Human Geography Exam 2

Folk Culture

Culture of people who retain the traditional

Characteristics of Folk Culture

Rural, cohesive, conservative, clannish, and self sufficient

Folk Cultures in the U.S.

Amish, Hutterites, Mennonites, and Indians

Elements of Folk Culture Today

Astrology, Folk Music, Tales, Foods, Spells, Charms, Voodoo, Moonshine, Rituals, etc.

Material Folk Culture Items

Clothes, Tools, Instruments, Fences, Houses

Non-Material Folk Culture Items

Songs, Beliefs, Sayings, Expressions

Folk Housing

Raw Materials, stone, sand, trees, sod. Influenced by local and available building materials to meet needs and conditions. 

Folk Songs

Music with themes about life, death, love, hardship, joys, sorrows, land, and spirits. 

Fiddle, Guitar, Banjo, Jug, Mandolin, Wash Board, Spoons. Jazz and Blues.

Folk Music Revival (1940’s-60’s)

Bob Dylan, Kinston Trio, The weavers, etc.

Ecology

Study of Relationships between physical environment and culture

Human-Environmental Interactions

Human culture is determined by where they live because of the different climates and foods.

Pop Culture

Mass produced items for large segments of the population or subculture groups that are large enough for marketing and profitability.

Positional Goods

Products and services meant to convey wealth, style, and social status. Name brands.

Why is Pop Culture Constantly Changing?

Industrialization, Mass Production, Media, Standardized Education and Lifestyles.

Pop Culture Regions

Standardized, Media, and Mobility Lesson Regional Differences.

Lifestyle Clusters

Fragmentation of Americans based on income and education.

Vernacular Culture Regions

Regions that are perceived to exist by their inhabitants.

Diffusion and Pop Culture

Hierachical Diffusion, many trends start in urban areas. Contagious Diffusion, pop culture is influenced by TV, Radio, and Media. Censorship and editorial decisions = Barriers

Ecology and Landscapes of Pop Cuture

Pop Culture creates trash at higher rates, recreational areas, and elitist spaces.

Landscapes of Consumption

Malls, exclusive shopping areas

Material Items of Pop Culture

Toys, books, memorabilia, baseball cards, comics, video games.

Non-Material Items of Pop Culture

Self-Help Plans, Diets, Programs, Icons, Ideas.

Memorial Landscapes

Lincoln Memorial, USS Arizona, Graceland, etc.

Spoken Languages

Mutually agreed upon form of symbolic speech

Languages

Tongues that cannot be mutually understood

Lingua Franca

When a language has been elected to be the language of communication over a wide area

Dialects

Variant forms of language that can be understood

Most Spoken Languages

Mandarin, Spanish, English, Hindi, Bengalia

Writing Languages

Heiroglyph’s, Ideographs, Cuneiform, Alphabetic

Diffusion of English

Comes from England, was originally celtic, Romans brought Latin and Greek, Roots are from Germanic Tribes (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes), the Norman invasion brought French.

Angles

Middle to North

Saxons

South to South

Jutes

North to South

Languages in the United States

18% speak another language at home, Spanish, Cajun French, and East Asian

Regional English Dialects in the U.S.

New England - North

Mid-Atlantic - Lower Midwest, greatplains, west

Chesapeake - South

Major Religions

Christianity - 2.2 Billion, Catholic, Protestant

Islam - 1.6 Billion, Sunni, Shia

Hinduism - 1 Billion

Buddhism - 500 Million

Judaism - 14 Million

Sikhs - 20 Million

Universal Religions

Actively seek converts - Christianity, Sikhism, Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism

Ethnic Religions

Do not actively seek converts - Judaism, Hinduism, Druze, Zoroastrianism

Diffusion and Religion

Contagious, Relocation, and Hierarchical

Religious Hearths

Middle East - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

South Asia - Hinduism and Buddhism

5 Pillars of Islam

1. Repeated Expression of the Creed

2. Daily Prayer

3. Month of Daytime Fasting

4. Giving Alms

5. At least one Pilgrimage to Mecca

Islams Holy Cities

Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem

Sunni vs. Shia

Split over leadership after the death of Muhamed (632 A.D.)

Ali (Shia Muslims) = 10%

Appointed Successors (Sunni Muslims) = 90%

Hinduism

3500 B.C., when Islam was invaded

No Central Set of beliefs, many manifestations

Elements of Hinduism

1. All Religions lead to the same goal

2. God incarnates himself on Earth

3. Non Violence

4. Karma - Effects your next life

5. Reincarnation - Cycle of birth, death, and rebirth

6. Caste System - A rigid segregation of people based on ancestry and wealth

7. Monotheistic Polytheism - Various perceptions of one God

8. Hindu Trinity - Bahma = Creator Vishnu = Preserver Shiva = Destroyer

9. Ganesh - God of knowledge, wisdom, intelligence, and remover of obstacles. Head of elephant, big belly, and four hands, mouse vehicle

Buddhism

Prince Siddhartha, the Buddha (6th Century B.C.)

Grew during the reign of emperor Asoka of India (300 B.C.)

Don’t believe in a God, reborn based on Karma

4 Noble Truths of Buddhism

1. Life is full of suffering

2. Desire is the cause of suffering

3. Ending of suffering starts with stopping desire

4. An Eight fold plan of proper personal conduct and mediation

3 Main Branches

1. Mahayana - Over half of all Buddhists, China, Korea, Japan

2. Theravadists - About 40%; Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand

3. 3. Tantrayanists - Less than 10%; Tibet and Mongolia (Dalai Llama)

Indo-European

Slavic - Eastern and Central Europe

Germanic - Central and Northern Europe, US

Romance - Western and South Europe, LA NA

Iranian/Persian - Iran and Southwest Asia

Indic - India

Afro-Asiatic

Semetic - North Africa, Middle East, Arabian

Arabic - North Africa, Iraq, Saudia Arabia

Hebrew - Israel

Amharic - Ethiopia

Hamitic - Northern and Eastern Africa

Niger-Congo

Spoken in west, central, and south Africa

Altaic

Turkey and Mogolia

Uralic

North Russia, Finland, and Hungary

Austronesian

Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand,Pacific Islands

Sino Tibetan

China, Tibet, and Burma

Austro Asiatic

Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos)

Korean and Japanese

Disputes over how closely related they are

3 to 4,000 languages are spoken world wide

1000 in Africa, fewer than 100 are spoken by 95% of the world

Nirvana

Cessation of passion, aggression, and desire

Religious Geography of Ireland

Protestants vs. Catholics

In the 1600’s Britain conquered Ireland. Most people on the island have remained Catholic, while England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are protestant.

Treaty in 1921 split Ireland in two

Ireland became independent in 1937 and a republic in 1949.

Problems in Ireland

Catholics in Northern Ireland are discriminated in housing and jobs. The IRA wishes to unify the entire island. in 1968 bombings and violence were committed by Protestants and Catholics. 

Bloody Sunday = Jan. 30th 1972, fourteen die after being shot by the British Army

The Good Friday Agreement = 1998 peach accord which gave catholics more of a say in the running of Northern Ireland.