In South Asia, we will explore
the big idea of cultural differences –
the mental rules that guide behavior
in different places around the world.
Cultural differences can help us understand
an important fact about human geography –
different people can do different things
even in places with similar conditions.
These materials explore some consequences
of cultural differences, using examples from South Asia.
- BI10 Scaffold – Culture in South Asia
- BI10 Interactive Chapter about Cultures in South Asia
- Printable version of chapter
- BI10 South Asia big idea presentation
- BI10 South Asia clickable map
- BI10 South Asia clickable map activity
- BI10 South Asia clickable map index
Day 1: The Big Idea presentation for South Asia
begins with a description of the “natural fences”
that helped isolate the South Asia subcontinent.
A simple river activity can reinforce this idea:
Option: Introduce the idea of a monsoon,
a distinctive feature of South Asia climate.
Day 2-3: Despite barriers, South Asia was invaded
several times by groups of people who brought
very different cultural ideas into the region.
Many of these are still evident in different parts
of the subcontinent today (the focus of this unit).
As a kind of “deep context” for looking at
this complex region, note that until the arrival
of the British in the 1700s, no single government
had ever ruled over the entire subcontinent:
- BI10B Political Control in South Asia
- BI10p Political Control in South Asia Biographies
- BI10Bx Sun Never Sets on British Empire
These graphs and maps are abstract and should
be supplemented with video or photos that highlight
some of the cultural variety in different regions –
an activity that could take weeks but should be
constrained in order to avoid rote memorization
of details about different places – the goal is to
“set the stage” for an exploration of the roots
of modern divisions and the striving for unity.
Day 4: Shortly after independence,
old cultural divisions began to divide the subcontinent
into smaller subregions. The first and most pervasive
was the Partition of India and Pakistan based on religion.
This package of activities provides several ways
to examine this event:
We are working on several activities that explore
the cultural divisions between traditional rural areas
and changing cities – Bollywood and Cyberabad.
Summary: At the end of this unit, students
should be able to explain how a history
of relative isolation and occasional invasion
gave South Asia a complex cultural geography.
Understanding this history can provide perspective
for a capstone project about a current-event topic
such as the simmering dispute over Kashmir
(complicated by nuclear weapons on both sides),
the outsourcing of manufacturing and service jobs,
the rights of women in a post-caste society,
the “miracle” of demographic success in spite
of relatively low money income in Kerala,
or the political challenges that face a country
that calls itself “the world’s largest democracy.”