Geography 2002

Spring Semester 2002 Geographies of Global Change

Instructor: Professor John O’Loughlin

Office: Guggenheim 201h

Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 1-2pm (or by appointment)

Contacts: a) Phone - 303.492.4371

b) Email - johno@colorado.edu (most reliable)

Personal Home Page: www.colorado.edu/IBS/PEC/johno/johno.html

Teaching Assistants:

Alice Mulder mailto:alice.mulder@colorado.edu

Sarah Wilson mailto:sarah.wilson@colorado.edu

Kyle Landwehr mailto:kyle.landwehr@colorado.edu

Meredith Knauf mailto: meredith.knauf@colorado.edu

Donna Rubinoff mailto:donna.rubinoff@colorado.edu

Karen Norder mailto:karen.norder@colorado.edu

(TA office hours information will be handed out in the individual recitation sections and posted on the class web page).

Class Web Page: www.colorado.edu/geography/courses/geog_2002_s02/

Course Themes:

a) “Diversity amid Globalization”

The course will focus on contemporary geographic problems in the world’s regions. It differs from the usual world regional geography class by emphasis on the issues, dilemmas, choices and outcomes facing the actors (populations, governments, movements, military, international organizations, etc) that are engaged in each situation. Rather than a region-by-region review of the cultural and other landscapes of the world, the lectures will focus on the difficulties faced by ordinary people in the diverse regional contexts. Like the textbook, we will argue that the contemporary world is best seen as “diversity amid globalization”. Regions are both interdependent (linked by the forces of globalization – economic, political, cultural) and autonomous (characterized by an intriguing variety of cultural, environmental and political mosaics). We will examine the interactions of global forces and local interests by picking six major contemporary regional problems and by debating the possible options for solution of these problems in recitation sections. Since the scene changes quickly in these settings and it is not only necessary to have some historical context, it is also important to have a good grasp of the regional geographic context. This context is well-provided by the class textbook.

b) “What is Geography?”

A common misconception is that Geography is learning where things are. Obviously, it is important to know where places are (especially in relation to other places –see your Atlas and the CD-ROM) and to have an idea of what landscape elements are found in different places (see your text and CD-ROM). But geographers also examine how places came to be what they now are, how they are related to other places, and in what ways places become resources of contention. One of the most exciting things about geography is that it requires the ability to integrate knowledge from a variety of different disciplines, such as geology, anthropology, history and economics, with a focus on places. In the lectures, we will use contemporary problems (e.g. the territorial division between Israel and the Palestinians) as a way of illustrating the methods of modern geographers (especially political geographers) to understand these conflicts and to pose some possible solutions.

c) Geography 2002 as a MAPS class.

Why does this class meet the MAPS requirement? The purpose of the MAPS requirement in Geography is to ensure that CU undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences have a knowledge of the world beyond the borders of the United States – its diversity and complexity, its challenges and opportunities, its changes as a result of technological and economic innovations, its landscapes, and the interaction (current and potential, friendly and hostile) of countries with the U.S. The specific MAPS aim of Geog. 2002 is to educate CU undergraduates to appreciate this global complexity, to help them understand the context of newsworthy events, to provide background information for the evaluation of American foreign policy choices, and to become better-informed American (and global) citizens. By integrating “just the facts” (locational geography), regional mosaics (landscape, cultural, political) and political choices in this class, we hope to meet the spirit and the goals of the MAPS requirement. We also, of course, want to impart our sense of wonder and intrigue about the changes that are happening in the world’s regions and why we became geographers in the first place. If we are successful, students will leave the class with an added interest in world affairs, with a deeper appreciation of the diversity of the world regions, and an acknowledgement of how globalization is changing everyone’s life, though its form is varied from context to context.

