Thread: Human Geography

Hi there. I'm a human geography student, and I think my field of study isn't really represented here. earth sciences>geography seems to refer to physical geography. Maybe you could add a category for human geography in the 'people' category.

What exactly is "human geography" ? Is it anything like Culture?

Even for me that's a tough question :wink:

Human geography is essentially the human side of physical geography. It studies the earth as the habitat of mankind, like how does nature influence human behavour and how does human behavour influence the earth. That includes things like international trade, the spread of culture etc. So I would put it somewhere close to economics and sociology.

What I've always been interested in is the first humans and how they spread out on the earth and how now we have different skin colors and features to our body. Same goes for animals. Why does the gerboa in Malaysia look different than the gerbil in the U.S. And where does the U.S. get it's gerbils, I don't think they're from the U.S. Well, it's the same for humans. I just think it's interesting to think about humans and where they originated and how they traveled (what direction) over thousands of years.

Is this included in what you study?

I'm just trying to be annoying here, so bare with me. Is it remotely possible to include this in Behavioral & Social Sciences?

Mr U

Originally Posted by HomoUniversalis

I'm just trying to be annoying here, so bare with me. Is it remotely possible to include this in Behavioral & Social Sciences?

Mr U

Well.. I would feel gravely offended, but I guess I'll get over it :wink:

Originally Posted by 2112

What I've always been interested in is the first humans and how they spread out on the earth and how now we have different skin colors and features to our body. Same goes for animals.

That's interesting indeed, but I'm affraid that prehistoric archeologists have snatched that away from us geographers.:wink: We do have some theories on questions like where human inventions (like domestication and agriculture) came from and how they spread out over the world.
I think you could say that human geography studies the evolution of societies, not species.

Ah. I now understand what it means. Now, seeing as I just added the History section, you can choose between either of the sections. You see, the history section can be used to discuss the history of sociology (not just the history of the science, but also how the field of research contained in that science has changed).

Basically, what I am trying to say is that you can pick between the history and Behavioral studies section on where to place your thread. Still, if it feels unnatural as the debate beings, I'll create another section. How's that?

Mr U

Sounds fair :wink:

I think human geography is a bit too small as a field of science to have it's own section, so I'd put it in social sciences. Or maybe you could make a 'behaviour & psychology' and a 'social sciences & human geography' section. Or..nah i've been annoying enough Thanks for you responsiveness.

Originally Posted by Pendragon

I think you could say that human geography studies the evolution of societies, not species.

What aspects of societies do you study?

[quote="2112What aspects of societies do you study?[/quote]

All of them I'm concentrating on socio-economic processes and their consequences for society, but there's also a cultural geography, an urban geography, political geography, development geography, the list goes on. you name it, we've got it :wink:
The trick is to take a region (a community, country, continent) and check out how everything works together (political problems caused by an economic change, cultural background of social issues, etc).

So it's just like sociology, but regionally? Sounds very interesting.