Geography
means learning where things are. More importantly,
it means understanding how those things got there,
and why they are the way they are. These
questions lead us away from simply memorizing place names
to conducting in-depth inquiry about the processes
behind the patterns.
These
processes are fundamentally cultural; their
roots reach down into religion, language, political culture,
and built environments, as these traits diffuse
through space and form culture regions. They
also reflect the inherent opportunities and constraints imposed
by the natural environment. A major focus of this course is
therefore on the patterns and flows that
shape the geographies of various aspects of culture, while
a secondary focus is human-environment interactions.
In regard to both foci we will discuss what is entailed by
responsible citizenship.
