Cultural Developments and Interaction in AP World History

01.14.25 02:11 PM - By Claire Baumgartner

One important theme in AP World History is culture.  Questions on the exam will ask you to identify new cultural practices.  They may also ask you to identify how cultural practices spread from one place to another. 


I'm a licensed teacher and professional tutor with over ten years of experience in education.  I've helped dozens of students improve their grades in their AP World History class.  This article will cover what counts as cultural diffusion and cultural interaction.  I'll also show you relevant examples from AP World History.  Read on for tips you can use to improve your grades today!


Note: This post is part of a series on historical themes covered in AP World History.  A common way to remember these themes is using the acronym SPICE-T.  You can learn more about the basics of historical themes and SPICE-T at this link.

Table of Contents

Cultural Developments and Interaction

    Definition

    Cultural Interaction

    Cultural Developments​

Cultural Developments and Interaction​

Definition

This may be the most expansive of all the categories.  Culture covers a group's collective practices.  This includes language, religion, customs, and values.​

Cultural Interaction

Cultural interaction occurs when diverse groups of people meet. Cultures often exchange ideas, beliefs, technology, and physical items. These exchanges add up over time. Each culture changes due to the influence of the other groups.  One example of this is the development of Swahili.  Arab and Bantu traders met on the East Coast of Africa. Overtime, they began using words from each other's language to communicate. This created the Swahili language.​

Cultural Developments

Cultural developments occur when one or more elements of a culture change.  This can occur due to interactions with other cultures.  It can also happen during periods of change or stress within a cultural group.  Buddhism has changed over time.  This led to the development of three major branches of Buddhism. They are the Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan branches.  Different leaders and followers influenced how Buddhism developed in different places. This led to new developments in Buddhism.

I help ambitious students improve their skills and master the AP World History exam.  Learn more here! 


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This material is based on my interpretation of the AP World History Course and Exam Description and my experience working in education for the past decade.  The views expressed on this page are my own.  AP® and Advanced Placement® are trademarks registered and owned by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this site.

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