AP Human Geography

Unit 3 Study Guide

Use this study guide as a manual for your study process.

Point Value __________________________________________________________________________
40 points
Format_______________________________________________________________________________
30 Objective questions: multiple choice (20 minutes)
1 Free Response question (25 minutes)
Topic Guide__________________________________________________________________________
Culture
o Definition: involves a particular set of (learned) skills, values and meanings. A shared set of
meanings that are lived through the material and symbolic practices of everyday life
o Culture is a combination of cultural complexes, each made up of cultural traits.
o Local v. Popular Culture
Differences between Material and Non-material Culture of the two forms of culture
Think about our artifact analysis activity. What was different between the local
cultural artifacts and the images of popular culture?
Relative Location of Local Culture
Found over small, remote areas, but very stable and unchanging
Relative Location of Popular Culture
Found over large, connected areas, but constantly changing
How are Local Cultures Sustained
Avoid cultural appropriation or assimilation by remaining largely in remote,
isolated areas.
Urban local cultures are also maintained through the growth of ethnic
neighborhoods that can keep outsiders out, but the potential for appropriation is
higher.
Local Cultures and Cultural Appropriation
The commodification of local culture can lead to questions of authenticity.
Cultural Diffusion
Distance Decay and Time-Space Compression
Forms of diffusion
o Contagious
o Hierarchical
o Stimulus
o Relocation
Local and Popular Culture do not exist in isolation, but rather are constantly interacting
and being negotiated by people inhabiting spaces. Processes involved in the
negotiation of cultural exchange.
Syncretism-the blending of global culture with local culture.
Reterritorialization-where an aspect of popular culture is imparted with and
changed by the connection to local culture (i.e. Algerian Hip Hop, French Hip
Hop, West Indian Hip Hip)
Glocalization-where an aspect of local culture is exported into global or popular
culture (i.e. the canals of Venice v. the Venetian Hotels in Las Vegas and
Macau.)

Cultural Subsystems-be able to identify

Technology
Ideology
Institutions
o Cultural Landscapes
How is culture read on the landscape?
Different perspectives of the landscape, D.W. Meinig 10 Perspectives on the Same
Scene.
Religion
o Definition: A system of beliefs and practices that attempts to order life in terms of culturally
perceived ultimate priorities
o While part of the ideological subsystem of culture, religion manifests itself in each of the cultural
subsystem.
o Concepts of Divinity
Monotheism
Polytheism
Animism
o Types of Religions
Universalizing Religions
Ethnic Religions
Indigenous Religions
Secularism
Sectarianism
o Three Major Hearths of Religion
Indus River Valley-Hinduism, Buddhism
Yellow River-Taoism, Confucianism
Eastern Mediterranean-Judaism, Christianity, Islam
o

Diffusion of Hinduism
Hearth: Indus River Valley
Ethnic Religion
3rd Largest in the World
Diffusion Type: Contagious
Regions: South Asia, Southeast Asia
Diffusion of Buddhism
Hearth: Indus River Valley
Universalizing Religion; splintered off of Hinduism
Diffusion Types: Contagious, Stimulus
Regions: East Asia, Southeast Asia
Extremely syncretic with local cultures; i.e. Zen Buddhism v. Theravada Buddhism
Diffusion of Confucianism

Hearth: Yellow River

Indigenous Religion
Diffusion Type: Contagious
Regions: East Asia
Diffusion of Taoism

 Hearth: Yellow River

Indigenous Religion
Diffusion Type: Contagious
Regions: East Asia
o Diffusion of Judaism
Hearth: Eastern Mediterranean
Ethnic Religion
Diffusion Type: Relocation, diasporic communities
Regions: Europe, North America, Israel
o Diffusion of Christianity
Hearth: Eastern Mediterranean
Universalizing Religion
Largest Religion in the World; broken into various denominations
Diffusion Type: Relocation, contagious
Regions: Found throughout the world
o Diffusion of Islam
Hearth: Eastern Mediterranean
Universalizing Religion
Second Largest Religion in the World; division between Sunnis and Shiites
Diffusion Type: Contagious
Regions: Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, parts of eastern
Europe
o Religion in the Cultural Landscape
Be able to identify how the following religions can be seen in the religious landscape:
Hinduism
Islam
Christianity
Judaism
Theravada Buddhism
Zen Buddhism
o Religious Conflict
Know the difference between interfaith boundaries (Jews and Muslims in Israel/Palestine)
and intrafaith boundaries (Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq)
Explain how religious fundamentalism and religious extremism cause religious conflict
Recall the root causes of violence between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland
through each of three following periods:
Protestant Reformation to 19th Century
19th Century to Irish Independence
The Troubles
Recall how the Good Friday Agreement attempted to mediate between the two groups
in Northern Ireland.
Language
o The ability to communicate and understand ideas: mutual intelligibility
o Standard Language and non-standard variants
Dialects
Accents
o Language is an extremely important tool for asserting identity
o Isoglosses: A geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature occurs
o Diffusion of language
Language Divergence- Breakup of a language into dialects and then new languages
from lack of interaction among speakers
Factors promoting language divergence
o Spatial isolation
o Physical barriers to contact; i.e. islands, forests, mountains, deserts
o Distance
Linguists can figure out how languages diverged by using backwards
reconstruction
Language Divergence and the case of Proto-Indo-European (PIE)

