Geography 1001: Exam 1 Prep GWU

the study of spatial distribution of human & physical phenomenon on the surface of the earth

No

One of the only sciences that is both: you cannot separate physical landscape and people

2012: left 22 dead and more than 200 injured. Part of more than 50 riots worldwide between 2007 and 2014 where food was the principle issue

the increasing geographic interdependence of the world...partly the result of increasing food consumption in other parts of the world (especially China and India) where many have stopped producing their own food and have the cash to buy it

It has driven up demand for feed grain, and in turn driven up the price of grain everywhere

Speculators in international commodity markets

High oil prices push up fertilizer prices, while the cost of transporting food from farm to market adds to food costs. Popularity of biofuels as an alternative to hydrocarbons is straining food supplies (especially in the US) where generous federal subsidies for ethanol have lured farmers away from growing crops for food

Extreme weather events

Argentina, California, eastern Brazil, Texas, parts of the Mediterranean, and the Sahel region of Africa

Canada and Central Europe

Germany

A record breaking typhoon that killed more than 6,000 people

recognizing and understanding the interdependence among places and regions, without losing sight of the uniqueness of each specific place

specific geographic settings with distinctive physical, social, and cultural attributes

territories that encompass many places, all or most of which share attributes different from the attributes of a different place

They introduce geographer's ideas about the way that places and regions are made and altered

people everywhere are struggling to understand a world that is increasingly characterized by instant global communications, rapidly changing international relationships, unexpected local changes, and growing evidence of environmental degredation

Within the last 10 years

because they have expertise in geographical analysis and an understanding of the uniqueness, influence, and interdependence of places

Because geography provides real opportunities not only to contribute to local, national, and global development but also to understand and promote multicultural, international, and feminist perspectives in the world

It allows us to understand where we are both literally and figuratively because it provides knowledge of Earth's physical and human systems and of the inter-dependency of living things and physical environments which provides a basis for people to cooperate in the best interests of our planet.

It stimulates curiosity about the world and the world's diverse inhabitants and places. By obtaining a better understanding of the world, people can overcome close-mindedness, prejudice, and discrimination

An appreciation of the diversity and variety of peoples and places

the study of the spatial organization of human activity and of people's relationships with their environments

by bringing us monthly updates of the seemingly endless variety of landscapes and communities around the word through intriguing descriptions and striking photographs

More than 5 million households, representing about 19 million regular readers

offices, lobbies, waiting rooms, or online

that many Americans have little real appreciation or understanding of people and places beyond their own their own daily routines...not just a lack of knowledge about fundamentals of the world's geography but also the diversity and variety within the US

Last

A systematic knowledge of those places

Because they have changing properties and fluid boundaries that are the product of the interplay of a wide variety of environmental and human factors

The dynamism and complexity of different places

It is what makes places so important in shaping people's lives and in influencing the pace and direction of change.

They provide the settings for people's daily lives and their social relations

Patterns of interaction among family members, at work, in social life, in leisure activities, and in political activities --> it is in these settings that people learn who and what they are, how they are expected to think and behave, and what life is likely to hold for them

On people's physical well-being, opportunities, and lifestyle choices

They are powerful and emotional cultural symbols

Places are given different meanings by different groups for different purposes. Places exist and are constructed by their inhabitants from a subjective point of view

True

The sense that you make of yourself through your subjective feelings based on your everyday experiences and social relations 

*the difference between the way you see your neighborhood and the way an outsider sees your neighborhood

Agricultural advancement (development of seed agriculture and the use of plow and draft animals that sparked the first agricultural revolution in the Middle East in prehistoric times)

New Modes of Economic organization: the high-tech revolution that began in Silicon Valley

Cultural Practices: punk movement in impoverished Britain

New Lifestyles: hippie movement in 1960s San Francisco

Occupying space on earth

Long term weather patterns in he lowest layer of the atmosphere

What makes identifying groups different from each other...

