Have you ever traveled somewhere new only to end up learning more about your hometown?  Things that you thought were universal might actually be unique to where you're from. This realization occurs to people when they interact with other people or places because only then are they confronted with a new way of doing things, a new normal, a new culture. Sometimes we fail to see our own cultural context because we've never seen the world without it.  

As technologies and fashions change, some traits that were pervasive in an earlier era, such as bell-bottom pants or poodle skirts, disappear in the next. Cultural patterns can be as fleeting as fashion styles or as enduring as agricultural land-use patterns that remain etched into the landscape. Our entire worldview is a product of the cultural influences and experiences in our lives; even if we reject certain values, norms, and customs, our response is still a reaction to our cultural context, and it reshapes our culture. For example, the hippies of the 1960s were a countercultural movement that formed as a reaction against the American culture of the 1950s. The impact of that countercultural movement has been important in shaping mainstream culture in the United States ever since. 

In this Unit, we introduce the most important aspects of culture and how they shape societies, places, landscapes, and individuals. We'll study how languages, religions, and ethnicities play powerful roles in influencing individual and communal behaviors, and we'll see that all economic activities and political discussions have a cultural component. Culture is a part of everything, and everything is a part of culture.

AP Module 20: Cultural Patterns: Sense of Place and Social Forces

AP Module 22: Contemporary Causes of Cultural Diffusion