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III. Cultural Differences
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World regional geography courses are structured around cultural realms and cultural regions. Human geography courses, however, take a different track and examine major cultural features as they are differentiated around the world. The general themes that comprise the cultural geography section of a human geography course are culture, language, religion, ethnicity, gender, and popular or folk culture.
To read the narrative and see further sections under each listed heading, please see "More" below.
Language
Language is defined as a systematic way of communicating ideas and feelings with the use of conventional signs and gestures, especially voice.
Religion
Like language, religion is a foundation block for cultures. Religion confers identity on people and influences dress, language, house types, and major community buildings.
Ethnicity
Students should be made aware that ethnicity is a fluid concept. For example, the various native peoples of North America (Iroquois, Apache, etc.) were separated by language and generally not described as ethnic groups, while individual populations migrating from patterns of similar complexity in Europe are always called ethnic groups (Germans, Bohemians, etc.).
Gender
Gender refers to the inequality of the sexes, and is a term that is related to social situation, not just biology.
Popular and Folk Culture
Within the broad context of cultural geography, writers have struggled to deal with the difference between modern urban culture, which is highly changeable and influenced by technological developments, and the traditional, long-standing customs of populations which are only minimally affected by urbanization.
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