GEOGRAPHY 201
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Patrick Buckley, Assoc. Prof.
OFFICE: AH222 or AH10 PHONE: 650-4773
e-mail:
web page:
TA: Chris Robertson ES 341 gladly by appointment
OFFICE HOURS: 11:00 MTWF (or gladly by appointment)
TEXTBOOK: Rubenstein, James M. 2010.Contemporary Human Geography. Prentice Hall: New York.
Course Description--Understanding human spatial patterns etched into the physical environment and landscape based on demographic, cultural, political, and economic processes across the landscape.
Theme--All human activity occurs in a spatial perspective. When we were young we learned to recognize and memorize exact locations and their associated activities. Geography was the memorization of state capitals and location of countries, an activity that many of us found tedious at best. Now as we mature intellectually, understanding why activities occur at particular locations becomes important (how are sites different, what makes a site attractive, what aspects of the spatial situation are important in choosing between sites). Such understanding can occur at a variety of levels. Our early education concentrated almost solely on the descriptive level, now it becomes necessary to develop an understanding of the processes that have created patterns on the landscape. As we better understand these processes we can then move on to the applied predictive and prescriptive levels -- how will the world change in our lifetimes and how can we effect beneficial changes in our environment.
By understanding the processes of demographics and migration we can estimate which counties of WashingtonState or which regions of the world will experience population increases or decreases over the next decade. By understanding the people undergoing these processes we will better know the cultural, linguistic, and religious changes that will result. Finally to close the loop, by understanding how economic activities are an integral part of demographics and migration we can better understand the means of altering and channeling the flow of people across the landscape. One last point, which underlies our basic understanding of this entire spatial process, is the means of political organization and boundaries. How have we organized ourselves into states, how might we be organizing ourselves into future supra-state "free trade" and/or political blocs. It is amazing that at the same time that one of the last colonial empires, the former USSR, has broken into smaller and smaller nation-states, Western Europe is moving towards greater integration. We think of the United States as "one nation... indivisible... under God...", should we?
Objectives-- There are four major objectives of this course:
1. Recognizing human spatial patterns upon the landscape. In a brief, understanding WHERE human activities are located be they population concentrations, cities, or rapidly growing third world countries.
2. Understanding the theories provided by Geographers and other social scientists to explain WHY these patterns exist and how they evolve and change over time. In brief human spatial patterns are neither pre-determined nor accidental. In order to do this it will be necessary to master some of the concepts, language, and theories used by geographers.
3. Demonstrate how a series of inter-linked themes help in understanding these patterns and processes in action across space. After a brief introductory chapter further introducing the field of geography, the organization of space, and human relations to the environment a series a themes will be studied. They include:
Demographics: the heart of human activity -- that which increases or decreases the number of actors impacting on the landscape.
Migration: the flow of human activity across space -- in which directions are humans moving over the landscape.
Culture and Custom: human organization and activity extends beyond the religious and linguistic realm, this theme looks at all the other "baggage" that groups of humans bring as they interact with the spatial environment. This is how we interact with or environment on a daily basis.
Language: the means of transmitting and carrying ideas across space -- beyond the relocation of individuals ideas also flow across and impact on the landscape. This is the mechanism for organizing, transmitting, and saving human ideas.
Religion: one of the most basic organizing principles of humans is their basic beliefs in why and how the landscape exists and hence how we should then interact with it. This is the "soul" of human impacts.
Ethnicity & Political Geography:: as humans organize their landscape they create spatial groupings within which culture, language, and religion can play a primary role. This can lead to both greater harmony as well as contention, especially during times of demographic change accompanied by large-scale migration. This is how humans organize themselves across the landscape.
Development: humans for some unknown reason have historically been found to always want MORE. Development summarizes this desire under the guise of more efficient use of scarce resources from the environment. Development in turn has major impacts on demographics, migration, spread and use of language, religion, culture and even politics. If demographics is the heart of human activity then development could be thought of as the ever-evolving "mind" of humans.
Agriculture: those economic and developmental traits associated with directly extracting human basic needs from the landscape, especially food.
Industry: with development, humans have discovered exciting new ways to interact with the environment beyond mere extraction. By combining our labor with resources we can create new entities that previously did not exist. Again, the basis for this activity is to meet basic needs, but over time needs have evolved beyond food, shelter, and clothing. Again, as a theme related to development, industry is related to, effected by, and in turn effects all other themes.
Resource Issues: basically all life needs resources, these need to be nurtured as well as used. The spatial pattern of humans directly relates to the site and situation of resources.
4. The final objective is to help students teach themselves HOW TO LEARN. This always is the major objective of your college career. A Human Geography course is not to teach all that there is to know about the world, but how to read, organize, and understand materials that explain it. This is why facts (Patterns), good study habits, and general theories (PROCESSES) are crucial. Theories represent frameworks upon which we can organize facts. The facts are the patterns on the landscape and the theories our best guess at the process creating the pattern. By learning the general relationship of theory to fact we develop methods for understanding not only geography but also all of our secular knowledge.
Grading: Course grades will be based upon the following parts:
Quizzes 5 to 6total 10 pts
Three Exams20pts eachtotal 60 pts
Comprehensive Final 30pstotal 30 pts
Quizzes and exams will occur in Friday classes (check the schedule). For quizzes, the questions will be based on the recently completed chapter's readings and lectures. The quizzes will contain up to 5 simple questions, and about 5 minutes of class time at the end of class will be devoted to them.
