GGS101-003– MajorWorldRegions

RonMahabirSpring2018

MajorWorldRegions• GGS101Section003• PlanetaryHall• Room131• MW12:00– 1:15pm• Officehours– Tuesday12-1pm,ExploratoryHall,Room2417

(orbyappointment)

YourTextbook• ThePlaidAvenger’sWorld:APopulist

ApocalypseEdition,9thEd.(2017)• JohnBoyer(prof.atVT)• ISBN-10:1524922536• ISBN-13: 978-1524922535• TextbookWebsite:

http://www.plaidavenger.com• Yourcodewillgiveyouaccessto

supplementalmaterials• Requiredtext• Readbefore youcometoclass• Textbook

– NewvsUsed– Olderedition– Accesscode

Schedule(Revisions?)Week Date Lecture Readings Notes

1 M(1-22) Courseintroduction *Normalclassattendancerequired(NCAR)

1 W(1-24) Mapreading NCAR

2 M(1-29) IntroductiontoGeography Chapter1 NCAR

2 W(1-31) Population Chapter2 NCAR

3 M(2-5) PoliticalGeography Chapter3 NCAR

3 W(2-7) EconomicGeography Chapter4 NCAR

4 M(2-12) DevelopedVsDeveloping Chapter5 NCAR– Assignment1due

4 W(2-14) InternationalOrganizations Chapter6 NCAR

5 M(2-19) Exam1

5 W(2-21) NorthAmerica Chapter7 NCAR

6 M(2-26) WesternEurope Chapter8 NCAR

6 W(2-28) EasternEurope Chapter9 NCAR

7 M(3-5) Russia Chapter10 NCAR

7 W(3-7) Japan Chapter11 NCAR

8 M(3-12) SpringBreak Noclasses

8 W(3-14) SpringBreak Noclasses

9 M(3-19) Australia/NewZealand Chapter12 NCAR

9 W(3-21) LatinAmerica Chapter13 NCAR

10 M(3-26) Exam2

10 W(3-27) Mexico Chapter14 NCAR

11 M(4-2) CentralAmerica Chapter15 NCAR

11 W(4-4) Caribbean Chapter16 NCAR

12 M(4-9) SouthAmerica Chapter17 NCAR

12 W(4-11) MiddleEastandNorthAfrica Chapter18 NCAR

13 M(4-16) Turkey Chapter19 NCAR

13 W(4-18) Sub-SaharanAfrica Chapter20 NCAR

14 M(4-23) SouthAsia Chapter21 NCAR

14 W(4-25) CentralAsia Chapter22 NCAR

15 M(4-30) EastAsia Chapter23 NCAR

15 W(5-2) SoutheastAsia Chapter24 NCAR

16 M(5-7) Readingdays

16 W(5-9) Exam3

Blackboard&Email• Blackboardwillbetheprimary

modeofcourseinformationdissemination

• Assignmentsandlectureswillbepostedhere

• Linkstoadditional,outsidesourcesofinfoarepostedhere

• Yoursyllabusandcourseschedulewillbekeptup-to-date

• Announcementswillbefrequent– checkthesitedaily!!!!

• Email:OnlyGMUemailaddresseswillbeusedforthiscourse(emailsfromanyotherpersonalemailaddresseswillbeignored– UniversityPolicy)

• EmailmedirectlyfromyourGMUaddresstomine:rmahabir@gmu.edu

Grading

Exams1-3: 60% 150points(50pointseach)Attendance: 10% 25points(1pointperday)Assignment1: 10% 20pointsAssignment2: 10% 20pointsAssignment3: 10%20pointsTotal: 100% 235points

GradingScaleRange Grade

93– 100% A90– 92% A-87– 89% B+83– 86% B80– 82% B-77– 79% C+73– 76% C70– 72% C-60– 69% D0– 59% F

Attendance

• Mandatory*• 10%ofyourgrade• 1pointearnedperdayofattendance(non-examdaysonly)

• Sign-insheetswillbeavailable.Signinandgetyourpoints!

• Classroomparticipationisexpected

https://www.purdueexponent.org/opinion/article_6228b4a7-3eb5-5396-8edd-b8353fa3c60c.html

Assignments• Onlysoftwareyou’llneedisGoogleEarth

(freedownload):http://www.google.com/earth/index.html

• AvailableinGGSLabsinExploratoryHall(Rm2102)

• You’llalsousetheCIAWorldFactbook• 3 assignments

– Assignment1:Googlefusiontables– Assignment2:GoogleEarth– Assignment3?

Exams

• Exams1-3willcovertextbookandlecturematerialsforspecificsections

• Multiplechoicewillbetheprimaryformat

• BringagreenScantron(availablefromthebookstore)toeachexam

• BringaNo.2pencil

ClassroomEtiquetteDo’s:• Beontime• Berespectfulofothers• Beengagedwiththeclass• Interjectwithyourideas/insights• Uselaptopstotakenotesonly!

Don’ts:• Usecellphones• Berude• Surftheweb;facebook;twitter,etc.• Cheat

Don’tCheat!• TheHonorCodeisineffectforthiscourse• http://oai.gmu.edu/honor-code/masons-honor-code/• Any/allsuspected incidentsmustbereportedtoOAI• Foranycasesofcheating,Imustmaketworecommendations.Minewillbe:

– Firstoffense:‘F’forthecourse,andacademicprobation– Secondoffense:expulsionfromtheuniversity

• Myadvice:Doyour bestonyour work,andtakeyour gradelikeanadult

WhatisthisclassofMajorWorldRegions?

• IntroductiontothedisciplineofGeography

• Learnthe“spatial”perspective• Howdowedefinearegion?• Introductiontogeospatial

technologies(morethanGoogleEarth)

• Limited overviewof“other”placesandperspectivesintheworld Source:JohnBoyer,aka,ThePlaidAvenger

http://www.thejohnboyer.com/world-regions/

WordsofWisdom

Takeyourcollegeexperienceseriously!

• ThedaysofAnimalHouseandthesocialexperimentareunfortunatelyover…

• Collegenow,isallaboutjobtraining

• Getorganized!

• You’llneedtofocusyourefforts:Putschool#1

Adelicatebalance:spendwisely,butdon’tbecheapaboutschool

• Collegeisanexpensiveinvestment

• Don’tshort-changeyourefforts– spendwhereyouneed to

• Ifyouhavetodoso,borrowwisely,but

• Keepdebttoaminimum

vs.

Gotoclass!!!!!• Gotoclassandreadthetext• Ifyoureadsomethinganddon’tunderstandit,readitagain…• Useyourprofessors’officehours• Usethelibrary,andquietstudyareas• Askquestions,andlearnhowtocommunicate• Don’tcheat• Gradesaren’tworthyourintegrity– theyreallyaren’t

– Forthemostpart,graduateschoolscaremoreaboutyourGRE,MCATscoresthangrades

– Employerswantskills,notnecessarilyhighgradepointaverages• Thatsaid,gradesoftenreflectyourlevelorabilitywithcertainskills

(seetherelationship?)• Knowwhatyourbestis,anddoeverythingyoucantoachieveit

GoodLuck!Questions:

rmahabir@gmu.edu