No

False

Rock and roll turned to reggae in Jamaica and banned in Iraq

By establishing "free zones" ie. nuclear free-zones, GMO free-zones

the Earth's natural process and their outcomes, concerned with climate, weather patterns, landforms, soil formation, and plant and animal ecology

the spatial organization of human activities and with people’s relation to physical environments insofar as they influence and are influenced by human activity

combines elements of both physical and human geography. Concerned with the way that unique combinations of environmental and human factors produce territories with distinctive landscapes and cultural attributes

reveal how and why geographical relationships are important in a wide spectrum of natural, social, economic, political, and cultural phenomena

“surveying, asking questions, using scientific instruments to measure and record things), laboratory experiments and archival searches

a collection of information about parts of the Earth’s surface by means of aerial photography or satellite imagery designed to record data on visible, infrared, and microwave sensor systems

(involves a variety of tools, including written descriptions, charts, diagrams, tables, mathematical formulas, and maps)

to discover patterns and establish relationships so that hypotheses can be established and models can be built

abstractions of reality that help explain the real world” → interpretive analysis and inductive reasoning, ethnographic research (the systematic recording of human cultures( and textual analysis)

geographic, galaxy like structures of cities and their suburbs that grow and evolve into coherent geographic entities

2/3 of the world's economic output and nine in ten of its technological innovations,

Jane Jacobs, urbanist

That cities are big cauldrons of innovation, when diverse people live and work in close quarters they come up with new ideas that improve the productivity of existing industries and generate new ones

the the activity or ability to innovate

by 5 billion people...most in the urban areas of South East Asia and Africa

True

True

What they include, what they omit, and how their content is portrayed and how it inevitably reflects the experience, priorities, interpretations, and intentions of the authors

the ratio between linear distance on a map and linear distance on Earth's surface usually expressed in representative fraction 

Small scale (1/10,000,000) to large scale (1/10,000)

learned set of beliefs values, traditions, and customs of a population transmitted through various agents

Maps that are designed to represent the spatial dimensions of particular conditions, processes, ore even events

A line (similar to a contour) on a map that connects places of equal data value (for example precipitation)

a systematic rendering on a flat surface of the geographic coordinates of features found on Earth's surface

A map projection where relative sizes are true, but shapes are distorted

Compass directions between any two points are true, and the shape of landmasses are true but their relative size is distorted

Distances measured from the center of the map are true, but direction, area, and shape are increasingly distorted as the distance from the center point increases

Distance, direction, area and shape are all distorted in an attempt to balance the properties of the map. it is designed purely for appearance and is best used for thematic and reference maps at the world scale

The relative size of countries is based not on area but on the proportion of people with extremely low incomes. The deliberate distortion of the shapes of the continents dramatically emphasizes spatial variations...used in small-scale thematic maps...space is transformed according to statistical factors *with the largest mapping units representing the greatest statistical values

Geographic information systems

software in GIS incorporates programs to store and access spatial data, to manipulate those data, and to draw maps

the locations for variables (the characteristics under consideration are known)...locations can be annotated by x, y, and z coordinates of longitude, latitude, and elevation or by such systems as ZIP codes or highway mile markers

True

putting information in the GIS system...the most time consuming component of the work

True

Military

how to manage farmland, to monitor the spread of infectious diseases, to monitor the tree cover in metropolitan areas, to assess changes in eco systems, to analyze the impact of proposed changes to the boundaries of legislative districts, to identify the location of potential business customers, and to identify the location of potential criminals, to provide a basis for urban and regional planning

uses census data and commercial data (such as sales data and property records) about the populations of small districts in creating profiles of those populations for market research ie) credit score to see if you can get a mortgage

The arrangement as points, lines, areas, or surfaces on a map.

Location, distance, space, accessibility, and spatial interaction are five concepts that are key to spatial analysis

it is expressed solely in terms of the names given to regions and places (location can be used as an absolute concept, whereby locations are fixed mathematically through coordination of latitude and longitude

refers to the angular distance of a point on Earth's surface, measured in degrees, minutes and seconds north or south of the equator (ie degrees and minutes) --> horizontal

the angular distance of a point on Earth's surface, measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds east or west from the prime meridian

lines of longitude called meridians run from the North Pole (latitude 90 degrees north) to the South Pole (latitude 90 degrees south)

Global positioning system

31 satellites

31 satellites orbit the earth of precisely predictable paths, broadcasting highly accurate time and location information

The U.S. government, but information transmitted by satellites is freely available

European Union's "Galileo positioning system", India's Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System, China's Compass Navigation System

Within centimeters

More accurate and efficient collection of spatial data

True

the physical attributes of a location: its terrain, soil, vegetation, and water sources

refers to the location of a place relative to other places and human activities: accessibility to route ways or its nearness to population centers

Greenwich, England

prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, and Danish settlements

yes

Denver, CO because of it's high elevation

people have cognitive images of places and regions, compiled from their won knowledge, experience, and impressions

(also refereed to as mental maps) psychological representations of locations that spring from people's individual ideas and impressions of these locations

direct experiences, on written or visual representations of actual locations, on hearsay, on imagination, or on a combination of these sources

