Introduction to Human Geography

Faculteit—

NiveauBachelor

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

After completing this course students are able to:

1) Apply the conceptual tools of human geography to develop a well-informed and reflexive standpoint on contemporary global societal issues;
2) Identify and critically evaluate different arguments on globalization and its implications at different spatial scales;
3) Describe/discuss the added value of applying the lens of human geography to the study of economic, social, cultural and environmental phenomena;
4) Illustrate what it means that local events are globally constituted and how societies in different parts of the world are interconnected.

Relationship between assessment and learning goals:

Learning objectives 1 & 2 will be assessed by means of an in-class essay and an in-class exam'.
Objective 3 will be assessed on the basis of group presentations on tourism and
objective 4 will be assessed on the basis of a video documentary (for details on each form of assessment, see below).

Content

This course introduces students to the world of Human Geography and to the human geography of the world. Starting from the proclaimed death of geography as a result of ongoing processes of globalization, this course will investigate how geography is still relevant, at the global, national, regional and local levels. Students familiarize themselves during this course with the conceptual base of contemporary human geography, learn about different traditions within the field of human geography, and study a range of global and local issues from a human geographical point of view.
The course content is divided into three thematic sections:

Section 1: Globalization and the death of geography? From Fordism to post-Fordism, global production networks and the impact of globalization on places
Section 2: The hollowing out of the nation state: nations, national identities and rescaling
Section 3: The mixed blessing of tourism: economic, ecological and socio-cultural impacts of tourism

Format
Students will study a wide array of academic literature (articles, papers, chapters). This literature will be discussed in class and used in the preparation of the assignments. Various classroom activities are used in order to engage with the literature actively and critically. Furthermore, the course includes a city walk in Utrecht and a video documentary assignment to help students apply geographical thinking in practice.

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