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GEOGRAPHY
OF AFRICA (GEOG 412)
COURSE SCHEDULE
(subject
to change)
Week 1 (Jan 17-21)
Introduction to the instructor and course
objectives
Introduction to Geography and the Four
Traditions of Geography
See: Ellen
Semple on Environmental Determinism
Important Terms:
Cartography, Spatial Tradition, Human-Land Tradition, Regional Tradition,
Earth Science Tradition, Quantitative
Revolution, Systems Approach, Environmental Determinism,
Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), Remote
Sensing, Global
Positioning Systems (GPS)
Week 2 (Jan 24-28)
Group Assignments
for the Position Paper Project
1.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) - Success or Failure?
The Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development -Arguing
in favor of the AGOA
The TransAfrica
Forum - Arguing
against the AGOA
2. The Zimbabwe
Land Conflict
President Robert
Mugabe/ZANU - Arguing in favor of the socialization of farmland
in Zimbabwe.
The European Union
- Arguing against the socialization of farmland in Zimbabwe.
3. The Sudan Seccession
Question
Sudan President
Omar el-Bashir/VP Ali Osman Mohammed Taha - Arguing against the
South's seccession
John Garang - Sudan
People's Liberation Army - Arguing in favor of the South's seccession
Assignment: Each
Position Paper Group must meet and produce a 1200-1500 word essay covering:
1. The
basic history and framework of the government or organization your group
is representing (i.e. African Union, OECD, Sudan Government, etc).
2. The
primary issues inherent in the case study upon which your position paper
will be based.
Use the links below
to assist your research:
The
TransAfrica Forum
African
Growth and Opportunity Act Homepage
Extensive
Discussion on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
Essay
Arguing Against the African Growth and Opportunity Act
Essay
on the African Growth and Opportunity Act
Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
Sudan
People's Liberation Movement/Army
Sudan
News.Net
Sudan
Government's Official Web Site
The
African Union
United
Nations
The
European Union
Zimbabwe
- Facts
ESSAYS ARE DUE February 3, 2005!!!
Introduction to African Climates and Vegetation
Read: pp.
23-34 "Climate"
Read:
pp. 34-41 "Vegetation"
Important Terms:Isotherm,
Isohyet, Climagraph, Sahel,
Tropical Wet and
Dry Climate Regions, Semi-Arid Regions
Week 3 (Jan 31 -Feb
4)
Video:
"Classifying World Climates"
Demonstration:
African Climate Classification
Instructions
for African Climate Classification Assignment
Assignment is due
Thursday Feb 10. You may work in pairs.
Helpful Climate
Classification Site - Click
Here
TSU
10th Annual Africana Studies Conference Feb 2-5 (Click
Here for the Full Agenda)
Attend one session,
write a 500-750 word essay based upon that session, turn the essay in
for Extra Credit!
Due no later than Tuesday Feb 15.
Week 4 (Feb 7-11)
Drought and Desertification
Read:
pp. 41-45 "Soils" and all of Chapter 3
Video:
"Understanding Drought and Desertification"
FYI:
Study
Guide Questions and Answers for the Drought & Desertification Video
Medical Geography of Africa and Geography
of the AIDS Epidemic
Read: Chapter
12 "Medical Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa"
Read: "Death
Stalks a Continent" in Global Studies Africa pp. 206-213
See also:
Washington
Post Graphic on AIDS in Africa 1
Washington
Post Graphic on AIDS in Africa 2
Lecture:
"Geographical Patterns of Guinea Worm Infestation in Ghana: An Historical
Contribution."
Click
Here to Download the Article in PDF Format.
Read:"To
Map a Disease: Plotting Malaria's Decline in Western Kenya"
Click
Here to Learn More about Global Positioning Systems
Click
Here to Learn More about Geographic Information Systems
Assignment:
Complete
Questionnaire
on Medical Geography in Africa.
