ap hug unit 3 vocab

Culture

The belief, values, practices, behaviors and technologies shared by a society and passed down generation to generation

Hearth

A center of innovation where a cultural idea, innovation, or belief originates and spreads to other areas

Artifact

Visible objects and technologies that a culture creates

Sociofact

Structures and organizations that influence social behavior

Mentifact

The central, enduring element that reflect its shared ideas, values, knowledge, and beliefs

Traditional culture

Long established behaviors, beliefs, and practices passed down from generation to generation

Popular culture

The widespread behaviors, beliefs, and practices of ordinary people in society at a given point of time

Collectivist culture

A society that prioritizes the needs, goals, and well-being of the group over the desires of the individual

Multiculturalism

When cultures share some cultural features with others while still retaining their original cultural traits

Third place

A public space that hosts regular, informal social interaction beyond the realms of home (first place) and work (second place)

Ethnicity

Belonging to a group who share common cultural characteristics

Ethnocentrism

The tendency of ethnic groups to evaluate others according to preconceived ideas originating from their culture.

Assimilation

A category of acculturation in which interaction of 2 cultures results in one culture adopting almost all practices.

Acculturation

When people within one culture adopt some of the other culture’s traits while still retaining their own

Universalizing religions

A belief system that seeks to appeal to all people, regardless of their location or culture, and actively tries to recruit new members through missionary work

Ethnic religions

a religion that is tied to a specific ethnic group or culture and generally does not seek converts (Usually concentrated in one geographic area

Syncretism

Combining different cultural features into something new

Branch

A large, fundamental division within a religion or a grouping of languages that share a common ancestor and have evolved from it

Denomination

Separate organizations that unite a # of local congregations

Pilgrimage

A journey to a holy place for spiritual reasons

Sect

A relatively small group that has separated from an established denomination

Adherents

People who are loyal to a belief, religion, or organization.

Cultural relativism

The evaluation of a culture solely by its unique standard

Cultural convergence

As cultures interact with one another, they become more similar, sharing and adopting each other's ideas

Cultural divergence

Conflicting beliefs or other barriers that cause two cultures to become less similar

Cultural landscapes

A natural landscape that has been modified by humans, reflecting their cultural beliefs

Sense of place

To fill a geographic location with meaning by connecting memories and feelings to it.

Sequent occupance

The notion that successive societies leave behind their cultural imprint, a collection of evidence about their human character/experiences within a geographic region.

Gender identity

One’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither (How individuals perceive themself and what they call themself)

Gendered space

An area or environment that is socially constructed as being more appropriate for one gender than another, reinforcing societal norms and power dynamics.

Diffusion

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

Relocation diffusion

The spread of cultural traits/ideas through relocation (movement of people)

Expansion diffusion

When an aspect of culture spreads outward from where it originated from

Contagious diffusion

When a cultural trait/idea spreads adjacently, or to people or places that are next to or adjoining one another

Hierarchical diffusion

The spread of an idea or trait from a person or place of power/authority to other people/places

Stimulus diffusion

Occurs when the fundamental idea(s) behind a cultural trait stimulates a new innovation

Language family

The largest grouping of related languages and includes those languages that share a common ancestral language from a certain origin

Language branch

A collection of languages within a language family that share a common ancestor from several thousand years ago

Language groups

Languages within a branch that share a common ancestor in the relatively recent past and have vocabularies with a high degree of overlap

Endangered languages

A language at risk of disappearing, primarily because it is no longer being passed down to younger generations.

Isolate

A language that has no known historic or linguistic relationship with any other known language

Dialects

A regional or social variation of a language distinguished by differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

Lingua franca

A common language used among speakers of different languages

Creolization

The blending of 2 or more cultural elements into something new