Course credit
3 credit hours
Course description
Geographic factors in the origin, development, behavior, and interaction of states.
Delivery
This course is available in a web-based format, utilizing web pages and WebCT, a computer conferencing program. WebCT requires Internet access and a web browser — no additional software is required. Students may need access to someone who can assist with computer set-up.
Prerequisites
UNI students: junior standing
Instructor
Murray Austin, Professor Emeritus
I am originally an Easterner, having been born in New Jersey and lived much of my early life in Pennsylvania (outside of Philadelphia). I was a "Navy Brat" and thus lived in several different places while growing up. During that time I lived in Japan, as well as several States. I moved to Kansas in 1970 to teach at the University of Kansas and have mostly lived and taught in the Midwest since then, teaching at Wisconsin (Madison as well as UNI).
I attended the University of Pennsylvania in 1962 earning my A.B. with honors in Economics in 1967. I then completed my M.A. (1969) and Ph.D. (1970) in Regional Science (a combination of Regional Economics, Geography, and Urban & Regional Planning.) While teaching at the University of Kansas (1970-73), I spent a term as a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin (Madison). In 1973 I joined the faculty at the University of Northern Iowa, where I have been since. While at UNI, I have had many opportunities to travel, teach, and pursue research abroad. In 1985 I was a visiting professor at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland and later that year I was Scholar-in-Residence in Geography at The University of Heidelberg, (then West Germany). In 1991 I was a Fulbright Scholar at the Science University of Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia (while there, I also visited, consulted, and lectured in Thailand, and Singapore). In 1991 I was named an Honourary Fellow in Geography at The University of Edinburgh (Scotland, UK). In 1998 I was a Research Fellow at The Institute of International Social Science Research at The University of Edinburgh.
My professional interests are eclectic -- including Urban Studies, Urban & Regional Planning, Environmental Management, Transportation, Tourism, and Politics in addition to my involvement in several subfields of Geography. I teach or have taught courses in Economic Geography (basic and applied), Urban Geography, Transportation Geography, Urban & Regional Analysis & Planning, Europe, European Cities, The Nature & Scope of Geography, and Geographic Research & Bibliography. I have written extensively of the geographic effects of globalization, including the effects on Local Government, State Sovereignty, and Economic Development Policy. I have also been interested in the rise of movements of National (and Ethnic) Identity (what I have termed "The Politics of Division"). I have been active in Geography’s Professional Associations and organizations.
Outside of my profession, I am an avid golfer, eater and cook; I follow politics and sports. I also enjoy reading, especially history, politics, spy and detective novels, and natural science. My wife and I have fallen in love with Scotland and we half of every year in North Berwick where we belong to two wonderful golf clubs. Anyone interested in why we love that part of Scotland can check our town and golf courses out on the Web at www.waimea.demon.co.uk/. It has lots of information about North Berwick, the history of Golf there, the two wonderful golf courses, and a number of photos.
From May 2003 I will be retired from classroom teaching, but will continue teaching three courses through the Internet (Human Geography, North American Cities, & Political Geography). At that time, I will be splitting my year between Florida and Scotland. I will be fully reachable via the Discussions tool and through my e-mail address.
Evaluation
9 essay assignments, 11 journal entries, additional readings for graduate level credit
Overview
This course tries to encourage students to understand basic concepts and how they apply to the "real world." I do not want the simple regurgitating of memorized facts. To have students "make the material their own" and to help them "take ownership" of the ideas I rely on written work that emphasizes analysis and synthesis over the repeating of what they have read. This requires that the student read the assignment material (in lieu of lectures), the textbook, and that they find other material to supplement those materials (from the bibliography, the course Web Resources, or other sources). It also requires that they think about the study questions, take the assignment of the personal journal seriously, and apply all of this to their essays.
Objectives
This course has 4 principal objectives. The readings, essay assignments, and personal journal are design to further these objectives. The objectives are:
In general this course is designed to help you better understand how and why geography (the spatial dimension) matters to the understanding of many (even most) political issues.
