GEOG 325 Geography of Canada & the United States

Captain CanuckCaptain AmericaInstructor: Paul Kaldjian
Email: kaldjian@uwec.edu
Office: Phillips Hall 245
Phone: 836-2321/836-3244

US & Canada
Instructor: Joe Hupy
Email: hupyjp@uwec.edu
Office: Phillips Hall 254
Phone: 836-2316/836-3244

 

SCHEDULE

POLICIES & REQUIREMENTS

READINGS

EXERCISES

OFFICE
HOURS

COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES
This course introduces students to the geography of the United States and Canada. More specifically, students will learn how the geographic perspective helps us in understanding the diverse physical and human landscapes of the United States and Canada. The geographical perspective examines environments, the arrangement of material (including symbolic) culture on the landscape, the emergence of regions and the interconnections between them, it tries to understand the relationships between people and the environments in which they live, and how those relationships change and affect a region over time.  As with all regional geography courses, GEOG 325 makes numerous and important contributions to the baccalaureate goals as set out by UWEC.

In addition to learning the geography of the United States and Canada, important objectives of the course include learning the framework used by geographers to examine the world. This will include learning some tools of geographical analysis and understanding fundamental theories and concepts in geography.

Since an important objectives of the course include learning the framework used by geographers to examine the world, it will include learning some tools of geographical analysis and understanding fundamental theories and concepts in geography.According to the National Geography Standards developed in 1994, a geographically informed person should have the five skills listed below.  In addition to learning the specific geography of Middle East and North Africa, working on that skills that a geographically informed person knows underlie the course homework assignments and class discussions and lectures.

A geographically informed person knows how to:

1. Ask geographic questions -- Questions revolve around asking why things are  where they are, how they got there and what is the significance of their being there?
2. Acquire geographic information: Geographic information is information about locations, the physical and human characteristics of those locations, and the geographic activities and conditions of the people who live in those places.
3. Organize geographic information: Once collected, geographic information should be organized and displayed in ways that help analysis and interpretation; these range from the visual and graphical (e.g., maps, graphs, diagrams, tables) to the written (e.g., essays, paragraphs, pertinent quotes, tables).
4. Analyze geographic information: involves seeking patterns, relationships and connections, noting such things as similarities, trends and differences over space and time
5. Answer geographic questions:  Successful geographic inquiry culminates in the development and communication of generalizations, inferences and conclusions based on the data gathered, organized and analyzed.

1992 World Series:
The importance of geographic & cultural literacy

Canadian Flag Upside Down at 1992 World Series
Image taken from http://www.holyducttape.com/ttr/evil.html, to which no endorsement is given nor implied, only credit and thanks for the availability of the photograph.