Four traditions of geography

William Pattison's four traditions of geography, often referred to as just the four traditions of geography, are a proposed way to organize the various competing themes and approaches within geography.^[1][2][3] Proposed in a 1964 article in the Journal of Geography to address criticism that geography was undisciplined and calls for definitions of the scope of geography as a discipline that had been ongoing for at least half a century, the four traditions of geography propose that American geographers work was consistent, but fit into four distinct traditions rather than one overarching definition.^[1][2] The original traditions proposed by Pattison are the spatial tradition, the area studies tradition, the Man-Land tradition, and the Earth science tradition. A theme among these traditions is interconnectedness, and it has been referenced in relation to the Tobler's first law of geography.^[4]

The four traditions of geography have been widely used to teach geography in the classroom as a compromise between a single definition and memorization of many distinct sub-themes.^[2][5] There are many competing methods to organize geography.^[6] The original four traditions have had several proposed changes.^[5][6]