the interplay between culture and sustainability. By providing a structure for research investigations, the framework can help reveal what cultural ensembles, consisting of what cultural features, have causal relationships with what outcomes, affected by what external influences. It can help determine who are the actors within the culture group under study, and which cultural ensembles are already more sustainable than others. By examining the internal dynamics of culture, we can see how this leads to the sustainability outcomes. By studying cultural ensembles in relation to external influences, we can gain insights into why cultures remain static or evolve. By investigating the scope of agency of cultural actors, we can better understand why it is difficult for them to change, and who comprise more powerful organisations or institutions. And by examining whether a culture is dynamically stable or has the potential to change, we can gain insights into whether transformation is possible. Of course, not all these questions will be relevant to a given study, and the choice of questions will be determined by the particular context of the research and the sustainability issues at stake, but this gives an indication of the types of questions for which the framework can be used.

Towards the end of the chapter, I discuss how the framework can also be used as a meta-theoretical framing. In this sense, it can be used as an overarching structuring device for multidisciplinary, multi-theoretical and multi-method research, as with the examples of the Energy Cultures research programmes discussed in Chapter 7 . As covered in Chapter 4 , it builds on mature social science and cultural theories, and the framework acts as a structuring device for reaching into these fields of knowledge to examine dynamics and causal mechanisms in greater depth. I finish by discussing how the diverse and currently fragmented cultural theories discussed in Chapter 2 can make a stronger contribution to sustainability research.

Core Concepts

On the assumption that some readers may skip directly to this chapter, I will first recap on some key concepts. First, what culture is not. Culture is not about how people operate as individuals, each with their unique personal history and psychology. It is not about demographics. It is not about features that all humans share as social beings. All of these may interplay with culture, but they are not its defining characteristics. Second, the cultures framework is not just about culture. Cultures do not exist in a vacuum, and the framework draws attention to important variables that shape culture and mediate its implications for sustainability outcomes.

Recapping on what I mean by culture in this context, I describe it in Chapter 4 as comprising distinctive patterns of motivators (norms, values, beliefs, knowledge and symbolism), activities (routines and actions) and materiality (products and acquisitions) that form dynamic ensembles which are shared by a group of people and learned through both cognitive and bodily processes . These cultural ensembles can be most simply described as similar ways of thinking, doing and having that are evident across a group of people. Depending on the focus of research, this could apply to the cultures of people in their everyday lives, or the cultures of organisations or businesses, or cultures at even broader scales of institutions and ideologies.

Rather than focusing on describing groups that we typically think of in cultural terms (e.g. ethnic cultures, youth cultures, American culture), the framework invites inquiries into actors and their cultural ensembles that have implications for sustainability. Relevant actors may be identified at any scale: individuals, households, communities, organisations and beyond. Culture can be investigated in relation to a sustainability problem in both a causal sense and in the way in which cultural dynamics can resist change. Culture can also be investigated as part of sustainability solutions in the sense that many existing cultures are exemplars of sustainability. Cultural change can be a creative and fast-moving force for sustainability transitions.

The range of concerns of sustainability is exemplified by the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2015 ) but as discussed in Chapter 1 , the SDGs are only one perspective on sustainability. More critical perspectives suggest that sustainability will not be achieved without more radical change to established systems of production and expectations of consumption. The framework does not predetermine what is meant by sustainability outcomes—this is left to the researcher to determine for their particular context.

The cultures framework has evolved over time. All the research examples I included in previous chapters used earlier terminologies (‘energy cultures framework’ or ‘sustainability cultures framework’) but the core concepts have changed little over time apart from becoming more generic. Earlier versions have produced sound and fruitful findings, and there is no reason why researchers cannot continue to use it in its earlier and slightly simpler form, especially those wishing to take their first forays into this field, in which case the guidance in Stephenson ( 2018 , 2020 ) will be helpful. In this chapter, I continue to use examples from this prior research, but describe how researchers can undertake inquiries using the revised cultures framework which is presented in Chapter 4 . I encourage readers of this chapter to return to Chapter 4 for fuller descriptions of the language, elements and dynamics of the revised framework.

A Guide to Research with the Cultures Framework

The framework can be applied in many different ways to support research processes. One way is to simply use the diagram of the cultural ensemble (Fig.  8.2 ) as the basis for describing a culture—its distinctive elements and their dynamics. It can be surprisingly difficult to explain what culture is, and these concepts give a solid foundation for identifying cultural features in any given context. At my university, some lecturers ask students to undertake at-home research to describe their own cultural ensembles that relate to energy use or greenhouse gas emissions. The diagram showing the ensemble, agency barrier and external influences (Fig.  8.5 ) has been used as the basis for discussions about research culture in university departments, and by research organisations to analyse how their own culture may be holding them back from undertaking transformative research. In these instances, it can be a tool for self-reflection, enabling actors to understand and articulate elements of their culture and constraints on change.

But more commonly, the framework is used by researchers in its full form (Fig.  8.1 ) for sustainability-related investigations. Some studies primarily seek to describe the cultural characteristics of a particular population. Examples I have discussed in earlier chapters include cooking cultures in Zambia, energy cultures in rural households in Transylvania and mobility cultures in New Zealand. Studies have also used the framework to compare cultures within a population. These have generally sought to explore the contribution of cultural differences to sustainability outcomes. Examples discussed in previous chapters include identifying varied cultural ensembles across populations in relation to energy consumption, energy efficiency and water consumption. Others have explored aspects of culture as influences on people’s readiness to engage in new collective behaviours, their responses to efficiency retrofits and as a factor in nations’ willingness to decarbonise.

The cultures framework

The framework is also useful for exploring barriers to cultural change. Studies discussed in earlier chapters have identified cultural characteristics that help explain resistance to change in the US Navy, failures to achieve desired levels of change in social housing interventions and cultural barriers to change in academic air travel. Chapter 7 discusses at length how the framework can be used as a basis for policy development and to underpin the evaluation of interventions.

The following section describes how to use the revised cultures framework to underpin research. For easier reference, I repeat here (as Fig. 8.1) the complete cultures framework diagram (first appearing as Fig.  4.8 in Chapter 4 ). The section is ordered as a step-by-step process, although it should be noted that not all research will involve all stages, and some research may proceed in a different order or head in different directions. Following this, I describe the range of research methods that have so far been used with the framework, and its methodological inclusivity in general.

Research on culture is research with people. In exploring what is needed to achieve societal transitions towards sustainability, researchers might wish to learn from groups and organisations that have already grappled with what it takes to live sustainably. They may wish to explore unsustainable cultures that seem unlikely to change. They might seek to work with culture groups or organisations that wish to change but can’t, or with those that are already on change journeys. In any situation, the research process and its outcomes have the potential to destabilise established beliefs, ways of life and social processes. Social research is a serious business and must be undertaken ethically and with the consent of, and ideally in collaboration with, those with whose lives you may disrupt.

Determining the Sustainability Outcomes

The cultures framework theorises that cultural ensembles have a causal relationship with sustainability outcomes, a concept that is conveyed by the two-headed arrow in Fig.  8.1 . The starting point for research design could be at either end of the arrow. If the sustainability outcomes to be examined are predetermined (e.g. energy consumption, equity, waste reduction), the research might seek to characterise different cultural ensembles within the population that have a causal relationship with these outcomes. Alternatively, the outcomes may be uncertain at the outset, but will emerge from the study. For example, research on the cultural ensembles of elderly households may reveal multiple sustainability implications such as health outcomes, energy expenditure and carbon emissions.

As discussed earlier, the concept of sustainability outcomes can be as broad or as specific, and as conservative or as radical, as the researcher wishes to make it. To be useful for the purposes of the framework, outcomes ideally are measurable (i.e. empirical evidence is available as to whether that outcome is improving or degrading) or at least able to be qualitatively described and compared. Outcomes can be uni-dimensional (e.g. a measure of water quality) or might consist of multiple interconnected qualities (e.g. health, biodiversity, equity). Outcomes may be of widespread benefit (e.g. reducing greenhouse gas emissions) or directly beneficial to the households themselves (e.g. improved health).

The double-headed arrow between cultural ensembles and outcomes also reminds researchers that if outcomes change, this changed context can become a further external influence. For example, if a farmer introduces practices that result in cleaner rivers and streams, this may create positive reinforcement for further cultural change. The farmer may enjoy being able to catch fish again, or seeing their children swimming, or hear positive feedback from community members, and may be encouraged to do more. Research on this kind of feedback could help identify whether and how positive affirmation from more sustainable outcomes can lead to ongoing cultural transformation.

