Geography 150

Welcome!

Welcome to World Regional Geography. This course is one of the "old classics" in geography. It is designed to help students learn a bit more about the world outside their local context. Mostly we will focus on the "non-Western" worlds of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

This course takes a "regional" approach, which means that you'll be asked to first consider each of the places we'll be learning about in terms of its internal regional dynamics (weather, religion, agriculture, politics, demographics), then place it in a global context.

Three main goals act as the organizing prinicples of this course.

First, you should know a lot more about the regions we'll study by the end of the semester. Such knowledge is characteristic of an educated person and indespensible for the peaceful operation of a democracy such as ours.

Second, you will be a much better spatial thinker, able to consider the consider the role of space and place on how the world works; and to use some of the basic tools of the geographer. The ability to think and solve problems as a geographer is a skill sorely lacking among most Americans.

Third, your knowledge of other cultures and conditiions should help you better appreciate and respect the diversity that characterizes the planet. The world is shrinking and ignorance of other cultures undermines our ability to interact sensibly with other peoples.

Hopefully, this course will help you understand the world and your role in it.