GEOGR 1500 - The Geography of Cyberspace

"Cyberspace" or the information world created by the Internet, World Wide Web (WWW), Virtual Reality (VR) and other information and immersive technologies is having a profound impact on culture, society and economics. It is also having a profound impact on the way we view and use geography. Cyberspace can collapse space and time, making geography meaningless for activities such as shopping, correspondence and social interaction. But at the same time, cyberspace can also enhance geography by increasing our knowledge of places and improving the competitive advantage of "wired" cities and regions. At the extreme, cyberspace can actually replace real geography by creating virtual worlds through increasingly powerful VR environments. This course examines the complex interactions between cybergeography and real geography and the potential impacts on society and the global economy. Students will have opportunities to explore these issues through traditional lectures, reading and discussions as well as WWW-based projects and web-enhanced instruction.