Happy Holidays!

Dear students: final grades are up on PantherSoft. I gave everyone a little early holiday present of 5 points on their final grade, and we have a normal upper-division grade distribution thanks to that little boost. Note that the adjusted grades are NOT reflected in the gradebook posted earlier. Have a great break, and I hope to see you at graduation tomorrow.

Grades

Dear students: the raw scores for all of this semester's work, including the Final Exam and Project #3, are available by clicking here. I will calculate final letter grades and post them on PantherSoft later this week. Have a great break!!!

Project #3

Dear students: the time is here to begin your field research for Project #3. You can get the instructions by clicking here. I know you'll have fun with this one!

Article by Professor Price

Since some of you have wondered what it is that geographers like me really do with our time (besides teach, advise, run the University, and write textbooks), I'm sharing a recent article of mine. You can access it by clicking here. It is not required reading, merely a peek into my own research. The topic is critical race theory (an approach coming out of legal studies) and critical geographies of race.

Final Week Exam Schedule

Well  (drum roll here), the much-anticipated, long-awaited, final version of the Final Week Schedule is now available by clicking here. Our final exam is scheduled for Monday December 6th at 12:00. NOTE: This is inexplicably an hour earlier than we usually meet, so put it in your planner!

Tyra's 'Body' Experiment

Careers in Geography

Dear students: here is the guide I developed "back in the day" (as you would say) when I was undergrad program director for INR & Geography. Click here, and note that the second page of this pdf has the career information (first page is about majoring in Geog).

The Association of American Geographers has great career advice too, which you can access by clicking here.

Finally, if I can give any one magic piece of advice, it would be to do an internship in your senior year. Dr. Tardanico is in charge of our internship program in GSS, and his email is tardanic@fiu.edu

Group Project #2

Dear students: It's time to conduct field research for your Project #2. Events Coordinators, time for you to do your work! Project guidelines can be downloaded by clicking here.

Group Project #1 Instructions

Between Tuesday September 21 and Thursday September 30 your entire group (together or in pieces) is responsible for a field visit to Pet Heaven, just down the street from FIU's MMC. Each student should record observations. The assignment sheet is available by clicking here; please download and print this prior to your visit. Please do the assigned readings ("Landscape") prior to your visit. Have fun!

Mitchell? What Mitchell?

Yes, in an unprecedented coincidence, there is a Mitchell issue with the upcoming readings. You should read Don Mitchell.

What is Culture?

What is the definition of culture here? What are its components? How does it compare to Williams, Geertz?

Late Work and Late Students Policies

In the team spirit, you voted as a class on the following policies, which are now posted and binding:

1. If a student is late to class (iRAT in progress), they should begin taking the iRAT immediately and not get any extra time.

2. If a student is late to class (iRAT over) or absent altogether, student should count the “zero” grade as one of their two to be dropped.
3. If a student is late to class or absent altogether from a gRAT, student should get the same grade as everyone else on the team. However, a student can only do this twice. After that, the student will get a "zero" on gRAT(s) for which s/he is late or absent
4. If a team member is chronically late or absent (without a validated medical excuse), doesn’t participate in team activities, and has a generally poor attitude, the team should just give that person a poor grade on the end-of-semester peer assessment.

Permanent Student Groups

Please see the permanent TBL groups by clicking on this document. For the duration of the semester, these folks are your tribe. You will sit together in class, participate in in-class activities, and - my guess - you will bond closely with them and continue to do things outside of class (study, do field site visits, whatnot).

Group 8

Gilman Scholarships for Study Abroad

Dear Students: please note that a Gilman Scholarship application workshop will be held this coming Wednesday, September 8th, at 3:00 in GC 316. The Gilman Program awards annually 1700 scholarships of up to $5000 to students who do a study abroad. You must be a Pell Grant recipient. See details on the scholarship, the workshop, and other application criteria by viewing the flyer located here.

Week Two Readings

Seems that Google docs doesn't like the format of my Readings & Activities spreadsheet. I've got a couple of possible solutions which I'll try out tonight. In the interim, I know a lot of you want to get ahead with your reading ;) so here is the assignment for Week Two:

• UCG: Chapter 2
• CGR:
• Intro to Part 2 (ppl 79-82)
• Editors' intros and entries for:
• Ratzel
• Vidal
• Sauer

Readings and Activities Week-by-Week Schedule

This is a very important document. It details the readings you are responsible for, what activities will take place in the classroom, and important assignment and exam dates.

Access the Readings and Activities Week-by-Week Schedule by clicking here.
Please note: all contents and dates are subject to change in the event of a major unforeseen event (e.g., closure of the University).

The Original Video of Lilly: The World Map Master

Sooooo.... Lilly may have a bright future at Concordia ... as a Geography Teacher!

Reply To This Post For Extra Credit

Dear students: by replying correctly to this post, bringing a printed copy of the syllabus to class on Friday, and signing up to the blog as a "follower," all by August 27, you will receive one extra credit point.

Use the following text EXACTLY in your reply: "I have read and understood the syllabus and classroom policies posted here." Sign it with your real name so I can grant your credit.

Week One Readings

Week One assigned readings are:
- CGR (Cultural Geography Reader) Introduction (pp. 1-8)
- UCG (Understanding Cultural Geography) Chapter 1

A complete readings and activities schedule will be posted on the blog by Monday, Aug. 30.

Wyss' Pieces: Geography 101

Please don't end up on a video like this!

Study Skills

Study skills ... you can't survive college without developing good ones that work for you!As I scroll down my first day class roster, I see that you are all college Juniors and Seniors. If you've gotten this far, you must be doing something right!

