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Geography 306 course outline page 1 of 3 pages Geography 306 Dr. Paul Zenope Melcon Office: Butte 525 Spring 2012 Hours: MW 3:00-3:30 TuTh:800-9:30 TuTh 2:30-3:30. GEOG 306 Geographies of Disaster Geo—earth graphy—writing/description Dis—bad/unfavorable aster—stars Course Description This course provides a broad global overview of disasters resulting from natural or technological hazards. Disasters continue to maim and kill; the property losses continue to increase. This course emphasizes the spatial and temporal distribution of hazards, the human impact of disaster, roles played by technology and society in creating or worsening risky situations, and policy options for disaster preparation and loss reduction. This is an approved General Education course and is part of Upper Division Theme U Catastrophe and Humanity. Course Objectives a. Understanding how the analysis of natural disasters illuminates the relationship between society and nature b. Gaining insights into how different societies manage crises c. Identifying the “normal” response to disaster d. Providing insights into how natural disasters are inevitable byproducts of human interaction with their environment Course Materials Required: Guide to Global Hazards by Robert Kovach and Bill McGuire, Firefly, 2003 “Earthweek” at www.earthweek.com, at http://wizard.csuchico.edu:8092/, or each week in your Saturday newspaper. Course Grading Attendance is not mandatory, but absences generally have an adverse impact on a student's grade. Make-up work will be permitted only with instructor approval. Grades will be awarded in accordance with University catalog standards. Classroom participation will be considered when resolving borderline grades. Course grades will be determined in the following manner: Assignment Value Total Bidwell Mansion 1@20 points 20 points Quizzes 14@5 points 70 points Paper 1@30 points 30 points Midterm Exams 1@50 points 50 points Final Exam 1@50 points 50 points Total 220 points Grade Percentage A 90-100% B 80-89% C 70-79% D 60-69% F <60%Geography 342 course outline page 2 of 3 pages COURSE REQUIREMENTS Exams: There will be one midterm examination and one final examination. The exams are a combination of true/false, multiple choice, short answer, matching, and essay questions. The final exam is comprehensive. Examinations will be on Thursday. The final examination will be held on Thursday, May 17th at 8:00pm. Readings: Students will read the assigned textbook. Research articles and other readings will be posted on Professor Melcon’s website. (http://wizard.csuchico.edu:8092). Mansion Tour: Students will visit the Bidwell Mansion Visitor Center and tour the mansion. A two-page paper discussing of evidence of hazards present in the second half of the 19th century and the feature you found most interesting will be submitted (10 points). Papers having more than three errors in spelling or grammar on a page will be assigned a ‘C’ (30 points). Course paper: Each student will collect news articles concerned with a single disaster occurring after 1 January, 2012. An analysis of the article, along with a copy of the article(s) will be submitted by 5 o’clock on the last day of finals week. The paper will be in essay format, typed and double-spaced, and no more than five pages in length. A successful paper generally discusses the selected articles in the context of course concepts. Paper having more than three errors in spelling or grammar on a page will be assigned a ‘C’. Attendance points: Attendance points may be given to those present in class. These points will be added to the student’s total (maximum of 10 points). Course Grading Attendance is not mandatory, but absences generally have an adverse impact on a student's grade. Make-up work will be permitted only with instructor approval. Grades will be awarded in accordance with University catalog standards. Classroom participation will be considered when resolving borderline grades. Course grades will be determined in the following manner: Assignment Value Total Bidwell Mansion 1@10 points 20 points Paper 1@30 points 30 points Midterm Exams 3@40 points 120 points Final Exam 1@40 points 60 points Total 200 points Grade Percentage A 90-100% B 80-89% C 70-79% D 60-69% F <60%Geography 342 course outline page 3 of 3 pages GEOG 306 Spring 2012 Week of Book topic and quiz Assignments Holidays January 23 Interpreting Disaster, Airplane anxiety 30 Population and Disease February 6 Earthquakes 13 Volcanoes, Chico landscape 20 Tsunami, waves, storm surges 27 Flooding March 5 Winds, Hurricanes, Tornadoes 12 Exam and Bidwell Paper 19 No Class—Spring Break 26 Storms, Rain and Hail, Lightning 31 Thu Cesar Chavez April 2 Snow and Ice, Avalanches, Landslides 9 Desertification, drought, famine 16 Fire 23 Population and Disease 30 Extinctions and Apocalypse--kudzu May 7 Salton Sea 14 Final Exam 8:00-9:50pm, Thursday, May 17 Final Paper due Friday of finals week at 5


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Chico GEOG 306 - Syllabus

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