Human geography and
mass communication

S Y L L A B U S

Introduction

C L A S S R O O M

• W 19 Jan: Introduction to the course; schedule student-led discussions; discuss student summary portfolios; learn how to use weblog

A S S I G N M E N T 

• Register with our class weblog at j880.blogspot.com once you receive your invitation email
• Create an anonymous personal weblog using the same free Blogger service (www.blogger.com) and begin posting to it. 

R E A D I N G (optional; we will not discuss these in class)

• Robert Kitchin and Nicholas J. Tate, “Thinking about research,” in Conducting research in human geography (Prentice-Hall, 2000), 127 (~30 pages).
• Hilary P.M. Winchester, “Qualitative research and its place in human geography,” in Iain Hay, ed., Qualitative research methods in human geography (Oxford University Press, 2000), 1-20 (~20 pages).
• David Hornbeck, Carville Earle, and Christine M. Rodrigue, “The way we were: Deployments (and redeployments) of time in human geography” in Carville Earle, Martin S. Kenze, Kent Mathewson, and Martin Kenzer, eds., Concepts in human geography (London: Rowman & Littlefield, 1996), 33-61 (~30 pages).

Introduction to geographic practice
Classical geographic arguments

C L A S S R O O M

• W 26 Jan: Student-led discussion of readings: Yong Jun

A S S I G N M E N T 

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Post something to your personal weblog.

R E A D I N G

• Georg Simmel, “Die grossstadte und das geistesleben [The metropolis and mental life],” in T. Petermann, ed., Die grossstadt (Dresden, 1903); reprinted in David Levine, ed., George Simmel: On individuality and social forms (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971); reprinted in Philip Kasinitz, ed., Metropolis: Center and symbol of our times (New York: New York University Press, 1995), 30-45 (~15 pages).
• Ernest W. Burgess, “The growth of the city: An introduction to a research project,” in Robert Park et al., The city (1925); reprinted in Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout, eds., The city reader, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2000), 153-161 (~10 pages).
• Louis Wirth, “Urbanism as a way of life,” American Journal of Sociology 44:1 (1938); reprinted in Philip Kasinitz, ed., Metropolis: Center and symbol of our times (New York: New York University Press, 1995), 58-84 (~30 pages).
• Herbert Gans, “Urbanism and suburbanism as ways of life: A reevaluation of definitions” (1961, updated 1991); reprinted in Philip Kasinitz, ed., Metropolis: Center and symbol of our times (New York: New York University Press, 1995), 170-195 (~25 pages).
  

Introduction to geographic practice
Revisionist geographic arguments

C L A S S R O O M

• W 02 Feb: Student-led discussion of readings: Chris

A S S I G N M E N T 

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Post something to your personal weblog.

R E A D I N G

• Yi-Fu Tuan, “Space and place: Humanistic gerspective,” Progress in Geography 6 (1974); reprinted in John Agnew, David N. Livingstone and Alisdair Rogers, eds., Human geography: An essential anthology (1996), 444-457 (~10 pages).
• David Harvey, “On the history and present conditions of geography: An historical materialist manifesto,” Professional Geographer 3 (1984), 1-11; reprinted in David Harvey, Spaces of capital: Towards a critical geography (New York: Routledge, 2001), 108-120 (~15 pages).
• Neil Smith, “The production of space,” in Uneven development: Nature, capital, and the production of space, 2nd ed. (New York: Blackwell, 1991), 66-96 (~30 pages).
• Michael Dear and Steven Flusty, “Introduction: How to map a radical break,” in Michael Dear and Steven Flusty, eds., The spaces of postmodernity: Readings in human geography (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002), 1-12 (~10 pages).
  

Introduction to geographic practice
Media products as geographical sources

C L A S S R O O M

• W 09 Feb: Student-led discussion of readings: Aaron, Sara

A S S I G N M E N T 

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Post something to your personal weblog.
  

