Courses in the People, Place, and Region Area of Geography encompass political, cultural, social, and economic aspects of social science. “People, Place, and Region” is a field of geography concerned with the relationships between space and society. Encompassing many foci under the heading of human geography, this field analyzes human processes vis-à-vis the physical environment and, in particular, the ways in which people assume, require, refer to, or seek particular geographical relationships.
As a broad area of emphasis, People, Place, and Region draws from other disciplines such as sociology, cultural studies, philosophy, history, urban planning, and the humanities, to name a few. Given this diversity, this area of emphasis utilizes a range of methodological approaches, using qualitative, quantitative, and participatory methods; theoretical and empirical investigations; GIS and other forms of spatial analysis.
Subfields of People, Place, and Region at UC Davis with particularly strength include cultural and historical geography, international development, political and economic geography, planning and urban design, and social geography. These subfields and the interests of associated faculty members, many of whom work in multiple subfields, are described below.