Geographical or environmental factors, such as
landscape, flora and fauna, are obviously of some importance in
explaining why history unfolded differently on different continents.
The idea that some form of environmental (or geographical)
determinism has affected the fate of human societies is therefore as old as it is controversial. While this perspective was in retreat
for most of the twentieth century, it has made an impressive
comeback in recent years with the publication of influential books
and academic articles. The purpose of this course is to discuss
critically some of this recent literature and to examine how
"geography" and "the environment" might have impacted the
development of agriculture, complex technologies, writing,
centralized government and how, in the process, it has shaped the
current world economic map. While the subjects discussed are often
technical, the assigned readings are accessible to students with no
previous backgrounds in scientific disciplines or geographical
research.
Mandatory Readings
Course format
The course format will alternate between formal
classes and open discussions. Students are expected to have read the
assigned texts in advance.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course has five (5) main
objectives:
1) To provide a broad
survey of how geographical and environmental factors have impacted
the development of human
civilization; 2) To provide some historical perspective on the
current processes of globalization; 3) To advance students'
skills in critical analysis and
writing;
4) To memorize and use, without aids, the basic terminology with which
professionals in relevant disciplines communicate their work and
their research findings;
5) To apply a wide range of academic skills in active listening,
note-taking, studying, reading, and test-taking to upper-level
university courses.
ASSIGNMENTS
% OF GRADE
DATE DUE
1) Proposal for Term Paper 2) Term
Test 3) Term Paper 4) Final Exam
5% 20% 40% 35%
Oct. 1
Oct. 22 December 3,
5PM December 20 - 9:00 - 11:00 - IB 120
As per the University Grading Practices Policy,
please note that "after the methods of evaluation have been made
known, the instructor may not change them or their relative weight
without the consent of at least a simple majority of the students
enrolled in the course. Any changes shall be reported to the
division or the department."
How to Query or Challenge
a Mark
Please note that you have two weeks
from the date an item is returned in class to ask for the item to be
remarked. Contact the Course Instructor for all queries about course
marks, or if you wish to challenge a mark. Absolutely no item will
be remarked after the two-week period has passed. Material submitted
for remarking must be accompanied by a brief written
explanation detailing your reasons for dissatisfaction with the
original mark (such as an addition error or something you think the
marker may have missed). A request for a remark without a written
explanation will not be acted
upon.
Please note that you are allowed two questions where you and the
instructor can agree to disagree (meaning you believe that you are
entitled to a higher mark, but your instructor disagrees) without
penalty. Beginning with the third question where you and your
instructor disagree, one point will be taken off your final mark by
question for which a revised mark was requested by you and denied by
the instructor.
Additional
readings, both mandatory and suggested, are listed below. Most of
the readings are freely accessible from anywhere. Some of them,
however, may require you to use a UofT terminal or user
code.
TESTS
A set of questions will be given in advance.
Students will be asked to answer a number of these during the test.
Other multiple choice questions will test your knowledge of basic
concepts discussed in the lectures. One or a few essay-type
questions will test your ability to synthesize and expand upon
relevant information discussed in class or provided on your test
sheet.
Note that PowerPoint slides presented during the lectures WILL NOT
be posted online. No documentation is allowed during the tests.
Please read the course syllabus before e-mailing a question
or expect a one line answer telling you to look it up if the answer
is already there.
Always use your University of Toronto
e-mail address (@utoronto.ca) for all course-related communications.
E-mails from other domains (e.g., hotmail, Rogers, gmail, yahoo,
etc.) may be filtered as spam and will at any rate be ignored.
Always include the course code (e.g., GGR329) as part of your
subject line, along with your full name and student number in the
body of the e-mail. E-mails will be answered during office hours as
promptly as possible. Please note that I do not open attachments and
will not answer during week-ends.
The first person that you
should e-mail concerning department- or program-related queries or
to submit documentation regarding a missed assignment, quiz, or test
is the Academic Counsellor for Geography/Environment, Sabrina
Ferrari (sabrina.ferrari@utoronto.ca).
E-mail
should NOT be viewed as an alternative to meeting with the TA or
professor during office hours. Nor should e-mail be used as a
mechanism to receive private tutorials (especially prior to tests)
or to explain material that was covered in missed lectures. Not
receiving replies to e-mails from the TA or professor, or not
receiving them in time, will not be an acceptable excuse for pleas
for extensions to assignment or exam deadlines.
Students are
advised to consult http://www.enough.utoronto.ca/ for information on
university policy concerning the appropriate use of information and
communication technology.