R E A D I N G

• Maria Helena B.V. da Costa, “Cinematic cities: Researching films as geographical texts,” in Alison Blunt, Pyrs Gruffudd, Jon May, Miles Ogborn, and David Pinder, eds., Cultural geography in practice (London: Edward Arnold, 2003), 191-201 (~10 pages).
• James Kneale, “Secondary novels: Reading novels as geographical research,” in Alison Blunt, Pyrs Gruffudd, Jon May, Miles Ogborn, and David Pinder, eds., Cultural geography in practice (London: Edward Arnold, 2003), 39-51 (~15 pages).
• Sara Cohen, “Sounding out the city: Music and the sensuous production of place,” in A. Leyshon, D. Matless, and G. Revil, eds., The place of music (New York: Guilford Press, 1998); reprinted in Michael Dear and Steven Flusty, eds., The spaces of postmodernity: Readings in human geography (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002), 262-276 (~15 pages).
• David Bell, “Researching cybercultures,” in An introduction to cybercultures (New York: Routledge, 2001), 186-204 (~20 pages).

Introduction to geographic practice
Geographical tools and representations

C L A S S R O O M
NB: WE WILL MEET IN NAFZIGER ROOM TODAY DUE TO CARPETING INSTALLATION

• W 16 Feb: Student-led discussion of readings: Amanda

A S S I G N M E N T 

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Post something to your personal weblog.

R E A D I N G

• J.B. Harley, “Deconstructing the map,” Cartographica 26 (1989); reprinted in John Agnew, David N. Livingstone and Alisdair Rogers, eds., Human geography: An essential anthology (1996), 422-443 (~20 pages).
• Stan Openshaw, “A view on the GIS crisis in geography, or, using GIS to put Humpty Dumpty back together again,” Environment and Planning A 23 (1991); reprinted in John Agnew, David N. Livingstone and Alisdair Rogers, eds., Human geography: An essential anthology (1996), 675-685 (~10 pages).
• Eric Sheppard, “GIS and society: Towards a research agenda,” Cartography and Geographic Information Systems 22:1 (1995), 516 (~10 pages).
• William J. Craig and Sarah A. Elwood, “How and why community groups use maps and geographic information,” Cartography and Geographic Information Systems 25:2 (1998), 95-104 (~10 pages).
  

Geography and media processes
Infrastructures and industries

C L A S S R O O M

• W 23 Feb: NO CLASS MEETING for online experiment

A S S I G N M E N T 

• Freely discuss readings in virtual space of weblog throughout the week
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Post something to your personal weblog.

R E A D I N G

• Richard R. John, “Recasting the information infrastructure for the industrial age,” in Alfred D. Chandler jr. and James W. Cortada, eds., A Nation Transformed by Information: How information has shaped the United States from colonial times to the present (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 55-106 (~50 pages).
• Jefferson Cowie, “Introduction” and “The distances in between,” in Capital moves: RCA’s seventy-year quest for cheap labor (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999), 1-11, 180-202 (~35 pages).

Geography and media processes
Advertising and consumption

C L A S S R O O M

• W 02 Mar: Discuss online experiment from last week ; sudent-led discussion of readings: Linda, Mark

A S S I G N M E N T

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Post something to your personal weblog.
  

R E A D I N G

• Jon Goss, “The ‘magic of the mall’: An analysis of form, function, and meaning in the contemporary retail built environment” Annals of the AAG 83 (1993), 18-47; selection excerpted in Linda McDowell, ed., Undoing place? A geographical reader (London: Arnold, 1997), 265-283 (~20 pages).
• Jon Goss, “‘We know who you are and we know where you live’: The instrumental rationality of geodemographic systems,” Economic Geography (1995), 171-198 (~25 pages).
• D. Leslie, “Global scan: The globalisation of advertising agencies, concepts and campaigns,” Economic Geography 71:4 (1995), 402-26 (~25 pages).
• Mona Domosh, “Selling America: Advertising, national identity and economic empire in the late nineteenth century,” in Alison Blunt, Pyrs Gruffudd, Jon May, Miles Ogborn, and David Pinder, eds., Cultural geography in practice (London: Edward Arnold, 2003), 141-150 (~10 pages).

