Urban
Geography
GEO 3602, U01. Fall 2013
Class Location: Ziff
150
Time: 5:00 – 7:45 PM, Thursday
Instructor: Benjamin Smith Email: bsmith@fiu.edu
Office: SIPA 305 Office Phone:
348-2074
Office Hours: Thursday, 3:00-4:30
Teaching Homepage Which You Must Check Frequently: http://www.fiu.edu/~bsmith/teaching.htm
And if I make it there, I’m gonna
make it anywhere…
Cities are really important. No
other way to put it. Much of our great
progress as humans happens in, and even because of, cities. Cities have been, are, and will continue to
be where people of different backgrounds meet, where those with big dreams go,
and concentrated numbers of like minded people will do the next big thing.
Cities are places of great hope, where tens of millions of people every
year go to find a better life. They also
are places of fear, where the problems of masses of people living on top of
each other become all too apparent.
To say this is to make the geographical argument: that history and
society unfold not on a featureless plane, but in a real, material world of
difference. And in that world of
difference, cities are exceedingly important.
Covering cities, fact and theory
Urban geography is a course that tends to vary greatly based on the
interests and expertise of the professor.
Some treat it mostly like a history course, explaining where cities came
from, which one’s became large when, and why. Others treat it like a course in urban
planning, spending a lot of time highlighting models and theories about how to
locate roads, attract businesses, minimize environmental impact, and so
on. Others focus on the social and cultural
implications of cities: what it means that different people are put in the
close proximity, and what are the societal impacts, good and bad, of this. Some put urban environment and the
forefront.
Luckily (or perhaps unfortunately) for you, whatever my interests may
be, I want to try to cast as wide of a net as possible with this course. It would be unfair for those going to grad
school not to be exposed to planning theory or critical social theory about
cities; it would also be unfair to those not going to grad school if they did
not learn specific, interesting information about real cities throughout
history across the world.
1. Understanding the evolution of the world urban system. The world has
a historical urban geography, and before students are able to theorize and
express opinions about contemporary urban conditions, it is important they have
a base-level knowledge of how cities emerged, where they emerged, how the
distribution of and connections between urban centers has changed over time. Furthermore, they should have an appreciation
of the different types of issues faced by cities in the past vs. present, as
well as in different parts of our contemporary world.
2. Articulating
major urban planning theories. For those who
plan careers in planning, design, urban environments, urban governance and/or
policy it is important they are familiar with major theories about why cities
grow relative to each other, how the internal spatial structure of cities
shifts due to changes over time, how inequality plays itself out in cities and
what theories are driving policies which attempt to alter urban dynamics.
3. Considering
how to make our cities better. As students who attend an urban university,
who will likely to continue living in cities in the future, it is a goal of
this course to give them the tools to both critically analyze information they
encounter concerning the city in which they live and be active members
of their communities who can make their cities better.
Urbanization: An Introduction to Urban Geography (3rd Edition). By Knox and McCarthy. Prentice Hall. ISBN: 013142450
Note: The second edition is fairly close, at least
in the parts I have seen. You can buy it
instead if you find it cheap.
September 26 –
Test One (Covers Chapters 1-4)
October 24 –
Test Two (Covers Chapters 5 to 8, 9 or 10, depending on progress)
November 7 –
Global City Project
November 21 –
Miami Project Due
November 28 – No
Class, Thanksgiving
December 12,
normal class time – Final Exam (Covers all Remaining Chapters)
Grading
There will be 500 total points available
in this class, broken down as follows:
75
points:
75
points: Global City Assignment
50
points: Attendance and Participation
100 points: Exam 1
100 points: Exam 2
100
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 short
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 many concepts will be built
upon throughout the course of the semester.
But each test reflects the study guide for it, so you do not need to go
back to earlier study guides.
Local
& Global City Research Assignments
Full instructions will be released soon, but I want
you to utilize tools you learn in this course to better understand both the
city you find yourself in now, as well as learn something about a major city
elsewhere in the world. Both
assignments will be submitted in person and electronically via
turnitin.com. The Global City project
will be due Thursday, November 7 and the local project will be due Thursday, November
21. You are free to turn them in
early. Assignments turned in late will
have points deducted.
Attendance and Participation Points & 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 book, will expand upon it as well. Missing class means missing a lot of the
material that will be on the test. The
same goes for the book – it explains in more detail the concepts covered in
class. Also, since we only meet one day
a week, missing a day is like missing a week.
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 or a brief homework assigned.
Other times, they will be unannounced – like having a quick individual quiz
about the reading from the textbook that asks a few, really simple
questions. If the day’s topic 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.
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.
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 one class or
have an off day, you will still be able to receive full attendance credit.
The Once a Week Format, Readings and Changes to Schedule
Meeting once a week is a
bit unusual for an undergraduate course, in that it reduces flexibility in
terms when exams are. This is further
constrained by Thanksgiving eating one of our days, and Halloween being a
Thursday night that I don’t want to put an exam on in case people have children
or siblings who they want to see Trick-or-Treat. Also, since the book has changed slightly
since last time I taught this course, I do not have a perfect sense of how long
everything will take.
Since this is my first time
teaching this course in a one day a week format, the schedule of readings and
lectures will likely be in flux throughout the semester. I will always announce the reading for next
class at the end 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.
For example, I think I will
likely finish Chapter 4 (the last on the first test) in Week 3. But in case I do not, I did not want to put
the exam in Week 4. This also is good for
you – it gives you time to review the material longer before the Exam in Week 5
(and gives us a chance to have a review in Week 4). Similarly, I want Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 at
least to be on the second exam (ideally 9 as well), but did not want to put it
on Halloween. Thus, we might have a
situation where I might do a lecture on the days of either (or perhaps both)
the first and second exam in the second half of class, but it depends on how
much progress we make. So the take away
is be prepared to have a little more flexibility in
the schedule.
However,
unless there is a hurricane, you can count on exam days and project due dates
as firmly set.
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, as
well as the course schedule and instructions regarding the projects. Also,
there and only there you will be able to find study guides for the exams – meaning
I will not be handing these study guides out in class. In addition, I will post any announcements
(such as the unlikely event of a class cancelation), on this page as well. Thus,
if you have a question about the structure of the class (due dates, test
structure, etc.), check the website, 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. If you have quick questions, seeing me before
class or during break is a good option, as is email. Please
do not call outside of office hours – it is easier for me to answer an email
than to play phone tag. If you e-mail me, please put “GEO 3602”
or “Urban Geography” 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 projects, 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 1.5 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.