GEOG 3620 - North America: Geography, Diversity, and Change

This course examines North America from three points of view: its physical character, the human societies that constitute it, and its distinctive regions. Interwoven in the course is a focus on how discrimination and oppression have affected different groups of people in North America and how those experiences shape contemporary social inequalities. The course canvasses each region comprising North America with a primary focus on the United States, considering the physical setting, processes of political and economic development, and the emergence and dynamism of distinctive identities, values, cultural characteristics, and social and environmental problems. The course encourages each student to appreciate diversity and challenges them to deepen their understanding of how privilege in North American society shapes their perceptions of, and interactions with, people who have different perspectives.