Cultural Geography

Fundamentals of the Human Mosaic

Terry Jordan,

Chapter 1

(Move to next slide before class)

Textbook

• The bookstore has the text.

• It should be on the shelves soon.

• Roberts had books on the shelves last week.

Homework 1 Prompt:• Paper 1 Prompt, Indigenous Culture: • Select your native indigenous culture from a list. (If you wish to

use one not on the list, please see me first.)1) Identify and use web sites developed by this culture, not made by another entity.

2) How does your indigenous group describe their religious or philosophical relationship with the land?

3) How did they use the environment to thrive in the past?

4) What do they say about their homeland and territorial claims? 5) What are their views on biodiversity conservation, resource extraction, and/or bio-prospecting?

6) Compare their answers to the last 4 questions with your previous beliefs and assumptions about indigenous groups.

7) What roles do maps play on the web sites?

8) What other indigenous or popular cultures have competing land claims?

9) What major issues does the site highlight, and how do these issues relate to globalization?

(10) You must have a good introduction, a good conclusion, and good grammar.

Amerindian Tribes

• If you do not have a favorite tribe, see http://www.greatdreams.com/native.htm for a list of American First Nations

List: part 1Abenaki Comanche Koasati Nomlaki Serrano Wintu

Accohannock Costanoan Koshare Nooksack Shasta Woodland

Achomawi Coushatta Ktunaxa Nootka Shawnee Wyandot

Acoma Cowichan Kutenai Occaneechi Shinnecock Yagua

Adenas Cowlitz Kuiu Oglala Shoalwater Yakama

Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas Creek Kumeyaay Ohlone Shoshone Yavapai

Alleghans Crees Kwakiutl Ojibwe Shuswap Yokuts

Aleut Crow Lakota Okanogan Siksika Yosemite

Algonkin Dakota Lenni-Lenape Omaha Siletz Yuki

Amonsoquath Deh Cho Listuguj Oneida Sioux Yuma

Cherokee Delaware Luisenos Onondaga Sisseton Wahpeton Yunsai

Apache Dene Lumbee Osage Six Nations Tup'ik

Arikara, Mandan, Hidatsa Diegueno Lummi Ottawa S'Klallam Yurok

Anishinabe Dineh Mahican Otoe & Missouria Snohomish Zuni

Anasazi Edisto Maidu Mechoopda Pai Yuman Skokomish

Apalachee Eeyou Makah Paiute Snoqualmie Source:

Aquidneck Erie Mandans Pala Spokane http://www.greatdreams.com/nativeb.htm

Arapaho Esketmc Mascoutan Papago Stillaguamish

Arawak Eskimo Mattabetic Passamaquoddy Suquamish

List: part 2Arikara Esselen Mattaponi Patuxet

Aroostook Assateague Flathead Maya Patwin

Assiniboine Fond du lac Meherrin Pawnee

Athabaskan Gabrielino Menominee Pee Dee

Atsina Goshute Metoac Pembina Band

Aztecs Gros Ventre Miami Pennicook

Bella Coola Gwichin Miami Chippewa Penobscot

Beothuk Haida Miccosoukee Peoria

Blackfeet Haliwa-Siponi MicMac Pequot

Blackfoot Havasupai Middle Woodland Pima-Maricopa

Bodega Miwok Hawaii Mingo Iroquois Piman

Source:

http://www.greatdreams.com/nativeb.htm

List: part 3Brothertown Hidatsa Minnesota Pitt River Tongva

Caddo Ho-ChunkMississippi

Bands Plateau Tuchone

Cahuilla Hohokam Missouri Tribes Pocomoke Tulalip

California Hopi Miwok Pomo Tumucuan

Calusa Hodenosaunee Modoc Ponca Tunica-Biloxi

Carrier Sekani Houma Mohawk Portage Band Umatilla

Catawba Hualapai Mohegan Potawatomi Unami

Cayuga Hupa Mohican Powhatan Ute

Cayuse Huron Mojave Pueblo Vanyume

Chehalis Illinois Monacan Puyallup Yakwal

Cherokee Incas Mono Quapaw Yana

Source:

