What is Culture?

Partner Brainstorm:

• What features are part of every culture, no matter the location?

10 Universals

1. Language

2. Family Structure

3. Rules/Laws

4. Education

5. The Arts

Dance

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Architecture

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Body Decoration

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Traditional Art

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Music

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6. Religion

7. Rituals/Celebrations

8. View of Time

Age Celebrations

• Quinceanera: Hispanic culture, girl turns 15
• Sweet 16: American culture, girl turns 16
• Bar/Bat Mitzvah: Jewish culture, boys turn 13, girls 12

9. Recreation/Leisure

10. Diet/Food

Culture Keys

Culture is not inherited. It is learned.

Culture is both an individual and a social construct.

Culture is socially and psychologically distributed...so it's a "fuzzy" concept.

Culture is subject to gradual change.

Culture Vocabulary

Cultural/Social Norm

• Group-held belief about how members should behave in a given situation
• Ex: shaking hands after a Sports game demonstrates Good sportsmanship

Cultural Trait

• Single component of culture
• Ex: Men have beards

Cultural Region

• Geographic regions sharing a number of cultural traits
• Ex: Pacific Northwest

Cultural Diffusion

• Movement of cultural traits from one place to another
• Ex: spread of English around the world

Culture Versus...

Culture vs. Nation

• Political term referring to a government
• NOT synonymous with "culture"

culture vs. Ethnicity

• A classification system
• Groups that share cultural traits
• Not necessarily synonymous with "culture"

culture vs. Subculture

• Groups that share aspects of the larger culture, but also have their own unique cultural traits
• Ex: American teenage subculture

Inadequate conceptions

Culture is uniformly distributed among members of a group.

Individuals possess a single culture.

Culture is timeless.