This course is about the geography of Europe, including the people who inhabit this region
and the environments in which they live. In this course we will pay special attention to
Europe as a cultural realm, focusing on the various influences and conditions that underlie
how Europeans have historically lived and continue to go about their lives. To begin we
will define and delimit the region as a cultural space and explore its cultural variation.
Next, our attention will turn to the environmental surroundings in which these cultures
have developed. These introductory sections will serve as a foundation for more in depth
discussions concerning the languages, religions, and polities (political institutions and
underlying philosophies) that lend Europe its distinctive personality. The vast majority of
present-day Europeans live their lives in the context of urban environments. Given the
historical and present-day importance of cities to Europeans we will focus on three
particular variations of the European city: traditional, modern, and postmodern urban
places. Last, we will discuss two salient aspects of the daily lives of Europeans, including
how they make a living and toward what leisurely pursuits their free-time and disposable
income are directed. When taken together, the preceding facets of European life give us a
superb snapshot of a people and a peninsular land, lying along the mid-latitudes of the
northern hemisphere, which contributed significantly to the development of western
civilization. Today, Europe has expanded its influential role in the world as a region of
global significance.