http://www.greatdreams.com/nativeb.htm

List: part 4 Keetoowah Navajo Saponi Washoe

Ciboney Kickapoo Nez Perce Saskatchewan Wea

Clatsop Kiowa Nipissing Sauk/Fox Wichita

Cocopah Kiowah Nipmuc Secwepemc Willams

Coeur d'Lane Keres Nisga'a Seminole Winnebago

Coharie Klallam Nisqually Seneca Wiinnemucca

Source:

http://www.greatdreams.com/nativeb.htm

SJSU Support Centers• Disabled Student Program and Services (DSP) • Educational Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS)• Learning and Resource Center (LARC)• Peer Mentor Center (Clark Hall)• Writing Center (Clark Hall)• Computer Help Desk (Clark Hall)• Computer access: Library, Clark Hall Student Union, MLK Library etc.• Library• Science lab (Clark Hall)• Health Services • Counselling Services • Transfer Center• Assessment• Athletic Counselling• Housing• International Students• Security / Parking• Bookstore• Cashiers / Admissions / Enrolment

Geography: Growth and Development• Hippocrates: philosopher, ‘father of Geography’• Explorers: What is where?• Scientists: How does it work?• Conquerors: What can I get by taking it?• Emperors: How can I get more out of it?• Planners: How can we make it work for society?• Environmentalists: How can we preserve it, and keep

ourselves from destroying it? • Generally: How can I improve the quality of my life?

• At different times and in different places, Geography and its applications developed differently over time, focusing on different problems using different paradigms striving to attain different purposes.

Cultural Geography

Fundamentals of the Human Mosaic

Terry Jordan,

Chapter 1

(Move to next slide before class)

Geography

• Description of the Earth – (Inquiry: who, what, where, when, why, and how)

• Discovery: Who and what is where? • Understanding: Why are the patterns there?• Consequence: What do these patterns affect?• Interdependence: How is this all related?• Relevance: When, where, & why does it matter?• Diagnostic: Why did these things happen there?• Prognostic: How can we do a better job?

Historical description of the Earth

• Geographers study the earth, and attempt to describe and explain its patterns of physical and human activity.

http://www.thesavvytraveller.com/agraphics/tools/fibrelok/old_world_map.jpg

Cultural Geography

• The study of spatial variations among cultural groups and the spatial functioning of society.

• Geographers study cultures and how they work from a spatial perspective. – So… what is culture?

Culture: (chapter heading)

• Learned Collective Human Behavior – What we have commonly learn and do– Behavior is based on beliefs of how things work.– Behavior produces material goods and byproducts.– This is weighted towards actions, without recognizing

underlying beliefs, of products or byproducts.• Anthropologists and sociologists study activities.• Archaeologists look at the artifacts that remain.• Psychologists study how and what we think and learn.• Geographers study the variation and pattern of beliefs, activities,

artifacts, and byproducts to develop a wide variety of spatial understanding, including knowledge of space and place, of site and situation.

Culture: book definitions

1. Learned Collective Human Behavior (partial)2. A total way of live held in common by a group of

people, including such learned features as speech, ideology, behavior, livelihood, technology, and government (list, incomplete set)

3. The local customary way of doing things – a way of life (illuminates one part)

4. An ever-changing process in which a group is effectively engaged (focus on change, needs more)

5. A dynamic mix of symbols, beliefs, speech, and practices (individual or group? What about things?)

(If you use all five definitions, you fully define culture.)

Culture: Anthropology clarify

• An Anthropological Definition: – sociofacts, mentifacts and artifacts representative of a

cadre.

• Simplified– Culture: Actions, beliefs, and things

representative of a group– This includes material and non-material culture,

thought and action, and is complete but simple.• Definition reflects teaching goals:

– My goal: Be brief. Be clear. Be complete.– There are many ways to say the same thing.– (Just be complete and clear.)

