AP Human Geography - Unit 3

Cultural Patterns and Processes

what is culture?

a total way of life held in common by a group of people, including learned features such as language, ideology, behavior, technology, and government

what is a cultural trait?

a single aspect of a given culture or society

what is architecture?

a general term used to describe buildings and other physical structures

what is cultural relativism?

an approach to understanding other cultures that seeks to understand individuals and cultures from a wider perspective of cultural logic.

what is ethnocentrism?

based on the belief that one’s own culture is inherently superior and that other nations are backwards or underdeveloped because their culture is different

what is indigenous culture?

a local culture that is no longer the dominant ethnic group within its traditional homeland because of migration, colonization, or political marginalization

what is multi-culturalism?

a set of policies that promote the active participation and inclusion of minority groups in national histories, national policies, and culture institutions with the goal of embracing difference between society

what are cultural landscapes?

a place with many layers of history that evolved through design and use over time

what is linguistic?

organized system of spoken words by which people communicate with each other

what is sequent occupancy?

refers to the fact that many places have been controlled or affected by a variety of groups over a period of time; those groups have reshaped the functions or meanings of those places and left behind layers of meaning

what tis traditional architecture?

traditional building styles of different cultures, religions, and places

what is postmodern architecture?

a design style that’s a reaction against modern architecture; has a flair for the dramatic, creating a spectacle while serving a variety of functions

what is ethnicity?

identity with a group of people who share a common identity with a specific homeland or hearth

what is gender?

a culture’s assumptions about the differences between men and women including their characters and their roles in society

what is an ethnic neighborhood?

an area within a city containing members of he same ethnic background

what is an indigenous community?

communities that live within, or are attached to, geographically distinct traditional habitats or ancestral territories, and who identify themselves as being part of a distinct cultural group

what is a sense of place?

the distinctive feeling of a place or a person’s perception of place

what is placemaking?

efforts to use and design public places to better serve the needs of residents and to foster a stronger community

what is a centripetal force?

a force that brings people together and unifies a neighborhood, society, or country

what is a centrifugal force?

a force that threatens the cohesion of a neighborhood. society, or country

what is relocation diffusion?

occurs when individuals or groups with a particular idea or practice migrate from one location to another, in turn bringing the idea to their new homeland

what is expansion diffusion?

occurs when ideas or practices spread throughout a population from area to area

what is contagious diffusion?

involves the wavelike spread of ideas in a manner of a contagious disease, equally moving throughout space

what is hierarchical diffusion?

occurs when ideas leapfrog from one influential person to another, skipping other persons or places

what is stimulus diffusion?

happens when a specific trait is not adopted in its original form, but the underlying idea is accepted and the cultural trait is adapted

what is creolization?

the linguistic process where languages converge and create new languages and forms of communication

what is a lingua franca?

a language of commerce spoken across a wide area where it’s not a mother tongue

what is colonialism?

the act of forcefully controlling a foreign territory, which becomes known as a colony

what is imperialism?

the motivating impulse to control greater amounts of territory

what is trade?

the exchange of goods and services across country boundaries

what is urbanization?

the movement of people to, and the clustering of people in, towns and cities

what is globalization?

the increasing connection of economic, cultural, and political characteristics across the world

what is time-space convergence?

the decline in travel time between geographical locations as a result of transportation, communication, and related technological and social innovations

what is cultural convergence?

when 2 or more cultures influence each other and become similar with increased contact

what is cultural divergence?

occurs when cultures become more different from other cultures

what is a language family?

a group of related languages that share a common ancestry

what is a language dialect?

a regional variation of a language that is understood by people who speak other variations of that language

what is a cultural hearth?

a focused geographic area where important innovations are born and from which they spread

what is the Indo-European Language family?

the language family that includes all European languages, and (some) Indian, and Iranian

what is a universalizing religion?

belief systems that are attractive to the universal population

what is an ethnic religion?

a religion with a rather concentrated distribution where principles are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular location where its adherents are located