Renfrew Hypothesis: PIE spoken somewhere in the Fertile Crescent and then
diffused outwardly along three routes
o South and west through the Arabian peninsula and North Africa: Arabic,
Hebrew, Aramaic
o East through Central and South Asia: Hindi, Farsi, and Urdu
o Westward through Europe: broke further into primary European language
families such as Germanic, Romance, and Slavic
Additions made to the Renfrew Hypothesis
o Dispersal Theory: PIE diffused through Europe not by traveling directly
west, but curving around the Caspian Sea and then heading west into
Europe
o Conquest Theory: PIE diffused through military conquest by warriors on
horseback from the Caucuses, subjugating older European populations.
o Agriculture Theory: PIE diffused spread along with the adoption of
agricultural practices by the people of Europe. Farming techniques
became the medium through which language spread. This theory
supports why the Basque language (Euskera) remained untouched by the
spread of PIE.
Languages of Subsaharan Africa
o The local and isolated nature of African cultures promoted large amounts
of language divergence within African language families.
o Hence many African nations have superimposed boundaries that brought
different ethnic and linguistic groups together (i.e. Nigeria).
Language Convergence- when peoples with different languages have consistent
interaction and their languages blend into one
Factors promoting language convergence
o Contact
o Forced Assimilation (i.e. Native American Boarding School Movement,
Russification)
o Imperialism (rise of pidgin an creole languages)
o Commerce (lingua franca)
o Technology (rise of global popular culture)
Official Languages
Monolingual Countries-countries with one official language (i.e. France, Spain,
Japan); usually done to assert one, dominant national or ethnic identity
Bilingual Countries-countries with two official languages (i.e. Belgium, Canada);
usually done to make a compromise between two ethnic groups vying for
dominance in a nation
Multilingual Countries-countries with more than two official languages (i.e. India,
South Africa, Nigeria); usually done in postcolonial nations to assert a pluralistic
identity and to acknowledge peoples of different ethnic backgrounds.
Global Language-the global language today is English and it seems that it will
remain dominant as long as it remains the language of the computer revolution.
Even as English is exported as the global language, it is influence by local culture,
as well.
Language and the Creation of Place
Toponyms
o Toponyms can reflect various physical and human characteristics of a
place.
Flora and fauna
Linguistic differences
Ethnic Heritage
Economic Activity
Ideology

Identity
o Definition: how we make sense of ourselves.
o Identity is
Inwardly and outwardly imposed

Fluid and constantly changing

Variable at different scales
Developed by identifying against
Concepts of Identity
Ethnicity

Constructed identity that is tied to a particular place.

Creates a shared sense of identity through language, religion, customs, etc.
Race
Categorization of humans on the basis of physical characteristics
Usually outwardly imposed and has been used to justify social status in society
Gender
As opposed to the biologically-related identity of sex, gender is a constructed
identity of the learned or cultural significance of sex.
Gender includes the accepted roles, behaviors, and customs for individuals of
a certain sex by the prevailing culture.
Identities and the Cultural Landscape
Places can reflect the identity of the inhabitants (i.e. Chinatown, Devon Street in
Chicago)
The presence of ethnic neighborhoods in cities and gendered or sexualized spaces
reflect this process.
Places constantly change due to the identities of the current inhabitants. This leads to
succession or sequent occupance changes. (i.e. former synagogues on the South Side
becoming African American churches.)
Power Relationships in Space
Spaces may reflect different power relations between dominant and subservient groups.
Examples of how power relationships affect a space:
Undercounting of minority and vulnerable populations
Undercounting of the activity of female or domestic work coupled with laws or
practices that disenfranchise women.
Residential segregation and underserved communities
Competition between ethnic and racial groups within an underserved area

Suggestions for studying_______________________________________________________________

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