THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Course Outline
Department/Program: Geography
Term, Year: Winter I 2011
Course Title: Geography 121: Geography, Modernity and Globalization (1)
Course Schedule: Section 101, Monday, Wednesday, Friday @ 1:00 pm
Location(s): Geography Building, Lecture Hall 100
Instructor: Jim Glassman
Teaching Assistants: Terry Fu, Alan Grove, Thomas Howard,
Samuel Johns, Sarah Przedpelska, Duncan Ranslem, Sam Walker
(finals marking only)
Office location: Geography 140B
Office location: Geography 124
Office phone: (604) 822-1892
Office phone: available from TAs
E-mail address: glassman@geog.ubc.ca
E-mail address: terryandjay@gmail.com, groveaj1@gmail.com,
thomasjeffreyhoward@gmail.com, samuelgjohns@gmail.com,
sarah.mathisen@gmail.com, duncanranslem@uchicago.edu
Office hours: M, F 2:00-4:00
Office hours: available from TAs
Blog: blogs.ubc.ca/glassman
Course web page: www.geog.ubc.ca/courses/geog121
Course Description (from calendar):
Human geography of the modern world, c. 1750 - 1945, including: pre-industrial societies, global encounters and
conflicts, urbanization and regional growth; global migrations, trade and communications; imperialism and antiimperialism; environment and war.
Prerequisites and/or Course Restrictions (from calendar): None
Format of the course: Three weekly lectures and one weekly tutorial
Required Reading:
Geography 121 custom reading package (available from the bookstore).
Course Assignments, Due dates and Grading:
Participation in weekly discussion class
Mid-term examination (October 12)
Essay (due November 9)
December examination (in exam period)
10%
25%
30%
35%
Course Policies: The calendar states:
Regular attendance is expected of students in all their classes (including lectures, laboratories, tutorials, seminars,
etc.). Students who neglect their academic work and assignments may be excluded from the final examinations.
Students who are unavoidably absent because of illness or disability should report to their instructors on return to
classes.
Withdrawl/Drop Dates: If you wish to withdraw from this course without any record of the course on your
transcript, you must do so before 20 September 2011. If you wish to withdraw from this course with only a
withdrawal standing (“W”) on your transcript, you must do so before 14 October 2011.
Accommodations: The University accommodates students with disabilities who have registered with the Disability
Resource Centre. The University accommodates students whose religious obligations conflict with attendance,
submitting assignments, or completing scheduled tests and examinations. Please let your instructor know in
advance, preferably in the first week of class, if you will require any accommodation on these grounds. Students
who plan to be absent for varsity athletics, family obligations, or other similar commitments, cannot assume they
will be accommodated, and should discuss their commitments with the instructor before the drop date.
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Course Outline
Late assignments: In fairness to others, late papers will be penalized (2% for each day late, including weekends).
Late papers may not be submitted by email. Extensions will be granted only on medical or compassionate grounds.
Please contact the instructor.
Academic Dishonesty: Please review the UBC Calendar “Academic regulations” for the university policy on
cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty. Also visit www.arts.ubc.ca and go to the students’
section for useful information on avoiding plagiarism and on correct documentation.
Students should retain a copy of all submitted assignments (in case of loss) and should also retain all their marked
assignments in case they wish to apply for a Review of Assigned Standing. Students have the right to view their
marked examinations with their instructor, providing they apply to do so within a month of receiving their final
grades. This review is for pedagogic purposes. The examination remains the property of the university.
