Interdepartmental 131: Geography of Human Cultures

Dr. Hugh Blackmer
Winter 2004
TuTh 3-5 Parmly 302

Dramatis Personae

Ale Bereskyj (04) ECON
Megan Brooks (05) ENGL
Nancy Francis (04) ECON
Susannah Hewlett (04) PSYC
Zach Manis (05) PHIL,POL
Jaime Muscar (04) EASIA
Matt Renwick (05) ECON
Sean Stewart (06) POL
Jessica Taylor (04) ANTH

Here's a developing narrative about G of HC

Schedule of classes: (approximate summary of topics... with links to comments and expansions)

week ofTuesdaysThursdays
6 JanThe Web, and Landscapesmore Landscapes
13 JanHow do I find... and Tools
...and a digression on Bam
the day's [first] digression
and beginning GIS
20 Janprojects step 1
Demography
H5N1 and
continuing GIS
27 Jantoday's menu
the Broad Street Pump
and H5N1 continued
Vultures, Broilers,
Hmong, and Roma
3 FebSaints and Demons
The Good Guys?
US agriculture maps
10 FebTurkeys, Apples, Merton...Curry and Sustainability
17 Feb(break)(break)
24 FebInsular Southeast Asia Sarawak
2 MarSarawak continuedDiseases, especially malaria
9 MarGlobalizationCoffee and Globalization
16 MarChronotopes and Architectonicsantique mall fieldtrip
23 Marchsome loose ends
fragments
Musics and Geographies
30 March
presentations
Nancy, Jessica, Megan, Ale, Matt
presentations
Zach, Jaime, Susannah, Sean

Among the Topics that were possible linchpins for classes (some of which we did get to): Remote Sensing, Hydrocarbons, Aral Sea, Brazil nuts, Smart Mobs, Borders, Maquiladoras, Migration, Internet's reach, Logging, Fisheries, Resettlement, Malaria, Sarawak, Amazonia, Cartography, Rubber, Sugar, food security... In each case, I have materials under construction. Each is an interesting tale: a set of problems in human enterprise and activity, most with explicit spatial ('geographical') dimensions. Each provides opportunities to explore the questions ?what are the patterns [spatial and otherwise] at various scales? ?What are the forces that make/constrain those patterns?

Assignments: one two three four five six seven ...and eight ...chronotopes... nine ...and (finally) ten!

Requirements:

Some of the Information Tools we'll explore: Wikipedia, JSTOR, eHRAF, Cultural Survival Quarterly, The Globalist [need to register], Infomine, OAIster, Population Reference Bureau, Emerging Infectious Diseases from CDC


This course has two forerunners: Fall 2001 University Scholars and Spring 2003 Global Stewardship Institute

Hugh's log file for INTR131 and other log files