Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2019 - GEOG 221 D100

Economic Worlds (3)

Class Number: 4313

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2019: Tue, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Dec 16, 2019
    Mon, 3:30–6:30 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Instructor:

    Rosemary-Claire Collard
    rcollard@sfu.ca
    778.782.2094
    Office: RCB 7224

  • Prerequisites:

    GEOG 100.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The fundamentals of economics geography, the study of the forces that shape the arrangement of economic activity in the real world. Breadth-Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course introduces several on the ground economic geographical processes and the models and theories that try to explain them. These are processes that we all participate in or bump up against all the time – like watching towering container ships unloading at one of Vancouver’s port terminals, buying a t-shirt at Walmart, doing the dishes at home, or working part-time serving caffeine-hungry customers in a coffee shop. In this course we ask how these and other seemingly mundane economic processes came to be, how they shift and move, and what their effects are for people, places and ecologies. The overarching theme of the course is economic inequality and how economic inequality plays out spatially in repetitive distributions of wealth, industry, and jobs (and what kind of jobs). Why does inequality persist – and in some places and not others? After introducing the theme of inequality as it is addressed in economic geography, the rest of the course carries this theme through several general sectors of the economy: the extraction of primary goods; manufacturing; trade and circulation; and retail and services. Throughout, we also pay attention to organized struggles for equality.

*There will be no tutorials during the first week of class

Grading

  • In-class mid-term exam 20%
  • Geographical snapshot paper 20%
  • Commodity chain group research project and presentation (in tutorial) 20%
  • Final Exam 25%
  • Tutorial participation, questions and quizzes 15%

NOTES:

Evaluation (tentative)

Grading scale
A+       90-100
A         85-89
A-       80-84
B+      76-79
B        72-75
B-       68-71
C+      64-67
C        60-63
C-       55-59
D        50-54
F          0-49

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Required course textbook Economic Geography: A Contemporary Introduction – Second Edition (Coe, Kelly & Yeung): $67.95

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS