Culture

What is Culture? Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors shared and passed on by a group. How do we learn culture? Learned from family, school, peers. Learned from media, social institutions.

What are the Elements of Culture? 1.Language 2.Religion (beliefs / morals / mores) 3.Food and Shelter (Types / Styles) 4.Education Systems 5.Security/Protection 6.Relationships – Family and Others 7.Political and Social Organizations 8.Creative Expression - Recreation

1. Language Allows for communication to exist Helps establish cultural identities Oral tradition - Helps pass cultural traits along through generations There are between 3,000 and 6,500 different languages spoken in the world today We know of 7,000 that have been spoken Dialect – different versions of the same basic language

2. Religion The belief in a supernatural power or powers, responsible for the creation and maintenance of the universe Major Types of Religions? 1.Monotheistic – belief in one god 2.Polytheistic – belief in many gods 3.Animistic or Traditional – belief in the forces of nature 4.Nontheistic – Supernatural, but no deities 5.Atheistic – No deities, no supernatural

3. Food and Shelter – The places we live and the things we eat

4. Education How culture is taught or learned 1.Formal – Schools, Universities, Religion (church) 2.In-Formal – Family, Friends, Social Clubs / Groups

5. Security/Protection Military – National Govt. Police – Local Govt. Family - Tribe

6. Relationships – Family and Others Family Friends Classmates / Co-Workers

7. Political and social organization Government System – Make rules and laws to keep society in order Clubs – Examples? Boys and Girls, Boy Scouts, FFA, Optimists, Fraternal organizations – Kiwanis, University, Veterans, Masonic etc.

8. Creative Expression - Recreation Music – instruments, singing Art – Paintings, sculpture, photography Dance Theater Literature – Novels, Poems Architecture Sports Outdoor activities Hobbies

What is your culture?

Where do cultures start? Cultural Hearth – where innovations, ideas, materials and technology begin

How do cultures change and spread? Innovation – creating something new to meet a need. Diffusion – spread of ideas, inventions, or patterns of behavior Can you think of an example of this?

Assimilation – smaller society adopts the culture of a majority group Acculturation – society accepts or adopts an innovation How do cultures change and spread? Can you think of an example of this?

The Columbian Exchange – The exchange of animals, plants, culture and human populations including slaves, communicable diseases, and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres after 1492

What are these examples of?

How are cultural regions organized? Society – a group that shares a geographic region, a sense of identity and a culture Ethnic groups – a specific group within a society that shares a common language, customs, and heritage

What is the difference between race and ethnicity? Race – physical - biological and physical differences; skin color, cranial size and shape, and hair type. Ethnicity – social/mental - values, institutions, and patterns of behavior within a group