Adding Beer to the Geography Curriculum

The University of New Mexico (UNM) is home to a robust Department of Geography & Environmental Studies (GES). With curricula and research programs that span both environmental studies and geographic information science, the department covers topics of local, regional, hemispheric, and global interest. And yet enrollment is on the decline, as reflected across many public universities, in geography and many other disciplines. As it becomes more challenging to secure enrollment across the arts and sciences, UNM GES has worked to update and rename existing courses, while also developing new courses to attract and educate more undergraduates. One of the more successful efforts in this vein--originally prompted by faculty and student interest in Albuquerque's craft beer boom--is a new undergraduate course Geography 180: World of Beer. In this article, the authors summarize the course history, format, and approach, offering it as a useful template for building student interest and showcasing departmental courses and faculty. Further, the authors discuss how "World of Beer" provides diverse and essential learning outcomes for 100-level undergraduate students, regardless of their major, and how embracing local issues and off-campus entities generates a broader sense of community.