Introduction to Geography is written to clearly and concisely convey the nature of the field of geography, its intellectual challenges, and the logical interconnections of its parts. Even if students take no further work in geography, they will have come into contact with the richness and breadth of Geography and have new insights and understandings for their present and future roles as informed adults. This new edition provides students content and scope of the subfields of geography, emphasizes its unifying themes, and provides the foundation for further work in their areas of interest.
About the Authors
Mark Bjelland is professor of geography at Calvin University David H. Kaplan is a professor of geography at Kent State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and his B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Kaplan has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, and he has seven books published: Segregation in Cities, Nested Identities, Boundaries and Place, Urban Geography, Landscapes of the Ethnic Economy, Perthes World Atlas, and the four-volume Nations and Nationalism: A Global Historical Overview. His research interests include nationalism, borderlands, ethnic and racial segregation, urban and regional development, housing and finance, and transportation. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, cooking, bicycling, skiing, and gaining a deep appreciation of different places.
Jon C. Malinowski received his B.S. in foreign service from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been a member of the geography faculty at the United States Military Academy at West Point since 1995. In addition to scholarly articles, he is the co-author of several books, including geography texts and trade books on summer camp and West Point's changing landscape. His research interests have focused on spatial cognition, children's geographies, and cultural geography and he has taught courses on Asia, North America, the Middle East and Africa, world regional geography, human geography, behavioral geography, economic geography, and the historical geography of the Hudson Valley. In addition to teaching and research, Dr. Malinowski has held administrative positions in the Environmental Perception and Behavioral Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers and in the Geography Program at the Academy. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for YMCA Camp Belknap in Tuftonboro, New Hampshire.