Curriculum-based ideological and political education represents a key pathway for fulfilling the fundamental mission of moral education in higher education. Human geography, by virtue of its disciplinary characteristics, inherently carries educational functions that extend beyond knowledge transmission. Drawing on these features, this study took a whole-process perspective on talent cultivation in human geography programs and systematically examines the collaborative mechanisms and reform pathways for integrating ideological education within a curriculum cluster under a patriotismoriented framework. Specifically, the study deconstructed the logic of integrating ideological education with disciplinary knowledge, with a particular focus on identifying elements of patriotism embedded in core topics such as human–environment relationships and regional development. Furthermore, by analyzing selected teaching units within the curriculum cluster, it presents representative instructional cases that illustrate how ideological education can be eff ectively incorporated into human geography teaching. The findings provide practical references for advancing curriculum-based ideological education and fostering patriotism in similar programs across other institutions, as well as in related disciplines within geography.