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."