Unit 1: Introduction: Thinking Geographically, Basic Concepts 38:180 Human Geography What does it mean to think like a geographer? Memorizing places? Countries, capital cities, rivers, etc School Geography (or Jeopardy Geography) Detour Pareidolia 1
Pareidolia Sleeping Giant 2
What does it mean to think like a geographer? The Meaning of Geography Roots of the word: geo = world / earth graphei = write so Geography is writing about the world Is that too broad? More specifically, geography is about how and why things differ from place to place on the surface of the earth. 3
The Meaning of Human Geography Geography encompasses both physical and human dimensions (or the natural and cultural worlds) Human Geography is the study of people and places where? why? why there? and so what? of human phenomena on the earth The Meaning of Human Geography A complex discipline: The human world is not in any sense preordained (p. xxiv) It is the product of human beings working within human and institutional frameworks (p. xxiv) 4
The Meaning of Human Geography The central subject matter of human geography is human behavior (p. xxvii) always a spatial perspective pattern and process spatial variation and change Geography is about trying to make sense of the world (Lewis 2002, in text p. xxvii). 5
(Human) Geography as an Applied (Social) Science Dr. Snow s London cholera map, 1854 6
(Human) Geography as an Applied (Social) Science Dr. Snow s London cholera map, 1854, with Thiessen polygon GIS overlay The Evolution of (Human) Geography is really the evolution of what and how we (humankind) know about the earth Several distinct periods: Preclassical Classical 5 th to 15 th centuries Age of exploration Geography rethought Institutionalization (as an academic discipline) 20 th century / contemporary geography 7
The Evolution of (Human) Geography Preclassical first civilizations, first maps limited, local geographic knowledge Nippur (Mesopotamia) 14 th 13 th C, BCE The Evolution of (Human) Geography Classical Greek civilization geographically mobile, more extensive geographic knowledge, more detailed maps plus: literary tradition (e.g. Herodotus, Aristotle, Eratosthenes, Strabo), and mathematical tradition (e.g. Thales, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, Ptolemy) 8
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The Evolution of (Human) Geography 5 th to 15 th C. Europe decline of geography w/ rise in religion maps as symbolic e.g. 12 th C. T-O map 10
The Evolution of (Human) Geography 5 th to 15 th C. China and the Islamic world China: increasingly extensive spatial knowledge of the world (China as a naval power) different conceptualization of human relationship with nature Islamic world: another wave of geographic writing and map-making (e.g. al-idrisi, ibn-batata, ibn-khaldun) 11
The Evolution of (Human) Geography The Age of Exploration (European resurgence) printing and diffusion of geographic knowledge state support for the development of geographic knowledge major world explorations, leading to rapid expansion of what constitutes the known world and new maps of it (esp. the New World ) Mercator s map as a major cartographic development note: the following image is not Mercator s map 12
The Evolution of (Human) Geography Geography Rethought Varenius Universal and Special Geography Law building, generalization, geography as science Complexity of human-nature relationship Humboldt and Ritter Inter-relation of all things Description plus laws / theory Humans as part of nature Volumes of geographical writing The Evolution of (Human) Geography Institutionalization First geography departments in universities Prussia 1874 U.S. 1903 Canada 1923, 1935 Plus Geographic Societies Royal Geographical Society 1830 National Geographic Society 1888 Royal Canadian Geographical Society 1929 13
The Evolution of (Human) Geography 20 th Century Geography Succession / coexistence of multiple theoretical approaches: Environmental Determinism Landscape School Possibilism Regional Studies (aka Areal Differentiation) Spatial Analysis (Quantitative Revolution) Humanism Marxism Post-modernism Etc. Studying (Human) Geography Today The 5 Themes of Geography (1986): 1) Location absolute vs relative, or site vs situation 2) Human-environment Interaction 3) Region 4) Place sense of place, perceptions of place, placelessness, landscape 5) Movement spatial interaction, distance, accessibility, connectivity 14
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More Concepts Region Types: Formal Functional Vernacular (there are others) Boundaries Complexity 16
More Concepts Space Distance distance decay; friction of distance distribution: cluster, random, uniform; agglomeration 17
Distribution More Concepts Scale a) size of area over which a process operates b) ratio of real world to its representation on a map 18
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More Concepts Diffusion contagious / neighbourhood effect, hierarchical, etc. S -shaped curve More Concepts Perception Development not just growth unevenness of geography Discourse language and concepts (of a discipline) relationship between power and knowledge 20
More Concepts Globalization increasing spatial interaction increasing homogenization a multitude of processes a reworking of geography and scale Culture way of life Human Geography = Cultural Geography? Techniques Cartography (the art and science of maps and map-making) general purpose and thematic 3 common thematic map types: dot; choropleth; isarhythmic 21
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Map of World Religions Map of U.S. Religions 28
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Techniques Cartography (the art and science of maps and map-making) general purpose and thematic 3 common thematic map types: dot; choropleth; isarhythmic Geomatics: GIS and Remote Sensing Qualitative Methods Quantitative Methods 34