2- Political Geography

GEOG 101: Introduction to Human Geography
Political Geography Assignment
Weight: 15 Marks
Time:
Objective:

To show an understanding of how primary concepts of political geography (from the textbook) explain contemporary issues (events and experiences in the world). The issues are developed with reference to films and videos and non-textbook readings from the Political Geography weeks on the syllabus.

Requirements:

Write a two-page response (full pages of written work, no shorter or you will be docked marks) that develops at least one of the concepts from the course text and relates it to a description from any of the videos we watched in the political geography section of the course. You are welcome to use the discussion questions posted on Canvas to help you with framing a question to orient your work.

Select any of the following videos for your short paper:
Fashion’s Dirty Secret.

Note: You must describe specific details from the film. Use direct quotes, includes names and roles of the speakers (when available), and describe the landscapes they are situated in.

You must also include at least one direct quote from readings in the political geography weeks in the course: use additional quotes from chapters in the prior weeks of the course
Prompts:

In addition to the discussion questions from each video, you can also use any of the following leading questions to write your answer. You do not need to answer all the questions: they are there to help you get started.

How has globalization in the fashion industry impacted the environment and/or the lives of people around the Aral Sea or along the Citarum River in Indonesia? What happened in these locations and why did they happen?
Bonus: What needs to be done to address these issues. Cite specific individuals in the film, their roles, and their ideas.
How has the American and other governments been involved in the practice of geopolitics in Latin American countries? What impact does this have on the sovereignty of these countries? What kind of forces, centrifugal or centripetal, do we see in Bolivia or Honduras?
What is Brexit? How did nationalism/sovereignty shape the Brexit vote? How does Brexit respond to globalization? What problems will it cause for the United Kingdom?
What is the Temporary Foreign Worker program and how has deregulation of the program produced negative effects for migrant workers? What options do they have once they are in Canada? What could be done to help migrant workers according to the film or Chris Ramsaroop?
What are the push/pull factors in the migrations shown in the film Human Flow? How have European states responded and how has this affected the ability of refugees to claim asylum? Or, instead you can focus on the question of migrations from Latin America and the response of the United States.
Rubric:

Things to pay attention to in your writing:

The introductory paragraph should identify what you will be analysing, why it is important, and must have a clear thesis (what you will argue), rather than just a topic.
Each paragraph should clarify a single idea sufficiently, with evidence drawn from the text to support your claims. Do not paraphrase. Use direct citations only.
Think of each of your paragraphs as fulfilling one of the following: description, conceptual development, history, analysis, significance/meaning.
The overall structure of your essay should be coherent, with an integrated discussion leading from one paragraph to the next, following the model developed in the response assignment.
Your essay should focus on showing the three aspects of human geography: what is there, why is it there, and why does it matter. The overall significance (conceptual meaning) of the works you are examining should be clearly expressed.
Formatting Requirements:

Use Chicago Manual Style (CMS) for your citations and bibliography. You can use in-text or footnote. Film citations just need the year and you do not need a time stamp for your film citations. You can find all the information you need for your citations in the syllabus or on the webpage that the video is from (Note: do not post the Canvas web address or use my name in the entry or you will lose 1 mark).
Include your name, student #, the date, & course number on the top left of the 1st
Include a title for your essay.
Double space your work and left align the your answers.
Insert a header or footer with your last name and the page number.
Use Times New Roman and font size 12 with standard margins and left align your text.