Geog 300:
A Visual Exploration of East Asian Geography
1 credit either S/U or Letter grade (see below)
Prior or concurrent enrollment in Geog324 or instructor permission required
Spring 2002
Instructor: Patrick Buckley, AH 222, Patrick@cc.wwu.edu or phone 650-4773
Introduction: The visual media can provide a tremendous addition to the learning experience. It is only of late that ready access to large quantities of such materials have become available. Although these have as yet to replace the more traditional means of learning, reading and writing, they provide an extremely exciting possibility for additional information acquisition in a very tactile and stimulating fashion. It is one thing to describe the spatial patterns of the physical geography of a country as vast as China; it is another to see the endless stretches of parched yellow soils of the northern loess plains. Even more important is to feel the pressures of scratching an existence out of these harsh yet crowded landscapes and the experience the social structures that have emerged over the past four millenniums. Short of living in China documentaries and feature length films give us a taste of this reality so vivid that one can almost taste the fine dry yellow earth that billows and blows and attacks our senses, much like the spring sandstorms that have progressively marched further eastwards in recent years, now even extending to that isolated island redoubt of exception in China, Taiwan.
The goals of this one credit directed study is to emphasize and expand upon a students learning experience in the following areas:
Course Organization:
A combination of about 10 documentary and feature length films have been selected for student viewing over the quarter on roughly a weekly basis. Students are encouraged to view them in groups and if at all possible with the instructor, however these will be available through Wilson Library for personal viewing and study to meet all students’ schedules.
On a bi-weekly basis the instructor and students will meet for an hour to review and discuss the most recent offerings, and compare and contrast them with other information gathered from the course.
Students will prepare short reports/critiques of each film and bring them to the discussion.
Students will keep logs with periodic reflections on their learning experience.
Student Responsilities:
Grading:
Students will be given the option of S/U or letter grading. For S/U grading an S requires completion of all work in a timely and satisfatory fashion and active participation in the discussion periods (more than two unexcused absences from discussions or more than 3 unsatisfacotry reports or the combination of one unexcused absence and 2 unsatisfactory reports will result in a "U" grade).
A letter grade will be based on the following:
60 points – short reports on documentaries/films
20 points – personal log
20 points – active participation in discussions
With
A <= 90 points
B <= 78
C <= 66
D <= 56
Missed attendance at a discussion must be approved in advance.