Culture encompasses the many practices related to social connection. It can include literature, art, music, dance, and cuisine. Culture also includes social practices, such as how people negotiate marriage, sexual relations, dating, family relationships, or managing mental illness and domestic abuse. Many understand culture to be related to tradition and therefore unchanging. However, culture can evolve over time, and people can have differing interpretations of culture.

In this module on the social and cultural life of Indian Americans, it is important to remember that culture is not static. Therefore, this module only captures part of Indian Americans’ approach to culture. Indian Americans have embraced culture in different ways to give shape to their own identity and find their own place in the United States. They have also found ways to give expression to politics, public service, social activism, and more.