Studied by 9 people
Nacirema Customs
Scraping the body with a sharp object, piercing the skin with sharp objects then closing those holes, painting the body, putting hog hairs in the mouth, and creating lavish shrines
Ethnocentrism
Evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture.
Cultural Relativism
The practice of judging a culture by its own standards
Culture
A group of belief systems, norms, and values practiced by a people
Recognizing Culture
1. People call themselves a culture & 2. Other people label a group as a culture
Folk Culture
Culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups. Cohesive in cultural traits.
Popular Culture
Culture found in a large, urban, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics. Quickly changing cultural traits.
Material Culture
The art, housing, clothing, sports, dances, foods, and other similar items constructed or created by a group of people
Nonmaterial Culture
The beliefs, practices, aesthetics, and values of a group of people.
Habit
A repetitive act performed by a particular individual
Custom
Practices followed by the people of a particular cultural group.
Acculturation
The adoption of cultural traits, such as language, by one small group under the influence of a big group.
Assimilation
Immigrants lose their native customs completely.
Relocation Diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another.
Diffusion
The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time
Cultural Landscape
The visible imprint of human activity on the landscape
How do cultural landscapes blend together?
(1) Planning ideas diffuse (2) Products become so widespread that they leave distinctive landscape
Global-Local Continuum Concept
Notion that what happens at the global scale has a direct effect on what happens on the local scale, and vice versa. The world is comprised of an interconnected series of relationships that extend across space
Identity
How we make sense of ourselves
How do we construct identity?
Experiences, emotions, connections, and rejections
Identifying Against
Constructing an identity by first defining the "other" and then defining ourselves as "not the other"
Individual Identity
The traits that make up a person's sense of individuality (ex: sister)
Local Identity
Is made up of the ethnic values, practices, and traditions of the local identity communal group (ex: neighborhood)
Regional Identity
identification with a specific geographic region of a nation (ex: Northeastern)
National Identity
A sense of belonging to a nation (ex: American)
Global Identity
Made up of individuals who adopt and embrace international practices and values over local practices (ex: Western)
Sense of Place
State of mind derived through the infusion of a place with meaning and emotion by remembering important events that occurred in that place or by labeling a place with a certain character.
Ethnicity
Identity with a group of people that share distinct physical and mental traits as a product of common heredity and cultural traditions.
Ethnic Identity
A person's identification with a racial or ethnic group
Racism
Belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.
Race
Combination of physical attributes in a population
Nationality
Identity with a group of people that share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular place as a result of being born there.
National & Ethnicity Similarity
Both defined through shared cultural values derived from religion, language, and material culture
National & Ethnicity Difference
Nationality includes shared experiences between cultures
Residential Segregation
Defined by Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton as "the degree to which two or more groups live separately from one another, in different parts of the urban environment."
Apartheid
A social policy or racial segregation involving political and economic and legal discrimination against non-whites.
Balkanization
Process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities
Genocide
Deliberate extermination of a racial or cultural group
What does gross national income exclude?
Unpaid labor of women in the household and labor by rural women in less wealthy countries
Language
System of communication through speech, a collection of sounds that a group of people understand to have the same meaning
Literary Tradition
System of written communication
Language Families
Collection of languages related through a common ancestral language
Language Branches
Collection of languages within a family related through a common ancestral language
Language Groups
Collection of languages in a branch that share a common origin in the past and have same grammar
Official Language
The language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents.
Indo-European
Relating to the family of languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia as far as northern India.
Sino-Tibetan
Language area that spreads through most of Southeast Asia and China and is comprised of Chinese, Burmese, Tibetan, Japanese, and Korean.
Branches of the Indo-European Family
Germanic, Indo-Iranian, Balto-Slavic, Romance
Dialect
A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.
