GEO 106 Fall 2015 Course Outline Modified FOR Essays PDF

Preview

Summary

Download GEO 106 Fall 2015 Course Outline Modified FOR Essays PDF

Description

1

1RYERSON UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY 2GEO 106, SEC 011 & 021:

GEOGRAPHIES OF EVERYDAY LIFE

FALL 2015

READ EVERYTHING IN THIS COURSE OUTLINE AND THE POWERPOINT SLIDES. I WILL NOT RESPOND TO ANY EMAIL WHERE THE ANSWER IS IN THIS MATERIAL. BE SURE YOUR EMAILS HAVE EXACTLY THE FOLLOWING SUBJECT LINE: GEOGRAPHY 106 STUDENT QUERY Instructors: Office: Phone: E-mail: Website: Office hours:

Dr. Philip Coppack JOR 609 (416) 979-5000 ex.6174 (I don’t respond well to phone calls but…) [email protected] (e-mails - within reason - I will answer.) www.geography.ryerson.ca/coppack/geo106 [NOT A BRIGHTSPACE SITE] By chance or appointment.

This is a Lower Level Liberal studies course. It is not available to students in the Geographic Analysis program. Students admitted in Fall 2010 to programs in Criminal Justice, Politics and Governance, Psychology, Sociology or Undeclared-Arts may not take this course for Lower Level Liberal Studies credit. Students are required to use their Ryerson email address for communication with the instructor. It is the responsibility of students to check their Ryerson email and the course website regularly.

NOTE THIS COURSE DOES NOT USE BRIGHTSPACE EXCEPT FOR EMAIL PURPOSES. THE WEBSITE ADDRESS FOR THIS COURSE IS: www.geography.ryerson.ca/coppack/geo106 The Faculty Course Survey will be conducted online November 13th to the 23rd 2015. CALENDAR DESCRIPTION: This course examines environmental and spatial aspects of human life, primarily at the scale of the individual, the neighbourhood and the community. Specific topics to be considered include spatial structure and dynamics, perception and cognition of environments, sense of place, mental maps, territoriality, community dynamics, and urban structure. Three hours of lectures weekly. COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course explores the ways in which people and space interact to create environments of varying complexity and subtlety. These environments, in turn, comprise the structure of the neighbourhoods, communities and urban areas in which we live. The course is arranged to emphasize the different scales at which a person's life is organized and at which geographical investigation can be carried out. Its basic premise is that what we see around us and how we act

1

2

towards what we see is filtered by perception and cognition and that these in turn vary – sometimes greatly – between people at various stages of the life cycle, ethnicity, gender and other variables. It seeks to give students an understanding of how geographic principles impact their day-to-day lives. SUGGESTED TEXT BOOK: Carlson E. and Coppack P.M. (2010) Geographies of Everyday Life. Toronto: McGraw Hill. This textbook was developed from the course notes for this course. It therefore follows the course very closely. But so do the PowerPoints. If your preferred method of study involves reading then get the text from the second hand bookstore. If you are good with lecture presentation using detailed and numerous PowerPoints, then don’t get the book. And in case you are wondering, I do not make any money from the book. EVALUATION: Alas, the rules say I have to do this. Personally I would prefer not to as no doubt would you. So I have made it as least onerous as I can. If you (1) show up to lectures, (2) go through the PowerPoint, and (3) read all the material provided on writing the essay, then you should do fine. Format Mid Term (multiple choice questions) Essay (approximately 1,200 - 1,500 words) Final Exam (multiple choice and short essay)

Value 30% 40% 30%

Due Date (see schedule below) (see schedule below) (in exam period)

Class Schedules The course has two components. There is a Lecture component that takes place in the two hour slot for your section. And there is a Self-Study component that takes place in the one hour slot for you section or any other one hour slot you find convenient. The details of both are below. Please note that while I do not personally think evaluation schemes are very productive in a liberal study course, I do think that lectures are. Therefore, not showing up to lectures is the quickest way to fail the course. No I do not take attendance; I don’t have to. Usually your performance on mid-term stands as a surrogate.

