HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF
NORTH AMERICA
Instructor
Dr. Guy
King
, Professor
of Geography
E-mail: Use the class
WebCT email
Phone: 530-898-4858
Office location: Butte Hall,
Room 517,
Course
Description
Welcome to
GEOG/AMST 435. This class examines the human occupation of North
America from pre-Columbian contact to the present day. Topics include the natural environment
in human context, exploration and mapping, cultural groups, population
change/migration, agriculture and industrial development, and rural/urban
settlement patterns.
Course
Format
GEOG/AMST 435
is entirely web-based. There are no meetings in a classroom.
Students learn about the historical geography of North America through textbook
and website readings, and completion of a student research paper. Student
learning assessment is accomplished through graded evaluation of quizzes, the
student paper, and a final exam.
Students are
responsible for their own work. This web-based class requires a lot of
self-discipline, good writing skills, and a desire to learn. Students in
online courses need to allocate adequate time to complete the required
assignments. Six or more hours a week working on class assignments is
typical for students in this class. Students are required to complete
all class assignments on time.
Effective
communication is essential in an online class. Students are required to
read class WebCT announcements, discussion-board postings and emails. In addition, students are encouraged to
post discussion board questions, and to talk to the instructor via the class
WebCT email.
Course
Goals and Objectives
1. Examine
how the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influenced the division
and control of the North American continent.
2. Study the
characteristics, distribution, and complexity of North American cultural mosaics
through time.
3. Understand the
use and importance of natural resources in the cultural/economic development of
North America.
4. Understand how
the different geographical regions of North America developed through
time.
4. Use geographical
representations, such as maps and satellite images, to examine the human and
natural environments of North America.
Course
Contents
- Introduction to
class
- Exploration and
discovery of North America
- The Spanish and French in North America
-
Anglo-America origins and early development
- The new United States and early
westward expansion
- Northeast United States and Canada late 1700s to mid
1800s
- Settling the American
Great Plains
- The development of the
American West
- Population and economic growth of the United States late
1800s to early 1900s
- The industrial development of American
cities
- The idea of
Canada
- America in the 1930s and 20th century rural America
-
20th century American and Canadian cities
- Conclusion of
historical geography of North America
Class
Requirements and Student Responsibilities
Students
enrolled in GEOG/AMST 435 are required to learn and use WebCT (see the
“Getting Started” exercise). All quizzes, exams, exercises, and the
student paper requirements are accessed and completed through the use of
WebCT software.
Students
enrolled in GEOG/AMST 435 are required to have an adequate computer and software
that can access the Internet and allow completion of the class
assignments. See the Chico Distance and Online Education web site for
specific technical requirements.
For help with computer problems, see Student Computing: How
to get help.
GEOG/AMST 435
students are advised to start and complete their required class work
early. All material in this class is accessed via the Internet.
Occasional technical problems with Internet access will occur (especially on
weekends and evenings). Computer problems are normal. Make sure you have alternate access to
the Internet (a second computer, public library, etc.) Students are responsible for turning
in all course assignments on time.
Students in
this online course are responsible to respect the opinions of others. Opinions on ethnic matters are commonly
deeply felt. Ridicule and
provocation have no place in university education. Student online behavior in classroom
discussion board postings and email communications is governed by the
Academic
Honesty
Students are
required to do their own work. Using work done by other students is
cheating. If you include material in your class paper that is from a
source not cited, that is plagiarism. Both cheating and plagiarism are
violations of
Class
Assignments
Textbook
Exercises: Each week
students will complete an exercise involving California ethnic history website
material and questions from the assigned textbook reading. These exercises are not submitted for
grading. Student learning of
material in the exercises is assessed through weekly quizzes. Exercise One is
posted on January 30.
Quizzes: Each week
GEOG/AMST 435 students complete a quiz containing questions taken from the
current exercise. Each quiz consists of twenty-five questions worth
one-point each. Students have
twenty minutes to complete each quiz.
Quiz question answers submitted after the twenty-minute time limit are
not accepted. These quizzes are due
each Wednesday by
Student
Paper Assignment: All GEOG/AMST 435
students are required to complete a writing assignment during the semester. This research paper is worth 50
points. The paper covers a specific topic on the historical geography of
North America. The research paper
requirements are posted on Monday, February 9, and are due on Friday, April 17
by 5 PM. Student papers are submitted for grading via WebCT.
Papers turned in by other means (email
attachment, snail mail, fax) will not be graded.
Final
Exam: This exam is an
evaluation of student learning of material presented in this class. The final exam contains one-hundred
questions taken from all thirteen exercises. The Final Exam is posted on
Friday, May 15 and is due Wednesday, May 20 by 5 PM.
