Required Readings

The purpose of this course is to help you understand the connection between world events and the geographic environment in which they occur. During the course of the semester, you will therefore need to follow the news, using a good and reliable news source, and to complete some readings that help you learn about geography (from a text book). You will also need frequently to consult an atlas to help you understand your readings in the text, class discussions, and stories in the news. So please make sure that you have access throughout the semester to the following:

1. International News

Since a primary purpose of this course is to help you understand what's gong on in the world, it's important that you diligently follow current events on the international front. There are many good sources of international news, but for the purposes of this courses we will rely on the print edition of the Washington Post.

I will expect you to read all international news in the Washington Post every day, starting on the first day of class and ending on the last. You may either subscribe to or purchase a copy of the paper each day (this includes weekends and holidays), or you may read news stories at washingtonpost.com. Bear in mind that the print edition of the paper and the web site are different, so be sure to read all international news stories listed on the Print Edition section of the web site each day.

2. 2.Text Book
   

The required textbook for this course is The World Today (4th edition) by

Harm J. de Blij, Peter O. Muller, and Antoinette WinklerPrins, ISBN: 978-0-470-23713-7. The text is available from the UMW bookstore or online. You don't necessarily have to own a copy of this book, but you do need to make sure that you read it diligently. The Course Calendar details what you have to read and when you have to read it.

Please note that we won't cover in class everything you read in the text. I will, however, expect you to be familiar with the material in the text, whether or not we have covered it in class.

3. Atlas

You won't be able to survive this course without your own copy of Goode's World Atlas (22nd edition.) We will use it regularly in class, and you will need it for pop quizzes and exams. So please be sure to get a copy, and bring it with you to class without fail. The atlas is available from the UMW Bookstore, from online bookstores, and on the used book market. If you buy a used copy of the atlas, make sure that it is the 22nd edition, and that it doesn't have anything written in it (if it does, you won't be able to use it in exams and quizzes.)

4. 4.Other Required Readings
   

I will frequently ask you to complete readings in addition to those in the text and Washington Post. Most of these readings will come from the Regional GeogBlog, where I have written posts on a variety of topics relevant to this course. I encourage you to post your comments on this blog.

Please also make sure that you regularly check the Thoughts and Notes blog hosted on the UMW Blogs site.  I will use this as a venue for posting additional required and recommended readings, items of interest, and also important class announcements.

Other News Sources

The Washington Post is only one of thousands of different sources of news that are available to you. I strongly encourage you to consult other sources as well. For example, when we are discussing the Middle East in class, visit the websites of Middle Eastern news media like Al Jazeera or the Jerusalem Post to get their perspectives on what's going on in the region. And throughout the semester, read and ilsten on international news coverage from sources like BBC News (UK) and National Public Radio (US.)

Recommended Readings

This course covers the world, and it does so in one semester. Obviously, we barely have time to scratch the surface of the subject, and you will certainly want to learn more about some of the topics and regions we discuss in class.

There are lots of good books available on all of the regions and all of the subfields of geography we cover in this course, and I encourage you to read some of them. The somewhat eclectic list below suggests some places to start. If you wish, you may write a review of any of these books, and turn it is as an extra credit assignment in the class. Check the extra credit information page for more details. This list is meant to be illustrative, not exhaustive, so please feel free to come up with other suggestions. (The list below is simply a collection of some of the books I have read and enjoyed.)

Asia

Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East teaches us about the West, by T. R. Reid (2000). A good and very readable exploration of the impact of Confucian ideals on life in Asia. Reid was the Washington Post bureau chief in Tokyo.

Vietnam, Now by David Lamb (2002) An American journalist's view of modern Vietnam, based on his work there in the late 1990s.

Another Quiet American: Stories of Life in Laos, by Brett Dakin. A young American's account of the two years he lived in Vientiane, Laos in 1999 - 2000.

China Shakes the World: The Rise of a Hungry Nation, by James Kynge (2006). A interesting and up-to date discussion of China's rapid economic growth, and its consequences for the country and the world.

China Road: A journey into the Future of a Rising Power, by Rob Gifford (2008.) A National Public Radio correspondent writes about his journey though China, from Shanghai on the east coast to Xinjiang in the far west of the country.

Oracle Bones: A Journey through Time in China, by Peter Hessler (2006.) An American correspondent living in China writes about his experiences in the country and about the lives of some of the Chinese people he came to know there. This book is part a compelling mix of history, geography, politics, economics and, most compellingly, the life stories of ordinary Chinese people.

Notes from an Even Smaller Island, by Neil Humphreys (2001). Humphreys is an Englishman who spent ten years living in Singapore. He wrote three books recounting his experiences in the country, all of them amusing and perceptive. This is the first of the three books, written part way through his stay in Singapore.

