These materials include background for the instructor and a lab that engages student in an analysis of global inequality while learning and using the R language (a programming language for statistics). Students obtain data on the US and two other countries (one more developed and one less developed).
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture Notes
Understand the differences between relative, absolute, and subjective povertyDescribe the economic situation of some of the world’s most impoverished areasExplain the cyclical impact of the consequences of poverty
Material Type: Module
Describe the modernization and dependency theory perspectives on global stratification
Material Type: Module
Define global stratificationDescribe different sociological models for understanding global stratificationUnderstand how studies of global stratification identify worldwide inequalities
Material Type: Module
Describe global stratificationUnderstand how different classification systems have developedUse terminology from Wallerstein’s world systems approachExplain the World Bank’s classification of economies
Material Type: Module
Human geography emphasizes the importance of geography as a field of inquiry and introduces students to the concept of spatial organization. Knowing the location of places, people, and events is a gateway to understanding complex environmental relationships and interconnections among places and across landscapes. Geographic concepts emphasize location, space, place, scale of analysis, pattern, regionalization, and globalization. These concepts are essential to understanding spatial interaction and spatial behavior, the dynamics of human population growth and migration, patterns of culture, political control of territory, areas of agricultural production, the changing location of industry and economic development strategies, and evolving human settlement patterns, particularly urbanization. Geographers use geospatial technology (e.g., satellite imagery, aerial photography, geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), and drone technology), spatial data, mathematical formulas, and design models to understand the world from a spatial perspective better. Human geography enables us to consider the regional organization of various phenomena and encourages geographic analysis to understand processes in a changing world. For example, geographic perspectives on the impact of human activities on the environment, from local to global scales, include effects on land, water, atmosphere, population, biodiversity, and climate. These human ecological examples are inherent throughout the discipline, especially in topics dealing with population growth, agricultural and industrial practices, and rapid urbanization. Geographers apply geographic methods and geospatial technologies to a variety of situations.
Material Type: Full Course
Many factors influence the success and survival rate of a population of living things. Explore several factors that can determine the survival of a population of sheep in this NetLogo model. Start with a model of unlimited grass available to the sheep and watch what happens to the sheep population! Next try to keep the population under control by removing sheep periodically. Change the birthrate, grass regrowth rate, and the amount of energy rabbits get from the grass to keep a stable population.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Data Set, Diagram/Illustration, Lecture Notes
The discipline of geography bridges the social sciences with the physical sciences and can provide a framework for understanding our world. By studying geography, we can begin to understand the relationships and common factors that tie our human community together. The world is undergoing globalization on a massive scale as a result of the rapid transfer of information and technology and the growth of modes of transportation and communication. The more we understand our world, the better prepared we will be to address the issues that confront our future. There are many approaches to studying world geography. This textbook takes a regional approach and focuses on themes that illustrate the globalization process, which in turn assists us in better understanding our global community and its current affairs.
Material Type: Textbook
Define globalization and describe its manifestation in modern societyDiscuss the pros and cons of globalization from an economic standpoint
Material Type: Module
In this unit, you will explore globalization and development and its effects on indigenous peoples. Modern economic and political development is driven by the assumption that the results will be benefical for all people; however, cultural differences are not taken into consideration, leading often to the destruction of indigenous cultures. Understanding the context of modern development students become versant in the current debate about globalization. By the end of the unit, you should be able to answer the following questions: What is globalization? How did the modern era of globalization develop? What is the relationship between culture and globalization?
Material Type: Full Course
The world is becoming more and more interconnected. Globalization changes how people consume, work and live almost everywhere on the world. Today, many economic, political, cultural or ecological relationships are not explainable from a national perspective. At the same time, a controversial debate about the consequences of globalization has begun. But what are the main causes for globalization? In what areas it is most prominent? And who are the winners and looser of globalization?
Material Type: Lecture
