This document provides an overview of key concepts related to culture, including: - Definitions of culture and society. - Material and non-material aspects of culture. - Common "isms" like ethnocentrism, xenocentrism, and cultural relativism. - Important elements that make up culture like symbols, language, values, norms, technology. - Units of culture such as subcultures and countercultures. - The difference between a culture's ideal and real aspects.

1. Culture

2. Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles Notgnihsaw Shrines with a box or chest in the wall Medicine men, herbalists and holy mouth men Visiting the latipso or a Listener

3. What is Culture? A learned system of ideas, values, beliefs, knowledge, norms, customs and technology shared by almost everyone in a particular society Society – A group of interacting persons who live in a specific geographical area, who are organized in a cooperative manner, and who share a common culture

4. Culture Material culture – all tangible things within our society Non-material culture – non-tangible items within a culture

5. Culture’s “ism”s Ethnocentrism The attitude that our culture is superior to others, that our own values, beliefs and behaviors are more correct than others, and that other people and cultures do things wrong compared to our own culture

6. Culture’s “ism”s Xenocentrism The belief that what is foreign is best

7. Culture’s “ism”s Temporocentrism The belief that our own time is more important than the past or future Millenials Baby Boomers Generation X

8. Culture’s “ism”s Cultural Relativism The belief that cultures should be judged on their own terms rather than by the standards of another culture

9. Elements of Culture Symbols Something that is used to represent something else Arbitrary designations Used to understand reality, transmit messages, store complex information, and deal with an abstract symbolic world

10. Elements of Culture Language Systematic usage of speech and hearing to convey or express feelings and ideas Most important set of symbols Transmits, expresses and shares our ideas, values, beliefs and knowledge

11. Elements of Culture Language Non-verbal language of gestures, expressions, mannerisms, and use of space

12. Elements of Culture Language Sapir-Whorf hypothesis Societies with different languages actually perceive the world differently, they do not just use a different set of labels to describe the same things Our perception of reality is greatly influenced by our language

13. Sapir-Whorf Papua New Guinea One = 1 Two = 2 One and two = 3 Dog = 4 Dog and one = 5 Dog and two = 6 Dog and one and two = 7 Dog dog = 8

14. Elements of Culture Values Ideas shared by the people in a society regarding what is important and worthwhile The basis of our judgments about what is desirable, beautiful, correct and good Justify certain types of behavior and forbid others True values are often revealed more by what we do than what we say

15. Elements of Culture Norms Rules and social expectations that specify how people should and should not behave in various social situations Prescriptive – tell people what they SHOULD do Proscriptive – tell people what they should NOT do

16. Elements of Culture Different from values Values are what we see as important and worthwhile Norms are standards, rules, guides and expectations for actual behavior

17. Elements of Culture Norms Folkways – customs or conventions with only mild censure for violation Mores – more important than folkways, with more serious reactions to violations Taboos – mores that prohibit something Laws – formalized legislated norms that are enforced by a group designated for that purpose

18. Elements of Culture Technology The practical production of products and application of techniques used by societies to maintain their standards of living and lifestyle Artifacts – physical products Reflect the non-material culture

19. Units of Culture Gans High culture – elite culture that reflects the tastes of the wealthy, affluent or upper classes Folk culture – reflects the tastes of the working class or ethnic groups Popular culture – reflects the tastes of the masses within a society

20. Units of Culture Subcultures Groups that share some of the cultural elements of the larger society but also have their own distinctive set of norms, values, beliefs, symbols and lifestyles Participate in the larger, dominant culture but possess their own set of cultural elements

21. Units of Culture Counterculture A subculture that adheres to a set of beliefs and values that “rejects and opposes significant elements of the dominant culture of which it is a part.”

22. Ideal vs. Real Culture Ideal culture The norms and values people profess to have Real culture The culture that people actually do follow