Course Description
Geographical aspects of development, including population growth, migration, industrialization, trade, and foreign aid. The spatial characteristics of economic development are viewed at the conceptual level and implications for policy discussed.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Additional assignments, readings, and test questions.
Athena Title
Geography of Development
Prerequisite
GEOG 1101 or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Successful completion of this course will provide the following learning outcomes: A basic understanding of social and cultural processes that influence the path of development at local and regional scales An appreciation of the diversity of strategies used to achieve sustainability in the developing world caring for environmental health A greater cognizance of the role of socioeconomics in the everyday functioning of Third World countries, and its crucial role in informing progress, innovation, conservation policy and decision making for democratic conflict resolution and environmental mediation An awareness of the dynamic nature of sociocultural systems, with emphasis on administrative regimes and patterns of production and marketing in a globalized world. An ability to recognize the interactions between human action, trends of the geopolitics of developing country, and past/future global environmental change This course meets the following General Education Abilities by accomplishing the specific learning objectives listed below: Communicate effectively through writing. This is met by a series of writing assignments associated with supplemental reading and data analysis. Communicate effectively through speech. This is met by oral presentations, discussion leading, and classroom participation. Critical Thinking is central to the learning objectives of this class, and is developed through homework assignments, lecture, classroom discussion, and inquiry- based learning efforts. Moral Reasoning (Ethics) is an important element of this course, as it explores affluence/poverty, developed vs. developing countries, and the dilemmas posed by forces of economic development and globalization. Moral reasoning is developed through lectures, writing assignments, classroom discussion, and inquiry-based learning activities.
Topical Outline
Disparities of wealth... Rich and poor nations Finding an appropriate world... First to fourth worlds Measure of disparities... GDP, PPP, HDI Causes of disparities... Dependency theory Frontier ecology and colonial human predicament Mercantile colonialism and liberal solutions Postcolonial approaches and structuralist solution Neocolonial strings attached and neoliberal solution The new South and south-south debates Sustainable development in rich countries Sustainable development in poor countries Economic integration and free trade, barriers, tarifs and quotas