Due Tuesday February
22
Important Terms:
Pandemic, Endemic, Hyper-endemic, Hypo-endemic, Epidemic
Week 5 (Feb 14-18)
Population Dynamics in Africa
Film:
World Population Problems
FYI:
Study
Questions and Answers to Accompany World Population Problems
Read:
Chapter 7 "Population Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa"
Read:
Thomas
Malthus Essay on Population
Important Terms:
Fertility Rate, Natural Increase, Natural Growth, Doubling Time, Population
Structure, Migration, Carrying Capacity, Population Density, Physiological
Density, Agricultural Density, Demographic Transition Model, Refugee Migration
Assignment-1:
Population
Pyramids Assignment
Due Thursday February
24.
Assignment-2: Write
a 500-1000 word paragraph on your Issue Paper Topic. Include a tentative
title.
Due Tuesday Februrary
22
Thursday February 17 - No formal class meeting. Work on your various assignments.
Week 6 (Feb 21-25)
Dynamics of African
Urban Environments
Read: Chapter
10 "Urban Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa"
Important Terms:
Overurbanization, Pull Factors, Push Factors, Squatter Settlements, Urban
Primacy, Concentric Ring Model, Sector Model, Multi-Nuclei Model, Primate
City, Precolonial Cities, Rural-to-Urban Migration
Urban Growth Management
in Africa
Film:
"A Flight of Flamingoes"
Case Study:
Lake
Nakuru and Lake
Nakuru: Ecosystem Impacts
More information
on sustainable urban
development at Nakuru Town.
See:
Satellite
imagery of urban growth around Africa's Great Lakes.
See: Profile
of Lake Nakuru
Assignment: Lake
Nakuru Questionnaire - Due Thursday March
3
Week 7 (Feb 28 -
Mar 4)
Africa: Cradle
of Humanity and Human Civilization
Read: Chapter
1, pp. 18-21 "Rift Valley System"
Chapter 4, pp. 78-86.
Film: "Africa-Cradle
of Civilization"
See: African
Origins of Civilization
See: Cheikh
Anta Diop - "African Origins of Civilization"
See: Cheikh
Anta Diop - Biography and Bibliography
See: Database
on Culture and its Transmission in the African World
See: Ancient
Human Fossils Found in Ethiopia
See: The
Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations
See:
Book
List on Ancient African Civilizations
See:
African
Studies Center at University of Pennsylvania
Discussion: Issue Papers and Position Papers
SPRING BREAK -- MARCH 7-11
Week 8 (Mar 14-18)
Border Conflicts
in Africa and Spatial Impacts of Colonization
Read: pp.
96-102, and 158-162
Read:
"A Century Later: Letting Africans Draw Their Own Map" - handout
Read: "Nigeria"
in Global Studies Africa pp. 206-210
Read: "Sierra
Leone" in Global Studies Africa pp. 214-216
Read: "Liberia"
in Global Studies Africa pp. 193-196.
Read: "Somalia"
in Global Studies Africa pp. pp 95-98.
See:
"Somalia's
Warlords Make Peace"
Read: The
1884-1885 Berlin Conference to Divide Africa
Read:
A
Geography of Africa From Below
Read: Africa's
Bizarre Borders
See: Postcolonial
Africa
Assignment:
A 1000 word outline/draft of your Issue Paper
is due Tuesday,
March 22
Assignment:
Write a 1000-1200 word essay on your opinion of the
relationship between the African colonial
borders drawn by European nations and
current conflicts among indigenous African
people. Are they related?
Due Tuesday March
29
Geography of the African Diaspora
Read: pp.
91-96
Read: "Who
Was Responsible?" - Handout
See:
Black
Holocaust Web Site
See: Maps
of African Slave Trade
Week 9 (Mar 21-25)
Dualism in Africa
Read: Background
on Zimbabwe
Read:
pp. 201-206 "Geographic Patterns of Dualism" (see also pp. 193-200)
Read: "Zimbabwe"
in Global Studies Africa pp. 122-125
Read: Mercenaries
Captured in Zimbabwe March 10, 2004
Read: Nov
22, 2002 Commentary on the Zimbabwe Land Issue
Read: U.S.
