Prospective Students

If you aren't sure what college level geography is all about, you are not alone. Most students taking a geography class to fulfill a general education goal wonder, "What do geographers do?"

Geographers describe and explain spatial patterns over the surface of the earth. We ask "where is the Mississippi River most likely to flood and why?" or "why are the populations of African states so much poorer than those of European states?" or even "why are there so many antique stores in downtown Fredericksburg?"

Geographers also investigate the physical and cultural characteristics of places and the people who make each place unique. We might ask, for example, how a particular landscape becomes an important symbol of a person's national, ethnic, or place-based identity. We may question whether that symbol excludes or even insults other people living in the same place. And, because no place exists in isolation, we examine how global linkages help define each place's environment, economy, and cultures.

Finally, geographers examine the interaction between humans and their environments. This concern sparks questions about the impacts of deforestation on local and global climates and ecosystems or about how people with different cultural backgrounds perceive their natural environments.

These are just samples of the topics you'll explore in any geography course at MWC. We invite all who are interested in a particular class or in pursuing a major in geography to come by and talk with any member of the department. You'll find us in Monroe Hall, Suite 307.