Cultural Universals
Cultural Universals
Economy
Tools – Goods – Businesses – Transportation - Technology – Division of Labor –
Trade and Money
Questions to ask about economy:
• How did people get things they needed? Did they buy them? Did they have them already? What did they make themselves? Did they trade for them?
• What factors contribute to whether a person is rich or poor?
• How does where they live effect the economics of their area?
• Where and what did they trade? For what?
• What is valuable? Why is it valued?
• How do people make a living?
• Who works where? Male versus female?
• Where do they live?
• How did they get there?
• How does where they live affect their life?
• How is their community arranged?
• What do they use to work and to fight?
• What are the common possessions owned and valued by this culture?
• What can you find in most homes? Pets? Children? Television?
Institutions
Government – Education – Ethnic Groups – Law Enforcement – War and Peace –
Marriage and type of family groupings – Child training and rites of passage
Questions to ask about institutions:
• Who is in a family?
• What role does each person have?
• What role do women, children and elderly people have?
• What is appropriate and inappropriate behavior for family members?
• Who is in charge?
• What laws are there?
• What happens when someone breaks a law?
• How are decisions for the community made?
• Who is allowed to participate in decision making? Who is not allowed? Why?
• What are historical reasons for this culture to go to battle?
• How do they fight? What equipment do they use? Specialize?
• How do people get an education?
• What do they learn?
• How do they learn it?
• Who taught them?
• Do they have schools? What are they like?
• Do schools vary from region to region? Why or why not?
Art
Crafts – Art – Literature – Music – Dance – Drama
Questions about Art:
• How do people express themselves? Do people create visual art?
• What is the purpose of art?
• Who creates art?
Language
Symbols – Writing systems – Words – Number systems
Questions about communication:
• How do they talk to each other? To other countries? To the rest of the world?
• How do they share ideas and information? What is communicated?
• How is information transmitted?
• How does information and people move from one place to another?
• What are problems of communication? How do these problems affect the culture?
Beliefs
Religions – morals – values – death rituals
Questions about religion:
• What religious beliefs do people have?
• How does religion affect how people live?
• Did any conflicts come about because of different belief systems?
• What do people believe is proper and improper behavior?
• What happens to people who do not behave properly?
• How do people believe other people should be treated?
Recreation
Games – Toys – Sports – Use of leisure time
Questions about recreation:
• What do people do for fun?
• What kind of games do they play?
• When and how much leisure time do they have?
• What do they celebrate? How do they celebrate?
Material Culture
Food – Shelter – Clothing
Questions to ask about Material Culture:
• What do they eat? How did they get it? How was it prepared?
• How was what they ate, their clothing and shelter affected by where they are?
• What kind of clothing do they wear? How was what they wore based on status, gender and/or age?
• How do they build their buildings? What kind of buildings do they have?
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