Australia

In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson (2000). A very informative, readable, and amusing description of some aspects of Australian society, geography, and culture. Bryson is a top-notch travel writer.

South Pacific

J. Maarten Troost's books Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip through the islands of Fiji and Vanuatu (2004) and The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific (2006) Troost is an American who has spent time in living in Kiribati and Vanuatu in the South Pacific, and in these two books he provides an amusing and irreverend account of his experiences and observations in the region.

Africa

Africa

King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild (1999). As European powers colonized most of Africa in the late 19th century, only one country was the personal property of a European leader. This book tells the story of the Congo, property of King Leopold of the Belgians, and the ruthless way in which the country was pillaged and its inhabitants brutalized at Leopold's behest. A fascinating and horrifying read.

Europe

The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the end of American Supremacy by T.R. Reid (2004). "While the United States flexes its economic and military muscles around the world as the dominant global player, it may soon have company. According to the Washington Post's T.R. Reid, the nations of Europe are setting aside differences to form an entity that's gaining strength, all seemingly unbeknownst to the U.S. and its citizens." (Amazon.com)

Globalization

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twentieth Century, by Thomas Friedman (2005). "Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim, in his new book, The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to." (Amazon.com)

Jihad vs MacWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism are Reshaping the World, by Benjamin R. Barber. An excellent and informative book in which Barber argues that there are two major opposing forces at work in the world today, international capitalism and factionalism, and that both pose a threat to democracy.

Economic Geography

Coal: A Human History, by Barbara Freese (2003) This book is not only a history of the use (and abuse) of coal, but at the same time an engaging historical geography of industralization, labor relations, capitalism, and environmental pollution.

Plate Tectonics

Krakatoa: The day the world exploded, by Simon Winchester (2004) A chronicle of the massive eruption of the Indonesian island of Krakatoa in 1883. A fasincating blend of geology, geography, and history. (Winchester is a compelling author who has written about a wide variety of places and subjects. He has a good appreciation of history, a fine sense of geography, and considerable narrative skill that he uses to weave these all together. I recommend any or all of his books.)

Navigation and Cartography

Other topics

Longitude: The True Story of the Lone Genius Who Solved Greatest Scientific Problem his Time, by Dava Sobel. Until the invention of accurate sea-going clocks, it was impossible for seafarers to determine their longitude with any accuracy. Sobel tells the story of the invention of the clock that eventually solved the" longitude problem".

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, by John Barry (2004) "In 1918, a plague swept across the world virtually without warning, killing healthy young adults as well as vulnerable infants and the elderly. Hospitals and morgues were quickly overwhelmed; in Philadelphia, 4,597 people died in one week alone and bodies piled up on the streets to be carted off to mass graves. But this was not the dreaded Black Death-it was 'only influenza'. (Publishers Weekly) If you choose to review this book, you should give particular attention to the geographic dimensions of the spread of the disease.

Recommended Movies and Videos

There are lots of movies and videos that are related to the subject matter of the course. Some are Hollywood-type films whose setting or storyline is related to the course in some way. There are also numerous documentaries that focus on some of the issues we discuss in class. The list below is not intended to be comprehensive, but rather to give you an idea of the kinds of movies that could help you with the class material, and that might be suitable to review for extra credit. Many of these movies are available from Netflix or online sources

Documentaries

Valentina's Nightmare and Ghosts of Rwanda are documentaries from the PBS series Frontline dealing with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Ghosts of Rwanda is available via streaming video from the PBS Frontline website.

East Asia

World in the Balance is a two part video from the PBS series Nova, focusing on population and environmental issues in Japan and China.

Southeast Asia

The Wave that Shook the World is a PBS documentary dealing with the 1994 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Krakatoa, a PBS video on the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, a volcano in Indonesia.

Pol Pot: Inside Evil, a Dicovery Channel documentary on the life of the leader of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot.

Also

Guns, Germs, and Steel. " Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book and national best seller, Guns, Germs, and Steel is an epic detective story that offers a gripping expose on why the world is so unequal. Professor Jared Diamond traveled the globe for over 30 years trying to answer the biggest question of world history. Why is the world so unequal? The answers he found were simple yet extraordinary. Our destiny depends on geography and access to: Guns, Germs, and Steel." (ShopPBS.org)

Movies

Africa

Hotel Rwanda, based on events taking place during the Rwandan genocide of 1994

South Asia

Gandhi, a movie on the life of Mahatma Gandhi

Southeast Asia

The Killing Fields, set in Cambodia during the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge (1975 - 1979)

East Asia

Empire of the Sun, "Based on J. G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, tells the story of a boy, James Graham, whose privileged life is upturned by the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, December 8, 1941" ( Imdb.com)

The Last Emperor, "A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperor of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic." (Imdb.com)