As the name of the course and reading list imply, the reading load is heavy. Remember that each assignment equals two week's work and try not to rush, especially at first. Send in an assignment or two to make sure you understand what's expected before you plunge ahead. Read all the assigned material thoroughly. While you may be able to get through an assignment without having read everything thoroughly, you must pass the final to pass the course, and a theme or methodology you neglected might turn up there to haunt you.
Read carefully. You need to understand exactly what the authors are saying. This sounds obvious, but it isn't always easy. At times you may need a dictionary and a bit of inspiration to get fully in tune with the work. Many words or terms you encounter may not be familiar, and you may be thrown off by a word or term that seems unclear to you.
Answering:
The important part of each assignment is the essay questions, which call for clear thinking and writing. Your style should be mechanically and grammatically correct, but that's just the beginning. The questions call for analysis and conclusions that you must fully explain and justify with evidence drawn from the readings. Don't go off half cocked. If you think through your ideas carefully, you will probably choose to change them at least a little to make them better fit what the reading says. It's a lot easier to do this before you have written out an answer than afterwards.
Hang the words "Says who?" up on the wall. You can write a good essay supporting a questionable conclusion, but even a great conclusion makes a lousy essay unless it's backed up with evidence. In this case, your conclusions are the immediate, opinionated answers you give to each part of the essay question. Imagine someone saying "Says who?" after each one of them. The only way to quiet this skeptic is with evidence: "Globalization is damaging local societies because . . . 1, 2, 3. Your supporting evidence (1, 2, 3) must be specific details from the readings. Not all of them need be direct quotes, but each one should be something any reasonable person would agree is really there.
Writing Mechanics:
You are taking this course for graduate credit. Therefore, it is assumed that you have taken and passed the typical set of undergraduate writing courses. Poor writing, poor syntax, and poor grammar are unacceptable at the graduate level, so you must take time to edit, edit, edit your work before submission. ALL assignments must have 1" margins all around (NO EXCEPTIONS), sequential page numbering, 12 CPI Arial or Times New Roman Font, a cover page detailing your name and assignment number, and a separate bibliography page if necessary. Use SPELLCHECK and a grammar-checking program if necessary. The citation format to be used in the text is known as the Harvard or parenthetical style: e.g. (Harvard 2001). The full citation information is then presented in the bibliography -- follow the format used in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Progress in Human Geography, etc. If you have ANY questions about writing and citing styles, please talk to the course professor as early in the semester as possible. Submitted assignments that have more than a very minimal number of grammatical and formatting errors will be penalized at least one letter grade.
Grading:
Style counts as well as content. In the middle of the grading scale, a C essay may be average in style and content, or strong in one area yet weak in the other. D and F answers are weak in both areas. B answers are usually excellent in content but hurt by minor, nagging mechanical errors, while an A answer achieves real distinction in both its writing and its ideas.
As the instructions point out, 25% of your course grade will come from the final exam. YOU MUST PASS THE FINAL TO PASS THE COURSE.
Attitude:
The Italian humanist Machiavelli used to change to his best clothes before opening his books. He thought of reading as a near-miraculous opportunity to converse with the great minds of the past. You probably won't go that far, but do remember that the works you are going to read are significant in the construction of a comprehensive and meaningful understanding of geoscience and development. They demand close study, but if you make the investment needed, they will repay you with a new awareness of what geoscience and development really can accomplish. I hope you enjoy the course.
Last updated on August 17, 2002
Department of Geography and Geology, Western Kentucky University
All contents copyright(c), 2002, Western Kentucky University
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