Transcript Introduction to Cultural Geography

Introduction and Key Terms of
Cultural Geography
Definition of Cultural
Geography
 Fundamental Concepts
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Vermeer’s The Geographer. Holland, 1669
What is CULTURE?
What are its elements?
How is it transferred?
How does it affect the landscapes of the world?
What is CULTURE?
Culture is learned behavior that is passed on
by imitation, instruction, and example.
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Culture is almost entirely relative. Proper behavior and
traditions shift from culture to culture.
U.S. current problems:
1) little shared culture
2) no one is teaching culture
 For example: sex education - Home? School?
Note: experiencing another culture is useful
for gaining perspective on your own.
Candidate for harshest punishment in history?
Banishment in so-called “primitive” cultures.
Geographic Importance of
Culture
Geographers study culture because it
leaves dramatic imprints on the earth,
both physical and cultural.
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Language: a crystal ball into culture.
Religion: strongest determinant of ethics.
Nationalism and Borders
Material Culture: tools, clothes, toys, etc.
Architecture: Suburban garages vs. earlier
porches
Spatial Distribution
Definition: the location and arrangement of a
phenomenon across space.
Includes:
Density: the frequency with which something
occurs in a given area.
Concentration: the extent to which it is focused
in clusters or, alternately, evenly dispersed
across space.
Pattern: a geometric or regular arrangement of
the phenomenon across space.
Describing Distributions
Rheris Valley, Atlas Mountains, Morocco.
Photo by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
Phoenix, Arizona
Collegeville, Pennsylvania
Hong Kong, China
San Francisco, California
Farm Fields near Des Moines, Iowa
Fields near Pullman, Washington
Photo by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles, California
Napa, California
Key Concepts
REGION - an area that shares common characteristics
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Formal - whole area shares essential uniformity across the space
(i.e., City of Glendale)
Functional – the region is defined by some activity or function or
process (i.e. cell phone coverage, English speaking countries, etc.)
Vernacular – common perception of cultural identity (i.e.,“Deep
South”)
Formal Regions
- whole area shares essential uniformity across
the space.
Functional Regions
- defined by a node of activity and distance decay from
center (i.e. cell phone coverage)
Functional Region
- defined by a node of activity and distance decay from
center (i.e. cell phone coverage)
What is the function in
this example?
What acts as the node
of functionality?
Vernacular Regions
Vernacular Regions
– areas that include common perception of cultural
identity (“Deep South”)
Spatial Analysis
Geographers search for patterns in the
distribution and movement of human
activities and environmental processes.
Where do we find hunger?
Where did crime occur this week?
Where is petroleum produced?
Spatial Analysis: Crime Mapping
Click on the Map!
Diffusion
• Relocation
• Hierarchical
• Contagious
• Stimulus
Diffusion
• Relocation
• Hierarchical
• Contagious
• Stimulus
• Relocation
Diffusion
• Hierarchical
• Contagious
• Stimulus
Tobler’s 1st Law of Geography
All things are related. However, all other
things being equal, those things that
are closest together are more related.
Related Concepts:
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Distance Decay
Friction of Distance
Space
Latitude and Longitude - a reference system
designed to provide “absolute” location (as
opposed to relative locations).
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Parallels of Latitude
Meridians of Longitude
Glendale College is located at
34 10 03 N 118 13 41 W
Place and Sense of Place
Every place is unique. Imagine where you
lived as a child. What made that special?
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Sensory
Architecture
Symbolic
Humanistic Geography - values the individual
perspective.
Place and Placelessness (Relph, 1978)
What kinds of
cultural values are
reflected in each of
these American
houses?
Gated community?
What kinds of cultural values are reflected in this
landscape?
The Cultural Landscape
The result of the natural environment and
all of the changes to it as a result of a
particular culture. (Carl Sauer)
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Environmental Determinism: environment
is primary determinant of culture.
Possibilism: humans are primary
determinant of culture.
N.Y.C.
Environmentally Determined?
What about Bali,
Indonesia?
Where are we? What values are reflected
in each? What relation to physical
environment?
Timber House, Switzerland
Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey
Yurt on Mongolian Steppe
Suburban Home, Chicago
Geography and Politics
Historically tied to
Military Functions:
Role in Colonization
Role in Imperialism
Role in Cold War
Historically Ethnocentric
Historically Patriarchal
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Foreign - 4) Situated in an abnormal or
improper place. 5) Not natural: alien.
The American Heritage Dictionary
Key Concepts:
Core-Periphery
Core (Devoloped Countries )
 U.S., Europe, Japan,
Australia
 Wealthy
 Powerful
 Control Media and
Finance
 Technologically
advanced
Periphery (Less Developed
Countries)
 Poor
 Dependent upon Core
countries for:
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Education
Technology
Media
Military Equipment
Financing
Key Concepts:
Core-Periphery
1994 U.S. Stats
Population: 292 million
Population density: 29 people per sq. km.
Total fertility rate: 2.0 children per woman
Population doubling time: 116 years
Percentage urban/rural: 78% urban, 22% rural
Per capita energy use: 8,148 kg. oil equivalent
Infant mortality: 6.7 deaths per 1,000 births
Life expectancy: 74 (male), 80 (female)
Adult illiteracy: 3% (male), 3% (female)
Internet users: 165 million
All of the possessions of a statistically avearge U.S. family.
Photograph by Peter Menzel.
1994 India Stats
Population: 1.0 billion
Population density: 318 people per sq. km.
Total fertility rate: 3.0 children per woman
Population doubling time: 36 years
Percentage urban/rural: 28% urban, 72% rural
Per capita energy use: 494 kg. oil equivalent
Infant mortality: 66 deaths per 1,000 births
Life expectancy: 62 (male), 64 (female)
Adult illiteracy: 32% (male), 55% (female)
Internet users: 7 million
All of the possessions of a statistically average Indian family.
Photograph by Peter Menzel.
1994 Japan Stats
Population: 128 million
Population density: 336 people per sq. km.
Total fertility rate: 1.3 children per woman
Population doubling time: 289 years
Percentage urban/rural: 79% urban, 21% rural
Per capita energy use: 4,316 kg. oil equivalent
Infant mortality: 3 deaths per 1,000 births
Life expectancy: 78 (male), 85 (female)
Adult illiteracy: 1% (male), 1% (female)
Internet users: 56 million
All of the possessions of a statistically average Japanese family.
Photograph by Peter Menzel.
1994 Mali Stats
Population: 12 million
Population density: 9.1 people per sq. km.
Total fertility rate: 7.0 children per woman
Population doubling time: 23 years
Percentage urban/rural: 26% urban, 64% rural
Per capita energy use: 22 kg. oil equivalent
Infant mortality: 118.7 deaths per 1,000 births
Life expectancy: 48 (male), 49 (female)
Adult illiteracy: 64% (male), 84% (female)
Internet users: 30,000
All of the possessions of a statistically average Malian family.
Photograph by Peter Menzel.
Globalization
The increasing
interconnectedness of
different parts of the
world through common
processes of economic,
political, and cultural
change. The economic,
cultural, and
environmental effects
of globalization are
highly contested.
Panama, 1997
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