Determining the Cultural Elements and Their Interactions

At an early point in the research process, it will be necessary to determine both the scope of the cultural ensemble and the scope of the member actors. The cultural elements to be studied will ultimately be determined by the sustainability outcomes you are interested in and the actors you are focusing on. For example, if you are interested in carbon emissions from a business sector, the obvious cultural actors to focus on would be those businesses, and the elements to study would be the motivators, materiality and activities that have a direct relationship to carbon emissions. However, from identifying this first-order group of actors, it may become clear that other actors also play a role. It may prove more useful to focus on a sub-group within the business such as senior leadership, or shareholders, or alternatively it may prove important to examine cultural factors at broader scales, such as at the sector level, or within suppliers for these businesses. As a researcher, be open to which group/s of actors it might be most useful to focus on. Depending on the research aim, it might be more useful to gain a rich understanding of the cultural ensembles of a small number of actors, or alternatively to investigate a narrow range of cultural features across a much larger population.

You may find it is useful to examine cultures at multiple scales. Cultures are identifiable and discussable from a minute scale, such as the cultural ensemble of a particular actor or organisation, to massive scales, such as the distinctive and enduring features of Western civilisation. You may find it useful to study the ways in which culture can act as structure—a high-level ensemble of beliefs, symbolism, practices and institutions, which shape other cultures that have less power and reach. The framework is relevant to supporting research at any scale and scope.

The next step is to determine which cultural features are most relevant to your study. The core variables of the framework reflect concepts about culture that repeatedly appear in cultural theories (see Chapter 3 ). Materiality comprises items that are made, acquired, owned, accumulated, held or nurtured by cultural actors. Activities are frequent and infrequent actions undertaken by cultural actors. Motivators are shared aspects of cognition that include norms, values, beliefs, knowledge and meanings (Fig.  8.2 ). Which specific features comprise the ensemble for the purposes of your research will depend on the sustainability outcomes, the nature of the actors and of course your interests as a researcher.

I have described a cultural ensemble as a generally consistent pattern of materiality, motivators and activities displayed by an actor or group of actors, but all three may not have equal pertinence depending on the issue—for example, beliefs, meanings or understandings may be more relevant in a particular case than activities or materiality, and vice versa. Cultures will rarely be distinguishable by unique sets of cultural elements; there may be a great deal of overlap between the ensembles of culture groups. The ways in which they are differentiated will be determined by the research context.

When doing research with the cultures framework, how deeply to drill into each element will depend on the nature of the study. For example, in relation to ‘motivators’, many studies to date have focused on depicting norms, because this was the terminology of the original cultures framework. Other studies using the framework have explored morals, meanings, values, knowledge and beliefs, which is one of the reasons for replacing ‘norms’ with ‘motivators’ in the revised cultures framework. In terms of activities, some studies have focused on routines while others have been more interested in one-off or occasional actions. Some have centred on one type of material item, while others have been interested in material assemblages. The nature of the topic should shape the focus of the research, and the researcher should hold open the possibility that relevant but unsuspected cultural features may emerge in the course of the research.

The cultural ensemble—the core elements and their dynamics

Although the research process will likely identify specific cultural features that can be directly causally related to the outcomes (e.g. the presence of particular technologies or practices), it is the cultural ensemble and dynamics between cultural features that make it ‘cultural’. Research should therefore seek to go beyond simply listing cultural features that bear a relationship to the outcomes of interest, to considering how they interact. Motivators, activities and materiality form the interconnected ‘system’ of culture, as indicated by the curved arrows in Fig.  8.2 . How people think influences what they acquire and how they act; people’s activities partly determine what they have and how they think; and the things that people have influence what they do and how they think. Exploring these interactions is critical to understanding how culture operates.

When considering the scope of cultural features to study, some may emerge as more significant than others depending on the sustainability outcomes you are interested in. For example, although sustainability research often focuses on routines or habits, it could be that in some instances, irregular or rare actions have the biggest impacts (noting that these can be equally culturally driven, such as the choice of a new house or whether to buy a car). In fields that you are familiar with, you may have a better chance of an ‘educated guess’ about which cultural features to start investigating, but you may be surprised. In research on household energy efficiency, we started by assuming that people’s values would strongly shape how efficient they were, but we found no consistent relationship between values and actions (Mirosa et al., 2011 ). So keep an open mind and, of course, explore literature in the field beforehand.

There will always be variability in the extent to which actors adopt cultural ensembles. Cultural uniformity is a myth—in reality, actors will have greater or lesser adherences to the ‘signature’ ensemble that is identified in research. This is not a problem, and indeed can provide useful insights into variability and opportunities for change. For example, if you are interested in sustainable transport, you might find that almost all actors own fossil fuelled cars, but some will use more fuel than others. Car owners will all have driving skills, but some may be more efficient drivers than others. All might drive their cars regularly, but some may drive more frequently than others. From a high-level perspective, they all share a similar mobility culture—one that is dependent on cars and fossil fuels—but if you drilled down you could identify variations in that culture. Where you choose to place your inclusion–exclusion delineation around this group, and whether you choose to segment it into sub-groups, will depend on the purpose of your research.

Ultimately, it doesn’t pay to agonise too much about exactly where to draw a line around the actors and cultural ensembles to study. What we’re interested in as researchers is finding patterns that reflect general similarities in cultural features which relate to sustainability outcomes. It is about sense-making through identifying fuzzy patterns of similarity and difference, which is more fruitful than assuming that everyone is identical.

Determining Cultural Vectors

If you are interested in how culture is transmitted, learned and adopted, you may also wish to examine the role of cultural vectors (Fig.  8.3 ). As discussed in Chapters 4 and 6 , vectors include such things as sensory encounters, forms of communication, bodily learning and semantic knowledge that are absorbed from sources such as social interactions, media, bodily experiences and formal learning. Through cultural vectors, people come to adopt similar activities to others, and/or acquire or make similar material items, and/or develop similar norms, aspirations, understandings and other motivators. Vectors are how people learn culture, how it is socially reinforced, and how new cultural concepts are passed from actor to actor.

Cultural vectors—the means by which culture is learned and shared

Cultural vectors will not necessarily be important for all research, but they can help reveal processes of cultural continuity and cultural change. In New Zealand research, for example, we asked householders about alterations they had recently made to improve the heating in their homes, and found that family and friends were by far the biggest influence on their decision. Hearing others' stories of change and experiencing the warmth of others' homes were far more influential than information campaigns, online information or advisory services.

Determining the Agency Boundary

Culture is most often used to describe shared characteristics across a population, but the cultures framework asks researchers to identify a subset of cultural features: those that are both particular to their chosen actors and that could potentially be changed by those actors. This demarcation is indicated in the cultures framework by the agency boundary, shown as a dashed circle around the core elements of culture (Fig.  8.4 ). The boundary reflects the capacity of the actor to make choices regarding their cultural ensemble. It distinguishes between elements of culture that are particular to and/or controlled by the actor group under study and those that are particular to and/or controlled by others. The actors’ capacity may be constrained by many things, such as their financial circumstances, their age or gender, their education or their familiarity with bureaucratic systems.

Depicting the agency boundary

In Chapters 4 – 6 , I describe several examples of how this agency distinction is made and used in research. One example is of people on low incomes living within rental housing; the outcomes of interest are energy consumption and wellbeing. Here, the house and chattels owned by the landlord are not considered part of the tenants’ energy culture because tenants have no control over them. The tenants’ cultural ensemble comprises the dynamic package of motivators, activities and materiality that they enact within those constraints. As well as being shaped by the landlord, their energy culture will be shaped by additional influences beyond the agency barrier, such as the cost of power, government policies and other external influences. Another example is personal mobility, where household actors’ cultural ensembles are strongly shaped and constrained by matters beyond their control, such as urban form, the availability of public transport, the safety of walking and cycling and government policies.

The agency boundary in the cultures framework thus invites researchers to differentiate between cultural features that are specific to the group they are studying (within the dashed circle), and other influences that shape (but are rarely influenced by) that culture. It also invites consideration of the factors that are limiting their agency, which may become highly relevant in studies where actors are unable to become more sustainable because of agency constraints. This invites the researcher to consider the implications of differentials in power, the relative responsibility for sustainability outcomes between actors within the agency boundary and those outside it, and their relative ability to act to alter these outcomes. Cultural features beyond actors’ agency belong in ‘external influences’ which may include more powerful cultures.

Determining the External Influences

External influences are exogenous factors that significantly shape the culture that is under study, and are conceptually located outside the agency boundary (Fig.  8.5 ). As discussed in prior chapters, external influences come in many forms, including qualities of the environment and infrastructure, purposeful policies and laws, pricing regimes, availability of technologies, and broadly accepted beliefs and conventions. For research purposes, it will be important to identify external influences that in some way affect the cultural ensembles under study, and thus ultimately affect the sustainability outcomes. They may, for example, reinforce existing cultural ensembles, erode the integrity of cultures that are already sustainable, force actors to become more unsustainable or support cultural change in a more sustainable direction. Depending on the research focus, some external influences may be apparent from the outset of the study, while others may be obscure and will need to be elicited through deep engagement with cultural actors. External factors that clearly have no influence on the culture under study can be ignored for the purposes of cultural analysis.

