World Regional GeographyDisaster Response and Recovery
GEO 11014000/6000C01Fall 2002Spring 2003Instructor: Ann Angelheart
Section: 002
Meeting Time: M W F 109:00-109:50amClassroom: McEniry #14822
Section: 003
Meeting Time: T Th 9:30-10:50amClassroom: McEniry #134
Office Hours: daily 1:00pm-2:00pm, or by appt.
Office Location: 420 McEniry*; turn right as you exit the elevators; at the end of the hallway turn left; my office will then be on your right – my office is at the back of the room #420 (by the windows)
There will be no class held on the following dates:
MondaySept. 2ndJan. 20 Martin Luther King, Jr. Labor Day
Fri.Oct. 11th School Break
Weds.-Fri.Nov. 27th –29thMar. 5-7 Thanksgiving WeekendInstructor at Conference
Mon.-Fri.Mar. 10-14Spring Break
There will be class on Veteran’s Day (Monday Nov. 11th).
To contact Miss Angelheart:
704-687-6222 (If I’m not in, please leave a message.)
This course counts towards 3 hours of credit for the following General Education Requirements: (A) Arts and Ideas, (V) Understanding Values, and (X) Cross Cultural and/or International Emphasis
(Please refer to the undergraduate catalogue for more information on the General Education Requirements.)
Textbooks:
Environmental Hazards, 3rd Edition; Keith Smith
The Environment as Hazard, 2nd Edition; Burton, Kates, & White
Diversity Amid Globalization by Rowntree, Lewis, Price & Wickoff
Either the 1st or 2nd Edition will work; there is a copy of the book on reserve at the library. You can check it out for 3 hours from the Service Desk on the second floor.
Course Description
This is an introductory course intended for upper-level undergraduates or graduate students. It covers why human activity occupies “risky” places; how people, groups and governments respond to disaster; the long-term ramifications of decisions made during the disaster’s aftermath; the social, planning, and economic issues that arise during reconstruction after a disaster.
The essence of the course is to provide the framework of current academic knowledge about disasters, and then examine disasters from various points of view. The majority of examples will be from natural disasters that occurred in the U.S., although the principles are true for other countries, and for intentional or unintentional human-caused disasters (e.g., terrorism, oil spills). For example, we’ll consider the following questions:
- Which are more frightening: sudden events or slow-onset events?
- Why do some groups evacuate when warned of a disaster, and others throw a party?
- Why do people occupy hazard-prone places?
- If a disaster occurs in a developing country, do international aid groups hinder or help recovery efforts?
Grading Scale
Attendance – 10%
Papers (Combined Value) – 30%
Midterm Exam – 25%
Final Exam – 35%
Important Deadlines
1st paper (lit. review paper) due Monday, March 24, at the beginning of the class period. I will proofread a draft of your paper if you get it to me by Monday, March 17.
Mid-term exam: Monday, March 3
2nd paper (case study paper) due Friday, April 25, at the beginning of the class period.
Final exam: Wednesday, April 30, in class.
Exams will be short-answer and essay questions.
The papers will be described in the class. The general guidelines are as follows:
Undergrad Students / Graduate Students1st Paper – lit review
(discussion of selected course concepts as seen in academic journals or books) / 5-7 pages;
6-8 cites (at least 4 from journals) / 8-12 pages;
10-14 cites (7+ from journals)
2nd Paper – case study
(with 1st paper as introduction to case study) / 8-12 pages;
10+ cites / 14-16 pages;
16+ cites
Grades for Papers
- Papers that are more than 24 hours late will not be accepted without verifiable justification. The instructor will decide if the late paper’s grade will be reduced one letter grade for missing the deadline.
- I will subtract:
- ¼ point for each grammatical or spelling error
- 1 point for each citation that doesn’t appear in the references list
- 1 point for each item in the references list that is not cited in the text
- 5 points for too few citations
- 5 points for each page with more than 3 quotations or more than 2” of quoted material
- For each loss of 5 points, the paper’s overall grade will be reduced by ½ a letter.
- Anytime three or more consecutive words appear in a text that are the exact same as from a source document, yet are not quoted (and cited), it will be considered plagiarism. The student will receive an F for the course if any portion of his or her papers is plagiarized. If any portion of any paper submitted for a grade has been obtained via the work of another person (e.g., a roommate wrote it, or it was obtained from an Internet-based service), the student will receive an F for the course.
I want to read your writing with your words. I expect neither sophisticated, scholarly writing, nor writing that would land you on the New York Times bestseller list. I simply want clear, concise writing that describes and explains whatever viewpoint your paper is trying to convey. In other words, there are no “bonus points” for “wow-ing” me.
WebCT
This is an introductory World Geography course. We will cover a variety of geographic theories and concepts in our review of the regions of the world. Geographers employ the skills and knowledge of a variety of disciplines in order to understand and depict the world. Thus, during this course we will review a number of characteristics of the earth’s countries, including cultural, political, historical, economic, and environmental. My intent is to provide you with a better understanding of the world, and the economic and cultural factors that aid or hinder a nation’s participation in the global economy.
