Week 4 Vocab • Culture • Ethnic group

– There are numerous ethnic groups in the USA.

• Dialect – Do you say “soda” or “pop”?

• Monarchy – Prince William and Duchess Kate

• Dictator – Syria’s Assad has started to move

towards a dictatorship style of rule.

• democracy • cultural diffusion

– How did cultural diffusion occur before current technology?

• civilization – Egypt, India, Iraq, China

• economic systems – Which type of economic system do

we have in the US? • culture region

– The Southern states would be considered a culture region (similar food, dialect, religious beliefs)

Culture

• What is Culture? • What is Ethnocentrism? – The belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own

culture or ethnic group. – A tendency to view alien groups or cultures from

the perspective of one’s own.

Culture is like an iceberg, its huge but we only see a small piece of it

ClothingArts Food Games

Literature

Beliefs in

equality

Ideas of beauty

Concepts of Time

Social relationships

Beliefs about religion

Beliefs about

government Relation-ship to nature

Attitude towards change

CultureThere are 5 traits

geographers look at to determine a culture

Social Groups, Religion, Government and Economics,

Culture Regions, and Language

Language

• Sharing a language is the strongest bonds between people

• Dialects also unify groups within the larger culture. They use the same words but with different pronunciations

• Ex. Slang and “Teen Talk”

Religion

• Religions help people answer basic questions about life’s meanings

• People who share religious beliefs feel a strong connection to each other

• Sometimes religious belief can divide people.

Social Groups • There are many different types of groups in a

society. Family is usually the most important, but class/socioeconomic status can also play a big role

• Geographers look at how they are alike and how they are different.

• Ethnic Groups are cultures within other cultures

Government

• Different types of government reflect cultures. Governments are based on shared values.

• How they are organized and who holds power is reflective of cultural values

$ € Economy £ ¥

• How people earn a living varies in different cultures

• Traditional-based on beliefs and customs

• Market-based on freedom, personal choice

• Command-based on government control

Culture Region• Includes countries that have certain traits in

common. – Gov/Econ types– Language– Histories– Social groups– Religions – Art forms

History A shared history shapes how people

view the world Stories reveal ideas that are

important to a culture Good and bad experiences are

celebrated and remembered

Daily Life

Clothing (traditional and modern) Housing (types of housing,

construction materials)

Food What they eat How they eat it When they eat

Arts Arts provide insight into what is

beautiful and important to a culture Sculpture, painting, music, dance,

literature, etc. People express their culture and

beliefs' through their art