Diffusion The spreading of cultural ideas Spread of

Diffusion The spreading of cultural ideas

Spread of New Products Silk Road n Columbian Exchange n New products today n

Silk Road Land route that connected Ancient China, the Middle East, and the Roman Empire. n Merchants from many different cultures used this route to trade goods. n

Columbian Exchange The exchange of goods between the Americas and Europe. n Europe to Americas: horses, sheep, cattle, wheat, onions, carrots, lettuce, grapes n Americas to Europe: Corn, beans, chocolate, peanuts, squash, tobacco, potatoes, peppers. n

Spread of New Products Today technology allows for the exchange of new products to be much faster and easier. n Transportation is much faster and more broad today. n

Spread of Ideas Contact between cultures can also lead to the exchange of ideas. n Ex: Islam spreading to North Africa, Spain, and Southeast Asia. n

Spread of Cultural Traits n Cultural traits from one culture can become traits to another culture through cultural diffusion.

Examples of Spread of Traits Clothes, art, food, music n Ex: the popularity of Chinese and Mexican food in the United States. n Ex: the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Madonna being famous worldwide. n

Global Reach of American Popular Culture n n n Radio Movies TV shows T-shirts Blue Jeans Fast Food: Mc. Donalds and Taco Bell

Pandemics; Spread of Disease A negative effect of diffusion. n Disease can spread through trade. n Ex: Bubonic Plaguedevastated Europe and Asia during the Middle Ages. n

Cultural Convergence When one or more cultural traits comes into contact with one another. n Tex Mex n

Cultural Divergence When a culture is isolated and has little or no contact with other cultural ideas, traits, or people. n North Korea n Cuba n