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Course Schedule:
Sept. 7
Sept. 9
Introduction to the course
Geography, Modernity and Globalization
Early Transformations of Space and Power: Connections and Encounters
Sept. 12
Columbian Encounter and Exchange
Sept. 14
Slavery and the Atlantic World
Sept. 16
Slavery, Demographic Change, and the Production of Race
Sept. 19
Spatial Expansion of Commercial Capital
Growth, Intensification and Communications
Sept. 21
Enclosure: Commodifying Land and Labour
Sept. 23
Energy Regimes, Resources and Industrialization
Sept. 26
Steam Power, Commodity Circulation, and Expanding Communications Linkages
Sept. 28
British-French Competition for Global Pre-eminence
Sept. 30
From Mercantile to Industrial Colonialism in Southeast Asia
Oct. 3
Demographic Change and Urban Growth
Imperialism and Resistance
Oct. 5
British Colonialism in India and the Development of Liberalism
Oct. 7
Preparation for Midterm Examination
Oct. 10
Thanksgiving, University Closed
Oct. 12
Midterm (covering material up to and including Oct. 7)
Oct. 14
Incorporation of the Ottoman and Russian Empires
Oct. 17
Mottled Industrial Colonialism in Southeast Asia
Oct. 19
Semi-colonialism and Resistance in China
Oct. 21
Japan’s Restructuring and Imperial Emergence
Oct. 24
The Scramble for Africa
Oct. 26
Independence and US Imperialism in Latin America and the Caribbean
Oct. 28
Revolution in Mexico
Reconfiguring Modernity
Oct. 31
Monopoly and the Development of Corporations
Nov. 2
Development of European and North American Labour Movements
Nov. 4
The Union of Capital and Science
Nov. 7
Modernity and its Contradictions: World War One
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Nov. 9
due**
Nov. 11
Nov. 14
Nov. 16
Nov. 18
The Collapse of the Ottoman Empire and its Aftermath ** Essays
Course Outline
Remembrance Day observed, University Closed
European Radicalism Before and After World War I
Socialism in One and a Half Countries: Russia and China, 1917-37
The 1930s I: The Great Depression
Geographies of Global War
Nov. 21
The 1930s II: A World of Competing Ideologies
Nov. 23
Global War: World War II
Nov. 25
War, Resources and Peripheries
Nov. 28
War and Nationalism in Asia I: Israel and Palestine
Nov. 30
War and Nationalism in Asia II: South/east Asia
Dec. 2
Review and Revision
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Schedule of Tutorial Discussions:
Students should come to tutorial prepared to discuss these articles in depth. Take notes as you read, write
down passages that you find particularly helpful or insightful and summarize the author’s argument or
arguments in your own words.
1) No discussion sessions this week
No Required reading.
2) (Sept 12-16):
Required reading: Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper, ‘Oceanic Economies and Colonial Societies: Europe
Asia and the Americas,’ in Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference (Princeton and
Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2010) pp. 149-184.
3) (Sept 19-23):
Required reading: E. Hobsbawm, ‘The Industrial Revolution,’ in The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848 (London:
Abacus, 2005 [1962]) pp 42-72.
4) (Sept 26-30):
Required reading: Eric Wolf, “The Movement of Commodities,” in Europe and the people without history
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982): pp 310-353.
5) (Oct 3-7):
Required reading: L. Stavrianos, “India Enters the Third World,” in Global Rift: The Third World Comes of Age
(New York: William Morrow, 1981), pp 230-252.
6) (Oct 12-14):
No tutorial this week. Good luck studying for the mid-term! Please see your TA in office hours if you have
questions.
7) (Oct 17-21):
Required reading: J. Spence, “The End of the Dynasty,” in The Search for Modern China (New York and
London: Norton, 1990), pp 245-268.
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Course Outline
8) (Oct 24-28):
Required reading: J. Tutino, “Elite Conflicts, State Breakdown, and Agrarian
Revolution, 1910-1940,” in From Insurrection to Revolution in Mexico: Social Bases of Agrarian Violence,
1750-1940 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986), pp 326-349.
9) (Oct 31-Nov 4):
Required reading: Alvin Finkel and Margaret Conrad, “Community Responses to the Age of Industry, 18671921,” in History of the Canadian People, 1867 to the Present (Toronto: Addison, Wesley, Longman, 2002), pp
131-155.
10) (Nov 7-9):
Required reading: Albert Hourani, “The Climax of European Power (1914-1939),” in A History of the Arab
Peoples (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991), pp 315-332.
11) (Nov 14-18):
Required reading: Ilan Pappe, ‘The Mandatory State: Colonialism, Nationalization, and Cohabitation,’ in A
History of Modern Palestine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) pp 72-121.
12) (Nov 21-25):
Required reading: P. Hearden, “The Nightmare of a Closed World,” in Roosevelt Confronts Hitler (Dekalb:
Northern Illinois University Press, 1987), pp 155-188.
13) (Nov 28-Dec 2): No readings. Tutorial sessions will be used to review for final exam.
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Essay and Exams:
Essay:
Learning how to research and write a cogent essay is an important part of your university education.
Researching an essay involves more than google searches on the internet. It should involve visits to the
library, reading research books and articles on relevant topics and careful note-taking. Do not simply
regurgitate what an author says. Think about an author’s arguments and evidence critically. Try to develop
your own position. Support your claims with evidence and provide citations to inform readers of your sources
and to explain when you are drawing on another’s interpretation. Both the author date system and footnotes
are acceptable. Please be consistent. Your essay should contain a bibliography listing works that you cite or
which proved helpful in your research. If your essay contains maps or diagrams, label them clearly and refer
to them in the text.
