Political Geography

Catalog description

This upper-level undergraduate seminar examines theories and concepts of political geography, with special emphasis on the geographic foundations of power in a globalizing world. The course covers the foundational themes of political geography: state formation; citizenship and nationality; geopolitics; borders; sovereignty; colonialism/postcolonialism; environmental politics; political identity and social movements. The course readings include a balance of theory and case study material and include international and domestic examples. As a writing-intensive course, students will write weekly assignments, workshop their essays in peer-groups, and focus on the techniques of expository writing on political geographic topics. The objective is to develop effective writing skills for presenting analyses of political geographic processes and basing these analyses on investigation, evidence, and clear argumentation in a concise essay format. Students will receive regular feedback and evaluation from the instructor and have several opportunities for presenting their work to their peers. The final project consists of a larger research and writing project and class presentation. After taking this class students will: 1. understand the various linkages between geography and politics 2. be able to apply a multi-scalar framework to understanding politics 3. contextualize concepts of power and resistance in relation to space and time 4. understand how geographic settings simultaneously enable and constrain political agents and options 5. be able to engage quality news media using geographic to gain a broader understanding of what is going on in the world.