Culture

Carsyn Brownell Discussion: Personally i think it is insane that so many things can fall under the category of Culture. Culture isnt just one specific thing but numerous things all put together to make one specific thing. (if that makes any sense haha) :) Marissa Bondi: I agree with carson...cculture should be divided and taught separately in different categories such as religion, food...etc.

carsyn and marissa: http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/Cultural_Geography.htm [] [] vocab: Unit III. Cultural Patterns and Processes, Part 1—Basic Vocabulary and Concepts Concepts of Culture Acculturation Assimilation Cultural adaptation Cultural core/periphery pattern Cultural ecology Cultural identity Cultural landscape Cultural realm Culture Culture region • Formal—core, periphery • Functional—node • Vernacular (perceptual)—regional self-awareness Diffusion types • Expansion—hierarchical, contagious, stimulus • Relocation Innovation adoption Maladaptive diffusion Sequent occupance Folk and Popular Culture Adaptive strategies Anglo-American landscape characteristics Architectural form Built environment Folk culture Folk food Folk house Folk songs Folklore Material culture Nonmaterial culture Popular culture Survey systems Traditional architecture Language Creole Dialect Indo-European languages Isogloss Language Language family Language group Language subfamily Lingua franca Linguistic diversity Monolingual/multilingual Official language Pidgin Toponymy Trade language

Of the 6,000 or so languages in the world, most are spoken by small tribal groups and only about 12-15 are used in a widespread fashion in international trade and politics. The rest are national languages of the dominant culte in any given nation except in Africa and the Americas, where the official national languages are often that of their former European colonialists. In the recent past, of course, 'English' has become the accepted international language of trade. __Other Cultural Websites Around the World __ (see bottom of page for more): []
 * __CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY: __** The study of countries', cultures, customs, foods, [|clothing], music, architecture, traditions, religions and languages of the world. The world has about 200 different nations and over 6,000 distinct languages in it. Since languages are a basic part of forming a basis for a culture, then there are over 6,000 different cultures in the world also. Since it would be almost impossible to represent them all on this webpage, a sample of some of the world's general or main cultural pools is shown below from the geographic areas of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania.

__AFRICA: __ Since there are over 1,000 languages and only about 50 different countries in Africa, many nations use the language of their former European colonists as their 'official' language (English, French, German, Italian, Portugese and Dutch). The largest native language groups are Arabic in the north, Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa in the west, Amharic (Ethiopian) and Kiswahili in the east and Zulu in the south. The main racial stocks of Africa are the Arabic peoples in the north, Bantu peoples of the west, central and south, the pygmies and Watusi (Tutsi) of central Africa and the Ethiopian and Swahili speaking peoples of east Africa. While Africa has modern technology and infrastructures, the following photos concentrate on the traditional and cultural aspects of the continent.

__ASIA (Near and Middle East): __ This region is dominated by Arabic, Hebrew (Israeli), Farsi (Iranian, old Persia) and Hindi (Indian) speaking peoples. There arew about 40 different Arabic speaking nations spread across North Africa, the Middle East and SE Asia. India has over 25 principal languages each seperated generally by their own province.

__ASIA (the FAR EAST, Oriental Asia): __ Can generally be thought of as being dominated in the east and north by China, the Koreas and Japan. Japan and the Koreas have one principal language each, while China has about 300 spoken languages that all share a common written language. In SE Asia, the principal nations are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Phillipines. Principal languages are Vietnamese, Kymer (Cambodian), Laotian, Thai (Thailand), Burmese, Malay (Indonesia and Malaysia) and Pilipino (Tagalog) for the Phillipines.

__EUROPE: __ may be classified into three main sub-groups. The northwestern (Anglo-Saxon) Peoples, southern (Mediterranean) peoples and the eastern (Slavic) peoples with their almost corresponding language groups (Gemanic, Romantic and Slavic).

__the AMERICAS: __ are generally divided into four distinct regions. North America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. In the last 3 regions mentioned, Spanish is the dominant language spoken (except Portugese in Brazil). In North America it is the English, Spanish and French languages. The Americas also have over 500 Native American tribes, many of whom still speak their own languages. In the Arctic region of earth's north, Native peoples who share a common culture live in the northern parts of the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland (Denmark) and the rest of Northern Europe. They are known as Eskimos and Inuit, among other names.