However, you'll see that once you get into the Upper Division, expectations and workloads shift gears upward.  If you are having trouble concentrating, managing your time, reading the textbook, taking notes, or any other study-related area, be proactive and take the time to study up on studying! The sooner you do this the more these skills can help you out across your college years, and whatever you learn can be applied in all of your classes.


The Internet has a lot of fantastic resources. Here is a link to "The 10 study habits of successful students," here is a link to "10 tips for getting good grades," if test anxiety bedevils you conquer it here, and Virginia Tech has a great resource library of study skills available here (see especially the SQ3R method for textbook reading).

I have done a lot of undergraduate student advising, and you may find discussing your specific study-related concerns with me to be helpful. Come see me during office hours for a consult. Or, see your TA ... studying is a full-time job for them; they are pros.

Recent research reveals that, despite the variety of technological devices designed to "make your life simpler," the #1 best way to retain information is still the age-old "read book (or notes), close book (or notes), and repeat key ideas" strategy. Taking notes on your reading also helps (versus just highlighting the textbook), particularly if you type these notes up afterward. Finally, group study sessions can be helpful, but make sure they don't devolve into chat-sessions, and make sure to study with people who will pull you up rather than bring you down learning-wise.

Netiquette (Internet + etiquette)

About the only real online interaction we'll have is posting comments to the blog. My advice here is what you've probably already heard, but it bears repeating: Don't do /say / post anything online that you wouldn't want your momma to see.

For a fuller discussion of the "10 Core Rules of Netiquette" see the useful link here.

Late Work & Coursework Make-Up Policy

This will be determined by consensus on Friday September 10. I will update this posting during Week Three.

Final Exam: Scheduling & Rescheduling

Final Exams are held during what FIU terms "The Final Week of the Semester." This year, that week begins on Monday, December 6th. FIU publishes final exam schedules around the middle of the semester. I will alert you and post here the final exam date once FIU lets instructors know what that is.

For now, please be aware that we will have a final during the week of December 6th, and it could be as late as Friday December 10th. Therefore you should plan to stay in Miami until at least December 10th. Do not purchase plane tickets for before that date until you know your final exam schedule.

I cannot reschedule the final exam nor can I provide alternate exams or work to "make up" for the final. It must be held on the date / time specified by the University. Providing you with alternate work is not fair to other students who will take the exam.

Extra Credit

Doesn't exist in this class. Too hard to keep track of who, what, and when in a class this size.

Electronic Media in the Classroom

OK, I don't expect you to be rewiring your motherboards in class. But you may bring a laptop. Please watch that your computer cords don't trip fellow students. Please use your laptop ONLY for course-related materials. Using computers to do other things is distracting to you and to those around you. The first time I or Mamyrah catch you doing something extraneous during class time (FaceBook, Ebay, iTunes, YouTube ... whatever!) you will lose your laptop privileges - that simple.

Other electronics - cell phones, iPods, cameras, etc. - should not be used in class. I think you can and should be able to give me your full attention for the 50 minutes you have with me!

Disability Resource Center at FIU

Facing a physical, emotional, or mental challenge? Need a notetaker, or extra time to complete exams because of it?

Please stop by the Disability Resource Center at FIU. Check them out online by clicking here. By registering with DRC you can get the services you need to be successful in your academic pursuits. Their services are confidential.

If you have an issue or condition that doesn't warrant registering with DRC but are still concerned, please stop by my office hours.

Any conversations you have with me or communication I receive from DRC are kept completely confidential.

Attendance Policy

The good news: Attendance doesn't figure directly into your final grade through points.

The not-so-good news: That doesn't matter. In reality, if you don't attend an upper-division course on the regular your grade will certainly suffer. In fact, if you can't attend the class ON TIME ALMOST EVERY TIME you might think about dropping. Yep, it's that serious.

I will call roll during the first weeks of class in order to learn your names. I will also do spot-check roll calls to see who's in class and who's not, on a day-in day-out basis. If you're not there much, I'll know when you come to me at the end of the semester wanting extra credit or whatnot. Enough said.

In Week Two of the semester you will decide amongst yourselves how to handle absences with respect to groupwork. We'll be discussing on Friday Sept. 10.

Accessing the Gradebook

This year, I will use an Excel Spreadsheet to post grades. This will be a pdf snapshot of the gradebook I work with (you cannot edit it). You will be given a user number during Week 4 of the semester. Your grades will be posted in the row that corresponds to your user number. No names or PantherID numbers will be linked to the gradebook. Do not share your user number to anyone else.

The gradebook is accessed by clicking here. This is where you will always come to find your grades.

Mamyrah will be in charge of updating and posting your grades. Please do not pester her about when your grade will be posted. She does the best she can to keep up with this large class.

Academic Honesty

FIU publishes a Student Handbook, available by clicking here. In that handbook, the Student Conduct policies & procedures are spelled out. Among these - on page 9 in fact - the Academic Honesty policy is discussed.

We will abide by all FIU rules and regs in this classroom, including and especially those detailed in the Student Conduct section. Please discuss any uncertainties you may have directly with me.

Basics: Syllabus, Textbooks

The basics for this class are the syllabus, which is available as a pdf by clicking here; and two textbooks, which you can view details about by clicking here and by clicking here. (note: syllabus is now completely accurate ... I think! Let me know if you find any additional errors ...)

You will need to print out or save an electronic copy of the syllabus and consult it frequently - it is your "survivial guide" for this course.

You will need to purchase both textbooks. You can't pass this class without these basic materials! You can't keep up without purchasing, and obviously reading, the textbooks early in the semester. You can purchase them new in the University Bookstore, or purchase them new or used online.

Welcome!

Dear students: I am thrilled to be teaching Cultural Geography this Fall 2010. We will use this blog to distribute course information, resources, and materials, as well as to share geography-relevant news. I and my Teaching Associate Mamyrah Prosper are looking forward to a productive and fun semester working with all of you!