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Andy Modell

wikipedia knows all - 0 views

  • Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the built environment, with particular reference to the causes and consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity on the Earth's surface. Contents [hide]
  • Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the built environment, with particular reference to the causes and consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity on the Earth's surface.
  • Human geography broadly differs from physical geography in that it has a greater focus on studying intangible or abstract patterns surrounding human activity and is more receptive to qualitative research methodologies. It encompasses human, political, cultural, social and economic aspects of the social sciences. While the major focus of human geography is not the physical landscape of the Earth (see physical geography), it is not possible to discuss human geography without going into the physical landscape, on which human activities are being played out and environmental geography is emerging, as an important link between the two. Human geography is methodologically diverse, using both qualitative methods and quantitative methods, including case studies, survey research, statistical analysis and model building, among others. Thematically, human geography may be concerned with an array of human enterprises, from villages and cities, schools, health, commerce and trade, to name a few. The spatial human architecture of a variety of institutions and practices unites these entities within the discipline. For example, a human geographer might be concerned with the geographic patterns of communicable diseases, school performance in rural versus urban school districts or the rise of innovative technology clusters.
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    Not amazing, but an adequate definition
Jillian Williams

Geographic Regions | Xpeditions @ nationalgeographic.com | - 0 views

  • The first type is the formal region. It is characterized by a common human property, such as the presence of people who share a particular language, religion, nationality, political identity or culture, or by a common physical property, such as the presence of a particular type of climate, landform, or vegetation.
  • The second type of region is the functional region. It is organized around a node or focal point with the surrounding areas linked to that node by transportation systems, communication systems, or other economic association involving such activities as manufacturing and retail trading.
  • The third type of region is the perceptual region. It is a construct that reflects human feelings and attitudes about areas and is therefore defined by people’s shared subjective images of those areas.
Jim Pickett

Should the Census Offer 'Negro' as an Identity Option? - TIME - 3 views

  • the flash point represents a much larger theme: the often contentious way the Census both reflects and forges our evolving understanding of race.
  • 2000 Census, more than 56,000 people wrote in Negro to describe their identity — even though it was already on the form
  • Consider that in a 2006 study of 138 censuses from around the world, New York University sociologist Ann Morning found that only 15% of those asking about ancestry or national origin used the term race. Almost all of those that did were former slave economies.
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  • only the U.S. asked about Hispanic ethnicity in a stand-alone question.
  • could unintentionally reinforce the view that while ethnicity is a product of culture and society, race represents something else
    • Jim Pickett
       
      This represents a significant risk of "racialization"
  • The first Census, in 1790, explicitly asked about only one race: white.
  • The antidiscrimination laws written in the 1960s and the affirmative-action policies that followed relied on Census data to determine if minorities were underrepresented in any number of realms, from home sales to small-business loans.
  • One of the possible changes the Census is testing during the 2010 count is allowing respondents to check more than one box not just for race but for Hispanic origin as well.
  • Another change under review is letting people who check "white" or "black" to write in more specific information afterward.
  • For the time being, write-in responses still often need to be shoehorned into broader categories for the purpose of following certain laws based on official statistics.
  • Census categories reflect perceptions. But they also forge them.
    • Jim Pickett
       
      And THAT is the argument for racialization
Christiaan Tahyar

Why is Geography Important? - 0 views

    • Christiaan Tahyar
       
      good stuff explaining why geography is important
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    This is better because it explains a need for geography
Christiaan Tahyar

All About Geography - 0 views

  • What is Geography? While the word geography is derived from Greek and literally means "to write about the earth," the subject of geography is much more than describing "foreign" places or memorizing the names of capitals and countries. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks to understand the world - its human and physical features - through an understanding of place and location. Geographers study where things are and how they got there. My favorite definitions for geography are "the bridge between the human and physical sciences" and "the mother of all sciences." Geography looks at the spatial connection between people, places, and the earth.
    • Christiaan Tahyar
       
      This seems to be a good basic definition
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    A more comprehensive view of geography but still textbook
Jim Pickett

Foreign Policy: Revenge of the Geographers - 0 views

  • Victorian geography is back in vogue. In The End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs blames geography for poverty, while in Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond says that the different shapes of Eurasia and the Americas explain the course of global economic development. And now, in "The Revenge of Geography," Robert Kaplan suggests that states have had their day and that global society will dissolve into tribal conflicts over dwindling resources. He commends British geographer Halford Mackinder for his 1904 essay, "The Geographical Pivot of History," and its analysis of the geographical dynamics of the perennial struggle over Eurasia.For Kaplan, the appeal of environmental determinism is evident. It reduces otherwise complex theories of economic development or of international relations to a stable set of factors (such as climate, physiography, and location) and further suggests that the primary causes of social, political, and economic inequality lie outside the realm of human intervention. The revenge of geography centers on environmental realities that never cease to frustrate the grand schemes of men who would remake the world after their own ideals. But there are four problems with Mackinder's case, and ultimately Kaplan's argument, as he builds upon it. First, the fact that today's conflicts are in many of the same places as yesterday's is a testament not to the guiding hand of Mother Nature, but to the pitiful legacy of those earlier wars -- colonialism, political instability, and economic exploitation. (The British alone fought wars in Iraq during 1914-1918, 1920-1921, 1922-1924, 1943, and 1945, and in Afghanistan during 1839-1842, 1878-1880, and 1919, and of course are again in both places.) Second, cultural identities are created as distinct communities interact with one another, not through isolated communion with the Earth. Third, rich and powerful countries' interests in the affairs of poorer countries are driven as much by their economic needs as by the problems afflicting the poorer countries. Finally, for all the U.N.'s flaws, international relations are not solely structured around the threat of force; Wilsonian values are credible pillars of international institutions and affairs. Ideas matter more than Kaplan admits. None of these critiques is new and they were made by Mackinder's contemporaries. John Hobson, the author of the famous work, Imperialism: A Study (1902), wrote from a rich liberal tradition that was hostile to warmongering and he criticized the colonial wars that Mackinder celebrated. Élisée Reclus, who put together a monumental 19-volume survey of global geography, likewise argued that colonialism had serious and continuing consequences. In particular, Reclus showed that the commodification of land and resources produced food insecurity throughout indigenous societies. Another of Mackinder's contemporaries, geographer and anarchist Peter Kropótkin, insisted that identity was neither biological nor environmental fate, but rather a social creation enabling people to cultivate their higher natures. Mackinder, by contrast, saw colonialism as diffusing technology and civilized values to benighted savages. For him, environment determined racial character and this in turn dictated people's intellectual firepower and level of civilization. He saw a clear hierarchy of civilizations -- the further from Anglo-Saxon values you were, the more inferior your society. If we are to rehabilitate Victorian geography, as Kaplan attempts to do here, then, we must also recall its contested nature, and against simplistic environmentalism we must urge the relevance of a historical analysis that emphasizes colonialism, an understanding of cultures as dynamic and interdependent, and a recognition of the importance of cooperation, justice, and multilateral institutions.
    • Jim Pickett
       
