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Professor Colin Flint (865-2493)
Walker 312
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays: 12.00-2.00 or by appt.
e-mail: flint@geog.psu.edu
TA: Kolson Schlosser (865-5388)
Office Hours: Wednesday 12.30-2.15 or by appt. in Walker 332
e-mail: kls393@psu.edu
Welcome to the Geography of International Affairs. This is an exciting time to be studying both geography and international affairs. In fact, it is hard to actually define what constitutes international affairs. The topic used to be the preserve of statesmen and geopoliticians such as Henry Kissinger. International affairs now concerns farmers, aid workers, bankers and advertisers, doctors, and well just about anybody. Why? The key word is globalization - a word used frequently but defined poorly. In essence, it seems that events have global impacts so that, for example, a political crisis in Japan can affect the credit card interest rates of American consumers.
The global extent and interdependencies of international affairs requires a geographic perspective. Don't fear, geography is not about rote memorization of capitals, rivers, mountain ranges, etc. If it were, I'd have stopped studying it years ago! Geography is about the particularity of places and their interdependencies. What makes New York City different from London, and how are the two cities interconnected? These are the sort of questions that geographers ask and it is the framework we will use to get a better understanding of international affairs.
Apart from learning what a geographic perspective is and applying it to international affairs, you will also learn how to read and interpret a quality newspaper, The New York Times (NYT). You all have ready access to the NYT through the Student Readership Program or via the web. You will be expected to have looked at the paper each day before class as we will discuss articles as they appear. Also, feel free to suggest a discussion of a current article at the beginning of each class.
The complete New York Times may be found on the web at www.nytimes.com.
I have taken a broad definition of international affairs which will include global economics and power politics, nationalism, war and state politics. As we address these issues, we will discuss relevant countries and places to further our knowledge of the world. We will also use different geographical concepts and ideas to help us understand what is going on in the world.
We are lucky to have a teaching assistant for this class. His name is Kolson Schlosser and he is your primary contact if you have questions about the exercises. He is also here to assist you with any questions you may have with the lecture material. Kolson holds regular office hours or you may contact him to make an appointment.
Your final grade will be calculated using the following criteria:
The best 5 of 7 NYT exercises will count towards 70% of your final grade.
The 3 exams will count towards 30% of your grade.
Because this is a large class with lots of students to manage, no late assignments will be accepted. The only exception is documented medical and family emergencies. By definition, planned trips and vacations are not emergencies. The fact that 2 of the 7 assignments do not count towards your final score means that you can skip a couple with no cost to your grade.
Because of the size of the class, there will be no make-up exams. Again, the only exception is documented medical and family emergencies. All three of the exams will count towards your final grade.
Each exercise counts towards 14% of your final grade. Each exercise requires you to submit a recent (in the last 7 days) article from the NYT and use one of the concepts we have discussed in class to explain or discuss the article. You may either submit the original article, a copy, or printout an article from the web version of the newspaper. Each exercise requires two pages of double spaced typed text. The text should not spend time summarizing the article. Instead, the text should summarize the concept you are going to use and then clearly and explicitly show how it relates to the article and provides you with a better understanding of the article. I will provide more details in class. An "A" paper will also require you to critique the concept.
The best 5 out of 7 assignments count towards your final grade. This policy allows you to either miss an assignment because of other commitments or allow you to make a few errors in a couple of assignments without influencing your final grade.
Each of the first two exams counts toward 9% of your final grade. The third exam counts toward 12% of your final grade. The questions will be in a multiple choice format. In addition, there may be some general knowledge questions about the current affairs we have discussed in class (names of important people, places, and institutions, for example).
Angel This semester we will also be testing the adage you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I will attempt to use the Angel system to display the syllabus, some graphics and notes, and e-mail you if necessary. Angel can be accessed at https://cms.psu.edu/frameIndex.htm.
By remaining in this class after being presented this syllabus, it is understood that you will follow and be bound by the EMS College policies on academic integrity.
The College policies may be found at www.ems.psu.edu/admin/integ.html.
Week 1, 2, and 3 (9/2-9/16) What is Geography?
Exercise 1 due in class September 16th.
Week 4, 5, 6 and 7 (9/21-10/14) Global Geopolitics
Exercise 2 due in class September 30th.
Exercise 3 due in class October 19th.
Exam 1 will be held in class on or around October 14th.
Week 8 and 9 (10/19-10/28) National Identity
Exercise 4 due in class November 2nd.
Week 10 and 11 (11/2-11/11) Borders and Border Conflict
Exercise 5 due in class November 16th.
Exam 2 will be held in class on November 18th.
Week 12 (11/16 and 11/18) Geography of Religious Conflict
Week 13, 14 and 15 (11/23-12/7) Geography of War and Peace and Terrorism
Exercise 6 due in class November 30th.
Exercise 7 due in class December 9th (or the 7th if you wish).
Exam 3 will be held in class on December 9th.
There is no final exam in finals week.