Everyone should take a geography course
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Geography is about connecting ourselves to other parts of the world. As students, we should take the time to acknowledge and care about our studies and include a Geography course in our academic journeys!
Out of the variety of academic disciplines, there is only one that I believe every student should take at least one course in: geography. No other field ranges with such diverse, intersectional, and interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the social and natural worlds. I will fully admit, I am biased. Not only am I a sustainability studies major, but I am also the current Geography and Sustainability Club’s student-faculty liaison. Geography, however, speaks for itself when I say that, at minimum, one course should be required for every student to acknowledge and appreciate our built and natural environments.
Geography is more than just memorizing places on a map. While important, it's doubtful someone is going to ask what the capital of Washington is (Olympia) unless during a bar trivia night. Geography asks why Olympia is the capital and not Seattle, why Olympia was settled the way it was, how climate patterns affect development in Olympia, and more. Geography is often called the “bridging discipline,” combining all four categories of academia: arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
Gaining spatial analysis skills, beyond knowing where and why things are the way they are, is also useful in understanding our history and how to build a more sustainable and equitable world. Redlining is a since-outlawed 1930s policy of the United States to geographically segregate major cities, aiming to prohibit non-white individuals from purchasing homes— especially in areas that were traditionally largely White.
Oftentimes, non-white people would be forced to live next to environmentally sensitive and undesirable locations, systematically lowering housing values and human health outcomes. Even while outlawed, the effects of redlining are still prevalent throughout the country today. Throughout history, concepts of geography have unfortunately been used to divide us. It is up to us to connect our struggles and bridge our divisions so we can heal together. Progress helps us the most when we are united.
The harmful stereotype that “Americans are stupid at geography” has always been a uniquely sore spot for me. Yes, I indeed was the only one in my fifth (and eleventh-grade) United States history classes to correctly name all the states and capitals, but as said earlier, geography is so much more than that. In the words of one of my former teachers, “The United States is a huge country, and the same Europeans who claim they know geography are also the ones who think Miami and the Grand Canyon are driving distance.” Scale is important, and it’s no surprise that Americans might not know where everything is when it takes nearly four hours (without an accessible train route) just to get from Geneseo to the Massachusetts border.
Politics in the United States often seems to focus on one issue at a time. This method, however, is deeply flawed, as everything is connected to everything. Every injustice can be tied to several other injustices. One cannot simply solve housing without addressing energy cost burdens, healthcare, education, et cetera. Even as this concept, known as intersectionality, is traditionally a sociological concept, it is incredibly important and, in my opinion, foundational to understanding geography. Once learned, it completely altered how I saw life and how to effectively help create change moving forward.
Taking a lot of different classes in a liberal arts curriculum, though well-intentioned, means nothing if a geography class is not required. Every student should learn to appreciate and acknowledge the world around them and actively engage in it. Geography is the only discipline that can truly teach this and, in doing so, create a more connected world.