If you said yes to any of these questions, you should consider taking Human Geography as a First Year Course. Geography will enable you to answer these questions and a whole lot more with its spatial perspective and techniques of map analysis. Human Geography will give you a holistic view of your new surroundings and the world beyond. Human Geography is the study of the ways through which all places on earth are interconnected and how the human use of Earth’s surface varies over space. Field trips to places such as St. Anthony Falls immigrant commercial streets, and a variety of neighborhoods during the semester will show how geography can be applied to countless situations. Through taking Human Geography students will learn about the ways people give order to space; the growth and distribution of human population; patterns of settlement and land use, as well as, the geography of economic development and modernization. An emphasis on the geography of recreational spaces will allow students in the course to gain a better understanding and knowledge of the Twin Cities they will be able to enjoy their entire Macalester career. Students will compile the knowledge they gain from the field work, class lectures and a variety of assigned readings in papers they will write with the help of their writing assistant. In addition, students will be responsible for leading discussions of readings.

In 2013, students will help evaluate a program run by the Freshwater Society. This program aims to change the ways people perceive urban watersheds and help people change their behaviors in ways that positively impact watersheds. Students will work individually and in groups to investigate the ways in which residents in several nearby Minneapolis neighborhoods perceive and interact with the Minnehaha Creek watershed, which runs through the western part of the Twin Cities metro area. Specifically, students will conduct participant observation, focus groups, and interviews with residents in these neighborhoods to understand how they perceive, interact with, and respond to the Freshwater Society’s educative programs and materials. Together, students will author a report for the Freshwater Society that identifies the ways residents come to adopt and reject perceptions and practices that contribute to the health of the Minnehaha Creek watershed.