Hey, glad you're thinking about taking the Geography of Virginia class, GGS 380 at George Mason University in the 2010 Fall Semester. This class will be fun, as well as educational. What you learn in the course is directly relevant to what you see every day. There's a good chance that you will remember some of the content of this class longer than anything else you learn in college. Interested? Feel free to contact me via e-mail at In years past, this class has been taught through television broadcasts, as an Internet-only course, and in the classroom.. In Fall 2010, Geography of Virginia will be taught in the classroom with weekly lectures and seminar discussions. That in-person learning experience will be supplemented with online resources and optional field trips. 2010 Class Schedule, with deadlines for assignments Textbook to purchase is the Virginia Atlas and Gazetteer. You can buy the atlas directly from the publisher, DeLorme Mapping, costing less than $20. It is also available from many Wal*Mart stores, stores that serve hunters and campers, and even some large gas stations and 7-11's. Most of the course content will be on this website for the class. You will need standard Web technology to see the content on the class Web site and the copies of relevant news articles and reports on Blackboard, plus take the quizzes and final exam. You will also need an e-mail address to interact with the instructor, allowing you to increase your understanding of the geography of Virginia.

Frequently Asked Questions Welcome letter (for registered students) How do I register to take the class officially? What will I learn in this class? What are the required materials? What are the class prerequisites? How do I take take the quizzes/exam using Blackboard? How will grades be determined? Are there field trips? Who is the instructor?

covered bridge over Sinking Creek (Giles County)

The Delorme Atlas and Gazetter is the class "textbook." Hey, it's a geography class - you were expecting maps, weren't you? Get into the habit of looking at the Delorme Virginia Atlas and Gazetteer every day to find the highways, cities, mountains, rivers, and other sites discussed in the class material, and you'll become intimately familiar with the places of Virginia by the end of this course.

Quizzes and the final exam will be taken online using the class Blackboard site. The content in the atlas and Web pages provide the key information in case you miss a class discussion.

In addition, I will transmit information via the VirginiaPlaces blog, including links to timely news articles. For example, if there is a hurricane headed for Virginia, I may find an article or link to a government web page that illustrates some aspect of Virginia geography. There should be lots of timely articles related to the political geography; in Virginia, there's a state or Federal election every year in November. Be sure to pay attention to the blog postings and read those articles - quiz and exam questions will be based in part on that material.

Quizzes and the exam on Blackboard are open book - use all the reference material you can find on websites, notes that you took in other classes, books and magazines from the library, etc. Just don't ask anyone else for assistance, and remember that George Mason University has an honor code.

There are excellent library and research materials available on the campuses of George Mason University.

NOTE: If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at (703) 993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the ODS.

Questions? Contact me via e-mail at

pumpkins for sale in October at roadside stand (Roanoke County)