Cultural Diffusion

  • Cultural Diffusion is the exchange of ideas from one culture to the next.
  • On the Regents Exam Cultural Diffusion is usually applied to religion.
  • For example Buddhism was founded in India, but spread into other parts of Asia along trade routes.
  • A modern example of Cultural Diffusion might be Tiger Woods.
  • He is the product of an American father who went to war in Vietnam and ended up marrying a woman from Thailand (which is next to Vietnam). 
  • They had a son (Tiger) who is half African-American and half Thai. 








Sample Regents Question:

Which term is used to describe the spread of Buddhism from India through Southeast Asia?

1) ethnocentrism     3) imperialism
2) isolation             4) cultural diffusion












Answer: #4