About Me

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Leicester, United Kingdom
Thank you for viewing this blog. My name is Joshua, a recent BSc Geography graduate from Coventry University, now starting on a Geography PGCE at the University of Leicester. My main area of expertise is within the domain of physical geography, with particular interests in Geomorphology, Quaternary Climates and Environments, and weather, climate and climate change. An area that I am not so familiar to is biogeography, but this is an additional area I am keen to develop and engage with.

Purpose of this Blog

The purpose of this blog is to aid mine as well as others (teachers, students and the public) understanding and knowledge in the subject field of Geography, with particular emphasis on the human domain; specifically cultural geography. This is an area I know limited about, in comparison to my specialism, and an area that I have come to find neglected in school education (*explained below). Firstly, this blog will introduce the concepts of GEOGRAPHY, to give details to those with limited understanding and experience; to outline the complexity of this ever changing subject and field. Secondly, and introduction to cultural geography and its branches will be outlined, with some sub-division examine in more detail than others. This is based on what I feel is lacked in education and the curriculum. Finally, a list of resources and references will be presented, which can be used for KS3 and used for all exam boards at GCSE level.

It needs to be noted that cultural geography is multidisciplinary and multifaceted within the geographical field, so overlaps into other geographical disciplines. I have tried to keep it purely separated for the sake of this blog, but it can be used for addition disciplines.

*This statement is based on my interpretation of the National Curriculum (NC) and GCSE specifications, where some of the branches within cultural geography e.g. sexuality and space, children's geography, music and behavioural geography are not fully acknowledged or identified within the NC for geography or in GCSE/A-Level specifications. In all honesty, cultural geography seems to be side-lined and/or integrated within economic, development and population geography. I feel for people (teachers, students and the public) to fully understand the scale and magnitude of geography, they need to be informed of the different branches and sub division within geography/cultural geography; highlighting individual branches of geography, whilst at the same time, explain and identifying how the different branches connection and are in relation to one another. For example, a number of schools in Leicestershire in year 9 look at music festivals and there locations, but they fail to highlight the key concepts of geography within that topic. For example, that topic would include cultural geography in the form of musical, behavioural, sexuality and tourism geography, but these are not identified and explained, leading to narrow-minded approaches within society. No wonder people assume geography is just colouring in, volcanoes and rocks.

The different branches and sub-branches of cultural geography will be explain in due course.

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Part 1: Music Geography


Music geography is a sub-field within both urban geography and cultural geography. Some critics would argue that it is only placed within urban geography due to the branding of cultural groups in urban environments e.g. the ghettos and R&B music (White et al. 1997). Music geography is the study of music production and consumption as a reflection of the landscape and geographical spaces surrounding it. Music geography gained popularity in the academic world in the 1960s and 1970s by cultural geographers. Scholars saw a relationship of music to landscapes and regions, either with the type of music produced from various places or in lyrics that are inspired by these areas. It became evident that individuals associate music with space (Barney, 2010).

Music Geography is important because sound is a vital facilitator of ideas and for spreading culture. Through hearing and listening to music, an individual begins to generate memories and images; and therefore impact upon their culture and way of life, as well as adds to diversity in human societies. It continuously develops over space and time, as would landscapes progress in order to adapt to changes (Barney, 2010).
Music geography is the study of music and factors of landscape and geographical distinctiveness, which attribute to the unique styles consumed (individuality). In addition, globalization has allowed distinct unique music to be shared and heard globally; creating and modifying cultural groups and individuals. Future research should try to include other contributors such as:
  • Globalization and change in music taste
  • The geographies of music production

The next post (Part 2) will include topics and resources for teachers, pupils and the public to do/use to develop their understanding of cultural geography and its sub divisions, with emphasis in the area of MUSIC GEOGRAPHY.  

Referencing:

Warf, Barney (2010) ‘Encyclopedia of Geography: Music and Sound and Geography’ SAGE: 1-7. Print.

White, Billy D., and Frederick A. Day (1997)’Country Music Radio and American Culture Regions.’ Journal of Cultural Geography 16.2 : 21-35.


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