The course offers a broad perspective on contemporary geography, focusing on language geography and language mapping, in order to develop knowledge and key competencies aimed at understanding and interpreting the world in its socio-spatial organisation.
Course Content - Last names M-Z
The course aims to provide a basic knowledge of the key concepts of human geography and the tools for understanding and interpreting the world in its socio-spatial organisation. The course focuses on cultural geography and language geography.
- A.L. Greiner, G. Dematteis G., C. Lanza, Geografia Umana. Un approccio visuale seconda edizione, Torino, UTET Università, 2016.
- D. Russo Krauss, Lingue e spazi. Elementi per l'analisi geografica dell'espressione linguistica, Roma, Aracne, 2011.
Further readings and teaching resources will be presented in class and available online via moodle.
For attending students, the exam focuses on the following topics:
1) handbook, chosen from the following bibliography (A).
2) lectures and resources available online via moodle (possibly accompanied by the consultation of a cartography manual);
For non attending students, the exam focuses on:
1) handbook, chosen from the following bibliography (A);
2) textbook of cartography (bibliography B);
3) book on a specific topic (bibliography C).
A) Handbooks
J. D. Fellmann, M. Bjelland, A. Getis, J. Getis, Geografia umana (terza edizione), Milano, McGraw-Hill, 2016 (english edition available).
A.L. Greiner, G. Dematteis G., C. Lanza, Geografia Umana. Un approccio visuale seconda edizione, Torino, UTET Università, 2016 (english edition available).
B) Cartography
E. Lavagna, G. Lucarno, Geocartografia. Guida alla lettura delle carte geotopografiche, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2014 (second edition).
A. Spada., Cos'è una carta geografica? Roma, Carocci, 2007.
C) Further readings
Language Geography
D. Russo Krauss, Lingue e spazi. Elementi per l'analisi geografica dell'espressione linguistica, Roma, Aracne, 2011.
C. Cencini, G. Forconi, La tutela delle lingue minori. Il caso Europa, Bologna, Pàtron, 2011.
Regional Geography
P. Macchia, Il Mondo e i suoi Paesi. La Geografia del Pianeta a inizio XXI secolo, Patron, 2010.
G. Rocca, L'Europa. Scenari, macroregioni, reti, processi di integrazione, Genova, Ecig, 2015.
Phisical Geography
P.R. Federici, Il Pianeta Terra. Geografia fisica, Torino, Utet Università, 2017.
A. Strahler, Fondamenti di geografia fisica, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2015.
Other readings
A. Fremont, Vi piace la geografia? Roma, Carocci, 2007 (french edition available).
E. Boria, Cartografia e potere. Segni e rappresentazioni negli atlanti italiani del Novecento, Torino, Utet Università, 2007.
T. Marshall, Le 10 mappe che spiegano il mondo, Milano, Garzanti, 2017 (english edition available).
Foreign language books
P. Claval, Geographie de la France, Paris, PUF, 2017.
D. Noin, Le nouvel espace français, Paris, Armand Colin, 2009.
J. Levy, Europe, une géographie, Paris, Hachette, 2011 (2nd edition)
B. Dézert, Ch. Vandermotten, L'identité de l'Europe. Histoire et géographie d'une quête d'unité, Paris, Armand Colin, 2008.
B.W. Blouet, The EU and Neighbors. A Geography of Europe in the Modern World (2nd edition), Wiley, 2011.
S. S. Birdsall, E. Palka, Regional Landscapes of the US and Canada (7th edition), Wiley, 2009.
D) Strumenti
F. Fulvi, Dizionario di geografia umana, Roma, Newton Compton, 1997.
R. Breton, Atlante mondiale delle lingue, Milano, Vallardi, 2010 (french edition available).
All the books are available in the Geography Library, via San Gallo 10.
Learning Objectives - Last names A-L
- Acquire operational knowledge of geographic concepts, representation and analytical tools.
- Understand the value of geography and spatial thinking, both in a professional context and in everyday life.
- Acquire the ability of applying geographic knowledge and competencies in social and environmental analyses in professional settings.
Learning Objectives - Last names M-Z
Acquire basic knowledge of geographic concepts, spatial issues of the human action on the earth's surface.
Acquire the ability of applying geographic data, cartographic representations and tools in environmental and social analyses.
Learn geographical terminology.
Prerequisites - Last names A-L
There are no specific prerequisites. However, lectures and class discussions may refer to current events and headlines. Students are therefore expected to pay attention to current world events during the course.
Prerequisites - Last names M-Z
There are no specific prerequisites. However, lectures and exams are held in Italian; so knowledge of Italian language is required.
Teaching Methods - Last names A-L
Lectures are as interactive as possible. Students are therefore expected to participate actively to the course, class discussions, and other activities.
Teaching Methods - Last names M-Z
Lectures with audiovisual tools. Further resources available online via e-learning platform.
Type of Assessment - Last names A-L
The test is written for all students. It consists of a panel of questions, of which some require a short answer (maximum 5 lines), and others a long answer (maximum 20 lines). The former will receive between 0 and 2 marks; students will be expected to provide a precise and concise answers on the topics covered in the course. The latter will receive between 0 and 10 marks; students will be expected to develop a personal and critical argument, based on the concepts acquired during the course. The exam may include some closed-answer questions, which will receive between 0 and 1 mark.
Type of Assessment - Last names M-Z
The test is written for all students.
Students will be evaluated about the knowledge of all the topics and the ability to to develop a personal and critical argument.
For attending students, the exam focuses on the following topics:
1) handbook, chosen from the bibliography (list A).
2) lectures and resources available online via moodle (possibly accompanied by the consultation of a cartography manual);
For non-attending students, the exam focuses on:
1) handbook, chosen from the following bibliography (A);
2) textbook of cartography (bibliography B);
3) book on a specific topic (bibliography C).
The test on the topics of the lectures consists in a panel of questions:
- closed-answer questions
- short questions (15 lines) on specific topics covered in the course
- analysis and commentary of a thematic map or diagram.
Attending students can take a written test at the end of the lessons on the course topics and on the resources provided via Moodle platform.
The test on the handbook consist in a panel of questions on all the contents of the handbook:
- closed-answer questions
- short questions (15 lines).
The test for non-attending students consists in a panel of long questions (30 lines) on the cartography textbook and on the other book chosen.
Course program - Last names A-L
The course introduces the problems and origins of geography, geography’s main concepts and interpretation keys; it finally presents an array of concrete examples that illustrate their application. It will focus on the representation and analysis of geographical phenomena; geographical analytical tools; cartography as a means of representation and communication. Among the concrete themes proposed are geography of the environment, of population, and of health. Lastly, language mapping will be discussed.
Course program - Last names M-Z
Introduction to human geography: objectives and contents; brief history of the discipline.
Tools for representation and analysis of geographical phenomena; cartography as a means of representation and communication.