HTY 398 (003): Historical Issues: Historical Geography of North America
[This course is in the process of being approved as HTY 275: Historical Geography of North America. General Education application will be determined at that time.]
Instructor: Anne K. Knowles
Class Number: 78115
Days/Time: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9:00 – 9:50 a.m.
Location: Stevens 370
Description: Historical geography is an interdisciplinary field that views history as the interaction between people and the places they create. Understanding the development of the United States from this perspective involves studying the physical conditions that have enabled and constrained regional economies, the relationships between cities and their productive hinterlands, the development of cultural regions with distinctive landscapes and ways of life, and the spatial structuring of American society from the first European colonies up to today’s auto-centric cities and industrial farms. How was the vast territory of the United States claimed, controlled, and organized? How did different streams of immigrants make their mark on regional societies? How have economic booms and busts shaped American cities for good and ill? This course will answer these and many other questions. Assignments will teach students how to analyze maps as historical documents and how to make maps. The class will work collectively to create a historical atlas on a common theme for the final assignment.
General Education Requirements: This course does not yet meet any of the General Education requirements.
Prerequisites: First-year students require permission.