Class
Assignment Make-up Policy: GEOG/AMST 435 students
are required to complete all assignments by their due dates. Quizzes, the
final exam, and research paper normally cannot be submitted after
Grading
Thirteen
quizzes
325 Points
Student Paper
50 Points
Final
exam
100 Points
Total
450 Points (see note below)
Note: 25 points are not counted in the class
grade computation.
Grading
Rule
A 93-100%
A- 90-92.99%
B+ 87-89.99%
B 83-86.99%
B- 80-82.99%
C+
77-79.99%,
C 73-76.99%
C- 70-72.99%
D+ 65-69.99%
D 60-64.99%
F <60%
Required
Textbook
North
America: The historical geography of a changing continent. Edited
by Thomas F McIlwraith and Edward K. Muller. Rowan
and Littlefield Publishers. 2001,
Second edition. ISBN:
9780742500198 (Paperback). Do not use an earlier
edition. All course material is keyed to the
Second edition.
The textbook
can be ordered from the CSU Chico AS Bookstore or other online
sources. Students have the responsibility of
obtaining the required textbook before the first quiz is due (February
11). Note: Make sure the
textbook vendor that you choose (this includes the AS Bookstore) has the book in
stock and use priority shipping.
CLASS
SCHEDULE
NOTE: All weekly
Exercises are posted by
Week One (Jan
26-30) Introduction to
historical geography of North America.
Obtain the
required class textbook.
Complete the
Getting Started assignment (posted on the class
homepage).
Exercise One posted on Friday, January 30.
Week Two (Feb
2-6) Exploration and
discovery of North America.
Reading Assignment:
McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 1 & 2.
Complete Exercise One.
Student
Paper
guidelines are posted on Monday, Feb 9 (Due Friday, April 17 by 5
PM).
Quiz One due by
Feb 11.
Week
Three (Feb 9-13) The Spanish and French in North America.
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 3 &
4.
Complete Exercise Two.
Quiz Two due by
Feb 18.
Week Four (Feb
16-20) Anglo-America origins
and early development.
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 5 &
6.
Complete Exercise
Three.
Quiz Three due
by Feb 25.
Week Five
(Feb 23-27) The new United States and early expansion.
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 7 &
8.
Complete Exercise Four.
Quiz Four due
by Mar 4.
Week Six (Mar
2-6) Northeast United States
and Canada late 1700s to mid 1800s.
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 9 &
10.
Complete Exercise
Five.
Quiz Five due
by Mar 11.
Week Seven (Mar
9-13) Settling the American
Great Plains.
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 11.
Complete Exercise
Six.
Quiz Six due by
Mar 25.
Campus
Spring Break (Mar 16-20)
NO CLASS this
week
Week
Eight (Mar 23-27). The
development of the American West.
Reading Assignment:
McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 12.
Complete Exercise
Seven.
Quiz Seven due
by Apr 1.
Week Nine (Mar 30-Apr
3)
Population and economic growth of the United States late 1800s to early
1900s.
Tuesday, Mar 31
is Cesar Chavez Day (NO
CLASS).
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 13 &
14.
Complete Exercise
Eight.
Quiz Eight due
by Apr 8.
Week Ten
(Apr 6-10) The industrial development of American cities.
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 15.
Complete Exercise
Nine.
Quiz Nine due
by Apr 15.
Week
Eleven (Apr 13-17) The idea of Canada.
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 16.
Complete Exercise
Ten.
Student
Paper
is due Friday, April 17 by 5 PM.
Quiz Ten due by
Apr 22.
Week Twelve (Apr
20-24) America in the 1930s
and 20th century rural America.
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 17 &
18.
Complete Exercise
Eleven.
Quiz Eleven due
by Apr 29.
Week Thirteen (Apr
27-May 1) 20th century
American and Canadian cities.
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 19 &
20.
Complete Exercise Twelve.
Quiz Twelve due
by May 6.
Week Fourteen (May
4-8) Conclusion of
historical geography of North America.
Reading
Assignment: McIlwraith and Muller Chapter 21 &
22.
Complete Exercise Thirteen.
Quiz Thirteen due by May 13 (NOTE: quiz grades posted on May 14).
Week
Fifteen (May 11-15)
Study for Final
Exam.
Final
Exam
posted on May 15.
Week Sixteen (May
18-22) Finals
Week.
Final
Exam
due by 5 PM on Wednesday, May 20.
Course grade
points posted on May 21 (use grading rule on class syllabus to determine letter
grade).
Semester ends
on Friday, May 22 at 5 PM.
Note: The class website
closes at that time.