Understanding Culture

Chapter 3 Section 1

Culture

• The way of life of people who share similar beliefs and customs

• Eight elements, known as traits, are examined to study culture.

8 Traits to Study Culture:

1) Social Groups

• Compare different groups of people in a society

• Compare the number of rich, poor, and middle class people

• Look at how the young and old are treated• Study the different roles of men and women• Examine a country’s different ethnic groups

Ethnic Groups

• A group of people who share a common history, language, religion, and some physical characteristics.

2 Particular Ethnic Groups:

• Majority Group- Controls most of the wealth and power

• Minority Group- People whose race or ethnic origin is different of that of the majority group

2) Language

• Sharing a language is one of the strongest unifying forces for a culture.

• There maybe different dialects of the language spoken

Dialect

• A local form of a language

Examples:-Soda, pop, coke-Ya’ll

3) Religion

• Helps people answer basic questions about life’s meaning

• Religious beliefs vary significantly around the world

*See Chart Excerpt

4) Daily Life

• What and how people eat.Examples:-Pizza, tacos, egg roll-Fingers, silverware

∙What people wear

∙What style of homes they build

5) History

• Shapes how we view the world• We celebrate holidays to honor successes

6) Arts

• A way of culture expression• Paintings and sculptures• Architecture, dance, music, theater, and

literature

7) Government

• People need rules in order to live together without conflict.

• Rules and laws are created by governments

*See Chart Excerpt

8) Economy

• How the people in a society earn a living

Examples:-Farm-Manu factor Products-Provide Services: Design a web page, prepare

food

Cultural Change

• Cultures do not remain the same.• Humans constantly invent new ideas and

technologies

Cultural Diffusion

• Process of spreading new knowledge and skills to other cultures

• Today television and the internet are making this process occur very rapidly.

Culture Over Time (1)

• First Human Societies-Hunting and Gathering-Nomadic- move from place to place, to follow

sources of food

Culture Over Time (2)

• Then, 10,000 Years Ago-People learned to grow food, by planting seeds-This brought about the Agricultural Revolution -People stayed in one place and built

civilizations

Civilizations

• Highly developed cultures• Among the first Civilizations were, present

day:1. Iraq2. Egypt3. India4. China

Culture Over Time (3)

• 1700s and 1800s• Countries began to industrialize, use machines

and factories to make goods• As a result, the Industrial Revolution occurred• People began to live longer, healthier, more

comfortable lives.

Culture Over Time (4)

• Recently• The Information Revolution

Culture Regions

• Regions- Areas that share common characteristics

• Culture Regions- Different countries that share common traits