WHERE are you? Are you in SPACE?

GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE
Prepared by:

PRECIOUS O. ONGOCO
Instructor, Department of Geography University of the Philippines, Diliman

GEOGRAPHY
Greek words geo and graphein to

write about the Earth Study of Earth as created by natural forces and as modified by human action (Knox et. al., 2004) Study of spatial variations, of how-and-why things differ from place to place on the surface of the Earth (Fellmann et. al. , 1992)

WHY OR HOW THE WHAT IS WHERE?

HISTORY

 ANCIENT GREEKS
ROMAN EMPIRE MEDIEVAL EUROPE RENAISSANCE

MODERN ERA

 ANCIENT GREEKS

Descriptive geographical writing about sea and land routes Mathematics and astronomy ANAXIMANDER OF MILETUS HECATAEUS PYTHAGORAS ERATOSTHENES STRABOS 17-VOLUME GEOGRAPHY PTOLEMYS 8-VOLUME GUIDE TO GEOGRAPHY

ROMAN EMPIRE
Neglection of geographical knowledge

MEDIEVAL EUROPE
Little use of science and philosophy Chinese and Islamic scholars preserved and expanded the

knowledge

DON

NILE

Ptolemys World Map

 RENAISSANCE
Age of Discovery and Cartography Geographical scholarship shifted back to

Europe Exploration, trade, map-making PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR COLUMBUS, DEL CANO, MAGALLANES, TASMAN, CAPTAIN COOK, etc. MARTIN BEHAIM

 MODERN ERA
Geography as a formal academic discipline IMMANUEL KANT

ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT KARL RITTER

FRIEDRICH RATZEL AND ELLEN CHURCHILL

SEMPLE

MODERN GEOGRAPHICAL THOUGHT

Carl Sauer
Geographical Thinking

 MODERN GEOGRAPHICAL THOUGHT

CARL SAUER: The study of geography reflects the

interdependence of physical and human factors in the creation of distinctive places and regions Ethnocentrism the attitude that ones own race and culture are superior to those of others Imperialism the extension of the power of a nation through direct or indirect control of the economic and political life of other territories Masculinism the assumption that the world is, and should be, shaped mainly by man for men Environmental determinism a doctrine holding that human activities are controlled by the environment

APPROACHES OF GEOGRAPHY

Systematic Geography
Systems

Regional Geography
Regions

Topics: Climate, Population, Culture

Study topics regardless of a particular place

Regions: Europe, Southern Tagalog

Study places using various topics

e.g. Climatology

e.g. Geography of Europe

BRANCHES OF GEOGRAPHY
Physical Geography - Focuses on the geographical attributes of the natural environment Human Geography - Deals with spatial aspects of human activities and culture
*spatial any information that is mappable (i.e. statistics)

A HOLISTIC, INTEGRATING DISCIPLINE

KEY THEMES

L ocation P lace M ovement R egion H uman-Earth Relationship

LOCATION
Nominal
Philippines
China University of the Philippines

Absolute
4oN and 21oN latitude 116oE and 127oE longitude.

 Relative
Site Situation

 Cognitive

PLACE
Objective Subjective
Sense of

place

MOVEMENT/SPATIAL INTERACTION
Complementarity Transferability

 Intervening Opportunity
Puerto Galera Manila Boracay

Spatial Diffusion

REGION
Formal Functional
Vernacular

HUMAN-EARTH RELATIONSHIP

OTHER FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

Distance Space Accessibility (and Connectivity) Scale

DISTANCE
Absolute Relative Cost Effort Time Others Cognitive

Activities

Distance

Friction of distance Distance-decay function Place utility

Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.
- Waldo Tobler, University of California

SPACE
Anything that serves as a container
Absolute

e.g. Planes, lines Relative e.g. Socioeconomic space, cultural space Cognitive e.g. Pink space

ACCESSIBILITY
Proximity
Economic, Cultural and Social Factors Connectivity (transportation and

communication)

SCALE
Local Regional
National Global

SUMMARY
Geography is a holistic discipline. Branches: Physical Geography, Human Geography, and Geographical Techniques
Approaches: Systematic and Regional

Geography Key Themes: Location, Place, Movement, Region, and Human-Earth Relationship Other Fundamental Concepts: Distance, Space, Accessibility, and Scale