Culture

A way of life - traditions and customs -transmitted through learning, which play a vital role in molding the beliefs and behavior of the people exposed to them.

 Enculturation

the environment (society or nation) in which traditions are learned as children grow up 

Anthropology

The study of human biological and cultural diversity in time and space.

Culture Shock

disturbed feelings that arise when one comes into contact with an unfamiliar culture, either in North America or abroad.

Symbol

something verbal or nonverbal, in a language or culture, that comes to stand for something else.

Culture Trait

an individual item in a culture, such as a particular belief, tool, or practice.

Culture Pattern

a coherent set of interrelated traits

(customs, institutions and values form patterns)

note: if one changes, the others also change 

Core Values

the sharing of certain personality traits; (key, basic, or central values) may integrate each culture and help distinguish it from others.

i.e. work ethic, individualism, achievement and self-reliance are core values that have integrated American culture for generations.

Ideal Culture

consists of what people say they should do and what they say the do

Real Culture

refers to their actual observed behavior

Agency

refers to the actions that individuals take, both alone and in groups, in forming and transforming cultural identities.

International Culture

applies to culturally defined groups that extend across national boundaries.

(i.e. Catholic Church - different countries share experiences, symbols, beliefs, values and behaviors transmitted by their church)

National Culture

refers to the experiences, beliefs, customs and values shared by people who have grown up in the same country, such as the US, Canada, or Mexico

Ethnocentrism

the tendency to use one's own cultural standards and values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people from different cultures.

(is a cultural universal; people everywhere think that familiar explanations, opinions and customs are true, right, proper and moral)

Cultural Relativism

the view that behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another

Universals

the traits that tend to distinguish Homo sapiens from other species.

human social universals-kinship, family, living, child cared and food sharing.  cultural universals-religion and marriage

generalities

regularities that occure in different times and places but not in all cultures

(the middle ground between universal and the particular or unique)

particularities

traits or features of culture that are not generalized or widespread; rather, they are confined to a single place, culture or society

(an example, food dish - pork barbeque with mustard-based sauce is available on in South Carolina, or the pastie-beef stew in pie dough characteristic of Michigan)

native anthorpologist

one who studies his or her own culture.

diffusion

an important mechanism of cultural change, has gone on throughout human history because cultures have never been truly isolated.

(diffusion is direct when two cultures tradem intermarry or wage war on one another; it is forced when one culture  imposes its customs on the dominated group.

acculturation

a mechanism of cultural change; the exchange of cultural features that results when groups come into continuous firsthand contact.

independent invention

the process by which humans innovate, creatively finding new solutions to old and new problems; another important mechanism to cultural change

globalization

encompasses a series of processes, including diffusion and acculturation, working to promote change in a world in which nations and people are increasingly interlinked and mutually dependent

text

 a term that applies to something that can be creatively "read", interpreted and assigned a meaning by anyone (a "reader") who receives it

subcultures

the diverse cultural patterns and traditions associated with subgroups in the same country