Course Syllabus
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GGR246H1F – Geography of Canada Summer 2019 Course Syllabus Instructor: Benjamin Patrick Butler Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Monday 1-2pm, SS5060, Wednesday 1-2pm, in Sid Smith Café, and by appointment. Lecture: Monday & Wednesday, 6pm-8pm, SS2110 Teaching Assistants : Jandell-Jamela Nicholas; Nickie Van Lier OVERVIEW In this course we will examine the geography of and idea of Canada. Our study of different regions is organized by themes that will assist us in discussing nation and state. We will examine spatial difference as constitutive of Canadian social and economic geography. We will address key concepts like settler colonialism, racial capitalism, and gender in, through, and across Canada through the topics like immigration, multiculturalism, climate, urbanization, Indigenous issues, resource extraction, security. LEARNING OUTCOMES Once you have completed this course, you should be able to, in writing: 1. Understand some key concepts used by geographers 2. Connect these concepts to social and economic difference in the geography of Canada 3. Explain how difference is produced and is on-going and not an accident 4. Apply these insights to current events and our everyday lives Assessments and Examination Value When/Due Date 4 Reading Responses (150-250 10% (2.5% By 5pm on the day of the relevant lecture. words) each) By Class 7 at least 2 must be submitted. • Cover the required readings In case of more than 4, the best will be used. for one lecture *****Will not be accepted late***** Assignment 1 – Critical Analysis of 25% May 22 nd (Class 6) by 11:59pm Wednesday a Podcast Episode (1500-2000 evening through Quercus words) Assignment 2 – Case Study Analysis 30% June 12 th (Class 12) by 11:59pm Wednesday (2000 -2500 words) evening through Quercus Exam 35% Week of June 20 -26 (TBA) Use a title page, subheadings, and page numbers. Ensure your name and student number are present. Use APA (in-text) citation and reference lists. Use 2.5cm margins and either Times New Roman in 12-point. Hard copies require prior arrangement. Please page 3 for the specifics on this course’s late policy (page 3) COURSE WEBSITE and EMAIL : The course website is available through Quercus (q.utoronto.ca). Login with your utorid. All course material will be posted on the course website, including the syllabus, assignments, and readings. All communication will be facilitated through Quercus. Please use a subject line that includes GGR246. Review the late policy before asking for an extension. Note: I try to respond to email within 1 business day. I may take 24 hours (or the weekend) to respond. Butler GGR246 – Summer 2019 Page 2 of 10 IMPORTANT COURSE INFORMATION RECOMMENDED PREPARATION : GGR107H1, GGR124H1 Distribution Requirements : Social Science. Breadth Requirements : Society and its Institutions (3). For further information see the FAS Calendar at: https://fas.calendar.utoronto.ca ON COURSE CONDUCT: Topics like nation , nationality , and nationalism are political. Discussing them with reference to Canada and geographies of violence entails difficult discussions of sensitive subject matter. Interrogating our own ideas and relations to place is in keeping with the University of Toronto’s statement of institutional purpose ( https://www.utoronto.ca/about-u-of-t/mission ). Different people may have different feelings and passions that emerge through our class discussions. Participants in this course commit to holding our course discussions with an open-mind and respect for one another; please read over the university’s equity, anti-harassment and anti-oppression ( http://policies.hrandequity.utoronto.ca/ ) for further explanation. PRONOUNS AND OPPRESSIVE LANGUAGE : Please use an individual’s preferred pronouns as a marker of basic respect. Please consider how you talk to or discuss the work of others in class and in submitted work. If you are not sure about how to talk about or to a person or population, please take time to research the preferred terminology or seek guidance from the instructor or a teaching assistant. PARTICIPATION : Participation is not part of your grade but improves comprehension. During lecture there will be opportunities for group discussion READINGS : There is no textbook for this course. All material is available through Quercus. The course schedule below indicates required weekly readings. All material covered in class is to assist the interpretation of course readings. Please read all required material before lecture. Preparation enhances understanding and coming with questions strengthens discussion. Questions can be sent in advance to the instructor via Quercus. AUDIO, VISUAL, AND VIDEO RECORDING : Recording is permitted in instances of need, weighed against the right to privacy. If you need to record the class, please speak with the instructor. USING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM : I do not prohibit technology but do not distract others. ON SELECTIVE NOTE-TAKING : I encourage taking hand-written notes or being selective if writing on a computing device. Studies show that writing notes by hand is selective and builds understanding, where note- taking with laptops encourages less critical, verbatim note-taking (Mueller & Oppenheimer. 