Culture and Religion

What is Culture? A people’s way of life It includes: Language Literature Music Art Beliefs and Religion Technology Institutions Customs Roles

Customs How people dress Traditional foods Holidays How they celebrate major turning points: Birthdays, coming-of-age, marriage, parenthood, death

Roles Based on rules for the proper behavior of individuals in particular positions and situations Gender roles – specifically assigned to men and women

Homogeneous vs. Multicultural Homogeneous Society: almost everyone belongs to the same ethnic group and shares the same language and traditions Examples: Saudi Arabia, Japan Multicultural Society: contains a mix of peoples and cultures; ethnic groups are often mixed throughout the country Examples: United States, Brazil

Cultural Diffusion Dispersion of ideas, practices, technologies, language and other cultural aspects This is how culture evolves and adapts Examples: Spread of languages and religion Jazz in the United States Columbian Exchange

Jazz in the US

Cultural Diffusion Spread of American Popular Culture American movies, “pop” music, TV programs, “fast food,” have all spread around the world McDonald’s Tokyo, Japan McDonald’s Jerusalem

Cultural Diffusion Cultural Convergence – occurs when different cultures exchange ideas and become more similar; led to globalization Example: Democracy, spread of English Cultural Divergence – occurs when different cultural influences cause an area to divide into separate parts Example: India – was once unified by a common Hindu culture; arrival of Islam led it to be divided into Hindu and Muslim areas

Discuss with a partner… Talk about how the Winter and Summer Olympics are an example of cultural convergence. How has technology contributed to cultural convergence?

Folk Culture Folk culture refers to a culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups.

Major Religions Christianity – 2.2 billion Islam 1.5 billion Hinduism 1 billion Buddhism 400 million Animism 232 million Judaism 17 million Sikhism 16 million

Monotheistic Belief in one god. Christianity Islam Judaism Sikhism

Animism Oldest known belief system Historically practiced in a variety of forms in traditional societies Developed in different parts of the world simultaneously Currently practiced world-wide but most common in areas of Africa and the Americas Tradition of story-telling rather than putting beliefs in writing Animals and plants have a spiritual nature