Yes, because they depend a given individual's changing information and perceptions of the principal landmarks in their environment

A palace, which became the Naval Hospital

Expressed in terms of physical measurements we may count in kilometers and/or miles

In terms fo time, effort, or cost

the distance that people perceive as existing in a given situation  [based on people's personal judgement about the degree of spatial separation between points

It determines real-world relationships

Waldo Tobler

A reflection of the time and cost of overcoming distance

describes the rate at which a particular activity or phenomenon diminishes with increasing distance (the farther people have to travel, the less likely they are to do so)

It's usefulness to a particular person or group...emphasis may be based on cost, profitability, prestige, security, or ease of mobility

False

Richard Morrill

• People seek to:
• 1. maximize the overall utility of places at minimum effort
• 2. Maximize connections between places at minimum cost
• To locate related activities as close together as possible

True

a mathematical space described through points, lines, areas, planes, and configurations whose relationships can be fixed precisely through mathematical reasoning

As a container defined by rectangular coordinates and measured in absolute units of distance

measured not in terms of conventional measures of distance, but by the nature and degree of connectivity between locations (ie Metro map systems)

can be described in terms of sites and situations, routes, regions, and distribution patterns...in these terms spatial relationships are fixed through measures of time, cost, profit, and production as well as through physical distance...for human geographers, some of the most important aspects of socioeconomic space have to do mapping, analyzing, and understanding inequalities among places and regions

the space of people with common ties, described through the places, territories, and settings whose attributes carry special meaning for particular groups

defined and measured in terms of people's values, feelings, beliefs, and perceptions about locations, districts, and regions...cognitive space can be described in terms of behavioral space--landmarks, paths, environments, and spatial layouts

Because it is a fundamental influence on the utility of locations

generally defined by geographers in terms of relative location: the opportunity for contact or interaction from a given point or location in relation to other distances

No, because it distance is a fundamental influence on the utility of locations, it is an important influence on people's behaviors

Because contact and interaction are dependent on channels of communication and transportation: streets, highways, telephone lines, and wave bands [it is easier to get to cities with airports]

Economic, cultural, and social factors (having a hospital nearby is only helpful if you can afford to go there or if it is open when you are available to go there)

shorthand for all kinds of movement and flows involving human activity (freight shipments, commuting, shopping trips, telecommunications, electronic cash transfers, migration, and vacation travel

Complimentary, transferability, intervening opportunities, and diffusion

for interaction between two places, there must be a demand in one place and a supply that matches, or complements in the other. This comes from a combination of colonialism, imperialism, and sheer economic dominance on the part of the more developed countries, and where less powerful countries have found themselves with economies that directly complement the needs of more developed countries 

examples: Shipments of sugar from Barbados to the United Kingdom

Places, regions, and countries can derive economic advantages from the inefficiencies created through specialization, which allows for larger-scale operations...they are cost advantages to manufacturers in high-volume production: the average cost of production falls with increasing output

1. variation  in physical environments and resource endowments from place to place (Mediterranean beach resorts)

2. The International division of labor that derives from the evolution of the world's economic systems

3. Specialization and economies of scale

depends on the frictional (or deterrent) effects of distance

the cost of moving a particular item (measured in real money and/or time) and the ability of the item to bear these costs (if something is too expensive to ship, then it cannot be sold in the area and does not have transferablity)

successive innovations in transport and communications technologies and successive waves of infrastructure development

Canals, roadways, harbor installation, roads, bridges, etc...new technologies and new or extended infrastructures alter the geography of transport costs and the transferability of particular things between particular places...as a result, the spatial organization of many different activities is continually changing and readjusting

The rate at which places move closer together in travel communication time or costs...results from a decrease in the friction of distance as space-adjusting technologies have brought places closer together over time

Air travel and air cargo; telegraphic, telephonic, and satellite communications system; national postal services; package delivery services' and modems, fiber-optic networks, and electronic-mail software

they are not only global in scope but also are able to penetrate to local scales

intervening opportunities are more important in determining the volume and pattern of movement and flows [people in Norway are more likely to vacation in Spain rather than Greece because it is closer/cheaper)

True

disease outbreaks, technological innovations, political movements, and new musical fads all originate in specific places and subsequently spread through space and over time

occurs as a function of statistical probability, which is often based on fundamental geographic principles of distance and movement..typically results in an S-curve