d) Facts and Opinions

It will become obvious early in the class that the issues that we examine are highly-controversial (think of the territorial division of Jerusalem or the current war in Afghanistan). Even the “facts” are in dispute, such as the location of a country’s “natural boundaries” or who qualifies to belong to an ethnic group, or even if an ethnic group exists (e.g. the Kurds). The Atlas, the CD-ROM and the text provide factual material and indicate where different opinions exist about the subjects covered. The lecture will provide a guide to interpretation by indicating the geographic dilemmas and the pros and cons of some important choices. The lecturer will sometimes inject his own opinion but will clearly indicate it as personal opinion. Students are welcome to offer additional points in the lecture or by emailing the instructor, or by discussion in recitation. It is in the discussion sections that the main debates will take place and students will be forced to examine the issues we cover from a variety of ethical, ethnic, political and ideological perspectives. Hopefully, over the course of the semester, each student’s personal position will develop or evolve, or maybe change. It only matters that you confront the issues and, regardless of your own choices, that you have a position that can be defended in the face of critique and facts. Developing your ability to articulate this position, in verbal and written form, will be an important feature of the class and will be useful in further University coursework and life after college.

Course Organization:

a) Text:

The text for the course is L. Rowntree, M. Lewis, M. Price and W. Wyckoff Diversity amid Globalization. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2000). It comes wrapped with an Atlas and a CD-ROM that will help you to find places that are mentioned in the lectures and readings, and allowing you to get a good grasp of the diverse landscapes of the world regions. Individual readings will be assigned from the text for each lecture. Ideally, students will complete the reading before the lecture since this reading will set the context for each class. About half of exam questions will be taken from the text; exam questions will not be taken from the Atlas or CD-ROM since they are supplementary materials designed to help you learn the geographic backgrounds of each regional conflict.

b) Other Required Readings:

Six of the 15 discussion section meetings will be devoted to class debates. Four to five teams will debate in these recitation sections and each team-member will have a chance to present the team position in the debates. In order to present an informed position, each team will be required to read items related to the issue (usually an article on reserve from the Economist) that provides background for their position. Other materials for the debates can be found on the textbook website and from some other websites that we link on the course website (see below).

The reserve readings are in one package in the Earth Sciences Library, on the first floor of the Benson Earth Sciences Building located on Colorado Avenue (south across the street from the Stadium). It would be probably most convenient to photocopy the package for your own personal use. Each debates reading is clearly indicated in the recitation section below.

c) Examinations:

The mid-term exam will be held on Monday, March 4 in class. The final exam will be held at 10:30am on Tuesday, May 7th. You must have a valid excuse (Wardenburg doctor’s note etc) if you wish to take a make-up exam. Please note the date/time of the final exam and do not make travel plans that conflict with it. Each examination will be 30% of the final course grade.

The University allows students with three or more exams scheduled for a single day to take one of the exams on an alternate day. Let your TA know by February 18 if you want to exercise this option for either the mid-term or the final.

The format of the exams will be true-false and multiple-choice questions. The final is not cumulative; about half of the questions are from lectures, about half from the Rowntree et al. text and some from the recitation debates materials.

d) Papers:

Each student will be required to submit a short paper (5-6 pages). You will be asked to evaluate and take an informed position on one of the controversial topics debated in the discussion sections. It is due in the recitation section of the week of 22 April. Full details about the paper will be handed out in recitation section and are available on the course web site.

e) Grade Distribution:

Mid-term Exam = 30%

Final Examination = 30%

Research Paper = 15%

Recitation Section (debate, attendance and discussion) = 25%

Total = 100%

f) Text-book Web site:

The text book (Rowntree et al) has a useful website. The website introduction states that the site “provides students with a wealth of innovative activities and exercises for each chapter in the text. Students can explore each region with informative Web-linked field trips, or can get detailed profiles of every country on the map. Multiple-choice and Fill-in-the-blank quizzes let students test their knowledge of the region and instantaneously receive detailed feedback, while thought-provoking essay questions direct them out to the Web where they will find the resources necessary to construct an answer. A separate Web Destinations section supplies students with a detailed, annotated list of Web links that will help them get started in their continued exploration of online Regional Geography resources.” The instructor’s manual is also available via this website. The text website address is:

http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/rowntree/

g) Course Website:

The course website is http://www.colorado.edu/geography/courses/geog_2002_s02

Please check it frequently for updates on assignments, links to websites for the recitation section debates, practice exams, grade distributions, format for the research papers, etc. For each lecture, the main points and concepts that students need to know for the examinations will be put on the web page before the respective class. These documents thus serve as lecture review but they are no substitute for attendance and note taking in the lecture. It will be helpful to print them out before class and use them as a note-taking template.

h) Attendance:

Attendance is expected at lecture and required in discussion section. Since about half of the exam questions are taken from the lecture material, it would be a big mistake to skip lecture. If you miss class unavoidably, make sure to get the notes.

Attendance is required in the discussion sections and the TA will take weekly attendance. It is unfair to your teammates to miss the debates. From years of experience, it is absolutely clear that course grades and attendance have a strong positive correlation.

i) Academic Honesty:

As CU undergraduates, you are expected to uphold the highest standards of academic honesty at all times. In cases of academic dishonesty, the instructor, following Geography Department and the College of Arts and Sciences regulations, will give at least a grade of F for that part of the course (exam or paper) or more than likely, a grade of F for the whole course (depending on the seriousness of the instance) for any violation of academic honesty. This includes plagiarism on written assignments, copying on exams or submitting work that is not your own original effort. Further details on the departmental College of Arts and Sciences policies on academic honesty can be obtained from the instructor or the Geography Department office. All violations will be reported to the Dean’s office and entered in the student’s file.

j) Classroom Behavior:

As common courtesy to fellow students and the instructors, students are requested not to eat or drink, read newspapers, talk out of turn, or bring dogs or other pets into either lecture or recitation.

IMPORTANT: Please turn off all pagers and cell-phones when attending the lectures or recitation sections.

The Geography Department has a code of classroom conduct that requires respectful behavior from instructors and students. It is important to listen politely to the opinions of others and to express disagreements in a respectful manner, especially since the topics that we cover are controversial.

Given the difficulty of entry and exit from the lecture hall (Chem 140), it is very important that all remain in their seats till the lecture is over – the instructor promises to start and finish on time. Late arrivals and early exits are very disruptive and should be avoided if at all possible. If you must leave early, sit close to the door and leave as unobtrusively as possible.

k) Learning Disabilities:

In a class of this size, there are likely to be students who have learning disabilities. If you wish to take the exams in a different setting, take a longer time for the exam, take an oral exam or make any other exam or class accommodation, please register with the Academic Access and Resources Office (Willard 323), phone 492-8671 and we will work out the arrangements. Please contact the instructor or your TA as soon as possible.

