THE MEANING OF CULTURE

• Culture

• All things that make up a person’s way of life.

• 7 Elements

• Social Organization

• Customs & Traditions

• Language

• Arts & Literature

• Religion

• Forms of Government

• Economic System

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

• Family Patterns

• Nuclear Family (Traditional)

• Comprised of mother, father, and children

• Extended Family (Non-Traditional)

• Several generations in one house

• Farming communities, religious groups, Economic

• Social Classes

• Based on money, occupation, education, ancestry, or other factors

• How do you increase your social class?

• Marriage, Education, Money

• You can move down in the social class too.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

• Different Customs (Culturally Acceptable)

• Greetings

• Sitting Cross Legged

• Dressing

• Business

• Social

• Language – Cornerstone of culture

• Uses

• Communicate: thoughts, feelings, and knowledge

• Passing on beliefs to new generations

• All cultures have a language BUT not all have a written (Ebonics)

CUSTOMS & TRADITIONS&

LANGUAGE

• Styles of Arts and Literature

• Art, Music, Books, Movies, Stories

• Used to teach culture and entertain

• Religion – Linked to Arts

• Major World Religions

• Hinduism

• Buddhism

• Judaism

• Christianity

• Islam

• Monotheism

• Belief in one God

• Polytheism

• Belief in multiple Gods

ARTS & LITERATURE&

RELIGION

THREE QUESTIONS OF RELIGION: 1. WHERE DID WE COME FROM?

2. HOW SHOULD WE LIVE OUR LIVES?

3. WHERE DO WE GO WHEN WE DIE?

COSMOLOGY: THE STUDY AND EXPLANATION OF THE UNIVERSE

THEOLOGY: A SYSTEM OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

ANIMISM: THE BELIEF THAT SPIRITS INHABIT NATURE

Agnosticism: Don’t know

Atheism: Don’t believe in any divinity or spiritual existence

Sect: A religious group, division, “branch” or faction

• Why do we need an organized government?

• People Organized Government

• Historically

• Chiefs or Elders

• Today: National Governments

• Thousands of officials

• Collect taxes, enforce laws, and administer justice

• Types of Government’s Today

• Democracy

• People have supreme power

• Republic

• Form of Democracy; people select leaders to represent them

• Dictatorship

• Ruler or group holds power by force

FORMS OF GOVERNMENT

• Traditional Economy

• Produce what they need to survive

• Hunting and Gathering, Farming, and Herding

• Surplus is traded

• Market Economy

• Buying and Selling

• Command Economy

• Government controlled

• Individuals have little economic power

• Mixed Economy

• Individuals and Government make decisions

• Cars are a great example: People pick & Government sets standards

ECONOMIC SYSTEM

MARKET FORCES: WHAT MAKES SOMETHING VALUABLE?