World History/Geo
Sept 30th , 2015
Warm Up:
What is culture?
What is religion?
Culture
•
•
•
•
Culture refers to the beliefs, values, behavior and
material objects that, together, form a people's way of
life.
Culture determines how we view the world around us
Culture includes the traditions we inherit and pass on
to the next generation
Culture: totality of our shared language, knowledge,
material objects, and behavior
Culture and Society
• Society: the structure of relationships within which culture is created and
shared through regularized patterns of social interaction
– Society provides the context within which our relationships with the external world
develop
– How we structure society constrains the kind of culture we construct
– Cultural preferences vary across societies
• Many modern societies are multicultural---their people follow various ways of
life that blend and sometimes clash.
Components of Culture
• Symbols
• Language
• Values and Beliefs
• Norms
• Material and Non Material Culture
Symbols
• Symbols are defined as anything that carries a particular meaning
recognized by people who share culture.
•
•
The meaning of the same symbols varies from society to society, within a single
society, and over time.
Examples: a flag, a word, a flashing red light, a raised fist, an animal
* non-verbal gestures can be very “symbolic” and diverse.
-Diverse meanings can be given to different variations of the same object, for example,
the winking of an eye.
With a Shoulder Partner think of “Symbols” of our
culture.
Be sure to write them down in your notebooks!
Language
• Language
A system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another.
Function of language:
-Enhances communication (“lets make sure we’re on the same page”)
-Ensures continuity of culture (story telling)
-Identifies societies or groups (group specific words)
-Determines how a person is perceived by others (proper grammar vs slang)
•
Examples of the teenage culture
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sick
Dope
Bomb
For Schizzle my Snizzle
Fo sho
Whack
My bad
Dawg or is it Dog, or is it Dogg (Snoop)
Values and Beliefs
• Values and Beliefs
-VALUES are culturally defined standards by which people assess desirability,
goodness, and beauty and that serve as broad guidelines for social living.
BELIEFS are specific statements that people hold to be true (e.g. The possibility that
the US will one day have a female president - based on the shared value of equal opportunity)
Norms
- Norms are the agreed-upon expectations and rules by
which a culture guides the behavior of its members in any
given situation.
•
TYPES
•
•
PROSCRIPTIVE
•
Should nots, prohibited
PRESCRIPTIVE
•
Shoulds, prescribed like medicine
Types of Norms
• There are four basic types of norms that sociologists commonly refer to:
folkways, mores, taboos, and laws.
• Folkways, sometimes known as “conventions” or “customs,” are standards of
behavior that are socially approved but not morally significant.
•
For example, belching loudly after eating dinner at someone else's home breaks an American
folkway.
• Mores are norms of morality. Breaking mores, like attending church in the
nude, will offend most people of a culture.
• Certain behaviors are considered Taboo, meaning a culture absolutely forbids
them, like incest in U.S. culture.
• Finally, Laws are a formal body of rules enacted by the state and backed by the
power of the state. Virtually all taboos, like child abuse, are enacted into law,
although not all mores are.
• For example, wearing a bikini to church may be offensive, but it is not against
the law.
With a different shoulder partner, think of
some norms in our culture
Material and Non Material Culture
Material culture reflects a society’s values and a society’s technology, the knowledge that people
apply to the task of living in their surroundings.
Examples include books, buildings, physical objects that future generations can use to try
and understand us.
Non Material Culture reflects beliefs, values, concepts, customs
Examples include Beliefs, values, Religions, ethics and philosophies
Types of Culture
• High culture
•
Cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite
• Popular culture
•
Cultural patterns that are widespread among society’s
population
• Subculture
•
Cultural patterns set apart some segment of society’s
population
• Counterculture
•
Cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely
accepted within a society
High Culture
Museum, art gallery, opera, etc
Pop Culture
The latest trend
Sub Culture
Scooter Club
Old car Club
Gangs
Rave Parties
Counter Culture
Material and Non Material Culture
• Material culture reflects a society’s values and a society’s
technology, the knowledge that people apply to the task of
living in their surroundings.
•
Examples include books, buildings, physical objects that
future generations can use to try and understand us.
• Non Material Culture reflects beliefs, values, concepts, customs
• Examples include Beliefs, values, Religions, ethics and
philosophies
CULTURAL CHANGES
-This takes place in 3 ways:
• INVENTION - creating new cultural elements
•
Telephone or airplane
• DISCOVERY –
recognizing and understanding something
already in existence
•
X-rays or DNA
• DIFFUSION – the spread of cultural traits from one society
to another
•
Jazz music or much of the English language
Exit:
• Create a culture web using the five
components of culture we discussed today