Course Description
Introduces cultural geography as a field of analysis concerned with the interactions between meaning, space, and social power. Examines cultural objects, including literature, music, films, and architecture to explore the diverse meanings, experiences, and social conflicts shaping places, regions, and spatial processes in the United States.
Athena Title
Cultural Geography of the US
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in GEOG 2130H
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall and spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Successful completion of this course will provide the following learning outcomes: Understanding the fundamental concepts and processes of human geography as they are applied to the United States. Exposure to the diversity of American peoples and places as they are expressed through the landscape. Thinking critically about the social processes (race, immigration, power, economics) that create the varying cultural landscapes of a diverse country. Consider the ways in which Americans have historically viewed and utilized their environment and its sustainability. A greater cognizance of the importance of geography in the everyday functioning of our country, and its crucial role in informing economic and political 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. 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, 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 and languages with fundamental resource inequalities. Moral reasoning is developed through lectures, critical writing assignments, classroom discussion, and inquiry-based learning activities.
Topical Outline
Introduction to Geography Fundamentals of Human Geography Geography and Culture: Critical Issues Landscape and the “American Scene” Environmental Interaction Video: An American Nile Regionalization Colonial Origins of the U.S. Ethnic Geographies and Frontier Systems Ethnic Case Study: Spanish Americans Language Religion: Mormon Culture Area Homelands Immigration: Little Havana Contemporary Urban Immigration Patterns Race: African-Americans and the South Race: African-Americans in the Urban North Video – The Promised Land Agriculture and Foodways Agriculture: The Plow that Broke the Plains American Political Culture: MIT Landscape and Memory I and II Labor: Company Towns Urban-Industrial Development Suburbanization College Towns Exurbanization Video - Mulholland’s Dream Music: Springsteen
General Education Core
CORE V: Social SciencesSyllabus