GPHY 101 Final Exam Queen's

Winter Exam 2026

Geographic Imagination

understanding how people, places, and events are connected across the world

Mental Map

The personal Image you have of a place in your mind based on your experiences

Place

A location that has meaning, emotions, or importance to people (“Place is space with meaning” - Yi-Fu Tuan)

Globalization

the increasing connection of the world through trade, culture, and movement

Anishinaabe

indigenous nation whose traditional land includes the area where queen’s university is located

Haudenosaunee

indigenous confederacy whose traditional territory includes parts of Ontario and New York

Settler Colonialism

a system where outsiders settle on land and displace indigenous peoples

Terra Nullius

The false idea that land was empty and available to take

Dispossession

taking land, resources, or rights away from people

Assimilation

forcing a group to adopt another culture and lose their own

World Systems Theory

divides the world into core (rich) and periphery (poor) regions

Peripheral Region

a poorer area that provides cheap labor and raw materials

Commodity Chain

the full process a product goes through from production to consumption

Transnational Corporation (TNC)

a company that operates in multiple countries

New International Division of Labor

The movement of jobs to countries with cheaper labor

Neo-Fordism

a flexible, global system of production instead of one-location mass production

Containerisation

using standardized shipping containers to move goods efficiently worldwide

Planned Obsolescence

Designing products to break or become outdated quickly

Spatial Justice

Fairness in how resources and problems are distributed across places

Fair trade

trade that ensures workers are paid fairly and treated well

Social Division

differences in inequalities btwn groups of people

Racialization

treating people differently based on perceived race

Positionality

how your identity affects how you understand the world

Suburbanization

Movement of people from cities to suburbs

Segregation

separation of groups into different areas based on race or income

Gentrification

wealthier people moving into poorer areas, raising costs and displacing residents

Rent Gap

the differences btwn current land value and its potential higher value

Sprawl

the spread of cities to surrounding areas

Mega city

A city with over 10 million people

Favela

informal housing area lacking basic services

Homelessness

lack of stable housing

Mutual aid

community based support where people help each other directly

Place-Making

Designing or shaping spaces to create meaning, identity, and community

Anthropocene

the current time period where human activity has a major impact on the Earth.

Climate Crisis

The urgent environmental problems caused by human activity (ex. global worming)

Renewable energy

energy from sources that don’t run out, like wind, solar, or water

Biofuel

Fuel made from plants or organic materials (alternative for fossil fuels)

Industrial Food

Large-scale farming focused on efficiency and profit

Food Security

Having consistent access to enough safe and nutritious food F

Food insecurity

not having reliable access to enough food

Food Sovereignty

the right of people to control how their food is produced and distributed

Sate

a political organization with defined borders and government

Nation

a group of people who share culture, identity, or history

Nationalism

strong loyalty and pride in one’s country

Border

a boundry that separates countries or reigions

Ideological force

control through beliefs, values and ideas

Repressive force

control through laws, police, or military

Discourse

ways of thinking and talking about something that shape how we understand it (influences what we see as normal)

Orientalism

the way Western societies stereotype and simplify Eastern Cultures (often portrays them as different or less developed)

Sonic Geography

the study of how sound shapes our experience of places

Soundmark

a unique sound that represents a place (Church bells in a twon)

Sound Signal

A sound meant to communicate information (sirens or alarms)

Keynote Sound

Background sounds that are always present in an area (Ex. Traffic Noise)

Critical Listening Positionality

Understanding how your identity affects how you hear and interpret sounds

Migration

the movement of people from one place to another

Immigration

Moving into a country

Emigration

Leaving a country

Internal Migration

Moving within the same country

International Migration

moving between countries

Transnational Migrant

someone who maintains connections to more than one country

Push Factors

Reasons forcing people to leave (war, poverty, disasters)

Pull Factors

reasons attracting people to a place (jobs, safety, better life)

Eco-migration

movement caused by environmental changes (climate, disasters)

Diaspora

a group of people living outside their original homeland but maintaining connections

Modern Slavery

exploitation of people through forced labor or control