• (The simpler definition is expanded upon by the more expansive book definitions. All have utility.)

Spatial Variation and Pattern

• Variation: causes– Every place is related to every other place. Closer

places are more related [Tobler’s Law]

• Pattern: – If you can find a pattern, the structure is often

more learnable.– If you understand the causes of the pattern, it

often becomes more predictable.– Discover, locate, map, understand, correlate,

causation(s), use(s), consequence(s), response(s)

Physical Environment• Culture is built upon physical foundations

• (We cannot yet build castles in the sky)• (Even if we could, weather would still matter.)

– Landforms: land use transportation, modification• Ex: San Francisco

– Geologic Strata: extract• Anthropocene era?

– Soils: degrade, use, overuse, change• Midwest, Central Valley CA

– Climate and Weather: adapt to it, change it? • (How?!!)

– Organisms: transport, support, modify, or destroy• Humans as agents of change

Physical Environment: Interaction

• example– Landforms modify air masses precipitation– Precipitation weathers and transports soils. – Soils affect and are affected by plant growth.– This affects animal species, including humans.– We are dependent upon our environment for our air,

water, food, living space, in essence our very existence.

Landforms:• Access• Barrier• Utility

http://virtualastronaut.jsc.nasa.gov/textonly/act10/images/topomap.jpg

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/topo/img/ca.jpg

Climate Zones

• Where and when do you want to live, work, and play?• What other activities are controlled or modified by climate?

http://www.learn.londonmet.ac.uk/packages/clear/thermal/climate/diversity/images/koppen_map.jpg

World Vegetation

• Resources, perspectives, activities, constraints, plants, animals

http://www.maps.com/ref_map.aspx?pid=12881

World Soils

• Crucial to our food supply…

Cultural Variation:

• Cultures use the environment differently based on their local values and preferences.

• Book: Wheat cultivation

• California: cattle, grape cultivation, and cities– Where?– Why?– Local land use changes…

• Cattle to grapes• Cattle to agriculture• Agriculture to housing

CA Vineyardgrowth(Focus on the pattern only.)

• http://www.bentleycartographic.com/files/gimgs/9_wine.jpg

CA Urban growth

• Review map interpretation and query: What does it mean? How accurate?

• Image: http://www.spur.org/documents/article110107_images/map003.gif

Cultural Themes (in all chapters)

• Cultural Region

• Cultural Diffusion

• Cultural Ecology

• Cultural Interaction

• Cultural Landscape– All 5 themes are used in every chapter.– Each theme is used to provide cultural insight.– In reality, these themes are highly interrelated.

Example: One Cultural Theme Relationship• Cultural Regions change as attributes spread.• Cultural Diffusion then changes environmental impacts.• Cultural Ecology feedbacks then modify the implementations

of this diffusion.• Cultural Interaction occurs as changes in each part of the

culture affect other parts, often producing visible change.• Cultural Landscapes then change as old and new cultural

attributes are re-distributed, gained, or lost in the local environment. This change of cultural distributions affects how we perceive them.

• (repeat)

Cultural Region(The first of 5 themes)

• Definition: A geographical unit based on characteristics and functions of a culture

– Types:

• Formal

• Functional

• Vernacular

Formal Cultural Region

• Definition– Areas that fit within a definition are a formal region.– Book: relatively homogeneous with respect to one trait– (Me) Change: homogeneous predominant

• Border zones:– Transition between two or more formal regions– (Depending on the definition, formal zones may overlap.)– Border zones are often fluid, changing over time.

• Core-periphery– At the core of a region, the characteristic dominates.– At the periphery, the characteristic influence weakens.

Formal Region Example: World Languages

• http://www.theodora.com/maps/world/world_language_map_transparent.gif

Functional Cultural Region

• Definition: Organized to function politically, socially, or economically as one unit.

• Usually have a node and a service area.• Within a functional region, a relationship

works.– There is also a core-periphery relationship in

many functional regions.• In the core, the function is more strongly or frequently

used• In the periphery, use is reduced.

