48
Geography
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The Human Geography course will provide the basic knowledge, conceptual and practical tools, and analytical skills to understand the spatial, cultural, social, and economic dynamics that structure the contemporary world (in relation, for example, to the environment, migration, globalization, and tourism), with a focus on processes of intercultural interaction and territorial mediation.
In addition to defining the main geographical concepts and their evolution, special attention will be given to the relationship between geography and some of the most recent innovations and developments, such as artificial intelligence, the relationship between geography and justice, transformations in geography for the description of outer space, and others. These in-depth studies will be conducted by analyzing historical and current events that are particularly significant for the representation of the implications of these aspects of the discipline.
Among the objectives and expected outcomes, in accordance with the educational objectives of the degree program:
- Provide basic methodological knowledge and skills on the main concepts of human geography: space, territory, place, landscape, scale, network, mobility, and others;
- Develop the ability to critically interpret territorial transformations in diachronic and spatial form, the relationships between culture and territory, and global and local dynamics (for example, in the observation of phenomena such as migration, urbanization, conflicts, concepts of development and sustainability) concerning the territories and the main social, scientific, or ethical issues related to them;
- Stimulate an interdisciplinary approach, integrating geography with tools, basic vocabulary, and concepts drawn from linguistics, literature, cultural anthropology, economics, law, and sociology to understand and discuss the linguistic and cultural features of territories;
- Develop intercultural skills, enhancing the role of the idea of culture in geographical space and in relation to the languages studied; that of territorial representations in the construction of individual and collective identity and the application of acquired historical-geographical knowledge to socio-linguistic analysis;
- Contextualize geographical content in the profile of the cultural mediator, providing interpretative tools for the management of multilingual, multicultural, and transnational contexts and for the formulation of independent judgments on issues related to the interaction between cultures;
- Refine communication and argumentation skills through the use of geographical and statistical language and cartographic representations; expand basic vocabulary and organize acquired knowledge functionally for written, oral, and online communication purposes;
- Know and manage different types of texts concerning contemporary cultures and analyze heterogeneous texts (visual, tourist, technical, etc.);
- Develop the ability to organize prior knowledge and independently find and process sources, methodological tools, and data on geographical topics and linguistic-cultural areas of interest.
Course Prerequisites
A basic knowledge of general geography is required (typically acquired during upper secondary education).
In particular, students are expected to be able to:
- Describe the fundamental elements of climate and the main units of the physical and morphological landscape;
- Identify and locate key geographical contexts and world regions at a global scale;
- Observe and understand the dynamics of human movements (such as migration, travel, and tourism) and the evolution of human settlements and their spatial distribution.
Teaching Methods
The teaching activities will be divided into the following segments:
- 42 hours of lectures focused on the definition of general concepts;
- 8 hours dedicated to theoretical and technological innovations for the geographical interpretation and analysis of territories;
- 4 hours will be allocated to seminar-style sessions led by guest scholars;
Multimedia presentations and digital mapping tools will be used in all lessons.
The presentation of course topics will encourage active student participation, aiming to foster critical discussion on the evolution of the discipline and its application to the professional pathways relevant to the degree program.
Assessment Methods
The oral exam will consist of at least three questions aimed at assessing the student’s understanding of the contents presented during lectures, the study of the required texts, the course materials provided online, and seminar sessions. Evaluation criteria will include the ability to clearly, coherently, and appropriately articulate the knowledge acquired during the course, as well as to apply it to unfamiliar territorial contexts chosen by the student.
The exam will also assess:
- the correct use of discipline-specific terminology;
- the ability to critically interpret the tools of geographical analysis applied spatially to various phenomena and contexts;
- the ability to locate the objects of study on different digital cartographic representations.
Student responses will be evaluated on a scale from minimal to full knowledge, corresponding to a grade between 18 and 30 out of 30.
The oral exam will follow the general structure below, around which in-depth and critical discussions will be developed:
- One question on the general program;
- One question on the monograph;
- One question regarding cartographic tools and related representations.
Texts
Attending and non-attending students are required to study:
A) Greiner A. L., Dematteis G., Lanza C., Geografia umana. Un approccio visuale, UTET, Turin, IV ed., 2023.
B) a reading of your choice from among:
- Lazzeroni M., Romano A., Intelligenza artificiale e nuovo urbanesimo. Forme e visioni della città del futuro, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2025 (Introduzione, chapters 1,2,6). Free download: https://francoangeli.it/Libro/Intelligenza-artificiale-e-nuovo-urbanesimo-Forme-e-visioni-della-citt%C3%A0-del-futuro?Id=30004.
- Squarcina E., L'ultimo spazio di libertà. Un approccio umanistico e culturale alla geografia del mare, Guerini, Milano, 2015 (Introduzione, chapters 1,2,4).
C) Course slide show made available on the course Teams platform (the link will be posted on the lecturer's Unifind page)
D) For the 9 cfu exam, additional materials will be made available on the lecturer's Unifind page.
For those interested in deepening their knowledge of the course topics, here is a list of suggested titles (non-compulsory reading):
- On cartography and representations of the Earth: Caputo S., Sentieri sull'acqua. Le origini della cartografia e la nuova immagine del mondo, Touring, Milan, 2023.
- On culture and human society-environment relations: Favole A., La via selvatica: Storie di umani e non umani, Laterza, Rome-Bari, 2024.
- On the evolution of sound in interpreting the world: Haskell D.G., Suoni fragili e selvaggi. Meraviglie acustiche, evoluzione creativa e crisi sensoriale, Einaudi, Turin, 2023.
- On plants and the world: Mancuso S., L'incredibile viaggio delle piante, Laterza, Rome-Bari, 2018.
- On the dimensions of travelling: Leed E.J., La mente del viaggiatore. Dall'Odissea al turismo globale, Il Mulino, Bologna, 1992 (or subsequent editions).
Contents
List of topics:
1. Fundamentals of Classical Geography, historical cartography and new technologies for cartography, spatial analysis, and movement (Geography and AI);
2. Geographies of the environment in the Anthropocene;
3. Geographies of population and migration;
4. Cultural geographies and geographies of the imaginary;
5. Models of globalization;
6. Economic geographies;
7. Rural geographies;
8. Urban geographies and global cities;
9. Fundamentals of political geography;
10. New economic geographies of development;
11. Geography, justice, and social transformations;
12. Geographies for the exploration of outer space.
Course Language
Italian
More information
For any clarification, please contact Dr Giovanni Modaffari