The significance of Ethnicity

The world today identifies an individual by reading their I.D (identification card). However, not all people feel understood by the limited information provided in that piece of plastic. The cultures in our society have developed this sense of insecurity because of their different perspectives. There are three kinds of sociology concepts or theories, though this social issue is an example of a symbolic interaction.

The reason why I chose this topic is because I have experienced a case of nationality misjudgment for a long time, and it has created a scar within my mind, allowing me to feel insecure in society on a daily basis. People approach me and ask me “where I’m from?” There is no harm to answer the question, but when people make assumptions about my race I get paranoid. I am ashamed when people assume I could be from Kerela or Srilanka, which I am not. There is no reason to be demoralized, but the media has portrayed discriminating points of view for these cultures.

Culture is the way of life of a person, and this video discriminates the accent of the people of this country, and some aspects of their life style, which does not apply to everyone. What is intriguing is that the people who are making the video are from that country. Stereotypes portray many cultural downfalls on Youtube. Thus, some people dislike the label of a country that is not appreciated. A third component of a nonmaterial culture is norms, and it is an obvious norm to refuse an assumption of being classified a wrong ethnicity. The social situation that provokes this behavior is grasped from media. People are proud to be of a race that is looked up upon. Media has and will always influence the way we look at a person’s social status.

Unleashing the Qatari Culture in the Residence Halls

On September, 27th, 2011, one of the female residence halls in Education City in Qatar hosted an event to educate the International students about the Qatari Culture.The CDA’s and the residence hall director arrived before the event to set up all the items which represent the material culture of Qatar. These items included the traditional sofas, Arabic music, local pastries, regional dresses and henna cones.



A total of 16 students made it to the event. Most of the students came from Middle Eastern and Asian countries. However major western influence reflected the way these students dressed and talked. The fact is that Education City, which consist of six American universities, sways the subculture of the students to behave in a more western-oriented manner. They all communicated in English since not everyone from the attendants could speak the Arabic language.




Throughout this social gathering, I noticed many aspects of the non-material culture of the country. For instance, folkways like greeting everyone in the event by kissing on both cheeks were firmly applied. Also, the attendants showed open-mindedness and respect towards each other, which is a value embraced within the Qatari Culture. There were norms like maintaining the cleanliness of the place by disposing all tissues, paper plates, plastic cups after using them. Everyone made sure that they kept the pillows of the traditional sofas in the correct order after sitting on the sofas. The music was played at a modest volume. These examples illustrate how keen the Qataris are about living in a hygienic and organized place.





Back to the material culture, the students indulged in the two large dishes of the freshly baked chicken, meat, spinach and vegetable pastries known as fatayer. The portions were huge and this explains the concept of hospitality and generosity when it comes to dining in the Arabic culture. The students had fun trying out the Women’s traditional dress which corresponds to the beliefs of Islam in the culture as the dress was very conservative. Also throughout the event, the students were excited to get their hands decorated with the complex henna designs as henna in the Qatari culture symbolizes beauty.



Adding to all the energy of the occasion, one of the students turned 19 on the very same day. Matea Malikanovic a freshman at Georgetown University celebrated her birthday among the many students in the event. No one knew that her birthday was on that day so there weren’t any preparation to celebrate the occasion to its full potential. However they did sing her the popular birthday song and exchanged birthday wishes, which showed an example of cultural diffusion. Originally from Bosnia, Malikanovic shares a glimpse of her past, “I was born during the war,” she states. However, the situation has improved immensely since then. Still, she decided to study in Qatar to gain a better understanding of the culture and religions of the Middle East.


Birthday girl


A role is the behavior, obligations, and rights expected of a social status. The role of an Education City student involves committing to your schedule, submitting your assignments on time, participating in class and of course passing exams. Despite the busy academic schedule of most the students at the event, they were all looking forward to relaxing and enjoying their time. In fact, 9 students had exams the next day. Elizabeth Boctor, a Weill Cornell student said “I have no idea what I’m doing here but I know I’m happy.” Similarly, Sarah Omar, from Georgetown University expressed her excitement on attending the event, “We are enjoying free food and seeing people we normally wouldn’t see because of our busy schedules.” This casual get-together permitted the students to step out of their rigorous role and engage in leisure and social activities.

While the event only lasted for two hours, it gave students the chance to renew their motivation for studying and refresh their energy. It also helped inform them about the various aspects of the Qatari culture.

