GEOGRAPHY 102: ASSIGNMENT #1 -- GEOBIOS

	   GEOGRAPHERS' IDENTITIES:  BIOGRAPHIES
                                   
Background: Autobiography
Last period I asked each of you to fill out a brief questionnaire about
geography and geographers.  Today I'll ask you to add an autobiographical
paragraph to that questionnaire.   To assist you I'm reprinting questions
posed on a website, How Do You Know If You Want To Be a Geographer?, by the
country's largest organization of professional geographers, the Association
of American Geographers (AAG).  Together these resources provide insights
and information that your biographer will need. 

Background: Readings
During our second class period I'm distributing copies of some interviews
with professional geographers.  I'm also handing out excerpts from Carl O.
Sauer's Presidential Address to the Association of American Geographers,
"The Education of a Geographer."  These handouts are additional materials
to help you compose an appropriate essay about a classmate's development
as a geographer.  

On the Internet you can also find some biographical narratives about other
students and professionals in the field of geography.  See, for example,
	* the AAG's Using Geography and GIS: Geographers at Work

Pairing
You'll be paired with a Geography 102 classmate.  Like you that person is
pursuing a major or minor in geography.  You and your partner will compose
biographies of one another.  In moving from rough draft to finished product
you should use:
	* responses to the questionnaire
	* autobiographical paragraphs
	* additional information elicited in conversations
From these you'll craft a page-and-a-half biography of your partner.

Format & Schedule
	Monday, September 8  Exchange copies of questionnaires and
	autobiographical paragraphs.  Use allocated class time to go over
	them.  Explore any points that need to be clarified or amplified.
	Volunteer information about yourself that you think will aid your
	partner in composing your biography.  Remember the focus of each
	eventual biography: the choice of geography as a field of interest,
	a major or minor.
	Wednesday, September 10  Today you should have an opening
	paragraph for your partner's GEOBIO ready to read aloud in class.
	As you prepare this opening paragraph consider the many different
	ways in which you might introduce your partner to readers/auditors.
	One obvious choice would be a straightforward chronology.  Other
	possibilities would include highlighting a signal event in their
	decision to study geography, comparing their appearance and their
	demeanor to stereotypes people might have about geographers, or
	focusing on their long-term goals in pursuing geography.  Can you
	think of other ways of beginning the essay?
 	   The September 10th class will also include our photo session.	
	Following our regular class period in LIBR 4021, we'll adjourn
	to the Library's main floor breezeway.  There I'll take individual
	black & white photos of all class members.
	Wednesday, September 17  Share first drafts with one another.
	Each draft should be appropriately formatted so that the top half
	of the first page is left blank for the individual photo and other
	illustrations.  The actual text of the biography should begin on
	the bottom half of the first page and extend--as needed--through
	the 2nd.  Remember that your classmate, the subject of the essay
	you're writing, must read and approve your draft before you can
	proceed.  Before leaving class today, review the photos taken
	last week to make sure there's a suitable picture to accompany
	your biography. 
	Wednesday, September 24  Bring the finished biography of your
	partner to class.  Trade the biographies with one another for a
	last look before we place them in individual envelopes.  When you
	are satisfied with the biography your partner has produced, put
	it in the manila envelope I'll provide.  Then, select the photo
	you wish to use to illustrate your biography.  Write your name
	lightly on the back of the photo and insert it in the envelope.
	You may add one additional illustration--a map or chart or symbol
	up to a quarter-page in size--to be placed beside your photograph.
	Write your name on the reverse side of that illustration as well
	before you put it in the envelope.
	Later  The department staff will reproduce and assemble all
	the biographies, complete with pictures, for this year's class
	publication: GEOBIOS 2003.  Each of you will receive a copy.