1. Culture

2. What is Culture? Culture is all shared products of human groups.  These include physical objects, beliefs, values and behaviors

3. Material vs. Nonmaterial Material Culture  Physical objects made and used by people Ex. Cars, Books, Clothes Nonmaterial Culture  Human ideological creations Ex. Language, Religion, Government

4. Culture vs. Society  Culture deals with things (products and ideas) people create  Society is the people themselves

5. Five Basic Components of Culture 1.Symbols 2.Language 3.Values 4.Norms 5.Technology

6. Symbols  Anything that stands for something else; shared meaning  Symbols are created by cultures and taught to the young  Symbols change from culture to culture

7. Language  Organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system  Language can vary from culture to culture and even in separate regions within a culture  Language is a great example of a cultural symbol

8. Values  Shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable.  Values will determine both cultural character and individual character  It dictates what materials or nonmaterial a culture will produce

9. Norms  Shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations (expectation of behavior)  Folkways: Norms with no moral significance (getting to class on time)  Mores: Strong moral significance (dishonesty, murder, theft)

10. Technology  Combination of a cultures objects and rules  Different cultures rely on different tools to combat their environment and you are judged by your mastery of those tools (computer skills are needed skills… but being a hacker is not acceptable behavior)

11. Cultural Traits  A tool, act, or belief that is related to a particular situation or need.  Examples: greetings, clothing, music, etc.

12. Cultural Complexities  Clusters of interrelated traits  Examples: Baseball… throwing, hitting, pitching, fielding, running, sliding, rules, etc.

13. Cultural Patterns  Combining cultural clusters to make an interrelated whole  Example: American music, American food, American Athletics

15. Cultural Variation What do we all have in common?  Cultural universals: needs that all societies must meet (cooking, medicine, language)

16. Dealing with Variation  Ethnocentrism: tendency to view ones own culture as superior to others  Normal reaction, provides unity  If extreme, can create a loss of diversity

17. Dealing with Variations  Cultural Relativism: belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards

18. Variations within Societies  Subculture: unique characteristics of groups in society that share values, norms, and behaviors (that are not shared by the entire population)  Helps make society more interesting  Most subcultures present no threat to society  Ex. German Village

19. Variations within Society  Counterculture: A group rejects the values, norms, and beliefs of a larger society and replaces them with a new set of cultural patterns.  Can be detrimental (bad) to a society  Ex. Hippies