cultural geography- short question (easy), sociology homework help

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Q1. After you review the ppt write a curiosities post. You should comment on anything in the ppt that peaked your interest, that you hope to learn from this ppt, or questions you might have about the topic. At least Minimum 150 words and in complete sentences. (Do cover all parts)

Q2. This part should take the structure of a 3-2-1 format. A 3-2-1 means 3 new things you learned in this chapter, 2 ways that they are connected to other ideas in the text (or one and only one can be related to something you learned someplace else or from current events) and 1 question. Minimum 250 words and in complete sentences. (Do cover all parts)


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CONTEMPORARY HUMAN GEOGRAPHY CULTURE, GLOBALIZATION, LANDSCAPE MONA DOMOSH RODERICK P. NEUMANN PATRICIA L. PRICE C. 2015 W.H. FREEMAN & CO. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY A CULTURAL APPROACH WHAT IS HUMAN GEOGRAPHY? Human geography: The study of the relationships between people and the places and spaces in which they live. • A cultural approach to human geography implies emphasis on meanings, values, attitudes, and beliefs that different groups of people lend to and derive from places and spaces. WHAT IS CULTURE? Culture: A total way of life held in common by a group of people, including learned features (e.g., speech, ideology, behavior, livelihood, technology, and government). or The local, customary way of doing things—a way of life; an ever-changing process in which a group is actively engaged; a dynamic mix of symbols, beliefs, speech, and practices. FIGURE 1.1 Two traditional houses of worship. Geographers seek to learn how and why cultures differ, or are similar, from one place to another. Often the differences and similarities have a visual expression. In what ways are these two structures—one a Catholic church in Honduras and the other a Buddhist temple in Laos—alike and different? (Left: Jon Arnold Images Ltd/Alamy; Right: Bruno Morandi/The Image Bank/Getty Images.) CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE • Culture is not static – it changes over time. • Culture does not always govern its members. • Culture is a process. • Individuals can and do change cultural practices. • Cultures are never internally homogeneous. WHAT CAUSES CULTURAL DIVERSITY? • Geographers consider a wide array of factors that cause cultural diversity… • Some are related to the physical environment: includes terrain, climate, natural vegetation, wildlife, variations in soil, and the pattern of land and water. • Many complex and interconnected forces are at work on cultural phenomena. HOW TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN GEOGRAPHY • Some geographers use spatial models to explain human behavior. Space: Connotes the objective, quantitative, theoretical, modelbased, economics-oriented type of geography that seeks to understand spatial systems and networks through application of the principles of social science. Model: An abstraction, an imaginary situation, proposed by geographers to simulate laboratory conditions so they can isolate certain causal forces for detailed study. FIGURE 1.3 A generalized model of the Latin American city. Urban structure differs from one culture to another, and in many ways the cities of Latin America are distinctive, sharing much in common with one another. Geographers Ernst Griffin and Larry Ford developed the model diagrammed here to help describe and explain the processes at work shaping the cities of Latin America. In what ways would this model not be applicable to cities in the United States and Canada? (After Griffin and Ford, 1980, p. 406.) HOW TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN GEOGRAPHY • Other geographers seek to understand the uniqueness of each region and place – a more humanistic view of geography. Place: Connotes the subjective, idiographic, humanistic, culturally oriented type of geography that seeks to understand the unique character of individual regions and places, rejecting the principles of science as flawed and unknowingly biased. POWER AND IDEOLOGY • Cultures are rarely, if ever, homogeneous. • Certain groups of people have more power in society, and their beliefs and ways of life dominate and are considered the norm. • Other groups with less power may participate in alternative cultures. • Divisions often based on gender, economic class, racial categories, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. THEMES IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY 1.1 REGION WHAT IS A REGION? Region: A geographical unit based on characteristics and functions of culture. Geographers recognize three types of regions: ❖ Formal ❖ Functional ❖ Vernacular FORMAL REGIONS Formal region: A cultural region inhabited by people who have one or more cultural traits in common. • Arabic speech and wheat cultivation represent concept of formal region at its simplest level – based on a single cultural trait. • More commonly, formal regions depend on multiple related traits. THE SUBJECTIVITY OF FORMAL CULTURE REGIONS • No two cultural traits have the same distribution. • Territorial extent of a culture region depends on what and how many defining traits are used. • How the geographer chooses to define the region depends on the specific purpose of research or teaching that the region is designed to serve. BORDERS OF FORMAL REGIONS • Because cultures overlap and mix, boundaries are rarely sharp… • We find border zones rather than lines. • Formal regions