GEOG101B: Midterm

Question 1

What are the 3 key questions geographers use?

Answer 1

1. What happens where?
2. Why does it happen there?
3. Why does it matter?

Question 2

What is human geography?

Answer 2

The study of the activities, cultures, and created landscapes of humans in a given location

Question 3

What is physical geography?

Answer 3

The study of the phenomena of the natural physical world in a given location

Question 4

What are concept maps?

Answer 4

Mental maps of places we’ve been or have heard of

Question 5

Thematic maps

Answer 5

Tell stories or narratives showing the degree of some attribute or the movement of the geographic phenomenon

Question 6

What is social geography?

Answer 6

Social geography is a branch of human geography with an emphasis on asking the key geographers questions

Question 7

Identity

Answer 7

How we make sense of ourselves (Gillian Rose). We construct our identities through experiences, emotions, and connections

Question 8

What are some examples of identity?

Answer 8

Gender, race, sexuality, religion

Question 9

Implications of identity biases

Answer 9

1. Pay differences between men and women
2. Homophobia. Binary approaches have left individuals feeling invisible
3. Racism. It is a socially constructed identity that has resulted in the oppression of of others

Question 10

What is culture?

Answer 10

Culture is a shared belief system or values practiced by a group of people

Question 11

Define and explain ‘place’

Answer 11

• Places can be different for everyone
• People develop a sense of place by infusing a location with meaning and emotion
• Human geographers use place to highlight our relationships with places

Question 12

Define location

Answer 12

• A geographical situation or position of people and things that can be precisely determined

Question 13

Define space

Answer 13

• An area of the earth’s surface of any size
• Often has undefined boundaries

Question 14

Define and explain ‘placelessness’

Answer 14

• Placelessness can develop when human landscapes appear similar or become indistinguishable or when they have lost an important place
• It is often associated with the feeling of alienation because you can feel disconnected
• Ex. displaced Indigenous people

Question 15

Concepts of culture

Answer 15

• A set of shared belief systems
• Local culture: builds a tight-knit community to enable them to practice their distinct culture
• Popular culture: incorporates heterogeneous population and changes quickly
• Cultural landscape: the visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape (architecture)

Question 16

Cultural concepts cont…

Answer 16

• Cultural representation: celebrating or acknowledging the culture of others
• Cultural appropriation: Using someone’s culture for your own ends
• Cultural commodification: turning cultural traditions or arts into a commercial venture separate from the traditions from which they came
• Spaces of consumption: areas of a city designed specifically to encourage people to consume goods

Question 17

What are cultural geographers?

Answer 17

• They are interested in how certain values, norms, and ideas of communities become embedded in the human landscape