2

3

COURSE LECTURE SCHEDULE Lectures take place in the two hour lecture slot for your section. Week 1

2

Week of… Sept 7-12 ESSAY TOPICS AVAILABLE BELOW Sept 14-18

3

Sept 21-25

4

Sept 28-Oct 2

5

Oct 5-9

6 7

Oct 12-16 Oct 19-23

8

Oct 26-30

9

Nov 2-6

10

Nov 9-13

11

Nov 16-20 ESSAY DUE IN YOUR SECTION’S LECTURE

Lecture # and Topic 1. Introduction to the Course - course mechanics - course overview: what you can expect 2. Spatial Concepts and Spatial Dynamics - geographic concepts; distance, direction, location, place, scale - space, time, and space-time - proxemics 3. Environment and Perception - defining environments - perception and cognitive filtering - decision making - the ordering of experience 4. Mental Maps and Mental Images - definitions and nature - Lynch's model: nodes, landmarks, districts, paths, edges - development sequence of mental maps - designative and appraisive perceptions 5. Territory and Territoriality - personalization and defence - home - neighbourhood

- examples of territoriality R E A D I N G

W E E K

MID TERM TEST WORTH 30% – NO MAKE-UPS – DO NOT MISS MULTIPLE CHOICE – SCANTRON ANSWER SHEETS – 1.5 HOURS TO BE DONE IN THE TWO HOUR LECTURE TIME LECTURES 1 – 5 INCLUSIVE. 6. Place and Placelessness - sense of place and placelessness - topophilia and topophobia, safety of place - soundscapes and smellscapes - amenity environments, vernacular landscapes, marketing Places 7. Time, Space, and Time-Space - the organisation of time - time-space totality, prisms, paths, convergence and distantiation - constraints - cognitive, capability, coupling, control (authority) 8. Spatial Interaction - definitions and roles - activity space and journey to work - residential search behaviour - distance decay and gravity models in retailing (marketing geography) 10. Urbanization - defining urban - urban growth and urbanization

3

4

GEOGRAPHY 106 – SELF STUDY SCHEDULE FOR FALL 2015 Self–study takes place in the one hour class slots for your section. This schedule outlines what you will be doing on your own or in class during the one hour slots each week this semester. There is nothing to hand in but questions will appear on the midterm and/or the final exam. ARE WEEK YOU IN WEEK OF TOPIC OF THE WEEK AND WHAT YOU ARE TO DO # CLASS? YES 1 Sept 7 TOPIC: Introduction to the Course DO: Introduction lecture 2 Sept 14 TOPIC: Spatial Concepts and Spatial Dynamics NO DO: Self-study Exercise #1 (see list below) NO 3 Sept 21 TOPIC: Environment and Perception DO: Self-study Exercise #2 (see list below) NO 4 Sept 28 TOPIC: Mental Maps and Mental Images DO: Self-study exercise #3 (see list below) 5 Oct 5 TOPIC: Territory and Territoriality NO DO: Self-study exercise #5 (see list below) 6 Oct 12 R E A D I N G W E E K O C T O B E R 12 th to 16th NO 7 Oct 19 STUDY FOR MID TERM TEST WORTH 30%. NO NO MAKE UP EXAMS SO DO NOT MISS. 8 Oct 26 TOPIC: Time, Space, and Time-Space NO DO: Self-study exercise #6 (see list below) NO 9 Nov 2 TOPIC: Place and Placelessness DO: Self-study exercise #4 (see list below) NO 10 Nov 9 TOPIC: Spatial Interaction DO: Watch six short YouTube videos: 1: U.S. Air Traffic flows http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=d9r3H4iHFZk&feature=relmfu 2: U.K. Air Traffic ‘Highways’ http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=sEZcBeE33wc 3. The U.K. National Electricity Grid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTM2Ck6XWHg&feature=related 4. English Channel Shipping: http://www.youtube.com/watch? NR=1&v=z50XoqzOBLQ&feature=endscreen 5: Mapping epidemics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSZwht6xBBo&feature=relmfu 6. Stuxnet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scNkLWV7jSw 11 Nov 16 TOPIC: Urbanization NO DO: Self-study exercise #7 (see list below) NO 12 Nov 23 TOPIC: Form and Structure of the City DO: Watch William Whyte’s movie The Social Life of Small Urban Places on Vimeo:

4

5

13

Nov 30

http://vimeo.com/6821934 DO: Play with Toronto’s Well Being: http://map.toronto.ca/wellbeing/ http://creativeclassstruggle.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/handout.p df