reveal a center or core where defining traits are all present. • Moving away from the central core, characteristics weaken and disappear – core-periphery pattern. FUNCTIONAL REGIONS Functional region: A cultural area that functions as a unit politically, socially, or economically. • Functional regions have nodes (central points where functions are coordinated and directed). • Many (but not all) functional regions have clearly defined borders. • Functional regions generally do not coincide spatially with formal regions. FIGURE 1.5 Aerial view of Denver. This image clearly illustrates the node of a functional region—here, the dense cluster of commercial buildings—that coordinates activities throughout the area surrounding it. Can you identify the border of this functional region? Why or why not? (Jim Wark/Airphoto.) VERNACULAR REGIONS Vernacular region: A culture region perceived to exist by its inhabitants, based in the collective spatial perception of the population at large and bearing a generally accepted name or nickname (such as “Dixie”). • Some based on physical environmental features, and others on economic, political, or historical characteristics. • Generally lack sharp borders, vary in scale, and people may claim residence in more than one. FIGURE 1.7 The Redneck Riviera. The coastline of Florida’s panhandle region is popularly known in Florida and beyond as the Redneck Riviera, though local city governments in the region prefer to call it the Emerald Coast. Can you think of other regions in the United States, or elsewhere, that have such popular designations? (Nik Wheeler/Corbis.) 1.2 MOBILITY WHAT IS MOBILITY? • Important in geography is the understanding of how and why different cultural elements move through space and locate in particular settings. Mobility: The relative ability of people, ideas, or things to move freely through space. Diffusion: The movement of people, ideas, or things from one location outward toward other locations. FIGURE 1.8 Types of cultural diffusion. These diagrams are merely suggestive; in reality, spatial diffusion is far more complex. In hierarchical diffusion, different scales can be used, so that, for example, the category “very important person” could be replaced by “large city.” In terms of the spread of disease, which type of diffusion do you think is most common? FIGURE 1.9 Diffusion of influenza infections during the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. The influenza outbreak started in Mexico City. Global air travel facilitated hierarchical diffusion to international airports around the world. From those points, the virus spread within countries through contagious diffusion. How might a country contain the spread of influenza? TIME–DISTANCE DECAY • Diffusion becomes weaker as a cultural innovation moves away from point of origin. • Mass media, Internet, and cell phones have greatly accelerated diffusion, diminishing impact of time–distance decay. • Barriers can retard diffusion: ❖ Absorbing barriers completely halt diffusion, allowing no further progress. ❖ Permeable barriers permit some aspects of an innovation to diffuse through it, but weaken and retard continued spread. TYPES OF MIGRATIONS Migrations: Large-scale movements of people between different regions of the world. International migration: Migration across country borders. Stepwise migration: Migration conducted in a series of stages. TYPES OF MIGRATIONS Return migration: Migrants returning to place of origin after long-term residency elsewhere. Seasonal migration: Migrants move according to seasonal changes in weather. Transnational migration: Movement of groups of people who maintain ties to their homelands after they have migrated. FIGURE 1.10 Demonstrations in Hamburg, Germany, against the deportation of immigrants. Many migrant worker groups are fighting to maintain the rights of transnational migrants who would like to be able to move freely between their home countries and those that currently provide work for them. Do you think transnational migrants should be able to move without restriction between their home countries and where they work? Why or why not? (Vario Images GmbH & Co. KG/Alamy.) 1.3 GLOBALIZATION WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION? Globalization: Processes of economic, political, and social integration that operate on a global scale and have collectively created ties that make a difference to lives around the planet. • Created from faster and more reliable transportation, almost-instantaneous communication, and the creation of digital sources of information and media. WHEN DID GLOBALIZATION BEGIN? • Globalization is a rather recent phenomenon, dating from the late 20th century. BUT… • Different countries and different parts of the world have long been linked. Interdependence: Relations between regions or countries of mutual, but not necessarily equal, dependence (e.g., global colonial empires). DOES GLOBALIZATION LEAD TO CULTURAL HOMOGENIZATION? • Increasingly linked and interdependent economic, political, and cultural networks might lead different groups of people to become more and more alike. BUT… • New global encounters have enabled increasing recognition of differences between groups of people. Uneven development: Tendency for industry to develop a core-periphery pattern, enriching industrialized countries of the core and impoverishing less industrialized periphery. FIGURE 1.11 World map of the Human Development Index, 2012. The Human Development Index (HDI) includes life expectancy, adult literacy, educational participation, and gross domestic product (GDP). These statistics are brought together to create a measure of development that is more balanced than one based only on economic growth. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in its Human Development Reports, calculates the HDI yearly. In what countries or regions does the HDI measure surprise you? Why? (Source: Human Development Report, 2012. Accessed at http://hdr.undp.org.) 1.4 NATURE–CULTURE WHAT IS NATURE–CULTURE? • Helps investigate how groups of people interact with Earth’s biophysical environment and examine how the culture, politics, and economies of those groups affect their ecological situation and resource use. • Human geographers view the relationship between people and nature as a two-way interaction. CULTURAL ECOLOGY Cultural ecology: The study of the relationships between the physical environment and culture; or the study of culture as an adaptive system that facilitates human adaptation to nature and environmental change. • Geographers use nature–culture to refer to complex interactions among variables and to reflect that studies of local human–environment relations need to include political, economic, and social forces operating on national and global scales. ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM Environmental determinism: The belief that cultures are directly or indirectly shaped by the physical environment. • Popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. • Overemphasizes the role of environment in human affairs. • Physical environment is only one of many forces affecting human culture and is never the sole determinant of behavior and beliefs. POSSIBILISM Possibilism: Humans, rather than the physical environment, are the primary active force; any environment offers a number of different possible ways for a culture to develop; choices among these possibilities are guided by cultural heritage. • The higher the technological level of a culture, the greater the number of possibilities and the weaker the influences of the physical environment. FIGURE 1.12 Chongqing (Chungking) and San Francisco. Both these cities are among the largest in their respective countries. Both developed on elongated, hilly sites flanked on all but one side by water, and both were connected in the twentieth century by bridges leading to adjacent land across the water. In certain other respects, too—such as the use of tunnels for arterial roads—the cities are similar. Note, however, the contrast in street patterns. In Chongqing, the streets were laid out to accommodate the rugged terrain, but in San Francisco, relatively little deviation from a gridiron pattern was permitted. Note, too, that although San Francisco has a much smaller population than Chongqing, it covers a far larger area. What do these contrasts suggest about the relative merits of environmental determinism and possibilism? About the role of culture? ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION Environmental perception: The belief that culture depends more on what people perceive the environment to be than on the actual character of the environment; perception, in turn, is colored by the teachings of culture. Natural hazard: An inherent danger present in a given habitat, such as floods, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, or earthquakes; often perceived differently by different peoples. FIGURE 1.13 Japan’s 2011 “triple disaster.” On March 11, a very strong 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred undersea off the Pacific Coast of Japan. This initiated the first part of the disaster. Shock waves traveled through the Earth’s crust and caused widespread structural damage (left). The accompanying seafloor displacement generated a tsunami that swept away entire communities. All that remained of the coastal town of Minamisnriku was rubble (center). The tsunami also triggered the third part of the disaster: a meltdown and radiation release at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant (right). The power plant was not designed to withstand a tsunami or the flooding that damaged the reactors. Given that Japan has a well-known history of earthquakes and tsunamis, would you classify this “triple disaster” as natural or human-made? (The Asahi Shimbury/Getty Images; AFP/Getty Images; Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.) EXPRESSIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION • Nature is a culturally derived concept that has different meanings to different peoples. • Organic view of nature—People are part of nature; elements of the natural environment are believed to be animated by various types of spirits. • Mechanistic view of nature—Humans are separate from and hold dominion over nature; nature is system governed by external forces that can be rendered into natural laws and understood and controlled by humans. HUMANS AS MODIFIERS OF THE EARTH • Human-as-modifier school of thought is the opposite of environmental determinism. • Determinists proclaim that nature molds humankind… • Possibilists believe that nature presents possibilities for people… • Geographers who emphasize the human impact on the land assert that humans mold nature. FIGURE 1.14 Human modification of the Earth includes severe soil erosion. This erosion could have been caused by road building or poor farming methods. The scene is in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. How can we adopt less destructive ways of modifying the land? (Michael Nichols/National Geographic.) GENDER AND MODIFICATION OF THE EARTH • Gender differences can play a role in the human modification of the Earth. Ecofeminism: A doctrine proposing that women are inherently better environmental preservationists than men because of their traditional roles of creating and nurturing life, whereas the traditional roles of men too often necessitated death and destruction. 1.5 CULTURAL LANDSCAPE WHAT IS THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE? Cultural landscape: The visible human imprint on the land. • Landscape mirrors a culture’s needs, values, and attitudes toward the Earth. • The human geographer can learn much about a group of people by carefully observing and studying the landscape. FIGURE 1.15 Terraced cultural landscape of an irrigated rice district in Indonesia. In such areas, the artificial landscape made by people overwhelms nature and forms a human mosaic on the land. Why is rice cultivated in such hilly areas in Asia, whereas in the United States rice farming is confined to flat plains? (Nacivet/Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images.) WHY IS CULTURAL LANDSCAPE IMPORTANT? • Visually reflects most basic strivings of humankind: shelter, food, and clothing. • Reveals people’s attitudes toward the modification of the Earth. • Contains valuable evidence about the origin, spread, and development of cultures; usually preserves various archaic forms. • Conveys revealing messages about present-day inhabitants and cultures. SYMBOLIC LANDSCAPES • Cultural landscapes offer “texts” that geographers read to discover dominant ideas and prevailing practices within a culture as well as less dominant and alternative forms within it. Symbolic landscapes: Landscapes that express the values, beliefs, and meanings of a particular culture. FIGURE 1.18 Yokohama at dusk. This skyline is a powerful symbol of the economic importance of the world’s largest city, Tokyo-Yokohama. What landscape form best symbolizes your town or city? (Jose Fuste Raga/Corbis.) FIGURE 1.20 American ranch house. The horizontally expansive ranch is a common house form in the United States and Canada. Can you think of other countries where ranch houses are also common? (iStockphoto/Thinkstock/Getty Images.) ASPECTS OF CULTURAL LANDSCAPE • Geographical studies focus on three principal aspects of landscape: ❖ Settlement forms ❖ Land-division patterns ❖ Architectural styles SETTLEMENT FORMS Settlement forms: The spatial arrangement of buildings, roads, towns, and other features that people construct while inhabiting an area. Nucleation: A relatively dense settlement form. Dispersed: A type of settlement form in which people live relatively distant from each other. LAND-DIVISION PATTERNS Land-division patterns: Refers to the spatial patterns of different land uses. • Land-division patterns vary a great deal from place to place and culture to culture. • Land is divided and sub-divided in different ways for various economic, residential, and political uses. FIGURE 1.21 The town of Westmoreland in the Imperial Valley of California. It’s difficult to find a more regularized, geometric land pattern than this. Why do you think much of the American West was divided into these rectangles? (Jim Wark/Airphoto.) ARCHITECTURAL STYLES • Geographers look at the exterior materials and decoration, as well as the layout and design of the interiors. • Styles vary both through time, as cultures change, and across space. • Examining architectural style is often useful when trying to date a particular landscape element or to understand particular values and beliefs that cultures may hold. FIGURE 1.22 Architecture as a reflection of culture. This log house (left), near Ottawa in Canada, is a folk dwelling and stands in sharp contrast to the professional architecture of the Toronto skyline (right). What conclusion might a perceptive person from another culture reach (considering the “virtues” of height, durability, and centrality) about the ideology of the culture that produced the Toronto landscape? (Left: Courtesy of Terry G. JordanBychkov; Right: Michael Mahovitch/Radius Images/Getty Images.)
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Running head: CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

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Contemporary human geography

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CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

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Q1. After you review the ppt write a curiosities post. You should comment on anything in
the ppt that peaked your interest, that you hope to learn from this ppt, or questions you
might have about the topic.
One thing from this chapter that caught my interest is how human beings and their way of
doing things (culture) affect each other, and their impact on nature or the physical environment
(Domosh, Neumann, & Price, 2015). I am curious to learn more about this interconnection. I
hope that I will learn more about the different cultures of the world and how they came to exist
basing on the movement of people from one region to the other. In addition, I want to determine
if it is the environment that shapes cultures or if its culture that shapes the environment. One of
the questions that I seek to find answers for, revolve around the nature-culture theme of Human
Geography. I want to know if Japan’s “triple disaster” that occurred in 2011 was natural or
manmade. I am also curious to know how landscape can mirror the needs and values of a certain
culture, and the attitudes of people toward culture.

CULTURAL GEOG...


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Just the thing I needed, saved me a lot of time.

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