      Hits the point RIGHT on the head. Kearns, a Mackinder scholar, gets Kaplan's errors "just right".
Jim Pickett

OpenStreetMap - 0 views

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    The Free Wiki World Map. OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world. It is made by people like you. OpenStreetMap allows you to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth.
Jim Pickett

Share More! Wiki » Anthology/Diigo the Web for Education - From TeleGatherer ... - 0 views

  • Diigo.com is a social bookmarking tool, similar to the popular Del.icio.us service, but Diigo also centralizes various learning possibilities. The social aspect of learning is important, especially with our increasing focus on conversations that add value to what we are learning. Diigo lets you bookmark Web sites and have online conversations about them.
    • Jim Pickett
       
      This is really the key bit ;-)
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    A good, brief article on the utility of social bookmarking with some useful tips, too.
Jim Pickett

Foreign Policy: Kaplan's "The Revenge of Geography" - 0 views

  • but geography largely determines them, now more than ever
  • it’s time to dust off the Victorian thinkers who knew the physical world best.
    • Jim Pickett
       
      Oh what interesting thoughts... Compelling written to evoke the "hidden, forgotten truths" of the past. But is it true?
  • And of all the unsavory truths in which realism is rooted, the bluntest, most uncomfortable, and most deterministic of all is geography.
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  • By bringing demography and nature itself into history, Braudel helped restore geography to its proper place. In his narrative, permanent environmental forces lead to enduring historical trends that preordain political events and regional wars. To Braudel, for example, the poor, precarious soils along the Mediterranean, combined with an uncertain, drought-afflicted climate, spurred ancient Greek and Roman conquest. In other words, we delude ourselves by thinking that we control ou
julia bleznak

Gerrymandering - 1 views

  • Since a single party usually controls each state legislature, it is in the best interest of the party in power to redistrict their state so that their party will have more seats in the House than the opposition party. This manipulation of electoral districts is known as gerrymandering. Although illegal, gerrymandering is the process of modifying congressional districts to benefit the party in power.
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    Gerrymandering
Christiaan Tahyar

WordNet Search - 3.0 - 0 views

  • Noun S: (n) geography, geographics (study of the earth's surface; includes people's responses to topography and climate
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    This is a simple definition and straight forward definiton of geography
Max Sjöström

What is Geography? New Zealand - 0 views

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    Website about the definition of Geography
Max Sjöström

What is Geography? - 0 views

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    Definition of Geography.
Christiaan Tahyar

Human geography: Definition from Answers.com - 0 views

  • Population density (people per km2) by country, 2007 Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the built environment, with particular reference to the causes and consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity on the Earth's surface.
    • Christiaan Tahyar
       
      this is a good simple definintion
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    this seems good
Jim Pickett

Definitions of Geography - 0 views

  • "The purpose of geography is to provide 'a view of the whole' earth by mapping the location of places." - Ptolemy, 150 CE "Synoptic discipline synthesizing findings of other sciences through the concept of Raum (area or space)." - Immanuel Kant, c. 1780 "Synthesizing discipline to connect the general with the special through measurement, mapping, and a regional emphasis." - Alexander von Humboldt, 1845 "Man in society and local variations in environment." - Halford Mackinder, 1887 "How environment apparently controls human behavior." - Ellen Semple, c. 1911 "Study of human ecology; adjustment of man to natural surroundings." - Harland Barrows,
    • Jim Pickett
       
      Pretty decent source of common definitions for geography... old scholl...
Kevin Collon

Resource: Human Geography: People, Places, and Change - 0 views

  • Human Geography combines economic and cultural geography to explore the relationships between humans and their natural environment, and
  • tionships
  • to track the broad social patterns that shape human societies
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  • . Imagining New Worlds
  • Reflections on a Global Screen
  • Global Firms in the Industrializing East
  • Global Tourism
  • . Alaska: The Last Frontier?
  • Population Transition in Italy
  • . Water Is for Fighting Over
  • A Migrant's Heart
  • Berlin
  • Changing
  • Center
  • . The World of the Dragon
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    Basic Definition of Human Geography
Adam Merheb

What is geography? - 0 views

shared by Adam Merheb on 16 Sep 09 - Cached
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