1. Cultural Basics

2. “To care about” - “To care for”
Culture
“To care about” - “To care for”
All the ideas,, practices, and material objects associated with a particular group of people.
“CULTURE means many things to many people. Linguistically, the English word “culture” derives from the Latin word cultus, which means “to care about.” The concept of culture dates back at least to the Enlightenment, when culture referred to a variety of endeavors that were essentially human, such as agriculture. Later, the term came to connote differences between people’s lifestyles in different areas of the world. The modern notion of culture, which includes all the ideas, practices, and material objects associated with a particular group of people, evolved from this notion of difference. The study of how cultures vary across space is called CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY.” (BARRONS, 150)
“Cultural geography is a field of study within human geography that looks at how and why culture is expressed in different ways in different places.” (REA, 114)
“CULTURE is often defined as the way of life of a particular people. In many ways, culture is what defines us. Language, religion, food, and music are all aspects of culture. Although no two cultures are exactly alike, geographers can establish links between cultures and combine them into regions. Trying to define the culture of a group of people can be difficult. Broad generalizations about a group are required to discuss their culture, but not everybody in the culture has the same values. Ethnicity and culture are intertwined; much of a particular group’s culture is defined by ethnicity, and much of ethnicity embodies the main attributes of a culture. The term CULTURE, in and of itself, can take on different meanings. Often, when somebody suggests that another person is ‘cultured,’ they are not referring to their cultural identity but rather to their appreciation of the arts and sciences. Thus, a cultured person may attend symphonies and art festivals. Another use of the term CULTURE is to identify a particular group of people defined by demographics (e.g., ‘teen culture’ and ‘retirement culture’).” (KAPLAN, 298)
“CULTURE is the shared experience, traits, and activities of a group of people who have a common heritage.” (PRINCETON)

3. “CULTURE means many things to many people
“CULTURE means many things to many people. Linguistically, the English word “culture” derives from the Latin word cultus, which means “to care about.” The concept of culture dates back at least to the Enlightenment, when culture referred to a variety of endeavors that were essentially human, such as agriculture. Later, the term came to connote differences between people’s lifestyles in different areas of the world. The modern notion of culture, which includes all the ideas, practices, and material objects associated with a particular group of people, evolved from this notion of difference. The study of how cultures vary across space is called CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY.” (BARRONS, 150)
“Cultural geography is a field of study within human geography that looks at how and why culture is expressed in different ways in different places.” (REA, 114)

4. “CULTURE is often defined as the way of life of a particular people
“CULTURE is often defined as the way of life of a particular people. In many ways, culture is what defines us. Language, religion, food, and music are all aspects of culture. Although no two cultures are exactly alike, geographers can establish links between cultures and combine them into regions. Trying to define the culture of a group of people can be difficult. Broad generalizations about a group are required to discuss their culture, but not everybody in the culture has the same values. Ethnicity and culture are intertwined; much of a particular group’s culture is defined by ethnicity, and much of ethnicity embodies the main attributes of a culture. The term CULTURE, in and of itself, can take on different meanings. Often, when somebody suggests that another person is ‘cultured,’ they are not referring to their cultural identity but rather to their appreciation of the arts and sciences. Thus, a cultured person may attend symphonies and art festivals. Another use of the term CULTURE is to identify a particular group of people defined by demographics (e.g., ‘teen culture’ and ‘retirement culture’).” (KAPLAN, 298)
“CULTURE is the shared experience, traits, and activities of a group of people who have a common heritage.” (PRINCETON)

5. Modifications to the natural landscape by human activities.
Cultural Landscape
Modifications to the natural landscape by human activities.
“Cultural geography analyzes not just religion and language, but all aspects of cultural expression, including governments, economies, urban structures, and much more. It is an area of geographic study largely linked to the 20th-century geographer CARL SAUER, who championed the study of the CULTURAL LANDSCAPE sometimes referred to as the BUILT ENVIRONMENT. The cultural landscape comprises the physical implications of human culture. In other words, wherever a human culture exits, a cultural landscape exists as that culture’s unique imprint on their space on the earth…The systematic study of this human-environmental interaction is called CULTURAL ECOLOGY.” (REA, 114)
“The evidence of culture on the space around us it the CULTURAL LANDSCAPE. The term was coined by Carl Sauer, on of the preeminent cultural geographers in the late 1900s. Cultural landscape refers to the interactions of a group in relation to their own cultural practices as well as to the values of a society as reflected through artifacts and architecture. This is different from the NATURAL LANDSCAPE, which deals with the physical Earth and is often associated with the field of physical geography.” (KAPLAN, 299)
“Almost everything we see and hear in the human landscape expresses some form of culture. Culture is complex, and trying to take it all in and make sense of it can be confusing. To get a better grip on culture, we first have to understand how it is found on the CULTURAL LANDSCAPE. We can see the cultural landscape in the form of signs and symbols in the world around us – which is a general way of saying that there are different ways customs are imprinted on the several components of culture – art, architecture, language, music, film and television, food, clothing, spatial interaction, religion, folklore, land use.” (PRINCETON, 138)

