<p>I'm taking a class called Geography next semester. I really don't know what to expect--will we just have rote memorization of country facts or will this be an applied geography class that examines history and culture like we had in high school?</p>
<p>Please respond if you had a geography class in college (a basic one, that is, not some advanced one that a geography major may take).</p>
<p>You should check your course's focus since geography covers several topics (geomorphology, climatology/meteorology, pedology, hydrology, etc). I took a geography course once and it blended several branches of geography in order to explain the (possible) causes and effects of our planet's climate. For example, our lectures often talked about wind currents, moisture in the air, temperatures, seasons, and so on. It can be quite interesting if you're motivated :)</p>
<p>A course catalog should tell you whether it's physical or human geography. I took human this past semester -the intro class-and we covered population, language, religion, migration, agriculture, and other world-human relationships.</p>
<p>I had "World Geography" last semester. We mostly just memorized maps. There was some discussion of women's issues (as the class was predominatly female) and of current/major events in that country, but not much.</p>
<p>My school's "geography" class fell more in the vein of famous Geographers like Jared Diamond (of Guns, Germs, and Steel fame). The class analyzed geographic factors that influence sociological events, particularly nationalism.</p>
<p>Introduction to Geography classes tend to focuses on more on global trends through time and space like politics, religion, economies, and languages. You won't need to memorize too many random facts.</p>
<p>it'll depend on the school and the specific course.</p>