List of Self Study Exercises: Self-Study Exercise #1: Personal Space(s) During the course one week starting today, observe (take notes on) 3 different environments, such as the TTC (subway or bus) during and outside rush hour, a night club/pub night on a weekend, bank or grocery store line-ups on a busy weekend. Make note of what you see with respect to the personal space of people and their attributes: females versus males, different ethnicities, income levels, ages, familiarity levels (friends, acquaintances, etc). Self-Study Exercise #2: Perception Spend the hour with a classmate or friend (preferably of the opposite sex) sitting together for 15 minutes each at two venues (e.g. a local coffee shop, the Eaton’s Centre lobby, the quad, Lake Devo, etc). Don’t speak to each other or compare notes (yet) but just observe what’s going on. Use all your senses and note small or large events that are happening (e.g. people talking, cars/bikes/skateboards going by) and write down what you think is going on (most people on their way to class or home or lunch, argument, girlfriend/boyfriend lovey-dovey chat, prof chatting with student, etc). How is the built environment helping or hindering or perhaps causing the event? When you’re done the 15 minutes, spend the next 10 minutes comparing notes about what went on. Did you notice the same events? If not why not do you think? If you did, did you describe them the same? Self-Study Exercise #3: Mental Map of Campus Find an hour and take 10 minutes of it to draw a map from memory of the campus, however you define it. Spend the rest of the time walking around your version of the campus filling in the ‘gaps in the maps’ with as much information as you can about what you missed. At the end assess how much you did miss, and what elements would be very difficult to map at all (e.g. fleeting activities, noise, smells). Did you think to include anything but buildings, paths, etc? Self-Study Exercise #4: Sense of Place: Visit four coffee shops, two a chain (e.g. Starbuck’s, Tim Horton’s) and two independents (e.g. Jimmy’s, Fresh Start, Bulldog). Compare and contrast what you see as sense of place characteristics (or lack thereof). Which is most comfortable to be in? Why? Self-Study Exercise #5: Territory and Territoriality: Spend the hour walking around the various spaces on campus - the library, other study spaces, the RAC, cafeterias, student lounges, etc. Take note of all the ways in which your fellow students mark their territory: to study, to relax, to have lunch. Are they territorial when relaxing with friends? Eating? Studying? How territorial are they (e.g. do they move their stuff (concede their territorial claim) more willingly when relaxing than when studying)? Self-Study Exercise #6: Time, Space and Time-space:

5

NO

6

Sit down in the evening and think about your day. Record every major event do di and the approximate time and duration of it (e.g. getting up, showering, leaving for school, classes, eating, going home, relaxing (maybe), going to bed. Make up a time-space chart of your movements and locations. How much time did you spend in one place? How much traveling? Self-Study Exercise #7: Bid Rent Theory: Spend the hour ‘flying’ around Toronto on Google Earth. ‘Land’ on a few streets and take a look. Be sure to check the 3D building box on the side bar menu of databases. Then ‘tilt’ the landscape using the navigation ‘wheel’ at the top of the right hand side of the image. You can use the little person to see street views as well. What observations can you make about the economic landscape from the type of land uses you see? What patterns of land use and roads to you see? Is there any type of hierarchy of land use at play? INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of this course, you should be able to: (1) define and give an example of each of the following concepts: distance, direction, scale, location, proxemics, environment; spatial perception, relative frames of reference, spatial behaviour; mental maps, imageability; place, behavioural setting, placelessness; territoriality, personalization, defence, at-homeness; residential filtering: downward, upward; time-space paths and prisms, activity system, daily life space, arrow of time; spatial interaction, transferability, complementary, intervening opportunity, gravity model; neighbourhood unit, geoprofiling; bid rent, urban land rent model; urban ecology; quality of life; (2) compare any of the following sets of concepts giving examples: personal environment, contextual environment, phenomenal environment; node, landmark, path, edge, district; designative and appraisive images; topophilia, topophobia; attributes of place: real, perceived and contrived; landscapes of security and stress, stimulus and ennui, status and stigma; microterritory, mesoterritory and macroterritory; time-space constraints (cognitive, capability, coupling, control); marketing geography models: Thiessen polygon, Breakpoint, Huff; adaptive and integrative environments; sociopetality, sociofugality; natural surveillance, natural access control, territorial reinforcement; urban growth, urbanization; urban core, daily urban space, urban shadow, urban field; eras of urban morphology: pedestrian, streetcar, automobile;

6

7

urban land use models: concentric ring, sector and multiple nuclei; centrifugal forces, centripetal forces; social economic status, family status, ethnic status; QOL: traditional vs creative class approaches; (3) experience geographic exploration of your own life and the lives of others; (4) discuss those experiences (i.e. #3) in terms of the course concepts by thinking about how you and others act in space and by giving examples of your own spatial behaviours;

