GEOG1982 World Regional Geography

World Regional Geography
Geography 1982, Spring 2011
http://www.colorado.edu/geography/class_homepages/geog_1982_s11

dai_pool

Course Blog

Lecture and Recitation Times and Locations

Instructor Contact Details

Course Description and Objectives

Schedule of Lectures and Recitations

Course Policies and Requirements

Turnitin.com Instructions

Lectures:

Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:00 – 8:50 CHEM 140

Recitation Times and Locations:

101 Fri 2:00 P.M. CLRE 211	108 Wed 3:00 P.M. GUGG 206
102 Wed 1:00 P.M. GUGG 206	110 Tue 1:00 P.M. HALE 260
103 Wed 4:00 P.M. MUEN E130	111 Tue 3:00 P.M. KTCH 119
104 Mon 8:00 A.M. MUEN D439	114 Thu 10:00 A.M. GUGG 2
105 Fri 3:00 P.M. EDUC 143	115 Tue 10:00 A.M. GUGG 3
106 Wed 4:00 P.M. GUGG 2	118 Fri 3:00 P.M. HLMS 177
107 Fri 2:00 P.M. HLMS 177	119 Wed 1:00 P.M. KTCH 120

Instructors:

Professor
Tim Oakes
Office: Guggenheim
Office Hours: Thursdays 9:00 – 11:00
Phone: 303-492-5887
Email: toakes@colorado.edu

Lead Teaching Assistant
Afton Clarke-Sather
Office: Guggenheim 314
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:00-10:00 AM
Email: afton.clarke-sather@colorado.edu

Teaching Assistants Office Hours and Contact Information:

Ben Brayden: Recitations 102, 106 & 110

Office Hours: Wednesday 2:00-4:00 PM Guggenheim 107A

Email: Benjamin.Brayden@colorado.edu

Julia Hicks: Recitations 103 & 108

Office Hours: Wednesday 2:00-3:00 PM and Thursday 1:30-2:30 PM Guggenheim 107A

Email: Julia.Hicks@colorado.edu

Jessie Hong: Recitations 101, 105 & 114

Office Hours: Thursday 9-10 & 11-Noon Guggenheim 301B

Email: Jung.Hong@colorado.edu

Amelia Schubert: Recitations 104, 111 & 119

Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 9-10 AM Guggenheim 312

Email: Amelia.Schubert@colorado.edu

Adam Williams: Recitations 107, 118 & 115

Office Hours: Tuesday 9:00-11:00 AM Guggenheim 313

Email: Adam.Williams@colorado.edu

Required Texts
There are three types of required reading for this course. The majority of your reading comes from the textbook (Pulsipher, Lydia M. and Alex Pulsipher. World Regional Geography, 5^th Edition Without Subregions (New York: W.H. Freeman, 2011)). This textbook is available as an e-book. Visit the publisher’s website for additional resources such as interactive maps, practice quizzes, and weblinks. There are also six electronic articles to read (DeParle, Dicks, Foster, National Geographic, Oakes & Price, Chang). They can be downloaded directly from the Lectures page. Finally, there are links to reading materials on the World Wide Web found on specific recitation pages; these should be reviewed in preparation for recitations, as indicated on the recitation pages.

Class Blog

There is a blog devoted to this course, at http://geography1982.wordpress.com/. There we will post updates and other timely course information, as well as additional materials, commentaries, links, discussions, and whatever else we think might be relevant and of interest to you. You are encouraged to create a free Wordpress account in order to comment on blog posts.

Course Description and Objectives:
World Regional Geography is an introduction to how the discipline of geography makes sense of the world, its different peoples, regions, and places. At the same time, it is a course on how the world's regions and places relate to and interact with each other. There are, therefore, two fundamental properties of World Regional Geography: one is the importance of place. There is a great diversity of regions throughout the world and a significant objective of geography is to understand and appreciate this diversity. The other fundamental property of World Regional Geography is connection, how different places and regions are linked to each other in an increasingly dynamic system of interdependence. It is often assumed, however, that the increased intensity of those connections (i.e. globalization) is resulting in a decline in place-based diversity. If this were true, World Regional Geography would soon cease to be a relevant field of study. The field of geography offers a perspective on the world in which places and regions are dynamic processes that are always changing. Geographers ask not how connections are causing places to disappear, but how places change as the connections between them change. Thus, the most basic objective of World Regional Geography is to help you understand not only how places around the world are connected to each other, but to understand how the world’s place-based diversity continues not despite those connections but, rather, because of them.

No single course could possible offer a comprehensive account of all the World’s different regions and places. Rather than trying to cover the world as a whole, we examine several in-depth case studies of processes thank connect different places and regions. Through these case-studies, we hope to help you understand globalization from a place-based perspective, to see how people’s lives in specific places are increasingly linked to a global system in which we all participate, and to see why a geographical perspective is important to understanding how the world is changing as well as our role in those changes.

