What is culture?

1
What is culture?

• What elements make up a culture?
• Why do cultures change?

2
Culture . . .

• Is all the features of a societys way of life.

3
Culture . . .

• Is learned, passed down from generation to
  generation through teaching, example, and
  imitation.

4
Culture . . .

• Includes all of a societys shared values,
  beliefs, institutions, and technologies.

5
Culture . . .

• Gives roles to individuals and establishes
  relationships within groups in a society.

6
Culture Traits

• Activities and behaviors that people repeatedly
  practice.
• Many vary place to place.Think eating US
  fork, knife, spoon China chopsticks
  Malaysia fingers/hands

7
Culture Traits, cont.

• Change through timeThink clothing

8
How do cultures change?

• Innovation
• Diffusion
• Acculturation

9
Innovation

• New ideas that are accepted into a culture.

10
Diffusion

• The spread of an innovation or other culture
  trait into another culture region, which then
  adopts that element into its own culture.Think
  jazz music

11
Diffusion, cont.

• A culture trait can spread gradually from its
  source Think Country music from Nashville, TN)
• Or it can spread when people move from a region
  and carry the innovation with them to the new
  area.Think Christianity from Europe

12
Acculturation

• When one culture changes a great deal through its
  meeting with another culture.
• Usually a two-way process in which each culture
  changes the other.Think USA fast food and the
  growth of ethnic foods.