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Culture Unit 3
AP HUG
Term | Definition |
---|---|
material culture | The physical, visible objects made and used by members of a cultural group; includes buildings, furniture, clothing, food, artwork, and musical instruments |
nonmaterial culture | intangible elements of culture including a wide range of beliefs, values, myths, and symbolic meanings passed from generation to generation within a given society |
cultural trait | A single aspect of a given culture or society |
local culture | rural, ethnically homogenous culture that is deeply connected to the local land; the opposite of popular culture |
Indigenous culture | local culture that is no longer the dominant ethnic group within its tradition homeland because of migration, colonization, or political marginalization |
popular culture | heterogeneous culture that is more influenced by key urban areas and quick to adopt new technologies, the opposite of a local culture |
cultural attitudes | Concepts and ideas in a society that are shaped by cultural opinions, beliefs, and perspectives |
language | A mutually agreed–upon system of symbolic communication |
Polyglot | A person who is fluent in more than two languages |
Religion | A structured set of beliefs and practices through which people seek mental and physical harmony with the powers of the universe. |
ethnic group | A people of common ancestry and cultural tradition; characterized by a strong feeling of group identity |
race | historically defined by the physical characteristics of a group, especially skin color |
ethnic geography | The study of the spatial aspects of ethnicity |
multiculturalism | A set of policies that promote the active participation and inclusion of minority groups in national histories, national politics, and cultural institutions with the goal of embracing difference within society |
ethnocentric approach | An approach to understanding other cultures that evaluates them from the perspective of the observer's culture\n(super judgy) |
cultural relativism | An approach to understanding other cultures that seeks to understand individuals and cultures from a wider perspective of cultural logic\n\n\n(try to understand why a culture does something without being super judgy) |
Physical landscape | All the natural physical surrounding that create and shape the places we are living in or examining |
placelessness | The feeling resulting from the standardization of the built environment; occurs where local distinctiveness is erased and many places end up with similar cultural landscapes |
modernist architecure | A functional, rational, and orderly style for building designs, popular in early 1900s |
postmodern architecture | A design style that is reaction against modernist architecture; it as a flair for the dramatic, creating a spectacle while serving a verity of functions |
Sequent occupance | Refers to the fact that many places have been controlled or affected by a variety of groups over a period of time; those groups have reshaped the functions or meanings of those places and left behind layers of meaning |
sacred spaces | Natural or human–made sites that possess religious meaning and are recognized as worth of devotion, loyalty, fear, or esteem |
secular | not religious |
subculutre | a group of people with distinct norms, values, and material practices that differentiate them from the dominant culture surrounding them |
sense of place | the distinctive feeling of a place, or a person's perception of place |
placemaking | Efforts to use and design public places to better serve the needs of residents and to foster a stronger community |
centripetal force | A force that brings people together and unifies a neighborhood, society, or country\n(like flower petals– brings people together!) |
Centrifugal force | a force that threatens the cohesion of a neighborhood, society, or country (FU) |
Secularization | The process whereby religion became a less dominant force in everyday life than it was in the past |
Absorbing barriers | Barriers that completely halt diffusion |
permeable barriers | Barriers that slow diffusion, but still allow some partial or weakened diffusion |
pidgin | A trade language, characterized by a very small vocabulary derived from the languages of at least two or more groups in contact |
creole | A combined language that has fuller vocabulary than a pidgin language and becomes a native language |
creolization | The linguistic process where languages converge and create new languages and forms of communication |
Lingua Franca | A language of communication and commerce spoken across a wide area where it is not a mother tongue |
bilingualism | The ability to speak two languages fluently |
empire | A sovereign political entity that seek to expand beyond their origin land to control more territory politically and/or economically |
imperialism | The motivating impulse to control greater amounts of territory |
colonialism | The act of forcefully controlling a foreign territory, which becomes known as a colony |
genocide | the systematic killing of members of a racial, ethnic, or linguistic group |
time–space convergence | The phenomenon whereby the introduction of new transportation technologies progressively reduces the time it takes to travel between places |
endangered language | A language that is not taught to children by their parents and is not used actively in everyday matters |
extinct language | A language that has only a few elderly speakers still living, or no living speakers |
convergence hypothesis | The idea that cultures are converging, or becoming more alike |
glocalization | adapting global practices to fit local cultural practices and preferences |
cultural hearth | A place of origin: focused geographic area where important innovations are born and from which they spread |
language family | A group of related languages that share a common ancestry |
dialect | A regional variation of a language that is understood by people who speak other variations of that language |
accent | A way of pronouncing words |
monotheistic | Relating to the belief in only one god |
universalizing religion | A religion that actively seeks new members and believes its message has universal importance and application |
Ethnic religion | A religion identified with a particular ethnic or tribal group that does not seek converts |
proselytic | describing a religion that spreads its message to to others through missionary work |
Toponyms | The names given to a place |
generic toponym | The generic part of a place–name, often a suffix or prefix, such as –ville in Louiseville |
Hierarchical Diffusion | ideas leapfrog from one important person, community, or city to another, bypassing other persons, communities, or rural areas |
Expansion Diffusion | idea or practices spread throughout a population, from area to area, in a snowballing process\n(contagious, stimulus, hierarchical are all types of expansion) |
Contagious Diffusion | The wavelike spread of ideas in the manner of a contagious disease or forest fire, moving throughout space without regard for hierarchy |
Relocation Diffusion | when people migrate thereby bringing an idea or practice to their new homeland |
Stimulus Diffusion | When a specific trait is rejected, but the underlying premise is accepted (McDonalds in India) |