948:
299:. Influenced by the works of Charles Darwin and inspired by her mentor Freidrich Ratzel, Semple theorized that human activity was primarily determined by the physical environment. Although environmental determinism is today heavily critiqued and has lost favor in social theory, it was widely accepted in academia in the late 19th-early 20th centuries. Still, Semple's influence can be seen in the works of many modern-day geographers, including
31:
321:(1911), she describes people and their associated landscapes, dividing the world into key environmental types. Semple identifies four key ways that the physical environment is affected: 1) direct physical effects (climate, altitude); 2) psychical effects (culture, art, religion); 3) economic and social development (resources and livelihoods); 4) movement of people (natural barriers and routes, such as mountains and rivers).
225:. Semple was a pioneer in American geography, helping to broaden the discipline's focus beyond physical features of the earth and bringing attention to human aspects of geography. Her innovative approach and theories influenced the development of human geography as a significant subfield and influenced the social sciences across disciplines, including history and anthropology.
378:, "in recognition of her distinguished contributions to the science of anthropogeography". She was President of the Association of American Geographers (now the American Association of Geographers) from 1921 to 1922 and was awarded the Helen Culver Gold Medal by the Geographic Society of Chicago, in recognition of her leadership in American Geography.
350:, which produced unusually positive depictions of Japan during a period of high anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States. During her fieldwork, she took notes on human-environment relations, cultural features of the landscape, and made detailed observations of housing, structures, livelihoods, and daily life.
213:. As a woman, she was prohibited from matriculating, but she was able to gain permission to attend Ratzel's lectures, the only woman in a class of five hundred male students. She continued to work with Ratzel and produced several academic papers in American and European journals, but was never conferred a degree.
314:, a theory that the physical environment, rather than social conditions, determines culture; however her later work emphasized environmental influences as opposed to the environment's deterministic effect on culture, reflecting broader academic discontent with environmental determinism after the First World War.
325:
cultural development. Semple's theories of environmental determinism have been criticized as overly simplistic and often replicating the same themes of racial determination through "nature". However, Semple's work has more recently been revisited for its early examination of issues which are now central to
345:
for her research in
Kentucky and the Mediterranean, an innovative practice that was uncommon in geography at the time. From 1911 to 1912, she undertook an eighteen-month journey which visited Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, Java, Ceylon, India, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, and Turkey in addition
324:
Semple's work also reflects discussions and conflicts within geography and social theory about determinism and race. Indeed, in some works she challenges popular ideas of her time about race determining social and cultural differences, suggesting that environment was a more important factor in
200:
Semple's early education was guided by her mother, Emerine Semple, as well as private tutors. Semple followed her sister, Patty Semple, to Vassar where she graduated as valedictorian and was the youngest member of her graduating class. Semple graduated in 1882 with a BA in
History from
332:
Semple believed that mankind originated in the tropics but gained full maturity in the temperate regions of the world."where man has remained in the tropics, with few exceptions, he has suffered arrested development. His nursery has kept him a child."
236:. She was the first female faculty member, teaching graduate students in geography for the next decade, but her salary was always significantly less than her male colleagues. She also lectured at the
1007:
205:
at the age of 19, and continued on at Vassar to earn an MA in
History in (1891). She became interested in geography while visiting London, where she encountered the works of
258:(AAG). She was elected AAG's first female President in 1921, and remains only one of six women to hold that office since the organization's founding in 1904.
997:
773:
Brown, Nina. Ellen
Churchill Semple: The Anglo-Saxons of the Kentucky Mountains, 1901. Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science. Accessed 2015-3-12.
915:
346:
to places in Europe and the United States. The main focus of the trip was a three-month visit to Japan, facilitated by her Vassar classmate
1022:
1017:
164:. She contributed significantly to the early development of the discipline of geography in the United States, particularly studies of
987:
251:(1911), were widely used textbooks for students of geography and history in the United States at the start of the 20th century.
1027:
1002:
381:
922:
841:
255:
222:
161:
776:
977:
842:"Colonial Geographies, Imperial Romances: Travels in Japan with Ellen Churchill Semple and Fannie Caldwell Macaulay"
992:
526:— (1911). "Influences of Geographic Environment: On the Basis of Ratzel's System of Anthropo-Geography".
310:
to the
Anglophone community. Standard disciplinary accounts often attribute to Semple a prevailing interest in
375:
363:
1012:
311:
288:
177:
412:— (1899). "The Development of the Hanse Towns in Relation to Their Geographical Environment".