A phenomenon spreads because of the proximity of carriers, or agents of change, who are fixed in their location. (example: diffusion of an agricultural innovation such as use of the hybrid seed stick)

a phenomenon can be diffused fromone location to another without necessarily spreading to people or places in between (an example would be the spread of a fashion trend from large metropolitan areas to successively smaller cities, owns, and rural settlements)

Yes, as different aspects of human interaction come into play in different geographic settings (for example, outbreak of communicable diseases)

Regionalization: with individual places or areal units being the objects of classification

regions that, while they may exhibit some variability in certain attributes, share an overall coherence in in structure and economic, political, and social organization

Donald Meining

Donald Meining set out in his classic essay on the Mormon region of the US...in the core of a region the distinctive attributes are very clear' in the domain they are dominant but not to the point of exclusivity' in the sphere they are repesent but not dominant

People's own conceptions of a place, region, and identity

a term used to describe situations in which different religious or ethnic groups with distinctive identities coexist within the same state boundaries, often concentrated within a particular region and sharing strong feelings of collective identity...often involve a want for autonomy from a national state and the development of their own political power

if feelings of regionalism develop into an   extreme devotion to regional interests and customs, the condition is known as sectionalism

the assertion by the government of a country that in minority living outside its formal borders belongs to it historically and culturally (ie: Russia's claims on Russian-speaking enclaves in eastern Ukraine in 2014...irredentism can lead to armed conflict)

a comprehensive product of human action such that every landscape is a complex repository of society. A collection of evidence about our character and experience, our struggles and triumphs as humans. To better understand the meaning of landscape, geographers have developed different categories of landscape types based on the elements contained within them

everyday landscapes that people create in the course of their lives together. From crowded city centers to leafy suburbs and quiet rural villages, landscapes are lived in an changed and influence and change the perceptions, values, and behaviors of the people who live and work in them

Represent particular values or aspirations that builders and financiers want to impart to a larger public 

ex: neoclassical architecture along with the streets, parks, and monuments of the capital constitute a symbolic landscape intended to communicate a sense of power but also of democracy in its imitation of the Greek city-state)

Yes, nation-building depends heavily on stories of golden ages, enduring traditions, heroic deeds, shared hardships and dramatic destinies all located in traditional or promised homelands with hallowed sites and scenery (west ireland)

the feelings evoked among people as a result of the experiences and memories they associate with a place and the symbolism they attach to that place and to the symbolism they attach to that place. It can also refer to the character of a place as seen by outsiders" its distinctive physical  characteristics and/or its inhabitants

Develops through shared dress codes, speech patterns, public comportment, etc.

the taken-for-granted pattern and context for everyday living through which people conduct their day-to-day life lives without conscious attention.

shared meanings that are derived from everyday practice. Elements of daily rhythms (such as mid-morning grocery shopping with a stop for coffee, the aperetivo en rout fro work to school, and the after-dinner stroll)

• 1. Home
• 2. Workplace
• 3. Everywhere else: sidewalk cafes, pubs, post offices, drugstores, corner stores (accommodates "characters" and "regulars")

Through familiarity with history and symbolism of particular elements of the physical environment, a mountain or lake, the birthplace of someone notable, the site of some particularly well-known event, etc)

Only if the local landmarks, ways of life, etc are so distinctive to provoke a significant common meaning for people who have no direct experience of them

Understand changing patterns, processes, and relationships among people, places, and regions..the pace of change around the world increases to unprecedented levels

By making a distinction between the general and the unique. This helps us account for geographical diversity and variety because it provides a way of understanding how and why one kind of change can result in a variety of spatial outcomes

The Thai term for lady boys...prefer to recognize them as belonging to a third gender

No, Culture is constantly evolving and adapting in a never ending process

a group of people sharing a common set of beliefs, values, traditions, and customs → a group that sees itself as a group

True

The origin point of a culture, where cultural beliefs/practices/customs originate, the source area of a culture (Mesopotamia/silicon valley)

The origin point of a culture, where cultural beliefs/practices/customs originate, the source area of a culture (Mesopotamia and Silicon

No, it is a human construct

No

populations that feel bound together by a common origin and set apart from other groups by ties of culture, race, religion, language, or nationality

• Based on a firm understanding by members of a group that they are fundamentally different from others who do not share their cultural heritage
• People who share some prominent traits or characteristics, some evident physical or social identifications setting them apart

Ethnic cleansing is removing people from your space (wanting them to leave) whereas genocide means killing

Space: an area of the earth’s surface that we know of but have no personal connection to

