This course serves as a broad
introduction to Human (Cultural and
Political) Geography. Geography is an evolving and highly
interdisciplinary subject with numerous sub branches and specialties.
Typically the field is divided between physical and human geography. At
its core however geographers are interested not only in understanding
how the world is inhabited, but also in how the world inhabits us. The
word “Geography” derivative from the Greek words Gaea and
graphein, roughly means “describing, writing, or mapping the
World/Earth.” Thus in its very broadest sense Geography is a
complex discipline that enables us to Think in relationship to World.
At this precipitous moment in world time, when human activity has
reached apocalyptic potential, the art of world thinking may be central
to our collective survival. This is not however a class that deals
formally with the environment and ecology, as crucial as those branches
are, nor are we entirely concerned with mapping, naming and collecting
facts about the world in all of its myriad diversity. Rather we will
take more elementary and modest steps toward world thinking, through
the framework of cultural and political geography (both sub-branch of
human geography). The class is designed to have a broad
inter-disciplinary appeal.
As the subtitle indicates, the course
will revolve around several
distinct and yet interconnected themes: Globalization, Power and Space.
Geographers are centrally concerned with understanding the ways in
which the processes of globalization, driven by advances in science and
technology, are effecting not only physical habitations, but also the
political and cultural norms and expectations of people across the
globe. We are for instance, distinctly aware of how rapidly space is
compressing; how remote and distant places are now deeply intertwined
with our own, and how these places can be streamed live into our homes
and cell phones via the multitude of media and communication
technologies. People, capital, materials and ideas are all now highly
mobile. Globalization is the term that is used to broadly point to this
process of rapid global interconnectedness, friction, flow and
mobility; a process which simultaneously invokes both hope and fear. We
will hence explore the meanings of globalization and try to gauge not
only its new and complex effects on people, politics, the economy and
culture, but also in the very way we think of ourselves as
being-in-the-world.
The impetus of globalization is often
thought of as an impersonal and
inevitable product of rational economic and market forces playing
themselves out in concert with scientific and technological progress.
But this somewhat fatalist view of inevitable human
‘progress’ often masks the driving ideas, if not systematic
material ideologies, that enable and sustain these forces. The forces
of globalization are undoubtedly uneven, leading to the new
concentrations and distributions of wealth while simultaneously
reproducing forms of poverty, inequality on a mass scale. The
re-inscription of new power hierarchies is precisely what liberal
democratic societies claim to reject, while simultaneously being at the
forefront of globalization. Hence under the thematic of Power, we will
critically examine the reigning economic idea/doctrine of
neoliberalism, and the way in which forms of migration, rights and
belonging are governed.
Spatiality is the specialty of
geographers. It is this concern with
space and place that is the invisible thematic thread that connects the
multi-disciplinary venture of geography. Of course space cannot be
understood independently of being or time, and in this course we will
take a preliminary stab at understanding a little bit of the mystery
surrounding this cryptic metaphysical configuration. But understanding
spatiality is no mere exercise in philosophical abstraction. On the
contrary, inherent ideas about space and place run deep within the very
fiber of our being and determine our very subjectivity.
At the end of the day however
geography is not about foreign, exotic
and dangerous places, but about how we are now all bound up by the
common fate of an increasingly interconnected, and yet strangely
divided and violent Earth. Geography invites us to think more carefully
about an increasingly vital question: what does it means to be human in
the world today?
(This course meets the MAPS
requirement for social science: geography.)
Text Book
Requirements:
Two books are required. Each will be
available at the CU Bookstore.
1) Edkins, Jenny & Maja Zehfuss,
Global Politics: A New
Introduction (Routledge, 2009) $45, available now at
CU Bookstore
2) Agamben, Giorgio, What is an
Apparatus? And Other Essays, Meridian:
Crossing Aesthetics Series (Stanford University Press, 2009) $16, this book
will be available in late September
/ October. GOOGLE EARTH http://earth.google.com/
All students must download this free
program on their computers. If you
are unable to do so there are a few computer cites on campus where you
could find this program. Ask your TA for help if you have difficulties
obtaining this on your own computer.
Grading Basis:
2 Exams (45%) 1 Mid Term (Oct
21st) 20% 1 Final (Dec
16th) 25% (cumulative) (Please note there will NOT be any
make up midterm or finals, nor any
early finals, except under extraordinary circumstances. So do not book
travel around these dates.)
1 Paper (25%) 1st Draft (•
due Nov 6th) 15% Final Submission
(Dec 4th) 10% (6 page, double spaced paper. Details
regarding the paper will be
handed out after midterms)
A = 94 –
97 Outstanding A- = 90 –
93 Excellent B+ = 87 –
89 Very Good B = 84 –
86 Good B- = 80 –
83 Decent C+ = 77 –
79 OK, Above
Average C = 74 –
76 Average C- = 70 –
73 Minimally
Sufficient D’s = 60
– 69 Barely
Sufficient Lecture Hall
Policies
• You are required to attend all
lectures. In addition to
clarifying key elements of the reading, the lectures also cover
important materials not found in the readings. Your recitation sections
will include a weekly quiz which will be based on materials from the
readings and lectures. 3 – 4 out of 10 questions will be based on
lectures. You do not need additional prep for the quiz. If you have
been attentive during lecture and completed a careful reading you
should do fine.
• Disruptions to the class,
making noise and or disturbing others
either directly or indirectly will result in immediate removal from the
lecture hall. Repeated violations will result at minimum in severe
deficits to your participation and attendance points, and even
ultimately, your suspension from the class.
• Please do not start packing up
your belongings until AFTER the
lecturer indicates the class is over and/or it is 3 minutes past 3:50.
The noise of dozens of people packing up BEFORE the lecture is over is
a source of great disturbance to the lecturer and your fellow class
mates. The concluding points of a lecture and critical announcements
often come at the end. If you must leave early please sit close to an
exit and leave as quietly as possible.
• Please extend the lecturer and
your fellow classmates the same
courtesy you would to a movie theatre; turn cells phone ringers off. No
chatting on the phone during lectures either. After the session starts
please avoid needless conversations with your neighbors, especially if
it does not pertain to the class.
• Please arrive to lectures a
few minutes before class if you can.
• Use of laptops is allowed.
However surfing the net, watching
videos, playing games and other distracting activities are the source
of much consternation to people sitting around you. If you do not
intend to listen to lectures and take notes, please don’t bother
to come to lecture and disturb others. As such all laptop users will be
required to sit in the front rows which will be designated exclusively
for lap top users.
• Remember you are bound by your
own Student Honor Code.
Plagiarism and cheating of any kind during exams, assignments and
quizzes is unacceptable.
• Please see the more detailed
policy handout for further
clarifications of policy
Readings
Reading assignments are to completed
before each lecture. You should
give yourself sufficient time during the week to complete a careful
reading of the assigned texts. Underline key ideas, make notes and
formulate questions. Highlight difficult issues you might want to get
clarification on. I will try to leave time at the end of lectures for
audience questions.
The lectures will not simply be a
summary of key points, but rather an
extension and addition to the discussion of the text. The lectures
assume that you have read the assigned text for the class. The reading
load is not very heavy, on average 50 pages a week, so you should come
prepared to lecture. You will get the most out of lectures if you have
done the readings. During the recitations you will have a chance to
discuss, debate and hone the ideas presented in the readings and
lectures.