– Particularly in social and economic functional regions– One cause: distance decay effect

Functional Regions

• Outside the region, the function is not as good…

• e.g. It doesn’t work

• or isn’t used as much.

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/FM73207.gif

Functional Region: San Jose

• http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/zonemap/images/frontpage.gif

Functional Cultural Region (sub-types)

• Within a functional region, a relationship works.– Economic

• Service area of a business, airport

– Social• Service area of a church, recreation center, school

– Political• Nation, city, voting district, school district,

– Service• water & power grids, phone networks, police, firemen

– Test prep: You should be able to define terms, recognize them when presented, AND provide examples of them.

Vernacular Cultural Region• Definition: perceived to exist by its inhabitants

Vernacular Regions: One Study

• http://www.csiss.org/learning_resources/content/g5/materials/G5_Image_Library/de_Blij_figures/IMAGE_06.JPG

Cultural Diffusion (The second of 5 themes)

• Definition: The spread of elements of culture from the point of origin over an area.– Cultures change over time.– Innovations and discoveries are made.– Cultural attributes then spread over time.

• If you can tell how they spread, you can anticipate future diffusion more accurately.

– Spread of what we commonly do / believe / have• (spread cultural aspects)

Cultural Diffusion: Initial Change

• (Before diffusion, something must change.)

• Independent Invention– Different people independently came up with

the same overall concept, activity, idea, or thing.

– Examples: • Calculus• Blowguns• Propagation using plant parts• Seed propagation

Cultural Diffusion: Delays

• Time Distance Decay– As distance increases and time passes, the

amount of cultural interaction reduces.

• Absorbing and Permeable Barriers– Barriers either slow down or stop diffusion.– Absorbing barriers stop a specific change

• Impermeable barriers: strong cultural or religious taboos

– Permeable barriers slow change down.• Permeable barriers: mountains, swamps, jungles

Distance Decay: How far do/would you go to buy:

• A coke or coffee?• Your groceries?• A computer?• Your car?• A life-saving drug that you Really Need?(This relates to the costs and benefits of traveling.)

– Time– Resources– Perceived importance– Combining destinations.

Distance Decay• Interaction falls off

(decays) as distance increases.

• This varies based on the activity.

–http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch7en/meth7en/img/retaildistancedecay.gif

Time Distance Decay

• Definition: the decrease in acceptance of a cultural innovation with increasing time and distance from its origin.

• Two contributions: Distance and Time– Distance decay: The decrease in cultural interaction with

distance• Example: you go to closer places more often.

– Time decay: After initial growth, there is a decay in time of the attribute as competing cultural attributes compete.

• Example: fads come and go.

– Combined: Some fads never reach the periphery, and others have little effect. (Some consider this a good thing.)

Cultural Diffusion Types

• Relocation diffusion

• Expansion diffusion– Hierarchical– Contagious– Stimulus

• Query student examples.

Relocation Diffusion

• Definition: Spread of any innovation or cultural attribute through migration

• Migration: permanent move from one location to another.

– You take much of your culture with you.

Right side image: loading a car with (too much?) stuff, http://www.treehugger.com/moving-Left car.jpgCenter: moving household and house: http://blog.gibbs-smith.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/tiny-house_wide.jpg Left side Image: Overloaded car with happy commuter, http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/original/moving.jpg

Expansion Diffusion

• Definition: Spread of any innovation or cultural attribute in which more people in more areas adopt the attribute

• Three sub-types– Hierarchical Diffusion– Contagious Diffusion– Stimulus Diffusion

Hierarchical Diffusion

• Definition: a type of expansion diffusion in which innovations spread from one important person to another or from one urban center to another, temporarily bypassing other persons or rural areas.– The spread is a network of transmission. – Preference goes to those first served by the

network.– Examples: phone tree, e-mail, fashion

designs, distribution networks,

Hierarchical diffusion

• http://www.lewishistoricalsociety.com/wiki/article_image.php?id=93

Contagious Diffusion

• Definition: A type of expansion diffusion in which cultural innovation spreads by person-to-person contact, moving wavelike through an area and population without regard to social status

• Examples: – Contagious diseases, – news and TV shows

• (in countries where everyone has access)

Contagious Diffusion: Bubonic Plague

• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Bubonic_plague_map_2.png

Stimulus Diffusion

• Definition: A type of expansion diffusion in which a specific trait fails to spread, but the underlying idea or concept is accepted

• Great idea, but the form must change.

