Geography 1280 Final EXAM PREP Questions PDF

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FINAL EXAM ESSAY QUESTIONS (POTENTIAL)....

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UNIT 1 1) Similarities + differences in the study of geography in Europe, China & Islamic world (5th-15th centuries) Europe (symbols) - Teleology: God designed the earth for humans - Europeans more interested in symbolism than scientific facts. Less detailed & less accurate than the Greeks. (eg. TO maps) - No lines of longitude or latitude but had network of overlapping lines radiating from centres on the map (points on a compass) - Made little contribution to geography. - Marco Polo – visited china and documented descriptions. Explorer not geography (not a scholar) China (mathematical + literary) - Long lasting civilization in China made important contributions to geography knowledge. - Writing describing the known world date back to 15th century BCE. Explored and described areas. - Discovered Mediterranean region, travels, trade route; India, central Asia, Rome & Paris. - Chinese reached Europe before Marco Polo reached China. - Geographic perspective – a different way of looking at the world. Individual viewed as part of nature (Europeans viewed as apart from nature) - Geographers integrated human and physical description bc they viewed humans and land as one. - Used a grid system during Han dynasty (3rd century BCE). Civil servants drew the maps. Islamic world (mathematical + literary) - spread served as unifying force; bringing together disparate tribes. - Islamic conquest spread beyond Arabia and included North Africa and India. - 9th century – recalculating circumference of the earth. Lots of writings and maps based on earlier greek work and Islamic travels. - Early 11th century Arabic atlas – not intended to represent landscapes but to serve as aids for travelers 2) Discuss institutionalization of geography (1874-1903) with reference to developments in Germany, France, Britain and USA Germany (HUMAN and PHYSICAL) - Prussian gov’t established geography departments in all Universities. Believed knowledge would help political expansion. - Von Richthofen Geog = science of the earth’s surface; researched based on field studies and observation. - Ratzel – antropogeography – human geography (influence of physical geography on humans & humans using the earth) - Hettner – followed Richthofen. Advocate of regional geography, influenced the US. - German geography following 1874 consisted of 3 different interpretations. i. Geography as chorology (Richthofen & Hettner) ii. Geography as influence of physical geography on humans (Ratzel vol 1) iii. Study of human landscape (Ratzel vol 2) France (HUMAN and PHYSICAL) - reflected many same ideas as Ratzel vol 2, but independent of German dev’ts. - Pierre Le Play – sociologist focused on human-land relations and impact of technology on social groupings - Reclus – anarchists barred from France & imprisoned; Published descriptive systematic geography of the world. - ** Paul Vidal de la Blache – well-articulated geographic method; relations between humans and land; the description of distinctive local regions. Physical geographic impacts on humans and human modification of physical geography. Britan -

Professorship of Geography @ College London in 1833. Alexander Maconchie Lectures at Oxford and Cambridge, much later a department. Mackinder – to be respected geographer, had to be successful explorer. Geography & History related; global perspective; physical geography required for human study. Geography and mapping, description and exploration continued; Emphasis on PHYSICAL rather than human.

USA (PHYSICAL) - University of Chicago in 1903 influenced by German scholars. - PHYSICAL geography dominant = physical geog influenced human landscapes - Semple – physical influences school of thought. - Nothing on humans and physical geog.

3) Describe 1 principle philosophy and discuss relevant concepts and techniques of analysis (empercism, positivism, humanism, Marxism) POSITIVISM – rigorous and formal. Clear and straightforward philosophy for human geography. - needs to be objective. No bias, or personal influence - Can be studied similar to any other science. Human and physical objects can be treated similar - Scientific method – research begins with facts; theory derived from facts; hypothesis derived from the theory; and hypothesis becomes a law when verified by real facts. - Quantitative methods: - State problem; hypothesis; data collection; data analysis; state conclusions. - Facts; induction; theories; deduction; hypothesis; verification; facts 4) 5 key concepts used in HG are space, location, place, region and distance. Explain how each is used and discuss links between the concepts -

