GEOG 101 - World Geography

3 Credits: (3 lecture)

Course Description
This course examines various types of natural environments throughout the world and emphasizes the adjustment of humans to them. The interrelationships between physical and cultural factors are studied. Emphasis is placed on the various geographical regions along with the interactions among cultures and different countries for a global context. This course meets the General Education competencies of Values, Ethics, and Diverse Perspectives (VE).

Text
White, George, et al. Essential of World Geography. 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill, 2014.  

Objectives
The student will be able to: 

A. Identify various physical elements, which are modifying factors in cultural development. 

B. Describe how the physical environment interacts with and influences human landscapes, both historically and currently. 

C. Determine how the present geographical and cultural phenomena evolved. 

D. Utilize maps and charts to explore the general worldwide distribution of various human activities. 

E. Examine ethical problems from a variety of cultural, geographical, and professional perspectives. (VE) 

F. Examine the complexity of global humanity diversity and the various forces that shape it. (VE) 

Content
A. Introduction to physical geography: atmosphere, tectonic plates, weathering, climate issues, air and water circulation, world climate types, ecosystems, natural resources. 

B. Population: distribution and dynamics, human settlement, migration, urbanization, demography.  

C. Human-environment interactions.  

D. Regions as human constructs: Europe, the Russian sphere, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Northern African and Southwestern Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica, Central and South America, North America.  

E. Global human development: political, economic, cultural, religious, and language.  

F. Cultural issues: race, class, and gender. 

G. Human rights and environmental sustainability. 

Student Evaluation
Objective A-C: objective and essay examinations. 

Objective D. map quizzes and examinations. 

Objective E-F: objective and essay examinations, written assignment, and presentation. 

Bibliography
Abler, Ronald F. Melvin G. Marcus and Judy M. Olson. Geography’s Inner Worlds:  Pervasive Themes in Contemporary American Geography. Rutgers University Press, 1992. 

Bird, J. H. The Changing Worlds of Geography: A Critical Guide to Concepts and Methods. Oxford University Press, 1989. 

Clark, Audrey N. Longman Dictionary of Geography: Human and Physical.  Longman, Inc., 1985. 

Coch, Nicholas K.  Geohazards: Natural and Human. Prentice Hall, Inc., 1995. 

Dietrich, William S.  In the Shadow of the Rising Sun:  The Political Roots of American Economic Decline. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991. 

Ehrlich, Paul R.  The Population Explosion. Simon and Schuster, 1990. 

Fisher, David E. Fire and Ice: The Greenhouse Effect, Ozone Depletion, and Nuclear Winter.  Harper and Row, 1990. 

Kunstler, James H.  The Geography of Nowhere:  The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape. Simon and Schuster, 1993. 

Miller, E. Willard (ed.). A Geography of Pennsylvania. Penn State University Press, 1995. 

Patterson, J. H.  North America:  A Geography of the United States and Canada.  8th ed.  Oxford University Press, 1989. 

Rogers, Alisdair (ed).  People and Cultures. Oxford University Press, 1992. 

Sharp, Robert P.  Living Ice:  Understanding Glaciers and Glaciation. Cambridge University Press, 1988. 

Sowell, Thomas.  Race and Culture:  A World View. Basic Books, 1994. 

Ungar, Sanford J. Africa: The People and Politics of an Emerging Continent. Simon and Schuster, 1985.