GEOG 4 - Cultural Geography

Transfer Status

CSU/UC

Unit(s)

3.00

• Lecture: 51.00 Contact hours/102.00 Out of class hours/153.00 Total hours/3.00 Unit(s)
• Total: 51.00 Contact hours/102.00 Out of class hours/153.00 Total hours/3.00 Unit(s)

Course Description: This course is a study of diverse human populations, their cultural origins, diffusion and contemporary spatial expressions. Topics include: demography, languages and religions, urbanization and landscape modification, political units and nationalism, and economic systems and development. (C-ID GEOG 120).

Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the distribution of the human population and the processes (both historical and contemporary) that shape this distribution.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the origins, diversity, and distribution of basic cultural patterns, with particular attention given to: language, religion, urbanization, political and economic patterns, and human-environment interactions
3. Demonstrate an understanding of basic concepts used in the geographic study of human patterns including: diffusion, cultural landscapes, cultural ecology, and cultural regions.

Topic Titles / Suggested Time Topic

Lecture

1. Class Activities
2. Discussion
3. Homework: Students are required to complete two hours of outside-of-class homework for each hour of lecture
4. Lecture
5. Multimedia Presentations
6. Participation

1. Exams/Tests
2. Quizzes
3. Oral Presentation
4. Homework
5. Written Assignments

Reading Assignments

1. Read the article that concerns residential patterns in midtown Manhattan, New York. Be prepared to discuss how and why people of dramatically varying income levels live so close to one another (particularly near Central Park East).
2. Read the chapter/article that deals with human migration patterns. Be prepared to discuss what is meant by “push/pull” factors. Think about how did these factors shape the movement west across North America of Euroamerican populations. We will discuss these ideas in class, be prepared.

Writing Assignments

1. Write a short essay (2 pages) on the “cultural use of space.” Compare and contrast the example from Japan with the settlement pattern associated with the Amazon Basin.
2. Write a research paper (1500 words) contrasting the 17th century Plantation system in the southern United States with the industrial northeast. Focus on land usage, economy, and any cultural predispositions for the two regions that you deem important. How did these two different cultural patterns affect cultural institutions (e.g. the institution of slavery for example).

Out-of-Class Assignments

1. Attend our field trip to downtown Oroville. Take notes on different neighborhood characteristics and propose some hypotheses to explain these patterns based on historical factors. Present your findings in class.
2. Walk around and through our campus. Using sketch maps try to develop a sense of the temporal (over time) development of building sequencing at Butte College. We will compare your field notes and maps with actual data obtained from our Land Use Committee.

Rubenstein, R. (2020). Cultural Landscape: Introduction to Human Geography. Pearson, 13th. 9780135204313.

Rowntree, L, L. Martin L, M. Price, and W. Wyckoff. (2018). Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development. Pearson, 7th. 9780134539423.

Christine Rosenfeld, Nathan Burtch. (2021). Human Geography. Creative Commons and VIVA Open Publishing, OER. https://www.oercommons.org/courses/human-geography.

Geography (Masters Required)