Absolute space – objective; exists in the areal relations among phenomena on the earth’s surface. Relative space – perceptual; socially produced and subject to continuous change Location – particular position within space, usually a position on the earth’s surface. Absolute location- grid system such as latitude/longitude; Relative location- location of one place relative to another Place – location and more specifically to the values we associate with that location. Sense of place – attachments we have to locations with personal significance (ie. home) Region – area with one or more traits in common; functional region- area with locations related to each other or a specific location. Distance – separation between locations, places, within regions. Can quantify and measure (km, time, cost)

5) Critically discuss the idea that humans are a part of nature such that to destroy nature is to destroy ourselves [c3 p84] - industrial and technological discovery has resulted in drastic changes. Our interaction with and impacts on the environment are quite permanent and on a global scale. - Global perspective – everything is related to everything else; can’t change one aspect of nature without affecting another. - Human activity in any one area has the potential to affect all other areas. - Ecology – study of relationships between organisms and their environment - Ecosystems – ecological system comprised of interacting organisms and their physical, chemical and biological environment. (groupings and relationships between things) – atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere. - Most important causes of ecosystem change is the human population! Ecologists say if the global ecosystem is to survive, systems modified by humans must be balanced by systems that have not been modified by humans. - Need to change the way we live inside our ecosystems – change habbits. - Use of ENERGY AND HIGH VALUATION OF TECHNOLOGY - Pollution, decreased energy resources, environmental concerns, Chernobyl nuclear accident. - Impacts on natural environment, land, air, water that we need for survival. Realized recently that some of our impacts are threatening our continued survival (ie. global warming). i. small changes to the environment lead to major environmental problems ii. technology changes related to demands for energy change the environment iii. increasing population is a threat to environment iv. increasing connections with the world – now consequences are global in impact (global warming) 6) Human impacts on vegetation with reference to plant domestication, tropical rain forest removal and desertification Vegetation [ch. 3] - impacts on vegetation affect: animals, land, soil, water and climate. - Consequences: slope stability, sediment yielding, weathering; CO2 content, transpiration; ground cover, soil fauna; soil structure, surface detention, nutrient cycling; cover, food, microclimate. Plant domestication - Plant is modified to fulfill a specific human desire. Once domesticated it is permanently different from original. - Wheat, barley, oats, yams, rice, potatoes. - Results in deforestation because of overgrazing and other human activities; loss of original wild species – threaten the future of these foods given uncertain climate change. Tropical rain forest removal - Forests used to cover most of the earth’s surface. Tropical forests grow on poorer soils that can’t sustain permanent agriculture; play a major role in the health of global ecosystem;

High annual clearance rates. Tropical rain forests in less-dev world but the more-dev world is the cause (want ropical timber and inexpensive beef produced in area) Poor people use the land for farming; but soil is depleted of nutrients quickly. - Consequences: cause of species extinction (home to at 50% of all species) & involves global warming (burning carbon in rees transferred to atmosphere as CO2). Desertification - area of land becomes a dessert - consequence: ecosystem impoverished because of climate change and human impact. - Reduced productivity of plants, soil erosion by wind and water, alter water cycle; -