A Bangladeshi Engagement Party: Observing Culture and the Process of Socialization

Qatar Foundation is a perfect representation of the multicultural society that exists here in Doha. According to the QF website, the QF community is made-up of 90 different nationalities. Being exposed to so many different people allows you to interact with, and learn about these cultures that can be found in one oasis. Whether you are a student, staff or faculty member in Education City, your chances of experiencing a taste of culture from all around the world prove to be unique and worthwhile. Here’s an example…



A few weeks ago, I was invited to Rezwan and Samira’s engagement party, friends of mine who were both students in Education City. Rezwan and Samira are both Bangladeshi. They share the same culture, languages, and understanding of the material and non-material culture that they grew up to become accustomed to. Culture has a social context. And my friends to be married, have both undergone a process of socialization in which they have learned and acquired a certain way of life, and a sense of self in the society they live in, in Doha as well as in the social environment of their homeland in Bangladesh. The process through which the Bengali way of life or identity that both Rezwan and Samira have learned, accepted, and taken as his or her own is called internalization. According to the book by Ferrante, through this process of internalization, the norms, values, beliefs and languages are passed on to them by their socializers.



The Bangladeshi people all belong to a group in which they share a distinct identity, interact with each other, and feel a sense of nationality, pride, belonging, and membership. There are different types of groups that act as agents of socialization. And the people who are probably the most influential in terms of passing on the Bangladeshi cultural identity to Rezwan and Samira are family members, especially parents, and elders – people who belong to the primary group, a social group in which members have strong emotional ties.



A Bengali wedding ceremony or any other party prior to a wedding such as an engagement celebration differs greatly from one that my family would host. It was a very interesting and enjoyable experience sitting there amongst his family, and friends (who were not entirely Bengali) watching what went on in this beautiful gathering. A wealth of sociological terms and concepts can be applied to all the elements I observed in the three-hour period I spent at the party. Everywhere I turned, I wanted to shout out one of the theories from class. But I saved it all for the blog, and stuck to “congratulations”.




As soon as I stepped into the party hall upstairs in the Indian restaurant called "Aalishaan", I was surrounded by symbols, material culture and non-material culture. The material culture consists of all the natural or man-made objects with attached meanings, for example the food, the traditional clothing, the festive decorations and gifts. The non-material culture includes the Bengali language, the values (the respect for the elderly, and the behavior towards them), beliefs (pertaining to the Muslim faith) and gestures (greetings, and ways of interaction among the guests and hosts, and celebration activities).



According to Ferrante, socialization involves both nature and nurture. Rezwan and Samira’s genetic make-up, “physical appearance” or biological inheritance, are related to nature. They “look” Bangladeshi, and similarly their Bengali friends, and family, look Bengali too. On the other hand, the social environment I witnessed including their primary group of relatives, close friends and family, and the interactions between them, are all considered the nurture part of socialization, through which Rezwan and Samira live their lives, have social experiences and human interactions. Although their appearances might suggest they are Bangladeshi, there is a reason why some of their relatives for example, do not speak English. Their relatives have not acquired the same education, experiences, and social contact as Samira and Rezwan did. Hence, nature and nurture are both critical to analyzing the process of socialization and either one cannot be ignored.





The ceremony started off with a Qur’an recitation, when all guests remained seated and quiet, followed by a short speech. A significant symbol was used to signify to people that they are expected to be still and quite for the recitation of the Holy Qur’an. That symbol, also used frequently prior to proceeding with a significant act or movement, is the phrase of two words in Arabic “bismullah” meaning, “in the name of God”. As soon as the speaker said those words, everyone sat down, and stopped their conversations, waiting attentively, knowing what to expect afterwards. Another example when this symbol was spoken is before the slicing of the cake.



The cake segment, was one of the one most intriguing and amusing of all the events in the party to me. In Bangladeshi culture, feeding sweets to the bride by all elders, relatives and those involved, is a key part of the ceremony. The glowing bride Samira, had to watch the big mouthfuls being fed to her, piece by piece…and I could see how the poor thing tried so hard to nibble off smaller manageable bits. Everyone wanted to take part in the feeding process, even the bride’s younger brother. Cake was flying at her at a constant speed. Luckily her husband-to-be finally took over, and he and Samira both started feeding their closest relatives in return.






This may be seen as a symbolic gesture between people of group in which the act of feeding cake to each other conveys a meaning of love, blessing, gratitude, respect, good will, and value from one person to another. Other examples of symbols and gestures include the gestures for expression between the mother-in laws to their son and daughter-in-law and the gesture in which Rezwan and Samira’s mothers placed their hands on the bride and grooms heads and hands as to bless them, also saying at times, short versus from the Qur’aan.



