Understanding Where We Are

This class will take place in Ithaca, New York, United States, Earth. Those are the place names that we use to describe where we are. But these names obscure as much as they reveal. This one-semester course is, at its core, an exploration of human-environment geography. But our exploration will ripple outwards from the intensely local (the geography of the North Side Neighborhood, to the geography of Ithaca, to the geography of Tompkins Co) to the planetary. We will examine geography and a little bit of history on these various scales, exploring the various processes that shape how we interact with the environment both locally and globally. The final segment of the course will focus on the biggest human-environment geography challenge of them all: anthropogenic (human-produced) climate change. There will be a variety of reading assignments, excursions into the community, and writing/creative expressions of learning.

(Fall semester ONLY)

Instructor: Michael Smith

Instructor Bio: Michael Smith teaches history and environmental studies at Ithaca College. He has incorporated historical geography and human geography into his teaching for two decades, and for 15 years has facilitated a local environmental history project that encourages students to see the connections between past and present, and between the local and the global.

Required Materials: pen or pencil; notebook and folder or looseleaf notebook

Additional Materials Fee: $10 for custom course booklet