Places & Regions in Global Context – Chapters 5 & 6

The Lexus & The Olive Tree – Chapters 11-14

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Unit Terms

Note: Terms in Bold Type are not found in our text and will be covered in class.

Culture Basics

    Culture

    Habit

    Custom

    Folk Culture v. Popular Culture

    Taboo

    Cultural Geography

    Cultural Landscape

    Cultural Trait

    Rite of Passage

    Cultural Complex

    Cultural Region

    Cultural System

    Cultural Adaptation

    Cultural Hearths

    Cultural Diffusion

    Cultural Nationalism

    Sexuality

    Ethnicity

    Race

    Gender

    Cultural Ecology

    Cultural Adaptation

    Ethology

Cultural Theorists

    Carl Sauer

    H.C. Darby & Genre de vie

    Paul Vidal de la Blache

Language

    Dialect

    Social Dialect

    Official Language

    Standard Language

    British Received Pronunciation (BRP)

    Language Family

    Language Branch

    Language Group

    Indo-European Language Family

    Creole

Religion

    Universalizing (Global) v. Ethnic (Regional) Religion

    Diaspora

Landscape Interpretation

    Ordinary Landscapes (Vernacular Landscapes)

    Symbolic Landscapes

    Derelict Landscapes

    Landscape as Text

    Territoriality

    Proxemics

    Sense of Place

    Topophilia

    Place Marketing

    Semiotics

    Sacred Space

    Modernity v. Postmodernity

    Cosmopolitanism

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International Feast Day – More to Come

You will have two quizzes on the states of the world: One will cover the US states and the Americas (Tuesday, December 4), and the other will cover Europe (Wednesday, January 9).

You have seen several clips from The Gods Must Be Crazy, which contrasts the lifestyles and values of "civilized" South Africa and the Bushmen.

Anthropologist Marvin Harris, comparing the lifestyles of Stone Age peoples with modern peoples, observed that "stone age hunters worked fewer hours for their sustenance than do typical Chinese and Egyptian peasants – or, despite their unions, modern-day factory workers. As for amenities such as good food, entertainment, and aesthetic pleasures, early hunters and plant collectors enjoyed luxuries that only the richest of today’s Americans can afford. For two days’ worth of trees, lakes, and clean air, the modern-day executive works five. Nowadays, whole families toil and save for thirty years to gain the privilege of seeing a few square feet of grass outside their windows."

Keeping The Gods Must Be Crazy and the above quote in mind, write a paper analyzing the standard of living and quality of your life that your family currently enjoys, comparing it to the experiences of previous generations of your family, and considering whether material improvement is necessarily accompanied by a higher quality of life. Interviewing your parents, grandparents, and other relatives would be extremely helpful. Is life getting better over time (however you define better) for members of your family? How do the upbringing and opportunities of previous generations compare to your own? Do more "stuff," larger houses, and nicer cars bring more happiness and satisfaction? How would you like your future nuclear family’s life to be different, if at all, from that of your current family?

Select a unique, interesting, or strange cultural trait from your country of expertise, and subject it to a Marvin Harris-style analysis in which you explain the practical origins of this trait and the benefits that it has for the society in question. Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb here.