Geography
As an academic discipline, geography enables us to understand the relationship between ourselves and the world in which we live. The interconnectedness brought about by the forces of globalization make this knowledge increasingly crucial. Human geography uses culture regions, migration, and human impact on our surroundings to examine the world at large while physical geography completes the pictures incorporating the role of the earth’s natural forces. In geography we ask questions about our home, the world we live in, how it affects us and how we affect it.
The minor in geography, in keeping with the Department’s commitment to academic excellence, is designed to get the students to think about the connection between human culture and the physical world. Using an inter-disciplinary approach, the geography minor provides a grounding in basic geographic tools, concepts, and content and links this knowledge to other disciplines and academic majors.
Minor in Geography: 18 semester hours, including GEOG 131, 233, 234; GEOG 236 and 6 hours of upper division geography courses. Specific courses in other departments with a strong geography component may count towards the minor, subject to approval from the Department of History and Geography.
GEOGRAPHY
GEOG 131. Introduction to Geography (3:3:0)This foundation course for the study of geography will introduce students to key areas of the discipline, including climate, weather, soils, land and resource management, GIS, cartography, geomorphology, agriculture, human migration and settlement patterns, urban development, as well as the influence of geographic factors on social organization and development. The course will also include disciplinary applications such as the role of geography in the explorations and discovery of natural resources. Field trips will be used to illustrate key themes and are an integral component of the course.
GEOG 231. World Cultures (3:3:0)This course uses geographical relationships applied to major social, political, cultural, economic and environmental processes at work in representative world cultures from antiquity to the sixteenth century. Prerequisite: GEOG 232, HIST 131 or HIST 132 and sophomore standing. (Also offered as HIST 233.)
GEOG 232. Historical Geography of North America (3:3:0)This course surveys the historical establishment, expansion and regional development of North America -United States, Mexico, and Canada- from pre-Columbian times to the 1870s using a geographical perspective. It is designed to help students understand North American social, political, economic, and cultural developments within a continental geographic context. A sample of the topics explored: cultural encounters, territorial acquisitions, transportation, economic development, political development, impacts upon the environment and landscapes, and the rise of regional identities. (Also offered as special sections of HIST 131.)
GEOG 233. Physical Geography (3:3:0)This course provides and introduction to the processes involved in the formation of the earth’s physical environment. Emphasis is on ecosystemic studies of flora, fauna, weather, climate, vegetation, soils, and land forms.
GEOG 234. Cultural Geography (3:3:0)This course provides an introduction to the study of the interrelationships of humans and the earth’s physical environment. The themes of culture regions, diffusion, ecology, integration, and landscape are explored on a global, national, and regional level.
GEOG 236. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) (3:3:0)This course will teach the basic skills and applications of Geographic Information Systems. The emphasis will be on techniques used in geography and in other disciplines, such as biology, political science, and sociology.
GEOG 331. Geography of Mexico and its Northern Borderlands (3:3:0)This course will looks at how the physical environment has shaped and continues to shape people’s lives and culture in the area under consideration. While the course is tailored for educators, particularly those who will be teaching in a bilingual / bicultural environment, it will benefit all students interested in human culture, the environment, and the interaction of the two. Prerequisite: Three hours in history, geography, or sociology and junior status or instructor’s permission.
GEOG 332. Texas and the Borderlands (3:3:0)This course introduces students to basic physical, cultural and human geographical concepts as applied to the historical development of Texas. Designed as an alternate Texas history course, it can also serve as a geographical introduction to the Lone Star State. Prerequisite: Three hours in history, geography, or sociology and junior status or instructor’s permission. (Also offered as HIST 270.)
GEOG 380 Urban Geography (3:3:0)This course will cover the major geographical forces at work in the development of cities and their hinterlands. Students will learn the locational aspects of urbanization, the functions of and relationships among and between cities, their relationship to rural areas along with the internal structure of urban areas. The course will also introduce basic concepts in modern urban planning, including the role of citizens in the process. Prerequisite: Three hours in history, geography, or sociology and junior status or instructor’s permission. (Also offered as HIST 380.)
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