Geography and media processes
Journalism and representation

C L A S S R O O M

• W 09 Mar: Student-led discussion of readings: Linda, Kevin

A S S I G N M E N T 

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Post something to your personal weblog.

R E A D I N G

• Denis Cosgrove, “Contested global visions: One World, Whole-Earth and the Apollo space photographs,” Annals of the AAG 84 (1994), 270-294; reprinted in Stephen Daniels and Roger Lee, eds., Exploring human geography: A reader (London: Arnold, 1996), 420-440 (~20 pages).
• Jon May, “The view from the streets: Geographies of homelessness in the British newspaper press,” in Alison Blunt, Pyrs Gruffudd, Jon May, Miles Ogborn, and David Pinder, eds., Cultural geography in practice (London: Edward Arnold, 2003), 23-36 (~15 pages).
• Katherine Fry, “Local versus national flood news” and “Understanding place, TV news, and natural disaster,” in Constructing the Heartland: Television News and Natural Disaster (2003), 89-110, 135-150 (~35 pages).

Geography and media processes
Strategic communciation think tanks

C L A S S R O O M

• W 16 Mar: Student-led discussion of readings: Aaron

A S S I G N M E N T 

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Post something to your personal weblog.

R E A D I N G

• Lewis Powell, [memorandum to the US Chamber of Commerce] (23 August 1971) (~15 pages).
• V.J. Del Casino jr. and A.J. Grimes, et al., “Methodological frameworks for the geography of organizations,” Geoforum 31:4 (2000), 523-538 (~15 pages).
• Karen M. Paget, “Lessons of right-wing philanthropy,” The American Prospect (Sep/Oct 1998), 89-95 (~5 pages).
• David Callahan, “$1 billion for conservative ideas,” The Nation (26 Apr 1999) (2 pages).
• Eric Alterman, “The ‘Right’ Books and Big Ideas,” The Nation (22 Nov 1999) (4 pages).
• Michael Dolny, “Think tank coverage: More attention, but not more balance,” Extra! (June 2004) (2 pages).
• Tim Lambert, "When think tanks attack" and “The think tank strikes back,” John Lott’s Unethical Conduct [Tim Lambert’s weblog] (http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~lambert/blog/computers/tanks.html; posted 23 Jun 2004; visited 11 Jan 2005), ~15 pages.

O P T I O N A L

• Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (1925).

W E B

• Descriptions of major US think tanks from NIRA
• SourceWatch wiki (formerly known as "Disinfopedia")

SPRING BREAK

C L A S S R O O M

• W 23 Mar: NO CLASS for spring break
  

Geography and media processes
Identity and place

C L A S S R O O M

• W 30 Mar: Student-led discussion of readings: Chris, Will

A S S I G xx M E N T

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Post something to your personal weblog.

R E A D I N G

• Lynn Spigel, “The suburban home companion: Television and the neighborhood ideal in postwar America” in Sexuality and space (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Architectural Press, 1992); excerpted in Linda McDowell, ed., Undoing place? A geographical reader (London: Arnold, 1997), 39-46 (~10 pages).
• Benjamin Forest, “West Hollywood as symbol: The significance of place in the construction of a gay identity” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 13 (1995), 133-157; excerpted in Linda McDowell, ed., Undoing place? A geographical reader (London: Arnold, 1997), 112-129 (~20 pages).
• Tara McPherson, “I’ll take my stand in Dixie-net: White guys, the South, and cyberspace,” in Beth E. Kolko, Lisa Nakamura, and Gilbert B. Rodman, eds., Race in Cyberspace (New York: Routledge, 2000), 117-132 (~15 pages).
• Hester Parr, “Researching bodies in virtual space,” in Alison Blunt, Pyrs Gruffudd, Jon May, Miles Ogborn, and David Pinder, eds., Cultural geography in practice (London: Edward Arnold, 2003), 55-68 (~15 pages)
  

Geographies of cyberspace
Network theories

C L A S S R O O M

• W 06 Apr: Student-led discussion of readings: Mark, Benjamin

A S S I G N M E N T

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Post something to your personal weblog (last chance).

