Geography
of Global Change
GEO
3001,
U01. Spring 2007
Class
Location: GL
149
Time:
5:00-6:15 p.m.
T,Th
Instructor: Benjamin Smith Email: bsmith@fiu.edu
Office:
DM 437B Office Phone: 348-2074
Office
Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday 1:00-1:45, 3:30-4:45, or by
appointment
Teaching
Homepage Which You Must Check Frequently: http://www.fiu.edu/~bsmith/teaching.htm
Mega-Cities, Melting Artic Ice, and
Transnational Consumer Cultures.
Oh my!
We live in extraordinary times. In the last few years the planet has
become more urban than rural, has begun to face a multitude of problems
associated with climate change, and has seen more of the world’s information
potentially available to more people than ever before through the Internet. Not to mention the profoundly
interconnected planetary economy.
In the 1990’s, a term called globalization emerged to describe this
seeming leveling of the world – so much so that a well-traveled person like New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
actually wrote a book called The World is
Flat. Some have even
declared geography not to matter anymore – that every issue is global
now.
However all these recent changes lumped under
globalization have histories – or to be precise historical geographies. Furthermore, in the words of Richard
Florida, “the world is spiky”– meaning that global issues have an uneven
geography, with areas of intensity and absense. Causes and effects are often not found
in the same location; nor is everywhere equally impacted. The history and present of
this uneven geography is what this class will be about.
You will have to read and understand
geography stuff
The point of this course is to learn not just “facts”
about global change – though you certainly will be presented with a lot of those
(which you will hopefully find interesting). More importantly, the point
is to acquire a “geographic” perspective on how to contextualize, analyze, think
about and act upon those facts. This will require reading
work written by geographers so you to can begin to think like a geographer.
Additionally, this is the highest numbered course all
geography majors have to take, so in order to make sure majors get admitted to
the super secret geography club, it is important to read work written by some of
the smart people in the discipline.
So if you don’t want to read, perhaps you should
consider a course in interpretive dance.
1.
Become knowledgeable about contemporary global changes,
by knowing their histories and dynamics. Most of the foundations of today’s
seemingly new “global” phenomenon date back at least to the period of
colonialism, sometimes early. Furthermore, many
problems are exceedingly complex without easy solutions – understanding and
accepting this complexity will be part of this course.
2.
Use that knowledge to become a critical assessor of
information. This course will be an
introduction to global issues that will by and large be around for the rest of
your lives. Hopefully the course
will inspire you to keep tabs on the issues, and maybe even act influence their
course in ways big and small.
3.
Learn to think from a geographic
prospective. Though geographers analyze many of the
same issues people from other disciplines do, there is a difference in how
geographers approach things.
Terms like space, scale, systemic analyze and materiality are extremely
important to geographers – this course will help you understand
why.
A World of
Difference: Society, Nature, Development. By Porter
and Sheppard. The
Geographies of
Global Change: Remapping the World
(2nd Edition). Edited by
Global
Culture. By Diana Crane. Routledge. ISBN: 0415932300
Tuesday, February 6 – First Exam
Tuesday, February 13 –Research Proposal
Due
Thursday, March 8 – Second Exam
Tuesday, March 20 & Thursday, March 22
– Spring Break (No Class)
Monday, March 12 Last Day to Drop Course
with DR grade
Tuesday, April 10 – Research Assignment
Due
Thursday, April 26 3:30-6:15 – Final
Exam
Grading
There will be 500 total points available
in this class, broken down as follows:
90 points: Global Change Research Assignment &
Proposal
50 points: Attendance and Participation
120 points:
Exam 1
120 points:
Exam 2
120 points: Final Exam
500 points Total
The grading scale is A = 100-93%, A- = 92.9-90%, B+ =
89.9-87%, B = 86.9-83%, B- =82.9%-80%, C+ = 79.9-77%, C = 76.9-73%, C- = 72.9-70%, D+ = 69.9-67%, D =
66.9-63%, D- = 62-60% F = 59-0%, which translates to, in
points:
A : 500
thru 465 points
A-: 464 thru 450
points
B+: 449 thru 435 points
B:
434 thru 415 points
B-: 414
thru 400 points
C+: 399 thru 385 points
C:
384 thru 365 points
C-: 364
thru 350 points
D+: 349 thru 335 points
D:
334 thru 315 points
D-: 314
thru 300 points
F: 299
thru 0 points
Each exam will be a
combination of multiple choice, matching, and essay, drawn from lectures,
readings, videos, etc. – basically anything covered in class or assigned. Each exam covers only material covered
since the previous exam. This
includes the final. That does not mean major concepts should be completely
forgotten after first tested – indeed some concepts will be covered again and
again. I
will also say this: essays will be worth a significant amount of points on the
test, because this is a largely conceptual class.
Research
Assignment & Proposal
Full instructions
will be released soon, but this assignment will involve demonstrating an ability
to conduct and summarize research concerning global change, which takes into
account a geographic prospective.
It will be 5 to 7 pages, and submitted in person and electronically via
turnitin.com at the beginning of class on Tuesday, April 10. Additionally, a proposal,
which will be used to gauge progress, will be submitted at the beginning of
class (but not on turnitin.com) on Tuesday, February 13. Assignments turned in late will
have points deducted.
Attendance
and Participation Points, Name Cards & Classroom
Etiquette
This being an upper division course, you
should not have to be reminded how important regular attendance is. This is especially true because
lectures, while drawing on the readings, will expand upon them as well. Missing class means missing a lot
of the material that will be on the test. The same goes for the readings –
if you fail to do them before the test, your efforts to answer essay questions
will be hamstrung (ummm… hamstrung…ahhhhh)
I also want to get to know who you are, so
as hokey as it sounds, I would like you to bring with you some sort of name card
to sit in front of you while you are in class – including your first and last
name, written in letters big enough for me to see from the front of class. This way I can start to put names
to faces.
