Definition 

Picture of Vocab Term (Optional)

Question(s)

Long-Lot Settlement Pattern A linear settlement pattern in which each farmstead is situated at one end of a long, narrow rectangular lot; each lot has access to a major linear resource, usually a river or a major road. p. 222

What parts of the world can you see the Long-Lot Settlement Pattern used?

Material Culture The physical, visible objects made and used by members of a cultural group; includes buildings, furniture, clothing, food, artwork, and musical instruments. p. 224

Can you give a specific example of Material Culture?

Nonmaterial Culture Intangible elements of culture including a wide range of beliefs, values, myths, and symbolic meanings passed from generation to generation within a given society. p. 224

Give a specific example of Nonmaterial Culture. 

Cultural Trait A single aspect of a given culture or society. p. 224

Give a specific example of a Cultural Trait.

Local Culture Rural, ethnically homogenous culture that is deeply connected to the local land; the opposite of a popular culture. p. 224

What is the other name for Local Culture?

Indigenous Culture A local culture that is no longer the dominant ethnic group within its traditional homeland because of migration, colonization, or political marginalization. p. 224

Give two examples of indigenous cultures.

Popular Culture Heterogeneous cultures that are more influenced by key urban areas and quick to adopt new technologies; the opposite of a local culture. p. 225

What would be an example of Popular Culture? 

Cultural Attitude Concepts and ideas in a society that are shaped by cultural opinions, beliefs, and perspectives. p. 225

Give two examples of Cultural Attitudes. 

Language A mutually agreed-upon system of symbolic communication. p. 225

Why is Language the essence of human culture?It provides the single most common variable by which different cultural groups are identified and by which groups assert their unique identity. It spreads ideas and shapes the way we think.

Polyglot A person who is fluent in more than two languages. p. 225

What is code switching? 

Religion A structured set of beliefs and practices through which people seek mental and physical harmony with the powers of the universe. p. 226

What religious rituals and ceremonies mark events in our life? Birth, puberty, marriage, having children, and death.

Ethnic Group A people of common ancestry and cultural tradition; characterized by a strong feeling of group identity. p. 226

Is it possible for outsiders to join an Ethnic Group? If so, how? 

Race Historically defined by the physical characteristics of a group, especially skin color. p. 226

What is vexingly vague about the notion of race?

Race reflects cultural ideas about human differences more than actual genetic distinctions between people, but racial concepts are powerful and enduring ideas that have shaped societies. 

Ethnic Geography The study of the spatial aspects of ethnicity. p. 227

What was the one-drop rule? 

Multiculturalism A set of policies that promote the active participation and inclusion of minority groups in national histories, national politics, and cultural institutions with the goal of embracing difference within society. p. 227

What challenges do countries face that embrace Multiculturalism?

Ethnocentric Approach An approach to understanding other cultures that evaluates them from the perspective of the observer’s culture. p. 228

What would be an example of an Ethnocentric Approach.

Cultural Relativism An approach to understanding other cultures that seeks to understand individuals and culture from a wider perspective of cultural logic. p. 228

What are some examples of where human rights should prevail over Cultural Relativism? 

Physical Landscape All the natural physical surroundings that create and shape the places we are living in or examining. p. 231

What is the cultural landscape? 

Anything that humans build, create, mold or shape

The Physical landscape is oil, lakes, rivers, oceans, mountains, soil, deserts.

Placelessness The feeling resulting from the standardization of the built environment; occurs where local distinctiveness is erased and many places end up with similar cultural landscapes. p. 232

What would be an example of Placelessness in Chesterton? 

Modernist Architecture A functional, rational, and orderly style for building designs. p. 234

What building materials are used in Modernist Architecture? 

Who might be the most famous Modernist architect?

Postmodern Architecture A design style that is a reaction against modernist architecture; it has a flair for the dramatic, creating a spectacle while serving a variety of functions. p. 234

Besides the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. What are two other examples of Postmodern Architecture?

Sequent Occupance 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. p. 234

Figure 19.7 What is considered to be the “most contested piece of real estate on Earth” and why?

Sacred Spaces Natural or human-made sites that possess religious meaning and are recognized as worthy of devotion, loyalty, fear, or esteem. p. 237

Give three examples of Sacred Places.

Secular Less influenced or controlled by religion. p. 237

Figure19.10 Why is the Ground Zero memorial considered Secular?

Subculture A group of people with distinct norms, values, and material practices that differentiate them from the dominant culture surrounding them. p. 238

What are three examples of subcultures?

Sense of Place The distinctive feeling of a place, or a person’s perception of place. p. 243

Figure 20.1 What gives Montmartre, Paris a Sense of Place for tourists?

Placemaking Efforts to use and design public places to better serve the needs of residents and to foster a stronger community. p. 244

What would be an example of Placemaking in Chesterton?

Centripetal Forces A force that brings people together and unifies a neighborhood, society, or country. p. 254

List three Centripetal Forces. 

Centrifugal Forces A force that threatens the cohesion of a neighborhood, society, or country. p. 246

Figure 20.3 What are the three major language-families spoken in the rugged mountainous region between the black and Caspian seas?

