GEOG 115 - Thinking Geographically: The Fundamentals of Human Geography

Human geography studies the dynamic development of our world. Across sub-disciplines that may focus on cities, politics, economics, cultures, population, or many other subjects, human geographers share some fundamental conceptual tools to understand our world and embrace similar approaches to producing geographic knowledge about it. In this course, we will together explore these epistemological and methodological bases of the discipline. We will start with the histories and various traditions of geography and advance to key geographic concepts such as space, time, place, scale, landscape, system, nature, development, globalization and risk. We will also survey approaches of practicing human geography and consider vital questions like what data to use, which methods to employ, and what analyses to perform. By bringing the “knowing” and the “doing” of human geography together, this course aims to help students appreciate that human geography is not a collection of geographical facts, but an intellectual institution always open to new perspectives and approaches, and constantly evolving with our societies. Prerequisite(s): Not open to students who’ve passed Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography. Alternate years. (4 Credits)