1. Culture Regions at Different Scales
Layers of Tradition:
Culture Regions at Different Scales
© 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This presentation may be used and adapted for use in classes using the fifth edition of Human Geography in Action. It may not be re-distributed except to students enrolled in such classes and in such case must be password protected to limit access to students enrolled in such classes. Students may not re-distribute portions of the original presentation.
Chapter 2

2. What is culture? a people's way of life their behavior
shared understanding of themselves
DISCUSSION:
* How would you describe your culture in terms these descriptions?
shared understanding of the world
a guide for how we act and interpret the world
(p. 34)

3. Regions Formal Functional Perceptual Figure 2.1 (p. 35) DISCUSSION:
* What are examples of each of these regions at the scale of your county or urban area?
Perceptual
Figure 2.1 (p. 35)

4. soda bottler-store linkages
Formal, Functional, or Perceptual?
park space usage
class-room seating
pizza delivery areas
most common with a meal
soda bottler-store linkages
DISCUSSION:
* What type of region do each of these represent? Think about how the region is delimited before you answer,
don't just assume a certain category based on how the graphic looks.

5. What formal, functional, and perceptual regions are we in?
Local
scale
National
International
DISCUSSION:
* Think of examples of each type of region for the three scales indicated in the table above.

6. Vernacular Regions Figure 2.2 (p. 36) DISCUSSION:
* What was the basis for defining these regions discussed in the textbook?
* How does this categorization make sense for where you live? Places you have visited?
Vernacular Regions
Figure 2.2 (p. 36)

7. Symbols in the cultural landscape creating a regional identity
DISCUSSION:
* What place-based symbols are used in your region?
Symbols in the cultural landscape creating a regional identity
Figure 2.3 (p. 38)

8. • Regional identity (awareness of belonging
Culture Regions
• Culture traits
• Symbols
• Regional identity (awareness of belonging
to a group united in a common territory)
• Ways of life and the culture /
landscape interface
DISCUSSION:
* How do symbols reflect or reinforce a region's identity?
* Can symbols of identity be manipulated for political or economic gain?

9. Cultural Symbols map outlines flags license plates plants & their
from
DISCUSSION:
* What is some of the cultural symbolism behind the rather mundane function of a license plate?
* What are some other powerful symbols of belonging to a culture region?
* Do symbols always have to be accurate to resonate with an area? [no! for example, saguaro iconography
can be found from Salt Lake City, to Texas, far from the plant's native habitat in southern Arizona]
license plates
courtesy of
plants & their
representation

10. • Cultural values and the landscape • Symbols • Regional identity
Cultural Landscape
• Cultural values and the landscape
• Symbols
• Regional identity
DISCUSSION:
* How are cultural values reflected in the landscape?
* How can a cultural landscape serve as a symbol of regional identity?
* How does an all-encompassing regional identity relate to multiculturalism?

11. Cultural Landscapes Downtown Milwaukee & Lake Michigan LDS (Mormon)
DISCUSSION:
* City skylines provide a 'high profile' cultural landscape which is often instantly recognizable.
How have they changed over the last century?
* Why do the LDS meeting houses in this slide not all have the same stereotypical architecture which characterizes
contemporary Mormon churches? [as a long-standing Mormon community, these have been built at different
times in the last century, unlike many more-recently constructed LDS meeting houses]
Cultural Landscapes
LDS (Mormon)
Meeting Houses
Snowflake, Arizona

14. Cultural Landscapes Windmill and Restaurant Three Rivers, Texas
DISCUSSION:
* What does the view from Three Rivers say about the influence of Mexico on Texan culture?
How is the saguaro painting being used in a symbolic way in this restaurant mural?
* How does the view from Puerto Peasco reflect both the historical importance of fishing and the contemporary
importance of tourism to the local economy?
Cultural Landscapes
Statue and Hotel
Puerto Penasco,
Sonora, Mexico ~

15. Cultural Landscapes Loess Hills of Western Iowa &
Missouri River Flood Plain
DISCUSSION:
* How are natural landscapes impacted by humans?
* How do natural landscapes become imbued with cultural significance?
* How does your local cultural landscape remind you and others of where they live?
* In what way is a cultural landscape a visual version of a "comfort food"
Cultural Landscapes
Niagara Falls

16. Defining Culture Regions
Core
Domain
DISCUSSION
* Why does the reality of a culture region rarely follow the simplified model presented here?
* Does the Mormon culture region here pre-empt or overlap with the U.S. "Mountain West" culture region?
Sphere
Core / Domain / Sphere
of a Culture Region
Figure 2.4 (p. 39)

