Start Here: Welcome to the Course

My name is Cliff B. Craig and I will be your professor for this online course entitled: International Regional Geography. Presently, I am the instructor for four courses with Utah State University (USU) which include : World Regional Geography, Human Geography, Geography of Utah and International Regional Geography. All four courses focus on people, cultures, places and environments, and each from a different geographic perspective.

I have loved teaching these Geography courses off campus all over the state of Utah for 40 years as a geography faculty member at Utah State University. During the years prior to becoming a faculty member at USU I taught for five years in the Iron County Schools; for a total forty-five years in education. I completed my BS Degree at College of Southern Utah (presently known as Southern Utah University, SUU) in Cedar City, Utah and while on the faculty at Cedar City Junior High School I worked on my first MS Degree in Social Studies Education through extension courses from Utah State University and one quarter on the USU campus in 1965. In 1967 I completed a second MS Degree in Economic Geography, Social Studies Education and Geography Education from Ohio State University and was hired as a fulltime faculty member at USU the same year. In 1970 I left USU to complete a PhD in Social urban Planning and Geography Education at Clark University in Worchester, Mass. While at Clark I traveled and conducted teacher workshops up and down the east coast in Vermont, Massachusetts and Virginia. I also traveled throughout Europe doing research on New towns in Sweden, England and Denmark and urban economic research in Poland.

After arriving back on campus at USU in 1973 I continued traveling extensively throughout the USA and Utah conducting K-16 workshops, teaching, and directing and carrying out extensive field research and student/teacher fieldtrips throughout the State of Utah and Mexico studying the people, cultures, unique places and human activities relative to their natural environments. Some of the greatest joys of my educational career have come from years of experience with K-12 educators while having the privilege of serving as the State Coordinator of the Utah Geographic Alliance (UGA). The UGA is A Utah teachers’ organization created, and financed by a $1,000,000.00 NGS Endowment with money from the National Geographic Society, Utah Legislature and the Marriott Foundation to continue the opportunity for professional geography education training for K-16 educators throughout the state of Utah. On August 31, 2007 from USU and have just completed putting together new Atlas of Utah for Utah K-12 schools and just completed being a consultant for a revision of a 9th grade textbook entitled Exploring our World by Richard Boehm.

Cliff Craig, Ph.D.
cliff.craig@usu.edu

Now, please follow the steps below to continue your orientation to this course.

Step 1: Read the course syllabus and course schedule

The course syllabus will provide you with the course schedule, course objectives, explanations of assignments and assessments, grading policies, and instructor contact information. Please read it carefully. You should have a deep familiarity with the schedule and process of the course.

Step 2: Purchase your textbooks

See the course syllabus for required texts.

Step 3: Library information and student support

Visit the library website to learn what services are provided for online students.

Step 4: Read the technical requirements page

The Technical Requirements page identifies the browsers, operating systems, and plugins that work best with Canvas. If you are new to Canvas quickly review the Canvas Student Orientation materials.

Step 5: Read about academic integrity and netiquette

All students at Utah State University agree on admission to abide by the university Honor Code. Please review this Academic Integrity tutorial to familiarize yourself with USU policies and procedures pertaining to the USU honor code. This tutorial links to an additional, in-depth review on how to avoid plagiarism and cite sources, which you are strongly encouraged to review. Also, please review the core rules of netiquette for some guidelines and expectations on how to behave in an online learning environment.

Next Steps: Begin course content