Class Times: M, W, F 11:30-12:20 CL 317

GEOGRAPHY 120-001

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Fall 2011

Dr. R.W. Widdis 585-4242 [email protected]

Office Times: M, W, F T, R 3:00-4:30 p.m. CL 325.2

Course Evaluation: 1. 3 assignments x 5% each 15% 2. Essay 25% 3. Mid-Term Exams (2 x 15%) 30% 4. Final Exam 30% N.B.: Students should retain a copy of all submitted assignments (in case of loss).

Required Text: W. Norton (2009). Human Geography, 9th ed. (Oxford University Press).

Course Description: Explanation of human placement in and interaction with the natural environment; assessment of concepts processes and patterns as related to distribution of human phenomena, including economic activity and settlement types.

Course Structure: There will be three hours of lectures each week. The assignments form an integral part of the course because they enable a more detailed examination of ideas that are covered in the lectures, as well as introducing various practical geographic skills.

Attendance: Regular attendance is expected. You are responsible for all course material regardless of attendance.

Class notes : Outlines for lectures are in PowerPoint. I believe in active rather than passive learning. To be successful in this course, you must take notes and it is your responsibility to ask questions if you do not understand the material or wish the point to be repeated. I will not under any circumstances hand out my lecture notes or include them on a web site. The designated text readings are intended to supplement the material you learn in class. This is a content-intensive course that requires the absorption and recall of a large volume of material. Attending class and keeping up with reading is essential to success in the course. Reading for mastery is an active learning process. For most students, the use of highlighters encourages poor reading habits and detracts from learning. Most successful students will find that a much more effective reading technique is to make notes, writing out the key ideas in the material they are reading to focus their attention on the way that concepts and facts are structured.

Class Courtesy: It is important for each person enrolled in this course to be treated with, and to treat others, with respect and courtesy. To that end: (1) come to class by 11:30 am and stay until 12:20 pm. If you must arrive late or depart early, do so quickly and quietly; (2) turn your cell phone off; no ringing and no text messaging; (3) come to class prepared to listen and participate (in other words, do not do other work while in class); (4) listen to each other’s comments and opinions with an open mind; and, (5) avoid using offensive speech. Inflammatory comments which provoke or insult anyone in this class will not be tolerated.

Course Outline:

1. Introduction (chpts. 1, 2)

2. Population Geography (chpts. 4, 5) a) Historical Trends in Population Growth b) Population Explosion (i) demographic structure (ii) Malthusian scenario (iii) Demographic Transition Theory (iv) Migration c) Population and Food (i) “Limits to Growth” and the Neo-Malthusians (ii) inequity in food distribution (iii) “The Ultimate Resource” (iv) fear of population decline

3. Cultural Geography (chpts. 3, 6, 7) a) Definition of Culture (i) ways in which cultures change (ii) five features of culture b) Culture Region and Cultural Diffusion c) Culture and the Environment (i) mechanistic approach (ii) ecosystem analysis (iii) cultural ecology (iv) adaptive behaviour/environmental perception d) Cultural Universals (i) definition (ii) language (iii) religion e) Landscape: the human imprint (i) definition (ii) structures on the land: the morphology of landscape (iii) new approaches

4. Historical Geography (2 articles as included below and located in the Map Library) a) Definition b) Traditional and Newer Approaches (i) cross-sectional analyses and linking narratives (ii) recent directions - heritage and historical commemoration c) Historical Geography and GIS Articles: i) R.W. Widdis, "'Across A Hundred Torrents': The Changing Geography of Marine Trade in the Great Lakes Borderland During the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries," Annals, The Association of American Geographers 101, 1 (2011), 1-23. ii) R.W. Widdis, “Crossing an Intellectual and Geographical Border: The Importance of Migration in Shaping the Canadian-American Borderlands at the Turn of the Twentieth Century,” Social Science History 34, 4 (2010), 445- 497.

MID-TERM EXAMINATION (Sections 1-4) Ist test – Sections 1, 2, 3 a), b) 2nd test – Sections 3 c). d), e), 4

5. Economic Geography and Settlement Systems (chpts. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) a) Rural Society and Agriculture (i) origin and dispersion: plant and animal domestication (ii) evolution of agricultural villages: Carol’s stage model (iii) individual farmsteads (iv) Von Thunen’s agricultural location theory b) Urban Society and Economic Activity (i) the process of urbanization: Carol and Blumenfeld (ii) principles of settlement structure: i. functions ii. internal structure iii. Christaller’s central place theory (iii) location theory of secondary economic activity i. factors ii. Weber’s location theory (iv) urban issues i. slums/ghettos – Bunge’s cities of death, need and superfluity ii. cities and hyperurbanization in the developing world

6. Political Geography (chpt. 8) a) Political Events and Geography: geographic elements and the state, geopolitics b) Themes in Political Geography c) Development and Underdevelopment (i) development of theories – modernization and dependency (ii) dynamics of economic and social underdevelopment in the developing world

7. Conclusion: Globalization and the Death of Geography? (chpts. 9, Conclusion)