Last updated on September 3, 2008
Profs. Lee Hachadoorian (Lecturer, Lee.Hachadoorian@hunter.cuny.edu)
and Annie Spencer (Lab Instructor, aspe@hunter.cuny.edu)
Office: 1032 Hunter North (Adjuncts’ Office)
Office Hours: By appointment
Hunter Course Code: 1317
Scheduled Class Time:
Lecture: Mondays 2:45PM – 5:25PM, 1022 Hunter North
Lab: Thursdays 2:45PM – 4:35PM, 1090B Hunter North
Course Calendar (including reading assignments)
Economic geography is the study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities across the Earth. The subject matter investigated is strongly influenced by the researcher's methodological approach. Neoclassical location theorists, following in the tradition of Alfred Weber, tend to focus on industrial location and use quantitative methods. Since the 1970s, two broad reactions against neoclassical approaches have significantly changed the discipline: Marxist political economy, growing out of the seminal work of David Harvey; and the new economic geography which takes into account social, cultural, and institutional factors in the spatial economy.
We will explore economic geography from a variety of (often conflicting) perspectives. For example, casual observation reveals a large gap between the standard of living in the developed countries of, e.g., Western Europe, and the less-developed countries of, e.g., sub-Saharan Africa. But location theorists and neoclassical economists have very different ideas from Marxist political economists as to the causes and possible solutions to the development gap. Keeping these different approaches in mind, we will work our way through an overview of the sectors of the economy (agriculture and resource extraction, manufacturing, services), followed by topical units on the environment, development, globalization, etc. In the first part of the course, we will spend some time learning about standard economic models of production and of supply and demand, as well quantitative methods for spatial analysis, and several of the laboratory exercises will be computer-based labs applying these methods.
The following textbook is on order at the campus store:
A copy of the textbook will be on reserve in the library. Additional readings will be available as PDFs posted to the Google Group associated with this course.
You may send email to me or to Prof. Spencer at the addresses listed above. If we talk in person about something that is important, I may ask you to email me a note about the discussion in order to remind me. All email should contain Geog221 at the beginning of the subject line. Also, if you use some funky email address like luv2party@aol.com, please sign your email with your first and last name so that we know who you are.
This course has a Google Group associated with it called Economic Geography - Prof. Hachadoorian. An invitation to join will be sent to your Hunter email address. If you are not in the habit of checking your Hunter email, you can use your other email account to send a request to join the Google Group to EconGeog-ProfHachadoorian@googlegroups.com. Also, you can set up your Hunter email account to forward email to the mailbox that you actually use. (If you don't know how to do this, we can show you how during the lab period.)
Your grade will be based on exams, labs, participation, and other assignments. The exact breakdown is as follows:
Labs will be a mix of computer exercises, other in-class exercises (including games!) and problem sets.
The first part of the lab will be lab instructions and a demonstration of any techniques necessary for completion of the lab. Although you should always make every effort to make it to class on time, it is particularly important that you are on time for labs, so that the lab instructor can devote her time to helping you work on the lab rather than repeating the instructions.
Many of the labs will involve the use of ArcGIS, Excel, and possibly some statistical analysis package. This class has no GIS or computer prerequisite, so everything you need to know will be taught in class. If you are not already familiar with certain basics such as using a mouse, copying files, etc., you will probably find the labs difficult.
We’re going to be covering a lot of material in this class, not all of it in the textbook. If you do not attend class regularly, it is unlikely that you will do well and possible that you will fail. There is no separate grade for attendance. Lecture and lab will be treated somewhat differently, as follows:
Despite our best intentions, life gets in the way. If you are occasionally late, don’t sweat it. If you are consistently five minutes late, you are displaying a lack of respect for me, your fellow students, and the course material. Serial offenders will be warned, after which late arrivals will be treated as absences.
Participation is not a separate element in the final grade. If you attend class, pay attention in class, and ask relevant questions or make relevant comments in class, I may choose to increase your final grade by one step (e.g., change a B+ to an A-). Overall, your participation grade is my fairly subjective assessment of your involvement in the class.
Plagiarism, dishonesty, or cheating in any portion of the work required for this course will be punished to the full extent allowed according to Hunter College regulations. Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures.
The policy is available at http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/senate/assets/Documents/Hunter%20College%20Policy%20on%20Academic%20Integrity.pdf