2014 “The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard” Psychological Science 25(6), pp.1159-1168). ACCESSIBILITY NEEDS : We all bring needs to the classroom. The classroom itself may impede our presence and participation in unequal ways. Accessibility Services can provide for or implement a variety of accommodations and accessibility needs for registrants ( [email protected] or www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/as ). This process can sometimes take a few weeks. Start early and reach out to the course instructor if you think you may need additional consideration before your accommodations are set. The UofT Health and Wellness Centre (https://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/hwc ) may be able to assist you. OTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO PARTICIPATION : Accessibility Services may not address all needs. Please contact the instructor if you have or will have a specific situation or continuing circumstances. CHILDCARE : Children are welcome but please sit near doors in case you need to step out. Butler GGR246 – Summer 2019 Page 3 of 10 LATE OR MISSED WORK MISSED COURSEWORK : If you have a medical, personal, or religious reason to defer or exempt an assignment or examination, notify me as soon as possible. UofT requires documentation in most circumstances, and this must be provided to me. This documentation could be: • Verification of Student Illness or Injury (http://www.illnessverification.utoronto.ca/index.php ) • Student Health or Disability Related Certificate • A College Registrar’s Letter • An Accessibility Services Letter LATE POLICY: • Reading responses will not be accepted after 5pm for the day of the relevant lecture. o You have several options to provide the required 4 responses. • Assignments are due at 11:59PM, for the day indicated (both are Wednesday evening). o Each assignment has a THREE-DAY grace period with no late penalty. o On the Sunday, the assignment will be penalized 5% per day to a maximum of a 20% deduction. o After one week (the next Thursday), your assignment will NOT be accepted. • Please contact me if you need an extension beyond the grace period. Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Due by Grace, no Grace, Grace, no -5% by -10% by -15% by -20% by Not 11:59pm penalty no penalty 11:59pm 11:59pm 11:59pm 11:59pm accepted penalty by 11:59pm REFERENCING AND ACADEMIC INTEGRITY CITATION : APA citation and referencing is required ( https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/). TURNTIN : Assignment submissions are set up to use Turnitin. From the university’s website: “Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site” If you have concerns or reservations regarding Turnitin, contact me at least a week before the assignment is due. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PLAGIARISM : Academic integrity is fundamental to learning together and scholarship at the University of Toronto ( http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/osai/ ). The University of Toronto treats alleged academic misconduct as serious matter. Examples of academic offences include: • Presenting someone else’s ideas without appropriate acknowledgement (citation) • Copying material word-for-word or changing a few words without the use of quotation marks • Resubmitting the same work to multiple courses without the instructor’s permission • Receiving unauthorized assistance, including someone else doing your work or using group work someone else complete work for you or completing individual work as a group The Office of Student Academic Integrity investigates alleged academic misconduct, per the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters (http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/osai/The-rules/what-is-academic-misconduct ). Suspected plagiarism must be reported. “I didn’t know” is NOT accepted as an excuse. Learn more here: http://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/using-sources/how-not-to-plagiarize/ Butler GGR246 – Summer 2019 Page 4 of 10 ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING ON WRITING (WELL) : Learning to write (well) is an ongoing process for all of us. The University of Toronto provides resources intended to help you improve your writing. Some of these resources are tailored to those whose first language is not English. Others are intended for anyone seeking to improve their writing. I would encourage everyone to make use of these resources (www.writing.utoronto.ca ). Critical thinking, research and communication are important to being successful in this class. Marks are earned not deducted. Submissions will be taken in their entirety and evaluated as a whole. See the Arts and Science grading scale below for details.