Cultural Geography Midterm

Cultural Geography

a branch of human geography that emphasizes human beliefs and activities and how they vary spatially, utilize the environment, and change the landscape

Human Geography

a branch of geography centered on the study of people, places, spatial variation in human activities, and the relationships between people and the environment

National Geographic: africa

wildlife

National Geographic: the Middle East

islamic religion explains all. people stuck in the past(static)

National Geographic: the pacific

romantic, overly happy, sensual, friendly

Geography

to write about or describe the earth

geography asks questions and explores concepts related to

location, place, space, region, scale, distribution, movement, and interconnections

cultural/human ecology

that idea that people are a part of nature

Environmental determinism

an ancient idea that human diversity resulted from climatic/locational factors and that climatic extreme would adversely affect mental capabilities (anthropo-geography)

overly simplistic, similar natural settings do not produce the same cultural patterns around the world

possibilism

reaction against environmental determinism. Humans use creativityy to respond to conditions in nature. Doesn’t negate that nature plays a role but doesn’t believe it is the strongest shaping factor

Humans as modifiers of the earth

rejections of environmental determinism. emphasizes the ability of people to modify their surroundings. Human activities transform natural landscapes to cultural landscapes. nature can be seen as a social construction

actor-network theory

human and non humans are linked together in a dynamic set of relations that ultimately influence human behavior. supply and demand, community pressures/aesthetics, behavioral patterns —> availability of fertilizers, well kept lawn, mowing/fertilizing/maintenance

Earth as dynamic, integrated system

people are intricately connected with the natural world (climate change and sustainability)

Space

a bounded or unbounded area

absolute space

might be distances, dimensions, or directions that can be measured - fixed and container-like

relative space

is not fixed, and depends on the frame of reference, the connections between those in a space, relates to functional regions, and the way space is organized - a network

relational space

product of spatial and social processes - how your behavior changes as you more from home to the dorm to the classroom

place

a locality distinguished by specific physical and social characteristics

site

physical characteristics of a place such as its topography, vegetation, water resources

situation

the geographic context of a place, including its political, economic, social or other characteristics

region

a unit of the earths surface that contains distinct environmental/cultural attributes

boundaries of a region

on the ground they are usually indistinct and hard to agree upon - ocean space?

formal region (uniform regions)

areas that possess one or more unifying physical or cultural traits, or and agreed-on boundary - countries, cities, educational attainment

functional regions (nodal regions)

areas unified by a specific economic, political, or social activity, and will have a node, like a business, office, or entity that coordinates those activities - university campus or US state(capital acting as node)

perpetual regions 

intellectual constructs designed to help us understand the nature and distribution of phenomena. They are derived from peoples sense of identity and attachment to different areas.  we have impressions and images of various regions and cultures that are highly variable for personal reasons. (where is Oklahoma? south, midwest, south central)

cultural landscapes

the visible expressions of culture that provide us with clues about people values, identity, and more broadly, their cultures - OSU landscaping (cowboy hat bush, boot bush)

distribution

an arrangement of phenomena on or near the earth surface

spatial diffusion

the movement of phenomenon (including information, innovation, even epidemic) across space and over time

contagious diffusion

occurs when a phenomena spreads randomly or rapidly, but can also be defined as a form of expansion diffusion - gossip/online stuff, the common cold

stimulus diffusion

the spread of an underlying idea, practice, or other phenomenon that prompts a new idea or innovation in other locations - the production and marketing of goods (McDonalds advertising in different places)

hierarchical diffusion

occurs in a top-down or rank-order manner - corporate policy moving from larger to smaller cities/offices

relocation diffusion

occurs when people move from a location to another and bring their innovations/ideas with them (food, music, language) - can be voluntary or forced

spatial patterns of language

geographers make languages visible typically on maps - isoglosses and distribution of language families

signage

dialects and toponyms help us to etch our language and identities into our surroundings, demonstrating the interconnectedness of people, place, and environment

isogloss

a like that marks a boundary of word usage

accent

pronunciation among speakers of a language

dialect

a particular variety of language characterized by distinctive vocabulary, grammar, and/or punctuation

accents don’t follow political boundaries

true

accents depend on geographical boundaries

to some capacity yes, but not necessarily. mostly only seen with major boundaries like mountains and oceans

language family

a collection of languages that share a common but distant ancestor

hearth

a place or region where an innovation, idea, belief, or cultural practice begins

Indo-Europeans language family

has the largest number of speakers and with widest geographical distribution

how does language spread?