External influences on cultural ensembles

External influences can also be interpreted as broader cultures that influence the culture you are focusing on. For example, the mobility cultures of citizens are strongly shaped by cultural features of the municipality. A council that decides to invest its transport funding primarily in new motorways is not doing so arbitrarily. The decision will have emerged from a well-established system of beliefs, understandings, aspirations and organisational practices within the council—in other words, their culture. In researching external influences, it may therefore be important to look beyond their presenting qualities to understand the cultures within which they are embedded and replicated.

Another external influence to consider is your own impact on culture as a result of the research process. By asking questions of research participants, you are likely to be raising their own awareness of aspects of their culture that they may not have considered previously. In your interactions, even if it is not intended, you may make them more aware of the sustainability outcomes of their cultural ensembles, and/or aware of disjunctions between, say, their beliefs and practices, or between their aspirations and material possessions. Your interactions may also cause them to develop new understandings about the sustainability issue of interest, or open their eyes to external influences that they had not previously been aware were shaping their culture. The research process is never neutral, so be aware of how your work may influence your participants’ cultures, ensure that your work is carried out ethically and does no harm, and possibly build an evaluation of your impact as a researcher into your research.

Investigating Cultural Stability

Some cultures change very little over time, or at least in the features that give rise to sustainability outcomes. Some enduring cultural ensembles may be positive examples that research can learn much from, such as communities and organisations that have consciously set out to become more sustainable and have maintained that over time. Other cultural ensembles are deeply problematic from a sustainability perspective, and yet continue to endure. We can see this with highly consumptive lifestyles amongst many in the Western world, with beliefs in the value of consumption for its own sake, aspirations for material items goaded by the media (and today, by social influencers), practices of shopping valued in their own right and made more unsustainable through the proliferation of short-lived products, and wellbeing equated with more (or more wealth-signifying) possessions. The cultures framework offers a structure for exploring how and why many unsustainable cultural ensembles change little over time. It would be helpful to review the examples of research into cultural stability discussed in Chapter 5 .

Research into cultural stability might start by examining actors’ cultural ensembles, exploring relevant motivators, material assemblages and activities, and the extent to which these are aligned and mutually supportive. It may investigate cultural vectors in order to understand how cultural attributes are learned, reinforced and conveyed to new members. It would usefully identify what external influences (including structures, institutions and broader-scale cultures) are supporting the culture in its current form and enabling its continuance. It may be useful to look back in time and identify what has shaped the culture you see today. Unpacking these dynamic interactions can help explain how and why this culture is resistant to change.

Understanding these dynamics is particularly important if your research is seeking to understand why change interventions have failed to achieve their targets. Exploring culture as a dynamic system can reveal why change in one external influence or in a single cultural feature (e.g. new knowledge or a new technology) may make little or no difference to sustainability outcomes; for example because its impact is moderated by other cultural dynamics that tend to stabilise the cultural ensemble. Even if some aspects of culture (e.g. values, aspirations) are aligned with sustainable outcomes, other aspects (e.g. routines, agency limitations, external influences) may prevent or limit overall change. It is critical to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of cultural stability if we are to achieve widespread sustainability transitions.

Investigating Cultural Change

The cultures framework can also underpin research on how cultures change. From a sustainability perspective, your investigation might be into positive change, such as new cultural features being adopted with cascading impacts on the entire cultural ensemble. Of particular interest here might be how positive change processes are initiated, and the consequential effects on culture. An example that I described in Chapter 6 was how the replacement of kerosene lamps with solar lights in Vanuatu had a domino effect on many other aspects of culture including everyday practices, gender roles, beliefs, and aspirations for other solar and digital technologies. Your study could equally focus on negative cultural change, seeking to understand how sustainability-oriented cultural characteristics have been lost. For example, in Chapter 6 I described a Māori community where degradation of the inshore fisheries meant that community members could no longer gather traditional foods. The inability to undertake practices resulted in a loss of knowledge and skills that had previously sustained the fishery.

With the cultures framework as a structuring device, a researcher can explore what external influences might be tending to encourage change, as well as what changes are already occurring within that culture and whether these are leading to shifts in other cultural features. In the previous section, I discussed how cultural ensembles could become resistant to change due to strong alignments between motivators, activities and materiality. In contrast, systems where there are misalignments (e.g. aspirations are different to practices; material items don’t fit with beliefs) there is a greater potential for instability, innovation and change. Researchers interested in the potential for change might wish to examine the degree to which the relevant cultural elements are aligned.

Studying the processes of cultural change is critically important to sustainability transformations at all scales. The cultures framework can help to systematise analysis of where cultural change starts, whether it leads to consequential change to the cultural ensemble, the sustainability consequences of this change, and whether incipient changes are prevented by other factors. Cultural change is unlikely to occur all at once—it may involve incremental adjustments to the ensemble over time (e.g. a normative shift may precede a behavioural shift, or a new technology may precipitate new practices). Change also will not be uniform across a culture group, so the analysis may need to include identification of which actors have first made these changes, and through what vectors this has become more widely adopted. More research is needed to better understand the uneven, incremental processes of cultural change as well as the circumstances in which rapid transformation can occur.

People within a culture group rarely get to alter the more powerful external influences shaping their culture. But sometimes it happens, and this is possibly the most powerful driver of transformational change, as discussed towards the end of Chapter 6 . This is where cultural changes spread widely across less powerful actors, and membership of the new culture group grows to the extent that it starts to have influence beyond the agency barrier, reshaping the motivators, activities and/or materiality of more powerful actors. If researchers are interested in the potential for radical sustainability transformations, they should focus on the potential for outward as well as inwards flows through the agency barrier. The urgency of the sustainability crisis means that we need to know as much as possible about how to achieve rapid and widespread transformations of dominant unsustainable cultures.

Having an Impact

By now, your research will have produced an understanding of the various elements of the cultures framework and how they interact dynamically, and any external influences that are tending to prevent or enable change. You will understand the limits of actors’ agency, sub-cultures may have been identified and you may have also discovered cultural influences at other scales. You will have gathered evidence as to whether the cultural ensemble has positive or negative outcomes for the relevant measures of sustainability. You will know whether the culture is in the process of change or is resilient to change, and why this may be the case. If the ensemble has poor sustainability outcomes, your findings should indicate whether it has some latent potential for more sustainable change and possible ways in which change could be initiated or supported to achieve more sustainable consequences.

As a researcher, you might want to apply your findings further to actively help in the sustainability transition. Does it show a culture that already has great sustainability outcomes? If so, what can we learn from this and how can this success be supported and amplified? Does the research show a culture that is stuck in unsustainable patterns and unable to change? If so, where are the opportunities to support change? Does it show a culture that is gradually becoming more sustainable but has a way to go? If so, how can that journey be supported? Does is show a culture where attempts have been made towards greater sustainability but those attempts have been unsuccessful? If so, how can your findings help show why this might be the case?

As with many of the research projects using the cultures framework, you could develop recommendations for policy or practical actions. You might build on your work and develop a programme of action research that enables your insights to be trialled. You might assist an organisation or group of actors to interrogate their own culture and begin a process of change. You could collaborate with an already sustainable community over how to challenge the forces that are depleting it, or how to use cultural vectors to extend its reach. There are endless possibilities for making cultural research into a force for positive change.

Research Methodologies

Research with the cultures framework can be undertaken using a broad sweep of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. In this section, I outline the range of research methods that have been successfully used to date that I am aware of, and what functions these methods have played. This section is heavily referenced so that readers can go to the original papers for more detail on the specific methods of data elicitation and analysis.

Most studies to date using the cultures framework have used qualitative methods to examine cultural ensembles, either on their own or in combination with quantitative methods. Solely qualitative research often involves interviews followed by analysis to draw out evidence illustrating cultural elements (e.g. Bach et al., 2020 ; Lazowski et al., 2018 ; McKague et al., 2016 ; Scott & Lawson, 2018 ; Tesfamichael et al., 2020 ; Walton et al., 2014 ). Some projects have used a combination of qualitative methods such as workshops or focus groups together with interviews (e.g. Ambrosio-Albalá et al., 2019 ; Godbolt, 2015 ; Krietemeyer et al., 2021 ). A study of cultural change over an extensive period of time incorporated reviews of archaeological and historical evidence together with present-day interviews (Stovall, 2021 ). Researchers often apply thematic analyses to their qualitative material, but other analytical methods can be used. For example, a study on energy cultures of poverty analysed the interview texts using a computational social science methodology (Debnath et al., 2021 ).

