DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
University of Toronto
Spring, 2010
GGR 439S -- Global Political Geography
Professor Alana Boland
Tuesdays, 6-9
email: boland  'at'  geog.utoronto.ca
office: Sidney Smith 5006
DESCRIPTION:
This course provides an introduction to classical and contemporary geopolitical theories. While we will obviously be considering 'real' changes in the geography of international politics, we will do this through an examination of different and competing forms of what many scholars refer to as the geopolitical imagination. How has the geographic logic of the international (or global) political order changed over the last century? The first half of the class will cover a more historical progression of geopolitical reasoning from early twentieth century imperial rivalries, to the Cold War period, to the post-Cold War era - a time that some have called the 'end of history.' The second half of the term will focus on current theoretical struggles surrounding the new geopolitics of a world where geography, like history, was supposed to matter no more. Through readings on geopolitics and the environment, feminist challenges to critical geopolitics, and social movements, we will explore efforts at refashioning geopolitics in light of changes to how we understand and are experiencing the effects of scale, space and power in global politics.

NOTE: This course will be run as a seminar and will require students to complete readings and written assignments on a weekly basis. The first assignment will be due in Week #2 (Jan 13). I assume all students will attend Week #1 (even if you are not yet enrolled but hope to get in the class). This first session will be important for you to learn about the format and expectations for this course.

REQUIRED TEXTS (tentative):
1) Gearóid Ó Tuathail, Simon Dalby, and Paul Routledge (eds.) The Geopolitics Reader, 2nd Edition (London: Routledge, 2006).
2) course reader with articles & chapters.

GRADE DISTRIBUTION (tentative):
Weekly 1-page responses, cumulative, based on top three grades (20%)
In-class midterm (15%)
Essay (10-12 pages) [idea statement & outline – 15%, essay – 20%, re-write – 15%]
Participation (15%) [Includes '3 questions' assignments and contribution to classroom discussions]

NOTE: Normally, students will be required to submit course assignments to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their assignments 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.

Last update: December 10 2009