To reward you for reading
and attendance, I will have various easy point opportunities throughout the
semester. Sometimes they will
be announced tasks – like bringing three questions to class about the reading
for discussion. Other times, they
will be unannounced – like having a quick individual quiz about the reading that
asks a few, really simple questions.
If the reading is particularly theoretical, I will put you into groups
during class so you and your classmates can hash it out together. These are meant to be low stress, and
providing everyone makes a good faith effort (and attends), these points should
be easy to get. Even easier to get
are the points where I simply mark down everyone who is there and brought there
name cards with them.
However, these points can
also be taken away, at the instructor’s discretion, in extreme circumstances,
due to regularly bad behavior.
Points can also be taken away if a student shows lack of engagement by
talking to other students while the instructor, guest or another student is
speaking, repeatedly reading the newspaper,
using their cell phone or mp3 player, doing homework for other classes, or using
their notebook computer for IM’s (not note-taking). However, I doubt it will come to
this. If points are taken, the
student will be notified as to why.
Also, any of the above behaviors are grounds for me to remove you from
the classroom for the remainder of the class period in which the infraction
occurred. But again, I’ve not
had to do that – probably because I look so threatening.
Attendance
quizzes and activities will contribute a maximum of 50 points to your final
grade. There will likely be
more than 50 points made available during the semester, meaning if you miss a
class or have an off day, you will still be able to receive full attendance
credit.
Since this is the first
time I have taught this course, the schedule of readings and lectures will
likely be in flux throughout the semester (although exam and due dates are
firm). I will always announce
the reading for next class at the beginning of each class, and update the “Class
Schedule” link as needed. It
is your responsibility to know what the reading is – either by attending class
or checking the class schedule.
Teaching
Website, On-Line Articles, and Updates
At the top of this
document, you will find the address for my teaching homepage,
which is http://www.fiu.edu/~bsmith/teaching.htm
. There will be a copy of the
syllabus there, the course schedule, handouts, exam and quiz review sheets –
anything I hand out. In
addition, I will keep a blog (which will be accessible from the teaching page)
for this class on which I will post announcements (such as the unlikely event of
a class cancellation), answer questions and link to articles which are related
to the class that I come across.
Thus, if you have a question
about the structure of the class (due dates, test structure, etc.), check the
website and the blog, because the answer will probably be there.
My
office hours are posted at the top of this document. If
you are having trouble at all, I strongly encourage you to stop by or call
during office hours, or make an appointment to do so. My job is to make sure you learn
the material, not just to assign grades.
I
will also try my best to answer questions via e-mail, but realize that apart
from teaching this class, I am also teaching a second course, doing research,
and administrative work, thus the quickest, best way to get an answer is to stop
by or call me during office hours.
If you e-mail me, please put
“GEO 3001” or “Global Change” in the subject line – so I know what class you are
in. Also, pretty please put
your name in the email, so I know who I am replying to.
Earning
the Grade You Want & (Lack of Significant) Extra
Credit
If
you are doing poorly in the class, the time to ask how you can do better is not
right before, and especially not right after, the final. If you do badly on the first or second
test PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come to office hours or make an appointment to see me
as soon as possible after that test, and I will help you devise strategies to
study more effectively.
If
there are events on campus (e.g. lectures) that are related to the course, I may
give 2 or 3 points extra-credit if you attend. Other than that, I will not give extra credit – so there
is no point in asking.
Nor will I go back and change grades after the semester is over and
grades have been submitted – you earn what you earn. It is the only thing that is fair
to all students in the course – I cannot give advancement opportunities to one I
do not give to all.
Academic
Integrity, Cheating and Plagiarism:
Cheating and plagiarism are done by pathetic and
desperate people – don’t be one of them. If you plagiarize on your
research assignment, or cheat on an exam – you will receive at
minimum a zero on that assignment, which instantly
drops your score for the course by about two full letter grades. If you find yourself in a
desperate situation while taking a test or up against a deadline – turn in the
best work you can do at the time.
Getting an F usually means you will get some points – getting caught
cheating means you get zero.
Furthermore, depending on the severity of the case, I can choose to
pursue harsher penalties, including assigning an F0 for the course or pursuing
your expulsion from the university.
It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with
the FIU student handbook’s sections on cheating and plagiarism. Also, if you need to know more about how
to not plagiarize, please check out the following
websites.
1)
“Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It (
Excused absences include serious illness; illness of a
spouse or dependent; death of an immediate family
member; University-sponsored trips; and major religious holy
days. It is your responsibility to
inform me of the absence in advance of
class by e-mail (and within 2 weeks of the start of class if it is a
university trip or holy day), but no later than two class sessions after the
missed class. In order to have an
absence excused, you must provide original documentation which I can keep. If this is done, and I determine
the absence to be excused, I will do my best make sure you make up what you
missed.
Make-up exams will only be given in extreme
circumstances. The make-up exam will not be the same one
given to those who took the test on the established date, and will be given
during the final examination period, during which time you will take both the
make-up exam and the final.
To sit a make-up exam, you must 1) provide documentation to me in
class within two class periods of the missed exam addressing why your absence
qualifies as excused 2) have that documentation accepted by me 3) email me
asking to be given a make-up exam and 4) receive back an email from me
confirming a make-up exam will be given.
Your choices to attend or not attend have consequences –
just like they would at work.
I take my responsibilities and role as a teacher seriously; I hope you
hold your role and responsibility as a student in equal respect.