Other researchers have used quantitative methods to characterise cultural ensembles. The elements of the framework have underpinned the design of surveys to elicit data from a larger population than is possible with face-to-face qualitative methods (e.g. Lawson & Williams, 2012 ) and as the basis of an ‘energy culture’ survey for businesses to determine the maturity of their energy efficiency efforts (Oksman et al., 2021 ). As well as using data produced from surveys specifically designed for this purpose, the cultures framework has been used retrospectively to underpin analysis of existing data sets to identify clusters of similar cultural characteristics aligned with different sustainability outcomes (e.g. Bardazzi & Pazienza, 2017 , 2018 , 2020 ; Walton et al., 2020 ). It has also been used as an integrating framework across multiple quantitative data sets (e.g. Manouseli et al., 2018 ). There will always be variations in the cultural ensembles of any group of actors, and sometimes it will be useful to explore this variability. Larger quantitative data sets have been used as a basis for segmenting populations into statistically distinctive groups  using cluster analysis (e.g. Barton et al., 2013 ; Lawson & Williams, 2012 ).

In studies using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, the cultures framework has underpinned both design and/or analysis, and has been used to facilitate the integration of findings (e.g. Bell et al., 2014 ; Muza & Thomas, 2022 ; Scott et al., 2016 ). Some studies have gathered both qualitative and quantitative data relating to cultural elements during face-to-face interviews and integrate these in the analysis (e.g. Khan et al., 2021 ). Research on indicators of national energy cultures used a combination of policy analysis and quantitative analysis of comparative data sets (Stephenson et al., 2021 ).

To explore external influences (including multi-level cultures), studies often ask interviewees within the culture group about their perceptions of what shapes their decision-making or constrains their ability to make more sustainable choices (e.g. Ambrosio-Albalá et al., 2019 ; Debnath et al., 2021 ; McKague et al., 2016 ). Some also seek the views of experts or key informants in particular fields (e.g. Stephenson et al., 2015 ) or review the impact of laws and policies (e.g. Barton et al., 2013 ). Some projects have also interviewed actors who represent aspects of external influences (e.g. Jürisoo et al., 2019 ; Nicholas, 2021 ).

Many different research approaches can be used to identify causal relationships between cultural ensembles and sustainability outcomes. Some studies have done this quantitatively, such as identifying relationships between householder age cohorts and energy consumption (Bardazzi & Pazienza, 2017 ) and between timber drying cultures and energy use (Bell et al., 2014 ). One study used regression analysis to relate householders' cultural features to their interest in being involved in a local energy management scheme (Krietemeyer et al., 2021 ). However, in most studies to date using the cultures framework causal relationships are not quantified but are assumed based on well-established understandings of sustainable practices or the impacts of different technologies (e.g. Dew et al., 2017 ; Hopkins, 2017 ). Often the focus of research has been on whether the cultural ensemble has features that are known to align with more sustainable outcomes (e.g. types of technology and practices that represent business energy efficiency [Oksman et al., 2021 ; Walton et al., 2020 ]) rather than setting out to prove the well-understood relationship between these and measurable outcomes.

The framework has also assisted with modelling. A design for agent-based modelling for smart grid development drew from the cultures framework to incorporate energy use behaviours into the models (Snape et al., 2011 ). A project using system dynamics modelling of the uptake of electric vehicles also used the elements of the cultures framework as foundational data for the model (Rees, 2015 ). Methods such as these align well with the original conceptual framing of culture as a system, and offer a dynamic structure to explore system-type interactions between components of the framework.

The framework lends itself to multi-scalar analysis, as with research on PV uptake in Switzerland, where the work described generalised cultural ensembles of adopters and non-adopters and also drew insights on cultural processes from individuals (Bach et al., 2020 ). By focusing on collectives, researchers can observe patterns of similar cultural features across a population and identify broadly similar influences on and outcomes of that culture. By focusing on individual actors, they can also explore in detail the dynamics within cultural ensembles.

The framework has also been used to structure reviews of literature. Examples include reviews of the adoption of energy-efficient technology innovations in buildings (Soorige et al., 2022 ), academic air travel cultures (Tseng et al., 2022 ) and adoption of natural gas (Binney & Grigg, 2020 ). In a study on barriers and drivers for industrial energy efficiency, the framework was refined to fit an industrial context and used as an organising framework for metadata from a literature review on the barriers and drivers of energy behaviour in firms. This approach enabled the researchers to consider many interdependent components of efficiency decision-making by industry, including attitudinal factors, behaviours and technologies (Rotzek et al., 2018 ).

Some studies have investigated the effectiveness of interventions intended to improve sustainability outcomes. In these instances, they have used the framework to guide collection of pre-intervention and post-intervention data on cultural ensembles and/or outcomes (e.g. Rau et al., 2020 ; Scott et al., 2016 ). Other work has used the framework to design evaluation tools (e.g. Ford et al., 2016 ; Karlin et al., 2015 ).

Within larger research programmes, the framework can be used as a structuring device for allocating research roles and methods across an interdisciplinary team. In the Energy Cultures 1 and 2 research programmes, for example, we identified the core elements of culture in relation to energy efficiency (material aspects, practices, norms, beliefs, etc.) through householder questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. To relate cultural ensembles to energy outcomes, we included questions about energy consumption in the surveys and in later work we used data from smart electricity meters. Interrelationships between elements of the framework were explored in various ways. We used a values ‘laddering’ approach (from consumer psychology) to look at the relationships between values and household energy efficiency actions (Mirosa et al., 2013 ) and used choice modelling (an economics tool) to examine the interactivity between people’s motivators and preferences for adoption of efficient technologies (Thorsnes et al., 2017 ). These were staged so that the values work helped in the design of the choice modelling. We explored interactions between norms, material culture and practices with community focus groups, and these groups also assisted in identifying external influence that were barriers to changing behaviour. Desktop studies were used to examine regulatory, market and policy influences on energy culture. We used social network analysis to identify the most common sources of external influence on householder choices to adopt more efficient technologies. All of these different sources of insight were linked though the framework, which supported an integrative approach across the team, learning from each other’s findings and contributing to a holistic understanding of household energy cultures in the New Zealand context (Barton et al., 2013 ; Stephenson et al., 2010 ).

The framework is thus helpful in underpinning the design of research as a single- or multi-method project by an individual researcher, or a multi-method multidisciplinary research programme by a team. It can be used proactively to design research and analyse the findings, or used retrospectively to help analyse existing data from single or multiple sources. It is fruitful when used as a theory in its own right, and also when used in combination with other theories.

Using the Cultures Framework as a Meta-Theoretical Framing

As these examples have shown, research using the cultures framework is not confined to particular methods, and neither is it confined to any particular theoretical or disciplinary perspective. In this sense, the framework offers a meta-theoretical set of universal elements, and leaves it to the researcher to determine which theories and methodologies are best used to examine them. Rau et al. ( 2020 ) describe the advantages of the framework thus:

The benefits of using the [cultures framework] to organise the empirical material and findings of this interdisciplinary energy research were considerable, especially given its focus on the multi-method investigation of a small number of households. Its relative simplicity, easy-to-understand terminology and focus on both social and material aspects of energy use made it an ideal tool for fusing insights from the social sciences, engineering and architecture. At the same time, [the framework] was capable of connecting a higher-order theoretical approach (energy cultures) to concrete empirical energy-related outcomes. (p. 10)

While many studies use the cultures framework as a framing theory in its own right, it is at the same time an organising framework that enables multiple methods, theories and disciplines to contribute to an understanding of culture in relation to sustainability. Studies using the cultures framework to date have drawn from complementary explanatory theories as diverse as sociological theories of agency, structure, institutions and practice, theories of power and gender, behavioural theories, socio-technical systems theories, consumer psychology, economic theories, the multi-level perspective and, of course, theories of culture. Generally, these are used to inform analysis of an aspect of the cultures framework.

This flexibility is well explained by Ambrosio-Albalá et al. ( 2019 ) in their conclusion to a paper on public perceptions on distributed energy storage in the United Kingdom:

… we find that the framework functions as a useful heuristic, allowing us to organise and reflect on a wide range of factors in a way that is more inclusive than a psychology-only perspective. The idea of there being multiple possible cultures in relation to energy use – and the observation of these at different scales – also helps to stimulate thinking on further research directions in terms of how different households, demographic segments, nationalities and entities may differ in terms of the nexus of norms, attitudes, behaviours or practices and material experiences. These cultures will likely need different types of communication, informational, institutional and contractual offers, given likely differing responses. A further value of the ECF [energy cultures framework] – regarding which we would concur with its originators – lies in its comprehensibility for non-social scientists. For more specialised and narrowly specified forms of analysis, we would defer to the psychological and sociological perspectives that the ECF draws upon. (p. 149)

There are many under-explored possibilities for the use of other theories and bodies of knowledge to help explore aspects of culture in relation to sustainability. For example, in relation to the theory of structuration, culture works both to replicate social life and as a creative force for change. The framework positions culture as constrained and shaped by structure, while simultaneously situating more powerful cultures as part of structure. Despite these constraints on their agency, cultural actors can and do make independent choices and can collectively reshape more powerful structures and cultures. This interplay (and the conceptual overlap of culture and structure) invites further exploration in both a theoretical and applied sense, particularly in the context of the implications for sustainability transitions.  