17. Syncretism Distinct Culture A New Hybrid Trait Distinct Culture B
DISCUSSION:
* Give an example of a hybrid cultural trait.
Distinct Culture B

18. Name That Key Term

19. Region Functional Region Formal Region Perceptual Region
An area characterized by similarity or by cohesiveness that sets it apart from other areas.
Region
A region created by the interactions between a central node and surrounding locations.
Functional Region
An area of near uniformity (homogeneity) in one or several characteristics.
Formal Region
An area defined by subjective perceptions that reflect the feelings and images about key place characteristics. When these perceptions come from the local, ordinary folk, a __________ ______ can be called a vernacular region.
Perceptual
Region
An awareness of being a part of a group of people living in a culture region.
Regional Identity

20. Culture Cultural Landscape Culture Trait Culture Region Symbol
The shared understandings that guide behavior and values and condition a group’s perception of the world. _______ is learned from one generation to the next and evolves over time.
Culture
Modifications to the environment by humans, including the built environment and agricultural systems, that reflect aspects of their culture.
Cultural Landscape
A defining characteristic of the culture that is shared by most, if not all, members.
Culture Trait
A region defined by similar culture traits and cultural landscape features.
Culture Region
A material object that represents some greater meaning or refers to something else.
Symbol

21. The zone of outer influence for a culture region.
The zone of greatest concentration or homogeneity of the culture traits that characterize a region.
Core
The area outside of the core of a culture region in which the culture is still dominant but less intense.
Domain
The zone of outer influence for a culture region.
Sphere
The fusion of two distinctive cultural traits into a unique new hybrid trait.
Syncretism
The traditional symbiotic relationship among villages, cities, and nomadic tribes in the Middle East, in which villages grow irrigated crops, cities provide the central mosque and bazaar, and tribes herd livestock and provide transportation and protection.
Ecological
Trilogy

22. Culture Regions at Different Scales
Layers of Tradition:
Culture Regions at Different Scales
Case Study
Chapter 2

23. After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
• Evaluate map layers using a geographic
information system (GIS).
• Define the core of a culture region on the
basis of its main cultural traits.
• Define the domain of a culture region based on
the degree of agreement between culture trait
boundaries.
• Discuss the history and geography of the
Middle East and/or American Southwest.
• Identify the cultural traits that make your subregion
distinctive versus those that are shared with the
entire North American culture region.
• Recognize symbolism as it is used to
promote regional identity.
• Recognize that regional imagery often promotes one
group’s identity while excluding that of others.

24. Activity 1: The Middle East
• Media stereotypes and perceptions
• Terrorism and U.S. armed intervention
• Fertile Crescent and empires
• Judaism and Islam
• Ecological Trilogy
• Natural landscapes
• Colonialism

25. Figure 2.6 (p. 42)

26. Fertile Crescent
Figure 2.7 (p. 43)

27. Figures 2.5, (pp. 41 & 43-45)

28. Online Activity

29. Activity 1: The American Southwest
• Vegetation and climate
• Topography and physiographic provinces
• Three cultures:
- Native American
- Hispanic
- Anglo-Americans
• Economy

30. Physiographic Regions of the Southwest
Figure 2.13 (p. 46)

31. Figures 2.12, (pp )

32. Online Activity

33. Activity 2: Culture Traits of Your Culture Subregion
NOTE TO INSTRUCTOR: Although it is recommended that you let students define the confines of their culture region, If you would like to pre-define one, drag and re-size the circle on this slide located off-screen to the lower right. If you want to define a region in class, right-click during this slide and then choose "Pointer Options" > "Pen" (in the latter case, the change on the slide is a temporary one and will not be saved).
(p. 53)

34. Colloquialisms are vernacular phrases that vary by region.
Click to add notes.
Map courtesy of Dr. Greg Plumb, East Central University.
Are you in the soda, pop, coke, or mixed region?

35. Activity 3: Regional Imagery
Many regions have symbolic landscapes that bind people together with a shared set of ideas and memories. They create a regional identity and represent human attachment to place.
NOTE TO INSTRUCTOR: If you have access to a scanner, you might consider inserting some local postcard images to generate discussion.

36. Many cities and regions preserve historic landscapes or seek to construct a new landscape that is different from anywhere else in order to attract tourism, jobs, and promote consumption.
NOTE TO INSTRUCTOR: If you have access to a scanner, you might consider inserting some local postcard images to generate discussion.

37. Many regions use more than just the cultural landscape to construct a unique identity—they often use symbols or other imagery that is marketed to represent place.
NOTE TO INSTRUCTOR: If you have access to a scanner, you might consider inserting some local postcard images to generate discussion.

38. How are these postcards similar to or different from contemporary postcards which portray your local region?