__<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">OCEANIA: __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> the definition of Oceania sometimes includes the continent of Australia and sometimes does not. In this definition it is included along with New Zealand because of the dispersal of native peoples prior to the coming of the Europeans. There are hundreds of distinct languages in Oceania (300 alone in Papua New Guinea), but with only three distinct regions divided among the thousands of islands of the 'South Pacific', another name sometimes used to describe the region. The three distinct regions (and island groups) are made up of peoples belonging to distinct racial, cultural and linguistic groups. They are Melanesia (meaning 'dark skinned' people and referring to possible African origins), Micronesia (meaning 'scattered islands') and Polynesia (meaning 'many islands'). The Micronesians are related to the Malays, Indonesians and Filipinos. The Polynesians are related to the Micronesians but are lighter skinned and stockier. The native peoples of Australia were Melanesian, while the native peoples of Hawaii and New Zealand were Polynesian.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'mso-bidi-font-family;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; msofareastfontfamily: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-no-proof: yes; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: EN-US; msobidilanguage: AR-SA; msonoproof: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'mso-bidi-font-family;">Culture is an all-encompassing term that defines the tangible lifestyle of a people and their prevailing values and beliefs. The concept of culture is closely identified with anthropology. Over more than a century ago most anthropologists believed that culture was learned. However, recent advances in sociobiology and related fields suggest that certain behaviors may be genetically deter-mined, so that culture has an "instinctive" component as well as a "learned" one. This chapter discusses the development of culture, the human imprint on the landscape, culture and environment, and cultural perceptions and processes. The key points covered in this chapter are outlined below. Culture and Human Geography The concept of culture lies at the heart of human geography. Locational decisions, patterns, and landscapes are fundamentally influenced by cultural attitudes and practices. The concept of culture, like the regional concept discussed in the previous chapter, appears to be deceptively simple, but in fact is complex and challenging. The definitions of culture vary widely, as does our use of the word itself, but all refer in one way or another to humans—their development, ideas, and adaptation to the world in which they live. Components Culture is made up of four major components. The first of these is a cultural trait—a single attribute of a culture—such as eating with certain utensils. The second component is a cultural complex—a discrete combination of traits exhibited by a particular culture—such as keeping cattle for different purposes. The third component is a culture system—culture complexes with traits in common that can be grouped together—such as ethnicity, language, religion, and other cultural elements. The final component, the cultural region—the area within which a particular culture sys-tem prevails—is marked by all the attributes of a culture. Cultural regions may be expressed on a map, but many geographers prefer to describe these as geographic regions since their definition is based on a combination of cultural properties plus locational and environmental circumstances. Topics Key topics in cultural geography include cultural landscapes—the human imprint on the Earth's surface. These create a distinct and characteristic landscape that reveals much about the culture presently occupying the area, as well as those that came before. A second key topic focuses on cultural hearths—the sources of civilizations from which radiate ideas, innovations, and ideologies. Cultural geographers identify both ancient and modern cultural hearths. Cultural diffusion—the process by which innovations and ideas spread to other areas—involves several types of diffusion. Expansion diffusion may take the form of contagious diffusion, where some item of culture is spread through a local population by contact from person to person. In the case of hierarchical diffusion, another form of expansion diffusion, an idea or innovation spreads by trickling down from larger to smaller adoption units. Innovations often leapfrog over wide areas, with geographic distance a less important influence. The early spread of the FAX machine is a good example of this type of diffusion. A third type of expansion diffusion is stimulus diffusion, a process where an idea or innovation is not readily adopted by a population but results in local experimentation and eventual changes in the way of doing things. The Industrial Revolution, for example, did not immediately spread to pre- or non-industrial societies, but did stimulate attempts to mechanize local handicraft production. The different forms of expansion diffusion take place through populations that are stable. It is the innovation or idea that does the moving. Relocation diffusion—the spreading of innovations by a migrating population—involves the actual movement of individuals who have already adopted the idea or innovation, and who carry it to a new, perhaps distant locale, where they disseminate it. The spread of European emigrants around the world during the period of Europeanization is a classic example. The topic of cultural perception­—the way that members of a culture view themselves as well as how they view other cultures—is a combination of tangible and intangible elements that help to define the personality of a region. We all have impressions and images of various regions and cultures, even though they may not always be accurate. Perceptual regions are intellectual constructs designed to help us understand the nature and distribution of phenomena in human geography. These perceptions are based on our accumulated knowledge about such regions and cultures. Perceptual regions can differ considerably, depending on the individual's mental maps of various communities and cultures. The final considered topic, cultural environment—the relationships between human societies and the natural environment—is complex. Environment affects societies in countless ways from the types of crops grown to the houses they build, but societies also modify their natural environments in ways that range from slight to severe. One thing is certain, however. While human behavior is not controlled by the environment (as the now-defunct concept of environmental determinism suggested), no culture, no matter how sophisticated, can completely escape the forces of nature.