In which country is Azeri the major language spoken?

Secularization The process whereby religion becomes a less dominant force in everyday life than it was in the past. p. 246

When can Secularization lead to cultural and political tension? 

Absorbing Barriers Barriers that completely halt diffusion. p. 251

Give three examples of Absorbing Barriers.

Permeable Barriers Barriers that slow diffusion, but still allow some partial or weakened diffusion. p. 251

What example of Permeable Barriers is used in the book? 

Pidgin A trade language, characterized by a very small vocabulary derived from the languages of at least two or more groups in contact. p. 251

What does “Tok Pisin” mean in Pidgin?

Creole A combined language that has a fuller vocabulary than a pidgin language and becomes a native language. p. 251

What is Haitian Creole a mixture of? 

Creolization The linguistic process where languages converge and create new languages and forms of communication. p. 251

What U.S. state has gone through the process of Creolization?

Lingua Franca A language of communication and commerce spoken across a wide area where it is not a mother tongue. p. 252

List three languages that are considered Lingua Franca. 

Bilingualism The ability to speak two languages fluently. p. 252

Name a region where it might be beneficial to be Bilingual. U.S. and Mexican border or French and English in Canada. Quebec.

Empire A sovereign political entity that seeks to expand beyond their origin land to control more territory politically and/or economically. p. 252

What were two successful ancient Empires?

Imperialism The motivating impulse to control greater amounts of territory. p. 252

Name three countries that practiced Imperialism?

Colonialism The act of forcefully controlling a foreign territory, which becomes known as a colony. p. 252

What continent colonized the vast majority of the world?

Genocide The systematic killing of members of a racial, ethnic, or linguistic group. p. 253

Table 21.1 List three documented Genocides. 

Time-Space Convergence The phenomenon whereby the introduction of new transportation technologies progressively reduces the time it takes to travel between places. p. 262

Figure 22.5 Which variable does this map use to define a shrinking world? 

Endangered Language A language that is not taught to children by their parents and is not used actively in everyday matters. p. 264

How many of the world’s languages are Endangered?

Extinct Language A language that has only a few elderly speakers still living or no living speakers. p. 264

How many languages have become Extinct since 1950?

Convergence Hypothesis The idea that cultures are converging, or becoming more alike. p. 266

Describe placelessness.

Glocalization Adapting global practices to fit local cultural practices and preferences. p. 266

Describe how KFC and McDonald’s use Glocalization. 

Culture Hearth A focused geographic area where important innovations are born and from which they spread. p. 269

List five early Culture Hearths. 

Language Family A group of related languages that share a common ancestry. p. 270

Figure 23.2 Which language family dominates in North Africa?

Dialect A regional variation of a language that is understood by people who speak other variations of that language. p. 271

Figure 23.3 Why does the map indicate that vos and tu are not applicable in Brazil?

Accent:  A way of pronouncing words. p. 271

What Accents are in America? Southern, Midwestern, East Coast (New York, Boston), West Coast,  

Monotheistic Relating to the belief in only one god. p. 274

What are the three largest Monotheistic faiths?

Universalizing Religion A religion that actively seeks new members and believes its message has universal importance and application. p. 274

What are the TWO main Universalizing Religions?

Ethnic Religion A religion identified with a particular ehtnic or tribal group that does not seek converts. p. 274

List two Ethnic Religions. 

Proselytic Describing a religion that spreads its message to others through missionary work. p. 275

What is meant by proselytization? 

Toponyms The names given to places. p. 278

Figure 23.10 Naming places is closely related to claiming places. Which country claims the largest amount of landmass in Antarctica? 

Generic Toponym The generic part of a place-name, often a suffix or prefix, such as -ville in Louisville p. 279

List the other examples used in the book besides ville.

Polytheistic Relating to the belief in many gods. p. 284

What religion is considered decidedly polytheistic?

Animistic Religion A faith that subscribes to the idea that souls or spirits exist not only in humans, but also in animals, plants, rocks, natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, and other entities of the natural environment. p. 285

What is oral tradition? 

Describe the role of a shaman.

Acculturation Occurs when an ethnic or immigrant group adopts enough of the ways of the host society to be able to function economically and socially.

p. 290

Give a specific example of Acculturation.

Assimilation Occurs when an ethnic or immigrant group blends in with the host culture and loses many culturally distinctive traits. p. 291

Figure 24.2 Which regions have the largest German American population? What might explain these patterns?

Transculturation The notion that people adopt elements of other cultures as well as contribute elements of their own culture, thereby transforming both cultures. p. 292

North America has largely abandoned the analogy of the melting pot for what metaphor? Why?

Syncretism The blending of beliefs, ideas, practices, and traits, especially in a religious context. p. 292

Is the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica an example of Syncretism? Why or Why Not? 

Syncretic Religion Religion that combines elements of two or more different belief systems. p. 292

Name one important religious symbol to Mexican Catholics. Why is that symbol important? 

What is the largest Syncretic Religion? 

Orthodox Religion Religion that emphasizes purity of faith and is generally not open to blending with elements of other belief systems. p. 292

What religions have Orthodox Religion strains?