Academics
Human Geography is offered as a Minor Concentration at Saint Michael's. Geography complements and extends the work of students in many areas of concentration ranging from the natural sciences to the humanities and social sciences. Geography courses also feature strongly in the interdisciplinary programs in Global and Environmental Studies.
Human geographers examine the complex relationship between society and space. Their work crosses many of the traditional disciplinary boundaries. This makes Human Geography a perfect fit at a Liberal Arts college. Geographers study the spatial organization of human activities, the complexities of human environment relations, and the creation and re-creation of places. This happens at a variety of spatial scales from local to global using a diverse set of methods. Human geographers provide one of the central analytical viewpoints on the processes of globalization.
Courses are offered at all levels. Some courses are focus on a specific topic (the evolution of the world economy, political geography, or the geography of cities). Others are more applied focusing the ways in which societies shape their environment (geography of water; environmental policy; urban and regional planning). All are designed to broaden the social and cultural horizons of students and to contribute to a sophisticated understanding of their world.