TERM PAPER
Students are given the choice between: 1) a 15 page
essay on a topic of their choice; 2) a 15 page review essay of a
book (or two) dealing with topics covered in class. Team work is
allowed, but my expectations are greater (20 pages for a team of
two; 25 pages for a team of three). The choice of topic or book(s)
must be approved by the instructor. These assignments will be
discussed in class. Book
suggestions.
Your choice of topic or book must be approved by
the instructor before turning in your proposal. Those of you who
would like to submit a book suggestion are asked to provide a link
to the publisher's webpage devoted to the book or, if no such thing
exists, to the Amazon or another large bookseller webpage devoted to
the book.
Please note that you do not need to submit your proposal or the
appendixes of your term paper through turnitin.com.
Normally, students will be required to
submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of textual
similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so,
students will allow their essays to be included as source documents
in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used
solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply
to the University's use of the Turnitin.com service are described on
the Turnitin.com web site. >
Full legal statement
Students are permitted, under our conditions of use, to opt-out of
using Turnitin. If a student chooses not to submit an assignment
through Turnitin, the instructor will need to find alternative
arrangements to check their work as rigorously. Students will not be
penalized for choosing to opt out, but they will be asked to have a
short meeting with the instructor and be asked questions about their
research methodology and work.
You are required to submit a hard copy of the assignment as
instructed in the syllabus for the TAs to grade and annotate
Electronic copies will be submitted by students through Turnitin.
Please note that submitting your paper through
Turnitin.com or making alternative arrangements before the deadline with
your professor is not optional. Failure to do so will result in a grade
of 0 for your term paper. Failure to submit your paper on turnitin.com
before the deadline will result in the same late penalty as if you had
not submitted your hard copy.
Department of Geography Late assignment/Missed
Test Policy
This is the departmental policy for late assignments and
missed tests. Please note that the penalty related to your
proposal is different. In this particular case, I apply my own
policy as specified on the syllabus.
In-class Tests: Students CANNOT petition to re-write a
test once the test has begun. If you are feeling ill, please leave the
room before starting your test and seek medical attention
immediately. You must have a physician fill out a U of T Student Medical
Certificate and submit a request via the online Special Consideration
Request form @
illnessverification.utoronto.ca within 24 hours.
Missed Term Work (Assignment/Lab - as per Department of Geography
policy):
Late assignments will be subject to a late penalty of 10% per day (including
weekends) of the total marks for the assignment. Assignments submitted
five calendar days beyond the due date will be assigned a grade of zero.
Academic accommodation can be made when an assignment is late or a
student is unable to write a term test/quiz for University.
Missed Term Work (Quiz/Test - as per Department of Geography policy):
In courses with final exams, there will be no re-writes or make-ups for
term tests/quizzes missed for University-accepted, verifiable reasons.
Instead, the final exam will be re-weighted by the value of the term
test/quiz.
Informing Your Professor and Submitting Appropriate
Documentation: The following steps must be completed in order
to be considered for academic accommodation for any course work such
as missed tests or late assignments.
1. Students must inform their professor in writing
(e-mail is acceptable) within 24 hours of a test date/assignment due
date of any circumstances that prevent them from writing a test or
submitting an assignment on time.
2. Students must complete an online Special Consideration Request @
illnessverification.utoronto.ca. Students who miss
a test due to circumstances beyond their control (e.g. illness or an
accident) can request that the Department grant them special
consideration. You must present your case to the Department (not the
Instructor). Note: The system only supports Microsoft Internet
Explorer and Firefox for the time being.
3. Original supporting documentation (e.g. a medical certificate,
accident report) MUST BE SUBMITTED to the DROP BOX (labeled "Environment
and Geography Petition Documentation") located outside Room 3282,
Davis Building. Note: ROSI declarations are not accepted as
supporting documentation. You have up to one (1) week from the date
of the missed test to submit your request and supporting
documentation (late requests will NOT be considered without a "letter
of explanation" as to why the request is late).
4. Medical Certificates or Doctor's Notes MUST include the statement
"This Student was unable to write the test on date(s) for medical
reasons". Documentation MUST show that the physician was consulted
within ONE day of the test date. A statement merely confirming a
report of illness made by the student is NOT acceptable (such as,
"This patient tells me that he was feeling ill on that day.").
Please note that the written explanation and documentation that
you submit represents an appeal from you, requesting the
opportunity to account for that portion of your grade in some
other manner. If an appeal is not received, or if the appeal is
deemed unacceptable, you will receive a grade of zero for the
item you missed. If the appeal is granted - that is, your reason
for missing the item is considered acceptable by the committee -
then a mechanism for accounting for the grade value of the
missed item will be discussed.