In addition to quizzes, there are three exams plus a comprehensive final. All exams will be scored on the anchor score system. This works as follows, the average of the three highest test scores represents the maximum number of points possible on the test. A curve is then developed around this. Be forewarned that students in the past have found these tests to be challenging, requiring good recall of important facts (PATTERNS) and thorough understanding of the theories (PROCESSES) used to explain spatial patterns on the landscape.
Final Grade--Will be determined based on the summation of the 100 points received from quizzes, exams, and final. Letter grades will then result from a translation of the above points into a distribution that will resemble the following:
100 to 93pts = A
92-81pts = B
80-69 = C
68-57pts = D
Below 57% = F
In addition, the final grade can be varied up to one letter grade up or down for individual students if extraordinary and special circumstances dictate such a move. Examples could be extreme illness resulting in hospitalization for several weeks thus resulting in a higher grade based on an extraordinary effort of a student to catch-up, or a lower grade for a student who creates a poor learning environment in the classroom, thus preventing other students from learning. Students will be notified in writing with the rationale if such a move is taken (especially if it is a decrease).
Class participation is important to all of us, especially when material is not fully understood. Feel free to ask questions or to visit the TA or professor.
Also, it should be noted that the exams in this course contain questions that may come from the lectures, but are not contained in the reading materials. Thus, it will be necessary to attend class on a regular basis and take notes.
In a recent quarter the final distribution of grades resulted in:
16 A's
28 B's
22 C's
14 D's
7 F's
Missed quizzes or exams: Only if approved in advance, and part of the make-up will be oral. If you are sick on the day of the test or assignment, it is your responsibility to make a phone call(not an e-mail) and arrange for proper documentation. Contact the Course Instructor in these matters.
Bonus Points: Bonus points for use on Exams are available through attendance at and a written report based on specified university wide lectures interpreted from a geographical perspective. Lectures available for such credit will be periodically announced in class. Up to ten bonus points (5 points per lecture) out of 100 on an exam can be gained by attendance and providing a brief report on the lecture. The report should contain two separate sections: (1) a brief synopsis of the lecture and (2) your reaction, critique or thoughts on the subject and presentation, from a geographic perspective These reports must be typewritten and turned in within two class periods after the lecture. The reports will be scored based upon your understanding of the lecture and the quality and content of your report. There may also be bonus point assignments based on evaluating contrasting positions on critical issues raised in the course.
Communication
To keep in contact with all students in this large class, periodically messages, chapter based study notes, syllabus updates, extra credit lectures will be posted on Dr. Buckley's web page.
Schedule and Readings
(Note students are responsible for reading a chapter before the class period, lectures will deal with seminal points from a chapter but not everything. Lectures will contain materials from outside of the readings and students will be responsible for keeping their own notes. Also, expect some change in this schedule during the quarter.)
Egeo 201: Human Geography Course Schedule latest update 9/22/2010Date / Day / Class / Chap / Lecture Topic
22 / W / 1 / Introduction: Define Geography Place Characteristics --: Site & Situation
24 / F / 1 / Historical Case -- Edward III a taxing situation -- Plus Maps: Projections & Mashing
27 / M / 1 / Maps: U.S. Public Land Survey, Regions, Patterns & Distributions, Spatial Interaction & Diffusion
28 / T / 2 / Demographic Patterns and Technical Tools -- density measures
29 / W / 2 / Demographic Transition & Tools -- a Process & Measurments
1 / F / 2 / World Pop Policy, Development & Birth Dearth, Epidemioloic Transition (quiz 1)
4 / M / 3 / Arab League -- Demographics & Unity?
5 / T / 3 / Push--Pull Model -- A Process, Participants, & Global Pattern
6 / W / 3 / Pattern and Process of American Immigration
8 / F / 4 / Folk & Popular Customs -- Different Processes (quiz 2)
11 / M / Exam 1 / EXAM 1
12 / T / 4 / History of Rock & Roll -- Process and Pattern
13 / W / 5 / Importance of Language & Tools for spatial language patterns
15 / F / 5 / History of English Language: Old and Middle English (quiz 3)
18 / M / 5 / English in the Americas
19 / T / 6 / Religion -- Hearth Area & Diffusion
20 / W / 6 / Religion -- Ethnic vs Universalizing
22 / F / 6 / Islam -- Historical Diffusion (quiz 4)
25 / M / 7 / Ethnicity -- US Pattern
26 / T / 7 / Ethnicity -- African-American Migration & Impacts
27 / W / 7 / Multinational States: State, Nation, & Country
29 / F / EXAM 2 / EXAM 2
1 / M / 8 / Demko: State, Nation, & Country
2 / T / 8 / Japan -- the historical development of a Nation-State
3 / W / 9 / Tools -- Measuring Development & Patterns
5 / F / 9 / China -- Development over the past 50 years
8 / M / 9 / Rostow's Five Stages of Development (quiz 5)
9 / T / 10 / Origins of Agriculture
10 / W / 10 / Agriculture
12 / F / 10 / American Agriculture and Corporate Welfare (quiz 6)
15 / M / 10 / Von Thunen's Model of Agricultural Location
16 / T / 11 / Dr. David Rossiter Resource Geography -- MaKah & The Great Bear Rainforest
17 / W / 11 / Industrial Revolution
19 / F / EXAM 3 / EXAM 3
22 / M / 11 / Industrial Revolution
23 / T / Dr. Mookerjee -- Urban Geography
24 / W / Holiday
26 / F / Holiday
29 / M / 11 / Industry
0 / T / Dr. Stangle -- Urban Planning
1 / W / TBA
3 / F / TBA
Final / FINAL -- see WWU timetable