Lingua Franca
A language used among speakers of different languages for the purposes of trade and commerce
Pidgin Language
When people speaking 2 or more languages are in contact and they combine parts of their languages in a simplified structure and vocabulary
Creole Language
Pidgin language with a complex structure that has become the native language of a group of people
Multilingualism
Societies in which two or more languages are in common use
Global Languages
The language used most commonly around the world; defined on the basis of either the number of speakers of the language, or prevalence of use in commerce and trade
Place
Unique location and constitutes a reflection of human activities, ideas, and creations
Toponym
The name given to a place on Earth
Descriptive Toponym
A place name that describes a physical feature or environmental characteristic of a place (Rocky Mountains)
Associative Toponym
A name that identifies with human adaptions to the location (Mill Valley, CA)
Commemorative Toponym
A place name that honors a famous or important person (San Francisco, CA)
Commendatory Toponym
A name to praise the town (Paradise Valley, AZ)
Incident Toponym
A name associated with something that happened there (Battle Creek, MI)
Possession Toponym
Named after the founder of the city (Johnson City, TX)
Folk Toponym
A false meaning extracted from a name based on its structure when being named (Plains, GA)
Manufactured Toponym
A place name that is made up (Truth or Consequences, NM)
Mistakes Toponym
Accidental spelling error (Lasker, NC)
Shift Toponym
Shifting a name already existing to the new place (Lancaster, PA)
Postcolonial Toponyms
New governments renamed several countries and newly independent countries also changed the names of cities and towns to reflect their independence.
Postrevolution Toponyms
Changes in power through coups and revolutions prompt name changes.
Memorial Toponyms
People change a toponym to memorialize an important person or event.
What 4 factors make the rate of having babies decrease?
Babies living, educated women, access to family planning, and babies not needed for work
Religion
A system of beliefs and practices that attempts to order life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate priorities
Manifestations of Religion
Worship, prayer, rituals
Secularism
A doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations.
Universalizing Religions
A religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location.
Ethnic Religions
Focus on one ethnic group and generally have not spread into other cultures
Branch
A large and fundamental division within a religion (Catholicism)
Denomination
A division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations in a single legal and administrative body. (Greek Orthodox)
Sect
A relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination.
Sunni
A branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad
Shiite
A group of Islamic religion that believes that its religious leader should be chosen based on heredity.
Buddhism
Belief system that started in India in the 500s BC. Happiness can be achieved through removal of one's desires. Believers seek enlightenment and the overcoming of suffering.
Islam
A religion based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed which stresses belief in one god (Allah), Paradise and Hell, and a body of law written in the Quran. Followers are called Muslims.
Christianity
A monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior.
Mahayana
Sect of Buddhism that offers salvation to all and allows popular worship
Theravada
A sect of Buddhism focusing on the strict spiritual discipline originally advocated by the Buddha.
Vajrayana
Named for the vajra, the Buddha's diamond scepter; prevalent form of Buddhism in Tibet; emphasizes the harnessing of sensual energies to attain nirvana
Hinduism
A religion and philosophy developed in ancient India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being who takes many forms
Confucianism
A philosophy that adheres to the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It shows the way to ensure a stable government and an orderly society in the present world and stresses a moral code of conduct.
Taoism
A Chinese philosophy in which people live a simple life in harmony with nature.
Syncretism
A blending of beliefs and practices from different religions into one faith
Animism
Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.
Judaism
A religion with a belief in one god. It originated with Abraham and the Hebrew people. Yahweh was responsible for the world and everything within it. They preserved their early history in the Old Testament.
Polytheism
Belief in many gods
Monotheism
Belief in one God
Hierarchical Diffusion
The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places
Places of Worship
Sacred structures that physically anchor religion to landscape
Jerusalem
A city in the Holy Land, regarded as sacred by Christians, Muslims, and Jews.
Mecca
City in western Arabia; birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and ritual center of the Islamic religion.
Interfaith Boundaries
Boundaries between the world's major faiths
Intrafaith Boundaries
Boundaries within a single major faith
Note
Flashcard