Culture Terms

Mr. Lovejoy and Mrs. Lott-Jones

Anthropology

The study of people, their place in society, their culture, and their way of life.

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE How people’s culture effects and

imprints their surroundings.

EXAMPLE: Buildings, cars, technology, are all

examples of our cultural landscape. If all Americans were gone from the Earth, an anthropologist could look at what we left behind, the impression we left on the Earth.

A culture spreads out from its point of origin to a wider area.

Cultural Diffusion

Buddhism began in Nepal and spread to India, China, United States, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Mongolia.

Example:

Subculture A group within society with its

own customs and beliefs.

Example:Southern United States, a

different dialect, different food traditions, slower pace of life.

Acculturation When one culture is influenced and changed

by another culture (sometimes by force).

Example:European Americans forced Native

Americans to give up their culture

Immigrant acculturates

CULTURAL PLURALISM More than one culture lives side by

side.

EXAMPLE: NYC has many cultures like Little Italy,

Chinatown, etc…

Ethnocentrism Judging another culture by the standards

of your own culture.

Xenophobia

Fear of foreigners.

Three Things that can Cause Culture to Change:

technology environmental changes new ideas