Another important part of non-material culture, that is also symbolic in nature, includes presenting the gifts to both the bride and groom from the mother-in-laws. Rezwan’s mother presents Samira with a gold bracelet and ring placing them on her arm and finger. And Samira’s mother presents Rezwan with a new watch, and also places it on his arm. This exchange of gifts is considered part of the engagement process, where both sides present gifts as meaningful tributes. The act of giving the gifts is the non-material culture, and the gifts themselves, can be considered tangible material culture.





Other tangible material culture includes all the different aspects of the bride and groom’s wardrobe: clothing, accessories, veils, bracelets, necklace, rings, jewellery, and henna.





The food that was served, was Indian cuisine not Bengali. And although there are a lot of similarities between the two in terms of spices and key foods, serving Indian food at a Bengali ceremony could be considered a form of cultural diffusion, in which other cultural items are borrowed from a source outside the Bengali culture.




Finally, all of these shared experiences, gestures, symbols, that are recalled, reproduced, and repeated in this ritual (engagement ceremony) or event are passed on from generation to the next in order to be sustained and preserved. Socialization is impossible without memory. Therefore, the only way through which this preservation and passing on of experiences is possible is through collective memory. Without collective memory, Rezwan and Samira’s families wouldn’t have passed on experiences that shaped the “Bangladeshi” engagement party I attended, groups with particular identities would seize to exist and I wouldn’t have been able to remember any of the things I just wrote about in this blog post!

The sociology behind conquering Everest

Mountains contribute significantly to the material culture of Oman. However, the Omani society hardly explores these mountains through hiking or climbing them due to the extremely hot climate and lack of awareness among the citizens in participating in such adventures. Nevertheless, a 37 year-old Omani has succeeded in putting Oman for the first time in the mountaineering records. Khalid Al-Siyabi, a general director of IT in the Ministry of Education has reached the summit of the World’s highest mountain, Everest, at 8848 meters above sea level. On the 10th of July 2011, I was honored to interview this motivational personality to feature him in my first book “The Ultimate Wellness Inspiration.”

Here is what we talked about:

Training for Everest:

Khalid’s concept to be well-prepared for this extraordinary challenge was to incorporate physical and mental training. For his physical training, Khalid was running between an hour to three, cycling, climbing and swimming everyday. Regarding his mental training, he invented a technique called “ The Extra Mile.”, which is whenever his mind starts to send the “I can’t do it” signals, for instance in the last 5 minutes of his run, he increases an extra 5 minute as a punishment for his complaining brain. This helps him to achieve his adventurous goals no matter how hard it gets.



Climbing Everest:

There are multiple norms that Khalid followed to start his journey. First, he had his full gear in check which includes climbing boots, linear socks, technical clothing, wool hat, ski goggles, gloves, harness, sleeping bag, compass, water purifier, cameras, walkie-talkies, satellite phones, first-aid kit and sundries. The functionalist theory was obviously applied during the expedition as Khalid was accompanied by 19 fellow climbers coming from Argentina, the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Turkey, Finland and Australia. The age range was about 35 to 60, and there were 3 women in the team – 2 Canadians and one from Finland. There were 36 Sherpa who guided them throughout the expedition. Despite the differences of the culture of all the participants in the adventure, Mount Everest united this diverse subculture.

Khalid took 60 days to reach the top and seven days to go down. Khalid explained to me why it takes so much time going up; it is the acclimatization process. In order to go to a higher level our bodies need to get adapted to the new tough circumstances, so the climbers take it gradually by spending an hour in the new level then come back down to the original base camp. This gives their bodies a chance to make more red blood cells and gives a chance to the person to recognize his capabilities in going further or not.


When Khalid reached the peak, he was really angry for celebrating his semi-achievement on his own as many of his fellow climbers reached the summit at different times and three of them died trying. This explains how solidarity is important for one to stay happy with life. So in order to remain positive, Khalid planted the Omani flag on the summit as a symbol of patriotism and pride for his country.

However, thirty minutes later Khalid noticed a vicious avalanche making its way to the top and it would take Khalid around 6 hours to make his descent. So he decided to wrap his 9 liter bag pack around his waist, sit on it and slide downwards as the fastest way to maybe escape the disaster and with his great faith in God and focused state of mind, he arrived down safely.


His winning formula

The non-material culture embraces some components that emphasize the reason Khalid is able to accomplish such spectacular goals. His strong self-belief has empowered him to stay committed and motivated to endure his brutal training because the outcome is valuable. To be honored by a lot of key people in Oman and be recognized as a symbol of inspiration to all the rising Omanis, made Khalid feel fulfilled and encouraged to give more for his country. He also volunteers in motivational speaking in schools across Oman. After the mind-enriching interview I had, Khalid showed me on his laptop one of the inspiring presentations he had done during his motivational speeches. Not only was I astonished by the photos and videos of his thrilling undertakings, I was also on the edge of my seat ready to conquer my fears and take my life more seriously. And four magic phrases I learned from this fantastic personality were Don’t Complain, Be Positive, Commitment and Trust. With such optimistic mindset, we can all climb Everest!!