Conceptual fields that underpinned the development of the cultures framework could be drawn from more extensively, including lifestyles literatures, socio-technical studies, actor network theory, systems approaches, and sociological and anthropological theories of culture. For example, social practice theory can help illuminate aspects of the inner elements of the framework, with a focus on habitual actions. Theories of power and justice can help elaborate on the reasons for limitations in agency and choice that are imposed by those outside the agency boundary. Socio-technical systems theories can assist in exploring the relationships between actors’ material items and their activities. Theories of gender can help explores difference in cultural meaning, gender equity and gender leadership in sustainability outcomes. In all of these ways and more, the framework can offer a meta-theoretical structure for deeper analysis depending on the inclinations and interests of the researcher.

Further Contributions From Cultural Theory

A further untapped potential lies in the application of cultural theories more generally to questions of sustainability. Cultural theory is a vast field that I could only sketch out lightly in Chapters 2 and 3 . There I discussed divergences and similarities across cultural theories and identified nine main clusters of perspectives on culture. I believe that each of these perspectives on culture can make an important contribution to research for a more sustainable future.

Culture-as-nature is the oldest of the nine perspectives. It is mostly overlooked by dominant ideologies, and yet its endurance offers the most hope. Culture-as-nature reflects many Indigenous perspectives that defy the intellectual separation of human society and natural systems. Culture-as-nature recognises our utter dependence on the natural world. The most powerful expressions of culture-as-nature continue to come from Indigenous peoples, although recent years have seen an increasingly strong voice from Western scholars (e.g. Haraway, 2016 ; Plumwood, 2005 ; Tsing et al., 2017 ). Culture-as-nature reinforces the indivisibility of human existence from nature and the responsibilities of human societies to maintain the integrity of natural systems. It also breaks down the barriers of cultural membership. Natural features are actors in culture: mountains and creatures are family members, trees communicate, rivers are people; they are all cultural members with agency. Many of the Indigenous societies of the world offer principles, values, practices, knowledges and worldviews that are crucial for a sustainable future (Artelle et al., 2018 ; Mazzocchi, 2020 ; Watene & Yap, 2015 ; Waldmüller et al., 2022 ; Yunkaporta, 2020 ).

Culture-as-nurture reflects the original meaning of culture in old English, referring to processes of husbandry—the careful tending of crops and animals. For the sustainability crisis, we are relearning the urgency of nurturing all life forms and regenerating natural systems. As well as reinforcing the importance of healthy natural systems and food production, culture-as-nurture can be further interpreted as the re-grounding of communities in caring for place, and reviving the spiritual roots of agriculture (Bisht & Rana, 2020 ; van den Berg et al., 2018 ). Urban agriculture or community gardens similarly reconnect people to the practices and rhythms of caring for nature, along with the sharing of food and strengthening a sense of community (Sumner et al., 2011 ). Culture-as-nurture reflects the ways in which we must re-learn practices of caring for nature, and how caring for nature aligns with caring for each other.

The original sense of culture-as-progress was the process of human development towards a so-called civilised state that reflected certain Western ideals of art and behaviours. Although it is now repellent and largely obsolete in this original sense, the idea of ‘progress’ can be reconfigured to refer to cultural journeys towards sustainability. Culture-as-progress in this sense can recognise the many cultural configurations that already have sustainable outcomes. It invites investigations of factors that underpin the relative sustainability of one culture compared to another (Buenstorf & Cordes, 2008 ; Minton et al., 2018 ) and the application of cultural evolution concepts to sustainability challenges (Brooks et al., 2018 ). A practical application of this in the world of business is the concept of energy culture ‘maturity’ and evaluation methods to assess such progress (Soorige et al., 2022 ). If the concept of progress is applied to outcomes rather than to cultural characteristics in themselves, this removes the suggestion that certain forms of cultural ensemble are better than others. Instead, a sustainable future requires a multitude of sustainable cultural ensembles specific to people and place, at a multitude of scales.

Culture is still commonly used to refer to works and practices of artistic and intellectual activity. In this sense, culture-as-product plays an important role as a cultural vector in transmitting ideas, values and possibilities. For the sustainability transition, creative works will play a critical role in challenging systems, institutions and practices that are destroying natural systems and demeaning humanity, as well as offering inspiration for alternate futures. Cultural products have the potential to convey different understandings, such as about the world’s ecological limits, actions for sustainability and new perspectives of the future (Curtis et al., 2014 ). This is already a strong theme in art and performance (Galafassi et al., 2018 ; Kagan, 2019 ) but could play an even stronger role in helping shape awareness and collective visioning for a sustainable future.

Culture-as-lifeways draws originally from anthropological studies of the distinctive way of life of a group of people. From a sustainability perspective, this concept can be redirected from studying the ways of life as a focus in their own right, to looking at the relationship between ways of life and the sustainability outcomes. From a research perspective, it encourages work that explores the variety of ways that people already live sustainably—for example, differences between ways of life in the global north and global south (Hayward & Roy, 2019 ), as well as how group or community ways of life can be re-oriented towards more sustainable consequences (Brightman & Lewis, 2017 ).

Culture-as-meaning focuses on the shared meanings and symbolisms of cultural objects such as text, discourse and possessions. For the sustainability challenge, culture-as-meaning can help reveal the ways in which symbolism can work for or against sustainable outcomes. Theories of cultural meaning could be applied to the analysis of how unsustainability is inherent in dominant rhetoric, text and discourse (e.g. Sturgeon, 2009 ), and the ways in which new meanings are being forged as part of cultural transformations (e.g. Hammond, 2019 ). Other examples of work using culture-as-meaning include a study of how the term ‘sustainable development’ is constructed in the disclosures of Finnish-listed companies (Laine, 2005 ), how the media interprets sustainability (Fischer et al., 2017 ) and the importance of symbolism in marketing for the sustainability transition (Kumar et al., 2012 ; Sheth & Parvatiyar, 2021 ).

Culture-as-structure is interested in the underlying rules by which social systems are reproduced—the cultural codes of social life. Culture-as-structure, as embedded in institutions and discourses, is intimately tied with questions of power and influence regardless of intent (Blythe et al., 2018 ). Drawing on this literature can help identify and challenge ideologies, assumptions and rules that replicate unsustainability. Relevant studies using culture-as-structure include how neoliberal ideology operates through sustainability discourses (Jacobsson, 2019 ) and the mental structures in which finance actors are embedded (Lagoarde-Segot & Paranque, 2018 ).

Culture-as-practice studies the bodily practices that produce and replicate social life, and the intimate linkages between routines, objects, meanings and competencies. This field of work can contribute to questions of how to alter practices, or develop new practices that support sustainability. Practice theory has already been widely applied to how to achieve less resource-intensive habits and routines, including how the reproduction of social practice can sustain inequality and injustice (Shove & Spurling, 2013 ) and to provide insights on collective action for social change (Welch & Yates, 2018 ).

Culture-as-purpose reflects bodies of work that focus on how to change the culture of organisations or groups of actors intentionally. Work in the field of organisational culture includes how to deliberately create more sustainable organisations (Galpin et al., 2015 ; Obal et al., 2020 ). Education for sustainability is another major field working on purposeful culture change, building on and extending educational theories (Huckle & Sterling, 1996 ) and education’s transformative potential (Filho et al., 2018 ). This includes using practices of dance and music to develop pro-social behaviours that align with sustainability goals (Bojner et al., 2022 ).

All nine conceptualisations of culture thus make important contributions to understanding the role of culture in sustainability. It is evident that at least some academics in each of these fields are applying relevant theories and methodologies to sustainability questions, but it appears to be occurring in a fragmented way with different bodies of knowledge scarcely acknowledging each other. Even if there is a ramping up of scholarly contributions on culture and sustainability, there is the risk that the slipperiness of culture as a concept will continue to handicap the use of research findings by practitioners and policymakers. If culture continues to be presented as if each part of the elephant is the full elephant, and the only true elephant, its ongoing indeterminacy will continue to confuse potential research users and dilute the effectiveness of scholarly contributions.