A Departmental committee evaluates each request. Decisions
will be communicated by email within two weeks of receipt of all
completed documents. Note: It is your responsibility to
ensure your email account is working and able to receive emails.
Claims that a Departmental decision was not received will NOT be
considered as a reason for further consideration. Contact
Sabrina Ferrari (sabrina.ferrari@utoronto.ca)
Academic Counselor, should you NOT receive notification of your
decision within 2 weeks of submission.
Note that holidays and pre-purchased plane tickets, family plans
(unless critical, such as death of an immediate family member),
your friend's wedding, lack of preparation, or too many other
tests are not acceptable excuses for missing a quiz, a test, or
an item of term work.
Extension of Time
Students MUST submit a request for extension in ADVANCE of the
deadline in order to receive a decision.
If you require more time to complete an assignment you will be
required to make your request directly to the Department by
completing an on-line Special Consideration Request @
illnessverification.utoronto.ca. You will be
required to provide supporting documentation.
Original supporting documentation (e.g. a medical certificate,
accident report, etc) MUST BE SUBMITTED to the DROP BOX (labeled
"Environment and Geography Petition Documentation") located
outside Room 3282, Davis Building. Note: ROSI declarations
are not accepted as supporting documentation. You are expected
to submit your request to the Department before the due date of
the assignment, unless demonstrably serious reasons prevent you
from doing so. In the event of an illness, if you are seeking a
one-day extension, University of Toronto Medical Certificates must
confirm that you were ill on the due date of the assignment; if
you are requesting a longer extension, your documentation must
specify exactly the length of the period during which you were
unable to carry out your academic work. For extensions of time
beyond the examination period you must submit a petition through
the Office of the Registrar.
http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/index.php?id=6988
A Departmental committee evaluates each request for an extension
of time. Decisions will be communicated by email within two
weeks of receipt of all completed documents. Please note that
students are required to submit their assignment/lab as soon as
they are able and they should NOT wait for the decision of the
committee. Note: It is your responsibility to ensure your
email account is working and able to receive emails. Claims that
a Departmental decision was not received will NOT be considered
as a reason for further consideration. Contact Sabrina Ferrari (sabrina.ferrari@utoronto.ca)
Academic Counselor, should you NOT receive notification of your
decision within 2 weeks of submission.
It is your responsibility to follow the appropriate procedures
and submit requests for special consideration on time. Failure
to do so may result in the committee denying your request.
Should you require further information regarding Special
Considerations, please contact the Academic Counselor, Sabrina
Ferrari
Undergraduate Academic Counselor
Room 3282, Davis Building, Telephone: 905-828-5465
email:
sabrina.ferrari@utoronto.ca
Expectations/Classroom Behaviour/Behaviour in
the Academic Setting
Our expectation of you is that you will show respect
to the Course Instructor, TAs, other faculty, staff, and fellow
students. This includes arriving on time and staying for the entire
class (so you don't disturb others by your late entry or early
departure); listening quietly (so you don't disturb others by your
chatting or online activities); approaching your course work with an
open, honest spirit and enthusiasm; and otherwise adhering to the
Code.
In turn, you can expect the Course Instructor, staff,
and TAs to show respect to you and your fellow students; to deliver
the best course that they possibly can; to communicate their
enthusiasm for the material; to maintain fairness in all aspects of
course delivery and assessment; and otherwise to adhere to the
University's Code of Behaviour on Academic
Matters.
Academic Integrity/Honesty or Academic
Offenses
It is your responsibility as a student at the
University of Toronto to familiarize yourself with, and adhere to,
both the Code of Student Conduct and the Code of Behaviour on
Academic Matters.
This means, first and foremost, that you
should read them carefully.
The
Code of Student Conduct is available from the U
of T Mississauga website or in your print version of the Academic
Calendar.
Another helpful document that you should read is
How
Not to Plagiarize, by M. Procter.
Further Thoughts on Academic
Honesty: The Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters states
that:
"The University and its members have a
responsibility to ensure that a climate that might encourage, or
conditions that might enable, cheating, misrepresentation or
unfairness not be tolerated. To this end all must acknowledge that
seeking credit or other advantages by fraud or misrepresentation,
or seeking to disadvantage others by disruptive behaviour is
unacceptable, as is any dishonesty or unfairness in dealing with
the work or record of a student." ―University of Toronto
Mississauga Academic Calendar
This summarizes what we are all trying to
achieve through the implementation of this Code―both students and
faculty. We are trying―together―to create an atmosphere of fairness
and honesty, in which people can learn and receive appropriate
credit for work that they have done. Note that the Code refers
specifically to expectations for faculty members, not just
for students. It is my responsibility, as a member of the faculty of
the University of Toronto, to be familiar with these expectations
and adhere to them. There are many additional academic requirements
that we are expected to meet with regard to the integrity of course
materials, returning of marked work to students, maintenance of
student privacy, fairness, grading practices, and others. My TAs and
I will make every possible effort to meet these
expectations.
