ABCs of Culture

Culture

   Webster says: the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group This means a group of individuals that share similar beliefs, values, likes, and dislikes.

You can belong to more than one culture, in fact you probably belong to many!

ABCs

 We will use the ABCs of culture to help categorize similarities that can help determine what makes a social group.

A is for Appearance

Appearance:

mostly clothing (special occasions, how it is worn, hats, uniforms); Jewelry (special meanings, like a wedding ring) Type of material (bought, hand made, imported); Hair styles (females in Peru: two pigtails=married, one or many pigtails=single) Physical features (tall, short) Also, make up, tattoos, etc.

B is for Belief System

Belief System

Religion or superstition.

Religion: A major element of culture; most people belong to an affiliation of some sort Superstition: Different countries have different superstitions (Ex: step on a crack, salt spilled, 13 people at last supper and the last was Judas)

C is for Communication

Communication: Language, tone, signs, body language Possibly the most important element of culture. All culture groups have their own ways of communicating with each other.

D is for Dates

Dates: History, ancestry, heritage, establish concepts of time – how is it important to society?

Every group has a starting out point.

E is for Entertainment

Entertainment: Art, music, crafts, dance, sports, songs, storytelling, hobbies, etc.

What do you like? What makes you tick? What helps to define YOU!

An important thing to remember is that you may belong to many different cultures based on what you’re into.

F is for Food

Food: types; spices, special occasions, preparations, taboos, how people eat, number of meals per day.

Different cultures take their meals very seriously. Has American eating habits changed for the bad? How many meals do you eat with your family. By yourself?

G is for Government

Government: laws, values, titles, social roles, and order.

(Do only women raise children? Are certain jobs only for men? Are you discriminated against because of who your God is?) What can you do in this country that you can’t do in another? In some places women still cannot drive a car.

H is for Housing

Housing: Style, materials, use of rooms, shape, size, color, arrangement of furniture; etc.

Do people really live in ice homes? College students live in dorm rooms. How many of you live in two different places?

I is for Information

Information: Information (education from relatives or peers); formal (school, life experience) Valuable lessons can be learned from friends, teachers, parents, or even just living your life and figuring things out along the way.

J is for Jobs

Jobs: technology, economy, ways of making a living, type of currency, transportation; etc.

In some countries a little man runs around town pulling people around in a a wheeled basket, like a taxi cab.

Different areas present different opportunities. A hula dancer in Hawaii wouldn’t be successful on an oil rig in Oklahoma. The same goes for the person on the rig trying to hula dance!

K is for Kind of Environment

Kind of Environment: Location, climate, physical features, vegetation.

Where you live is an important part of who you are as well.

If you were an Inuit in America, you probably would have a hard time adjusting to the heat! A farmer from Kansas may find it difficult to find work in downtown LA.

L is for Leftovers

Leftovers: leftover information that does not fit into one of the above categories. (Population, diseases, etc.)