R E A D I N G

• Mark Granovetter, “The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited,” Sociological Theory 1 (1983), 201-233 (~30 pages).
• M. Emirbayer and J. Goodwin, “Network analysis, culture, and the problem of agency,” American Journal of Sociology 99 (1994), 141154 (~40 pages).
• H. Leitner and E. Sheppard, “ ‘The city is dead, long live the Net’: Harnessing European interurban networks for a neoliberal agenda [selection],” Antipode 34:3 (2002), 495-501 (~5 pages).

Geographies of cyberspace
Network technologies

C L A S S R O O M

• W 13 Apr: Student-led discussion of readings: Sara, Will

A S S I G N M E N T 

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Review another student's anonymous weblog and write up a profile of that student based on that student's writings.

R E A D I N G

• Manuel Castells, “The reconstruction of social meaning in the space of flows,” from Manuel Castells, The informational city: Information technology, economic restructuring, and the urban-regional process (New York: Blackwell, 1989), reprinted in Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout, eds., The city reader, 1st ed. (New York: Routledge, 1996), 493-497 (5 pages).
• Manuel Castells, “Grassrooting the space of flows,” in James O. Wheeler, Yuko Aoyama and Barney Warf, eds., Cities in the telecommunications age: The fracturing of geographies (New York: Routledge, 2000), 18-27 (~10 pages).
• Barry Wellman,“Physical place and cyberplace: The rise of personalized networking,” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 25:2 (2001) (~25 pages).
• Andy C. Pratt, “New media, the new economy and new spaces,” Geoforum 31 (2000), 425-436 (~10 pages).
  

Geographies of cyberspace
Virtual community

C L A S S R O O M

• W 20 Apr: Discuss weblog experiment and see what other class thought of your weblogs; Student-led discussion of readings: Will, Chris

A S S I G N M E N T

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.

R E A D I N G

• David Ellis, Rachel Oldridge, and Ana Vasconcelos, “Community and virtual community,” ARIST 38 (2004), 145-186 (~40 pages).
• William H. Dutton, Jay G. Blumler, and Kenneth L. Kraemer, “Continuity and change in conceptions of the wired city,” in Wired cities: Shaping the future of communications (Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1987), 3-26 (~25 pages).
  

Geographies of cyberspace
Virtual city

C L A S S R O O M

• W 27 Apr: Student-led discussion of readings: Kevin, Benjamin

A S S I G N M E N T

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.

R E A D I N G

• Stephen Graham and Simon Marvin, “Approaching telecommunications and the city,” in Telecommunications and the city: Electronic spaces, urban places (New York: Routledge, 1996), 78-122 (~45 pages).
• William J. Mitchell, “The city of bits hypothesis,” in Donald A. Schön, Bish Sayal, and William J. Mitchell, eds., High technology and low-income communities: Prospects for the positive use of advanced information technology (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999), 105-130 (~25 pages).

Geographies of cyberspace
Virtual media

C L A S S R O O M

• W 04 May: Student-led discussion of readings: Yong Jun, Amanda

A S S I G N M E N T

• Post one written discussion question concerning the readings to the class weblog.
• Reply to at least one other student's discussion question on the class weblog.
• Type up a single-page summary of each reading for your portfolio.
• Bring your finished portfolio to class so that the instructor may check it off.
• Fill out course evaluations in class.

R E A D I N G

• Stephen Graham and Simon Marvin, “Social and cultural life of the city,” in Telecommunications and the city: Electronic spaces, urban places (New York: Routledge, 1996), 172-237 (~65 pages).
• Matthew Zook, “Underground globalization: Mapping the space of flows of the Internet adult industry,” Environment & planning A 35:7 (2003), 1261 (~25 pages).