In this unit, you will learn

1
Culture

• In this unit, you will learn
• What culture means.
• How and why geographers study culture.
• How and why cultures change over time.

2
Culture

• Rhetorical Question What are some organized
  events that occur regularly in your community?
• These events make up the culture of an area,
  which is the focus of this next unit.

3
Culture

• Culture Culture includes all the features of a
  people's way of life, including those patterns of
  human knowledge, beliefs and behaviors that are
  learned and transmitted to succeeding
  generations.
• Examples?
• Language, religion, architecture, clothing,
  economics, family life, food, the arts,
  government
• Peoples beliefs, institutions, shared values,
  technologies and skills.

4
What about here?

• Take a few minutes and list in your notes some
  shared cultural activities or traditions for each
  of the following
• Prior Lake or Savage
• Minnesota
• The United States

5
Cultural Traits

• Cultural Traits activities and behaviors common
  to groups of people
• Universal traits are those that all people share,
  like learning math or how to read, or learning to
  walk and speak
• Varied traits are those that differ based on
  location, but are considered correct in that
  location (e.g. in the US teens can acquire a
  drivers license at age 15, in Australia not until
  they are 18)

Also, some cultures have rites of passage bar
mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs, for example while
other cultures have none of which to speak.
6
What about here?
Copy the chart into your notes and fill it in
Government Example democratic system, elected
officials at local, state and national levels
religion
education
language
economy
housing
food
clothing
7
Video Culture What is
it?(1248)Video Culture Similarities and
Differences (2700)Video CultureValues and
Beliefs
8
Culture regions
The Midwest, of course.

• Culture regions larger areas in which many
  people share culture traits
• Sometimes a culture region is an entire country,
  like Japan, which is very homogenous (almost all
  Japanese share the same culture traits)
• Sometimes a nation includes many culture traits
  and has many culture regions, like the United
  States, which is very heterogeneous

9
Ethnic Groups

• Ethnic groups are groups of human beings that
  share a common culture or ancestry.
• Some members of an ethnic group are mostly within
  one nation or region, like Japan.
• Some ethnic groups are split by borders of
  nations, like the Kurds of the Middle East

10
Notice the Kurdish cultural region (in red), and
how it is split by the borders of Syria, Iraq,
Turkey and Iran
11
What do these words mean?
Anthropology Archaeology Prejudice Ethnocentric
Bias Stereotype Xenophobia
12
Vocabulary definitions

• Stereotype over-simplified, commonly held
  opinion of a person or group often a composite
  of traits generalizations about an entire group
• Ethnocentric (ethno cultural group centric
  at the center) believing that ones own culture
  is superior to others negative if extreme
  positive if establishes self-pride
• Xenophobia (xeno foreign phobia fear) a
  fear of foreigners or things foreign

• Anthropology study of living cultures
• Archaeology study of past cultures artifacts
• Prejudice unreasonable attitude against a group
  or culture based on supposed characteristics
• Bias personal, distorted judgment that
  influences perception one-sided

13
Nonverbal Communication Dramas

• On a sheet of paper, answer the following
  questions for each of the four scenes
• What was Sam feeling?
• How did you know?
• What was Chris feeling?
• How did you know?

14
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

• NON-VERBAL GESTURES

15
CULTURAL COMMUNICATION QUIZ
16
Can you guess the meaning of this Japanese
gesture?

• I'm scared like a bunny
• I've been hearing things about you
• I'm angry

Answer C Im angry!
17
The two A -OK gestures (see the photos) that
are so popular in the United States are extremely
rude in many parts of the world.Pick the country
where one or both of these  A-OK gestures are
obscene

• BRAZIL
• AUSTRALIA
• SPAIN
• SOME COUNTRIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST
• ALL OF THE ABOVE

Answer E. These gestures may be obscene in all
these countries. Think about how many times a US
President has inadvertently insulted foreign
dignitaries with these gestures!!
18
Some Asians may show disagreement by squinting or
sucking air through their teeth
ANSWER TRUE   Many Asians find it difficult to
actually say the word no and instead more
comfortably indicate their displeasure or
disagreement with a gesture

• TRUE
• FALSE

19
Can you try to guess what this French gesture
means?
a. I don't believe youb. I wish I hadn't seen
thatc. I am looking at a very handsome man
ANSWER A I dont believe you
20
In Chile, slapping your right fist into your left
palm is obscene, and an open palm with the
fingers separated means "stupid"

• TRUE
• FALSE

ANSWER TRUE
21
You are late for your appointment  with your
German boss, then you call him by his first name
and move your chair closer to his desk. Which of
the following might calm him down?

• Ask him about his family
• Ask him about his weekend
• Stick your hands in your pockets
• Apologize for being late and get right down to
  business

ANSWER D.  If you are thoroughly prepared and
sit ramrod straight in your chair without moving
until he dismisses you, you may leave with your
job intact.
22
Can you guess what this gesture means in Iran?
a. Good luck to youb. You will always be number
one for mec. Shove it"
ANSWER C Shove it
23
A British professor was a guest lecturer at a
university in an Islamic country. During his
address, he unthinkingly insulted the audience by
displaying a part of his body. What did he show
the audience that was so offensive?

