Unit 3 - Human Culture

^^culture^^: a set of beliefs, traditions, and aspects of lifestyle that are particular to a group of people * %%cultural traits%%: attribute of a culture (can be intermixed with other groups) * %%cultural complex%%: combination of all cultural traits (unique to every culture) * %%culture systems%%: cultural complexes sharing common cultural traits * %%culture regions%%: region with people of similar cultures * share a sense of common culture and regional identity * borders defined by perceptions and opinions
^^cultural geography^^: study of people’s lifestyle, creations, and relationships with nature * how and why people express culture in certain ways * material components (ie. artifacts, clothing, architecture) + abstract components (thoughts, ideas, religion, laws)
^^cultural landscape^^: built landscape that is connected to various cultural ideals * physical imprint of culture on the environment * ex. buildings, artwork, music (Carl Sauer)
^^cultural ecology^^: study of human interaction with the environment (vice versa)
^^sequent occupancy^^: theory that a place can be occupied by multiple groups of people; one group after another * ex. england (diverse groups have their own contribution to the cultural landscape in the area)
^^environmental determinism^^: human behavior is determined/controlled by environmental conditions * ex. more ideal climates produce better nations
^^possibilism^^: natural environment limits the choices available to a group of people
^^cultural determinism^^: environment places no restrictions on people, but rather cultural norms/standards
^^cultural diffusion^^: creations spread across time (generations) and space (different places) * %%expansion diffusion%%: spreads outward to new places remaining strong at its origin * @@stimulus@@ (stimulates imitative behavior), @@hierarchical@@ (goes from the higher classes to the middle to lower social classes; birkenstocks), @@contagious@@ (spreads like wildfire; domino theory) * ex. hybrid corn, religious creed * %%relocation diffusion%%: actual movement of adapters from origin to new place * only lasts for a little bit of time before adapting to the culture of a new place * %%spatial diffusion%%: the spread of any phenomena across space and time
^^cultural hearths^^: areas where innovation and creation began (origin of cultural creation) * ancient hearths were near bodies of water * distance = less likely innovation in adopted * less diffused in areas further away from cultural hearth
^^cultural convergence^^: two cultures adopt each other traits and become similar
^^cultural divergence^^: two cultures become increasingly different
^^s-curve^^: graph of the diffusion of immigrants based on time and space (==distance-decay theory==)
colonialism: process where a country takes over new land for its benefit * ex. British
^^imperialism^^: powerful country spreads cultural traditions (language, ethnicity, religion, etc.) to smaller less powerful countries
^^trade^^: exposes goods and services from different cultures to others around the world
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