AP Human Geography - Unit 3 Day 3 Review Notes

Introduction to Culture

• Culture is complex and encompasses various elements:
  • Music
  • Food
  • Clothing
  • Traditions
  • Religions
  • Languages
• Material culture: Physical, tangible items (e.g., clothes).
• Nonmaterial culture: Intangible aspects such as values, social norms, language, symbols, and rituals.
• Subculture: A group within a larger society sharing distinct beliefs, values, and practices, such as an AP Human Geography class with its own inside jokes and traditions.

Cultural Perspectives: Ethnocentrism vs. Cultural Relativism

• Important to distinguish between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.
• Ethnocentrism: Analyzing and judging another culture based on one's own cultural perspective, without considering the other culture's viewpoint.
  • Example: A cartoon illustrating a chicken unable to see another's perspective.
• Cultural relativism: Judging a culture by its own standards, understanding a culture from its own perspective without necessarily agreeing with it.
  • Example: Understanding a student's different behavior by considering their background and experiences.

Cultural Landscape

• Cultural landscape: Visible human modifications to the natural environment.
• Observations from cultural landscape can reveal:
  • Economic development
  • Cultural values
  • Population density
  • Climate
• Examples:
  • Houses built close together with basic materials indicate higher population density and potentially lower economic development.
  • Flat roofs suggest a warmer climate, while peaked roofs are designed to retain heat in colder climates.
  • Agricultural practices, religious sites, and tourist spots all contribute to the cultural landscape.
• The Golden Temple of Sikhism is an example of religion impacting the cultural landscape.

Sequent Occupancy

• Sequent occupancy: The impact of past cultures and societies on a geographic area, visible in the cultural landscape.
  • Example: The Berlin Wall as a relic boundary and a mark left by past cultures.

Architecture

• Three types of architecture to be familiar with:
  • Traditional: Reflects the cultural and historical characteristics of a society.
  • Modern: Focuses on simplicity and functionality.
  • Postmodern: Incorporates historical references and diversity, moving away from homogeneity.

Land Use

• Land use patterns reveal societal priorities, cultural values, economic structure, and types of jobs.
• Different patterns:
  • Agricultural
  • Recreational
  • Commercial
  • Residential
  • Industrial
  • Transportation
• Example: Limited public transportation and a reliance on personal vehicles in many US cities reflect societal values and priorities.

Culture and Places

• Place is made up of Physical and human/cultural characteristics.
• Placemaking: A community-driven process of transforming public spaces for activities, unifying the community.
• Sense of place: The emotional connection people have with a specific area based on familiarity and unique characteristics.
• Placelessness: When a place lacks unique characteristics and does not evoke a strong emotional response, often due to homogenization.
• Built environment: Human-made structures that shape the physical characteristics of a place, contributing to the sense of place and cultural landscape.

Homogenized vs. Unique Cultural Landscapes

• Homogenized uniform cultural landscapes lack unique characteristics and sense of place, often due to multinational corporations.
• Unique cultural landscapes stand out with distinct characteristics from placemaking and the built environment.

Diffusion

• Two broad types of diffusion:
  • Relocation diffusion: Physical movement of a cultural group or trait from one place to another; the origin point shrinks.
  • Expansion diffusion: Spread of a cultural trait or group from one place to another through person-to-person contact; the origin point grows.
• Types of expansion diffusion:
  • Contagious: Rapid, barrier-free spread throughout an area (e.g., the smell of citrus diffusing through a room).
  • Hierarchical: Top-down diffusion through a power structure (e.g., decisions flowing from a CEO down to workers).
  • Reverse hierarchical: Diffusion starting at the bottom and working its way up (e.g., pickleball starting with a family and spreading nationally).
  • Stimulus: Spread of an idea or trait that leads to innovation and changes (e.g., McDonald's adapting its menu to local cultural practices).

Historical Causes of Diffusion

• Historical factors such as colonialism, imperialism, and trade have led to diffusion.
• These factors can result in both relocation and expansion diffusion.
• Lingua franca: A language commonly used for communication between people who speak different languages (e.g., English).
• Creolization: The mixing of different cultures, leading to new cultural practices, languages, and identities often connected to colonization (e.g., Haitian Creole, Swahili).
• Diaspora: The dispersion of a group of people from their original homeland due to forced migration (e.g., the Atlantic slave trade).

Contemporary Causes of Diffusion

• Modern-day causes include globalization, urbanization, technological advancements, and military, political, and economic relationships.
• Technology and social media have significantly increased diffusion.
  • The internet facilitates the spread of ideas and interaction between people from different regions.

Cultural Convergence vs. Cultural Divergence

• Cultural convergence: The process by which cultures become more similar over time, generally due to globalization and increased interaction.
• Cultural divergence: The process by which cultures become more distinct, often due to physical or social separation.
  • Example: The Basque people's unique culture due to isolation.

Religions

• Focus on the origin, diffusion, cultural landscape impact, and place of worship for each religion.
• Universalizing religions: Seek to appeal to all people and expand their reach.
  • Christianity: Originated symbol is the church.
  • Islam: Significant place of worship is a mosque.
  • Buddhism: Temple is a pagoda.
  • Sikhism: Significant place of worship is Golden temple.
• Ethnic religions:
  • Hinduism: originated temple
  • Judaism: A synagogue is where they practice.

Language

• Isogloss: A boundary defined by linguistic differences.
• Dialect: Regional variances in a language, often based on local culture.
• Endangered language: A language at risk of disappearing.
• Dead language: A language no longer spoken as a native language.

Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces

• Centripetal forces: Forces that unite and bring people together.
  • Example: National tragedies like nine eleven
• Centrifugal forces: Forces that divide and push people apart.
  • Example: linguistic different amongst each other.

Cultural Concepts

• Assimilation: Adopting the cultural norms and practices of the dominant group in society (can be forced or natural).
  • Example: Native American boarding schools forcing indigenous children to forget their culture.
• Acculturation: Taking on certain traits of another culture without losing the original culture.
• Syncretism: Two or more cultures evolve and change over time without merging completely; they remain distinct.
• Multiculturalism: A society with diverse cultures coexisting within it.