Culture and Religion

A people’s way of life It includes:

◦ Language◦ Literature◦ Music◦ Art◦ Beliefs and Religion◦ Technology◦ Institutions◦ Customs◦ Roles

What is Culture?

How people dress Traditional foods Holidays How they celebrate major turning points:

◦ Birthdays, coming-of-age, marriage, parenthood, death

Customs

Based on rules for the proper behavior of individuals in particular positions and situations

Gender roles – specifically assigned to men and women

Roles

Homogeneous Society: almost everyone belongs to the same ethnic group and shares the same language and traditions

Examples: Saudi Arabia, Japan

Multicultural Society: contains a mix of peoples and cultures; ethnic groups are often mixed throughout the country

Examples: United States, Brazil

Homogeneous vs. Multicultural

Dispersion of ideas, practices, technologies, language and other cultural aspects

This is how culture evolves and adapts Examples:

◦ Spread of languages and religion◦ Jazz in the United States◦ Columbian Exchange

Cultural Diffusion

Jazz in the US

Spread of American Popular Culture◦ American movies, “pop” music, TV programs,

“fast food,” have all spread around the world

Cultural Diffusion

McDonald’s Tokyo, Japan

McDonald’s Jerusalem

Cultural Convergence – occurs when different cultures exchange ideas and become more similar; led to globalization

Example: Democracy, spread of English

Cultural Divergence – occurs when different cultural influences cause an area to divide into separate parts

Example: India – was once unified by a common Hindu culture; arrival of Islam led it to be divided into Hindu and Muslim areas

Cultural Diffusion

Talk about how the Winter and Summer Olympics are an example of cultural convergence.

How has technology contributed to cultural convergence?

Discuss with a partner…

Folk culture refers to a culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups.

Folk Culture

Christianity – 2.2 billion Islam 1.5 billion Hinduism 1 billion Buddhism 400 million Animism 232 million Judaism 17 million Sikhism 16 million

Major Religions

Belief in one god.◦Christianity◦Islam◦Judaism◦Sikhism

Monotheistic

Oldest known belief system Historically practiced in a variety of forms in

traditional societies Developed in different parts of the world

simultaneously Currently practiced world-wide but most

common in areas of Africa and the Americas Tradition of story-telling rather than putting

beliefs in writing Animals and plants have a spiritual nature

Animism