1. What is Culture?

2. “We are, in sum, incomplete or unfinished
Clifford Geertz (anthropologist) in “The Interpretation of Cultures” states:
“We are, in sum, incomplete or unfinished
animals who complete or finish ourselves
through culture—and not through culture in
general but through highly particular forms
of it: Dobuan & Javanese, Hopi &
Italian, upper-class & lower-class,
academic & commercial.”

3. anthropology: the systematic understanding of
cultural aspects of human behavior
- tries to account for cultural differences/similarities
- how do cultures “operate”?
- language & religion
*Culture assumed to be a “learned behavior”

4. Cultural Geography is concerned with…
…how place affects culture
…how culture affects place
…the distributions of culture

5. A. Culture is…. The ways of life of people… - learned behavior
- mental thoughts & feelings
- group beliefs, attitudes, rules, or traditions
- human adaptations

6. Why is “culture” so varied?
How do we explain the differences & similarities between people?
* If a shaman (witchdoctor) claims he can fly, can he?
* Is the mental thought itself unreal?
* What about the case of the sacred cow in India?

7. culture traits: units of learned behavior (the “building blocks” of culture)

8. culture region: populations sharing similar cultural traits

9. cultural ecology: the study of the relationship between a culture group & the environment

10. B. Cultural Boundaries:
geographic areas defined by a shared culture
a cultural border is a “social construct” that is developed from a political situation
conflict may occur at such borders known as…
“shatter belts”
Examples:
Language
Religion

11. Nigeria’s Religious and Cultural Conflict

12. In your own words OR Example
Term
Definition
In your own words OR Example

13. Culture: Vocabulary Acculturation Artifact Contagious Diffusion
Cultural Autonomy
Cultural convergence
Cultural Divergence
Cultural Integration
Cultural Landscape
Cutlural System
Cultural Complex
Culture Hearth
Culture Realm
Syncretism
Diffusion
Environmental Determinism
Expansion Diffusion
Hierarchical Diffusion
Hunter-Gatherer
Ideological/Sociological/ Technological Subsystem
Independent Invention
Mentifact
Multilinear Evolution
Possibilism
Sociofact