• His teeth
• His left hand
• The sole of his foot

ANSWER C.   The Professor's failure to respect
Muslim decorum resulted in a student protest and
newspaper headlines denouncing British arrogance
24
In Hawaii, a common gesture for greetings is
called "shaka" and is done by

• Shaking two clasped hands in the air
• Nodding your hair rapidly up and down
• Folding down your three fingers to the palm,
  extending your thumb and pinkie holding out your
  hand and shaking it

ANSWER C.   The "Shaka", while not easy for
"mainlanders" to do at first, is so popular that
it became a trademark of a former Hawaiian
governor.
25
In Japan, tapping one's finger repeatedly on the
table signifies agreement and support of a
speaker's statement.

• TRUE
• b. FALSE

ANSWER TRUE   This type of "mini-applause" was
reportedly started in one of the courts of a
Japanese emperor.
26
Cultural Change

• Rhetorical Questions
• How does culture change over time?
• What causes culture to change?
• Are cultural changes always positive?
• In part, the answers deal with ethnocentrism,
  proxemics, acculturation, innovation, diffusion,
  globalization and traditionalism.

27
ENTHNOCENTRISM

• People become so familiar with their own customs
  that they expect people to behave in a
  particular way.
• How could the idea of ethnocentrism cause
  societal problems?
• Should a culture expect other cultures to know
  and adapt to their supposed behaviors?
• What about proxemics? (simulation)

28
PROXEMICS

• DEFINITON A cultures comfort zone for
  personal space
• Most Americans favor a distance of approximately
  19 inches, or just about arms length.
• Western Europeans and Americans, a space of 14 to
  16 inches is considered non-intrusive. But those
  from the U.K. might consider a distance of 24
  inches to be more comfortable.
• Koreans and Chinese generally prefer at least 36
  inches.
• In Middle Eastern countries, a narrower distance
  of 8 to 12 inches is common, widening the
  distance could be perceived as distrustful
  behavior.

29
ACCULTURATION

• DEFINITION Process in which an individual or
  group adopts some of the traits of another
  culture
• Cultural Traits (activities and behaviors that
  people take part in) change through time.
• Examples Style of clothing or Women in
  non-traditional careers
• When groups begin to adopt all of the features of
  the main culture, it is called assimilation.
• Examples American Indian groups, many immigrants
  to the US, even today

30
How Do Cultures Change?

• Innovation New useful ideas that a culture
  accepts
• Diffusion When an idea or innovation spreads
  and is adopted
• Types of Diffusion
• Expansion Diffusion Information about a new idea
  or innovation spreads throughout a society
• Relocation Diffusion Cultural traits spread
  when people move to new places and take their
  culture with them
• Hierarchical Diffusion Cultural traits spread
  from places of greater size influence to places
  of lesser size influence.

31
TODAY

• GLOBALIZATION The process in which connections
  around the world increase and cultures become
  more alike BLENDING OF CULTURES
• Example McDonalds!
• TRADITIONALISM Opposite of globalization. It
  means following longtime practices and opposing
  many modern technologies and ideas. Can lead to
  fundamentalism (any movement in which people
  believe in strictly following certain established
  principles or teachings)
• Example Religious fundamentalism Are Iraqis
  willing to Westernize?

32
Heres a musical example to illustrate how
culture changes
33
Earth Town Square
Peter Mayer
34
Once,
35
we were lonely islands
36
divided by horizons
37
a hundred thousand
tribes surviving,
38
scattered far and wide.
39
Hearing only stories,
of distant territories
40
peering out
across the miles
41
between our shorelines.
42
Then,
we harnessed natures forces
43
straddled backs of horses,
44
waging wars and
crossing borders
45
as our numbers grew.
46
We bought
and sold
47
and traded.
48
Oceans were navigated
49
and fates entwined by
rails
and roads
50
and telephones,
and soon
51
we cracked the code of flight
52
spoke via satellite
53
at the speed of light and now -
54
its feeling like a small town
55
Monthly World population figures 07/01/04
6,372,797,742 08/01/04 6,379,026,080
09/01/04 6,385,254,418 10/01/04
6,391,281,842 11/01/04 6,397,510,180
12/01/04 6,403,537,604 01/01/05
6,409,765,942 02/01/05 6,415,994,280
03/01/05 6,421,619,875 04/01/05
6,427,848,214 05/01/05 6,433,875,637
06/01/05 6,440,103,976 07/01/05
6,446,131,400
six billion people downtown
56
at a little sidewalk fair
57
in Earth Town Square.
58
There
Germans
selling
Audis
59
filled with gasoline
from Saudis
60
to Australians
sipping Kenyan coffee
61
in their Chinese shoes.
62
Argentines
are meeting
Mongols
63
over
french
fries
at
McDonalds
64
and the place looks strangely tiny when you see
it from the moon.
65
And theres music in the park
66
kalimbas
and
guitars
67
bagpipes
and
sitars
68
now
its feeling like a small town
69
with 6 billion people downtown
70
The Tower of Babel
even Babel cant compare
71
to Earth Town Square.
72
As,
each hour goes by
73
ten thousand more arrive.
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And the din gets louder on
Main Street
75
where you can watch
downtown boom
76
and wonder if well make room
for everybody there
77
in Earth Town Square.
in Earth Town Square.
In earth town square.
78
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