Transcript What is culture?

WHAT IS CULTURE?
Class KWL chart
Culture- the sum of what a human group acquires
through living together, including language, knowledge,
skills, art, literature, law, customs, and life styles.
2 categories of culture
1. material culture- physical objects that people make
2. nonmaterial culture- the ideas of a society
Cultural diffusion- spread of certain parts of culture from
one area of the world to another
Acculturation- the process by which a person from one
culture adopts traits of another culture
CULTURE

Definition: Shared patterns of learned
behavior that are passed on from
generation to generation.

Components:
• Beliefs, Values, Customs
•
Languages, Ethnicity, Religion
•
Institutions (Economic, Political,
Educational)
•
Art, Music, and Technology
CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
A
field that studies spatial aspects of human
cultures.
 Major
components focus on:

Cultural Landscapes

Culture Hearths

Cultural Diffusion

Culture Regions
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

The composite of human imprints on
the earth’s surface.

Carl Sauer’s definition: “the forms
superimposed on the physical landscape
by the activities of man” “ from Recent
Developments in Cultural Geography,
1927
CULTURE HEARTH

The source areas from which radiated ideas,
innovations, and ideologies that change the world
beyond.

What are some examples?
BASED ON THE MAP, CAN YOU NAME SOME OF
THESE CULTURE HEARTHS?
CULTURAL DIFFUSION
The spreading of a culture element (ex:
technological innovation)
 Can you think of any examples of cultural
diffusion, past or present? (think about the past
2 slides)

CULTURE REGIONS

Divides the world into areas that share
economic systems, language, government
styles, or social groups.
ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
Language- necessary for communication
3,000 different languages
global languages- spoken by millions of people
local languages- spoken by relatively small
numbers of people
dialect- changes in speech related to class,
region, or culture
Religion- set of beliefs in a supreme being or beings
•Sets a model for human behavior
•Answers such questions as: Why are we here? How
did we get here? What happens after death?
•Affects daily life & laws in many countries
5 major religions
Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism
What beliefs and values do people hold?
What are the traditional holidays, festivals, and
ceremonies?
Who has the power?
How is the average citizen connected to the government?
Who owns the farms and
factories?
Are they high tech, low tech, or
no tech?
SOCIAL GROUPS

Social systems include families social classes
and ethnic groups
What does the typical family look like?
What is the role of women and children?
ETHNICITY
What is ethnicity?
Common racial, national, tribal, religious,
linguistic, or cultural origin or background
An Example of Ethnic and Religious Conflict:
The Balkans: Ethnic war between the Croatian Catholics, the
Bosnian Muslims, and the Serbian Orthodox.
A
What art forms are typical
of the culture?
(crafts, paintings, drama,
music, dance, etc)
Which buildings, monuments, structures, and types of
homes symbolize this culture?
What foods were invented here?
What do people eat for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
Stuff that is typical of a culture.
PHYSICAL V. CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
Physical Geography
Cultural Geography
Rocks/Minerals
Population/Settlements/Urbanization
Landforms
Economic and Political Systems
Animal and Plant Life
Transportation
Soils
Human Migration
Atmosphere/Climate/Weather
Social Systems
Environment
Recreation
Rivers/Oceans/Other bodies of Water
Religion/Belief System
Cultural Geography is the study of the
Earth’s human landscape.
CONCLUSION

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
Think about your own culture: your belief system,
institutions that you are part of, technology you use
everyday.
Cultures change over time, but the historical aspects
are very important for understanding today’s
cultures. Culture must be examined from different
perspectives.
Know the terms cultural landscape, cultural hearth,
cultural diffusion, and culture region- these terms
describe the ways in which cultural geographers view
the world.
Using today’s notes…….…
To create your own “culture
web”