Digital Component: 5.2 Design thinking – throughout the course, students will be introduced to digital tools such as CMap and Piktochart (and others they might use).  Each of these involves thinking about design

Course Component: Understanding information shown in maps, tables, charts, graphs, infographics, images, and landscapes

Digital Component: 5.2 Design thinking – throughout the course, students will be introduced to digital tools such as CMap and Piktochart (and others they might use).  Each of these involves thinking about design

Course Component:

• Seeing patterns and trends in data and in visual sources such as maps and drawing conclusions from them
• Understanding spatial relationships using different geographic scales

There are many religions within this world in which all are looked at differently and have their own biases. There are many religions that have different beliefs that might interferer and or even go against another religion that may result in haltered or ignorance toward one another. The idea that some religions are ‘better’ or more accepted than another makes it really hard for people to respect one other based on their values and beliefs. The respect and acceptance of another religion needs to be accepted in order to form a more comfortable relationship between different worlds. For example, Muslims are usually looked at differently compared to people of Christianity because of its unfamiliarity. Some people connect certain groups based on what they look like but not all people within this religion share the same values. For example, when some people think of Muslims there are traits that are nowhere near an example of what they believe and hold dear. Terrorism is one instance that has affected Muslims in the worst way possible. It has created a notion that every single Muslim is a terrorist or is to be feared because of previous events. Islamophobia can be defined as “an exaggerated, fear, hatred, and hostility toward Islam and Muslins that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes resulting in bias, discrimination, and the marginalization and exclusion of Muslims from social, political, and civic life”. There is a well-known reason for this and was the result of the 2001 terrorist attack. But Islamophobia existed before this and was a preconceived fear. Religion is a hard way for people to connect considering the many differences that they might share but it is still healthy to look further and try to understand their views in order to become familiar with that group of people.

There needs to be a sense of awareness that allows for facts to be known that would then allow for an opinion to be formed. For instance, “the U.S identified more than 160 Muslim-American terrorism suspects and perpetrators in the decade since 9/11, just a percentage of the thousands of acts of violence that occur in the United States each year”. These 160 suspected terrorists Muslim-Americans is an example of what fuels Islamophobia. Within that decade there were thousands of other crimes that were committed but the 160 Muslim-American suspects were heard the most since there was already a preconception of what comes with the Muslim religion which is not the truth. In late 2009, the largest Swiss parliament banned minarets construction. The government opposed the ban considering it would hinder their image and make them look bad. The ban was placed and 84% of them said it is possible for a Muslim to be a good Swiss patriot but when asked if they believe Muslims should feel discriminated about the ban 68% said no. This is an example of what struggles Muslims have to go through as a result of the idea of Islamophobia. Completing this ban led to the rising of Islamophobia.

The facts are there when it comes to the prejudices that Muslims have to not only listen to but deal with as well. “In the U.S, about one-half of nationally representative samples of Mormons, Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, and Jews agree that in general, most Americans are prejudiced toward Muslim Americans”. Muslims are experiencing racial and religious discrimination based on Islamophobia and it allows for people to continue to be unfair and cruel to a certain group based on a single story of affiliation that terrorists have with the Muslim religion. Addressing Islamophobia is one way that people can become aware of the issue and try to turn it about. I think that correcting people when they speak on the issue with false information could help out as well because it can give people more information to differentiate between terrorist groups and the Muslim religion. The acceptance of Muslims in different communities can go a long way in finding the balance between different religions that might bump heads. Involving Muslim people in various communities that aren’t usually associated with various religions can spread knowledge on the issue making it easier for people to move away from Islamophobia.

Digital Components:

• 2.1 Collaborative communication – we will be blogging and tweeting our blogs – and also communicating with our classmates through WordPress/Twitter as well as in other ways on Moodle

2.2 Digital writing and publishing – we will be publishing our work in the open.  We will have multiple digital assignments, and students will have some agency in choosing which item they’d like to blog about in each module.

Course Component: Connecting geographic concepts and processes to real-life scenarios

Culture is split in two ways, there is a popular culture in which is known to be a large heterogeneous population in urban areas with quick-changing cultural traits. Next, there is a local culture in which a group of people in particular places see themselves as a collective or community. These people share customs and work to preserve these traits in order to distinguish from others. Despite their differences, these two different ways of living exist together on earth and are used to give examples of not only certain groups of people but how this world is growing. The two can simply be compared by saying, material vs non-material. A pop culture that deals more with the material is related to the idea of things, such as what you have in life that could possibly be compared to your wealth of lifestyle. I believe local culture believes more in the idea of beliefs, what makes them who they are by the way they live. It can be explained by saying each item or clothing is used and worn for a reason. For example, “some local cultures rely primarily on religion to maintain their belief systems; others rely on community celebrations or on family structures; and others rely on a lack of interaction with other cultures” (Blij, Murphy, Fouberg p. 91). Whereas unlike local culture, pop culture can change in a matter of days. But for example, the two are similar when it comes to dance and clothing. These two are both moving within each other through political and economic elements that allow both to change.

The Amish Culture

Local culture is an example of Amish people, they are known for their traditional and older way of living. To begin, the language that is spoken is an ancient dialect of German that has Dutch and English influence. Considering that it is an older German, it can be used as an example of how they are a local culture and non-material community that does not focus on the traditions of life today. Where they live could also be used as an example, Amish people are usually centered around farming. This being said, they are almost always located in rural areas that are far from urban communities in order to stray away from city influence. For example, “Ohio has the largest Amish population, followed by Pennsylvania and Indiana” (Diebel 2014). Although farming is one of the main kinds of work for Amish people, in a recent study there has been a rise of Amish carpentry and construction crews. This is related to the way that they do things on their own and live a local culture life that gives them the freedom to build homes and not be distracted by buying one that might cut into their economic status. Technology is a major reason for local culture people such as the Amish to live in rural places. The Amish forbid owning an automobile, television, radio, computer, self-propelled farm machinery. This all connects to living in older times where this was common but in today’s world, it is used by all of the popular culture and urban areas.

Fashion diffusion

“The main paths of diffusion of popular culture are the transportation, marketing, and communication networks (including social networks) that interlink vast parts of the world” (Blij, Murphy, Fouberg p.92). This is one of the major differences between the two. The ability to be able to connect to different parts of the world while using social media and the internet is why popular culture is always evolving. Not only this but the way trends are consistently changing and evolving. The use of technology makes it easier to find out what material items are of value. This makes a way for people within popular culture to keep up with them. Fashion trends are spread quickly. There are multiple parts to the hierarchy in fashion. It usually begins with runways or major fashion cities such as London, Milan, Paris, and New York. Then after this comes fashion magazines that are also located in big cities. Finally, there come the department stores for consumers of a larger audience. The point of this diffusion is an example of popular culture, no one would know what these items were or their market value if they are not given such praise, to begin with. Clothing and accessories are displayed over a period of time that allows people to see them through technology and the internet which is a key for popular culture.

Digital components:

• 2.1 Collaborative communication – we will be blogging and tweeting our blogs – and also communicating with our classmates through WordPress/Twitter as well as in other ways on Moodle

2.2 Digital writing and publishing – we will be publishing our work in the open.  We will have multiple digital assignments, and students will have some agency in choosing which item they’d like to blog about in each module.

Course Component: Connecting geographic concepts and processes to real-life scenarios