Geography of China: A new course from Dr. Dong in Fall 2020 | Department of Geography and the Environment
January 6, 2021

Geography of China: A new course from Dr. Dong in Fall 2020

The new course, Geography of China, taught by Dr. Pinliang Dong attracted 21 students in Fall 2020. The course covered 14 modules: 1. A Virtual Tour along the Chinese Border; 2. History of China; 3. Physical Environment; 4. Population; 5. Agriculture, Food, and Culture; 6. Economic Geography; 7. Urban Geography; 8. Rural China; 9. Transportation and E-Commerce; 10. Environmental Challenges; 11. Coastal Regions; 12. Peripheral Regions; 13. Beyond the Mainland; and 14. Looking Forward. The requirements of the course included two essays, two online tests, course project report, and project presentation. Students selected a wide variety of topics for the course project, such as the South-North water transfer project, economic development and poverty, geography of Chinese cuisine, Tibet, ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang, overgrazing and desertification in Qinghai, COVID-19 in China, LGBT+ community in China, and hybrid farming in China. The course received very positive feedback (4.8/5.0) from 12 students who participated in the course evaluation, as one student commented, "the class was intellectually stimulating…, it broadened my global perspective."