The first time you walk into a classroom, it starts off as space and when you get more comfortable it turns into place

Place: a place is a space that we have experienced that has been transformed from the unknown to known

A house can start as a space and turns into a place when we become familiar to it

You can know the Grand Canyon and have it become personal if you explore it and get to know it

“Place is security, space is freedom”

creating new things, using old things in new ways, simplification of a process, the evolution of something → changes that bring about something new

innovation sparks new innovation

The factors that make us leave where we live and move somewhere else

Over 300

English

came about through cultural innovations and cultural constructs, it is NOT physical or biological. Text definitions a belief system and a set of practices that recognize the existence of a power higher than humankind Monotheism: one god Polytheism: many gods Hinduism can be monotheistic or polytheistic, it is up to you, you can believe in whichever structure you prefer

Corporations knowing more information about you, maybe more than you want them to know...also a larger risk in the differences between people who can afford "smart technology" and those who can't

Traditional practices of small groups, especially rural people with a “simple” lifestyle (our text) ⇒ simple not being insulting

viewed by some cultural geographers as the practices and meaning systems produced by large groups of people whose norms and tastes are often heterogeneous and change frequently, often in response to commercial products

True

Carl Sauer, trying to understand the material expressions of culture by focusing on their manifestations in the landscape

a characteristic and tangible outcome of the complex interactions between a human group with its own practices, preferences, values, and aspirations and it's natural environment

it is a cultural landscape where the village is enclosed by thorny brambles and branches harvested from the surrounding area, within the enclosure the dwellings are arranged in a unique circular pattern with the animal pens in the middle of the settlement for easy observation by residents

Over 1000

It was one of the 20 sites added to the UNESCO world heritage sites

1. Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius 

2. Exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design

3. Bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has dissapeared

4. Outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates significant stages in human history

Duncan argues that it is "super organic" and that culture is a well that humans draw from, whereas most others (like the book) see culture as a set of meanings and practices that are produced as humans go about living their lives

Historical Geography

most famous practitioner of historical geography, attempted to understand "cross sections" or sequences of evolution, especially of rural landscapes

a key concept in Vidal de la Blanche's approach to cultural geography in France, referred to a functionally organized way f life characteristic of a particular culture group

A historical document ordered by William the Conqueror in 1085 that listed his spoils of war. Important to geographers because it included names of landholders in each county, the manors they held and their values, the names of their subtenants, etc.

to study small homogeneous areas to uncover the close relationships that exist between people and their immediate surroundings...wrote about changes in the French regions based on industrialization, observing that regional homogeneity was no longer the unifying element

battles, rooted in ideology, religion, class difference, the social construction of racial, ethnic, and gender difference, over the meaning and structure of social relations, that mark contemporary society

acts, customs, practices, or procedures that recognize key transitions in human life ie: birth, menstruation, and other markers of adulthood such as sexual awakening and marriage

combination of traits characteristic of a particular group (based on culinary preferences, foods associated with holidays or special events, and activities such as toast

Also known as Blue Men of the Sahara, because they wear distinctive blue robes and veils, women do not wear veils and men do when they reach maturity

an area where certain cultural practices, beliefs, or values are more or less practiced by the majority of the inhabitence

A combination of cultural traits: includes traits, territorial affiliation, and shared history as well as other, more complex elements such as language and religion...broad similarities at the national level and more particular geographic variation at the regional and local level where the local level may refer to a city, a neighborhood, or even a household

kinship, gang, generation, or some configuration of categories can figure more or less prominently, depends on geography

a relationship based on blood, marriage, or adoption also includes a shared notion of relationship among members of a group

a form of social identity created by groups who share a set of ideas about collective loyalty and political action

the belief that a nation shares a common culture, geographers have increasingly begun to ask questions about other forms of identity

consistently defined as the biological and physiological characteristics that differentiate males and females at birth, based on bodily characteristics such as anatomy, chromosomes, and hormones

the same reference books is a term that is meant to differentiate biology from the social and cultural distinctions between the sexes

Over 50 (58 total)

Recognition of the ways that different forms or systems of oppression, domination or discrimination overlap (black feminism)

Poor women are among the most vulnerable and worse off in societies around the world...women's education is closely linked to the improvements in economic development in an area...educated women have less children

a socially created system of rules about who belongs to a particular group based upon actual or perceived commonalities (such as language and religion)

Women make 77 cents for every $1 a man makes

66%

50%

10%

1%

22%

Less than 3%

91%, 55 ethnic groups

156 people died and 1,400 were arrested

a problematic classification of human beings based on skin color and other physical characteristics

