Dr. Robert A. Hyatt

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Dr. Robert A. Hyatt
Geography 3110Geography of the US Canada
GEOG 3110
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The Discipline of Geography
GEOG 3110

• The discipline of Geography attempts to explain
  spatial distributions, i.e. where things are (or
  were) located.

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The Discipline of Geography
GEOG 3110

• Geographers use maps as tools to communicate
  spatial distributions. Maps are now often
  computer-generated.

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The Discipline of Geography
GEOG 3110

• Geography is also about explaining the processes
  that influence spatial distributions, how do
  distributions come about.

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The Discipline of Geography
GEOG 3110

• Geography is about explaining relationships
  between spatial distributions, e.g. how does
  rainfall influence the distribution of vegetation
  and what else influences it?

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The Discipline of Geography
GEOG 3110

• The primary subfields of Geography are
• Physical Geography.
• Human or Cultural Geography.
• Regional Geography.

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Physical Geography
GEOG 3110

• Physical geographers attempt to explain the
  distributions of weather, climate, vegetation,
  soils and landforms by understanding
• The processes that determine why these patterns
  exist, and
• The interactions between weather, climate,
  vegetation, soils, and landforms.

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Cultural Geography
GEOG 3110

• Cultural or Human Geography attempts to explain
• The impact of humans on their environments,
• How environmental factors influences human
  activities, and
• The distributions of features created or
  modified by humans.

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Regional Geography
GEOG 3110

• Regional Geography lies at the interface between
  physical geography and cultural geography, and it
  attempts to better understand both within the
  context of a region.
• A region can be simply defined as any area within
  which some arbitrary characteristic or set of
  characteristics is more uniform than in areas in
  other regions. Because any set of characteristics
  used to define regions, there are an infinite
  number of ways to subdivide any particular area
  into regions.

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Regional Geography
GEOG 3110

• In other words, we can subdivide North America
  into any of the following types of regions
• Political regions,
• Climatic regions,
• Physiographic regions,
• Cultural regions,
• Vegetation regions,
• Air quality regions,
• Economic regions, or
• Any other type of region.

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Geography of the US Canada
GEOG 3110

• This course is a regional geography of the United
  States and Canada. During the semester, we will
  consider many different types of regions within
  these two countries.
• Some regions will be based on their physical
  geography, others on various aspects of their
  human geography, and still others on a
  combination of both physical and cultural
  attributes.

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Who is this guy?
GEOG 3110
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Dr. Bob Hyatt
GEOG 3110

• My nomadic tendencies
• Born in Florida.
• Raised in Florida, Indiana, California, North
  Carolina, and Arkansas.
• Subsequently lived in California, Hawaii, British
  Columbia, Iowa, Georgia, Virginia, North
  Carolina, and Tennessee.

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Dr. Bob Hyatt
GEOG 3110

• High school
• Yellville-Summit High School, Yellville,
  Arkansas.
• GPA 2.2.
• Class Rank 24 out of 36.

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Dr. Bob Hyatt
GEOG 3110

• Employment before and during college
• US Navy. Served in California, Hawaii, Taiwan,
  The Philippines and Vietnam.
• Residential floor maintenance.
• Stock Clerk and Delivery Boy.
• Taxi Driver.
• FAA Certified Flight Instructor.

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Dr. Bob Hyatt
GEOG 3110

• College education
• Los Angeles Pierce College.
• B.A., California State University, Northridge,
  California, 1976.
• M.A., Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British
  Columbia, 1978.
• University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
• PhD, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

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Dr. Bob Hyatt
GEOG 3110

• Professional career
• Assistant Professor of Geography, Radford
  University, Radford, VA.
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Specialist
• GIS Consulting.
• Local Government.
• Engineering/Environmental Consulting.
• Crime Research.
• Associate Professor of Geography, APSU.

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Course Syllabus
GEOG 3110

• Course Syllabus
• Contact Information.
• Course Description/Objectives.
• Course Schedule.
• Course Requirements/Grading.
• Classroom Manners.
• University Policies.
• Caveat.

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GEOG 3110

• Assignment
• Get your textbook.
• Read Chapter 1, including the figure captions.

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Questions?
Geography 3110Geography of the US Canada
GEOG 3110