Cultural Geographies (Language, Religion, Ethnicity, Gender and Race)
Unit Overview
Understanding the components and regional variations of cultural patterns and processes is critical to human
geography. In this section of the course, students begin with the concept of culture. They learn how geographers assess
the spatial and place dimensions of cultural groups as defined by language, religion, race, ethnicity, and gender, in the
present as well as the past. A central concern is to comprehend how cultural patterns are represented at a variety of
geographic scales from local to global. Diffusion is a key concept in understanding how cultural traits (for example,
agricultural practices and language) move through time and space to new locations, adapting to local cultural
preferences through globalization. Students learn that the concept of region is central to the spatial distribution of
cultural attributes. The unit also explores cultural differences at various scales according to language, religion,
ethnicity, and gender. The geographies of language and religion are studied to illustrate processes of cultural diffusion
and cultural differences. For example, students learn to distinguish between languages and dialects; ethnic and
universalizing religions; and popular and folk cultures, and to understand why each has a different geographic pattern.
An important emphasis of the course is the way culture shapes human–environment relationships. For example,
religion can influence environmental perception and modification. Students also come to understand how culture is
expressed in landscapes, and how landscapes in turn represent cultural identity. Built environments enable the
geographer to interpret cultural values, tastes, and sets of beliefs. For example, both folk and contemporary architecture
are rich and readily available means of comprehend in cultures and changes in landscapes.
Key Concepts/Standards
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Concepts of culture
o Culture traits, diffusion patterns, acculturation, assimilation, and multiculturalism
o Cultural regions and hearths
o Globalization
Cultural differences and regional patterns
o Language
o Religion
o Ethnicity and nationalism
o Cultural differences
o Pop and Folk Culture
o Cultural Conflicts
Cultural landscapes and cultural identity
o Symbolic landscapes and sense of place
o Formation of identity
o Differences in attitudes
Essential Questions
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What are local and popular cultures?
How are local cultures sustained?
How is popular culture diffused?
How can local and popular cultures be seen in the cultural landscape?
How are the world’s languages classified and distributed?
What are the standard languages and what kinds of variants from them can be observed?
How does language serve as a cultural identifier and landscape artifact?
What is the cultural role of religion?
How are religions classified and distributed?
What are the principal world religions and how are they distinguished in patterns of innovation, diffusion and
landscape imprint?
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What is identity and how is it constructed?
How does geography reflect and shape power relationships among groups of people?
What are the implications and bases of ethnicity and how have historic immigration streams shaped current
multiethnicity?
What patterns of segregation exist in the world’s urban areas and how are they created or maintained?
Formative Assessments
1) Cultural Trait Analysis
2) Diffusion of Music (ipod activity)
3) Language Exercises/Maps of Language Lab
4) Religion Connections Chart/Maps of Religion Lab
5) Sexual Geography Lab Activity
6) Ethnicity Tracker Lab Activity
7) Maps of Ethnicity and Race Lab Activity
Summative Assessments
1)
Quizzes:
a. Culture
b. Language
c. Religion
d. Gender, Sexuality, Ethnicity, Race
2) Unit 3 Test
3) Cultural Landscape Field Study Project( counts as a test grade)
Date
Friday, Sept. 11
Unit Concepts
Culture: Pop vs. Folk
Cultural Traits
Cultural Regions
Learning Targets
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Monday, Sept. 14
Cultural Identity
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Tuesday, Sept. 15
Cultural Landscapes
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Wednesday, Sept. 16
Language
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Thursday, Sept. 17
Language
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Friday, Sept. 18
Religion
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Activities/Homework
Students will understand the key elements of
culture
Students will understand what local (folk)
culture is and how it operates
Students will understand what global (pop)
culture is and how it operates
Students will understand and compare the
cultural impacts of local and pop culture in
various realms/regions.
1) Toponyms Discussion
2) Untouchables Video Clip
3) PPT: What is Culture? (Pop, Local and Folk)
4) Folk vs. Pop Chart
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5) Cultural Trait Analysis-BLOG
6) Article Review: Amish Culture-BLOG
7) Unit 3 Vocabulary-Culture
Students will understand the key elements of
culture
Students will understand what local (folk)
culture is and how it operates
Students will understand what global (pop)
culture is and how it operates
Students will understand and compare the
cultural impacts of local and pop culture in
various realms/regions.
Students will identify how culture is seen in the
landscape
1)
2)
3)
Students will understand the concentrations,
densities, distribution and diffusion of the major
religions of the world
Students will know the distribution of religion by
region of the United States
Students will understand what religion is and the
role it plays in culture
Students will understand the differences on how
religions are organized
1)
2)
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4)
Turn in Cultural Trait Analysis
PPT: Food and How it Defines our Culture
Introduction to Cultural Landscape Field Study Group Project (Dr.
Lightfoot Blog)
---------------------------------------------------------------------6) Article: The World in a Glass: Six Drinks that Changed the World
7) work on CLFS Project
8) Unit 3 Vocabulary-Culture
1) Drinks Discussion
2) PPT: Architecture in Cultural Landscape
3) STATE Round 3 Fates
4) Preliminary work on CLFS Project
----------------------------------------------------------------------5) Work on CLFS Project
6) Article: Who Speaks English?