7) Evidence suggests that fertility is declining in most areas. Give examples from both more and less-developed countries when discussing the details of and reasons for fertility decline [ch. 4] - More dev’t world: with increasing industrialization and urbanization, fertility declines. Kids used to represent a contribution to the household, now they represent an expense = economic - Decreases due to cultural reasons. Most cultures recognize marriage as a requirement for reproduction. Average age of when women get married is increases, decreasing fecundancy years. - Contraceptive use – used mostly in more developed countries. - Abortion – for ever 3 births, 1 is aborted. - Less dev’t world: economic & cultural factors. Availability and acceptance of contraceptive techniques, successful family planning programs, educational power of mass media. Government policies (china). Female sterilization (asia and latin America). 8) Discuss Malthusian hypothesis that “population growth will always create stress on the means of subsistence.’ - changes assoc with industrialization and rapid population growth; more births mean more wealth (increase productivity) - “population growth will always create stress on the means of substance” – the result of different growth rates of food supplies and population applies to all living things. Humans can anticipate consequences and therefore avoid them by reducing fertility by adopting - preventive checks –moral restraint and delayed marriage. - Positive checks – things you’d do only under pressure of extreme circumstances (war, famine) - His theories were incorrect – didn’t anticipate increases in food supply, or improved farming (  land, fertilizers); or conctraceptives ould be used; 9) Describe characteristics of the less-developed world and why it is difficult both to define and measure lack of development Characteristics - poor, famine, poverty, underdeveloped, - high levels of mortality and fertility - low levels of literacy and industrialization - political problems stemming from ethnic or other rivalries. -

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Difficult to define and measure lack of development because these countries have limited capital to conduct censuses. Low literacy levels may affect quality of data collected and data maybe falsified for political reasons. GDP, GNP – economic performance and social development in areas of health, education and quality of life. Doesn’t take into account real life conditions of the less developed countries such as population displacement, inadequate food supplies and vulnerability to environmental extremes. GDP or GNI (in less dev’t countries) may indicate how the minority wealthy population is progressing but tells nothing about the poor majority. Lack of agreement on what “development” means.

10) Most important factor in explaining the less-developed world is the relationship with more developed world. Discuss. -

Hunger and famine: rely on the more developed world for aid Less developed world wouldn’t exist without the more developed world. Consequences of colonialism responsible ofr division between more- and less-developed worlds Dependency theory – some areas have to become underdeveloped for another area to become developed. Overseas expansion plays a major roel in formation of the less dev’t world. (eg. Africa) Survival of the less developed countries depends on its relationship with the more developed world. Imperialism – effect of colonialism and is defined as a powerful territory seeking control over a weaker territory. Imperialist countries have exhausted the les developed world of their natural resources, hindering their economic development. (economic and industrial issues)

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Industrial revolution – increased demand for raw materials; increased competition, economic pressures; exploitation pf resources and labor. Colonialism – major cause of socioeconomic decay in less developed countries

UNIT 2 1) Discuss the suggestion that LANGUAGE is the single most important indicator of culture [ch. 6] - language is a cultural variable – learned behaviour that initially evolved so humans could communicate in groups - early humans concentrated in areas of origin, all spoke same early language. - Language is a source of group unity. - Language is useful in delimiting groups and regions. Means by which a culture ensures continuity through time. – death of a language often seen as death of a culture. - Efforts made to ensrure traditional languages in places such as Wales or Quebec. Relationship between language and nationalism. - Divisions between places and people often outcome of culture and language differences. 2) Discuss the suggestion that it is relatively easy to divide North America into a set of cultural regions (examples) -

cultural regions – area with a degree of homogeneity in cultural characteristics; areas with similar landscapes North America is relatively easy to subdivide because the development of its contemporary cultural regions is recent enough that we are able to trace their origins Deliminate regions based on: physical, economic and cultural differences. Generally recognizable regions. Delinination based on 1) criteria for inclusion 2) date or time period (since cultural regions change over time 3) spatial scale 4) boundary lines.

3) Discuss human geographic implications of the suggestion that there is no single fixed entity called culture, but rather a plurality of cultures understood as those values that members of human groups share in particular places at a particular time -

NEW CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY – no single fixed entity called culture but a rather plurality of cultures understood as those values that members of human groups share in a particular place at particular times Cultures are not objects but mediums or processes. Lead to the study of many topics besides landscape. Base questions about human identity on the logic of constructionism rather than the more traditional logic of essentialism. Essentialist – inherited, fixed and unchanging identity; related to empiricism Constructionist – characteristics are socially made or acquired and they can have different meanings (changing, not absolute); related to feminism and postmodernism Many geographers now reject school of landscape and favor the acknowledgement of existence of plurality of cultures, located in specific times and places.

