GEOG 102 - World Regional Geography

• Recognize in in-class discussion and written work the significance of the regional concept in geographic enquiry. The student should be able to identify the relevance of both the physical and human environment in regional classification systems at all scales of enquiry.
• Explain in written format and through discussion the intricate interplay of peoples within their immediate physical and cultural surroundings. Students will be able to recognize how physical features affect economic development, for instance the location of coal reserves on the economic resource base of a region.
• Demonstrate in short essays and discussion the dynamic nature of regional geography and will be able to identify and assess how the characteristics of a region change over time, for example the evolving political map of the Balkan region, in Europe.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of place locations through mapwork exercises that will familiarize the student with the location of major physical and cultural features of regions studied during the course.
• Explain in short essays and annotated mapwork key concepts as they relate to regions studied; models of urban structure and core-periphery relationships, for example, as well as locational advantage and models of migration will be identified within the regional frameworks under review.
• Identify in written format the relevance of geographic variables in the decision-making processes that effect both physical and cultural environments at all scales of enquiry, for example, the use of non-governmental initiatives in the work of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh to the multinational programs implicit in the operations of the World Trade Organisation.
• Recognize through short essays and class discussion that whilst it is possible to divide the world into regions, there exists a commonality amongst the peoples of the Earth. The student will be able to identify through written work and mapwork the ever-increasing degrees of contact that societies enjoy between one another. Students will be able to recognize that it is in the removal of cultural and/or physical barriers that humankind stands its best chance of development and will identify the role that modes of geographic enquiry play in the evaluation of spatial phenomena.

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