1. Culture: Cultural Diversity and Conformity
Culture consists of all the shared products of human groups.
These products include both physical objects and the beliefs, values, and behaviors shared by a group.
Diversity exists between cultures and within a culture.

2. Components of Culture Culture is both learned and shared.
ALL cultures have certain basic components
Technology
Symbols
Language
Values
Norms

3. A woman looks at a dish of worms during the
Taipei Chinese Food Festival in Taiwan.
Spinach Pierogi

4. Members of a 1960s commune pose together for
a group portrait

5. Harajuku girls stroll down a street in Tokyo, Japan

7. Papua New Guinean men in traditional clothing and
face paint at the Sing- Sing Annual Cultural show.

8. Bocce

9. Cologne Cathedral, built in the Middle Ages, stands at the
center of Cologne, Germany, and towers over the city,
symbolizing the central role Christianity played in
medieval European life.

10. Over 90 percent of the people who live in industrial
societies live in cities or towns.

11. Women waiting in line for food in Calcutta, India

12. Using the Internet to connect with the world around
them is common among young people across cultures.

13. Components of Culture Culture is both learned and shared.
ALL cultures have certain basic components
Technology
Symbols
Language
Values
Norms

14. Culture Material Culture Nonmaterial Culture
The physical objects that people create and use.
Nonmaterial Culture
Make lists of each on the white board
Abstract human creations: beliefs/values, family patterns, language, political and economic systems, rules, skills, and work practices

15. Technology
Culture consists of not only physical objects but also the rules for using those objects.
Using items of material culture, particularly tools, requires knowledge of various skills which is part of nonmaterial culture
Example: an understanding of how silicon chips work, knowledge of computer languages, and the ability to surf the internet are all skills related to the computer (a material culture item)

16. Examples of Material Culture
Food
Clothing and Adornment of the Body
Tools and Weapons
Housing and Shelter
Transportation
Personal Possessions
Household Articles

17. What does our stuff say about us?
“Culture for Sale!!”:
What does our stuff say about us? 3 3 3 3

18. Buried Treasure Activity
For the item you selected to place in the time capsule, identify the following:
Role in society, use, purpose, etc.
Rules associated with item
Change agent? How has the item changed culture or behavioral patterns?

19. Symbols The use of symbols is the very basis of human culture.
A symbol is anything that represents something else.
Word, gestures, images, sounds, physical objects, events, or elements of the natural world.
ALL cultures communicate symbolically.

20. REALITY FOR HUMANS IS FOUND IN THE MEANING THINGS CARRY WITH THEM
ANYTHING THAT CARRIES A PARTICULAR MEANING RECOGNIZED BY PEOPLE WHO SHARE CULTURE
REALITY FOR HUMANS IS FOUND IN THE MEANING THINGS CARRY WITH THEM
THE BASIS OF CULTURE; MAKES LIFE POSSIBLE
PEOPLE MUST BE MINDFUL THAT MEANINGS VARY FROM CULTURE TO CULTURE
WHY AMERICANS ARE AT TIMES CALLED “UGLY”
MEANINGS CAN EVEN VARY GREATLY WITHIN THE SAME GROUPS OF PEOPLE
FUR COATS, CONFEDERATE FLAGS, ETC. 7 7 7 7

21. Language
The organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system
Formal language—written and spoken
Informal language—slang, texting, accents, regional

22. A SYSTEM OF SYMBOLS THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER
CULTURAL TRANSMISSION
PASSING ON CULTURE
SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS
WE KNOW THE WORLD ONLY IN TERMS OF OUR LANGUAGE
i.e. self
NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE
BEWARE OF USING GESTURES 8 8 8 8

23. Values
Language and symbols are important partly because they allow us to communicate our values to one another.
Values are shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable

24. HOW DO WE SHARE OUR VALUES WITH MEMBERS OF SOCIETY?
Influences kind of culture created
American Values – Sometimes a contradiction
EQUALITY
ACHIEVEMENT AND SUCCESS
INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM
HOW DO WE SHARE OUR VALUES WITH MEMBERS OF SOCIETY? 9 9 9 9

30. Public Service Announcements
Prevent Forest Fires
Register to Vote
Rock the Vote
Humane Society: Fight against Dog Fighting

31. Norms All groups create norms to enforce their cultural values
Norms are shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations
Norms are expectations for behavior, not actual behavior
Some norms apply to everyone in society, others are applied selectively

32. TYPES FOLKWAYS MORES TABOOS Laws Video #1 Video #2
LESS SERIOUS OFFENSES
PREFERRED BEHAVIOR
MORES
MORALLY SIGNIFICANT
TABOOS
EXTREMELY SIGNIFICANT
Laws
Formalized norms
Video #1
Video #2
LAWS ARE NORMS
WHICH CAN BE
ENFORCED BY
AGENTS OF THE
STATE. 10 10 11 11

33. SOCIAL CONTROL MEANS BY WHICH MEMBERS OF SOCIETY ENCOURAGE CONFORMITY
INFORMAL SANCTIONS
FORMAL SANCTIONS
Spontaneous expressions of approval/ or disapproval given by an individual or group
Positive: smile, praise,
Negative: frowns, scolding, ignored
Video #1
Video #2
Rewards/punishments given by formal organization
Positive – promotions, raises, bonuses
Negative: fines, low grades, termination

34. “Welcome to America”
You will create a rough draft for a pamphlet to be handed out to newly arriving immigrants.
Identify one place/institution/group in American society and complete the following tasks:
Identify as many norms as you can think of for the place you identified
Identify what kind of norms they are
Identify at least one value that the norms represent
Identify two types of sanctions (formal or informal, negative or positive)
Video - How does America look to a newly arrived immigrant?

35. What Do We All Have in Common?
Humans have ability to meet needs in a vast number of ways
Ability only limited by biological makeup and physical environment
Ability leads to great diversity in many ways
Cultural Universals
Cultural universals are features developed by all societies to fulfill basic needs
George Murdock compiled list of over 65 cultural universals
Specific nature of the universals may vary widely between cultures
Cultural Particulars
Cultural Particulars are the way each culture expresses the cultural universals.
Homes are universal but all homes do not look alike.

37. DIVERSITY IN CULTURE DIVERSE NATION: BUILT ON IMMIGRATION
ONE OF THE MOST MULTICULTURAL COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD
Ethnic Diversity
MELTING POT OR MOSAIC
Economic Diversity
Class structure
Age
Youth Culture
DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF CULTURE
HIGH CULTURE
CULTURAL PATTERNS FOUND WITHIN A SOCIETY’S ELITE GROUPS
POPULAR CULTURE
PATTERNS THAT ARE WIDESPREAD

38. SUBCULTURES COUNTERCULTURES
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN CULTURAL DIVERSITY IS
GOOD FOR A SOCIETY, AS WELL AS TIMES WHEN
IT SEEMS TO WORK AGAINST “THE GRAIN”
SUBCULTURES
GROUPS WHOSE CULTURAL PATTERNS SET THEM APART FROM WIDER SOCIETY
ACCEPT PRIMARY NORMS AND VALUES OF MAINSTREAM
RELIGIOUS CULTS, INNER-CITY TEENS, COWBOYS, THE AMISH, FARMERS,
COUNTERCULTURES
GROUPS WHOSE CULTURAL PATTERNS ARE AT GREAT ODDS WITH WIDER SOCIETY
REJECT MAINSTREAM NORMS AND VALUES
RADICAL MILITIA GROUPS, THE KLAN, THE SKINHEAD GROUPS 11 11 14 14

39. Responses to Cultural Variation
Ethnocentrism
Judging other cultures based on the norms of our own culture
Can lead to culture clash (conflict between cultures)
Cultural Relativism
Use their cultural standards to judge

40. Postville: When Cultures Collide
As you watch the film:
Components of Culture
Create a chart with 3 columns and 4 rows.
Each each row label with a component of culture (symbols, language, values, norms)
Each column label with one of the ethnic groups in Postville (Anglo-American/white mid-westerners, Orthodox Jews, and Hispanic)
Identify examples from the film of the component of culture you identify
Cultural Encounters
As you watch the film, identify examples of the following:
Ethnocentrism
Culture clash
Cultural change

41. Postville Today
Immigration raid leaves damaging mark on Postville, Iowa
A year after the crackdown of at a kosher meatpacking plant, the town is struggling with the bankrupt business, unemployment and high anxiety.

42. CULTURAL DIFFUSION DISCOVERY INVENTION creating new culture
spreading of culture traits from one society to another
DISCOVERY
understanding has increased
INVENTION
creating new culture 13

43. Cultural Change Cultural lag
Cultural lag is the time it takes for nonmaterial culture to “catch up” to changes in material culture
Cultural leveling
Cultural leveling is a process by which cultures become more and more alike
Some suggest it is the first step toward a global culture

44. Changes in America Task:
Identify one major change in American culture during the last hundred years.
What is the change?
What was the reason for the change? Need? Historical event? Invention?
How did the cultural change affect our culture? (material and non-material)
Effects
Causes

45. Cultural Diversity and Sociology
The Adaptive American Culture
The long history of immigration to the United States has resulted in an American culture that embraces values, behaviors, and material culture from other cultures around the world.
Latino influence is especially strong as Hispanics are the largest minority group
Influences food, clothes, and cars available
Latino holidays are celebrated
Spanish-language advertisements are common
South Asians are becoming a larger and larger portion of U.S. population
Pakistani and Indian food has quickly become more popular
Bollywood movies are popular –

46. 5-Minute Warm-up
Make a list of 15 things, both material and nonmaterial, that you value.
Rank each item (#1 is the most important to you and #15 is the least).
You’ve been given $ Decide how you much of your money you will spend on each item. You may spread out your money or put it all on one item.

47. How important is work in the American value system?

49. Other Core Values Nationalism Patriotism Science and rationality
Racial and group superiority
Education
Religion
Romantic love

50. Our Changing Values
While the United States has a set of core values, new values or changed values are sometimes noted.
Leisure
Physical fitness
Youthfulness
Self-fulfillment
Environmentalism
Progress
New Values
Some scholars see self-fulfillment as a healthy new value, while others view its extreme, narcissism, as detrimental to society as a whole.
Self-fulfillment and Narcissism –

52. Bars (red) or grocery stores (yellow)

56. Life Expectancy

57. Ancestry

62. Values in the U.S.
Create a collage of images that represent the eight core values of American culture.
You may include photos from magazines or your own illustrations. You’ll only have 20 minutes to choose the eight images for your collage.
On the back of the collage, for each of the American values,
In your own words, define the value and write a one sentence summary of your rationale for choosing the image. How does it represent the value?

63. Cultural Universals
In your small group, identify one of the categories you researched in your Culturegrams activity.
Create a Powerpoint slide that highlights the differences/similarities of the cultural universal in each of the countries your group members researched and the U.S. (compare and contrast)
Include pictures!!

64. Cultural Universals
Copy the T-chart to the right onto p. 6 of your packet. Choose one of the countries from your Culturegrams activity.
Choose four of the cultural universals and identify one example for each culture.
Your choice
U.S.