The cultures framework could help here by ‘locating’ these different approaches to culture and their contribution to sustainability challenges. Each of the nine clusters of meaning can offer insights for certain features or qualities of the framework. Using its meta framing, culture-as-purpose focuses on how to purposefully initiate cultural change and achieve better sustainability outcomes. Culture-as-practice focuses on routines as a subset of activities, emphasising how they cannot be understood in isolation from the objects, competencies and meanings associated with them. Culture-as-structure helps explore entrenched external influences or higher-order cultures that use their power to shape the cultural ensembles of less powerful actors. Culture-as-meaning focuses on the meanings and symbolism of activities and objects and can help illuminate the mechanisms of cultural vectors.

Culture-as-lifeways scholarship can help in studying how culture is learned, the dynamics of the core elements of culture, processes of replication or change, and the heterogeneity of cultural ensembles. In the arts, culture-as-product scholarship can help enhance the role of creative activities and products in building a more sustainable future. Academic fields that align with culture-as-progress focus more on the two-ended arrow that links cultural ensembles and outcomes and can help with studies on the many journeys involved in achieving cultures that touch lightly on the earth.

Culture-as-nurture scholarship contributes to the adoption of more nurturing food-production activities that also enhance social and environmental outcomes. Culture-as-nature opens the door to entirely different worldviews and knowledge systems regarding humans’ relationships with the natural world. Importantly, it extends cultural actors to include non-human life forms, spiritual beings and landscape features. In this way, it offers ways of understanding the sustainability transition as a process of restoring health and vitality to all living things and the natural systems that support them.

The cultures framework can thus work as an integrative heuristic, indicating how different interpretations of culture all contribute in important ways to a fuller understanding of the role of culture in sustainability. Used in this way, the framework can help reveal the complementary roles of these diverse approaches to practitioners and non-cultural academics. It can also indicate to researchers where it might be useful to reach back to the original bodies of cultural theory and bodies of knowledge to help illuminate particular aspects of the overall ‘elephant of culture’. In this way, cultural scholarship can be used more comprehensively and systematically to support sustainability transitions, and the slipperiness of culture is somewhat reduced.

As this chapter has demonstrated, there is no ‘right way’ to do research with the cultures framework. It is a set of highly generalised variables and their relationships, which can be explored using a wide range of research methods and theories. Researchers can choose which features within the general variables to focus on and can apply the framework at any scale and to any set of actors. The framework can be used as a framing theory in its own right, or alternatively (or simultaneously) can operate as an integrating frame for interdisciplinary, multi-method research, or as a meta-theoretical framing of the complex field of culture and sustainability. Either on its own or in combination with other frameworks and theories, the cultures framework thus offers ontological and epistemological inclusiveness for transdisciplinary research agendas.

There is an urgent need for a better understanding of the role of culture in the sustainability crisis and how to transform the unsustainable cultures that are inherent in most systems of production and consumption. Technologies alone will not achieve a net-zero world by 2050, or turn around our devastating losses of biodiversity, or enable equitable access to energy for families in developing countries. It will take more than simply changes in behaviour. It will require fundamental changes in the motivators, activities and materialities of people and organisations at every scale. We can learn much from cultures that are already sustainable or are on journeys of transition, but the biggest challenge is how to achieve transformational cultural change, at scale, and with unprecedented speed. To that end, research is desperately needed to improve our understanding of processes of cultural change, and particularly to understand how powerful meta-cultures can be destabilised and their unsustainable ideologies and institutions transformed.

Although the framework has already been used in a wide variety of fields, it has the potential to do much more to assist with journeys of transition. We need to know more about how sustainable cultures develop and endure, a better understanding of the dynamics of cultural change and the role of vectors in cultural learning, as well as processes of cultural expansion and collectivisation. More research is needed on the implications of actors having multiple cultural ensembles in different aspects of their life (e.g. the interplay between their food culture, mobility culture and household energy culture). Researchers could fruitfully explore how these overlapping cultures influence and shape each other, or divergences between cultural settings at home and at work. We need to better understand how cultural transformations can be enabled, and the roles that culture will need to play to achieve sustainability transitions. And while some research using the framework has explored issues of power and justice, there is much more to be done.

Cultural research can work at two levels in this quest for transformation. On the one hand, cultures are unique as to membership and cultural features. Researchers can draw conclusions regarding specific cultural ensembles and their sustainability outcomes, and can make recommendations for change initiatives. However, these will usually only be relevant to the case in question. On the other hand, as more studies are undertaken, we can start to build up generalisable understandings of cultural dynamics as they relate to sustainability. Across multiple studies, the research community can develop a better picture of universal cultural processes and effective  change interventions.

Finally, although this chapter is about culture and sustainability, the research approach I describe in this chapter could be used in other fields of inquiry. It was developed for sustainability-related research and has mainly been used for that purpose, but it could equally be applied to investigations of culture for any other reason, and in relation to any other outcome. But my hope is that it will continue to be primarily used for research that helps achieve a just transition to a sustainable future.

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Complex Identities: Putting Casey Plett’s Fiction in a Trans and Religious Studies Context , Catherine Brown

Ambient Athleticism: Politicizing Akira’s Accelerationist Olympiad , Thomas G. Chaplin

Harmony of Difference: Theorizing Rashid Johnson's New Universalism in the Grids of Antoine's Organ , Mark Fredricks

_Las Vidas Negras_: Examining Identity Among Afro-Latinos in the US in the twilight of Black Lives Matter , Victor Garcia

Pronk Poppenhuis: Establishing and Destabilizing Agency Among Seventeenth-Century Burgher Wives in the Dutch Republic , Emily M. Gregoire

Conquistas and Chronicles: A Social History of the Fernando de Soto Expedition of Conquest, 1538-1543 , Morgan Norman Greig

Queering the Weeki Wachee Mermaid and Its Renewed Aesthetic Value , Jacqueline D. Merveille

Visions of Entanglement and Escape: In-Visible Voice in the Films of Terrence Malick and George Lucas , Michael Lee Taber

The Hybridization of Home: Establishing Place Between the Garrison and the Wilderness in Mary Rowlandson's (1682) Captivity Narrative , Brooke M. Weltch

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Montage Music Videos: Racial Utopianism vs. Abstract Cowboys and the Question of Cultural Montage , Alan E. Blanchard

The Value of Sleep : Aura and Aesthetics of Cohabitation in Juha Lilja's Revision of Warhol , Christopher Costabile

Threatened by the Outback: Landscape and Ecology in the Australian New Wave , Richard T. Dyer

Restarting Plural Modernity: The Lyrical Tradition of the Hometown in Kaili Blues , Huadong Fan

Bad Bunny’s Purplewashing as Gender Violence in Reggaeton: A Feminist Analysis of SOLO DE MI and YO PERREO SOLA , Dairíne Hoban

From Mythology to Pop Culture: Myth, Representation, and the Historiography of the Amazon Warrior Woman in Ancient Art and Modern Media , James William Poorman

Four Hollywood Film Adaptations of Little Women : Identifying Female Subjectivity in Characters, Plots, and Authorship , Haiyu Wang

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Lost Without a Connection: Analyzing Netflix's Maniac in the Digital Streaming Age , Eric Bruce

Redefining Representations of Trauma & Modes of Witnessing in Damon Lindelof’s The Leftovers , Mariana Delgado

Roots in Antiquity: A Comparative Study of Two Cultures , Lara Younes Freajah

Neo-Colonial Elites’ Linguistic Violence and Monolingual Haitian Creole Speakers: Language Ideology, The Politics of Linguistic Pluralism, the Crisis of National Identity and Culture in Haiti , Frantzso Marcelin

Recurring Scream : Trauma in Wes Craven's Slasher , Ben Muntananuchat

I'm Going Digital: Potentials for Online Communities Through Internet Remix , Justin N. Nguyen

The Concept of Freedom in American Literature at the Dawn of the Nation , Mykhailo Pylynskyi

How Audiovisual Composition Reveals Gendered Limitations and Possibilities in Lady Bird in the Wake of #MeToo , Chandler Micah Reeder

Horror’s Aesthetic Exchange: Immersion, Abstraction and Annihilation , Ashley Morgan Steinbach

Roots of Coded Metaphor in John Dee's Monas Hieroglyphica , Joshua Michael Zintel

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Blaxploitation’s Revolutionary Sexuality: Rethinking Images of Male Hypersexuality in Sweetback & Shaft , Austin D. Cook

Plasticity in Animated Children’s Cartoons: The Neoliberal Transforming Bodies and Static Worlds of OK KO and Gumball , Rachel E. Cox

Baltimore Mobility: The Wire , Local Documentary, and the Politics of Distance , Richard M. Farrell

Mobilizing Images of Black Pain and Death through Digital Media: Visual Claims to Collective Identity After “I Can’t Breathe” , Aryn Kelly

Adaptations of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Late Medieval France: Material and Moral Recontextualization in the Tapestry of Narcissus at the Fountain , Morgan J. Macey

