AP Human Geography
Geography is not just about...
• Memorizing place names and boundaries.
(though you need to learn context through maps)
• Where things and people are located
(though you need basic descriptive background)
Geography is about...
• Why things and people are where they are.
• How people, things and places interact
with each other.
Fields of Geography
• Physical Geography
• Human Geography
Geography compares
different scales
Geography studies reality
on the ground, over time
Hayward
Geography studies anything
related to place
Making Space into Place
Space is abstract,
geometric, empty,
like an impersonal
location on a grid
Place is constructed by
human beings, and given
meaning through social
interaction/memories.
What is a Place (site)?
• ABSOLUTE LOCATION
Longitude and latitude
• RELATIVE LOCATION
(relationship to other places)
• SENSE OF PLACE
(feelings evoked by place)
Bellarmine as a place (site)
• ABSOLUTE LOCATION
• RELATIVE LOCATION
• SENSE OF PLACE
Bellarmine as a place
• ABSOLUTE LOCATION
(37 N latitude and 123 W longitude)
• RELATIVE LOCATION
(College park, near railroad Downtown, Southern tip of the
San Francisco Bay, 47 miles S of San Francisco)
• SENSE OF PLACE
(Jesuit, quad, student hangouts, circular pathways, Bell
Market, old concrete benches, pride, comfort, )
Why Place Matters
• All social activity is embedded in place
• Places therefore provide the settings for
people’s daily lives .
• Social interaction in turn shapes the place.
Human Geography Today
• Studying the relationship of place to
people as…
– Social beings
– Consumers
– Producers