Geography 100

Geography 100: Survey of Geography
Focus on Latin America
Spring 2002 5 credits
M-F, 10-10:50 Bldg.22, Rm.108

Office: Bldg.11, Rm. 212 (206) 878-3710 ext.3029 email: jjones@hcc.ctc.edu

Office Hours: MTWTh 2:00-3:30pm, or by appointment

Course Description

Why do people in Seattle dance to music from the Dominican Republic? What makes Mexican people migrate to Yakima? Where are people converting from Catholicism to Latter Day Saints? Who goes on vacation in Costa Rica? Why are Brazilian soap operas so popular? Why would anyone live where there are floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions? What political or economic connections does the United States have to Latin America? Geography is one discipline that gives you the tools to answer all of these questions and more. We will focus on this diverse and fascinating region broadly described as Latin America, which includes South America, Central America, the Caribbean and parts of North America.

In this class you will use the concepts of physical geography, human geography, regional geography and mapping to learn about Latin America. These concepts can then be used to learn about other regions of the world. We will immerse ourselves in the realities of Latin America people and places through music, videos, personal accounts and readings that explore the history, politics and culture.

You don’t need any prior knowledge of geography; the only prerequisite is a willingness to struggle with possibly unfamiliar ideas about the world. You will be rewarded by a new, deeper understanding of the modern world and your place in it.

The purpose of this course is to help you to understand the world better by looking at how:

• diverse groups of people in Latin America have lived in different historical periods

• human and physical systems are patterned in Latin American countries
• the United States has been a powerful economic and political force in the region

• these patterns and processes can be represented and communicated visually with drawings, collages and maps; verbally through written and spoken presentations; and through video, music, and multimedia.

Required Textbook
Latin America and the Caribbean by Blouet and Blouet
Available for purchase in the Highline Community College Bookstore

Additional Class Materials
Videos, supplementary readings, and in-class exercises will be also assigned. These additional materials will be provided by the instructor.

1. Achieve a high level of basic geographic literacy, including an understanding of the world’s spaces, places and systems (physical and human).
2. Refine the general skills needed for success in college and in the work world, including critical and creative thinking, oral and written communications, and technological expertise.
3. Learn from, with and about people from a wide variety of backgrounds to better survive in a globalized environment.

1. Arrive on time prepared to do the scheduled activities during the entire class.
2. Conduct yourself with maturity and personal self-management at all times.
3. Do the best work you can.
4. Perform non-class related activities elsewhere.
5. Respect yourself, your colleagues and your instructor.

1. Being enthusiastically prepared for each class
2. Enforcing the class policies
3. Returning graded work in a timely manner
4. Starting class on time each day, often with a fun warm-up activity
5. Treating every student with fairness and respect

Course requirements
Grading will be on a 500 points scale, allocated as follows:

• Quizzes, 4 @25 pts: 100 pts
• Final Exam: 100 pts
• Log Book: 100 pts
• Participation/Attendance: 50 pts
• Midterm Exam: 50 pts
• 2 Media Reviews: 50 pts
• Country Journal: 25 pts
• Group Presentation: 25pts

Note: Students who attend class regularly get higher grades!

GRADING SCALE: Students should keep all returned papers and tests. At the quarter’s conclusion, the percent of the total points earned will be calculated, then converted into a decimal grade, as indicated below:

Late or Missed Assignments

Quizzes: If you miss a quiz, you may make it up within two days without grade penalty. You need to come to my office hours or make other arrangements to do the make up quiz. After I have returned the graded quizzes, the missed quiz turns into a take-home assignment. It will be automatically be worth half of the total points. I aim for a 1-week grading turnaround for quizzes.

Redos: If your grade on a quiz is lower than 75% you must redo it (correct the wrong answers) or the grade becomes zero. Redos are due the next class meeting after the quiz is returned. Make-up quizzes are not eligible for redos.

Midterm: Same make-up policy as for quizzes. Sorry, no redos.

Final: A missed final exam is a zero. Sorry, no make-ups, no redos. Get an incomplete.

If you take the final exam earlier than the scheduled date due to plane reservations, etc., be aware that it will be essay and map ID instead of multiple choice and map ID.

Essays: Written assignments must be in my hands, my mailbox, or my office by 5pm on the due date. After that they are considered late. A late essay loses 20% (before I even grade it). After I have returned the graded essays, a late essay loses 50% (before I even grade it). Sorry, no redos. I aim for a 2-week turnaround for grading written assignments.

Notebooks, log book and journals: Homework will be stamped on the due date. When notebooks are graded, stamped items get full credit. Unstamped items get half credit. Notebook entries and group activities are checked periodically. Again, stamped items get full credit, unstamped half.

Presentations: If you miss your scheduled day, you must go on make-up day. You will lose 20% (before I even grade it).

Disclaimer: This is a stricter policy than I have had in the past. Here are the reasons:

1. When instructors allow exceptions, students are put into the position of having to lie. I do not want to try to determine if a reason or excuse is valid. Whether you missed a quiz because you were sick, to go to Las Vegas on vacation, to attend a function at your high school, or because your car broke down-- guess what? It's still a missed quiz. We can all be honest.
2. I am making a concerted effort to return graded work in a timely manner. I don't want to grade work 3 weeks after it was due. The class and my brain have moved on.
3. I have an extremely generous bonus point arrangement. Bonus points can constitute 5% of the total points possible.
4. Except for the final exam, you are always better off doing the assignment, no matter how late it is. You will still learn the material and earn some points.

If you do not like the idea of suffering the penalty of lost points, all you have to do is:

 Note: Please refer to the Student’s Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, p. 8-9 for a comprehensive discussion of policies developed for the campus community.

Letter of Accommodation
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability; if you have emergency or medical information to share with the instructor; or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please provide the instructor with a Letter of Accommodation from the Office of Access Services (located in Building 6 in the Student Development Center).

Social Sciences Division
Des Moines, WA
MS 11-1