Unit 3 AP Human Geography

Flashcards for all the necessary terminology of Unit 3

Culture

the beliefs, values, practices, behaviors, & technologies shared by a society & passed down

Cultural trait

attributes of a specific culture

Artifacts

visible objects & technologies that a culture creates

Sociofacts

structures & organizations that influence social behavior

Mentifacts

the central, enduring elements of a culture that reflect its shared ideas

Popular culture

the widespread behaviors, beliefs, & practices of ordinary people in a society

Traditional culture

composed of long-established behaviors, beliefs, & practices passed down

Cultural norms

the shared standards & patterns that guide the behavior of people

Ethnocentrism

the tendency of ethnic groups to evaluate other groups according to their own pre conceived ideas

Cultural relativism

evaluation of a culture solely by its unique standards

Cultural landscape

natural landscape modified by humans reflecting their cultural beliefs

Identity

how humans make sense of themselves & how they wish to be viewed by others

Sequent occupance

the notion that successive societies leave behind their cultural imprint

Ethnicity

the state of belonging to a group of people who share common cultural traits

Ethnic neighborhoods

Cultural landscapes within communities of people outside their country of origin

Traditional architecture

established building styles of different cultures, religions, & places

Postmodern architecture

emphasizes form, structure, & materials, originating in the 1960s as a reaction to modern designs

Religion

System of spiritual beliefs that helps form cultural perceptions, attitudes, & values

Pilgrimage

journey to a holy place for spiritual reasons

Language

carrier of human thoughts & cultural identities

Toponyms

help define what is unique about a place, geographic features & whatnot

Gendered spaces

Certain spaces may be designed & incorporated into landscape to accommodate gender

Gender identity

One's innermost concept of self as male, female, & a blend, or neither

Safe spaces

spaces of acceptance for people who are sometimes marginalized

Gentrification

renovations & improvements conforming to middle-class preferences

Third place

Communal space such as a coffee shop, fitness center, or bookstore that is separate from home or work

Sense of place

feelings & memories people associate with a geographic location

Placemaking

Community driven process, people collaborate to create a place where they can live, work, play, & learn

Dialects

variation of a standard language specific to a general area

Adherents

people who are loyal to a belief, religion, or organization

Denominations

separate organizations that unite a number of local congregations

Sect

relatively small group of people that has separated from an established denomination

Centripetal force

a force that unites a group of people

Centrifugal force

a force that divides groups of people

Diffusion

Process by which cultural traits spread from one place to another over time

Cultural hearth

where a trait originates

Expansion diffusion

when an aspect of culture spreads outward from where it originated

Contagious diffusion

an idea/cultural trait spreads adjacently, or to people or places that are conquered

Hierarchical diffusion

spread of an idea from a person or place of power or authority to others

Stimulus diffusion

when the fundamental idea behind a cultural trait stimulates an innovation

Lingua franca

Common language used among speakers of different languages

Creolization

when people incorporate particular elements from an incoming culture & language

Cultural convergence

As cultures interact with one another, they become more similar

Cultural divergence

increased interaction can cause conflicting beliefs & cause less similarity between 2 cultures

Acculturation

People in one culture adopt some of the traits of another while still retaining their own distinct culture

Assimilation

Category where two cultures interact resulting in one culture adopting almost all customs, traits, etc. of the other one

Syncretism

facts from two or more cultures blend together to form a new custom, idea, belief, or practice

Multiculturalism

large cities, where people from many different cultures coexist

Collectivist cultures

People expected to conform to collective responsibility within the family

Cultural appropriation

act of adopting elements of another culture, typically from a dominant culture by a minority culture

Language family

Group of languages that share a common ancestral language from a hearth

Isolate

a language that is unrelated to any other known language

Language branch

collection of languages within a language family but separate from other branches

Language groups

languages within a language branch that share a common origin and relatively new, overlapping vocabulary

Universalizing religions

a religion that tries to appeal to all humans & is open to everyone

Christianity

Religion based on teachings of Jesus Christ, began around CE

Islam

Religion based on teachings of Muhammad that originated in Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula

Buddhism

Religion which arose from NE India between ~6th ~4th centuries BCE

Sikhism

Newest religion founded by Guru Nanak, 1469-1539, in Punjab, NW India

Hinduism

Religion that arose a few thousand years ago in South Asia, closest to India

Judaism

First more theistic religion, developed among Hebrew people in SW Asia ~4,000 years ago

Secularized

Focused on worldly rather than spiritual concerns

Lebensraum

the living space for each distinct nation was based upon the optimal physical geography of the culture group

Fuzzy Borders

cultural regions tend to have this because it’s hard to tell where one cultural region ends and another begins

Border States

where one part of the state is decidedly Southern and another part seems more Northeastern