This article presents some results of cross-cultural research on perception of the term "culture" by university students in the United States and the Russian Federation. It includes the comparison of the summarized responses between the two national groups and the exploration of gender and age influence on the responses. The specific focus is made on differences between responses on different items within national groups. The field of research involves the study (with the technique of cross-national research) of cognitive processes, some aspects of cultural identity, cross-national differences, gender attitudes and semantic studies as proposed by early Cultural Studies researchers. On the basis of factor analysis of the data "Cognitive World Maps" of American and Russian students are constructed. American students of our sample tend to perceive themselves as living in a sort of a "cave" of unsafe low spirituality of their student community in a large "island" of "safe low spirituality" of their own country, which is in its turn situated in an "ocean" of "unsafe high spirituality" of the large world of human culture. In contrast with them Russian students of our sample tend to perceive themselves as living in a sort of a "cave" of safe low spirituality of their student community in a large "island" of "unsafe high spirituality" of their own country, which is in its turn situated in an "ocean" of "safe medium spirituality" of the large world of human culture.