We hope that by completing this course you will:

· Have a basic understanding of the importance of location – that it matters where things happen, that local context is important to understanding how similar processes can have different outcomes in different places. Part of this understanding also involves basic skills like reading different kinds of maps, and understanding complex combinations of local geographical phenomena, such as environmental, social, cultural, political, and economic phenomena.

· Have a basic understanding of the major spatial processes that connect localities together. These processes are extremely diverse. Some are natural and/or physical, such as climatic flows or events. In this course, however, we concentrate on human processes of connection, such as trade and production, migration and travel, finances, popular culture, sports, and religion.

Course Policies and Requirements

Attendance:

You are required to attend lecture and recitation. Lectures will sometimes introduce information not included in the textbook; exams are written with the lectures as the primary resource. Thus your attendance at lectures and recitations is your best strategy for succeeding in the course.
If you fail to attend the first two recitations of the course, you will be automatically dropped.
Lecture outlines will be posted prior to lectures. You are encouraged to download and/or print the outlines prior to lecture.
10% of your grade comes from attending class. Half of this is based on your recitation attendance, and half is based on lecture attendance. Lecture attendance will be monitored via iclickers (see iclicker policy below). You can miss up to 4 lectures and still earn full attendance credit.

Iclickers:

· You are required to have an iclicker for this course. The frequency for the lecture hall (Chem 140) is BA. This is the first time Professor Oakes has used iclickers, so please be patience with his technological deficiencies! If you are unfamiliar with CU iclickers, please see the ITS clicker site for more information: http://www.colorado.edu/cns/cuclickers/index.html

· Half of your attendance grade for this class comes from your iclicker responses in lecture. You must respond to all questions in lecture in order to get a participation score for that day.

· You can expect at least one or two iclicker questions per lecture. Since the primary goal of these is to simply gauge, rather than evaluate, your understanding of the material, you will not be penalized for wrong answers. Correct responses, however, will be recorded and applied to your total grade as extra credit.

· If you forget your iclicker, we will not loan you one for that day. You cannot get any participation points without your own clicker. Written responses to iclicker questions will not be accepted.

· We will not begin recording iclicker participation points until the 3^rd week of class.

· Your use of an iclicker in class constitutes part of your academic evaluation. Using multiple iclickers (i.e. responding for a friend) will be treated as a violation of the honor code and will be dealt with accordingly. See Expectations and Class Etiquette below.

Laptops:

· If you use a laptop to take notes you must sit in the front third of the lecture hall. It is fine to bring your laptop to class or even a tape recorder if that helps you. But lecture is not the time to play WoW, catch up on your email, or shop for a pair of ski boots on craigslist. Please be respectful of this rule. If we cannot enforce it, we will have to prohibit laptops in the lecture hall completely.

Readings:

You are required to complete all reading assignments prior to the date indicated in the lecture schedule. This includes readings in the textbook, electronic readings, and linked readings on the World Wide Web.
Textbook – Your textbook is World Regional Geography, by Lydia Pulsipher and Alex Pulsipher, 5^th Edition, Without Subregions. Pages for reading assignments are based on this edition. If you have a used copy of an earlier edition you may use it, but you are responsible for any changes that have occurred since those earlier editions, as well as making sure that you are reading the assigned pages.
Several copies of the textbook have been placed on reserve in Norlin.

Assignments and Exams:

Debates – There will be 6 debates in recitation. You will be responsible for participating in 1 of these 6 debates. Debate assignments will be made during the second recitation.
Position papers - Position papers are short (3 pages maximum) papers developing an argument regarding one of the debate issues. You may not write a position paper on the debate in which you directly participate. Please see the section at the bottom of this page on how to write an "A" paper.

You are required to write 3 position papers, covering any 3 of the 5 debates that you do not directly participate in. Position papers are due in recitation the week following the relevant debate.

Exams - The final exam is non-cumulative.

Exam 1: 10 February
Exam 2: 17 March
Final Exam: 2 May, 7:30 PM

Turnitin.com:

· Position papers must be uploaded to turnitin.com prior to being handed in during recitation. They should be handed in with a printed receipt verifying that they have been uploaded. No position paper grades will be recorded until papers have been uploaded at turnitin.com.

· Please see the turnitin instructions (click here) for getting set up on turnitin.com.

