Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2024 - GEOG 100 OL01

Our World: Introducing Human Geography (3)

Class Number: 3881

Delivery Method: Online

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Online

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

A geographical introduction to how humans shape our world, with attention also given to how it shapes us. Themes may include: culture, economic activities, environmental change, globalization, politics, population, resources, and urbanization. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

Delivery Mode: Online, Asynchronous.  This course is fully remote with no in-person requirement.

Course Description 

This breadth-social science course introduces students to the field of human geography.  The Greek roots of the term geo (earth) and graphy (writing) signal the field’s focus on describing and inscribing the relationship between humans and the world around us.  Human geographers use concepts like space, place, scale, mobility, and relationality to pursue questions like: How do places acquire meaning for different people?  How does location impact how we understand the world, and the possibilities presented to us?  How are places related, and how can this knowledge help us address pressing social, political, ecological, and economic challenges?

In this course, students can expect to develop a framework for understanding what it means to ‘think geographically’.  Special attention will be paid in this course offering to exploring the ways that the biophysical, built, and social world shape who we are; and, finally, how we shape and re-shape the world around us (whether intentionally or unintentionally).  As you progress through the course, it is hoped that you will see the value of thinking geographically as a means of being engaged and remaining curious about how our environments shape us, and how we, in turn, shape the world around us.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of the semester, students should be able to:

  • Understand and use key human geography concepts (e.g. space, place, scale, mobility, spatial imaginaries)
  • Interpret relations between people and places, appreciating how diverse experiences and circumstances influence the way people perceive and are perceived
  • Using spatial reasoning in order to identify how places are connected across space and time
  • Understand how social, political, and economic structures take place in our surroundings
  • Learn to critically assess the validity of geographic data and images as they are presented in the public square and media
  • Have sufficiently developed early undergraduate-level research, communication, and citation skills

Grading

  • Weekly Knowledge Application Assignments (Weekly Short Written Assignments) 25%
  • Weekly Knowledge Check-In 5%
  • StoryMap Assignment - 20% (final submission) + 3 x 1% (prep assignments 23%
  • Knowledge Tests - 2 x 20% 40%
  • Learning Reflections 7%

NOTES:

  • All instruction content will be made available to students asynchronously in the form of recorded lectures, online modules, textbook reading, and assignments.
  • Knowledge Tests Students will complete a 2 knowledge tests to ensure that they have completed the weekly readings and assigned material, have a basic comprehension of core concepts leading into the lecture, and are feeling confident with their human geography knowledge
  • Knowledge Application Assignments. Most weeks, students will complete a class engagement assignment that will be available as part of the learning module.  These mini-assignments invite you to think more deeply about the week’s required material through observation, reflection, application, and experience. 
  • Self-Reflection will be prioritized. Through storytelling, examples from your work and more creative formats, you will be asked throughout the course to reflect on your learning.  Where it happens and how, your struggles, your triumphs, goal setting, and how it is showing up and/or impacting your everyday life.
  • Peer Learning and Support. You are expected to engage with your classmates throughout the course in community-building.  This includes providing feedback to one another, sharing stories about your learning, and participating in community-building conversations.
  • StoryMaps Project: In thematic groups, over the course of the semester, students will create an ArcGIS StoryMap on a topic of their choosing. Students will submit three small assignments that will help them plan, design, and create their StoryMaps. A final submission will take place in a group setting as a StoryMap Showcase, where students will view each other’s StoryMaps.

Assessment

This approach to assessment is informed by an ethic of care, and is meant to account for and capture your learning experience, as well as the complexities of your failures, struggles, and successes.  This approach centres mutual respect, transformative values, building inclusive learning communities, and responsiveness.  For more information on the rationale behind this approach to assessment, please visit: https://www.sfu.ca/istld/faculty/grant-programs/projects/fenv/G0443.html

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

There is one required textbook for this course:

Mercier.  Michael. 2024.  Human Geography.  11th edition.  Oxford: Oxford University Press.  9780190164577

This is a digital textbook with online support materials, available through the SFU Bookstore.  The book can be purchased or leased via Vitalsource.

All other required material will be on reserve via the library, or otherwise publicly accessible online.  In accordance with Canadian copyright law and best practices regarding fair dealing in educational settings, please use copies of copyrighted material distributed in class only for the purposes of this class and do not reproduce them in any way.


This course has one recommended text:

Castree, N., Kitchin, R. and Rogers, A., 2013. A dictionary of human geography. Oxford University Press. [available online via SFU Library]

Other Required Materials

Students will also need to download GoogleEarth Pro to their desktops, activate their SFU ArcGIS account, and use a peer-review feature within Canvas.  These web-based course materials are free-of-charge and available to all SFU students.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website 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

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.