GEOG3101: Geography of the United States

How do we understand the United States? Who are we as a nation? How did we get that way? This course takes a distinctly geographic approach to these questions, one that is interested in how socio-cultural, political-economic, and biophysical forces intersect in the shaping of America as a place. In this class, we will explore the kind of social and technological innovations and transformations that have made the American present. We will look at how the decisions of the past have shaped both the possibilities and problems of the present in order to help us grapple with the complexities of building the kinds of futures we want to live in. Rather than approaching this as an inevitable story of triumphant progress, we will pay attention to the erasures, exploitation, and violence that were part of these transformations. It is only through grappling with these complexities that we can work towards a future that works.This course is designed for any student who is interested in making sense of the country we live in and feels invested in its future. Through the use of case studies, we will explore some of the essential issues facing modern America including immigration and sense of place, agriculture, and water in the Great Plains and the American West, and the intertwined future of American urbanism and the automobile industry as well as a few others. Students can expect to build skills in integrative thinking as they explore problems at the intersection of a variety of human and natural systems as well as an appreciation for how complexity shapes the production of and solution for contemporary socio-environmental problems.

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