WORLD REGIONS - GEOG 2310 - FALL 2013
ONLINE COURSE
INSTRUCTOR INFO:
Dr. Jess C. Porter
Assistant Professor of Geography
Department of History
Office: 604D Stabler Hall
Phone: 501.569.8730
E-mail: jcporter@ualr.edu
Please use Blackboard email when contacting me.
DR. PORTER’S OFFICE HOURS:
10:45 am – 1:00 pm Tuesday and Thursday, but you are always welcome to stop-in.
REQUIRED TEXT:
Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World, 3rd ed. 2011. ISBN: 0-32-165152-9
ONLINE COURSE RESOURCE:
Blackboard: bb.ualr.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to help you understand how relationships between the environment, people, and places play out
in the different regions of the world. We will pay particular attention to the ways that globalization is continually
reshaping these relationships. The tension between the consequences of converging environmental, cultural, political,
and economic systems associated with the forces of globalization versus the persistence of geographic diversity and
difference is an additional focus. Our course objectives include the following:
 Develop a nuanced understanding of the world’s diversity of people, places, and contemporary events
 Understand how humans impact the environment and how the environment impacts humans
 Learn to identify the increasing interrelatedness of people, places, and events (gain a BIG PICTURE mentality)
 Learn the locations of key human and physical features around the globe
 Hone your ability to see the many sides of any story
 Become a more critical thinker
GRADING
Course grades will be based on the following:
Exam 1 – 100 points
Exam 2 – 100 points
Exam 3 – 100 points
Google Earth Explorations (14 @ 40 points) – 560
Current Events Discussions (7 @ 20) – 140
TOTAL POINTS - 1000
Grades will be assigned based on the following percentages: A > 89.6, B >79.6, C > 69.6, D > 59.6, F < 59.6
EXAM PROCEDURES AND FORMAT
All exams are weighted equally and are non-comprehensive. Exam questions will be a combination of multiple-choice,
true-false, visual recognition, short-answer, and essay formats and will be based on the lectures, online discussions,
readings (textbook and web-posted articles), videos, and Google Earth activities. All exams must be taken during the
scheduled 72 hour window. You will have two hours to complete each exam.
EXAM DATES
Exam 1 – September 15, 8PM – September 18, 8PM
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Exam 2 – October 20, 8PM – October 23, 8PM
Exam 3 – December 1, 8PM – December 4, 8PM
GOOGLE EARTH EXPLORATIONS
You will have fifteen Google Earth explorations to complete over the course of the semester. These explorations will
require the use of Google Earth (a free application available from Google). Therefore you will need to be certain that you
have access to a computer that has this installed or that you have administrative privileges so you can install it yourself.
These explorations will utilize this tool to explore varied regions of the world and will involve multiple choice responses
and short essays. Most of the explorations will consist of 10 multiple choice questions and two short essay questions.
The explorations will be available via Blackboard. Each exercise is worth 40 points. If you miss the assignment due
date/time (as posted on Blackboard), there will be a 10 point deduction in your grade for that assignment. The same
deduction applies for assignments that are submitted one minute late and those that are submitted two weeks late. I
will accept late assignments until December 6, 8PM. FYI: All assignments will be due by 8PM on the deadline date.
CURRENT EVENTS DISCUSSIONS
Students will be required to post original responses and comments to seven current events topics. Discussion exercises
will be ongoing during the course. Respond to the topics in a thoughtful, creative, well-organized manner. Respond to
each question in an original post. Your answers should be a minimum of one fully developed paragraph. One or two
sentence paragraphs are not going to get you many (if any) points. Incorporate text material and lecture notes in your
posts when appropriate – but ALWAYS use your own words. Posts must use proper grammar and correct spelling, be
well-constructed, and respectful of others’ opinions to garner maximum credit. Consider providing outside resources
such as links to relevant articles or maps in your comments. Your personal experiences are also a welcome part of the
discussion. To be eligible for full credit for the discussions you must post a minimum of one original post (10 points) and
a minimum of two responses to your peers (10 points) in a timely fashion (please read the discussion rubric for criteria
regarding the timeliness of posts). All discussions close at 8PM on the closing date. Please note that you cannot receive
points for the discussion exercise after the closing date. There are no make-up opportunities for missed discussions.
