Studied by 37 people
Hearth
the geographic location where a new idea is born
Relocation diffusion
spread of ideas through travel or trade
Hierarchical diffusion
spread of ideas from a superior/elite person to average people
Contagious diffusion
spread of ideas from one average person to another
Stimulus diffusion
when one culture adapts and modifies ideas from another culture
Sacred site
a place that has a special connection to a religion’s god(s) or holy text
Place of worship
a place where people attend routine religious services
Monotheistic
a religion with one god
Polytheistic
a religion with multiple gods
Ethnic religion
a religion that is specific to a particular ethnic group and does not attempt to convert others
Universalizing religion
a religion that seeks new followers across many different regions or cultural groups
Pilgrimage
a religious journey, often to a sacred site
Jerusalem
a city in Israel that contains sacred sites for Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Site of many modern day religious conflicts.
Mecca
a pilgrimage destination in Saudi Arabia that Muslims must visit in their lifetimes if health and finances permit
Varanasi
a city on the banks of the Ganges River in India that is a sacred site for the Hindu religion
Culture
the characteristics, beliefs, and knowledge unique to a group of people, including language, religion, food, social habits, and arts.
Cultural traits
specific characteristics of a culture, such greetings, holidays, or food
Cultural Landscape
the ways that a cultural group modifies their environment.
Built environment
a synonym for cultural landscape
Material culture
physical objects from a culture
mentifcats/sociofacts
a core belief of a culture
Ethnocentrism
judging another culture by your own standards; a fancy word for racism
Cultural Relativism
the belief that people should try to understand other cultures instead of judging them
Taboo
a behavior that is forbidden in a culture
Assimilation
when a minority group is forced to give up their own culture due to social pressure or government policy
Acculturation
when members of a minority group maintain some of their cultural traditions but also adopt traditions from the majority culture
Syncretism
when ideas from two or more cultures combine to form something new
artifacts
any physical object from a culture; does not have to be old
sense of place
the strong emotional connection or perception people have of a specific geographic; the area set of qualities and characteristics that make a specific geographic location different from everywhere else
placelessness
when a place lacks qualities and characteristics that make it distinct from other geographic locations
placemaking
the process of creating a cultural landscape that showcases a particular culture OR the process of making an area a high quality place to live
environmental determinism
the belief that the environment determines the culture
environmental possibilism
the belief that environment is one of many factors that can influence a culture
Dialect
a regional, racial, or socioeconomic variation in how a language is spoken (British English v American English)
Language Family
a group of languages that share a common origin.
Indo-European Language Family
the largest language family in the world. It makes up 46% of modern languages, including English, most languages spoken in Europe, and most languages spoken on the Indian subcontinent
Sino-Tibetan Language Family
the second largest language family in the world. It makes up approximately 20% of modern languages in the world, including most languages in East Asia
language branch
a closely related group of languages from one family
isogloss
a line on a map showing where a language is spoken
lingua franca
a common language that is spoken between people who do not speak one another’s language
pidgin
an informal language that is made up of two languages, like spanglish
creole
a formal language that developed by combining two or more languages
multiculturalism
the presence of, or support for the presence of, several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society
centrifugal forces
forces that cause divisions in a country
centripetal forces
forces that help bring a country together
