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GEOG 1131

Human Geography 1: Population, migration and human settlement

  • Credits: 3
  • Level: Undergraduate, Year 1
  • Semester: 1
  • Status: Core course
  • Pre-requisites: CAPE Geography (Units 1 & 2) at grade 3 or above, OR equivalent.
  • Course coordinator: Dr. Priya Kissoon

Course coverage

Approaches to human geography; the role of space and spatial analysis in human geography; demography and population; types of migration; critical analysis of mobility and settlement.

Significance/Rationale

Level I Human Geography introduces students to university-level geography and provides a broad foundation to help them to critically understand the world in which they live.This course introduces basic knowledge, ideas, theories and concepts appropriate to first year university human geography and exposes students to a range of methods and techniques to enhance their learning experiences.The UWI Geography degree allows for the progressive intellectual development of students through Levels I to III, so this course is an essential foundation for Level II Geography.It provides students with wide-ranging knowledge relevant to not only the Caribbean region but to the wider global society, and provides a social, political and cultural awareness of selected global populations, overseas migration and human settlement issues.

Course description

This course introduces modern approaches to the study of Population Geography. It examines the human and physical factors determining population distribution and dynamics, theories of population change including Malthusian and neo-Malthusian ideas and the demographic transition theory. It explains the sources of, and problems associated with population statistics, how to measure fertility, mortality and migration and population projection techniques. It also discusses family planning and population control efforts around the world, the status of women and its crucial role in population dynamics, major causes of death around the world including AIDS, the role of migration in population dynamics, culture, population and the environment. The course also introduces historical and contemporary perspectives on urbanization both in the industrialized world and the developing world and reviews theories on the geographical distribution of human settlement.

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