6. “Cultural geography analyzes not just religion and language, but all aspects of cultural expression, including governments, economies, urban structures, and much more. It is an area of geographic study largely linked to the 20th-century geographer CARL SAUER, who championed the study of the CULTURAL LANDSCAPE sometimes referred to as the BUILT ENVIRONMENT. The cultural landscape comprises the physical implications of human culture. In other words, wherever a human culture exits, a cultural landscape exists as that culture’s unique imprint on their space on the earth…The systematic study of this human-environmental interaction is called CULTURAL ECOLOGY.” (REA, 114)

8. “The evidence of culture on the space around us it the CULTURAL LANDSCAPE. The term was coined by Carl Sauer, on of the preeminent cultural geographers in the late 1900s. Cultural landscape refers to the interactions of a group in relation to their own cultural practices as well as to the values of a society as reflected through artifacts and architecture. This is different from the NATURAL LANDSCAPE, which deals with the physical Earth and is often associated with the field of physical geography.” (KAPLAN, 299)
“Almost everything we see and hear in the human landscape expresses some form of culture. Culture is complex, and trying to take it all in and make sense of it can be confusing. To get a better grip on culture, we first have to understand how it is found on the CULTURAL LANDSCAPE. We can see the cultural landscape in the form of signs and symbols in the world around us – which is a general way of saying that there are different ways customs are imprinted on the several components of culture – art, architecture, language, music, film and television, food, clothing, spatial interaction, religion, folklore, land use.” (PRINCETON, 138)

12. Schools of Thought
Environmental Determinism: human responses are almost completely influenced by the environment.
Possibilism: People make choices based on the opportunities and limitations of the physical environment.
“In studying human-environmental interactions, cultural geographers encounter the question, “Does the earth make humans take the actions they do?” They also wonder why certain regions thrive and others do not. ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM, a school of thought developed as early as the Greeks, posits (takes the position) that human behavior is controlled (or determined) by the physical environment. “Ideal” climates lead to productive civilizations, as in Egypt near the Nile River. Harsher climates, as in Siberia, do not foster productivity. Environmental determinists would argue that people are friendlier and more outgoing in Florida but more introverted and reclusive in Minnesota because of the climate.
POSSIBILISM developed as a counterargument to environmental determinism. Possibilists argue that the natural environment places limits on the set of choices (or possibilities) available to people. For example, people living in Florida are not likely to choose to build an igloo park. Not only are Floridians choices limited by the state’s climate, but those limitation also drive Floridians constructions and actions. According to possibilists, therefore, it is people, not the environment, that propel human cultural development, although the environment limits the set of choices available to them.” (REA, 115)

13. “In studying human-environmental interactions, cultural geographers encounter the question, “Does the earth make humans take the actions they do?” They also wonder why certain regions thrive and others do not. ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM, a school of thought developed as early as the Greeks, posits (takes the position) that human behavior is controlled (or determined) by the physical environment. “Ideal” climates lead to productive civilizations, as in Egypt near the Nile River. Harsher climates, as in Siberia, do not foster productivity. Environmental determinists would argue that people are friendlier and more outgoing in Florida but more introverted and reclusive in Minnesota because of the climate.
POSSIBILISM developed as a counterargument to environmental determinism. Possibilists argue that the natural environment places limits on the set of choices (or possibilities) available to people. For example, people living in Florida are not likely to choose to build an igloo park. Not only are Floridians choices limited by the state’s climate, but those limitation also drive Floridians constructions and actions. According to possibilists, therefore, it is people, not the environment, that propel human cultural development, although the environment limits the set of choices available to them.” (REA, 115)