Since this is a Freshman-level course, some degree of depth must be sacrificed for breadth of coverage. However, the department does offer courses that provide more detailed discussion of the dynamic characteristics of particular regions, such as Europe.
Exams
There will be 4 multiple choice exams worth 100 points each. These exams will focus on specific world regions. They are not cumulative.
There will be 4 map quizzes worth 50 points each. These quizzes will cover the geographic regions discussed during the appropriate block of instruction. Although each quiz does not have the same number of points possible as an exam, it can raise or lower your overall grade.
There will be no makeup exams or quizzes without a valid excuse. For example, if you will miss an exam or quiz because you will be traveling with a sports team or another UNCC organization, provide me with a copy of your itinerary at least 2 business days in advance. Your attendance at this intervening event will be verified. All makeups (other than for the last exam) must be completed before the course ends, unless there are extenuating circumstances.
The instructor will decide if a makeup exam will be given in an Essay form.
Exam/Quiz Schedule
Map Quiz/Exam # / MWF class / T/TH class / Topic*Map Quiz #1 / Africa, Middle East, & Central Asian Repubs.
Exam #1 / Same; Ch 6-7
Map Quiz #2 / Asia & Oceania
*Exam #2 / Same; Ch 11-14
*Map Quiz #3 / Europe
*Exam #3 / Same; Ch 8-9
Map Quiz #4 / Mon8 / Tues. 11/19 / The Americas
Exam #4 / Mon. 12/9 8am / Thurs. 12/12 8am / Same; Ch 3-5
For those that commute to school, should there be an unexpected cancellation of class, the instructor will post a notice on WebCT.
* indicates that students have the most difficulty with these quizzes or exams.
Grading
Grades will be posted on the syllabus page on the Internet approximately 3 business days after the exam or quiz is given.
Grades will not be “curved.” What you earn is what you will receive.
The grading scale for this course will be:
564-600 pointsA94%
540-563 pointsB+90%
516-539 pointsB86%
492-515 pointsC+82%
468-491 pointsC78%
444-467 pointsD+74%
420-443 pointsD70%
less than 420 pointsFail
About the exams:
Studying is good; effective studying is better. Reviewing the previous lecture’s material before class is very helpful. On the other hand, cramming the night before an exam leaves you tired and inattentive during the test. It is not uncommon for the mistakes made on an exam to occur during the last 10-15 questions because the caffeine has worn off and the fatigue has set in.
About the notes:To log onto webct: go to:
click on the Login button; enter your webct id and password in all lowercase letters.
Your user id is the same as your campus email account (the portion of your address that precedes the @ symbol). If this doesn’t work, on the webct page, go to: Login Troubleshooting.
Course Outline
Week 1 – Risk, Vulnerability, Resilience
Week 2 – Meteorologic Hazards
Week 3 – Geologic Hazards
Week 4 – Risk Communication/Interpretation & Media Roles
Week 5 – Evacuation & Refusal to Evacuate
Week 6 – Convergence, Altruism, and Subgroup response to disaster
Week 7 – Community Response and Grieving
Midterm
Week 8/9 – Government Response/Emergency Management (Fed/State/Local)
Week 10/11 – Aid/Support Groups (Local, National, International, Emergent, Activist)
Week 12 – Planning/Mitigation Efforts
Week 13 – Other Postdisaster Development Issues (e.g., economic, social, environmental)
Week 14 -- Human-Caused Hazards: Accidental, Technological, & Terrorist
Week 15 – Disaster in the Developing World
Final Exam
Books on Reserve
These are on reserve at the library, so that you may refer to them for ideas or for material to cite for your papers. (A * indicates that the book is the property of the library.)
Government Policy & Planning
Disasters by Design* Mileti (also available free at National Academy Press)
Natural Hazard Mitigation* Godschalk, Beatley, Berke, Brower, Kaiser
Disasters and Democracy* Platt
Social Behavior and Social Issues
Disasters, Collective Behavior, and Social Organization*Dynes & Tierney
At RiskBlaikie, Cannon, Davis, & Wisner
Natural HazardsTobin & Montz
Specific Events/Case Studies
The Angry EarthOliver-Smith & Hoffman
Facing Our FutureMaiolo, Whitehead, McGee, King, Johnson & Stone
Hurricane AndrewPeacock, Morrow, Gladwin
Isaac’s StormLarson
Galveston & the 1900 StormBixel & Turner
It is not my policy to post notes on the Internet. If you would like to know if there is a professional “note-taker” in the course, you will have to ask around. They generally do not make themselves known to me. The instructor will not “certify” the accuracy of anyone’s notes.
Copies of the written material (for exam 1) presented on transparencies will be available at the university book store. Subsequent packets will be available as we begin each new exam’s material.