Jordan’s Fundamentals of the Human Mosaic – Ch. 1b

Broadly defined, the study of the relationships between the physical environment and culture; narrowly (and more commonly) defined, the study of culture as an adaptive system that facilitates human adaptation to nature and the environmental change.
(Oikos = Home)

A territorially bounded system consisting of interaction between organic and inorganic components.

The adaptation of humans and cultures to the challenges posed by the physical environment.

The unique way in which each culture uses its particular physical environment; those aspects of culture that serve to provide the necessities of life – food, clothing, shelter, and defense.

The belief that cultures are directly or indirectly shaped by the physical environment.
IE. Old Mexico City.

A school of thought based in the belief that humans, rather than the physical environment, are the primary active force; that any environment offers a number of possible ways for a culture to develop; and that the choices among these possibilities are guided by cultural heritage.

The belief that culture depends more on what people perceive the environment to be than on the actual character if the environment; perception, in turn, is colored by the teachings of culture.

Inherent danger present in a given habitat, such as flooding, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, or earthquakes; often perceived differently by different peoples.

The view that humans are part of, not separate from, nature and that the habitat possesses a soul and is filled with nature-spirits.

The view that humans are separate from nature and hold dominion over it and that the habitat is an integrated mechanism governed by external forces that the human mind can understand and manipulate.

The relationship of various elements within a culture.

A term used to connote the objective, quantitative, theoretical, model-based, economics-oriented type of geography that seeks to understand spatial systems and networks through application of the principles of social science.

An abstraction, an imaginary situation, proposed by geographers to simulate laboratory conditions so that they may isolate certain causal forces for detailed study.

A term used to connote the subjective, humanistic, culturally oriented type of geography that seeks to understand the unique character of individual regions and places, rejecting the principles of science as flawed and unknowingly biased.

Love of place; used to describe people who exhibit a strong sense of place.

The artificial landscape; the visible human imprint on the land.

Landscape that express the values, beliefs, and meaning of a particular culture.

The spatial arrangement of buildings, roads, towns, and other features that people construct while inhabiting an area.

A settlement form characterized by density.

A settlement form in which people live relatively distant from one another.

The exterior and interior design and layout of the cultural and physical landscape.

Pattern > Process (why) > Culture.

Almost everything has a point of origin
IE. Hoolahoop

Taking or moving vs Idea that things spread over time.

Missions

Once (normal) vs Multiple (rarely)

IFA from 1918-1998
IE. Fire ants from South America.

Malaria, Pneumonia

Visible material expression of humans. (Everything you see when you walk outside)

Slow take over.
IE. WalMart

Corn, Beans, Squash. They are symbiotic

Ordinary vernacular landscape – unintentionally reflects.

Two areas come to be more and more alike.