Folk & Popular Geography
(Rubenstein, Ch. 4)

This chapter really introduces us to the core of topic of this course—i.e., cultural geography
We’ve already learned about what geography is, but what exactly is culture?
What is culture?

Often simply defined as: “the way of life for group of people”
So what does that include??? Among many other things…
Language

Religion

Customs, ceremonies, rituals

Norms of behavior, codes of conduct, manners

Ways & styles of dressing (i.e., clothing)

Food preferences

Ways of making a living (i.e., livelihoods; types of work)

Systems of beliefs & values: religious, political, economic, etc.

Virtually every aspect of human activity can serve as a part of a group’s culture…

*

Source: Wikipedia.com

Hoult’s 4 major elements of culture

Values
What is considered important?

Norms
How are people expected to behave?

Institutions
What social structures/systems are created by the people to share and preserve their values & norms?

Artifacts
What material objects (i.e., “things”) are made by the people?

*

Source: Wikipedia.com

Material vs. Nonmaterial culture

What sort of artifacts are most important to the culture?
Physical objects? (i.e., “things”, houses, clothes, etc.) = Material culture

Mental “objects”? (i.e., symbols, metaphors, reifications, etc.) = Nonmaterial culture

*

Source: Wikipedia.com

To be included as something that is a part of a “culture”, it must be:

Shared
It is NOT something that is completely unique to a single individual

i.e., it is part of a group of people

Learned
It is NOT something that is biologically or genetically inherited!

As Hoult said, cultural elements are, “passed on from generation to generation by learning alone”

Hence, education is how culture is transmitted, both over time and space

Think about it… If a person is born in China to biological parents who are culturally “Chinese” but then is adopted by parents who live in the United States and who are culturally “American,” what will his/her culture most likely be? (i.e., what language will he/she speak?, etc.)

The Cultural Continuum:
The two extremes of culture classification *Option 1 – Search for news articles about cultural issues related to the place that you are researching for our course assignments. Write a response to this news article in which you discuss specific examples of at least 2 terms or concepts from either Chapter 4 or Chapter 5 that are illustrated by this article. Be sure to provide a citation (with link) for your news article.

Remember the following expectations to be eligible to receive full credit for your Discussion:

1) Your first post should be made by midnight (CST) on Thursday.
2)You must make at least 2 additional posts (100 words min).
3) You must have a total of at least 200 words of content-focused discussion from all posts.
4) Provide accurate, insightful, relevant examples and information throughout your posts.
5) Respond to all aspects of the discussion prompt(s).
6) Use proper grammar and provide proper bibliographic citations for all sources used to support your posts.

Helpful Site:
http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/peru-population/
https://www.anywhere.com/peru/travel-guide/people-and-culture
https://www.ethnologue.com/about/language-info