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GEOGRAPHY 145: SYLLABUS for the FALL SEMESTER 2006
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Fall 2006 Prof. Tim Hallinan
MW, 3:00-4:15 Amador (AMD) 309
Population Geography is a general interest course that provides quantitative
and qualitative insights into human population growth and distribution. As
a geography course it looks at spatial patterns of occupance and movement
over time. It emphasizes the dramatic growth of human numbers worldwide in
recent centuries. It scrutinizes particular demographic situations in major
world regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV infections have their most
dramatic current impact, and Western Europe, where many countries no longer
have rates of natural increase but rather rates of natural decrease. In
focusing on the United States the course again recognizes spatial diversity:
California's growth and urban sprawl contrasts with the fading towns of the
USA's rural heartland.
As a general education course Population Geography fulfills the Major Social
Issues requirement. From the list of important issues currently subsumed
under that G.E. label Geography 145 addresses four in depth: gender issues,
environment, immigration, and biomedical/health.
Both the required readings for the course and data for in-class reports are
available on the Internet. The required readings: six bulletins [pdf] and
one data sheet from the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) [www.prb.org]:
McFalls, "Population: A Lively Introduction";
PRB Staff, "Transitions in World Population";
De Souza et al., "Critical Links: Population, Health...Environment";
Martin & Midgley, "Immigration: Shaping and Reshaping America";
Kinsella & Phillips, "Global Aging: The Challenge of Success"
Kent & Yin, "Controlling Infectious Diseases".
The recently published "2006 World Population Data Sheet" provides data
country by country, region by region, all around the world.
Using the first two PRB bulletins and the "2006 World Population Data Sheet"
we encounter the "big picture" of the world's human numbers over centuries
of time and millions of square miles of space. We also see the "smaller
picture" of individual acts and decisions, constrained by biology and by
cultural norms, made by individual men and women. We pay special attention
to the impact of official population policies (e.g., China's "One Child"),
of economic pressures (e.g., two-earner households), of religious norms
(e.g., pronatalist and pro-life) and of biomedical advances (e.g., prenatal
screening) on females' lives and numbers.
In reading the third PRB bulletin, "Critical Links," we encounter the timely
issues of limited resources and fragile environments beset by growing human
numbers. Within state, national, and world regional contexts we learn to
differentiate population densities--crude, agricultural, physiological, and
psychological. We come to appreciate that six and a half billion humans do
not always "live lightly" on the Earth.
With our fourth bulletin, "Immigration: Shaping and Reshaping America," we
encounter an issue of special importance to Californians. We place the
California numbers and controversies within broader contexts. We note the
pressures on migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, past and present. We
consider whether ethnocentrism and racism have any resonance in current
immigration debates in the U.S. and Europe.
Our final two bulletins, Kinsella & Phillips, "Global Aging: The Challenge
of Success," and Kent & Yin, "Controlling Infectious Diseases," remind us
of life's span and the different health challenges facing younger and older
populations around the world. We investigate the patterns of disease and
disability, morbidity and mortality in developing and developed countries.
We contrast life expectancies and life spans of affluent populations with
those in poorer countries. We map the provision, accessibility, and cost
of medical services around the world.
Gaining this much information and insight is a daunting task. Even so,
Geography 145 assumes no previous exposure to or expertise in demography
or in statistical and graphic analysis. The course does anticipate that
students are ready to gain such knowledge and skill through the course's
readings, discussions, and activities.
By semester's end students should display an increased awareness of the
sheer complexity of issues associated with population change. They should
be able to identify and characterize major world regional, national, and
local concentrations of human beings. They should be able to speculate
knowledgeably about the the impact of government policies and cultural
pressures on past, present, and future vital statistics--birth and death
rates, infant mortality rates, fertility rates, morbidity rates, life
expectancies, and other measures. They should appreciate that many issues
--the environmental impacts of population growth and movement, the access
of different groups to health services and migration opportunities, the
feasibility and desirability of different natalist policies--have very
impassioned constituencies with rival perspectives. Above all, they
should appreciate that their own life stories and actions are important
components of the larger population drama.
An accompanying SCHEDULE indicates lecture and discussion topics, readings
in the bulletins, and dates for exams and assignments.
I'll determine semester grades based on 1000 possible points:
900 points - 1000 points, A's
800 points - 899 points, B's
700 points - 799 points, C's
These individual assignments will help you amass points:
Three Internet Worksheet Assignments @ 100 points each........300 points
Each assignment includes graphs and/or maps for data display,
fill-the-blank items, and a short summary essay.
Two Written/Oral Presentations................................200 points
The first and shorter presentation (2-minute talk with
one transparency and a one-page typed summary) is worth
75 points; the second and longer (3-minute talk with two
transparencies and a 1½-page summary) is worth 125 points.
Two In-class Quizzes @ 150 points each........................300 points
Each quiz will have items in three different formats: multiple choice,
map characterization, and short essay (apx. 150 words).
One Comprehensive Final Exam @ 200 points.....................200 points
The final will use the same formats as the quizzes. Both a U.S. and
a world map will be used for map characterization items. Two short
essays of 150 words each will also be included.
Go to GEOGRAPHY 145 SCHEDULE
Go to GEOGRAPHY 145 General Links
Go to GEOGRAPHY 145 Links for Worksheets
Return to HALLINAN'S HOME
E-mail me at hallinan@csus.edu
This page was updated 08-22-06.