Accessibility
U of T Mississauga and the AccessAbility
Resource Centre are committed to the full participation of students
with disabilities in all aspects of campus life. The
AccessAbility Resource Centre provides academic
accommodations and services to students who have a physical,
sensory, or learning disability, mental health condition, acquired
brain injury, or chronic health condition, be it visible or hidden.
Students who have temporary disabilities (e.g., broken dominant arm)
are also eligible to receive services. All interested students must
have an intake interview with an advisor to discuss their individual
needs.
Students who require accommodation are advised to
visit the AccessAbility Resource Centre as early as possible
to have their needs assessed, as it may take some time to process
the application.
"It is the policy of the University of Toronto
to arrange reasonable accommodation of the needs of students who
observe religious holy days other than those already
accommodated by ordinary scheduling and statutory holidays.
Students have a responsibility to alert members of the teaching
staff in a timely fashion to upcoming religious observances and
anticipated absences. Instructors will make every reasonable
effort to avoid scheduling tests, examinations or other
compulsory activities at these times. If compulsory activities
are unavoidable, every reasonable opportunity should be given to
these students to make up work that they miss, particularly in
courses involving laboratory work. When the scheduling of tests
or examinations cannot be avoided, students should be informed
of the procedure to be followed to arrange to write at an
alternate time.
It is most important that no student be seriously disadvantaged
because of her or his religious observances. However, in the
scheduling of academic and other activities, it is also
important to ensure that the accommodation of one group does not
seriously disadvantage other groups within the University
community."
With respect to minimum advance notice, the Policy provides that
"Students have a responsibility to alert members of the teaching
staff in a timely fashion to upcoming religious observances and
anticipated absences." Since students would normally be aware of
upcoming religious observances as well as examination schedules
in advance, a minimum of three weeks advance notice will be
considered sufficient.
I also recommend Nature as
"Historical Protagonist," The Tawney Memorial Lecture 2008 (Economic
History Association) by Professor Bruce M.S. Campbell (Queen's
University of Belfast) (video)
LECTURE SCHEDULE
Lecture 1 (September 10): Is Geography (and Climate)
Destiny? Part I Lecture 2 (September 17): Out of Africa
(Guest lecture by Andrew Nicholson) Lecture 3
(September 24): Collision at Cajamarca Lecture 4 (October 1): Farmer Power, Part I (Deadline for Term Paper
proposal)
(October 8): University closed (Thanksgiving)
Lecture 5 (October 15): Farmer Power, Part II Lecture 6 (October 22): Term Test Questions Lecture
7-8 (October 29 - November 5): Germs and "Virgin Soils" Lecture 9 (November
12):
Writing, Technology and Government Lecture 10-11 (November 19-26): Around
the World, Part I & II Lecture 12 (December 3): Is Geography (and Climate) Destiny?
Part II Final Exam: December 20 - 9:00 - 11:00 - IB 120
LECTURE 1 (September 10): Is
Geography (and Climate) Destiny? Part I
Mandatory
readings
- Environmental determinism, historically
considered
Rodrigue, Christine M. 2002, "Four traditions of geography."
Critique of Diamond's account of military history Raudzens, George. 1999,
"Military Revolution or Maritime Evolution? Military Superiorities
or Transportation Advantages as Main Causes of European Colonial
Conquests to 1788," The Journal of Military History 63 (3):
631-641.
Mann, Charles C. 2002, "1491," The Atlantic 289 (3): 41-53. (see
also Gene Expression. 2011. "10
Questions Charles C. Mann." Discover Magazine,
September 3.)
Guns, Germs, and Steel
Chapters 15-16 (November 19)
Chapters 17-19. (November 26). For those of
you who have a 2003 (or later) edition of the book, read the "2003
Afterword: Guns, Germs and Steel Today." For those of you who have
an earlier edition, read "How
To Get Rich," A Talk by Jared Diamond, June 7, 1999.
LECTURE 12 (December 3): Is Geography (and
Climate) Destiny? Part II
Mandatory
readings
Jared Diamond on geography and political
institutions
Diamond, Epilogue.
Diamond, Jared. 2012. "What
Makes Countries Rich or Poor?" (Review of Why Nations Fail:
The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by by Daron
Acemoglu and James A. Robinson), The New York Review of Books,
June 7.