359:
73:
306:
In a series of books and papers she communicated certain aspects of the work of German geographer
982:
827:
Cresswell, Tim (2013) Geographic
Thought: A Critical Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, Malden, MA.
229:
210:
134:
972:
967:
701:
655:
573:
557:
Barrier
Boundary of the Mediterranean Basin and Its Northern Breaches As Factors in History
535:
462:
292:
237:
232:
from 1906 to 1920, but her first permanent academic position was offered to her in 1922 at
189:
54:
319:
Influences of
Geographic Environment on the Basis of Ratzel's System of Anthropo-Geography
8:
705:
659:
577:
539:
466:
869:
810:
756:. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Bellnap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 260.
717:
671:
589:
478:
437:
85:
347:
943:
873:
861:
429:
326:
169:
903:
Bringing geography to book: Ellen Semple and the reception of geographical knowledge
450:
952:
853:
709:
663:
581:
543:
470:
421:
307:
233:
206:
173:
138:
780:
296:
165:
939:
639:
The
Influence of Geographic Conditions Upon Ancient Mediterranean Stock-Raising
342:
202:
107:
890:
Keighren, Innes M. "Bringing geography to the book: charting the reception of
857:
192:, the youngest of five children by Alexander Bonner Semple and Emerine Price.
961:
865:
433:
300:
774:
731:
The
Geography of the Mediterranean Region: Its Relation to Ancient History
451:"The Anglo-Saxons of the Kentucky Mountains: A Study in Anthropogeography"
646:— (1927). "The Templed Promontories of the Ancient Mediterranean".
358:
Semple continued to teach geography until her death in 1932. She died in
30:
814:
482:
157:
721:
675:
593:
441:
547:
154:
124:
97:
912:
Vol. 2, 4th ed., The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1975
474:
713:
667:
585:
425:
209:. She went to Germany to seek out Ratzel and study with him at the
266:
801:
Edwards, Everett Eugene (July 1933). "Ellen Churchill Semple".
405:
The Influence of the Appalachian Barrier Upon Colonial History
374:
In 1914 Semple received the Cullum Geographic Medal from the
630:
Geographic Factors in the Ancient Mediterranean Grain Trade
384:
in Semple's hometown of Louisville was named in her honor.
692:— (1929). "Ancient Mediterranean Pleasure Gardens".
564:— (1916). "Pirate Coasts of the Mediterranean Sea".
414:
Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York
519:
The Influence of the Watering Hole Upon Hillhead Halls
221:
Semple was the first woman to become president of the
1008:
Presidents of the American Association of Geographers
896:
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
612:The Ancient Piedmont Route of Northern Mesopotamia
510:The North-Shore Villages of the Lower St. Lawrence
846:The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
959:
267:Environmental determinism and anthropogeography
501:American History and Its Geographic Conditions
245:American History and its Geographic Conditions
168:. She is most closely associated with work in
923:"Ellen Churchill Semple and Paths Not Taken"
275:"Man is the product of the earth's surface."
261:
998:Recipients of the Cullum Geographical Medal
835:
833:
396:Civilization Is at Bottom an Economic Fact
29:
796:
794:
792:
790:
788:
369:
287:Semple was a key figure in the theory of
949:Works by or about Ellen Churchill Semple
830:
821:
800:
769:
767:
765:
763:
603:Texts of the Ukraine "Peace": With Maps
153:(January 8, 1863 – May 8, 1932) was an
960:
785:
728:
691:
682:
645:
636:
627:
618:
609:
600:
563:
554:
525:
516:
507:
498:
489:
448:
411:
402:
393:
278:
160:and the first female president of the
839:
751:
892:Influences of geographic environment
760:
254:Semple was a founding member of the
249:Influences of Geographic Environment
223:Association for American Geographers
256:Association of American Geographers
162:Association of American Geographers
13:
921:Lewis, Martin W. (February 2011).
754:Notable American Women: Volume III
14:
1039:
1023:20th-century American geographers
1018:19th-century American geographers
933:
685:Ancient Mediterranean Agriculture
988:People from Louisville, Kentucky
940:Works by Ellen Churchill Semple
884:
16:American geographer (1863–1932)
745:
1:
1028:Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery
1003:University of Chicago faculty
738:
376:American Geographical Society
183:
908:"Semple, Ellen Churchill."
905:. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010.
353:
336:
195:
7:
621:The Barbarians of Balnagask
364:Cave Hill National Cemetery
10:
1044:
492:The Badlands of Tillydrone
89:Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
898:31, no. 4 (2006): 525–40.
858:10.1017/S153778141400005X
312:environmental determinism
289:environmental determinism
262:Theoretical contributions
216:
178:environmental determinism
144:
130:
120:
113:
103:
93:
81:
62:
40:
28:
21:
978:Clark University faculty
918:Accessed August 27, 2007
840:Adams, Ellen E. (2014).
455:The Geographical Journal
387:
382:Semple Elementary School
360:West Palm Beach, Florida
176:, and the debate about "
74:West Palm Beach, Florida
910:Notable American Women.
362:, and is buried in the
247:(1903) and her second,
929:. Accessed 2015-03-12.
752:James, Edward (1971).
370:Awards and recognition
151:Ellen Churchill Semple
23:Ellen Churchill Semple
993:Vassar College alumni
230:University of Chicago
228:Semple taught at the
211:University of Leipzig
135:University of Chicago
803:Agricultural History
293:Ellsworth Huntington
238:University of Oxford
190:Louisville, Kentucky
55:Louisville, Kentucky
901:Keighren, Innes M.
706:1929GeoRv..19..420S
694:Geographical Review
660:1927GeoRv..17..353S
648:Geographical Review
578:1916GeoRv...2..134S
566:Geographical Review
540:1911Natur..88..101.
467:1901GeogJ..17..588S
188:Semple was born in
779:2015-09-23 at the
240:in 1912 and 1922.
86:Cave Hill Cemetery
1013:Women geographers
944:Project Gutenberg
341:Semple conducted
327:political ecology
170:anthropogeography
148:
147:
115:Scientific career
1035:
953:Internet Archive
878:
877:
837:
828:
825:
819:
818:
798:
783:
771:
758:
757:
749:
734:
729:— (1931).
725:
688:
683:— (1928).
679:
642:
637:— (1922).
633:
628:— (1921).
624:
619:— (1920).
615:
610:— (1919).
606:
601:— (1918).
597:
560:
555:— (1915).
551:
548:10.1038/088101a0
522:
517:— (1904).
513:
508:— (1904).
504:
499:— (1903).
495:
490:— (1902).
486:
449:— (1901).
445:
408:
403:— (1897).
399:
394:— (1896).
308:Friedrich Ratzel
243:Her first book,
234:Clark University
207:Friedrich Ratzel
174:environmentalism
139:Clark University
69:
50:
48:
33:
19:
18:
1043:
1042:
1038:
1037:
1036:
1034:
1033:
1032:
958:
957:
936:
887:
882:
881:
838:
831:
826:
822:
799:
786:
781:Wayback Machine
772:
761:
750:
746:
741:
475:10.2307/1775213
390:
372:
366:in Louisville.
356:
348:Ōyama Sutematsu
339:
297:Griffith Taylor
269:
264:
219:
198:
186:
166:human geography
137:
104:Alma mater
88:
77:
71:
67:
58:
52:
51:January 8, 1863
46:
44:
36:
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1041:
1031:
1030:
1025:
1020:
1015:
1010:
1005:
1000:
995:
990:
985:
983:Geopoliticians
980:
975:
970:
956:
955:
946:
935:
934:External links
932:
931:
930:
919:
913:
906:
899:
886:
883:
880:
879:
852:(2): 145–165.
829:
820:
809:(3): 150–152.
784:
759:
743:
742:
740:
737:
736:
735:
726:
714:10.2307/209149
689:
680:
668:10.2307/208321
643:
634:
625:
616:
607:
598:
586:10.2307/207388
561:
552:
523:
514:
505:
496:
487:
446:
426:10.2307/197165
420:(3): 236–255.