sericulture, technology, human mobility (ships/railroads), political and economic reasons (business/tourism), religion

niger-congo language family

has nearly a quarter of the worlds languages represented within it

Africas linguistic diversity goes largely unnoticed in research on multilingualism

true

200/6900

200 independent political states in the world, but about 6900 languages. a majority of the worlds languages are not directly associated with the functions of a state

linguistic dominance

a situation in which one language becomes predominantly more power than another language

official language

one that a country formally designates for its use in political, legal, and administrative affairs

linguistic endangerment

a language that is no loner taught to children by their parents/no longer used for everyday conversation

language hotspot

exists when three factors converge: high language endangerment, high linguistic diversity, and languages that are poorly documented

toponyms

a place name that can make a powerful statement about a groups sense of belonging, attachment, or control of a place

language is closely associated with identity as well as social and political power and provides lies about settlement history

true

US Board on Geographic Names

established by president Harrison after American civil war to help make uniform names for places

Denali vs Mt Mckinley

naming fight over a mountain

religion

a system of beliefs and practices that help people make sense of the universe and their place in it

religion imprints the landscape through

places of worship, sacred sites, spatial movements

universalizing religions

belief system that is world-wide in scape, welcomes all people as potential adherents, and may also work active to acquire converts (christianity, islam, buddhism, sikhism)

ethnic religions

beliefs systems more/largely confined to the member of a single ethnic or cultural group, membership is usually conferred by birth, and rarely are missionaries used. many are oldest religions in the world

polytheistic

multiple dieties

animistic

incorporates the veneration of spirits or deities associated with natural features

religious hearths

birthplace of a religion defined by places closely associated with key elements in the religions formative periods

indic hearth

most scholars situate the hearth of hinduism in the Punjab and then it spread out through trade routes and monastic communities

trade routes

BIG factors in religion and human mobility

sacred space

a space that has special religious significance and meaning that makes it worthy of reverence or devotion - can be territorially defined or not

religious ecology

an awareness of the interdependence between people and nature

spatial data

race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender

gender gap

the disparity between men and women in their opportunities, rights, benefits, behavior, or attitudes

Love canal, NY

women stepped up and spoke out about the toxins in their neighborhood that were poisoning them and their children

Mapping landfills: Houston

it was found that majority of landfills were being placed in predominantly black neighborhoods = environmental injustice

environmental justice

the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies

race

refers to the idea that one or more genetic traits can be used to identitfy distinctive and exclusive categories of people

racism

refers to the intolerance of people perceived to be inherently or genetically inferior

race as a social construction

boundaries between races are always arbitrary, subjective, and constructed by humans

race in relation to the census

the census has developed more boxes to select for race, but they still do not always fit a persons personal identity that they think of themselves as

data justice

a set of ideas that addresses the way in which people are represented and/or harmed through their data being made visible to others, or conversely, excluded from the public eye, sites of power, and the process of decision making

demography

the statistical study of characteristics of human populations and why populations differ in distribution, density, composition, change over time, and interaction with the environment

density

expresses the number of people, structures, or other phenomena per unit area of land

arithmetic density

people per unit of farmable land

physiological density

the detail nitty-gritty way to look at population density and how the land is useful

fertility

demographically, this refers to the births within a given population

total fertility rate (TFR)

the number of ref children a woman is expected to have during her childbearing years given current birth rates

population control policies

Chinas one child policy(anti natalist)

Finnish baby box

meant to encourage Finnish people to have babies by providing equal opportunities for expecting parents. comes with baby clothes, condoms, wipes, diapers, etc

pro-natalist

might give tax concessions to families with more children, subsidize day care, permit parental leave, prevent women from being first when on maternity leave, etc

migration

movement from one territorial or administrative unit to another associated with long-term or permanent change in residence

why do people move?

push factors: unfavorable conditions or attributes of a place that encourage migration

pull factors: favorable conditions or attributes of place that attract migrants

who is moving where?

most people in the world will never move way from the country in which they were born

how do migrants behave?

migrants commit supposedly less crimes than citizens

refugee

one who flees to another country out of concern for personal safety or to avoid persecution (outside country of origin, well founded fear, being persecuted, no protection or relocation, membership of particular social group, religion, nationality, political opinion)