FALL 2008
Tu-Th 2:00-3:20
McKenzie 129
Prof. Shaul Cohen
Condon 107G Tel. 6-4500
Office Hours M 11:00-12:00, Th 10:00-11:00 ABA
scohen@uoregon.edu
GTF Marie Javdani
Condon 202
Office Hours Tu 1:00-2:00, We 10:00-11:00
mjavdani@uoregon.edu
Course Syllabus
This course will focus on the challenges that population growth presents to the world community, particularly in social and environmental terms. It will broach the issue of sustainability: Can the planet support our species given our current behaviors and structures? If so, at what cost to the quality of human and other life? If not, what might be done to rectify our current course?
Population Geography entails much more than these fundamental questions. We will ask why people chose to live where they live (if they have a choice). We will examine those environments in which people have thrived, and try to understand the elements of that success. We will look for common patterns, and the lessons taught by situations which depart from the norm. We will look at evidence of environmental degradation, and try to understand what impacts are caused by population and "over population."
In order to undertake these tasks we will need to learn about population geography, and for this we will use a monograph published by the Population Reference Bureau. It is available as a PDF file at http://www.prb.org/pdf/PopulationLivelyIntro.pdf You can also purchase this booklet from them online if you prefer to have it in your hands rather than read it on the web or print it out. We will also read and discuss a set of readings which will be available online and on reserve in the library. You must also read at least Section One of The New York Times on a daily basis (and the Science section on Tuesdays). It can be purchased at a discount in the University bookstore, or found on the web through the link above. You will keep a log related to the New York Times articles, details are in the Assignments section on Blackboard.
Requirements
This is an upper-division course, and I therefore expect
consistent attendance and reading of all assigned material. You
will also need to monitor postings on the course Blackboard, accessed via http://blackboard.uoregon.edu
and your personal account there. Please remember that all list-serve posts are
to be used only for this class, please do not export messages to any other
forum!
I'm happy to make accommodations for students with special learning needs, please see me asap so that we may do so.
Grading
The course will be graded on three components: two "mid-term" tests, and a final project. The tests will account for
25 and 30 percent of the grade in turn, the final project will also be worth
30 percent. The remaining 15 percent of the grade will come from three in
class "pop quizzes" that will be worth 5 percent each. Please note that the final
assignment is due Monday of exam week at noon,
and should be turned in to my office or mailbox.
Course Policy
Please respect others in class. This includes your own conduct
and commentary, spoken, written, and unspoken. Please keep side
conversations to a minimum, if you don't I will certainly notice,
as will those seated near you. Laptops are for note taking only, and cell phones
should be turned off in class. If you have concerns or
complaints, please communicate clearly, and in a timely fashion.
If you have needs, desires, concerns, apprehension, etc., don't
keep them a secret! Effective measures on my part require some
initiative on your part. In this vein, be aware that I am firm on
the dates given to you concerning tests, papers, and other
assignments. There is a 20% penalty for material turned in one
day late, and 10% additional penalty for each day thereafter.
Without advance warning and sufficient cause I will not grant
incompletes. Leaving town early, an abundance of exams, general
stress and other such reasons will not qualify for an incomplete.
I am glad to discuss grades with you, but you must notify me of
your desire to do so within one week of receiving the grade
(final course grades excepted.) Be careful to follow appropriate
rules concerning citation, do not work together on essays or
tests. A tip for the wise: the
quality of your writing counts. If you have concerns about your essays, or think you could benefit from assistance, take advantage
of the writing lab. Finally, I am available for
conversation much of the time, feel free to stop by the office.
Topic Schedule (subject to
change...)
Week 1 Is There a Population Problem?
Read Jonathan Swift's essay from 1729, "A
Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being
a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the
Public."
Begin reading Population: A Lively Introduction, complete it by
Tuesday of
week 2 at
http://www.prb.org/pdf/PopulationLivelyIntro.pdf
and the New York Times article
No Babies
Week 2 Population Growth & Change, Distribution etc. Film 1 China's One Child
Read Saul Halfon's chapter "Overpopulating the World: Notes Toward a
Discursive Reading" for Tuesday.
Week 3 Film 2 Thursday.
La Operacion The
philosophy of Garrett Hardin and Peter Singer. Read Hardin's "Lifeboat Ethics" and
Singer's "Famine, Affluence, and
Morality" available online through your Blackboard account and the
article "The Gift" by Zell Kravinsky for Thursday.
