Course Description:
The primary objective of this course is to familiarize you with the diversity of people and
places in the world. In addition, you will learn the locations of some basic places and features
so that you will have a better understanding of world events and how they are interrelated. As
a holistic discipline, geography is concerned with the distributions of all sorts of phenomena,
both human and physical, and with the interactions between and among those phenomena. The
most significant phenomena that this course studies is the culture region, which is defined in
almost as many ways as there are geographers. Virtually all the definitions, however, center
upon the differences in how people live and interact with one another in place, and how these
different styles of living impact the landscape.
While such knowledge of the world is important in and of itself, it also has a more practical
use. As telecommunications advances have accelerated this century, our planet is becoming
more connected and interrelated than ever before. In the near future, knowing the customs of
Chinese society, for example, could be an important job skill that you might need when your
company sends you to manage its new office in Beijing. Similarly, another devastating
earthquake in Japan could affect your life in numerous ways, including your job, the interest
rate you get for a loan, or the next technological improvement for your home computer.
Understanding these linkages and anticipating their outcomes will make you a more
competitive member of the global workforce and community.
Technology also serves to diffuse information faster than ever before. Today it is possible for
virtually every member of our country to instantaneously observe radical changes taking place
in the world economy and power structure. However, seemingly fewer and fewer people
know where such events are taking place, or understand their causes and implications. This
course will help you understand world events, living styles and conditions, environments,
cultures, and conflicts better, it will introduce you to other cultures, and it will begin to
prepare you for a career in the international marketplace.
The text is Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World by Rowntree, Lewis, Price, and Wyckoff, 3rd ed. (2011). Each topic/region
generally takes up about 1 week (2 lectures); the Caribbean, Central Asia, and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and the
Pacific Islands) are each covered in about one lecture.
Course Schedule:
The course somewhat follows the textbook's organization of the world, with some modification. Regions and text chapters in the order they are covered:
Introduction to Human Geography (1)
Introduction to Physical Geography (2)
Europe (8)
Russia (9)
North America (3)
Latin America (4)
Caribbean (5)
Subsaharan Africa (6)
Southwest Asia/North Africa (7)
Central Asia (10)
South Asia (12)
East Asia (11)
Southeast Asia (13)
Australia and Oceania (14)
Go back to "The World According to Jon"
Last Updated: 29 July 2013
Oklahoma State University
Department of Geography
Stillwater, OK 74078