Cultural Universals

Culture

Definition: PATTERNS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR that include:

•ideas

•beliefs

• values

•artifacts

•ways of making a living

WHICH ANY SOCIETY TRANSMITS TO SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS TO MEET ITS FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS.

Cultural Universals

KEY ELEMENTS shared by all groups of people throughout the history of man.

ALL SOCIETIES have behaviors and objects that influence and define that culture.

Question: Can anyone think of ANYTHING (behaviors or objects) that applies to EVERY society?

Place and Time

a. Location: land, climate

b. Resources: flora, fauna, raw materials

c. Time: past, present, future

Family Life

Family Structure

Who is the head of the family? Who lives together?

Division of LaborWho does the work?

Food, ClothingShelter, Transportation

a. Food

b. Clothes

c. Dwellings

a. FoodFood

What is eaten and how is it prepared?

Clothing

What is worn every day? Are there ceremonial clothes?

Dwellings

What are the homes like and how are they made?

Transportation

Transportation

How do people move from place to place?

a. Jobs:

b. Money:

c. Existing technology

d. Trade

Economics

EconomicsMoney

What is used for currency?

Jobs

How do people earn a living?

Existing TechnologyWhat are their tools and weapons?

Trade

What do they have to trade? With whom do they trade?

Communication

Language

Spoken, written, “sign” and body language

Number Systems

How does the group count?

Institutions

A. Rules & Laws

B. Conflict Resolution

C. Education

D. Medicine

E. Military

Rules & Laws

How is the group governed? Who makes and enforces the laws? How is the government

organized?

How is conflict resolved?

EducationHow do children learn their culture?

MedicineWho heals? How?

Military

How is the group protected

from “outsiders?”

Art: Does the group have music? What kind? Do they have literature? Crafts? Dance?

Arts & Recreation

What does the group do for fun?

How does the group explain the unknown? What are the group’s birth and death rituals?

Belief Systems

The End!