Components of Culture:
Art
Architecture
Language
Music
Film and Television
Food
Clothing
Social Interaction
Religion
Folklore
Land Use
Each component of culture is expressed in a multitude of ways that signify and symbolize cultural influences
Cultural synthesis (syncretism): the blending together of two or more cultural influences
Combined, the many components come together to identify and define a single culture group, or nation
Art is important as an identifier of groups and a source of local pride
Housing Types:
Religious Buildings and Places:
Major Language Families:
Largest members of language families:
Specific religions are drawn from a number of larger global groups and can be characterized by their expanse
Universalizing religions: accept followers from all ethnicities worldwide
Ethnic religions: confined to members of a specific culture group
All organized religions have one or more books of scripture, said to be written of divine origin
Formal doctrines: govern religious practice, worship, and ethical behavior in society.
Compromising religions: have the ability to reform or integrate other beliefs into their doctrinal practices
Fundamentalists: have little interest in compromising their beliefs or doctrines and strictly adhere to scriptural dictates
Syncretic religions: synthesize the core beliefs from two or more other religions
Three Major Traditions of Belief Systems:
Animist Tradition: Various ethnic, tribal, and other forms of nature worship
Hindu-Buddhist Tradition: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism
Abrahamic Tradition: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Caste System in India
Priestly caste
Responsible for temples and leading religious worship
Can be selected as high government officials
May eschew all material possessions to live as monks, meditating hermits, or as ascetics who sit on sidewalks and perform prayers for those who provide their food donations
2. Kshatriyas
Aristocratic and warrior caste
Hereditary princes and kings still bow to the Brahmans
Many were landowners, government leaders, and wealthy businesspeople
3. Vaishyas
Merchant and professional caste
Many were doctors, lawyers, accountants, and government bureaucrats
4. Shudras
Caste of farmers, laborers, and artisans
Many were potters, jewelers, and glassworkers
No leisure time and near-total illiteracy
Forbidden from studying the Vedas
5. Dalits
“Untouchables,” a name derived from their low position in the system and considered unholy by higher castes
Segregated from other Hindu housing areas and social networks
Dalit sub-castes were divided among trades and duties in the community such as leather work (cattleare sacred, and only the lowest-caste humans could handle their flesh) and cleaning of train stations and sewers
Islamic States: Theocracy, Sharia, and Secular Governance
The Koran emphasizes five pillars that guide followers with a moral system
The call to prayer is heard on loudspeakers in cities throughout the Muslim world at designated hours
All work stops and prayer mats are unrolled
Prayer is done facing Mecca
Islamic astronomers and geographers have worked for centuries to determine the azimuth, the angle of direction, from Mecca to other parts of the Earth
The creed is a statement of monotheism
Prior to Muhammad’s religious conversion of the Arabian peninsula, many of the peoples in the region believed in polytheistic Animist or tribal religions
Believe in a number of prophets shared with the Judeo-Christian traditions, such as Moses, Isaac, Ishmael, and Jesus, but Muhammad is the supreme prophet
Duty of all Muslims to care for and donate to the poor and sick within their communities
Large charitable foundations in the Islamic world help alleviate poverty, extend health care, and educate children
Ramadan is a period of spiritual cleansing and repentance for past sins
There is fasting during daylight hours, with plain evening meals of sparing quantity
Set on a lunar calendar and can fall during a wide range of months in our Gregorian calendar
Must make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca during his lifetime
“Haji” is an honorific name for those who make the journey
The most popular time for the Hajj is during Ramadan
Three distinct racial groups emerged:
Four populations of physical anthropological groups were identified within the Pacific Islands:
Depopulation of Native Americans
EX: Yugoslavia
Ethnic cleansing: where people of one ethnic group are eliminated by another, often under threat of violence or death
Genocide: a large-scale systematic killing of people of one ethnic group
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