1. What is culture?
There are many academic definitions of culture and these definitions vary widely largely because the word “culture” is applied in different contexts.
Based on the accumulated EDU course materials, the published definition I found that resonates best with me is from Schwartz (1993) as follows:
“Culture consists of the derivatives of experience, more or less organized, learned or created by the individuals of a population, including those images or encodements and their interpretations (meanings) transmitted from past generations, from contemporaries, or formed by individuals themselves.”
This is a sufficiently broad definition to incorporate all the perspectives we have covered in this class. I have also update my original mindmap created in Unit 1 of this course.
Reference:
Theodore Schwartz et al. (eds.) (1993). New Directions in Psychological Anthropology. [Online]. Publications of the Society for Psychological Anthropology. (No. 3). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available from: Cambridge Books Online <

2. Additional Reference
I located an excellent reference source called, “What is Culture? A Compilation of Quotations” by Helen Spencer-Oatey (2012). Recognizing the variable definitions and interpretations over the course of history, Spencer-Oatey compiled a detailed overview broken down into twelve key characteristics of culture as follows:
Culture is manifested at different layers of depth
Culture affects behavior and interpretations of behavior
Culture can be differentiated from both universal human nature and unique individual personality
Culture influences biological processes
Culture is associated with social groups
Culture is both an individual construct and a social construct
Culture is always both socially and psychologically distributed in a group, and thus demarcations are imprecise
Culture has both universal (etic) and distinctive (emic) elements
Culture is learned
Culture is subject to gradual change
The various parts of a culture are all, to some degree, interrelated
Culture is a descriptive not an evaluative concept
I found these to be an excellent reflection of what we have covered.
Reference:
Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts. Available at GlobalPAD Open House

3. Conservative/Liberal
Race & Ancestry
Family Origin
Parents
Extended family
Values
Appearance
Mind map
Socioeconomic
Media in general
Role models
Evolving
Geography
Inherent stereotypes
Climate
Culture
Ethnicity
Traditions
Music Appearance
Education
Type
Dedication
Language
Religion
Ritual
Historical context
Current Relevance
Location
Accessibility
Quality
Approach
Literature
Teachers
Type
Dogma
Conservative/Liberal