Successful completion of this course will provide the following learning outcomes that address the Environmental Awareness Policy criteria:

A basic understanding of the planet’s political, economic, cultural, social, and urban geography as forces affecting environmental problems and policies

An appreciation of the diversity of political, economic, cultural, and social practices and environmental interactions among different populations at regional and global scales

An awareness of how geographic location and environmental differences impact human political, economic, cultural, and social practices, and how those human practices vary geographically

An ability to think critically about how various parts of the planet are connected spatially, such that human actions in one place may have consequences in environments hundreds or thousands of miles away

A greater cognizance of the importance of geographic knowledge and human-environment interactions in understanding the everyday functioning of our planet, and its crucial role in informing policy decision-making


This course meets the following General Education Abilities by accomplishing the specific learning objectives listed below:

Communicate effectively through writing.  This is met by a series of writing assignments associated with laboratory exercises that emphasize political, economic, cultural, social, and urban geography forces affecting environmental problems and policies.
 
Communicate effectively through speech.  This is met by oral presentations, discussion leading, and classroom participation on the interconnectedness of people and places at local, regional and global scales.

Computer Literacy is addressed through course administration, student-faculty electronic interaction, and data analysis activities and assignments.
 
Critical Thinking is central to the learning objectives of this class and includes the following elements, which are accomplished through laboratory activities and assignments, lecture, and classroom discussion/inquiry-based learning efforts:

       Consider and engage opposing points of view  
       Support a consistent purpose and point of view  
       Assimilate, analyze, and present a body of information  
       Analyze arguments  

Moral Reasoning (Ethics) is an important element of this course, as it seeks to link an understanding of the diversity of human cultures, languages, and economic systems with fundamental environmental resource inequalities and global systems of production and consumption. Moral reasoning is developed through lectures, critical writing assignments, classroom discussion, and inquiry-based learning activities addressing ethical forces affecting the environment and environmental policies.

Introduction to the Course 
Regions of the World
The Politics of Representation: Maps and map projections
Population Geography, population dynamics, and the interconnectedness of people and their environments
Agriculture and Development: Environmental influences on agriculture, food systems, and agricultural geographies
Regional Cultural Systems: How cultural differences and identity are influenced by the environment
Geography and Language
Regional Economic Geography: How urbanization is both influenced by and influences the environment 
The Geography of Uneven Development: How environments affect the geographies of power and the differences between natural and built human environments
Legacy of Colonialism for Less Developed Countries 
New Political Geographies in the post-Cold War Era: Human impacts on the environment
Case Study:  Nationalism, racism, and “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia