1GEOG 155: LATIN AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY Class: Monday 5PM-7:50PM: Phelps Hall, Room 3505 Labs/Discussion (only when announced in class!): Wednesday 2:00- 2:50 Ellison Hall Room 3621 or Thursday 10:00-10:50 Ellison Hall Room 2620 El pueblo, a vila, li tenamit: However you call where you live, geography matters. Why are human and physical patterns inscribed where they are on the Latin American landscape? And what are the economic, political, social, and environmental causes and consequences of human-environment interactions inscribed across Latin America’s diverse landscapes? CONTACT INFORMATION Instructor Teaching Assistant (TA) David Carr Felipe Murtinho [email protected] [email protected] Office Number: Ellison 5714 Ellison 5815 Office hours: M 2:00-3:00PM; W 3:00-4:00PM TH 11:00AM-1:00PM COURSE OBJECTIVES (IF WE ARE SUCCESFUL IN THIS COURSE YOU WILL…) The objectives of the course are: (1) to apprehend the variety of physical environments covering Latin America, (2) to understand the cultural, social, and historic factors that influenced the creation of Latin American cultural diversity, (3) to understand economic, social, and environmental consequences of Latin American economic liberalization and globalization, (4) to understand how these three forces coalesce to shape different geographies of (un)sustainable development throughout the diverse regions of Latin America, and (5) to gain valuable experience designing and conducting geographical/sociological research. Master the language and methods of Geography as applied to the study of Latin America:2At a basic level: Knowledge and Comprehension • You are conversant in the basic language and methods of human and physical geography. You correctly describe terms and concepts related to Latin American Geography. You apply the appropriate methods to questions of human and physical dynamics in Latin America. You relate key historical and spatial patterns for human and physical processes in the region. -Can you do this? Good. You will pass the course! Analyze and interpret interactions among human-environment/resource dynamics with a critical historical and spatial lens: At a competent level: Application and Analysis • You convincingly describe how human processes interact with each other and with physical geographical dynamics. You are familiar with examples of human and physical processes historically (e.g. the 1500s versus today) and geographically (e.g. Central versus South America; Chile versus Ecuador) and you apply sufficiently advanced critical thinking to formulate reasonable hypotheses regarding when and where key human-environment interactions are likely to occur and how changes in one process may affect changes in another. You provide key examples of the significance of each to society. -Feasible? Congratulations. You have earned a B. Critically evaluate interactions among human and physical geographical processes across time and space: At an outstanding level: Synthesis and Evaluation • You persuasively argue with choice examples how human dynamics can cause and be caused by political, economic, and environmental processes. You compellingly predict how demographic and human and physical geographical processes operate differently over time and across space and how changes in one process may affect changes in another. Armed with knowledge and critical thinking skills developed during the course you cogently argue how other socio-economic, political, and ecological processes (possibly not covered in class) may relate to the human and physical geographical dynamics. You propose novel methodological and policy solutions to academic and empirical problems. -Still with me? If you are successful with the above and you write with strong, clear, logically-structured prose with virtually flawless grammar on your written assignments, you will obtain an A. While only a handful of students may earn an A, my experience suggests that most students are capable of earning an A if they dedicate themselves. I do not grade on a curve and, given the above criteria are met, I would be thrilled to award an A to every student in the class. HOW WILL WE ACHIEVE THESE OBJECTIVES? You will not sit passively while I lecture to you during each class period. Rather, several methods will be used during class time to maximize your mastery of the material. These may include: • Lectures • Discussions • Debates3• Presentations • Quizzes • Activities • Written and oral lecture summaries • Laboratory assignments • Field Work • Writing assignments • Analysis of videos TO OPTIMIZE YOUR SUCCESS IN THIS COURSE YOU SHOULD: Consistently attend classes and labs Prepare for class by carefully completing assigned readings on time Actively participate in class discussions and activities Review your notes following each class Understand course requirements; if unsure, ask. EVALUATION • Class participation and attendance are expected — studies indicate they are strongly positively correlated with course grade. Formal evaluation consists of: • Mid-term Exam 25% • Final Exam 30% • Papers/presentations • a 2 pg. single-space max. paper (30%) • Attendance/effort/in-class assignments or quizzes • (15%) Exams • Exam material will come from all course sources including material covered in class, readings, labs, and/or videos. Exams will comprise a mix of question types including multiple choice, short answers, and brief essays. • You will be evaluated on the exams based on the course objectives stated above in the syllabus. The exam questions will test you on the objectives and allow you to successfully demonstrate your mastery of them. I include questions of different types because: 1) People learn, process, and communicate information differently. Different question4types allow for people with different learning strengths to show their mastery of the material. 2) Posing varied types of questions better enables the TA and me to evaluate you based on the multi-leveled learning objectives stated in the syllabus. Recall that merely memorizing the material will earn you only a passing grade. Examples of types of exam questions • Multiple Choice _____ 1. The Amazon forest region of Peru is roughly the size of: a) Brazil b) Maine c) Germany d) UK e) none of the above • Short Answer __________ is the language