1. BR: D13
Over time, cultures experience change. Can you think of some examples of how culture has changed here in the U.S.? What do you think causes these changes?
Technology: The Cellphone
Computers
The Smartphone
Values:
Black Rights (used to be legal to segregate, treat badly, etc.; today that seems crazy)
LGBTQ+ Rights (same thing)

2. D14:
What is globalization? Do you think it is good / bad? Why?

3. World Geography Ch. 3.2, Part II Cultural Change
Culture changes over time. There are many factors, including inventions, new technologies, as well as things that help or hinder intercommunication.

4. Inventions & Technology
For many thousands of years, most people were hunter-gatherers. This means that they roves about, following food supplies (like animals, berries, nuts, etc), and when they had used all that was there in an area, they’d move on looking for more food. Around 8000 BCE, people learned to farm. This is called the Neolithic / Agricultural revolution. They realized that planting crops, and raising animals themselves was easier than chasing it around. This led to some of the great civilizations that we discussed in World Civilizations, and led to social classes, governments, writing, etc. Of course, these changes led to changes in the culture of these people too.

5. More Recent Changes
In the last 300 years or so, more changes have occurred. The Industrial Revolution changed things dramatically, leading to cultural changes, like the fall of feudalism, and leading to most people no longer being self-sufficient farmers. VID The last 50 or so years (aka the Information Age) has also been dramatic. Computers and technology have changed drastically, and information is now at our fingertips. This isn’t all good, though. Medical knowledge has also greatly increased, leading to longer life spans, etc. All of these changes have led to dramatic changes in culture as well. Many of your grandparents, etc., can remember when our culture was very different. VID

6. Cultural Diffusion
Another huge factor in cultural change is the influence of other cultures. The spreading of other languages, ideas, customs, etc. (i.e., the spread of other cultures) is known as cultural diffusion.
Hundreds of years ago, the main way this occurred was thru Trade, Migration, and Conquest. For instance, trade is what encouraged the Age of Exploration, where the Spanish, Portuguese, English, etc. set off in ships to trade goods around the world. Sometimes they would settle in these new areas (migration), and spread their own culture, while often bringing some foreign culture back with them.
Other times, they simply conquered another area, often to make trade easier and more profitable, and they would impose their culture on others. This explains why Romance languages (like Spanish, French, Italian, etc.) are spread all over Europe, since they are the descendants of Latin, the language of the ancient conquerors of Europe, the Romans.
Today, the internet, etc. makes it even easier for cultural diffusion to occur.

7. Just as there are physical regions, or areas that share similar characteristics, there are also cultural regions. Above is a map that shows some general World Culture Regions:

8. Culture Regions, Cont.
The countries you saw in each of those regions generally share similar social groups, governments, economic systems, religions, languages, ethnic groups, histories, etc.
For example, Northern Africa, as well as the Middle East, share Islam as a dominant religion, as well as Arabic language and history. Though they are similar in some ways, each country have unique traits and qualities too.
Global Culture is a new phenomenon that is developing. Communication and technology is breaking down previous barriers that existed. This has resulted in Globalization, or an increasingly similar worldwide culture and economy, where all countries depend on each other, and are no longer self-sufficient. Not everyone likes this, though. VID
Discussion: Globalization: Good or Bad? Explain! VID

9. Class Activity:
For the remainder of class, you’ll be working on the following:
Get together in groups of 2-3, and create a poster (using the butcher paper provided) based on research of one of the following World Religions:
Christianity*, Islam*, Hinduism*, Buddhism*, Judaism*, Sikhism, Bahaism, Confucianism, Jainism, Shintoism, etc.
You can choose another, or a subdivision of a larger one, as long as it has at least 1 million believers. The most influential ones are marked with an asterisk, and we’ll need a poster for sure on each of those.
We will be presenting these D14, at the end of class (with classtime to work on them), so be ready to present!

10. HW: (This is now Extra Credit)
Reminder: Choose one of the following:
Option A: Do some research on one of the three main ideas discussed today options (Population Growth, Where People Live, Population Movement, etc.), and then create a story that tells us more about your chosen topic (for instance, for Pop. Movement, the reasons for a person’s migration, difficulties faced, etc.
Option B & C: Do some research, then create a slideshow presentation or a Poster on one of the topic options (Population Growth, Where People Live, Population Movement, etc.), showing us what you learned and the importance of understanding it better.
For all of these options, see the class handouts:
(Due: T1D15)