Cultural Geography

I.     Course Prefix/Number: GEG 122

       Course Name: Cultural Geography

       Credits: 3 (3 lecture; 0 lab) - Contact Hours: 3 lecture hours/week x 16 weeks = 48 contact hours/semester

II.    Prerequisite


III.   Course (Catalog) Description

Course studies contemporary world cultures and their interrelationships with geographic structure and regions, to gain a global perspective on current world events.  Content includes human origins and distribution; population, migration, health, climate, culture, language, settlement, industry and agriculture.

IV.   Learning Objectives

  1. Demonstrate basic knowledge of maps, places in the world, landscapes, andcultures
  2. Describe the fundamental themes of cultural geography, including defining the concept of culture and cultural landscape
  3. Explain concepts accurately including population dynamics, agricultural problems, cultural ecology, folk/popular culture, and the other themes of cultural geography
  4. Explain the diversity of responses humans have created in meeting their physical and cultural needs today and in the past
  5. Discuss how the cultural environment has changed through time, and the current physical/environmental/human forces at work today
  6. Apply the concepts of cultural geography to own life and community

V.    Academic Integrity and Student Conduct


• cheating,
• falsification and fabrication (lying or distorting the truth),
• helping others to cheat,
• unauthorized changes on official documents,
• any other behavior that violates academic integrity.



VI.   Sequence of Topics

  1. Introduction to Cultural Geography
    1. Cultural Origins and Diffusion
    2. Cultural Ecology
    3. Cultural Geography and Geographic Knowledge
  2. Human Modification of the World
    1. Human Origins
    2. Agricultural Revolution
    3. Technology Revolution
  3. Cultural Ecology
    1. Agricultural Systems
    2. Nomadism
    3. Land Use Decisions/Landscape Patterns
    4. Modern Commercial Farming
    5. World Crop Patterns
    6. Carrying Capacity of the Land
    7. Energy Costs of Food Production
  4. The Geography of Population
    1. The Population Crisis
    2. Natural Controls on Population Growth
    3. Demographic Transition
    4. Population and Value Conflicts
    5. Population Distribution Patterns
  5. Migration: Population Movements
    1. Causes, Barriers, and Politics of Migration
    2. Forces leading to Migration
    3. Illegal Migration
    4. Refugees and Their Impact
  6. Cultural Landscapes in Rural Regions
    1. Landscape Variations
    2. Traditional Rural Landscapes
    3. Types of Land Tenure
    4. The Impact of Land Division
    5. Desertification
    6. Cultural Convergence
  7. The Mosaic of Culture
    1. Race and Ethnicity
    2. Conflict and Change
    3. History of Racism
    4. American Indians
    5. Hispanic Americans
    6. Race and Ethnocentrism
  8. The Mosaic of Culture
    1. The Cultural Geography of Language
    2. The Cultural Geography of Religion
    3. Ethnic Religions
    4. Universalizing Religions
    5. Language/Religious Conflicts
  9. The Human World
    1. The Changing Human World
    2. Urbanization and Industrialization
    3. Technological Change
    4. Environmental Modifications
    5. Humans: The Primary Agents of Change

VII.  Methods of Instruction

Lecture, classroom discussion, films, slides, and articles.


VIII. Course Practices Required

Students are expected to attend each class, having read the assigned textbook material before coming to class, bringing with them any questions they might have on the text or other related materials.  They are also expected to be actively engaged in the class sessions through such things as attentiveness to lectures and films, note-taking, asking questions, doing the assigned writing, and involvement in class discussions.

Students will be required to write outside of class the equivalent of 12-15 typed pages of material that will be graded.  This writing may take the form of a research or term paper, summaries of Journal articles, and/or a series of shorter analytical papers.

IX.   Instructional Materials


The current editions of standard textbooks are used, along with an appropriate atlas.

Examples of typical texts used are:
Human Geography: Landscapes of Human Activity 12th Edition. By: Bjelland, Montello, Fellmann, Getis, and Getis. McGraw Hill Publishers. (2013).

X.    Methods of Evaluating Student Progress

Examinations, quizzes, class participation and occasionally filling in maps, and/or writing papers and giving presentations.


XI.   Other Course Information

Support Services: Tutoring in economics is available at the Learning Center.

Important Dates: *
XX/XX: Last day to change to Audit



Resources and support for
  • pregnancy-related and parenting accommodations; and
  • victims of sexual misconduct
can be found at

Resources and support for LGBTQ+ students can be found at


