OER: Open Educational Resources

Human Geography: A Connected Approach provides an engaging and comprehensive introduction to the study of how we, as humans, are connected to one another and to the world around us. Building on the legacy of the open textbooks World Regional Geography and Introduction to Human Geography, this expanded text delves deeper into the core concepts of Human Geography, from global systems to personal choices, offering students a richer understanding of how geography shapes both past and future. With its accessible approach, this text goes beyond traditional textbooks by framing Human Geography as an evolving story that each of us is a part of, inviting reflection and curiosity along the way.

“Geography is a diverse discipline that has some sort of connection to most every other academic discipline. This connection is the spatial perspective, which essentially means if a phenomenon can be mapped, it has some kind of relationship to geography.
Studying the entire world is a fascinating subject, and geographical knowledge is fundamental to a competent understanding of our world. In this chapter, you will learn what geography is as well as some of the fundamental concepts that underpin the discipline. These fundamental terms and concepts will be interwoven throughout the text, so a sound understanding of these topics is critical as you delve deeper into the chapters that follow.”

Human geography emphasizes the importance of geography as a field of inquiry and introduces students to the concept of spatial organization. Knowing the location of places, people, and events is a gateway to understanding complex environmental relationships and interconnections among places and across landscapes.