Geography: Society, Place, and Power

An introduction to human geography: a spatial perspective on the study of population and migration, globalization, uneven economic development, geopolitics, cities and rural spaces, cultural meanings of place, and struggles for spatial justice.

Open to Degree and PACE students; Restrict to 1st and 2nd year students in first week of enrollment

Everything happens somewhere… but why there? And how do combinations of events and processes come together to create unique places? How do the actions and decisions of human societies construct meaningful social spaces? And, how can we use a geographic approach to understand human society better? This introduction to Human Geography will be based on recognizing and analyzing the ways that human societies create places and in turn live in and through those places. Along this path we will identify the main tools geographers use to understand the relations between space, place, and society, with a particular focus on the tension between globalization, sustainability, social justice, and cultural identities in places around the globe. We will pay particular attention to spatial patterns and discovering the processes that generate them. Geographic concepts we’ll explore include diffusion, mobility and migration, scale, construction of place, and the powerful intersections of economic, political, and social processes with natural environments. This class is designated as SU (sustainability), which is primarily explored here through social justice topics and lenses, such as environmental justice, critical race perspectives, and feminist approaches to gender inequality across society/places. Please note that if you received transfer credit for AP Human Geo you may not receive credit for this course as well. We recommend GEOG1760 instead.

Required textbook: Rubenstein, J. 2022. Contemporary Human Geography 5th Edition (do not buy/rent other editions!). Pearson. Print ISBN: 9780137631704. eText: 9780137631629 Note that I choose a textbook carefully to make sure there are affordable options -- this one is available at the bookstore, or you can rent it or get e-versions on Amazon or VitalSource.

Subject to slight changes but evaluation is generally done on the following basis: Section quizzes; In-class exercises; Mapping and Reflection Exercises (based on easy-to-use Social Explorer and Policy Map applications -- instruction provided, no prior mapping experience needed); Class participation (attendance taken with iClicker app, engagement in discussions, creative small assignments, etc.)