Geography 001 - World Regional Geography
Spring 2005
MWF 9:05 – 9:55
Room Williams 301
Dr.
Office Hours: Mon.
and
Wed
Phone 656-2086 Email: Sasha.Davis@uvm.edu
Course Description:
The purpose of this course is to learn more about the world in which we live. As you will soon discover geography is about much more than just learning where countries, cities and mountains are located. While it is important to know where places are in the world, it is much more important (and interesting) to know how and why some places are different from others. Also, we will be learning about the ways in which different parts of the world are increasingly connected to each other, especially in this current age of globalization. Geography is a field of study that is proud to take a holistic approach that aims to understand a variety of processes (from geology, to climatology, to ecology, to history, to economics, to politics) and understand how they all come together to create the variety of places that exist in the world. By taking this course I hope you will learn more about the world in which you live and the processes that constantly remake it.
Course Requirements:
Lectures: I expect that you will attend lectures, add to discussions in class, complete the assigned readings before class, take the exams and quizzes, and be responsible for catching up on any notes missed during an absence. There may also be guest lectures in the class. If you miss a class I would suggest that you get the notes from a classmate and ask her/him about what we went over that day. Don’t miss the exam days!! If you are someone who may miss classes throughout the semester because of athletics or another university sponsored activity please let me know early in the semester so I can make note of it. Attendance will be taken and count as part of your final grade.
There are two books for this class: World Regions in
Global Context by Marston, Knox and Liverman (required) as well as Goode’s World Atlas by
Espenshade (optional). Both are available at the
Movies: From time to time we will be watching movies that demonstrate the concepts covered in the class. The information from the movies will be on the exams (Don’t fall asleep!).
Things you will be graded
on:
Exams:
There will be 3 exams during the semester: Midterms in class
are on Fri. Feb 18 and Fri. April 1 and the final is on Thursday May 12 at
Quizzes:
There will be 7 quizzes during the semester currently
scheduled for: Jan 31, Feb 11, Feb 28, Mar 7, Mar 16, Apr 11, Apr 29. These will
focus on knowing the location of countries, places, and physical features
(mountains, rivers, etc) of the region we are discussing. Studying for these quizzes is where your
atlas will come in handy. Unless you contact me with a reason why you
can not make it to class on a quiz day (trip for athletics for instance) at least 24 hours prior to the quiz
you can not make up a missed quiz! Your grade will be based on your 6 highest
quiz scores. In other words, the grade
for the quiz you did the worst on (or missed) will be thrown out.
Grades will be distributed according to the following
scale:
A+ 100-97; A 97-93; A- 93-90; B+ 90-87; B 83-87; B- 83-80; C+ 80-77; C 77-73; C- 73-70; D+ 70-67; D 67-63; D- 60-63; F= below 60.
This is how the points will break down:
Exams: 600 points (3 exams at 200 points each)
Quizzes 300 points (6 top scores out of 7 at 50 points each)
Attendance:
100 points
Academic dishonesty: Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism (submitting someone else’s work as your own), cheating, and fabrication of information or citations. It will result in a grade of “F” for this course. If you have any questions or uncertainty regarding this policy discuss them with me.
Access: I encourage persons with
disabilities to participate in this class.
If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course or
have questions about physical access, please tell me as soon as possible.
Class Schedule:
(Note: This is an approximate schedule. If there are any changes to it I will
announce it in class.)
Week 1: W, F Jan
19, 21 Reading
First class Wed. Jan 19: Introduction, What is Geography? Review syllabus
Fri. Jan 21: Maps and other tools of geography
Week 2: Jan 24,
26, 28
Mon. Jan 24: Global physical environment. Read Chapter One
Wed. Jan 26: Global physical environment
Fri. Jan 28: Global human geography and the regional approach Read Chapter Two
Week 3: Jan 31,
Feb 2, 4
Mon. Jan 31: North America - Quiz on global geography
Wed. Feb 2 Issue: human/environment interaction. Read Chapter Seven
Fri. Feb 4:
Week 4: Feb 7, 9, 11
Mon. Feb 7:
Wed. Feb 9: Issue: The economic ‘core’ and the costs of affluence
Fri. Feb 11:
Week 5: Feb 14,
16, 18
Mon. Feb 14:
Wed. Feb 16:
***Fri. Feb 18: Exam #1***
Week 6: No class Feb 21, Feb 23, 25
Wed. Feb 23:
Fri. Feb 25:
Week 7: Feb 28,
Mar 2, Mar 4
Mon. Feb 28:
Wed. Mar 2: issue: Colonialism, borders and resources.
Fri. Mar 4: Sub-Saharan
Week 8: Mar 7, 9,
11
Mon. Mar 7: Sub-Saharan
Wed. Mar 9: issue: ‘conflict diamonds,’ forests and instability
in
Fri. Mar 11:
Week 9: Mar 14,
16, 18
Mon. Mar 14:
Wed. Mar 16: issue:
Perspectives on population. – Quiz S.
and
Fri. Mar 18:
*******Spring
Break - Mar
21-25*******
Week 10: Mar 28,
30 and April 1
Mon. Mar 28:
Wed. Mar 30: Issue: Perspectives on resource use and
control
*****Fri. April 1: Exam 2*****
Week 11: April 4,
6, 8
Mon. April 4: issue:
Oil in the rainforest: environment and development.
Wed. April 6: Latin America
Read Chapter Eight
Fri. April 8: issue: trade agreements, the IMF and
Structural Adjustment Policies.
Week 12: April 11,
13, 15
Mon. April 11:
Wed. April 13:
Fri. April 15:
issue: The science and politics of global warming and sea-level rise.
Week 13: April 18,
20, 22
Mon. April 18:
Wed. April 20: issue: The legacy of nuclear weapons testing
Friday April 22:
Week 14: April 25, 27, 29
Mon. Apr 25: East-Asia Read Chapter Nine
Wed. Apr 27: issue: Urbanization and the international division of labor.
Fri. Apr 29:
Week 15: May 2, 4 No class
Friday. Last class Wed. May 4
Mon. May 2: East Asia
Wed. May 4: Wrap-up day. Last day of class.
***************Final
Exam: Thurs. May 12 at