• Examples:– Plaid: Great idea, but not wearing kilts.– Herding reindeer: great idea, but cows would die.

Stimulus Diffusion: Plaid

Tartan Great Kilt: http://images-mediawiki-sites.thefullwiki.org/01/4/1/9/37617651957186956.jpgPlaid_Fashion:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BpsBGr1Dt_8/SRxPrCWUXVI/AAAAAAAAA18/FXaZ1PF42xQ/s400/plaid-fashion-trends.jpg

Cultural Diffusion: Globalization

• Globalization: the binding together of all the lands and peoples of the world into an integrated system driven by capitalistic free markets, in which cultural diffusion is rapid, independent states are weakened, and cultural homogenization is encouraged.

• (This definition is limited by its political origins.)• Any cultural attribute can become global (globalize)

through the network of trade and communications.– Some of these cultural attributes can globalize and

increase state stability, therefore sovereignty. (vaccines)– However, homogenization remains an issue. Valuable

cultural attributes and variety can be lost. (ex: seeds)

Historic Globalization

• Silk Road: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y9-xi5n9m3E/TSCiNGItEjI/AAAAAAAAHs0/2lHulQljzyg/s1600/Silk_route.jpg

Discovery:

• http://jspivey.wikispaces.com/file/view/1492.discovery-CWA156.jpg/71867295/1492.discovery-CWA156.jpg

Historic Globalization: British India

• British India: http://studymore.org.uk/india.jpg

Global Air Routes

• http://upgrd.com/images/upload/image/UA%20route%20map.jpg

Cultural Diffusion: Uneven Development

• The economic pattern of globalization contributes to uneven development, in which the core benefits by exploiting peripheral resources.

• Globalization favors the core, which benefits more.– Thus, development is uneven.

• Many factors contribute to uneven development. – Exchange rates: raw materials, goods, services, – Cultural change, – Central place effects– Diffusion– Distance decay

Cultural Ecology (The third of 5 themes)

• Ecology: the study of biological systems– The whole system, not one component– The interaction of its components

• Cultural ecology studies the interaction of cultures and the ecosystems they exist within.

Ecosystem

• Life support system

http://ecosystems.noaa.gov/images/what_eco_map_lg.gif

Cultural Ecology

• Cultural Adaptation– Cultures often adapt

differently to similar environments, based on cultural norms.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_t5N15gGxjZM/TMl_F45KH5I/AAAAAAAAAFI/4emso71mUnA/s1600/IMG_6090.jpghttp://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lft1tv6teK1qcerqgo1_500.jpg

Cultural Ecology• Environmental Determinism

– Belief that environment determines cultural attributes.

• Environmental constraints determine how certain aspects of culture must develop.

• Example: Can’t grow crops in the desert using rainfall.

http://images.yourdictionary.com/images/main/A4zone.jpg

Cultural Ecology: Possibilism

• Definition: belief that culture can adapt in multiple ways to the same or similar environments– Difficult (desert crops)– No high yields– Amerindian success– Different methods

• Dry land (various)• Irrigation (various)• Combined

http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/004/Y0501E/y0501e21.jpg

Cultural Ecology

• Environmental Perception– Different responses are often a result of different

environmental perceptions and knowledge bases.• Different skills, viewpoints, observations

• Natural Hazards– Risk evaluation and response to natural hazards

vary considerably.• “Wasn’t so bad last time…”• “Hurricanes are dangerous, but you can leave & return.”• (What about earthquakes? Are you worried?)

