1. Culture and Religion

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

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

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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Jazz in the US

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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?

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

13. 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

14. Monotheistic
Belief in one god.
Christianity
Islam
Judaism
Sikhism

15. 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