Imposes Sanctions Upon Zimbabwe
Read: White
Land Dominance Near End in Zimbabwe
Read:
Soldiers
Occupy White-Owned Farms
Film:Amateur
Video Tour of Zimbabwe
Assignment:
Write a 1000 word essay discussing the role played
by "dualism" in the Zimbabwean land dispute.
Your essay should include references
to the "Amateur Video Tour of Zimbabwe." Due Thursday
March 31
Week 10 (Mar 28-
Apr 1)
Development in
Africa
Read:
Chapter 8 "Geography and Develpment in Sub-Saharan Africa"
See:
Search
Human Development Index
See:
The
African Union
See:Africa
Action Policy Report
Read:
Where
I Come From: A Diary of Guinea
References:
How
Europe Underdeveloped Africa and other
works.
Important Terms:
Gross
National Product (GNP), Human Development Index (HDI), sustainable
development, informal sector economy (i.e. street vendors)
Development in Africa
and the Africa Trade Bill
Read:
pp. 245-259
See:The
Africa Growth and Opportunities Act
Week 11 (Apr 4-8)
Tuesday - Discussion
- Issue Papers and Group Position Papers
Thursday
- Meet with your Position Paper Group
Assignment:
A 1000 word draft of your Group Position Paper is due
Tuesday April 12
Week 12 (Apr 11-15)
Population Growth, Environmental Degradation,
and Human Conflict in Africa
Read: Chapter
5 - All
Read: Environmental
Scarcity and Violent Conflict by Thomas Homer-Dixon
Read: The
Coming Anarchy
Read: The
Role of Environmental Scarcity in the Rwanda Conflict
Read: Article
"Vicious Circles: African Demographic History as a Warning" - Handout
Read: Environmental
Scarcity and Conflict in South Africa
Read:
Article
- Environmental Problems in Soweto
Film: "Aloes
Weeping"
Africa and the Toxic Waste Trade
Film: "The
Poison Trade"
Film: "Global
Dumping Ground" (Zimbabwe Case Study)
See:
The
UN Basel Convention on Hazardous Waste
Week 13 (Apr 18-22)
Focus upon the
Ogoni situation in Nigeria
See: U.S.
Eyes Africa's Oil Resources
See:
The
Ogoni Conflict in Nigeria
Report:
Ogoni
vs Oil Industry in Nigeria
See:The
Shell-Nigeria Web Site
See: Movement
for the Survivial of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)
See: August
2001 Environmental Justice Report on Oil Industry in Nigeria
See: March
16, 2003 Article on Violence over Nigeria's Oil Industry
See: August
2002, Nigerian Women Protest vs. Nigeria's Oil Industry
Review: Chapter
1, pp. 1-10
Read: pp.
52-55 "Nigeria" in Global Studies Africa
Film: "Delta
Force"
Week 15 (Apr 25-28)
Mineral Resources and Conflict in Africa
Film:
"Congo: Heart of Darkness"
Read: "Oil,
Diamonds, and Death" in Global Studies Africa pp. 260-261
Read: "Democratic
Republic of the Congo" in Global Studies Africa pp. 40-44
Read: Lumumda:
Lost African Prince
Read: UN
Sanctions Illicit Diamonds
Read: New
Deal to Stop 'Conflict Diamonds'
Read:
Can
Geology Find "Conflicted Diamonds?"
Read: Tanzanite
and Terrorism
Read: More
on Tanzanite and Terrorism
Read: What
is Tanzanite?
Read: What
is Coltan?
Thursday:Discussion/Preparation
- Group Position Papers Power Point Presentations
Final Exam Day
Position Paper
Power Point Presentations/Debates
Position Papers
Due
Issue Papers Due