Geography
Geography: putting place-names on a map? Finding your way using a map or a global positioning system? Yes, but geography today is much more than this.
Geography is a unique discipline in that it integrates the physical and social sciences. We focus on the changing interactions between people and their environments on local, national and global scales. Geography is also a spatial discipline, so we are interested in the distribution of and relationship between, the physical and cultural entities in our world: climate, landforms, soils, populations, agriculture and cities. Key questions that interest us include: Are we using resources sustainably? What are the impacts of environmental change (e.g. climate) on societies in different places? How should we interpret and understand the spatial distribution of economic, political and social activity? Geographers are more than map-makers (though they are that, too) – they are planners, researchers, educators and decision makers whose interests focus on some of society's most pressing questions.
There are many career options for geography graduates. Environmental opportunities abound; locational analysis for commercial activity remains an important option; urban and regional planning continues to lure practitioners; and mapping and spatial data analysis have expanded with the wide-spread adoption of computer technologies. Teaching situations, at all levels, have been abundant as well. Geographers have long supplied their expertise to these areas, while recently adding new tools for executing these endeavours. In addition to time-honoured applications, geographers are making inroads in less typical arenas. Travel and tourism now offer more opportunities to geographers, as do historic preservation, archival, and museum programs, along with situations involving international development and policy. From Geography: A Field of Dreams, Association of American Geographers.
For more information on geography or career options for students studying geography visit the following sites:
http://www.aag.org/cs/careerswww.youtube.com/watch?v=27p2k1oot80
Geography 1000
Introduction to Geography I (available only at Grenfell Campus) is an introduction to geography incorporating concepts, skills and techniques used by the geographer to understand the Earth as the home of man. The major emphasis of the course is placed on man-environmental ecological systems. The course will include seminars and practical work.
Lectures: Three hours per week
Prerequisite: None
Geography 1001
Introduction to Geography II (available only at Grenfell Campus) is a continuation of introduction to basic concepts and techniques in the field of geography. This course emphasizes geography as a social science and introduces the sub-fields of political, economic, cultural and urban geography. The course will include seminars and practical work.
Lectures: Three hours per week
Prerequisite: Geography 1000
Note: Credit may not be obtained for both Geography 1001 and Geography 1011.
Geography 1050
Geographies of Global Change provides perspectives on the major geographical challenges and changes facing the contemporary globe, including: climate and environmental change, sustainability, human development, economic globalization, cultural change, and population and migration. Using the integrative skills of geographical analysis, the course prepares students for advanced study in geography and citizenship in the modern world.
Lectures: Three hours per week
Prerequisite: None
Note: Credit may not be obtained for 1050 and any of 1000, 1001, the former 1010 or the former 1011.
Geography 2001
Cultural Geography is an introduction to the study of culture in geography, emphasizing both the history of the field from classic studies of landscapes to contemporary scholarship and themes of recent importance. These include the relationship between nature and culture: imperialism and colonialism; place, identity and power; and global cultures of commodities, media and tourism.
Lectures: Three hours per week
Prerequisite: Geography 1050
Geography 2102
Physical Geography: The Global Perspective is a study of form, process and change in natural systems at and near the surface of Earth, viewed as human environment. Emphasis is on global and regional scales in the systematic study of climate, water, landforms and vegetation.
Lectures: Three hours per week
Laboratory: Three hours per week
Prerequisite: Geography 1050
Note: Credit may not be obtained for 2102 and the former 2100 or 2101.
Geography 2195
Introduction to Geographic Information Sciences is an introduction to the fields of cartography, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). Geographic information collection and representation and analysis methods are the topics for the course. An emphasis is given to applications of maps and satellite images.
Lectures: Three hours per week
Prerequisite: None
Geography 2302
Issues in Economic Geography covers basic issues and ideas in economic geography. The development of a regional economy will be related to underlying economic, cultural and physical factors.
Lectures: Three hours per week
Prerequisite: Geography 1050
Geography 2425
Natural Resources is an introduction to the concepts of natural resources, environment and conservation: the nature and distribution of natural resources; methods of use, allocation and development of natural resources and the role of various physical, social, economic, political and technological factors influencing decision-making about resources.
Lectures: Three hours per week
Prerequisite: Geography 1050
Note: Credit may not be obtained for both Geography 2425 and 3325
