Culture

What is Culture?• Knowledge, attitudes, and

behaviors • shared and passed on by a

group.

How do we learn culture?• Learned from family, school, peers.• Learned from media, social institutions.

What are the Elements of Culture?

1. Language 2. Religion (beliefs / morals / mores)3. Food and Shelter (Types / Styles)4. Education Systems5. Security/Protection6. Relationships – Family and Others7. Political and Social Organizations8. Creative Expression - Recreation

1. Language

• Allows for communication to exist• Helps establish cultural identities

• Oral tradition - Helps pass cultural traits along through generations

• There are between 3,000 and 6,500 different languages spoken in the world today• We know of 7,000 that have been spoken

• Dialect – different versions of the same basic language

2. ReligionThe belief in a supernatural power or powers, responsible for the creation and maintenance of the universe

Major Types of Religions?

1. Monotheistic – belief in one god2. Polytheistic – belief in many gods3. Animistic or Traditional – belief in the

forces of nature4. Nontheistic – Supernatural, but no

deities5. Atheistic – No deities, no supernatural

3. Food and Shelter –

The places we live and the things we eat

4. Education

• How culture is taught or learned

1. Formal – Schools, Universities, Religion (church)

2. In-Formal – Family, Friends, Social Clubs / Groups

5. Security/Protection• Military – National

Govt.• Police – Local Govt.• Family - Tribe

6. Relationships – Family and Others

• Family• Friends• Classmates / Co-Workers

7. Political and social organization • Government System

– Make rules and laws to keep society in order

• Clubs– Examples? Boys and

Girls, Boy Scouts, FFA, Optimists,

• Fraternal organizations– Kiwanis, University,

Veterans, Masonic etc.

8. Creative Expression - Recreation

• Music – instruments, singing

• Art– Paintings, sculpture,

photography• Dance• Theater• Literature

– Novels, Poems• Architecture• Sports• Outdoor activities• Hobbies

What is your culture?

Where do cultures start?• Cultural Hearth – where innovations, ideas,

materials and technology begin

How do cultures change and spread?

Innovation – creating something new to meet a need.

Diffusion – spread of ideas, inventions, or patterns of behavior

Can you think of an example of this?

Can you think of an example of this?

Assimilation – smaller society adopts the culture of a majority group

Acculturation – society accepts or adopts an innovation

How do cultures change and spread?

Can you think of an example of this?

Can you think of an example of this?

The Columbian Exchange– The exchange of animals, plants, culture and human

populations including slaves, communicable diseases, and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres after 1492

What are these examples of?

How are cultural regions organized?

• Society – a group that shares a geographic region, a sense of identity and a culture

• Ethnic groups – a specific group within a society that shares a common language, customs, and heritage

What is the difference between race and

ethnicity?• Race – physical - biological and

physical differences; skin color, cranial size and shape, and hair type.

• Ethnicity – social/mental - values, institutions, and patterns of behavior within a group