Lecture and Readings Outline

Week/Date	Lecture		Readings		Discussion Section
Week 1			(Rowntree)
Jan. 14	Introduction		xiv-xxi		Outline and Debate Team Formation
Jan. 16	Globalization in Context		1-18
Week 2
Jan. 21	Martin Luther King Day (no class)				Key Human Geographic Concepts
Jan. 23	Nationalism and Identities		19-41
Week 3
Jan. 28	Ethno-Territorial Conflicts		43-59		Nationalist Conflicts
Jan. 30	Political Geography of Resources		60-71
Week 4
Feb. 4	Europe- Immigration/Identity		311-330		Debate I – The Legacy of Bosnia & Kosovo
Feb. 6	Europe – EU and its Future		330-347
Week 5
Feb. 11	Balkans – What went wrong?		347-361		Debate II -Chechen Independence?
Feb. 13	Balkans –Kosovo and its Aftermath
Week 6
Feb. 18	Russia – Economic and Political Changes		362-385		Debate III – Control of Caspian Sea Oil
Feb. 20	Russia – Post Communist Identities		385-405
Week 7
Feb. 25	Caucasus – The Chechen Wars		406-430		Midterm Preparation
Feb. 27	Caspian Sea Oil – The “Great Game”		432-441
Week 8
Mar. 4	Midterm Exam				Paper Guidelines and Formats
Mar. 6	Central Asia - Islamisms
Week 9
Mar. 11	Afghanistan – Local and Global Wars		430-32		Debate IV – The War in Afghanistan
Mar. 13	The “War against Terrorism” Updated		442-472
Week 10
Mar. 18	China – Development without Politics		472-93		Minority Rights
Mar. 20	AAG Meeting – Los Angeles (No Class)
SPRING BREAK
Week 11
Apr. 1	China – Minority Rights	495-521		Debate V – Tackling AIDS in Africa
Apr. 3	India – Geopolitical Tensions	521-539
Week 12
Apr. 8	Indonesia - Minorities or Nation-State	541-563		Winners and Losers in Globalization
Apr. 10	Philippines – Ethnic Tensions	564-583
Week 13
Apr. 15	Africa – A “tragic continent”?	210-230		African Dilemmas
Apr. 17	Rwanda – Lessons Not Learned	230-250
Week 14
Apr. 22	Comparing W. and E. African Wars	250-263		Debate VI – The 2^nd Partition of Palestine
Apr. 24	Middle East – Islamic Diversity	265-283
Week 15
Apr. 29	Israel/Palestine–Territorial Dilemmas.	283-290		Review for Final Exam
May 1	Iraq – Pariah State or Victim	290-309

Reserve Readings

The eight reserve readings are available at the Earth Sciences Library desk (first floor of Benson Earth Sciences Building). About half of the recitation sections have a required reading associated with them. Additional web materials for the debates are available through the course website. At a minimum, each student should read the reserve materials in preparation for the debates.

Discussion Section Reading

Week of 14 Jan	None
Week of 21 Jan	Economist “The man in the Baghdad café.” 9 Nov. 1996, pp. 23-26.
Week of 28 Jan	None
Week of 4 Feb	Economist “The delicate Balkan balance” 19 Aug. 2000, pp.41-43
Week of 11 Feb	Economist “Russia and Islam – Chaos in the Caucasus” 9 Oct. 1999, pp. 23-26.
Week of 18 Feb	Economist “The Caucasus –where worlds collide” 19 Aug. 2000, pp.17-19.
Week of 25 Feb	None – Midterm review
Week of 4 Mar	None – Paper Guidelines Handout and Discussion
Week of 11 Mar	Economist “Special report –Fighting terrorism” 29 September 2001, 15-23.
Week of 18 Mar	None
Week of 1 Apr	Economist “A turning point for AIDS” (pp. 77-79) and editorial (p.17) 15 Jul, 2000
Week of 8 Apr	None
Week of 15 Apr	Economist “The road to 2050 – a survey of the new geopolitics” 31 July, 1999 (16 p)
Week of 22 Apr	Economist “Borders – Good fences” 19 Dec. 1998, pp. 19-22.
Week of 29 Apr	None – Review for the Final Examination

Reserve Readings:

1) To get the reserve reading, you need to know my name (O’Loughlin) or the class (Geography 2002).

2) You can check on the status of the reserves from http://libraries.colorado.edu/search/r (Chinook - the Libraries server) – type in Geog 2002.

3) Copies of the class text (Rowntree et al.) are on reserve at Norlin Library under Geography 1982.

4) Don’t wait till the last minute before a recitation section meeting to complete the respective reading. If you do, you will likely have to wait at the Reserve desk till the readings are returned by another student.

5) Make sure that you have all the pages in the reserve reading. Some pages go missing as students photocopy etc. Let the Reserve desk know if any pages are gone or unreadable.

6) There are photocopying machines in Earth Sciences.