ap human geo ☻

• artifact


  an object made by human beings: such as tools, clothing, or buildings
• mentifact


  the ideas, values, and beliefs of a culture, for example: ideas about right or wrong behavior or religion
• sociofact


  the social structures and institutions within a culture/a way that people in a culture organize themselves or interact with each other
• acculturation


  the process of adopting the practices of a different culture, while still keeping your own
• assimilation


  when a minority (small) culture adopts a new culture, typically the dominant (big and influential) culture, resulting in a loss of the original culture
• syncretism


  the blending of different cultural elements, beliefs, or practices to create a new cultural form
• culture


  the shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that characterize a group of people
• multiculturalism


  the presence and coexistence of multiple diverse cultures with a society (different cultures "living" together in one place)
• cultural-relativism


  the view that a person's beliefs and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture
• cultural-landscape


  the visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape (all the things you see that humans have created or changed, like cities or farms)
• convergence


  when cultures become more similar/alike over time due to increased interaction and exchange
• divergence


  when cultures become more different over time, often due to isolation or intentional preservation of unique traits
• globalization


  the increased interconnectedness of the world's cultures, economies, and populations (the world becomes more connected)
• cultural-hearth


  an area where important cultural traits originated and from which they spread to other areas (birthplace of cultural ideas)
• pop-culture


  contemporary popular culture transmitted via mass media (consists of the latest trends, music, movies, etc)
• ethnocentrism


  the belief that one's own culture is superior to others (thinking their culture is better than all others)
• habit


  a settled or regular tendency or practice, such as saying "bless you" when someone sneezes
• taboo


  a social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing
• indigenous-culture


  the culture of people native to a specific area, for example: native american cultures in the united states
• traditional-architecture


  building styles that have been passed down through generations and are specific to a particular culture or region
• postmodern-architecture


  a style that mixes and matches different architectural styles to create something new (it is a departure from strict rules of modern architecture)
• relocation-diffusion


  things spread because people move and take their ideas or culture with them (physical movement)
• expansion-diffusion


  when something spreads outward from a central point
• hierarchical-diffusion


  when an idea spreads from a point of power or influence
• contagious-diffusion


  when ideas spread rapidly and widely among individuals or groups
• stimulus-diffusion


  when a culture adapts an idea from another culture to fit its own beliefs and values, for example: fast food chains like mcdonald's (menus are modified)
• cultural-traits


  specific aspects of a culture that are passed down from generation to generation, shaping the way people live and interact within a society
• cultural-complex


  a unique combination of cultural traits, characteristics, and practices that define a particular culture or society