Khalid and I among friends hiking in Oman

Abaya - A Fashion Statement

Butterfly, fold, and jumpsuit are three of the many names given to the designs of the modern Abaya. Originally, it was a cultural garment worn by women in the Middle East to cover up the shape of their body. In fact, women in the past did not have to wear it since most of them covered themselves up modestly. Today, in the Gulf countries in particular, the designs are constantly in change, depending on the trending world of fashion. Rather than having a loose black cloth, it now comes in various shapes and with multiple embroidery designs.


Since the clothing under will not show, girls tend to portray their fashion sense by the Abaya they are wearing. Not only is it a type of material culture that women use to cover up, but it also shapes the social relationships. I remember having a Syrian lady visiting us in Doha. She was shocked by how the Qatari girls wore the Abaya. It was a culture shock to her, as she was used to the plain loose black cloth, and not the multiple designs. However, since the material component is shaped in some way by the non-material culture, she has adapted to this trend as everyone else was following it, and is seen as a sign of modernization.

New designs are out everyday, ranging from very loose to very fit. Those designs come from other countries and act as a cultural diffusion. The neighboring countries influence us. Therefore, when there is an Abaya exhibition such as Heya or a fashion show, young designers from all over the Gulf countries would display their unique designs, and the Qatari girls would buy them. Here are a few abayas I bought from the Saudi section

The young girls here are attracted by each other’s unique Abaya designs. I was ordering popcorn before entering the movie at Villaggio, and I saw this girl wearing an Abaya that attracted my attention. So I went up to her and asked her where she got it tailored. She replied by saying that she had it made in one of the Abaya exhibitions held at Doha Exhibition Centre. I kindly asked her if I could take a picture of the Abaya in order to make the same. Here is how it looked like.

Not only is the influence regional, but is also Western in some way. For example, in one of the exhibitions, I saw a design that had studs on the shoulders, along with others that were “funky”. I kept thinking inside my head that I saw those designs on a dress a star was wearing, and now it is implemented on the Abaya. Lady Gaga acts as a major influence to all those girls that want their Abaya to be extra original. Also, recently young girls have their Abayas tailored in a way that it would look like a jumpsuit from the bottom, which is also influenced by the West. I have also seen girls that deliberately shortened their Abaya, and when I first saw it and asked them why, they would say that they wanted to show their heels off. I completely understand that it is a cultural norm, and those designs just keep getting updated by the day.

How Do People Define Culture?

Realizing the fact that I’m a student who’s taking a Sociology class at Northwestern University in Qatar, I have definitely gained a better insight into the mechanism of this study in real life, as well as noticing how cultures and societies are greatly affected by each other. And of course, knowing the core elements of these two subjects is essential to achieve the full acknowledgement of this study. Although it’s true that I have heard the terms “subculture, norms, taboos” and many other terms in my life before, I have never actually knew how can they be applied on societies and on “real people” until I took this course. For instance, I never knew the vital and pivotal roles that norms play in a society until I had to break some of them in order to be able to write my first short project, a norm violation experiment.

However, people that have never taken such a class, have never read a book about it, or have never gone through special social situations absolutely have their own ideas and perceptions about the real meaning of culture. Some people might define it in a very generalized way, saying that it is all the apparent elements of a society. They would definitely include “frequently-referred-to” terms, such as traditions, celebrations, architecture, and religion. They might also clarify and say that religion can’t be considered a cultural element unless it is reflected through symbols, clothes, or special ceremonies. True. But this answer is clearly not what a sociologist or a sociology student is aiming for.

People often consider culture to be material culture only; the explicit things that they can touch and see (Griswold, “Culture and Societies in a Changing World). In contrast, they often ignore the non-material—implicit—culture, in which it is represented in beliefs, values, norms, gestures, and other implied elements of a society. The conception that people have about identifying cultures through their exterior elements—only—is false. Sociology wouldn’t even exist without the linkage between the implicit and the explicit elements of a society. A good explanation of what I’m trying to elaborate can be illustrated through the following example:

When you go to a church, you don’t expect to see soldiers standing in lines, practicing and drilling for their second heroic mission. You would expect the place to be quiet and peaceful, and you would expect to see people praying or reading the Bible because that’s the way it goes in sacred places. There are special religious rituals, behaviors, and atmospheres that conquer the place and they don’t have to be materially placed right in front of you that tell you how to act or behave. It all comes out of you spontaneously.