20 Questions:

<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">d. Cultural diffusion <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: EN-US; msobidilanguage: AR-SA;"> Answers:
 * 1) What is the world’s fastest growing religion?
 * 2) Christianity
 * 3) Hinduism
 * 4) Islam
 * 5) Buddhism
 * 6) Judaism
 * 7) Which Language has become the world’s primary lingua franca?
 * 8) Mandarin Chinese
 * 9) Hindi
 * 10) German
 * 11) Spanish
 * 12) English
 * 13) The following structure would most likely be found in which country? (pagoda)
 * 14) Ecuador
 * 15) Germany
 * 16) India
 * 17) Thailand
 * 18) Israel
 * 19) Which of the following is the world’s largest universal religion?
 * 20) Hinduism
 * 21) Christianity
 * 22) Islam
 * 23) Buddhism
 * 24) Shintoism
 * 25) Religionization would best explain the characteristics of the study of…
 * 26) Popular culture
 * 27) Adaptive strategies
 * 28) Built environment
 * 29) Material culture
 * 30) Folk culture
 * 31) Which of the following best exemplifies folk culture?
 * 32) A dialect that is similar in 2 different regions of the country
 * 33) Purchasing of rap music by a white suburban youth
 * 34) Cajun music
 * 35) Eating Chinese food in NYC
 * 36) Burial of the dead
 * 37) Where is the hearth of country music?
 * 38) Galveston, TX
 * 39) Montgomery, AL
 * 40) Atlanta, GA
 * 41) Nashville, TN
 * 42) Charlotte, NC
 * 43) A good example of a monolingual country would be:
 * 44) Japan
 * 45) Canada
 * 46) Switzerland
 * 47) South Africa
 * 48) Turkey
 * 49) When European settlers established relations with native Americans, a new language was created to ease translation for both groups. What is that language called?
 * 50) Constitutional language
 * 51) Trade language
 * 52) Creole language
 * 53) Official language
 * 54) Indigenous language
 * 55) Which of the following religions in the best example of a polytheistic religion?
 * 56) Shintoism
 * 57) Judaism
 * 58) Atheism
 * 59) Christianity
 * 60) Islam
 * 61) When Muslims make the pilgrimage to Mecca to observe Kabah, which of the following five pillars are they practicing?
 * 62) Shahadah
 * 63) Salah
 * 64) Zakat
 * 65) Sawm
 * 66) Haij
 * 67) What is the largest denomination of Christianity?
 * 68) Roman Catholicism
 * 69) Greek orthodox
 * 70) Methodist
 * 71) Baptist
 * 72) Mormon
 * 73) Many Islamic states in the middle east region combine religion and state and don’t separate them. This is an example of what?
 * 74) Monotheism
 * 75) Plural society
 * 76) Democracy
 * 77) Theocracy
 * 78) Multilingual society
 * 79) The two primary eastern religions of Hinduism and Buddhism each have their hearths located where?
 * 80) Jerusalem, Israel
 * 81) Western Saudi Arabia
 * 82) Eastern China
 * 83) Southeast Asia
 * 84) Northern India
 * 85) Yom Kippur, or the day of Atonement is the most important holiday in which religion?
 * 86) Christianity
 * 87) Islam
 * 88) Judasim
 * 89) Hinduism
 * 90) Buddhism
 * 91) Which language is known as the lingua franca of eastern Africa?
 * 92) Hindi
 * 93) English
 * 94) French
 * 95) Swahili
 * 96) Zulu
 * 97) What percentage of the world’s languages are expected to die out whitin the next century?
 * 98) 90%
 * 99) 75%
 * 100) 50%
 * 101) 25%
 * 102) 10%
 * 103) Which distinctive cultural region in the United States has its own food, music, and language along the border with Mexico?
 * 104) Italian American
 * 105) Swedish American
 * 106) Cajun
 * 107) Creole
 * 108) Tex-Mex
 * 109) Which of the following is the best example of folk food?
 * 110) Hamburgers in the US
 * 111) Pizza in the US
 * 112) McDonald’s french fries in Germany
 * 113) KFC in china
 * 114) Blowfish in Japan
 * 115) The worldwide devotion to the game of soccer (football) in an example of what type of diffusion?
 * 116) Relocation diffusion
 * 117) Contagious diffusion
 * 118) Hierarchical diffusion
 * 119) Stimulus diffusion
 * C
 * E
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 * B
 * E
 * C
 * D
 * A
 * B
 * A
 * E
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 * D
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 * C
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 * B

JOSHUA PATE REVIEW: These notes and presentations were very well thought out and this shows how much work this group has done to prepare this page.