COURSE POLICIES Classroom Expectations: In consideration for all others in the room, everyone is asked to turn off cell phones and other personal electronic devices during class time. Computer laptops can be used for note-taking only, but these too will be prohibited if their use is disruptive. It is expected that everyone adheres to Ryerson's Non-Academic Code of Conduct (http://www.ryerson.ca/senate/policies/pol61.pdf) in order to create a respectful classroom environment. Course Materials and the Use of the Course Website: Weekly lecture outlines, specific textbook readings and additional sources are posted on the course website at the start of the semester to help you prepare for this course. Complete PowerPoint slides of the lecture material will be posted. You are bound by Canadian copyright laws, and use of the shows is restricted to yourself for the duration this course. Please respect the copyright laws. Students are encouraged to check the course website regularly for announcements. Email Correspondence: As per Ryerson's policy, students must use their Ryerson email for any correspondence. All efforts will be made to reply promptly, normally within 24 hours Monday to Friday. If more than a simple response is required, students are encouraged to make an appointment via email. NO EMAILS RESPONSE WILL BE ISSUED IF THE QUESTION IS ALREADY ANSWERED IN THE POSTED COURSE MATERIALS.

7

8

ESSAY ASSIGNMENT: GEOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATION OF AN ASPECT OF EVERYDAY LIFE DUE DATE: IN YOUR SECTION’S LECTURE DURING THE WEEK INDICATED ON THE COURSE OUTLINE. Objective Geographic principles are incorporated into our everyday lives. This assignment gives you the opportunity to choose one area of the course and explore it in more detail, based on your own experiences and/or the experiences of others. Topics There are three possible essay topics listed below. Each topic follows the same format for the submission, and involves academic research, but the type of work in each varies. Choose a topic from the list that interests you and read the PowerPoint shows pertaining to them. 1. Mental Maps of Downtown Toronto drawn by students in GEO106. In this topic, you will examine 20 mental maps of downtown Toronto drawn by past students in GEO 106, and evaluate them based on Lynch's criteria. You will also investigate the personal data supplied by your classmates (anonymously) with each map to assess their impact on the public image which you determined. (See Chapter 3 and/or Mental Maps PowerPoint). The maps can be found in sets of 20 on the website. Choose ONE of the sets and use it. Be sure to indicate clearly on your essay cover which set you used. If you do not include the set number the essay cannot be graded. The pages in the set show the mental map and the information about the student who drew it. Analyze the maps and create a public image similar Figure 3.4 in the textbook or the PowerPoint slide. Note that if a feature is not labeled on a map, it should not be included in your analysis. Tally up the nodes, landmarks, districts, paths, and edges map by map and determine percentages. Analyze whether the maps are node-orientation or pathorientation (give percentages). Analyze the mental maps with the accompanying information provided on place and length of residence, frequency of visiting the downtown, mode of transportation and gender to see if there is any relationship to the mental map and the personal information of the map maker. Make sure to include the tally of the nodes, landmarks, districts, paths and edges as table in your submission. 2. Neighbourhoods of Toronto In this topic, you will be comparing two different neighbourhoods of Toronto, using the neighbourhood profiles developed by the City of Toronto, the Toronto Real Estate Board and your own observations. You should choose one of the neighborhood typologies from the textbook or the Neighborhoods and/or the Territory PowerPoint, and fit your neighborhood into it using the typology’s criteria. Once you have done that, compare the differences and similarities of the two neighbourhoods based on their type. Provide maps, tables of any data, or anything else you feel is pertinent. 3. Time-Space Analysis For yourself and another person who difers from you in terms of lifecycle, life-level and lifestyle (for example, a parent) keep a daily diary for one week, of where you are and what you are doing for one hour increments throughout the day (you may find it useful to create a table of hours by day of week for this – see the attached example). From this you will draw two

8

9

graphs (one for each of you) containing the seven life paths (one for each day), and compare the both of you. Compare your temporal and spatial patterns and assess your activities with respect to the differences between you and the second person in terms of the types of activities, which are discretionary and obligatory, your the time-space prisms, and the constraints on both of you, following the Chapter and/or PowerPoint on time-space. Associated with this topic, you will find example information below on the hourly activities of a person (PERSON A) for one week, the profile of that person, and a space-time graph with one of the days filled in. (see pp. 150 - 162). Make sure to include the charts and diaries for yourself and PERSON A in your submission. These can be included as an Appendix. Submission:  Deadline: The paper is due in hard copy in your section’s lecture time.  Format: This assignment should be in format of a research paper (see below), double spaced and word processed in good English prose. It will be graded on the quality of the writing as well as the quality ...