Geography

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: Peoples, Places and Culture SIS 210-001 Honors Professor: Dr. Carolyn Gallaher Office: Clark 213 Office Hours: T, F 2-5pm Email: [email protected] Office phone: 202.885.1827

REQUIRED TEXTS: 1. Places and Regions in a Global Context: Human Geography. Paul Knox and Sallie Marston. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 3rd edition 2. Student Atlas of World Geography, 3rd edition. John Allen. 3. Reading Packet: I have compiled a reading packet for this class. Several copies of the packet may be found in a crate outside of my office door and are available for photocopying. Copies of the packet may only be borrowed for half-hour slots to allow everyone access to them. 4. Map of DC: You should purchase a full street map of DC. These are available through Triple A (AAA) and in local bookstores. If you purchase your map in a bookstore, be sure that it includes the entire city. GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: Human Geography is a part of the University’s General Education Program. Specifically, it is a level two course in Curricular Area 3, Global and Multicultural Perspectives, cluster 2, Multicultural Experience. The Goals of Curricular Area 3 are the following: • • • • •

Understand those habits of thought and feeling that distinguish cultures from one another. Explore comparative and cross-cultural perspectives. Develop analytical skills appropriate to the study of international and intercultural relations. Understand concepts, patterns and trends that characterize international and intercultural relations. Analyze systematically such major issues as war and peace, global order, distributive justice, and the finite character of the earth’s resources.

This second-level course links with four foundation courses: • ANTH-110G Culture: The Human Mirror • LIT-150G Third World Literature • RELG-185G Forms of the Sacred: Religions of the East • SIS-140G Cross-Cultural Communication • SOCY-110G Views from the Third World Note that General education credit will be given for Human Geography only if the prerequisite Foundation course has been taken for this course.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: This course is designed to impart intellectual knowledge and focuses on 6 key areas/skills: 1. The Importance of Place: Human Geography is designed to introduce students to the importance of place. People imbue places with special meaning. In this class we will talk about how these are constructed and how they vary across cultures. 2. Processes that Lead to “unevenness” across Space: Characteristics ranging from average housing costs and hourly wages to language and dress vary across space. In this course we will talk about theories that explain why social, cultural and economic phenomena vary across space as well as the implications of “uneven” space. 3. Geography in the Social Sciences: This course will give you a sound understanding of the discipline and its place in the social sciences. 4. Class, Race, and Gender: This course will introduce students to the concepts of class, race, and gender. It will also teach students the key geographic patterns regarding class, race, and gender relations across the globe. 5. Analytic and Writing Skills: In this course you will learn how to analyze the geographic dimension of human phenomena. You will also learn how to put your analysis into well crafted written form. 6. Critical Thinking Skills: This course is designed to teach you to think critically. You will be encouraged to question the validity of arguments rather than accepting them at face value. You will also be taught to identify both the strong and weak points of the geographic theories covered in the class.

BASIC EXPECTATIONS: 1. Be On Time: Coming to class late is DISRUPTIVE me and your peers. 2. Cell Phones Off: Turn off cell phones in class. Exceptions granted for emergencies. 3. Proper Notification: Students are entitled to miss exams and assignment due dates for the reasons listed below. In each case, students must provide proper documentation. All other cases will result in zero credit for a missed assignment/exam. Religious holidays Illness requiring a doctor’s visit Surgery Death in the family Car wreck 4. Open Dialogue: During the semester unexpected problems may affect your performance in this class. I am willing to work with you to overcome any such difficulties. I can only do so, however, if you let me know WHILE something is affecting you. Thus, it behooves you to keep me abreast of issues as they occur rather than coming to me at the end of the semester with an explanation for poor performance. At that point it is usually too late for me to do anything to help you. 5. Academic Integrity: All students are governed by American University's Academic Integrity Code. The Academic Integrity Code details specific violations of ethical conduct that relate to academic integrity. By registering, you have acknowledged your awareness of the Academic Integrity Code, and you are obliged to become familiar with your rights and responsibilities as defined by the code. All of your work (whether oral or written) in any and all classes is governed by the provisions of the Academic Integrity Code. Academic violations include but are not limited to: plagiarism, inappropriate collaboration, dishonesty in examinations whether in class or take-home, dishonesty in papers, work done for one course and submitted to another, deliberate falsification of data, interference with other students' work, and copyright violations. The adjudication process and possible penalties are listed in American University's Academic Integrity Code booklet, and is also available on the American University website. Being a member of this academic community entitles each of us to a wide degree of freedom and the pursuit of scholarly interests; with that freedom, however, comes a responsibility to uphold the high ethical standards of scholarly conduct.

