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What Is Geography?
California State University, Long Beach
What IS geography?

the study of the interactions between nature and society (how human activities alter the land's
surface, water, climate, and ecosystems and also how natural processes, such as earthquakes,
tsunami, disease outbreaks, climate change, and erosion, affect human societies; many geographers
study natural hazards, resource management, pollution monitoring and abatement, and how humans
affect global climates)

the study of the spatial distribution of natural processes and/or human activities (many
geographers focus on describing the spatial patterns of natural or human phenomena and analyzing
the processes that form these patterns and how processes at global and local scales interact with one
another)

the study of Planet Earth as the home of humanity (the focus of this kind of geography is the
physical and biological systems of the planet itself, such as the behavior of rivers and glaciers, the
character of vegetation formations, weather prediction, climate modelling, reconstructing what past
environments were like, and designing projects to restore habitats)

the study of the regional differentiation of the earth's surface (how can a region be defined and
described? what kinds of people live there and what is important to them? what do the landscapes look
like? what sorts of travel opportunities does the region offer? what sorts of conflicts occur within them
and between them and other regions and why?)
Geographical concerns and themes:

human-environment interactions, how we adapt to our environments, modify and depend on them

location, including absolute location (e.g., latitude and longitude) and relative location (e.g., how far
one city is from another and how that affects the amount of interaction between them)

movement, patterns and processes by which people, goods, and ideas move across space

places, including both the human and natural characteristics of particular places and the meaning of
places to people living or visiting (or fantasizing about) them

regions, including defining them and how they function and how people perceive them
Geography majors learn how to use exciting tools that make them very employable:

maps

geographical information systems (GIS)

satellite images

focus groups, interviews, participant observation

GPS and field work

spatial statistics
For more information:

Dr. Paul Laris, Undergraduate Advisor
Department of Geography
California State University
Long Beach, CA 90840-11011
(562) 985-1862 or -4321
(562) 985-8993 (fax)
[email protected]
http://www.csulb.edu/geography/