Human Geo Unit 3 (Ch. 6,7,8)

culture

the beliefs, values, cultures, practices, behaviors, and technologies shared by a society an passed down from generation to generation

cultural trait

specific customs that are part of the everyday life of a particular culture, such as language, religion, ethnicity, social institutions, and aspects of popular culture

artifact

the visible objects and technologies that a culture creates, like houses, buildings, clothing, tools, toys, and land-use practices. change readily.

sociofact

specific customs that are part of the everyday life of a particular culture, such as language, religion, ethnicity, social institutions, and aspects of popular culture. slower to change than artifacts

mentifact

the central, enduring elements of a culture that reflect its shared ideas, values, knowledge, and beliefs. slowest to change.

popular culture

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

traditional culture

comprised of long-established behaviors, beliefs, and practices passed down form generation to generation (ex. language, food, ceremonies, customs)

cultural norms

shared standards and patterns that guide the behavior of a group of people play an important role in upholding traditions and keep traditional culture from changing.

ethnocentrism

the tendency of ethnic groups to evaluate other groups according to preconceived ideas originating from their own culture.

cultural relativism

the evaluation of a culture solely by its unique standards

cultural landscape

the human imprint on the landscape, and it offers clues about cultural practices and priorities, both past and present

identity

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

sequent occupance

the notion that successive societies leave behind their cultural imprint

cultural imprint

a collection of evidence about human character and experiences within a geographic region

ethnicity

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

ethnic neighborhoods

cultural landscapes within communities of people outside of their areas of origin (ex. Chinatown, Tehrangeles)

traditional architecture

established building styles of different cultures, religions, and places

postmodern architecture

an architectural style that emerged in the 1960s as a reaction to “modern” designs, which emphasized form, structure, and materials

religion

a system of spiritual beliefs that helps form cultural perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and values

pilgrimage

a journey to a holy place for spiritual reasons

language

the carrier of human thoughts and cultural identities

toponym

a place name

gendered spaces

spaces designed and deliberately incorporated into the landscape to accommodate gender roles. found in societies with strict rules for men and women.

gender identity

one’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither—how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves

safe spaces

spaces of acceptance for people of comminities that are sometimes marginalized by society

gentrification

the renovations and improvements conforming to middle-class preferences

third place

a term coined in the late 1980s that refers to a communal space such as a coffee shop, fitness center, or bookstore that is separate from home (first place) or work (second place)

sense of place

when people fill a geographic location with meaning by connection memories and feelings to it.

placemaking

a community-driven process in which people collaborate to create a place where they can live, work, play, and learn

dialect

a variation of a standard language specific to a general area. distinguished by differences in pronunciation, rapidity of speech, word choice, and spelling.

adherents

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

branch

a large fundamental division within a religion

denomination

separate organizations that unite a number of local congregations

sect

a relatively small group that has separated from an established denomination

centripetal force

a force that unites a group of people

centrifugal force

a force that divides a group of people

diffusion

the process by which a cultural trait spreads from one place to another

cultural hearth

a place of origin for a widespread cultural trend

expansion diffusion

when an aspect of diffusion spreads outward from where it originated

contagious diffusion

when an idea or cultural trait spreads adjacently, or to people or places that are next to or adjoining one another

hierarchical diffusion

the spread of an idea or cultural trait from a person or place of power or authority to other people or places (can also happen in reverse)

stimulus diffusion

when the fundamental idea behind a cultural trait stimulates a new innovation (ex. different kinds of mcdonalds food menus)

lingua franca

a common language used among speakers of different languages, as conquered peoples adopt the languages of the conqueror (or for trading)

creolizaiton

when two or more cultures blend together

globalization

the process by which people across the world have become increasingly connected through travel, trade, and technology

urbanization

the trend of people moving from rural to urban areas

cultural convergence

when cultures interact with one another and become more similar, adopting and sharing one another's ideas.

cultural divergence

when conflicting beliefs or other barriers can cause two cultures to become less similar. can happen when an individual moves to a new area and is exposed to new cultural traits

acculturation

where people within one culture adopt some of the traits of another while still retaining their own distinct culture. (ex. wearing jeans while eating traditional foods)

assimilation

when the interaction of two cultures results in one culture adopting almost all of the customs, traditions, language, and other cultural traits of the other (can be forced, like residential schools)

syncretism

when traits from two or more cultures blend together to form a new custom, idea, value, or practice. (ex. sushi burrito, kimchi taco)

multiculturalism

when diverse cultures coexist in a shared space. may share some cultural features with others around them while retaining some of their original cultural traits. not belonging solely to one culture or the other

language family

the largest grouping of related languages and includes those languages that share a common ancestral language from a particular hearth or origin. (ex. Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Niger-Congo)

isolate / isolated language

when a language has no known historic or linguistic relationship with any other known language. (ex. French Basque)

language branch

a collection of languages within a family that share a common origin and were separated from other branches in the same family thousands of years ago. may show some similarities in grammatical structure, but are distinct enough that two speakers from different branches will not be able to understand one another

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. speakers from other language groups can notice similar words and may be able to understand each other (ex. Spanish and Portuguese)

endangered languages

the languages of small groups of people, often of indigenous cultures, that become in danger of disappearing due to declining populations and cultural pressures.

universalizing religions

religions that attempt to appeal to a wide variety of people and are open to membership by all, regardless of a person’s location, language, or ethnicity. (ex. Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism)

christianity

a religion based on the teachings of Jesus, a man believed by the faithful to be God's son.
taught his followers that they should love and care for their fellow humans.

islam

the world's second largest religion. originated in the cities of Mecca and Medina on the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century. Muhammad, who is considered the last messenger of Allah (God), introduced Islam to the Arab people.

buddhism

the world's oldest universalizing religion. based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as Buddha, or “the Enlightened One.”

sikhism

founded by Guru Nanak, who lived from 1469 to 1539. Its hearth is the Punjab region of northwestern India. believe there is one God and that devotion to that God will bring liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth

ethnic religions

closely tied with a particular ethnic group generally in a particular region. (ex. hinduism, judaism)

hinduism

specifically tied to India and has left its mark on various natural and human features of that South Asian region, including the Ganges River, which is considered sacred Hindus.

judaism

developed among the Hebrew people of Southwest Asia in present-day Israel and Lebanon about 4,000 years ago. based on the teachings of Abraham.

secularized

not religious, usually in reference to groups related to an ethnic religion

custom

the frequent repetition of an act, to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group of people performing the act

built environment

a tangible human creation on the natural landscape

cultural ecology

the relationship between culture and the environment, dealing with human adaptations to various environments

cultural appropriation

the process by which cultures adopt customs and knowledge from other cultures and use them for their own benefit.

collectivist culture

a culture that's based on valuing the needs of a group or a community over the individual

core-domain-sphere-model

the zone of outer influence where people with the culture traits in question can even be a minority within another culture region.

official language

the language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents

pidgin

a form of speech that adopts a simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua franca, used for communication between speakers of two different languages

isogloss

a boundary line between two distinct linguistic regions. can be a boundary between two different languages, or, more frequently, the boundary between two different dialects of the same language

bi/multilingual societies

societies that speak more than one official or non-official language

creole languages

languages are formed by the combination of two or more languages (ex. Haitian creole)

orthography

a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols

monotheism

the belief that there is only one god or divine being (ex. Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

polytheism

belief in multiple gods, usually that are responsible for different areas of the universe and of human experience (ex. Hinduism)

fundamentalism

literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion

hierarchical religion

a religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control.

autonomous religion

a religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally.