Cultural Geography GEOG 101 Dr. Scott S. Brown

Textbook

Human Geography Chapter 1 Introduction Insert figure CO1 3 © Thinkstock/Masterfile 3 Human Geography 12e

What Is Geography? “Description of the Earth” Spatial Science Study of Spatial Variation The fundamental inspiration for geographical thought probably originated with the recognition of “areal differentiation”—that one place is different than another 4

What Is Geography? Although space is central to geography, time is important, too. How do places change over time, how do structures and processes change location over time, and how do patterns of interaction change over time? Geography is about both static and dynamic aspects of space and place 5

3 Characteristics of Geography Science of Place Multidisciplinary field Human – Environment Relationship

5 Themes in Cultural Geography Cultural Landscape Cultural Region Cultural Ecology Cultural Integration Cultural Diffusion Culture = Learned, collective human behavior

Human Geography Subfields: Behavioral Political Economic Cultural Social Urban Medical Population Geomorphology Biogeography 8

Core Geographic Concepts The Geographer’s Questions Where is it? What is it? How it came to be and where it is? Where is it in relation to other things? How is it changing? Space and Place Absolute and relative space Sense of place and “placelessness” Spatial Behavior, Relationships, and Processes Fundamental Characteristics of Places 9

Core Geographic Concepts Space and Place Absolute About fixed coordinate systems, like latitude and longitude, and measurement units, like miles or kilometers Remains the same in all contexts Relative space Comparative and varies with context More flexible in recognizing that different ways of “measuring” space are more relevant for particular domains of human activity 10

Core Geographic Concepts Space and Place Sense of place The attachment we have to specific locations Placelessness Uniformity; elimination of uniqueness 11

Fundamental Characteristics of Places Location, Direction, and Distance Size and Scale Physical & Cultural Attributes The Rational Structure of Place Density Dispersion Pattern Place Similarity & Regions The Characteristics of Regions Types of Regions 12

Location Absolute Location Relative Location Site vs. Situation 13

Absolute Location Relative Location Site Situation Identification of place by some precise and accepted system of coordinates Relative Location The position of a place in relation to that of other places or activities Site Physical and cultural attributes of a place Situation Expression of relative location with particular reference to items of significance to the place in question 14

Absolute Location: Latitude and Longitude

Location Site vs. Situation 16

Site: Lower Manhattan Island FIGURE 1-10a

Site & Situation: Singapore FIGURE 1-11 S. Brown

FIGURE 1-11a

FIGURE 1-11b

Site & Situation: Hong Kong

Direction Absolute Direction Relative Direction Based on the global or macroscopic features such as cardinal points of north, south, east, and west, or on the directions to prominent stars Relative Direction Culturally based locational reference, as the Far West, the Old South, or the Middle East Include body-centered terms like "left," "right," "in front of" and "behind" 22

Distance Absolute Distance Relative Distance The physical separation between two points on the earth’s surface measured by some accepted standard unit such as miles or kilometers for widely separated locales, feet or meters for more closely spaced points Relative Distance Transforms those linear measurements into other units that could be more meaningful for the spatial relationship in question 23

Physical & Cultural Attributes Natural Landscape Climate, soil, water resources, minerals and terrain features Provides the setting within which human actions occurs Cultural Landscape Visible expression of human activity Insert figure 1.10 © Doug Sherman/Geofile 24

Cultural Landscapes: Political Boundaries U.S./Mexico Border

Cultural Landscapes between Mexico and California, USA Figure 1.11 Cultural Landscapes between Mexico and California, USA

Places The Rational Structure of Place Density Dispersion Pattern Usually thought of as a measure of the number or quantity of some feature within a defined unit of area Does not apply only to areas Dispersion A statement of how much features within a distribution are spread out (dispersed or scattered) from each other, or clustered (agglomerated) together Pattern The geometric arrangement of features in space Spatial Association 27

Figure 1.17 Spatial Association

Place Similarity & Regions Types of Regions: Administrative Created by law, treaty, or regulation It includes political regions such as countries and states, bureaucratic regions such as school and voting districts, and cadastral (real estate) regions Thematic Sometimes called formal or uniform regions in other texts, are based on one or more objectively measurable themes or properties 29

Place Similarity & Regions Types of Regions: Functional Emerge from patterns of interaction over space and time that connect places Have a point-like core from which interaction originates, and are thus sometimes called nodal regions, but they do not have to Perceptual Informal subjective regions defined by people's beliefs, feelings, and images 30

Thematic & Functional Regions

Perceptual Regions Insert figure 1.17 32

Maps Map Scale Remote Sensing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) The Globe Grid Earth-Sun Relationship 33

Figure 1.21 Map Scale

G.I.S. 3 Main Components Data storage Computer graphics Figure 1.27 G.I.S. 3 Main Components Data storage Computer graphics Statistical packages

Global Grid: Latitude and Longitude Figure 1.22 Global Grid: Latitude and Longitude

Latitude and Longitude Location of any place can be described precisely by meridians and parallels Meridians (lines of longitude) Prime meridian – 0° Lon International Date Line – 180° Lon Parallels (lines of latitude) The equator – 0° Lat Tropic of Cancer – 23.5° Lat N Tropic of Capricorn – 23.5° Lat S Arctic Circle – 66.5° Lat N Antarctic Circle – 66.5° Lat S North & South Poles - 90° Lat N/S

FIGURE 1-12

FIGURE 1-13 Longitude – Time

Latitude – Climate FIGURE 1-19

Earth – Sun Relationship

(Wiltshire, England, UK) Calendars and Seasons Stonehenge (Wiltshire, England, UK) Pueblo Bonito (Chaco Canyon N.P., NM, USA)

Mayan Calendar Dzibichaltún (Yucatan, Mexico) Chichén Itza (Yucatan,