Cultural Ecology

• Humans as modifiers of the Earth– Land

• Mines, farms, factories, cities, transportation

– Water• Poisons, sedimentation, redistribution

– Air• Pollution, global climate change, aerosols, particulates

Cultural Interaction (The fourth of 5 themes)

• The relationships between various elements within a culture– Each part does not act independently.– Within cultures, the parts interact.– Between cultures, the parts interact.

• Religion, economic systems, ethnicity, food production, acquisition, consumption, work, play, attire, sleep, housing, business, manufacturing,… every aspect and every culture

Cultural Interaction

• Social Science perspectives:– Space, models of space– Space: strong quantitative connotation.

• There is an objective right answer.

Cultural Interaction• Humanist perspectives:

– Place– Topophilia (love of place)– Subjectivity:

• society is viewed from different perspectives.

– Relevance:• People base their actions on their sense of place and on spatial

preference. This affects migration, and expenditure of money, time and resources for the benefit of a place.

• (This is a set of positive and/or negative feedback loops.)– Beautiful places vs. the Rust Belt and slums

» Individual or Corporate destination: » San Jose vs. Research Triangle vs Hyderabad vs. …

• Migration, vacation travel, land use change, economics, etc`.

Cultural Landscape (The fifth of 5 themes)

• Landscapes that express the values, beliefs, and meanings of a particular culture.

Cultural Landscape: Symbolic Landscapes

• Major structures and sites– Structures extant or not

http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/images/statue_of_liberty_3.jpghttp://1000mileproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/the-world-trade-center.jpg

Cultural Landscape Patterns

• Three Major Aspects of Cultural Landscape– Settlement Forms– Land Division Patterns– Architectural Styles

Cultural Landscape: Settlement Forms• Nucleation

– Defense– More interdependent, trade

• Dispersed– Economics– More independent farmsteads

http://gis.worcestershire.gov.uk/website/lca/HTMLfiles/LDU/LT%20Drawings/Principal%20Village%20Farmlands%20final.jpg

Cultural Landscape:Land Division

• Land Division Patterns– Township & Range grid

• Imperial Valley: – Long Lot pattern

• near Espanola, NM– www.earth.google.com– Query: Other types?

Cultural Landscape

• Architectural Styles– form– function

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/San_Jose_Basilica.jpghttp://www.sjbetsuin.com/pmwiki/uploads/WhoWeAre/temple1.jpg

Form andFunction

These Processes Interact.• Cultural attributes change over time.

– They diffuse over time.– They interact, changing each other.– This diffusion is modified by and modifies ecosystems– Attribute change, diffusion and ecosystem relationships

changes local conditions and patterns.– This leaves a cultural mark on the landscape, upon which

we may then invest meaning and value.

http://mcmanuslab.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/imagepicker/m/mmcmanus/san-francisco.jpghttp://www.studentsoftheworld.info/sites/country/img/5676_TerraceRiceFields10_f.jpghttp://dahlonegavineyards.com/threesisters/images/threesisters_3586.jpg

Which perspective should I use?• It depends.

– What do you like? (This is often not the best choice.)– What do you have the tools to accomplish? (better…)– What do you need to know, and how can you achieve this? (best)

Look at the big picture.Be multi-disciplinary. (Geography is.)

(The text encourages this.)

Recap: SJSU Support Centers• Disabled Student Program and Services (DSP) • Educational Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS)• Learning and Resource Center (LARC)• Peer Mentor Center (Clark Hall)• Writing Center (Clark Hall)• Computer Help Desk (Clark Hall)• Computer access: Library, Clark Hall Student Union, MLK Library etc.• Library• Science lab (Clark Hall)• Health Services • Counselling Services • Transfer Center• Assessment• Athletic Counselling• Housing• International Students• Security / Parking

• Bookstore• Cashiers / Admissions / Enrolment

Wrap-Up

• Questions?

• Google Earth