Week 4 Theories of Population Change and Fertility. Test 1 Thursday
in class
Read through the debate
on population between Kenneth Hill and Ben Wattenberg from the
archives of Slate Magazine. You can find it as a file in Blackboard titled
"Population Debates." Follow the exchange through
the eight letters. One question on the mid-term will draw upon material in
the letters that Hill and Wattenberg exchange, so take good notes and/or
download the pages. Pay particular attention to their use of terms and concepts
for the test.
Week 5 Mortality and Epidemiology
Read "The (Un?)Certainty of Death and Disease," from Six Billion
Plus: World Population the Twenty-first Century available on Blackboard
Week 6 Gender, Culture, and Reproduction Read Simon available on Blackboard
Week 7 The Production and Distribution of Food. Film 3 Genetic Time Bomb
Week 8 Migration, Refugees and Internally Displaced People
Test 2 Take home Due in class on Tuesday
Film 4 Paul Ehrlich and the Population Bomb Issues of Urbanization and Land Use
Week 9 Read Meadows available online through Blackboard No Class Thursday, Thanksgiving
Week 10 Power, Capital, and Population/Review
WebSurfers Section
For those of you capable of scouring the net (ALL of you!) here
are some sites that you will find interesting, and perhaps useful
for your research as well.
One of the best places to start, and the folks with the stats that I tend to trust is the Population Reference Bureau. They also have links to most of what's below, and a lot more!
The United Nations has a population program and lots of data, see their predictions at http://esa.un.org/unpp/.
To mark the milestone of six billion, the National Institute for the Environment has put together a collection of online resources, which is pretty impressive, drawing from the media, NGOs, and governmental organizations, worth a look.
The Centers for Disease Control's Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report is a good place to see what's ailing
us.
There is also a wealth of information on disease and death,
organized in interesting ways, if you follow the links of the National Center for Health
Statistics.
The United States Census Bureau, plan to spend a good deal of time here, remember their international section.... Dynamic population pyramids are also worth taking a look at, there are fixed and dynamic pyramids available for almost all of the countries of the world.
For an environmental perspective visit The National Resources Defense Council
A very good measure of how bad things are is the U.N.'s Human Development Report
Basic information on any country, including demographic and economic data, can be found in the data base of the CIA (they can be trusted, for the most part, on this kind of stuff), in their World Fact Book.
A starting point for some food related issues is Oxfam, check out their links to other sites as well.
A general annotated bibliography (always useful) on "People, Numbers, and Impacts" is on the page of Population Action International.
The National
Library for the Environment has information on our issues,
and links too, of course.
Check back from time to time, more to come!!!
Basic Guidelines for Essay Writing
By following these guidelines you will produce an essay that directs the reader's attention to the style and content of your work, and avoids distraction that comes from improper form. These suggestions are a starting point, feel free to exceed them....
1) Proof-read your essay! Better yet, proof-read it and then have a friend proof-read it. Run a spell-check program if you have one, but don't assume that it will catch all the errors. Number each page after the title page. Feel free to print on both sides of the page if you can.
2) Save a copy of the essay before you turn it in. Never hand in the only copy of your work.
3) Your essay should have a thesis statement or statement of your goals in the first paragraph.
4) Contextualize your topic. How does it fit in the "big picture"? What is its significance?
5) You should briefly discuss your sources (and methods, if appropriate). The New York Times or particularly relevant articles from unassigned readings can be used sparingly. Time magazine and others of that genre do not make for a strong bibliography. Do not rely too heavily on any one particular source.
6) Use proper citation. Maintain consistency throughout the paper. The format is up to you, as long as it is one of the standards. (Jones 1994) or (Smith 1997:45 for a direct quote with page number) is one way to cite, or you can use footnotes with a complete citation. In either case your bibliography should contain all the necessary information, including author(s), title, date of publication, publisher and city for books, issue and page numbers for journals. You may use material from the WWW, see the library's homepage for citation format for the Web. Remember, if you are quoting, paraphrasing or taking primary ideas from another source, you must indicate this through citation.
7) Write clearly and concisely. Illustrate your arguments with detailed examples. Remember, you are not writing a report. You are making an argument, or testing a hypothesis or theory, or challenging a viewpoint or conclusion. Your topic needs to be appropriate for this purpose. Whatever you write about, your writing must reflect your own thought on the topic, without being chatty. Back up your position with material that gives it weight and authority!
8) Try to provide a powerful conclusion. In it you briefly recap those elements that have contributed to your argument, and restate the significance of the issues and your analysis.
9) If you have questions or concerns come in and talk about
them. You can also get help at the Academic
Learning Service's Drop-in Writing Lab, which is open
M-F from 9:00-4:00. It is located in PLC room 7, and they
will help you with most anything, no charge! Use the link to
check out their website.