geo week 1

Human Geography

• The study of economic, social, cultural and political relationships, processes and activities in places and spaces.
• Geography influences who we are and what we might become.

Branches of Human Geography

• Population & Migration
• Human and Environment Relations
• Political Geography
• Economic Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Social Geography
• Urban Geography
• Tourism Geography

Course Assessments

• Assignments
  • Assignment # 1: Human Geography in the News
  • Assignment # 2: Everyday Space
  • Assignment # 3: Contested Space
  • Assignment # 4: Minute Essays
  • Multiple Choice Midterm
  • Multiple Choice & Short Answer Final Exam
• Participation
  • Meaningful oral contributions in tutorials.

Place & Sense of Place

• Place
  • A unique collection of human and physical features including environmental conditions, physical and human landscapes, cultural practices, social life and economic activities.
  • A combination of environmental conditions, physical and human landscapes, cultural practices, social life, and economic activities.
• Sense of Place
  • The unique qualities and distinctive features of place that give place a certain ’feel’ and contribute to the meanings we attach to it.
• Placelessness
  • Places lose their uniqueness to the point where one place looks like the next.
  • Places that seem detached from the local environment and say nothing about the specificity of a particular locality.

Place is Nested

• There is a spatial hierarchy with respect to area size.
• A smaller place is encompassed by a larger place, which is encompassed by an even larger place, and so on.

Scale

• Spatial patterns can be explained through interactions at one scale or across multiple scales.

Maps, Location & Distance

• Maps
  • Representations of the Earth that use lines and symbols to convey information about spatial relationships.
  • Topographic Maps
    • Use contour lines to represent elevation.
  • Thematic Maps
    • Show a particular theme or topic.
  • Choropleth Maps
    • Use shading to show the intensity of a variable.
  • Isoline Maps
    • Use lines to connect points of equal value.
  • Proportional Maps
    • Use symbols of different sizes to represent the magnitude of a variable.
• Map Projections
  • A systematic rendering of the Earth's surface onto a flat surface.
  • Distortion
    • Distance
    • Direction
    • Shape
    • Area
• Cartogram
  • A map in which the size of a region is proportional to a variable other than its geographical area.
• Location
  • Absolute Location
    • Uses coordinates to specify an exact position.
  • Site
    • The specific characteristics or attributes of a place, both natural and human-made.
  • Situation
    • A location's relative position in relation to its surroundings or other places.
• Distance
  • Absolute Distance
    • The physical separation between two points on the earth’s surface, measured by an accepted standard unit, such as kilometers.

Explore the fascinating field of Human Geography, where we examine the intricate relationships and processes that shape our economic, social, and cultural landscapes. This quiz covers key branches such as population, urban, and political geography, as well as assessments that encourage participation and critical thinking.