Upper-division Writing Requirement Review Form (12/1/08)
I. General Education Review – Upper-division Writing Requirement
Dept/Program
Subject
Geography Course # (i.e. ANTH
455) or sequence
GEOG 433
Course(s) Title Cultural Ecology
Description of the requirement if it is not a single course
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office.
Instructor
Phone / Email
Please type / print name Signature Date
Jeffrey Gritzner 4-III-2009
243-5626, jeffrey.gritzner@umo ntana.edu
Program Chair Sarah Halvorson
III Overview of the Course Purpose/ Description
Examines issues related to culture and the natural environment. Topics include cultural origins and diversity, geography of religion, geolinguistics, plant and animal domestication, livelihood systems, folk and popular culture, ethnic geography, political patterns, demography, industries, urban genesis, and the transformation of environmental systems.
IV Learning Outcomes:
Explain how each of the following learning outcomes will be achieved.
Student learning outcomes :
Identify and pursue more sophisticated questions for academic inquiry
The student enquiry will be broadened through extensive readings and discussion.
Find, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information effectively from diverse sources
(see http://www.lib.umt.edu/informationliteracy/ )
Use multiple drafts, revision, and editing in conducting inquiry and preparing written work
As noted in the course syllabus, students are guided through a research and writing sequence. The research exercises range well beyond the resources available on campus.
Manage multiple perspectives as appropriate The course deals with issues of cultural
Recognize the purposes and needs of discipline-specific audiences and adopt the academic voice necessary for the chosen discipline relativism and the differing perspectives of various “stakeholders.” Multiple perspectives are basic to the course.
As a synthetic discipline, geography possesses multiple voices unified through its academic traditions, emphasis upon spatial relationships, and ability to integrate a broad range of disparate variables.
Students pass through a sequence involving research training, assistance from The
Writing Center staff, critical essays, and a more substantial final paper that is submitted, edited, discussed, revised, and resubmitted.

Follow the conventions of citation, documentation, and formal presentation appropriate to that discipline
With regard to written work, students are expected to follow the conventions of Kate L.
Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research th
Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7 ed.
(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
2007). Required readings in geography’s professional literature provide insight into conventions peculiar to the discipline.
Develop competence in information technology and digital literacy
Upper-division geography students are competent in information technology and digital literacy. However, these areas of competency play no important role in the
V. Writing Course Requirements Check list course.
Is enrollment capped at 25 students?
If not, list maximum course enrollment.
Explain how outcomes will be adequately met x Yes for this number of students. Justify the request for variance.
Are outcomes listed in the course syllabus? If not, how will students be informed of course expectations?
Are detailed requirements for all written assignments including criteria for evaluation in the course syllabus? If not how and when will students be informed of written assignments?
Briefly explain how students are provided with tools and strategies for effective writing and editing in the major.
x No Outcomes are not included in the current syllabus. Students are expected to emerge from the course with an appreciation of cultural relativism; the complexities of cultural ecology; an understanding of issues related to humanenvironmental interaction; &c. Students are progressively informed of the implications of the topics discussed. Outcomes will be included in future syllabi.
x No While requirements for written assignments are included in the current syllabus, and training and support is built into the course, criteria for evaluation are not explicitly included in the syllabus. Our approach in writing has been one of mastery learning.
Course expectations with regard to writing are discussed in the first class meeting. This is typically followed during the second class meeting by an eightyminute presentation on writing by a representative of The Writing Center and the instructor. Students are then expected to familiarize themselves with
Kate Turabian’s A Manual for Writers , and to strictly adhere to the notesbibliography style of the manual.
Students are provided with considerable feedback on the initial critical essay, and

provided assistance as needed during the preparation of the term paper.
Documents containing editing symbols are provided. x Yes Will written assignments include an opportunity for revision? If not, then explain how students will receive and use feedback to improve their writing ability.
Are expectations for Information Literacy listed in the course syllabus? If not, how will students be x Yes This is incorporated into the initial research assignment.
informed of course expectations?
VI. Writing Assignments:
Please describe course assignments. Students should be required to individually compose at least 20 pages of writing for assessment. At least 50% of the course grade should be based on students’ performance on writing assignments. Clear expression, quality, and accuracy of content are considered an integral part of the grade on any writing assignment.
Formal Graded Assignments The research assignment, the critical essay, and the term paper are all graded, and collectively constitute fifty per cent of the course grade. The assignments are described in the syllabus, as well as in the classroom. The mid-term and final examinations also constitute fifty per cent of the course grade. Both examinations include essay questions.
Informal Ungraded Assignments
VII. Syllabus:
Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form .
⇓
The syllabus should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html
Paste syllabus here.