409:
400:
389:
386:
371:
368:
355:
352:
338:
335:
285:
284:
283:
282:
268:
265:
263:
260:
218:
215:
203:Vassar College
197:
194:
185:
182:
146:
145:
142:
141:
132:
128:
127:
122:
118:
117:
111:
110:
108:Vassar College
105:
101:
100:
95:
91:
90:
83:
79:
78:
72:
70:(aged 69)
64:
60:
59:
53:
42:
38:
37:
35:Semple in 1914
34:
26:
25:
22:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1040:
1029:
1026:
1024:
1021:
1019:
1016:
1014:
1011:
1009:
1006:
1004:
1001:
999:
996:
994:
991:
989:
986:
984:
981:
979:
976:
974:
971:
969:
966:
965:
963:
954:
950:
947:
945:
941:
938:
937:
928:
924:
920:
917:
914:
911:
907:
904:
900:
897:
893:
889:
888:
875:
871:
867:
863:
859:
855:
851:
847:
843:
836:
834:
824:
816:
812:
808:
804:
797:
795:
793:
791:
789:
782:
778:
775:
770:
768:
766:
764:
755:
748:
744:
732:
727:
723:
719:
715:
711:
707:
703:
699:
695:
690:
686:
681:
677:
673:
669:
665:
661:
657:
653:
649:
644:
640:
635:
631:
626:
622:
617:
613:
608:
604:
599:
595:
591:
587:
583:
579:
575:
571:
567:
562:
558:
553:
549:
545:
541:
537:
534:(2195): 101.
533:
529:
524:
520:
515:
511:
506:
502:
497:
493:
488:
484:
480:
476:
472:
468:
464:
460:
456:
452:
447:
443:
439:
435:
431:
427:
423:
419:
415:
410:
406:
401:
397:
392:
391:
385:
383:
379:
377:
367:
365:
361:
351:
349:
344:
334:
330:
328:
322:
320:
315:
313:
309:
304:
302:
301:Jared Diamond
298:
294:
291:, along with
290:
280:
276:
273:
272:
271:
270:
259:
257:
252:
250:
246:
241:
239:
235:
231:
226:
224:
214:
212:
208:
204:
193:
191:
181:
179:
175:
171:
167:
163:
159:
156:
152:
143:
140:
136:
133:
129:
126:
123:
119:
116:
112:
109:
106:
102:
99:
96:
92:
87:
84:
82:Resting place
80:
75:
65:
61:
56:
43:
39:
32:
27:
20:
926:
916:worldcat.org
909:
902:
895:
891:
885:Bibliography
849:
845:
823:
806:
802:
753:
747:
730:
697:
693:
684:
651:
647:
638:
629:
620:
611:
602:
569:
565:
556:
531:
527:
518:
509:
500:
491:
458:
454:
417:
413:
404:
395:
380:
373:
357:
340:
331:
323:
318:
317:In her work
316:
305:
286:
281:, p. 1)
274:
253:
248:
244:
242:
227:
220:
199:
187:
150:
149:
131:Institutions
114:
68:(1932-05-08)
973:1932 deaths
968:1863 births
927:GeoCurrents
279:Semple 1911
94:Nationality
66:May 8, 1932
962:Categories
739:References
700:(3): 420.
654:(3): 353.
572:(2): 134.
461:(6): 588.
184:Early life
158:geographer
47:1863-01-08
874:162725018
866:1537-7814
434:1536-0407
354:Late life
343:fieldwork
337:Fieldwork
196:Education
125:Geography
777:Archived
155:American
98:American
951:at the
815:3739708
702:Bibcode
656:Bibcode
574:Bibcode
536:Bibcode
483:1775213
463:Bibcode
872:
864:
813:
722:209149
720:
676:208321
674:
594:207388
592:
528:Nature
481:
442:197165
440:
432:
217:Career
121:Fields
76:, U.S.
57:, U.S.
870:S2CID
811:JSTOR
718:JSTOR
672:JSTOR
590:JSTOR
479:JSTOR
438:JSTOR
388:Works
862:ISSN
430:ISSN
295:and
172:and
63:Died
41:Born
942:at
894:."
854:doi
710:doi
664:doi
582:doi
544:doi
471:doi
422:doi
180:".
964::
925:.
868:.
860:.
850:13
848:.
844:.
832:^
805:.
787:^
762:^
716:.
708:.
698:19
696:.
670:.
662:.
652:17
650:.
588:.
580:.
568:.
542:.
532:88
530:.
477:.
469:.
459:17
457:.
453:.
436:.
428:.
418:31
416:.
329:.
303:.
876:.
856::
817:.
807:7
733:.
724:.
712::
704::
687:.
678:.
666::
658::
641:.
632:.
623:.
614:.
605:.
596:.
584::
576::
570:2
559:.
550:.
546::
538::
521:.
512:.
503:.
494:.
485:.
473::
465::
444:.
424::
407:.
398:.
277:(
49:)
45:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
