Geography
Geography provides a wealth of opportunities for students interested in mapping, the environment, teaching, research and other fields. You can work for government organizations, private industry or technology companies. This academic focus incorporates Earth, life and social science, as well as business and teaching. Geographers integrate time, demographics and space into maps which have both academic and applied values.
You’ll learn three major facets as a geography student: Geographic Information Systems (GIS), cultural geography and physical geography. These areas form the core of the curriculum. You may then pursue other areas of concentration such as teaching, social studies, GIS or the sciences. Geography specialists may focus on general studies for teaching in public schools or colleges, GIS, meteorology, economic geography, urban geography, political geography, historical geography, geomorphology, environmental geography or biogeography. Geographical knowledge has specific application to urban planning, environmental studies, business, defense, satellite mapping, demographics, history and economics.
Geography is a core area of study for elementary or high school teachers. Preparation includes meeting the General Studies requirements for the target school plus physical geography with lab and cultural geography.
Contact
Full time Faculty
| Name | Phone | Email Address |
| Peter Konovnitzine | 909-652-6428 | peter.konovnitzine@chaffey.edu |
Part-Time Faculty
| Last Name | First Name | Phone | |
| Bayle | Maria | 909-652-7304 | maria.bayle@chaffey.edu |
| Headley-El | Rudolph | 909-652-7520 | rudolph.headleyel@chaffey.edu |
| Kremenetski | Konstantin | 909-652-7239 | konstantin.kremenetski@chaffey.edu |
| Mukundan | Ramaa | 909-652-7242 | ramaa.mukundan@chaffey.edu |
| Ogbuchiekwe | Edmund | 909-652-7985 | edmund.ogbuchiekwe@chaffey.edu |
| Schmidt | Lisa | 909-652-7090 | lisa.schmidt@chaffey.edu |
Degrees
Geography Associate in Arts for Transfer
The Associate of Arts in Geography for Transfer (AA-T) degree serves both students
who wish to pursue entry-level work in geography or transfer to four-year universities
for advanced study in the field. Successful completion of the transfer degree in geography
guarantees the student acceptance to a California State University (but does not guarantee
acceptance to a particular campus or major) to pursue a baccalaureate degree, in preparation
to pursue a career in the field of geography, Earth science, geology, geophysics and
various social sciences.
The goals and outcomes for the geography major include the following:
- Prepare students for seamless transfer to a CSU to complete a geography baccalaureate degree.
- Prepare students for advanced studies within the field of geography.
To obtain the geography associate’s degree, students must:
- Complete all major requirements listed below with grades of C or better in each course.
- Maintain a minimum grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 in all CSU-transferable coursework.
- Complete 60 semester CSU-transferable units using the California State University-General
Education Breadth (CSU-GE) OR the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum
(IGETC) pattern.
No more than 60 semester units are required.
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon the successful completion of this degree, students should be able to:
- Identify places/locations/countries on a blank regional or world map.
- Identify geographic landforms in the field.
- Identify major continents, rivers, islands, and other features on a world map.
- Recognize various geographic features on a map of North America including major biomes, vegetative regions, rivers, lakes and islands.
- Investigate their physical environment and explain how various physical forces shape the environment in which they live.
- Discuss and describe the major concepts in human geography including place, space, scale, and landscape.
- Assess how all inhabitants of earth are interrelated with the lives of people in other places, thereby creating a greater understanding of the places and landscapes encountered in everyday life.
Courses
1 World Regional Geography (3)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.
Class hours: 48-54 lecture.
Grading: Letter grade only.
Survey of the world's culture regions and nations as interpreted by geographers, including
physical, cultural and economic features. Emphasis on spatial and historical influences
on population growth, transportation networks and natural environments. Identification
and importance of the significant features of regions. Use of maps and regional analysis
to interpret world patterns of demography, economies, resources, religions and languages
in relationship to landforms and climate. Current world events discussed in an international
framework.
2 Introduction to Weather, Climate, and Society Geography (3)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.
Class hours: 48-54 lecture.
Grading: Letter grade only.
Overview of the fundamentals of Earth's climate and weather, including global climate
change, water and chemical cycles, outstanding features of atmospheric and ocean circulation,
and feedback between different system components. Importance of climate science and
prediction to society, with emphasis on science's role in identifying, quantifying
and solving/exploring environmental problems of global weather such as ozone hole,
El Nino/La Nina and the rapid melting of ice sheets and retreating glaciers world-wide.
3 Geography of California (3)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.
Class hours: 48-54 lecture.
Grading: Letter grade only.
A thematic approach to the state’s issues, processes and topics relevant to geography
including climate, landforms, natural vegetation, water resources, cultural landscape,
ethnic diversity, urban and agricultural regions, and the economy. This course explores
the physical, and human landscapes that have evolved as a result of the human-environment
interface.
4 Physical Geography (3)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.
Class hours: 48-54 lecture.
Grading: Letter grade only.
Spatial study of the Earth’s dynamic physical systems and processes. Topics include
Earth-sun geometry, weather, climate, water, landforms, soil and the biosphere. Emphasis
is on the interrelationships among environmental and human systems and processes,
and their resulting patterns and distributions. Tools of geographic inquiry are also
briefly covered; they may include: maps, remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Broad-based course with an interdisciplinary
outlook.
5 Physical Geography Laboratory (1)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.
Class hours: 48-54 laboratory.
Grading: Letter grade only.
Corequisite: Geography 4 (may be taken previously).
Course is designed to provide supplemental exercises in topics covered in Physical
Geography lecture. Lab experience includes map analysis and interpretation, weather
prognostication, landform processes and evolution, tectonics, biogeography and habitat
analysis. Field trips provide the opportunity for on-site field interpretation of
climate, soils, landforms, plants, and animal distribution.
6 Environmental Geography (3)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.
Class hours: 48-54 lecture.
Grading: Letter grade only.
Global perspectives on environmental geography. Geographical approach to the biosphere:
environmental principles, economics and environment, human impact, extinction and
biodiversity, food/population crises, the social environment, global tampering, global
climate change and contemporary values in global environmental issues.
10 Cultural Geography of North America (3)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.
Class hours: 48-54 lecture.
Grading: Letter grade only.
Cultural geography of North America in time and space. The dynamics and ethnicity
of North American culture is traced through discovery, exploration, settlement patterns,
aboriginal patterns, national interests, economic exploitation, agriculture, commerce,
ethnicity, demography and changing attitudes. Emphasis on the origin and diffusion
of North American cultural traditions.
11 Human Geography (3)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.
Class hours: 48-54 lecture.
Grading: Letter grade only.
Study of diverse human populations, their cultural origins, diffusion and contemporary
spatial expressions. Topics include demography, languages and religions,
urbanization and landscape modification, political units and nationalism, and economic
systems and development.