In addition this course is designed to help students learn to think constructively and critically, to expand their analytic skills, to increase their base of general knowledge, and to better prepare them to be responsible citizens who are better able to participate in public discourse and decisions.
Course requirements
This course relies on the efforts of the student. The course is divided into nine assignments where each has an overview provided by the instructor that is intended to provide an introduction and a context for the reading of the text. Each assignment is outlined with several Study Questions. Each assignment requires the student to submit one or two Personal Journal entries and an Essay assignment. Grades will be based on the eleven Personal Journal entries plus the nine Essay assignments.
Journal entries
Students are to keep a personal journal of thoughts related to the readings. The journal is worth a total of 165 points. Each journal submission has a maximum value of 15 points each. This journal shall be organized to follow the course content and is to be submitted to the in 11 entries as indicated in the assignment plan below. It will be graded as it is submitted.
The journal should contain five things:
Essay topics
Type these assignments using a word processing program and save as a file. If you are using a word processing program other than Microsoft Word, then please save the file as Rich Text Format. Submit your assignment to the Assignments tool.
There are nine essay assignments. The first essay assignment should have a length of about 1000 to 1200 words.The other essays should be longer approximately in proportion to their value to the grade.
These essays should reflect the material in the text, the ideas included in the assignment overviews, your thoughts as expressed in your journal, and some evidence of other related materials, i.e., supporting maps, graphs, etc. The essays should cite references appropriately as needed.
The essay values are as follow:
Essay 1: 20 points
Essay 2: 45 points
Essay 3: 40 points
Essay 4: 40 points
Essay 5: 40 points
Essay 6: 45 points
Essay 7: 40 points
Essay 8: 45 points
Essay 9: 20 points
Course outline
| Lesson 1 | Course
Introduction Journal Entry 1, Essay 1 |
| Lesson 2 (Part A & Part B) | The
State Journal Entries 2 & 3, Essay 2 |
| Lesson 3 | Political
Geography in the State Journal Entry 4, Essay 3 |
| Lesson 4 | Imperialism,
Colonialism, and Decolonization Journal Entry 5, Essay 4 |
| Lesson 5 | Geopolitics
Journal Entry 6, Essay 5 |
| Lesson 6 (Part A & Part B) | International
Integration, Organizations and Relations Journal Entries 7 & 8, Essay 6 |
| Lesson 7 | Our
Last Frontiers Journal Entry 9, Essay 7 |
| Lesson 8 | The
Political Geography of Everyday Life Journal Entry 10, Essay 8 |
| Lesson 9 | Political
Geography & The Future Journal Entry 11, Essay 9 |
Grading
In all written work, the first requirement is that the assignment be done as described. In addition your journal will be graded on the basis of the effort and thought that was put into it. Personal opinions (when expressed as such) will not count against the student, but opinions without argument and evidence are not worth much. The essays will be evaluated on content, organization, responsiveness to the topic, use of material from the text, and evidence of additional reading and research. Expectations for graduate students will be somewhat higher than for undergraduate students.
Students may rewrite one of each essay assignment in an effort to improve the grade. Graduate students will be graded on the same scale seen below, but their points will be awarded to each assignment based on additional required reading and using a somewhat higher standard.
The grade distribution is as follows:
Textbook(s)
Martin Ira Glassner, Political Geography, 2nd Edition, 1996, New York: John Wiley and Sons.
The use of an atlas is strongly recommended. The current edition of either Hammond’s Comparative World Atlas or Goode's World Atlas, published by Rand McNally, are good choices.
Texts are available from the vendor of your choice or
University Book and Supply
1009 West 23rd Street, Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Phone: 319-266-7581 or 800-728-7581
Fax: 319-277-1266
E-mail: bookstore@panthersupply.com
To enroll
ONLINE
GIS enrollment information
IN PERSON
UNI Continuing Education
2637 Hudson Road (corner of 27th St. and Hudson Rd.)
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0223
Campus map (Look for Building 31)
For more information
Cindy Klodt, Guided Independent Study
UNI Continuing Education
319-273-2123 or 800-772-1746
ContinuingEd@uni.edu