Writing an essay is hard work. Do not think that you can write an essay in a few days and do well. You should
expect to write several drafts of your term paper before handing it in for grading. The clarity and cogency of
your essay will be hampered if you do not pay careful attention to spelling, grammar, and organization—all of
which will be considered in assigning a mark. Write as clearly and precisely as you can. Think hard about the
logic of your position and whether or not your argument contains gaps that need to be addressed.
An original essay is one that has been written by you; that has not (and will not be) submitted as part of the
requirements for any other course; and which does not copy directly from books or articles. To guard against
plagiarism, the instructor reserves the right to inspect notes for and drafts of essays and to examine students
orally on the final version of their essays. Please become familiar with the university’s policies on plagiarism
(see above).
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Course Outline
The paper should be typed, double-spaced, with standard font and margins. It should
be 6-8 pages in length.
Due Date: November 9. In fairness to others, late papers will be penalized (2% for each day late, including
weekends). Late papers may not be submitted by email. Extensions will be granted only on medical or
compassionate grounds. Please contact the instructor.
Frequently asked questions:
Q. Is there a minimum number of books I need to cite in my paper?
A. No, there is no minimum, or maximum for that matter! Please use the lecture materials and assigned
readings when they might be useful. Cite materials that you find helpful, but do not ‘stuff’ your paper with
empty citations or footnotes. You are encouraged to make good use of the library’s resources and to learn
how to access the many online academic journals at your disposal.
Q. Do I need to cite lecture notes?
A. Yes, it would be helpful to the marker if you cite the lecture on which you are basing some of your ideas or
from which you draw relevant data or material. Simply write, Geography 121 lecture, and the date or title in
brackets or in an endnote.
Q. Can I use internet sources to write my paper?
A. Internet sites can contain useful information, but they can also be unreliable. It is best to use internet
sources in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, scholarly books and articles. It is also important to be
critical and careful in your use of internet materials. If you have questions about this, come and talk to your
instructor or TA!
Essay Topics:
Choose one of the following essay topics. Ground your answer in specific cases situated within the time
boundaries of the course (~1500-1945). Your choice must be approved by your TA or the instructor.
1) The part of the world in which you live has experienced many of the changes in the relationships (a) with the
environment and (b) in the spatial character of human interactions that have been discussed in this course. In
this light, choose, describe, and interpret a particular British Columbian example of geographical change
(either type (a) or type (b), but not both) between 1500 and 1945.
2) How did production and exchange of agricultural goods change after 1500 and before 1945? Choose a
specific agricultural product—e.g., wool, cotton, wheat, rice, or pepper—and situate it, over time in relation to
changing environmental, cultural, political, economic, and spatial patterns and processes.
3) How did the development of colonial power affect the indigenous social structure in colonized countries?
Answer by discussing one colonial case—e.g., Mexico under Spanish rule, Brazil under Portuguese rule, India
under British rule, the Congo under Belgian rule, Vietnam under French rule, Egypt under British rule,
Indonesia under Dutch rule, the Philippines under US rule, Korea under Japanese rule, etc.
4) How did urban growth in the industrial era (1750-1945) connect cities and their surrounding areas, or
hinterlands? In what ways did it disconnect these areas, or create greater relative distance between places?
Choose a particular city and define a period for examination—e.g., London and its surrounding region between
1750 and 1900, Paris and its surrounding region between 1800 and 1900, Bangkok and its surrounding region
between 1850 and 1945, Sao Paolo and its surrounding region between 1850 and 1945, Vancouver and its
surrounding region between 1880 and 1945, Lagos and its surrounding region between 1900 and 194, etc.
5) What were some of the tensions and contradictions of nineteenth century imperialism and capitalist
development that contributed to twentieth-century social struggles? These struggles include World Wars One
and Two, anti-colonial movements, labor movements, leftist political movements, early feminist movements,
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and early environmental movements. Pick one such example and discuss.
Course Outline
Examinations:
The mid-term examination on Oct. 12 will be held during class from 1:00-1:50. You will be required to answer
two questions from a total of six. The examination will be based on all lectures, readings and discussion
classes to date.
The December examination will be held during the regular examination season (after classes have ended) at a
time and place to be announced. Please do not book flights home before you have determined your exam
schedule. We cannot set additional exams to accommodate individuals. Alternative arrangements will only be
made for medical or compassionate reasons, and documentation will be required.
The exam will be two hours long, and you will be required to answer several short answer questions and two
essay questions from a total of six. The weight of the examination will be towards those lectures, readings and
discussion classes held after the mid-term examination, but some questions may also require you to draw on
knowledge from earlier parts of the course.
All examinations will require answers in essay form: point form is not acceptable. In assigning a grade, we will
take into account your ability to express yourself clearly (and this will include your command of grammar,
spelling and punctuation).
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