Atlantic Canada In The Global Community Unit 2: Culture

Chapter 5: What is Culture? What is culture, and what different forms does it take? Where does our culture come from? How is it transmitted from one person to another, and from one generation to the next?

Defining Culture… 1 Culture is a reflection of who and what we are. It refers to everything connected with the way humans live in groups.

Defining Culture… 2 Culture includes all the ways people respond to: their physical environment their history their economic life their social life their political life.

Defining Culture… 3 Culture includes: arts and entertainment such as video-making, beliefs such as what is or is not fair. organizations such as city governments and schools behaviours patterns like hanging out after school.

Defining Culture… 4 Culture includes all products of human work and thought: the clothes you wear the food you eat the places where you live and shop your beliefs and the things you value the way you spend your leisure time the technology you use.

Defining Culture… 5 Culture is what earlier generations transmit to later ones. However, it is separate from genetic transmission of traits, or characteristics.

Aspects of Culture Culture Textbook page 67 Aspects of Culture History – What are the origins of the culture and how have events brought changes over time? Physical environment – How do people interact with their physical environment? Social life – How do individuals and groups within the society interact? What are their religious values and traditions? Culture Political life – How do people in the society organize themselves so that they can live together in peace and security? Economic life – How do people make a living? How do their occupations influence their lifestyle?

A Global Perspective Textbook page 68 Scientists who study human cultural characteristics are known as anthropologists. Anthropologists have pointed out that there are important differences among cultures; in other words, there is cultural diversity. They also emphasize, however, that there is a lot of cultural similarity.

Meeting Our Needs…1 Textbook page 70 All people, no matter what their background, have needs: physical needs the need for food, water, clothing, shelter and safety. emotional needs the need for friendship, a sense of belonging, love, self-esteem, knowledge, excitement, and self-expression.

Meeting Our Needs… 2 While all people share these needs, their ways of meeting them vary greatly. To a large extent, the culture of group develops as people find ways to meet their needs.

Decide which needs the people are meeting in each case Textbook page 70 Every autumn the people of Twillingate, NL, hunt sea birds known as turrs, or thick-billed murres. These meaty birds were once an important part of the winter food supply. In the 1800’s, many large, stately houses were built in Fredericton, NB. They are now regarded as some of the most beautiful homes in North America.

Textbook page 70 In the 1780’s, some of the Loyalist settlers in Atlantic Canada were starving. They were saved by members of the First Nations who brought them moose meat to eat. PEI has powerful winds, and researchers at the Atlantic Wind Test Site at North Cape experiment with ways to harness this wind power to produce electricity. There is a large community of Celtic background in Cape Breton, NS. By celebrating their music, sports, and crafts, members of the community seek to preserve their Celtic heritage.

Material and Non-material Culture Textbook page 71 To understand cultures better, anthropologists examine their material and non-material aspects. Material culture: the physical objects produced and/or used by the society to which you belong. Non-material culture: refers to the elements of culture that are not physical. It includes spoken language, ideas, stories, myths, legends, religious beliefs, and ways of behaving. Among the most important aspects of non-material culture are our values: the ideas, beliefs and ways of behaving that are valuable or important to people of a particular culture.

Traditional Culture, Popular Culture and the Global Connection Textbook page 72 The customs, beliefs, opinions and stories passed down from one generation to another are known as traditions. The older traditions, the more powerful they often become. The traditional culture of a group is made up of practices established over many generations. The world has many traditional cultures that vary from group to group. There is, however, another, more widespread kind of culture, popular culture. This is the culture shard by many groups in Western society, both in the city and the country. It is also shared, increasingly, all over the globe.

Examples of Popular Culture Examples of popular culture: popular music, television shows, brand-name cloths, brand name foods and drinks, fast food restaurants, celebrities and famous athletes. The spread of these elements of popular culture in the modern world has much to do with technology. For example, popular culture spreads through: mass media (tv, radio, cd’s, newspapers, dvd’s, books and movies). communication technologies (computers, faxes, telephones, cell phones, blackberrys) transportation technologies (expressways, ferries, and air travel routes)

Culture is learnt through socialization.

Agents of Socialization You were born with only your genetically inherited traits. In other words, you were born without culture. Yet you know who to put on your socks, tell time, greet your friends, read these notes, obey traffic signals, and buy your favourite foods. You learned how to do all this and more through socialization: the process of learning behaviours that is considered suitable in your culture. Many agents of socialization have operated in your life. They have included individuals, groups, institutions (organizations with social, educational, and religious purposes).

Agents of Socialization Textbook page 74-75 (See textbook for complete details!) Family Schools Peer groups Clubs, teams, and similar organizations Community Government Religious groups Mass media

Agents of Socialization Assignment List all of the agents of socialization in the order of their influence on you. Beside each, give a specific example of something you learned from that particular agent of socialization.

Mainstream and Contributing Cultures Textbook page 78 Can a person have more than one culture at the same time? What would your various cultures be? How might they overlap? How might they conflict? Mainstream culture is the general culture of the majority of people in a particular area. Flowing into mainstream cultures are very often contributing cultures: cultures of smaller groups of people inside the larger one. A mainstream culture in a local area may be a contributing culture in a larger region.