GEO 470/570 & POLS 380	Dr. Jon T. Kilpinen
Spring, 2001	Office: Mueller 16A (( 5157)
Mueller 5	Hours: 10:00-11:00 a.m., M-Th
9:05-9:55 a.m., MWF	E-Mail: Jon.Kilpinen@valpo.edu

Course Description This course is designed to expose the student to the diverse, exciting, and timely field of political geography, which might be defined roughly as the spatial analysis of political phenomena. While based on political and geographical concepts, the course will focus throughout on real-life situations and contemporary issues at the local, regional, national, and global levels. Though it is an upper-division offering, no previous courses in geography are required for this class. For this reason, and because it concerns many broad political patterns, both in their contemporary and historical dimensions, this course in political geography is intended for students in political science, history, and international economics and cultural affairs, as well as those in geography. Course Topics and Readings   |   Course Policies   |   Assignments and Exams About the Course This course has a number of objectives. Its primary goal is to develop in the student a richer understanding of the contemprary world through an analysis of timely political topics and their spatial contexts. Necessarily, this understanding requires an appreciation of the historical context of many events, creating a secondary objective for the course. Learning various place locations and related facts, while necessary, is only a tertiary objective. To meet these goals, this course employs a variety of teaching modes. Lectures provide much of the fundamental information, but student projects, case studies, article discussions, and writing assignments build on this base. Texts Martin Ira Glassner. Political Geography, 2nd ed. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996). Deborah J. Gerner. One Land, Two Peoples: The Conflict over Palestine, 2nd ed. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994). Back to the V.U. GeoMet Home Page Last revised January 3, 2001, by JTK.