EVALUATION: Map Test 1 Map Test 2 Exam 1 Exam 2 Project Participation Final

8% 8% 20 % 20 % 20% 4 % 20 % 100%

Exams: On your two exams and your final you will be expected to write concise, but well organized responses to a combination of short answer and essay questions. Full-credit responses will address the factual information requested in the question and will be written in a clear and logical fashion. Map Tests: For you map tests you will be expected to mark the location of physical and social features on a blank map. One week before each test I will provide you with a detailed list of the features you are expected to memorize as well as blank maps for practicing. Project: In this project you will select a neighborhood in DC to survey. Your survey will include demographic, economic, cultural, and political information about your selected neighborhood. You will also be asked to review ‘pressing’ issues in your neighborhood, such as disputes over land-use, problems associated with gentrification, or surges in crime. Participation: I will take attendance (unannounced) 4 times during the semester. GRADING SCALE: A 95-100 B+ A90-94 B B-

87-89 83-86 80-82

C+ C C-

77-79 73-76 70-72

D+ D D-

67-69 63-66 60-62

Below is a guideline of what each letter grade ‘means’ in terms of your overall performance in this class: Note that pluses and minuses indicate slight variations (either above or below) the stated norm of each letter grade. A: demonstration of superior work in fulfillment of course requirements B: Good work in fulfillment of course requirements C: satisfactory work in fulfillment of course requirements D: assigned work is unsatisfactory or not completed F: inadequate work or substantial amounts of uncompleted work.

F <59

Class Calendar: T 1/13

Discussion of Class Syllabus

F 1/16

Introducing Geography Chapter 1

__________ T 1/20 F 91/23 ______________ T 1/27 F 1/30 ______________ T 2/3 F 2/6

Cartography: The Visual Production of Places Uneven Space: Core / Periphery relationships Chapter 2 The Debt Crisis The IMF—a critical view from Mauritania Reading 1 Map Test 1 Population Geography Chapter 3

______________ T 2/10

Migration: El Salvadorian migration to DC

F 2/13

Exam 1

______________ T 2/17 F 2/20 ______________ T 2/24 F 2/27

Cultural Geography Chapter 5 Utopian Communities—heavenly landscapes? The Shakers of Mout Pleasant, Kentucky Land Tenure Chapter 8 Mexico’s Zapatistas—a fight for communal land tenure Reading 2

______________ T 3/2 F 3/5

Map Test 2 Geography of Economic Development—Fordism to Just in Time Chapter 7

______________ T 3/9

SPRING BREAK

F 3/12

SPRING BREAK

______________ T 3/16

Roger and Me, a film by Michael Moore

F 3/191 ______________ T 3/23 F 3/26 ______________ T 3/30 F 4/2

Roger and Me, a film by Michael Moore Reading 3 NAFTA—where Michigan’s jobs went? Urban Geography Chapter 10 Exam 2 Gentrification: A case study in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor Reading 4

______________ T 4/6

The Making of a Capital City—The District of Colombia

F 4/9

Immigration in the DC area

______________ T 4/13 F 4/16

Political Geography Chapter 9 Territory in Northern Ireland Project due

______________ T 4/20

Racial Redistricting in North Carolina

F 4/23

African borders—a brief history

********** F 4/30 8:30-11:00

Final Exam