The Peruvian minstrel: an analysis of the representations of blackness in the performance of El Negro Mama from 1995 to 2016 , Ana Lucía Mosquera Rosado

An Ecology of Care: Training in Dependence and Caretaking in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , Elizabeth Rossbach

Anti-Fascist Aesthetics from Weimar to MoMA: Siegfried Kracauer & the Promise of Abstraction for Critical Theory , Maxximilian Seijo

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Poetics of Sixteenth-Century Widowhood: Vittoria Colonna’s Use of Gender and Grief as a Means of Social and Spiritual Transcendence , Sarah Conner

Performing "Hurt" : Aging, Disability, and Popular Music as Mediated Product and Lived-Experience in Johnny Cash's Final Recordings , Adam Davidson

The Promised Body: Diet Culture, the Fat Subject, and Ambivalence as Resistance , Jennifer Dolan

The Revival Western and , Kevin Thomas McKenna

Concerning Virtual Reality and Corporealized Media: Exploring Video Game Aesthetics and Phenomenology , Matthew Morales

"He Didn't Mean It": What Kubrick's , Kelley O'Brien

Failing to Move Forward: Journalism, Media, and Affect in David Fincher's , Nicholas Orlando

Eliminating the Uncertainty of Hong Kong in 1990s: Tsui Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China (1, 2, 3) , Zhanwen Peng

A Woman's Place in Jazz in the 21st Century , Valerie T. Simuro

Cool Moms & Cool Media: Returning to , Morgan Wallace

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Get Ye A Copper Kettle: Appalachia, Moonshine, and a Postcolonial World , Christopher David Adkins

The Dislocated Spectator's Relationship to Enchanted Objects in Early Film and Modernist Poetry , Rachel Christine Ekblad

Playing-With the World: Toy Story's Aesthetics and Metaphysics of Play , Jonathan Hendricks

Distinguishing Patterns of Utopia and Dystopia, East and West , Huai-Hsuan Huang

"There's a real hole here": Female Masochism and Spectatorship in Michael Haneke's La Pianiste , Morgan J. Jennings

"You want it all to happen now!": The Jinx, The Imposter, and Re-enacting the Digital Thriller in True Crime Documentaries , Brett Michael Phillips

The Palazzo Medici and its Polyvalent Message: Cosimo de Medici Navigates the Shifting Meaning of Pride , Lisa Morgan Thieryung

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Family Life in Carver City- Lincoln Gardens , Lisa K. Armstrong

The Apocalypse Narrative and the Internet: Divided Relationships in New Natures , Brooks Scott Benadum

Digital Integration , Jacob C. Boccio

A Tourist Performance: Redefining the Tourist Attraction , Brandy Lee Kinkade

To Utopianize the Mundane: Sound and Image in Country Musicals , Siyuan Ma

Heavy South: Identity, Performance, and Heavy Music in the Southern Metal Scene , Michael A. Mcdowell

The Apatow Aesthetic: Exploring New Temporalities of Human Development in 21st Century Network Society , Michael D. Rosen

Constructing the West: The Hired Hand and McCabe & Mrs. Miller and the Challenge of Public Space , Eric Ward Ross

Negotiating the Delta: Dr. T.R.M. Howard in Mound Bayou, Mississippi , William Jackson Southerland

Longshoremen's Negotiation of Masculinity and the Middle Class in 1950s Popular Culture , Tomaro I. Taylor

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Genre, Justice & Quentin Tarantino , Eric Michael Blake

A Gramscian Analysis of Roman Bathing in the Provinces , Diana Danielle Davis

Muckraking and C.O.B.Y (Cry of Black Youth): Uncovering a History of Organizing in Belle Glade , Raymond A. Hamilton

Abjection, Telesthesia, and Transnationalism: Incest in Park Chan-wook's Oldboy , Daniel L. Holland

"Tell Me, Where am I From?": A Study of the Performance of Geek Identity at Comic Book Conventions , Eric Kahler

Tell Sir Thomas More We've Got Another Failed Attempt: Utopia and the Burning Man Project , Gracen Lila Kovacik

Finding a Home: Latino Residential Influx into Progress Village, 1990-2010 , Christopher Julius Pineda

Auteurs at an Urban Crossroads: A Certain Tendency in New York Cinema , Rene Thomas Rodriguez

The US Response to Genocide in Rwanda: A Reassessment , Camara Silver

From White City to Green Acres: Bertha Palmer and the Gendering of Space in the Gilded Age , Barbara Peters Smith

He_rtland: The Violence of Neoliberalism , Hector Sotomayor

Let's Go to the Carnival: Hybridization of Heterotopian Spaces in the Films of Kevin Smith , Anthony L. Sylvester

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Sobering Anxieties: Alcohol, Tobacco, and the Intoxicated Social Body in Dutch Painting During the True Freedom, 1650-1672 , David Beeler

Four Women: An Analysis of the Artistry of Black Women in the Black Arts Movement, 1960s-1980s , Abney Louis Henderson

The Black Experience in the United States: An Examination of Lynching and Segregation as Instruments of Genocide , Brandy Marie Langley

The Problems and Potentials in Haunted Maternal Horror Narratives , Sarah Laura Novak

"Die Mauer im Kopf": Aesthetic Resistance against West-German Take-Over , Arwen Puteri

Masculinity, After the Apocalypse: Gendered Heroics in Modern Survivalist Cinema , Sean Michael Swenson

Caribbean Traditions in Modern Choreographies: Articulation and Construction of Black Diaspora Identity in L'Ag'Ya by Katherine Dunham , Viktoria Tafferner-Gulyas

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Spectatorial Shock and Carnal Consumption: (Re)envisaging Historical Trauma in New French Extremity , Christopher Butler

Collecting Stardust: Matter, Memory, and Trauma in Patricio Guzman's Nostalgia for the Light , Nora Szegvari

Refiguring Indexicality: Remediation, Film, & Memory in Contemporary Japanese Visual Media , Janine Marie Villot

The Sopranos Experience , Eli Benjamin Weidinger

The Black Freedom Struggle and Civil Rights Labor Organizing in the Piedmont and Eastern North Carolina Tobacco Industry , Jennifer Wells

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Out of Our Depth: Hyper-Extensionality and the Return of Three-Dimensional Media , Justin Alan Brecese

More than Words: Rhetorical Devices in American Political Cartoons , Lawrence Ray Bush

Postcolonial Religion and Motherhood in the Novels by Louise Erdrich and Alice Walker , Kateryna Chornokur

Butterbeer, Cauldron Cakes, and Fizzing Whizzbees: Food in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series , Leisa Anne Clark

The Early Works of Velázquez Through a Phenomenological Lens , Elyse June Cosma

Tales of Empire: Orientalism in Nineteenth-Century Children's Literature , Brittany Renee Griffin

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Cultural Analysis'

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Yu, Wang. "Analysis of cultural differences and management : a case study of a chinese company in Portugal." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/20936.

Niemand, Johannes R. "The autonomy of culture : a cultural-philosophical analysis." Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/85680.

Jain, Priya. "Preserving Cultural Landscapes: A Cross-Cultural Analysis." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/190653.

Veselý, Jindřich. "Vliv kulturních rozdílů na webdesign." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2009. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-76382.

Pålsson, Linda. "Translating Culture - An analysis of the cultural transfer in literary translation." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22390.

Zimmerman, Paul. "Cultural Tradition and Cultural Change in Postcommunist Poland| A Secondary Data Analysis." Thesis, Grand Canyon University, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3617584.

Nations sharing similar historical, linguistic, and social backgrounds tend to cluster around the same cultural values systems. However, changing socioenvironmental conditions drive cultural values systems to change over time. This study compared changing cultural values in Poland in the postcommunist era with values in the Czech Republic and Slovenia, using factorial ANOVA of published data from the European Values Survey and World Values Survey. The hypotheses were: (a) cultural values in Poland have moved from traditionalist values toward secularism; (b) Poland's rate of cultural values movement was more moderate than either the Czech Republic or Slovenia; and (c) the higher degree of religiousness in Poland mirrored the slower rate of movement toward secularism. The study participants were 20,038 adults from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovenia. Findings showed 10 of 19 cultural values in Poland showed moderate movement toward secularism, confirming that traditional cultural values in Poland had decreased. However, the findings also showed cultural migration in Poland preserved strong traditional family and religious values despite the influence of far reaching social, economic, and political changes. This study revealed two important points: (a) as cultural values within groups of nations change, cultural values in similar clusters of nations tend to move in the same direction, and (b) deeply held traditional values tend to preserve the differentiation between nations, even as process of cultural values change continues.

Kakkar, P. (Pooja). "Cultural variations on parenting:a cross cultural analysis between Indian and Finnish families." Master's thesis, University of Oulu, 2016. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-201606042357.

