URBAN GEOGRAPHY - GEOG 3320 – FALL 2010
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
When contacting me by email, please use the Blackboard email.
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm Tuesday and Thursday
Or by appointment
DR. PORTER’S OFFICE HOURS:
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm Tuesday and Thursday
Or by appointment
REQUIRED TEXT:
Trumann Hartshorne, Interpreting the City: An Urban Geography, 2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York,
1992
ONLINE COURSE RESOURCE:
Blackboard: bb.ualr.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:
This course looks at the North American urban structure and offers a geographic perspective on the nature of
the city. The first part of the course introduces the nature of cities with a look at basic definitions, hierarchies,
urban development patterns, economic bases of cities, and central place theory. The second part of the
course deals with land use dynamics of cities. Patterns of transportation, housing, ethnicity, industrial,
commercial and recreational land uses in North American cities are examined and analyzed.
Course Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able
A. to better understand the physical and cultural features that shape the North American city.
B. to analyze the land use patterns associated with the contemporary North American city.
C. to understand the structural changes that are occurring in North American cities and the reasons
behind the changes.
GRADING
Course grades will be based on the following:
Exams (4 @ 50 points each)
Discussions (4@25)
Readings/Writing assignments (4@25)
Thinking Spatially writing assignment
Google Earth Urban Patterns assignment
TOTAL
200
100
100
50
50
500
Grades will be assigned on the following basis: A=>89.6%, B=>79.6%, C=>69.6%, D=>59.6%, F=<59.6
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COURSE ADMINISTRATION
All assignments will be submitted in the Blackboard environment unless your assignment is too large for the drop box. In
this case you can e-mail it to me.
EXAMS
Exams can consist of true/false, visual recognition, multiple choice, short answer, and short essay questions. Exams are
not cumulative in nature.
EXAM DATES
Exam 1 – September 9-10
Exam 2 – October 7-8
Exam 3 – November 4-5
Exam 4 – December 2-3
DISCUSSIONS
A discussion topic will be posted for some of the modules. You must respond to the topic in a thoughtful, well-organized
manner. Respond to each question in an original post. Your answers should be at least one paragraph long with several
sentences. One sentence paragraphs are not going to get you many points. Incorporate text material and lecture notes
in your original post. Do not cut or paste or plagiarize material from lecture notes, text, or other sources. Answer the
question in your own words.
Part of the discussion requirements are for you to respond to at least two other student’s original posts. I expect my
students to express themselves in a thoughtful, organized manner in class. If you do not post an original discussion or
respond to another student’s post, you will not receive points.
DISCUSSION CLOSING DATES
Discussion 1 – September 13
Discussion 2 – October 11
Discussion 3 – November 8
Discussion 4 – November 29
ASSIGNMENTS
Three assignments will include, a Thinking Spatially writing assignment (2-4 pages, 50 points) that will focus on your
understanding and interpretation of urban landscapes, a Google Earth Urban Patterns activity (50 points), and four
writing assignments based on your readings (10 slides, 50 points). See the attached instructions for specific details
regarding the Thinking Spatially assignment.
ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES
Writing Assignment 1 – September 8
Writing Assignment 2 – October 6
Writing Assignment 3 – November 3
Thinking Spatially – November 17
Google Earth Urban Patterns – November 24
Writing Assignment 4 – December 1
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1.
The grade cut-offs are firm; for example, a percentage score 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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3.
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 and assignment scores can be obtained besides my office.
Incomplete grades (I) will be given only in the case of extended, verifiable illness that occurs after the automatic
W period. 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.
It is the policy of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to create inclusive learning environments. If there are
aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or to accurate
assessment of achievement – such as time-limited exams, inaccessible web content, or the use of non-captioned
videos – please notify the instructor as soon as possible. Students are also welcome to contact the Disability
Resource Center, telephone 501-569-3143 (v/tty). For more information, visit the DRC website at
http://ualr.edu/disability/.
5.
Exam questions will be drawn from everything assigned and discussed in the class as well as your textbook.
6.
Don’t wait until the last week to start worrying about your grade if your scores are not as high as you hoped.
Contact the instructor’s with questions/concerns.
Behavior and Expectations
 All students are required to perform their own work. Students caught cheating on exams, map quizzes, or writing
assignments, or representing their work as someone else’s or vice versa, will be charged as appropriate under the
university’s academic integrity policies. Cheating on quizzes will be assessed a level 1 sanction (0 on the affected
work) whereas plagiarism or other forms of cheating on writing assignments and cheating on exams will result in a
sanction (F for the course) as outlined in Part III. D. in the UALR Student Code of Conduct. Refer to the appropriate
university
web
pages
and
policies
for
more
information
(http://ualr.edu/deanofstudents/index.php/home/academic-integrity//).

All students are expected to maintain a working e-mail address at the university and to log into Blackboard daily for
ancillary information and updates. On occasion, I may need to send out a broad informational e-mail to all students
through Blackboard. If your e-mail is out-of-date or absent, you will miss the info but you are nevertheless
responsible for it.
THINKING SPATIALLY ASSIGNMENT
Utilizing the attached reading from Kerski (National Council for Geographic Education 2008) as a guide, you will
write a two to four page commentary on the URBAN landscape of the place of your choosing. It can be Little Rock, your
home town, or some other city with which you are familiar. You will identify ten features in this assignment. Number
your observations like Kerski and be sure you include the spatial component in your assessment. I encourage you to
utilize terminology and concepts that we have learned about over the course of the class. Keep in mind, Kerski’s
example uses both human and physical examples, you can do the same, but they MUST have the city in mind. This
assignment will be an absolute minimum of two full, double spaced pages. You must turn in your assignment in the
drop-box of Blackboard as an attached Word document.
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