Geog 621:  Current Trends in Geography Winter 2001 -- University of Oregon Prof. Pat McDowell

Syllabus | Books & Journals | Term Paper Assignment | P. McDowell home page | Dept. of Geography

Week 3 Schedule and Assignments

Monday, Jan. 22:  Impacts of the "Quantitative Revolution" on human geography, 1955-1970s

Reading assignment for Jan. 22:  
Johnston, Geography and Geographers, Ch. 1, 3 and 4
Morrill, R.L., 1984.  Recollections of the Quantitative Revolution's early years: the University of Washington 1955-1965, in Billinge, M., et al, eds. Recollections of a revolution: Geography as a Spatial Science, p. 52-72.  A copy of this article is in the file box in Condon 108.  

• Why did the quantitative revolution take place in American geography during the 1950s (as opposed to some other period)?

• What were the major concerns of the early quantitative geographers?  On what body of work did the early quantitative geographers draw most strongly?

• What continuities tied the early quantitative geographers to the geography of the 1930s and 1940s?

• What is the relationship between quantitative geography and positivism?

• To what extent does Morrill’s description of the early days of the quantitative revolution fit Kuhn’s ideas about the nature of science as outlined in Ch. 1 of Johnston’s book?

• To what extent is a systems approach in geography consistent with the notion of geography as “spatial science?”

Wednesday, Jan. 24:  The Resurgence of Physical Geography, 1950s-1970s

Reading assignment for Jan. 24:  
still under construction...
Gregory, K.J., 2000, The Changing Nature of Physical Geography, p. 42-47, and Ch. 3, p. 48-78.
Note:  This is not the book that is on reserve in Knight Library, it is a new revision.  A copy of these pages will be put in Condon 108.
Thornthwaite, C.W., 1961.  The task ahead.  Annals of the AAG 51: 346-356.    A copy will be put in Condon 108.  

last update:  03/03/01 02:05 PM
Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene OR, 97403-1251