14. Schools of Thought
Environmental Perception: Emphasizes the importance of human perception of the environment.
Cultural Determinism: Humans are in opposition to nature – destroying it or modifying it.
“Recently, many geographers have discounted possibilism in favor of a concept known as CULTURAL DETERMINISM. These geographers argue that the environment places no restrictions on humans whatsoever. The only restrictions we face are the ones we place on ourselves. For example, golf courses require grass, water, and fertile soil. None of these is found naturally in a desert; therefore, it seems impossible for a group of people to build a golf course in the desert. But what about Arizona? If you truck in the dirt, pipe in the water, and hire a grass expert who can manage the seeds, you can have a world-class golf course in a world-class desert. So what is possible and what is not? Cultural determinists argue that humans create everything from their cultural perspective.” (REA, 115)

15. “Recently, many geographers have discounted possibilism in favor of a concept known as CULTURAL DETERMINISM. These geographers argue that the environment places no restrictions on humans whatsoever. The only restrictions we face are the ones we place on ourselves. For example, golf courses require grass, water, and fertile soil. None of these is found naturally in a desert; therefore, it seems impossible for a group of people to build a golf course in the desert. But what about Arizona? If you truck in the dirt, pipe in the water, and hire a grass expert who can manage the seeds, you can have a world-class golf course in a world-class desert. So what is possible and what is not? Cultural determinists argue that humans create everything from their cultural perspective.” (REA, 115)

17. Material vs. Non-Material Culture
Range of concrete human creations which reflect values, beliefs, and behavior.
ARTIFACTS – clothing, tools, and artwork
Abstract concepts of values, beliefs, and behaviors
CUSTOMS, TRADITIONS,
“Culture is seen by human geographers to be a people’s way to life, their behavior, and their shared understanding of life. It is a learned system of meaning that has both material and non-material components. MATERIAL COMPONENTS of CULTURE include tangible artifacts that can be physically left behind, such as clothing and architecture. NONMATERIAL COMPONENTS of CULTURE include the thoughts and ideas of a people – for example, their religions or morals – that help define a culture.” (REA, 114)
“MATERIAL CULTURE encompasses anything that can be seen on the landscape, including such things as houses, furniture, and musical instruments. The material culture produces what is called the BUILT ENVIRONMENT. The built environment (CULTURAL LANDSCAPE) is the tangible impact of human beings on the landscape. NON-MATERIAL CULTURE is anything that makes up culture than cannot be touched, such as language and religion, as well as folklore, philosophies, and superstitions.” (KAPLAN, 298)

18. “Culture is seen by human geographers to be a people’s way to life, their behavior, and their shared understanding of life. It is a learned system of meaning that has both material and non-material components. MATERIAL COMPONENTS of CULTURE include tangible artifacts that can be physically left behind, such as clothing and architecture. NONMATERIAL COMPONENTS of CULTURE include the thoughts and ideas of a people – for example, their religions or morals – that help define a culture.” (REA, 114)
“MATERIAL CULTURE encompasses anything that can be seen on the landscape, including such things as houses, furniture, and musical instruments. The material culture produces what is called the BUILT ENVIRONMENT. The built environment (CULTURAL LANDSCAPE) is the tangible impact of human beings on the landscape. NON-MATERIAL CULTURE is anything that makes up culture than cannot be touched, such as language and religion, as well as folklore, philosophies, and superstitions.” (KAPLAN, 298)

19. Non-Material Culture

20. Material Culture

21. ALL Cultural Traits have HEARTHS.
Specific customs that are part of everyday life – language, religion, ethnicity, social institutions, and aspects of popular culture. SINGLE ATTRIBUTE.
ALL Cultural Traits have HEARTHS.

22. Dancing – Culture Trait of Burundi

23. Cultural Hearth
Areas where civilizations first began that radiated the customs, innovations, and ideologies that culturally transformed the world.
“CULTURE HEARTH are areas where innovations in culture begin, such as where agriculture, government, and urbanization originated. Culture hearths were the sources of human civilization. Many hearths invent similar innovations without knowing about each other, a process called INDEPENDENT INNOVATION (or INVENTION). When agricultural innovation occurred in both East Asia and Mesopotamia, it did so without interaction through independent innovation. Ancient culture hearths are believed to have developed in places with the capability of innovation, all near water sources and arable land.”