Grading:

Position Papers and exams 1 and 2: 60%

Each position paper and exam is worth 15%; we will drop the lowest grade among these five (thus 4 x 15% = 60%)

Debate participation: 15%
Clicker questions and recitation attendance: 10%
Final Exam: 15%

Special Accommodation and Resources

· If you miss exam 1 or 2, or don't complete one of the 3 position papers on time, you will not be allowed to make these up. Instead, we will be dropping the lowest of these five grades. We allow for rescheduled exams only under one of the following three circumstances:

If you have three or more examinations scheduled on the same day, you may arrange an alternative time for the last exam scheduled on that day. However, you must make arrangements with us no later than February 3^rd.
If you have a verified physical or learning disability, please contact Professor Oakes to explain your circumstances and the modifications to the course that you need no later than February 3^rd. You must also bring a letter from Disability Services (DS) explaining the nature of the arrangements and a contact name and telephone number. You can reach DS at 303-492-8671 or contact them online at http://www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices.
If an exam conflicts with a religious observance, please contact Professor Oakes by February 3^rd to make alternate arrangements.

Important campus resources to be aware of:

Expectations and Class Etiquette - World Regional Geography is a course that will ask you to think critically and to develop your own ideas about contemporary issues. In order for this class to be a success, and in order for you and the other students to get as much as possible out of the class, we expect the following from you:

This course often deals with controversial topics. You are encouraged to engage us with questions, comments, and arguments relevant to lectures and recitations. We will treat all opinions fairly and with respect, and we expect the same from you. Please respect your instructors and classmates. Disruptive behavior in lecture or recitation will not be tolerated. See http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html for further information on campus policies on classroom behavior.
Be on time for class!
If you plan on talking or reading during class, please do not bother to attend! This is a matter of courtesy to your classmates. Talking, in particular, is a distraction to those who are listening. Likewise, if you plan on leaving class early, do not bother coming at all! Leaving lecture early is disrespectful and disruptive both for the instructor and your classmates.
Do not bring food or pets to class; drinks are OK.
It is particularly important to be on time for exams. No examinations will be handed out after the first person has completed an exam and left the room.
Please turn all cell phones OFF before entering the lecture hall.
Position papers are due in recitation with no exceptions. Work placed in TA or Professor mailboxes will not be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made. E-mailed papers will not be accepted. Late work will not be accepted, period. Please also see "Special Accommodations" above.
Other than for valid exceptions (see "Special Accommodations" above), no make-up exams will be given. Please make careful note of the exam schedule and plan your travel around these dates.
Please familiarize yourself with the campus honor code. Academic dishonesty, such as cheating on exams or plagiarism, will result in an automatic F for the course. Plagiarism is one of the most common forms of academic dishonesty, and sometimes students don't realize they are doing something wrong by not citing their sources or giving credit for someone else's ideas. Ignorance is no excuse! The details of the honor code, as well as definitions of academic dishonesty, can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode.

The rest of the “fine print” (other university policies):

Sexual Harassment: The University of Colorado Policy on Sexual Harassment applies to all students, staff and faculty. Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual attention. It can involve intimidation, threats, coercion, or promises or create an environment that is hostile or offensive. Harassment may occur between members of the same or opposite gender and between any combination of members in the campus community: students, faculty, staff, and administrators. Harassment can occur anywhere on campus, including the classroom, the workplace, or a residence hall. Any student, staff or faculty member who believes s/he has been sexually harassed should contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Judicial Affairs at 303-492-5550.

How to write an "A" position paper

We understand that students in this class will possess a wide range of writing skills. The purpose of this section is to provide a blueprint for writing a good position paper.

The purpose of the position paper in this class is for you to express yourself about topics in readings and in class. To do that, you will need to write clearly and carefully.

Take a clear position in your writing. Your position is your thesis statement. You thesis statement should be included in your first paragraph. The following paragraphs should support your thesis statement with evidence and/or illustration. Each paragraph should begin with a clear topic sentence. Any significant conclusions that you draw in your position paper should also be included your first paragraph; this helps your audience know where the paper is headed.
Assume that your reader is intelligent, but that she or he may not have necessarily read or heard all that you have. Thus, you will need to tell your reader enough so that she or he will know what you are talking about, but not so much that she or he gets bored or feels talked down to.
Be sure to support your assertions with both logic and information. For your reader, many things will not be as self-evident as they are to you. Be sure to tell your reader why you are saying what you are saying. Always ask the question of yourself, why is this important? Then answer that question in your essay.
Always read your essay out loud before you turn it in. If you were hearing it for the first time, would it make sense to you? Have you expressed yourself as clearly as possible?
Always proof-read everything you turn in. Typographical errors, spelling mistakes, and bad grammar prove very frustrating for your audience. They also result in lower grades.
Essays should be at least five paragraphs, double- or 1 1/2 spaced. They must be printed, not hand-written. The font must be 11 or 12 pt; there must be 1-inch margins on all sides. Finally, essays must be handed in on time; late essays will not be accepted.