2. So what is culture?
 The shared:
 Attitudes, Beliefs, Values, Symbols,
Practices, Forms of Behavior and Social
Organizations
 Together with its tools, structures and
artifacts
 Transmitted as a heritage to succeeding
generations
 And changing

3. Elements of Culture
1. Styles of Dress 16. Concept of Fairness
2. Ways of Greeting People 17. Nature of Friendship
3. Beliefs about Hospitality 18. Ideas about Clothing
4. Importance of Time 19. Foods
5. Paintings 20. Eating Habits
6. Values 21. Facial Expressions and
7. Literature Hand Gestures
8. Beliefs about Child Raising 22. Concept of Self
(Children & Teens) 23. Work Ethic
9. Attitudes about Personal 24. Religious Beliefs
Space/Privacy 25. Religious Rituals
10. Beliefs about the 26. Concept of Beauty
Responsibilities 27. Rules of Polite Behavior
11. Gestures 28. Attitude Toward Age
12. Holiday Customs 29. Beliefs about the
13. Music Importance of Family
14. Dancing 30. General World View
15. Celebrations

4. Cultural Geography
 A sub-field within Human Geography
 Can include:
-globalization
-diffusion of Western culture
-cultural assimilation
-cultural landscapes

5. Structure of Culture
 Culture can be broken down into 3
categories:
 Ideological Subsystem
 Technological Subsystem
 Sociological Subsystem

6. Ideological
 Made up of ideas, beliefs and
knowledge of a culture
 The way these things are expressed in
words and actions
 Includes mythologies, legends,
literature, philosophy and folk wisdom
 Called MENTIFACTS

7. Technological
 Composed of the stuff people have and
how they use it
 Includes the tools and objects that help
us feed, clothe, house, defend, transport
and amuse ourselves
 Called ARTIFACTS

8. Sociological
 Composed of the accepted and
expected ways we handle social
relationships
 Includes family, economic, military,
religious and other associations
 Called SOCIOFACTS

9. Components of Culture
Let’s move from the smallest unit to the
biggest. It starts with a . . .
Habit . . . then a
Custom . . . then a

10. Components of Culture
 Trait (culture trait) . . . Learned
behavior—language, tools used, games
played. It can be an object, a technique,
a belief or an attitude.
 Complex (culture complex) . . .individual
culture traits that are functionally
interrelated (automobiles in the US—
model reflects income, movies, sports,
rites of passage)

11. Components of Culture
 Culture System. . . When enough
commonalities exist with traits and
complexes, a system emerges.
(Citizens of the “melting pot” of United
States speak different languages, eat
different foods, have different religions
yet all identify themselves as
“Americans.”)

12. Components of Culture
 Culture Region . . . A portion of the
earth’s surface occupied by populations
sharing recognizable and distinctive
cultural characteristics (political
organizations, religions, type of
economy, housing, etc.)

13. Components of Culture

14. Components of Culture
 Culture Realm . . . A large segment of
the earth’s surface having uniformity in
its cultural characteristics—and showing
a significant difference in them from
adjacent realms.

15. Cultural Realms

16. Components of Culture
 And then . . . we have
 GLOBALIZATION