This course is intended to provide an introduction to the human geography of China by exploring changing social relations and the way these changes have shaped human landscapes. After introductory lectures examining the historical and physical contexts, the course will focus on the major geographical issues in the People's Republic of China since 1949: agriculture, industry, urbanization, environment and population dynamics. Special attention will be paid to the character and impact of China's on-going transition from a planned to market economy and to the different interpretations of development trends since the reforms began over two decades ago.

COURSE TOPICS:
Nature and society
Political and economic change
Population and migration
Agricultural issues and rural development
Industrialization
Urbanization and urban landscapes
Spatial inequality and regional policy

REQUIRED READINGS:
A course reader with selected articles will be used.  It will likely be prepared by Scholar House Productions (100 Harbord Street, west of Spadina on north side, 416-977-9641).  I will confirm this during the first class.

COURSE EVALUATION (tentative):
Quiz and written assignments 45%
Mid-term exam 20%
Final exam 35%
(NOTE: The Quiz during Week 3 is based on materials covered during Week 1 & 2. All students must take the quiz in Week 3, even those who enroll late for the course. This means that even if you are not officially enrolled, but hope to get in the class, you should come to lectures during those first couple of weeks. Contact the instructor if you have questions regarding this.)

Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University's use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site