24. “CULTURE HEARTH are areas where innovations in culture begin, such as where agriculture, government, and urbanization originated. Culture hearths were the sources of human civilization. Many hearths invent similar innovations without knowing about each other, a process called INDEPENDENT INNOVATION (or INVENTION). When agricultural innovation occurred in both East Asia and Mesopotamia, it did so without interaction through independent innovation. Ancient culture hearths are believed to have developed in places with the capability of innovation, all near water sources and arable land.”

26. Non-material and material culture spread from hearth to other areas.
Cultural Diffusion
Non-material and material culture spread from hearth to other areas.
“People’s material and nonmaterial creations spread across space and time, moving to new places and being carried through generations. The spread of people’s culture across space is called CULTURAL DIFFUSION. The spread of any phenomenon (such as a disease) across space is called SPATIAL DIFFUSION.” (REA, 118)

27. “People’s material and nonmaterial creations spread across space and time, moving to new places and being carried through generations. The spread of people’s culture across space is called CULTURAL DIFFUSION. The spread of any phenomenon (such as a disease) across space is called SPATIAL DIFFUSION.” (REA, 118)

28. Images found from Google search under “Cultural Diffusion Images”

29. Cultural Region
Regions created around places and people with similarities in their culture system.

30. Cultural Regions of the U.S.
Source:
Cultural Regions of the U.S.

31. Acculturation
The less dominant culture adopts some of the traits of the more influential one.
“Often when two cultures come into contact with one another, one culture is more dominant than another, possessing either more power or more attractiveness, making its traits more likely to be adopted or maintained than the traits of the less dominant culture. ACCULTURATION occurs when the ‘weaker’ of the two cultures adopts traits from the more dominant culture.” (REA, 120)

32. “Often when two cultures come into contact with one another, one culture is more dominant than another, possessing either more power or more attractiveness, making its traits more likely to be adopted or maintained than the traits of the less dominant culture. ACCULTURATION occurs when the ‘weaker’ of the two cultures adopts traits from the more dominant culture.” (REA, 120)

34. Assimilation
The immigrant lose their native customs, including religion and language. Often takes several generations.
“Sometimes acculturation leads to ASSIMILATION, when the original traits of the ‘weaker’ culture are completely erased and replaced by the traits of the more ‘dominant’ culture. For example, immigrants to the United States might adopt elements of the U.S. culture though acculturation while maintaining some traits from their original culture. However, if assimilated, the immigrants lose most (if not all) of the original traits they brought with them from their homeland.” (REA, 120)

35. “Sometimes acculturation leads to ASSIMILATION, when the original traits of the ‘weaker’ culture are completely erased and replaced by the traits of the more ‘dominant’ culture. For example, immigrants to the United States might adopt elements of the U.S. culture though acculturation while maintaining some traits from their original culture. However, if assimilated, the immigrants lose most (if not all) of the original traits they brought with them from their homeland.” (REA, 120)

36. Source: http://www.beckerley.com/acculturation.jpg

37. Two-way flow of cultural exchange of cultural traits.
Transculturation
Two-way flow of cultural exchange of cultural traits.
“A heated debate surrounds the ‘English as the official language’ controversy in America, with many people arguing that forcing immigrants to adopt the English language is a necessary step in creating a unified country and many others arguing that forced acculturation is culturally biased and erosive to the ‘melting pot’ concept of the United States as a ‘nation of immigrants.’ TRANSCULTURATION occurs when two cultures of just about equal power or influence meet and exchange ideas or traits without the domination seen in acculturation and assimilation.” (REA, 120).

38. “A heated debate surrounds the ‘English as the official language’ controversy in America, with many people arguing that forcing immigrants to adopt the English language is a necessary step in creating a unified country and many others arguing that forced acculturation is culturally biased and erosive to the ‘melting pot’ concept of the United States as a ‘nation of immigrants.’ TRANSCULTURATION occurs when two cultures of just about equal power or influence meet and exchange ideas or traits without the domination seen in acculturation and assimilation.” (REA, 120).

39. Ethnocentrism
Practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture.

40. Source: http://webpub.allegheny.edu/employee/s/swesoky/Iraq2.gif

41. Source: http://kingdom1st. files. wordpress
Acceptance