I interviewed a few people from the Education City in Qatar to know how they define culture from their own perspectives:

Qatar Unified Imaging Project (QUIP) Maps Qatar's Cultural Heritage

How is Commercialization and Urbanization Impacting the Culture of Doha?


Two days ago, I heard about the QUIP research project, which holds great relevance for the research culture of Qatar as well as the broader community of people that are interested in the history and cultural traditions of this country – including the awesome members of this cultural sociology class! The project is spearheaded by Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCUQatar) and is funded by the Qatar National Research Fund. I would like to think of it as a cross-cultural collaboration between an American design school VCU, Qatar University, and the British-based University Of Exeter, which boasts the highest collective expertise on gulf studies that includes anthropology, history, Islamic studies, sociolinguistics, material culture and many more. I met with Tammi Moe, lead Principle Investigator on this three-year project. Over a huge plate of French fries and three liters of soda, Mrs. Moe was able to provide me with a substantial wealth of information regarding this stimulating research project. I was particularly interested in the aspects of the research that include cultural diffusion, and the impact of commercialization and urbanization on Qatar’s cultural heritage.



Source: VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives

Heritage informs nearly all fields of research because it allows us to understand our humanity. We can look at material and non-material culture to identify what we value as humans. In the stories we pass on from generation to generation we communicate our essence.


Source: VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives

The objects of material culture and the practices of non-material culture show our values and are meaningful to understanding humanity. Games we played as children, our mother's recipes, what we captured in a photo, traditional dancing, music, objects of veneration are different expressions of our cultural heritage.


Source: VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives

It's how we participate in shaping the value of these objects and practices that informs other disciplines from sociology to design. That is why I found QUIP to be a vital and crucial project. It will help guide the interpretation of researchers around the world by creating access to what is important in Qatar's culture.


Source: VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives

These values and belief systems are easily over shadowed by what is currently being emphasized, the highly visible consumer and brand name culture that the world's attention is now focused on. We become distracted by the glitz and glamour and forget what the true values and beliefs of this society are and this has placed the material and non-material culture of Qatar at risk.


Source: VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives

Pearl Diving ­­– A cultural object that belongs to Qatar’s heritage. As Griswold defines it, this cultural object is a “socially meaningful expression” of Qatari tradition, and “tells a story” of this people’s way of life and means of living.


Source: VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives

Commercialization and urbanization have shifted the cultural focus from traditional to modern consumption – from barely surviving to ultra luxury. The urban sprawl has introduced “the other” into the closely guarded fareej forcing the neighborhoods of Qatar to spread apart. So much so that there is a project underway to rebuild the “heart of Doha” displacing merchants that provided reasonably priced goods, to over-priced merchandise.



A lot of very interesting entries on Qatar traditional activities are found on this blog.

There are grassroots efforts to preserve traditional architecture but so much has already been destroyed in the push for rapid advancement.


source (up): VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives (Both pictures taken at Souq Wakif)


Check out this website that portrays the background and changes of Qatar.

Examples of the Transmission and Reinterpretation of Culture:

It used to be that shopping occurred in the living rooms of neighborhood women and Souq Waqif. Now we have brand stores in large shopping malls.


Source: VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives

In explaining how the cultural heritage of Qatar is fading and being neglected, Tammi Moe referred to an article in the Guardian newspaper, saying " Although this is an interesting article it completely neglects the true "cultural heritage" of Qatar and the surrounding Gulf. It focuses completely on modern events and forgets about the people of Qatar that have struggled to live here before the discovery oil. Qatar's heritage and culture is rich in many ways and we must maintain the cultural memory through modern vehicles."


Source: VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives

Overshadowing of culture:

For example the following pictures depict the literal overshadowing of modern architecture. The new designs overpower and diminish the essential historical and cultural monument:-

Source: VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives (Both images of Qatar National Museum)

Old mosque architecture/ Modern mosque architecture:

source(up): VCUQ Photo Gallary Archives




This change also includes "cultural diffusion"- a process where cultures adopt parts of other cultures. Qatar is adopting modern styles of architecture from other western cultures.

Fingers crossed, this project will build the research materials so that sociologists, anthropologists, and scholars can study and explore Qatar’s rich and very existent culture. Hopefully, QUIP will map cultural indicators and document them before they are lost forever.

Many thanks to the fabulous Tammi Moe for allowing me access to these super cool photo archives. Also, for her time, help, generosity with information, insightfulness, and of course - the irresistible fries.