Home 
Contact 
Profile 
Videos 
Paper prepared by Prof. Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard) DrPH (Harvard) Chairman, Institutional Review Board - KFMC
OUTLINE
• Integration
DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION
• Geography is a discipline that studies the surface of the earth which consists of the atmosphere, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, and the biosphere. The surface of the earth can also be described as the habitable part of the earth. Geography, therefore, is intimately related to human behavior.
• The sub-disciplines of geography are: physical geography, human geography, and regional geography. Physical geography describes and measures the surface of the earth. It includes geomorphology, climatology, biogeography, soil geography, and environmental and resource management. Human geography describes the distribution, characteristics, and activities of human populations. It includes population geography, economic geography, social geography, cultural geography, urban geography, political geography, and medical geography.
• Other areas of study in geography are historical geography (study of landscape changes) and regional geography (description of specific places).
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Ancient Greeks wrote about geography. Herodotus recorded many geographical features during his travels. Pythagoras and Aristotle knew that the earth was spherical. In the 3rd century, BC Eratosthenes of Cyrene computed the circumference of the earth.
• In the first century, the Greek geographer and historian Strabo published a review of geographical knowledge at that time.
• In the second century N Ptolemy tabulated latitudes and longitudes.
• During medieval times, Muslims preserved and expanded the geographical knowledge of the Greeks and Romans. They also corrected previous errors. After the renaissance, many books were published on geography, and with the age of exploration, the breadth of geographical knowledge expanded.
• In the 19th century geographical societies were formed and geography became an academic discipline at universities. Governments also started surveys of lands in new territories being colonized.
• Research and teaching of geography expanded in the 20th century.
BASIC PRINCIPLES AND PARADIGMS
RESEARCH METHODS
• Geographers draw maps. They measure location using latitudes and longitudes. They measure distances between places.
• Aerial photography and satellites images have been added to the tools available to the geographer.
ISLAMIC EPISTEMOLOGICAL CRITIQUE
ISLAMIC INTRODUCTION TO THE DISCIPLINE