SCHEDULE
Week of August 19 – Globalization and Diversity
 Assignments: Read Chapter 1; Google Earth (GE) Introduction to Google Earth – Due 8/23
Week of August 26 – The Changing Global Environment
 Assignments: Read Chapter 2; Discussion 1 closes 8/27; GE Geography Concepts – Due 8/30
Week of September 2 – North America
 Assignments: Read Chapter 3; GE North America Culture / Economy and Development – Due 9/6
Week of September 9 – Latin America
 Assignments: Read Chapter 4; Discussion 2 closes 9/10; GE Latin America Environment / Population – Due 9/13
Week of September 16 – Exam 1 (Chapters 1-4); Caribbean
 Exam 1: September 15, 8PM – September 18, 8PM
 Assignments: Read Chapter 5; GE Caribbean Environment / Geopolitics – Due 9/20
Week of September 23 – Sub-Saharan Africa
 Assignments: Read Chapter 6; GE Sub-Saharan Africa; Discussion 3 closes 9/24; GE Sub-Saharan Africa
Population / Culture – Due 9/27
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Week of September 30 – Southwest Asia and North Africa
 Assignments: Read Chapter 7; GE Southwest Asia and North Africa Culture / Geopolitics – Due 10/4
Week of October 7 – Europe
 Assignments: Read Chapter 8; Discussion 4 closes 10/8; GE Europe Environment / Population – Due 10/11
Week of October 14 – The Russian Domain
 Assignments: Read Chapter 9; GE The Russian Domain Population / Geopolitics – Due 10/18
Week of October 21 – Exam 2 (Chapters 5-9) / Central Asia
 Exam 2: October 20, 8PM – October 23, 8PM
 Assignments: Read Chapter 10; Discussion 5 closes 10/22; GE Central Asia Environment / Geopolitics – Due
10/25
Week of October 28 – East Asia
 Assignments: Read Chapter 11; GE East Asia Culture / Geopolitics – Due 11/1
Week of November 4 – South Asia
 Assignments: Read Chapter 12; Discussion 6 closes 11/5; GE South Asia Environment / Population – Due 11/8
Week of November 11 – Southeast Asia
 Assignments: Read Chapter 13; GE Southeast Asia Environment / Economy and Development – Due 11/15
Week of November 18 – Australia and Oceania
 Assignments: Read Chapter 14; WR Discussion 7 closes 11/19; GE Australia and Oceania – Due 11/22
Week of November 25 – Thanksgiving Break
Week of December 2 – Exam 3 (Chapters 10-14)
 Exam 3: December 1, 8PM – December 4, 8PM
 All late Google Earth Assignments – Due 12/6
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1.
The grade cut-offs listed earlier are firm; for example, a percentage of 89.4 will be a B. No individual extra credit
or "redo" work is possible for this class. Don't ask. There is no possibility of a grade being changed except for a
genuine computational error on my part.
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No course scores or grade information will be divulged over the phone or e-mail. Blackboard will be used to
report course scores and will be the only place exam scores can be obtained besides my office.
3.
Incomplete grades (I) will be given only in the case of extended, verifiable illness that occurs after the automatic
W period; you should withdraw if it occurs before then. Even if you have notified me during the semester of
your situation, you must also contact me at the end of the semester to confirm your cause of absence and to
discuss arrangements for finishing the incomplete work.
4.
Office hours will not be observed on university or student holidays; see schedule below.
5.
Your success in this class is important to me, and it is the policy and practice of the University of Arkansas at
Little Rock to create inclusive learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have a
documented disability (or need to have a disability documented), and need an accommodation, please contact
me privately as soon as possible, so that we can discuss with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) how to meet
your specific needs and the requirements of the course. The DRC offers resources and coordinates reasonable
accommodations for students with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are established through an
interactive process among you, your instructor(s) and the DRC. Thus, if you have a disability, please contact me
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and/or the DRC, at 501-569-3143 (V/TTY) or 501-683-7629 (VP). For more information, please visit the DRC
website at www.ualr.edu/disability.
Don’t wait until the last week of class to start worrying about your grade if your scores are not as high as you
hoped. Contact the instructor for questions/concerns.
Course Expectations
 All students are required to perform their own work. Students caught cheating on exams or assignments, or
representing their work as someone else’s or vice versa, will be charged as appropriate under the university’s
Academic Integrity Policies.
 All students are expected to maintain a working e-mail address on file with the university and to log into
Blackboard regularly for ancillary information, updates, and submission of writing assignments. On occasion, I
may need to send out a broad informational e-mail to all students through Blackboard. If your e-mail is out-ofdate or absent, you will miss the info but you are nevertheless responsible for it.
 Above all, the instructor expects a civilized, respectful, professional, and open-minded attitude to prevail in the
online classroom. Students are expected to conduct themselves accordingly, and the instructor strives to set a
good example and to manage classroom discussions so they remain appropriate to the setting.
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