The practice of creating unequal castes based on the norm of whiteness, biologically speaking there is no such thing as race

a focus of cultural geography on the space and place of the lives of youth and children...how children understand the world around them

Constructed

important influence of geography in the 21st century...views the world as composed of heterogeneous things" including humans and non-humans and objects [which have as much force as each other...humans are not superior]...family is a network and an actor (cellphones, the house, the dog are all important actors in the family structure)

understands human life as a process that is always unfolding, always becoming something different

Ben Anderson...used this theory to explore memory and music

emotions that are embodied reactions to the social and physical environment, also about the power of these emotions to result in or enable actions (the shivery feeling you get when you hear the national anthem or a song from your childhood)

how a place can elicit an emotion (the Holocaust Museum or like ground zero in NYC)

the material world and its objects and nonhuman entities are partially separate from humans and possess the power to affect humans (like seeing the flag raised at Ground Zero in NYC on 9/11 or statues in Barbados of slaves who escaped and rebelled)

over $25 billion

over half, more than 25,000 titles

25%

11.3%

The 1980s

2005: The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions ...a legally binding international agreement that ensures artists cultural professionals, practitioners, and citizens worldwide can create, produce, disseminate, and enjoy a broad range of cultural goods, services, and activities, including their own

a. cultural and natural heritage (museums, historical places)

b. performance and celebration

c. visual arts and crafts

d. books and press

e. audio-visual and interactive meida

f. design and creative services

Related Domains:

g. Tourism

h. Sports and recreation

They have no concept of time or age

It was created by deaf children independent of adults and passed on to other children, growing with each generation

6,900

Ranges from millions of speakers to less than one hundreds. Invented languages like from Game of Thrones have less than 30 speakers

Over 800

A fusion language: It is a language spoken mostly in modern day Honduras and Belize that came about as a shipwreck in present day Venezuela with mixes of indigenous languages and migrated around the Caribbean islands

90 language families, 6 major language families

Families are collections of individual langauges believed to be related in their prehistoric origin (about 50 percent of the population speaks a language that bleongs to the Indo-European family), language branches are a collection of languages that possess a definite common origin but have split into different languages, and language group is a cluster of individual languages that are a part of the branch

A language learned from birth/first few years of their lives

Random changes in language, usually made by young people

Icelandic

languages that other people nearby can understand even if they don't speak it (Faroese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish)

8000 to 9000 years

about a dozen

You, hear me! Give this fire to that old man. Pull the black worm off the back and give it to the mother. And no spitting in the ashes!....from languages that existed in places where people survived the last glacial period around 20,000 to 25,00 years ago

95%

1,600, representing 4 major branches

No more than 40% of the population spoke any single language

A common language among speakers whose native lanuages are different

If you only speak your dialect you will have less prospects than someone who speaks English or another more popular language

1977...refers to 3 interconnected and crucial aspects of language" status, demography, and institutional support

The wedgeshaped letters used by Sumarians in ancient Iraq made of 1500 pictograms

Started by Sumerians, Egypt through hieroglyphs made it a teachable language...improved by Phoenician traders, (responsible for replacing pictographs with an alphabet of consents) that were easy to learn, write, and change...Greeks introduced vowels to the alphabet and the Latin alphabet is the same used today (didn't use J, U, or W)

15 boys between 10 and 15 years old graffitied walls that said "the people want to topple the regime" it was said to spark the March 2012 Syrian Revolution...this lead to the boys being arrested and tortured by soldiers for anti-government speech

40% of students expelled from US schools are black

70% of students involved in inschool arrests refered to law enforcement are black or latino

3.5x black students are 3.5 times more likely to be suspended than white students

Blacks and Latinos are 2 times more likely to not graduate

68% of males in state and federal prison do not have a high school diploma

50% of children in the foster care system are black or latino

30% of foster care youth entering the juvenile system are placement related behavioral cases 

25% of young people leaving foster care will be incarcerated within a fe years after turning 18

50% of young people leaing foster care will be unemployed within a few years after turning 18

70% of inmates in CA state prison are former foster care youth

85%  of children, and 60% of adults

776 million, 2/3rds are women

the practice of speaking in the lowest voice register to produce a popping or creaking sound at a very low frequency (Zoe Descchanell or Kim Kardashian)...85% of employers prefer you not do this

the belief that certain ritualistic acts will lead to a bestowing of material wealth (cargo)(Pacific Islands)