Simpson, Kelly M. "Measuring Culture Change as an Evaluation Indicator: Applying Cultural Consensus Analysis to Cultural Models of Lymphatic Filariasis in Haiti." [Tampa, Fla] : University of South Florida, 2008. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0002744.

Abbe, Marisa Kristine. "An Analysis of Cultural Competence, Cultural Difference, and Communication Strategies in Medical Care." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1283441352.

Cho, Heeryon. "Analysis of Cultural Differences in Pictogram Interpretations." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/123848.

Koulas, Heather Marshall. "Native Indian cultural centres : a planning analysis." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26861.

Blair, Zachary. "Same-Sex Marriages: A Cross-Cultural Analysis." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2005. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/739.

Tian, Mi. "A cross-cultural analysis of music structure." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2017. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/24782.

Kruger, Jaco Hentie. "A cultural analysis of Venda guitar songs." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002309.

Whittle, Sue R. "Issues in the cultural analysis of organisations." Thesis, Sheffield Hallam University, 1994. http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20528/.

Cross, Jennifer Lynn. "Picturebooks and Christopher Columbus : a cultural analysis." The Ohio State University, 1995. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1272978250.

Karim, Jahanvash. "Emotional Intelligence : a Cross-Cultural Psychometric Analysis." Thesis, Aix-Marseille 3, 2011. http://www.theses.fr/2011AIX32028/document.

Ciszek, Erica L. "Identity, culture, and articulation| A critical-cultural analysis of strategic LGBT advocacy outreach." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3640180.

This study examines how LGBT activists and LGBT youth make meaning of a strategic advocacy campaign. By examining activist and advocacy efforts aimed at youth, this research brings to light how LGBT organizations use campaigns to articulate identity and, conversely, how LGBT youth articulate notions of identity. Through the lens of the It Gets Better Project, a nonprofit activist organization, this dissertation uses in-depth interviews with organizational members and chat-based interviews with LGBT youth to study the meanings participants brought to the campaign.

Strategic communication has been instrumental in construction of LGBT as a cohesive collective identity and has played a vital role in the early stages of the gay rights movement. This research demonstrates how contemporary LGBT advocacy, through strategic communication, works to shape understandings of LGBT youth.

Instead of focusing on the Internet as a democratic space that equalizes power differentials between an organization and its publics, this study shows that the construction of identity is the result of a dynamic process between producers and consumers in which power is localized and does not simply belong to an organization or its public.

This research challenges the Internet as a democratic space and demonstrates that identity is a discursive struggle over meaning that is bound up in the intimate dance between producers and consumers of a campaign. In contrast to functionalist understandings of public relations that privileges the organization, this dissertation contends that a cultural-economic approach focuses on the processes of communication. A cultural-economic approach gives voice to the diverse audiences of a communication campaign and addresses the role communication plays as a discursive force that influences the construction of identities.

Atkinson, Colin. "Beyond cop culture : the cultural challenge of civilian intelligence analysis in Scottish policing." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2013. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4662/.

Ciszek, Erica. "Identity, Culture, and Articulation: A Critical-Cultural Analysis of Strategic LGBT Advocacy Outreach." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/18364.

Turpin, Carrie. "Preservice Teachers' Cultural Models of Academic Success." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1592134602496342.

Q, Claire Elizabeth. "Machine learning analysis of the cultural and cross-cultural aspects of beauty in music." Thesis, Aberystwyth University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2160/e04430bd-f38f-4f67-a914-351159fb5b97.

Dahir, Naima S. "Stress Regulation and its Impact on Inhibitory Gating: Cross-Cultural Analysis." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1402588198.

Dalbello-Lovric, Marija. "Croatian diaspora almanacs, a historical and cultural analysis." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape9/PQDD_0007/NQ41133.pdf.

Owen, Craig Nielsen Francois. "Cross-cultural analysis of stratification with societal taxonomies." Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2007. http://dc.lib.unc.edu/u?/etd,1311.

Fu, I.-Lin. "Cross-cultural analysis of children's values and attitudes." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.273065.

Morgan-Tamosunas, Erica Charlotte. "Towards a cultural analysis of contemporary Spanish cinema." Thesis, Anglia Ruskin University, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.369152.

Agalianos, Angelos S. "A cultural studies analysis of Logo in education." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1997. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10018887/.

Teixeira, Valadares de Oliveira Luiza. "Expatriate Adjustment in Brazil: A Cross-Cultural Analysis." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1366842311.

Thamsatitdej, Poomporn. "The effect of cultural difference on project risk management practice : a Thai culture analysis." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 2006. http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=21684.

Calais, Linus. "The Representation of Culture : A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Representation in Swedish EFL Coursebooks." Thesis, Jönköping University, HLK, Ämnesforskning, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-53604.

Wilhelmson, Mika. "Representations of culture in EIL : Cultural representation in Swedish EFL textbooks." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Engelska, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-21120.

Aeppli, Kelsey M. "A Cultural Analysis of Police Stress: An Application of Grid/Group Theory." Youngstown State University / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1496142126364081.

Popeau, Jean Baptiste. "Dialogues of Negritude : an analysis of the cultural context of Black writing." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.265822.

Chen, Jiayao. "Cultural DNA and Product Innovation: A Guideline of Establishing and Utilizing Cultural DNA Banks." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin155421172489759.

Wan, Mohd Ghazali Wan Norshira. "The embedment of Islamic cultures : an analysis of Islamic, cultural, and political practices in Malaysia." Thesis, Nottingham Trent University, 2016. http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/31530/.

Sifniotis, Maria. "Representing archaeological uncertainty in cultural informatics." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2012. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/40735/.

Lee, Minha. "Weaving a Web for Cultural Capacity: A Network Analysis of the Cultural Ecosystem in Columbus, Ohio." The Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1238007351.

Rask, Nina. "Analysis of a Medical Translation : Terminology and cultural aspects." Thesis, Växjö University, School of Humanities, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-2370.

This analysis deals with the difficulties in translating a medical text from English into Swedish. As primary source, I have used a British textbook about geriatrics called Nursing Older People which is aimed at university students of nursing. The selected chapter is called Person-centred dementia care written by the authors Sue Davies, Barry Aveyard and Ian J. Norman. The translation difficulties have involved terminology and cultural aspects. This analysis shows how these problems were tackled by studying different translation theories, such as Munday (2001) who refers to Koller’s theory about equivalence and Vinay & Darbelnet’s model of direct translation and oblique translation as well as Ingo (2007) who accounts for text sort conventions.

The terminological problems involved choosing the most appropriate term for describing diagnosis, diseases, body organs and symptoms. There was a wide variety of terms from old Graeco-Latin terms to English terms coined in the 1990s. Other terms were related to the international field of epidemiology as well as the organisation of care for the elderly, based on the Swedish Social Services Act. A suitable choice was possible by considering aspects like frequent usage of field specific words and collocations in parallel texts.

The cultural aspects involved cultural references such as differences between Sweden and the UK as for national institutions and organisations. The solution was to find a cultural equivalent or, when this was not possible, explain the term in a footnote.

Rogers, P. Clint. "Cross-cultural online instruction analysis of challenges and solutions." Saarbrücken VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2007. http://deposit.d-nb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?id=3006376&prov=M&dok_var=1&dok_ext=htm.

Braithwaite, Ann. "Writing and cultural analysis : claiming a feminist positional voice." Thesis, McGill University, 1989. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=61982.

Cortazzi, Martin. "Teachers' anecdotes : access to cultural perspectives through narrative analysis." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/4221.

Ong, Chin Chuan. "Analysis of Cognitive Architecture in the Cultural Geography Model." Thesis, Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/17432.

Starusko, Mary Catherine. "Moral Maturity, Ethics and Business: A Cultural Comparative Analysis." NSUWorks, 2009. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/hsbe_etd/107.

Cutler, Bob D. (Bob Dean). "International advertising: a content analysis of cross-cultural differences." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1991. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332550/.

Al-Sudairi, Nojood Musaed. "Children's books of Saudi Arabia: Literary and cultural analysis." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/284298.

Silva, Thiago Ferreira da [UNESP]. "Convergência cultural, divergência nos olhares: práticas discursivas e construção de subjetividades na cultura da convergência." Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11449/115747.

Silva, Thiago Ferreira da. "Convergência cultural, divergência nos olhares : práticas discursivas e construção de subjetividades na cultura da convergência /." Araraquara, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11449/115747.

Zhang, Qinjie, and Longyu Zhou. "Cultural adaptation pattern analysis of McDonald's and KFC in the Chinese market." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-176311.

Li, Sok-ching. "Building sustainable cities : a comparative analysis of heritage conservation in Hong Kong and Macau /." View the Table of Contents & Abstract, 2005. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B35080711.