This course examines the geography of human culture. Topics may include human
interaction with the environment, population, mobility, nutrition and disease, race and
gender, language, religion, agricultural practices, urbanization, human interaction with the
environment, industrial development, and political structures.
GEOG 102Cultural Geography
Please note: This is not a course syllabus. A course syllabus is unique to a particular section of a course by instructor. This curriculum guide provides general information about a course.
I. General Information
Department
Social Science
II. Course Specification
Course Type
General Education
General Education Competency
GEM Social and Behavioral Ways of Knowing
Credit Hours Narrative
3 Credits
Semester Contact Hours Lecture
45
Grading Method
Letter grade
III. Catalog Course Description
This course examines the geography of human culture. Topics may include human
interaction with the environment, population, mobility, nutrition and disease, race and
gender, language, religion, agricultural practices, urbanization, human interaction with the
environment, industrial development, and political structures.
IV. Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, a student will be able to:
- Describe and explain what a map is, its basis purposes, what map scale is and various ways it is presented, what map projection is and how distortion occurs, and what geographic grid is and how meridians identify longitude and parallel circles identify latitude.
- Recognize and explain what makes specific locations (places or regions) unique/individual while also remaining similar to others.
- Describe the concepts of population concentration/density, structure, and growth/increase.
- Describe a clear understanding of historic and more contemporary epidemics and pestilence, their unequal prevalence in regions of the world, and how/why health and health care preventative and response capabilities/services vary in different parts of the world.
- Describe migration patterns, including forced and voluntary international migration, migration within individual countries, brief historical immigration patterns to the US including unauthorized immigration, and reasons with specific examples as to why these patterns occurred or presently happen and discuss proposed solutions.
- List the languages in at least one language family branch (may be the Germanic Branch, the Romance Branch, the Indo-Aryan Branch, or another) to formulate understanding of the origins of languages, their classifications, and distributions; and list the dialects in the various regions of the US (using appropriate charts, graphs, maps, etc.) to understand ties between original settlers and present regions. Other appropriate language material may also be analyzed.
- Describe basic knowledge of world universalizing and ethnic religions, their distributions/locations, pertinent percentages and statistics, and sacred spaces. Also formulate understanding of the major religions and branches and their regional distributions in the US.
- List major Ethnicities in the US and World, identify their distributions and pertinent migrations, describe major conflicts that arose between them and opposing ethnic groups, and identify extreme atrocities between groups including ethnic cleansing and genocide.
- Describe various aspects of Political Geography including the large number of states in the world (more than 200), how multinational states operate with multiple ethnic groups, why controversies arise when state boundaries are drawn, and identify states involved in past/present peace or war. Also describe US Electoral Geography.
- Explain why food is produced and consumed differently in different parts of the world. This is put forth by discussing climates, and predominate locational types of operations/cultivations including subsistence versus largescale.
- List the three principal industrial regions of the world (parts of Europe, North America, and East Asia), and how they played their part of the Industrial Revolution and how each individually accounts for ¼ of the World’s Industry and Manufacturing. Also synthesize how these regions’ close proximity to raw materials and other needs/supplies and consumer markets facilitated/facilities their optimal performance. Additionally, assess how pollution often follows industry.
- Describe why Urban Areas are often clustered around Central Business Districts, why cities often grow in patterns of wedges/corridors, nodes, and rings outward from the CBD, and list challenges cities encounter including sprawl, taxes and tax revenue shortfalls, and through unforeseen challenges during revitalization efforts.
V. Topical Outline (Course Content)
Recent scholarly geographic map samplings showing map scale, distortion, longitude, and latitude.
Geographic concepts of regions, globalization, distribution of features, cultural identity, and diffusion.
Recent geographic scholarly work documenting Main population clusters of the world, with cartograms displaying population clusters.
Recent geographical scholarly research on the stages of epidemiologic transition, and on how distinctive health threats are tied to individual stages of demographic transition.
Geographic terminology and historical data and contemporary scholarly articles and documentaries documenting migration patterns within individual countries and immigration patterns to the US including unauthorized immigration
Language Tree figure(s) and geographic scholarly research, charts, and language distribution maps
Recent geographical scholarly research documenting world universalizing and ethnic religions and religions in the US.
Recent geographical scholarly research documenting major ethnic groups in the US and World and their major conflicts and extreme atrocities.
Recent geographical scholarly research documenting Political Geography as it relates to multinational states, conflicts pertaining to state boundaries, and other relevant issues.
Recent geographical scholarly research documenting why food is produced differently in different parts of the world.
Recent scholarly geographic research documenting historical and current overviews/information of the industrial regions of Europe, North America, and east Asia and how the natural environments and market facilities near them are applicable to performances.
Recent scholarly geographic research documenting how Urban Areas often development outward and documentation of challenges they encounter during expansion.
VI. Delivery Methodologies
Required Assignments
Regular Text Book Reading Assignments*
Periodic Scholarly Article Reading Assignments*
At least one (1) Semester Research Paper*
At least one (1) Culmination Research Presentation project*
* Specific Assignment requirements for scholarly articles, the semester paper, and culmination research project are maintained on file by the Geography Dept., under the Geog. 102 file. Regular text book assignments are noted on semester syllabi and are regularly updated in class by the instructor.
Required Exams
At least three (3) Exams equally spaced throughout the semester, and
optimally/preferably there being four (4) Exams – with the last of four being
the Final Exam.
At least (3) Quizzes periodically spaced throughout the semester covering text
book reading assignments, and optimally/preferably there being four (4)
Quizzes. The possibly of a fifth (5th) Quiz is suggested during beginning days
of the semester, to cover syllabi material.
Required Text
Recent edition of Cultural/Human Geography textbook utilized for Cultural Geography classes by many Universities, Colleges, and many other Community or 2 year colleges. The selected textbook for the course will be reviewed routinely, and another selected regularly so as to ensure class material is recent. At the College of Southern Idaho, the present selected text book (as of Fall 2016) is: Rubenstein, James M., (2014). An Introduction to Human Geography, Eleventh Edition. Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN-978-0-321-83158-3. Mandatory chapters are those covering the required topics listed above, and optional chapters are those coinciding with material not listed above.
Specific Course Activity Assignment or Assessment Requirements
Regular Text Book Reading Assignments*
Periodic Scholarly Article Reading Assignments*
At least one (1) Semester Research Paper*
At least one (1) Culmination Research Presentation project*
* Specific Assignment requirements for scholarly articles, the semester paper, and culmination research project are maintained on file by the Geography Dept., under the Geog. 102 file. Regular text book assignments are noted on semester syllabi and are regularly updated in class by the instructor.
At least three (3) Exams equally spaced throughout the semester, and
optimally/preferably there being four (4) Exams – with the last of four being
the Final Exam.
At least (3) Quizzes periodically spaced throughout the semester covering text
book reading assignments, and optimally/preferably there being four (4)
Quizzes. The possibly of a fifth (5th) Quiz is suggested during beginning days
of the semester, to cover syllabi material.