Course project: PLACING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Paper instructions:
GEOG/ I/ST 355i Course project: PLACING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Due in class: proposal (2-4 pages) on Sept 17; 8-10 pages on Dec 1 (bibliography, images and map(s) are a must and in addition to the 8-10 pages). Please double-space everything you turn in.
As an integrative science, Geography’s approach is to unpack and ameliorate complex physical and human situations. As linkages between us, across the world, are more fluid, evident and consequential, the contribution that can come from Geography stands to be ever more important. With this project, you are stepping into the discipline’s integrative tradition, and are asked to localize environmental issues, as well as any remedies/actions these have occasioned.
Select one of these project choices:
Choice A: Select a region or country (not the US) and identify 3 of its environmental issues and the various perspectives for each of them. First provide a relevant and insightful demographic, economic and political examination of the region in question.
Then describe each of the 3 selected environmental problems, their origin and magnitude, and to a lesser extent what is being done about them. You need to also give an assessment of how you see the future of each issue in the short and long term. Please note that the solution may lie elsewhere than ‘there.’
Choice B: Select a region or country (not the US) and identify 3 environmental NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) at work there. Describe the region’s context (demographic, social, political, …), the NGOs themselves, what work they each conduct in that region, what success and failure they have had and why/how, and what solution they might consider in the future. Please note that the solution may lie elsewhere than with them or ‘there.’
For either choice, your paper will need to be very well organized and structured, and thus to provide an introduction to the issues/local context (including economic context) and a roadmap to your paper; the body (divided into parts – with subheadings – that follow a well-defined logic, and with transitional sentences in between); and a meaningful conclusion that first summarizes your paper and highlights its logic, and then completes the paper by stating how your overview has contributed to uncover a new and better understanding of the issues.
Start by choosing your topic thoughtfully and realistically: what interests you? What would you like to know more about? How hard will it be to find recent information in English (for instance) about this topic? What is the quality of this information? Be ambitious and search deeply.
Beyond clear writing, I value organization, honesty, and imagination. Must be 12 font, Times New Roman preferred, no back to back pages.
Your 2-4 page proposal should include:
Your choice (A or B)
Your region of focus
Your three issues (or NGOs)
Your logic behind these three choices (show me you’re thinking ahead in terms of availability of information and of the organizing logic behind your paper)
An outline
A bibliography and any question you’d like to ask of me regarding your project
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