4) Discuss the human geography of a “vernacular region” emphasizing the links to place, to the idea of psychogeography and to the concept of a homeland (refer to 1 example) [ch. 7 p. 266] - NA geographers have delimited many vernacular regions, typically by collecting information on individual perceptions. - Hale did a survey: 6,800 responses from people. IN order to identify true vernacular regions, surveys had to ensure the responses received represent those of average people. - Vernacular regions are often viewed more positively by those living within the region than by those outside. (eg. for many living in the American bible belt, the name is a source of great pride; yet for some outsiders it is a term of derision. - In other cases, if the name of the vernacular region has been imposed for purposes of tourism or commercial promotion, with no real roots in the region, it may mean little to either residents or outsiders. - Psychogeography: how people feel about, experience, paint themselves into the world and tak ehtat portrait back into themselves as literal arts of who they are and hence their well being. - Homeland: vernacular regions that are clearly perceived by those living with in them. A homeland has 4 ingredients: people, place, sense or place and control of place. Most homelands are associated with groups defined on the basis of common language, religion or ethnicity. o Sense of place – emotional attachment people have to a place o Control of place – requirement of sufficient population to allow a group to claim an area as their homelan Vernacular Culture Regions - are those perceived to exist by their inhabitants, as evidenced by the widespread acceptance and use of a special regional name. Some vernacular regions are based on physical environmental features; others find their basis in economic, political, or historical characteristics. Vernacular regions, like most culture regions, generally lack sharp borders, and the inhabitants of any given area may claim residence in more than one such region. It grows out of people’s sense of belonging and identification with a particular region. Ex: one popular region in the US "Dixie". They often lack the organization necessary for functional regions, although they may be centered around a single urban node, and they frequently do not display the cultural homogeneity that characterizes formal regions. 5) Most groups identified as ethnic base their ethnicity on language and/or religion. In light of this fact, discuss the value of ethnicity as a basis for distinguishing groups in human geographic research

Ethnic group – any group that has common cultural tradition, that identifies itself as a group and constiutes a minority in the society where it lives. (Not living in its national territory) Ethnicity – suggests collective identity through a shared history, shared time and/or shared space. - common basis for ethnicity are language, religion, ethnicity, perceived racial identity and recent immigrant status. Ethnic region or neighborhood – area occupied by people of common cultural heritage who live in close spatial proximity. -

because of the homogeneity of the group; similarities of values clear scientific evidence of the unity of the human race.

6) Discuss the concept of nationalism as it is understood to mean that each identifiable nation has a right to occupy a state [ch 8] - Nationalism – belief that a nation (cultural group or large group of people who self-identify as a group) and a state (political unit) should be congruent. - Nationalism assumes that the nation-state is the natural political unit and that any other basis for state delimination is inappropriate. 1. All members of the national group have the right to live within the borders of the state 2. It is not appropriate for members of other national groups to be resident in the state 3. The government of the state must be in the hands of the dominant cultural group - Leads to conflict – external and internal. Nationalism often taken for granted in the modern world. - Humans want to be close to people of similar cultural background; nation-states creation was necessary and logical component of the transition from feudalism to capitalism; nationalism is a logical accompaniment of economic growth on expanding technologies; principle of one state/one culture arises from the collapse of local communities and the need for effective communication within a larger unit. - Many multinational states in African countries have European-imposed boundaries. - Many multinational states are politically unstable, prone to changes of governemtn and/or expressions of minority nation disconnect. - Eg. Canada is an example of politically uncertain binational states – more than 1 language group and experience internal stresses related to the different political aspirations of these groups (Quebec). 7) Refer to examples from Africa and Europe, discuss the stability of political states - AFRICAN countries find it difficult to keep in place the many politically fragile states that Europeans created. Problems- rapid population growth,...