Cultural Diffusion and Convergence Page 32 in your ISN

Patterns of Diffusion Diffusion refers to how something diffuses or spreads Physical geography can speed up or slow down diffusion How?

Case Study: Chinese Inventions Foster European Exploration China developed gunpowder, the compass, and printing Trade along the silk road allowed these inventions to spread to Europe How do you think the European’s used these inventions? Gunpowder to construct cannons Adapted the compass for sea travel Printing was used for maps, documents, etc Led to the European discovery of the New World.

Case Study: The Columbian Exchange Where do you think oranges come from? Europe Where did potatoes originate? The Americas Are horses a native species of Europe or the Americas? The Colombian exchange led to the introduction of new products to both European and American cultures.

Colombian Exchange Are there any exchanges that you are surprised about? What are they?

Whip Around How might history have been different if the cultures of Europe and the Americas had never come in contact?

Cultural Diffusion cont… The spread of new technologies Computers did not exist before the 1980’s First developed in the United States but quickly spread throughout the world. Cell phones Have spread rapidly even to less developed nations.

The Spread of Ideas Contact between different cultures can lead to important exchanges in ideas Religious beliefs Political ideas Case Study: The spread of Chinese Culture Many aspects of Chinese culture are visible in Japan. Rulers are absolute Shintoism is a mixture of Buddhism and Confucianism Japanese written language was adapted from the Chinese written language Music, art, pottery, weaving, and cooking very similar

Whip Around Japan’s location close to China had a great influence on its culture. What are some other examples in which ideas spread from one culture to another?

The Spread of Cultural Traits Fashions, art styles, cooking, music Case Study: The Global Reach of American Popular Culture Influenced by many cultures Today English is used as an international second language Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga are international icons

Whip Around What factors do you think have most helped American popular culture to spread throughout the world over the past 50 years?

Pandemics: The Spread of Disease The Bubonic Plague (The Black Death) Began in China and Central Asia Spread throughout Europe In less than 10 years almost 1/3 of Europe’s population was killed Spread of “Old World” Diseases to the Americas Smallpox, typhus, measles In 30 years the population of Native Americans dropped from 25 million to 5.2 million and within the 50 years after than it was down to 2.2 million

Definitions Cultural Divergence: when cultures separate and become different The Roman Empire The western empire (Europe) The eastern empire (Byzantium) Cultural Convergence: when different cultures become similar or even come together The Colombian Exchange Globalization The creation of a common global culture Internet!!!!

Globalization Are there any brands on here that you haven’t heard of?

Recent examples of Convergence and Divergence Democracy The fall of the Berlin Wall The English Language Today almost half a billion people speak English as their primary language English is learned as a second language in most countries More than 1 billion people now understand English New Technologies Telephones, TV, computers, cell phones, Internet Global Sports Soccer!!

Assignment Work on vocabulary from yesterday. Work on questions on pg. 204-206 Complete the graphic organizer on page 203