7) Unit 3 Vocabulary-Culture
1) Culture Quiz (vocabulary)
Students will identify where the world’s major
2) PPT: Voices of the World (The Geography of Language)
languages are distributed
3) Video Clip: My Fair Lady
Students will be able to recognize regional
---------------------------------------------------------------------dialects of a major language
4) Article: Listening to and Saving the World’s Languages
5) Work on CLFS Project
6) Unit 3 Vocabulary-Language
1) Geography and Public Policy: Official U.S. Language
Students will identify where the world’s major
2) Language Exercises/Maps of Language-Lab
languages are distributed
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Students will be able to recognize regional
3) Complete Language Exercises
dialects of a major language
4) Religion Indicator Web Assignment-BLOG
5) Work on CLFS Project
6) Unit 3 Vocabulary-Language
Turn in Language Lab
Language Quiz (includes language vocabulary)
Lecture/PPT: The Geography of Religion (Part I)
Religion Connections Chart-Lab
-----------------------------------------------------------------------5) Work on Religion Connections Chart
6) Article Review: Who’s Going to Church
7) The Geography of Religion (Part II)
8) Work on CLFS Project
9) Unit 3 Vocabulary-Religion
Date
Monday, Sept. 28
Unit Concepts
Religion
Learning Targets
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Students will understand the concentrations,
densities, distribution and diffusion of the
major religions of the world
Students will know the distribution of
religion by region of the United States
Students will understand what religion is and
the role it plays in culture
Students will understand the differences on
how religions are organized
Students will identify how gender plays a
role in establishing cultural identities
through spatial distribution
Tuesday, Sept. 29
Gender
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Wednesday, Sept. 30
Sexual Geography
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Students will learn how sexual identities play
a role in determining cultural norms through
spatial distribution
Thursday, Oct.1
Ethnicity
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Students will identify how ethnicity plays a
role in determining geography
Students will identify how territory is a basis
for ethnic group cohesion
Students will witness how ethnic groups may
be spatially segregated and how ethnic
groups use space to declare subjective
interpretations about the world in which
they live
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Friday, Oct. 2
Local Cultural Landscapes
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Students will depict and explain the
influence of culture on our local
landscape
Monday, Oct. 5
Local Cultural Landscapes
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Students will depict and explain the
influence of culture on our local
landscape
Activities/Homework
1) Cults PPT/Jim Jones Video Clip
2) Complete Religion Connections Chart-Lab
-----------------------------------------------------------------------3) Unit 3 Vocabulary-Religion
4) Work on CLFS Project
1) Religion Quiz (includes religion vocabulary)
2) PPT: Gender, Sexuality, Race and Ethnicity (Part I-Gender)
3) Gender Inequality Scavenger Hunt
4) CLFS site list due
--------------------------------------5) Complete Gender Inequality Scavenger Hunt
6) Article: Is Gay Marriage a Cultural Issue
7) Unit 3 Vocabulary- Gender, Sexuality, Race and Ethnicity
8) Work on CLFS Project
1) PPT: Gender, Sexuality, Race and Ethnicity (Part II-Sexuality, Sex
Slavery)
2) The Geography of Sex Slavery/Human Trafficking
----------------------------------------------------------------------3) PPT: Gender, Sexuality, Race and Ethnicity (Part III-Race and Ethnicity)
4) Unit 3 Vocabulary- Gender, Sexuality, Race and Ethnicity
5) Work on CLFS Project
1) Go over Ethnicity PPT
2) Race vs. Ethnicity Discussion
3) Ethnicity Tracker-Mapping America Activity
4) Ethnic Composition of Los Angeles-Lab
----------------------------------------------------------------------5) Complete Ethnic Composition of Los Angeles
6) Unit 3 Vocabulary- Gender, Sexuality, Race and Ethnicity
7) Video: Power of Place (Jerusalem)-BLOG
8) Work on CLFS Project
1) Gender, Sexuality, Ethnicity, Race Quiz (includes vocabulary)
2) Work on CLFS Project
-----------------------------------------------------------------3) Work on CLFS Project
4) Prep for Unit 3 Test
1) Work on CLFS Project-Final Preparations
------------------------------------------------------------------2) Complete CLFS Project
Date
Unit Concepts
Learning Targets
Tuesday, Oct. 6
Local Cultural Landscapes
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Wednesday, Oct. 7
Local Cultural Landscapes
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Thursday, Oct. 8
Local Cultural Landscapes
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Friday, Oct. 9
UNIT 3 TEST
Students will depict and explain the
influence of culture on our local
landscape
Students will depict and explain the
influence of culture on our local
landscape
Students will depict and explain the
influence of culture on our local
landscape
Activities/Homework
1) Cultural Landscape Field Study Project Presentations
1) Cultural Landscape Field Study Project Presentations
1) Cultural Landscape Field Study Project Presentations
2) Cultural Landscape Group Analysis
3) Suggestions
1) Unit 3 Test (MCQs ONLY)
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Common Core Standards
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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the
information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas
develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.3 Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic
aspects of history/social science.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.5 Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and
emphasize in their respective accounts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.7 Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.8 Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claims.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.10 By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and
proficiently.