PREVALENCE OF CULTURAL TRAITS & FOLK CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES OBJ: Students will examine the scale of cultural traits and will examine folk culture in the united states. Dol: Given an exit slip, students will create a !/? Card: !=What did you learn that you found fascinating? ?=What is one question you still have, or one topic about which you would like to know more?

WHAT DO YOU CALL A CARBONATED, SUGARY BEVERAGE? Pop Coke Soda Something other than pop, coke, or soda

The various terms that different areas of the US use for soft drinks is an example of local folk culture. It also gives insight into migration that has taken place in the US.

#1: Cultural traits & prevalence Choose FIVE of the following. NUMBER FROM 1-5. List the trait & a notable example, then identify whether it is unique to our region (found exclusively here), prevalent (not unique to our region but more prevalent or widespread here than elsewhere), or the same (as most of the US and Canada). You can write u, p, or s for the third part. Be prepared to share, and have fun! food architectural style building material clothing music local expression crop sport or game livestock mode of transportation Ex. 5. Local expression: coke, p

What does the Cultural Landscape, chosen for this restaurant chain, tell you about what atmosphere, food selections, and products you are likely to find inside? Does this truly reflect the culture of the area where this store is found?

Popular culture can diffuse through the hierarchy of people: the top fashion designers (they are the hearth), down to the models, then celebrities, editors of fashion magazines, and finally down to anyone walking through the malls. Both local and popular cultures are constantly navigating around and through each other. Both interact with each other, like the Amish parking at Wal-Mart or a McDonald’s restaurant in Hindu (non-beef eating) India. This interaction can be a problem, as local (folk) culture often doesn’t want to change, while popular culture is all about changing all the time. The Cultural Landscape 􀁺The cultural landscape is fashioned on natural landscapes by a cultural group. Culture is the agent, the natural area the medium, the cultural landscape is the result. Under the influence of a given culture, itself changing through time, the landscape undergoes development, passing through phases, and probably reaching ultimately the end of its cycle of development. With the introduction of a different –that is–alien culture a rejuvenation of the cultural landscape sets in, for a new landscape is superimposed on remnants of an older one.

Key cultural terms: Taboo – a restriction on behavior imposed by social custom. Food Taboos: Jews – can’t eat animals that chew cud, that have cloven feet; can’t mix meat and milk, or eat fish lacking fins or scales; Muslims – no pork; Hindus – no cows Washing Cows in the Ganges

Cultural taboos: group activity Taboos often reveal much about what a culture values. Choose three of the taboos from the packet of cultural taboos, then explain to which cultural trait(s) the taboo is related. For example, the taboo against Jews’ and Muslims’ eating of certain kinds of meat is related to which cultural trait?

Cultural taboos: group activity That’s right, religion! Food is the material aspect of the culture through which the importance of religion is reflected. Many of the taboos in the packet are related to the following: Religion Hygiene Social hierarchy Superstition—numbers, colors, etc. Animals Can your group agree on any of the “taboos” that would offend or reflect the beliefs of many Americans? If so, which one?

In Islam, drinking alcohol is frowned down upon In Islam, drinking alcohol is frowned down upon. In which regions of the world is alcohol consumed the least, and how can this be explained by knowing which religion is practiced by a majority of the population?

Catholic & Orthodox Christians often drink wine during religious services. Which region of the world is likely to have a predominantly Catholic & Orthodox Christian population?

Mormons, a subculture in the US, refrain from drinking alcohol Mormons, a subculture in the US, refrain from drinking alcohol. Which state do you think has the highest Mormon population as a percentage of the total population?

FOLK VS POPULAR HOUSING in the united states

Cohokia Mounds, Illinois Folk culture’s effects on the Landscape: usually of limited scale and scope. BECAUSE most folk cultures are small, they don’t usually Affect vast amounts of land. Agricultural: fields, terraces, grain storage Folk Dwellings: historically created from local materials: wood, brick, stone, skins; often uniquely and traditionally arranged; always functionally tied to physical environment. Folk cultures and the land Terraced Rice Fields, Thailand Cohokia Mounds, Illinois Monument Valley, AZ

US Folk housing Style of pioneer homes reflected whatever upscale style was prevailing at the place on the East Coast from which they migrated. Geographer Fred Kniffen identified three major hearths, or nodes, of folk house forms in the United States. Middle Atlantic: Principal house type known as an “I”-house with one room deep and at least two rooms wide. Lower Chesapeake/Tidewater: Principal house type characterized by one story, with a steep roof and chimneys at either end. New England: Principal house style was box shaped with a central hall.

Throughout Great Lakes New England (MA) Box chaped Central hall Throughout Great Lakes Middle Atlantic (PA) “I-House” 2 story 1 room deep, 2+ wide Lower Chesapeake/ Tidewater (MD/VA) 1 story Steep roof chimneys 4. Migrants spread these styles west as they migrated. Is this relocation or expansion diffusion?

U.S. House Types by Region Popular culture can affect housing styles, too. US housing styles often change with whatever the latest new style of house is. A great room, tri-level, townhouse, colors, bathroom fixtures, etc.-- all are subject to style changes of the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. What’s next? Small towns in different regions of the eastern U.S. have different combinations of these five main house types. Is one of these common in our region?

Do you notice anything that the modern styles have on common Do you notice anything that the modern styles have on common? How are the neo-eclectic styles similar to or different from the modern styles?

This is a parking lot in 21 st century Ohio. What stands out?

THREATS TO SUSTAINABILITY FOR FOLK CULTURES IN THE UNITED STATES: THE AMISH “A tractor gets work done more quickly, but horses and the love of hard work keep us nearer to God.” –Amish bishop What do you know about the Amish, or what can you infer about their values from the above quotation? PG. 132-133

This is Amish parking at Wal-Mart in Ohio This is Amish parking at Wal-Mart in Ohio. Note the safety reflector for night travel. This is a state law in Ohio.

Name 3 states that have the most significant concentrations of Amish. The Amish immigrated to the US because of low land prices. Is this a push or pull factor? Is this factor environmental, economic, or political? Is this similar to or different from most voluntary migration? The first wave settled in PA in the early 1700s. The second wave settled in Ohio, Illinois, & Iowa in the early 1800s.

SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES TO FOLK CULTURES Increased connection with popular culture makes maintaining centuries-old practices difficult. Impacts of globalization on the landscape creates challenges in maintaining a unique landscape. Global diffusion of popular culture beliefs has challenged the subservience of women to men that is embedded in some folk customs. Which of the above do you think presents the most challenge to the sustainability of the Amish, and why?

CREATE YOUR. /. Card:. =What did you learn that you found fascinating CREATE YOUR !/? Card: !=What did you learn that you found fascinating? ?=What is one question you still have, or what is one topic about which you would like to know more?