In this introductory unit we will discuss the discipline of Geography by exploring the key questions geographers ask about the world. Students will be encouraged to apply a spatial perspective to any topic they are interested in.
In this unit we explore the concept of the cultural landscape and understand how different cultures use, appropriate, and subvert public space. We will have a case study on the unique ways Indigenous, Spanish, and Anglo groups create plazas in New Mexico.
Reading(s):
"Bupingeh: The Middle-Heart Place" (Swentzell 2011)
"Hispanic Plazas: A Perspective from a Chimayo Expatriate" (Usner 2011)
In this section we will learn how geographers study pandemics both past and present. We will use core geographic concepts like space-time compression, human-environmental relations, and place to understand the uneven spatial distribution of Covid 19 transmission in Los Angeles.
Readings:
"The fullest look yet at the racial inequity of coronavirus" (Oppel et al 2020)
"Race, Risk, and Workforce Equity in the Coronavirus Economy" (Langston et al 2020)
"African Americans and Latinos alike hit hard by Covid 19" (Pastor 2020)
Gender and sexuality structure our daily experience with place. This section will examine gendered divisions in the built environment with a case study exploring how Muslim women navigate urban space differently before and after 9/11.
Readings:
"Privacy Could Only Be Had in Public: Gay Uses of the Streets" (Chauncey 1995)
In this section we will explore the basic components of how to measure population growth. We will then shift our focus to the prospect of feeding potentially 10 billion people by 2050 and the uneven geographies of this challenge.
Readings:
"Can the Earth Feed 10 Billion People? Humanity has 30 years to find out" (Mann 2018)
For this topic we will understand how social constructs like race and ethnicity are materialized in the built environment. A case study of Confederate Monuments will illuminate how racist power structures become concertized in physical space.
Readings:
"How to fix a National Register of Historic Places that reflects mostly white history" (Bronin 2020)
"The ghosts of migrant dead haunt California. Let's honor them" (Arellano 2021)
"A split of over Floyd memorial. Vigil has been disruptive to some; for others, that's the point." (Ganguli 2021)
"America's concentration camps and other injustices" in Shadowed Ground, America's Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy (Foote 2003)
"State Park with ties to racist past renamed. Restoring the area's Indigenous identity is part of a broad effort by officials to rectify derogatory names" (Seidman 2021)
This section will cover the diverse origins of migrants to the United States and their settlement patterns across the country. We will also examine how US migration laws were historically motivated by racial exclusion.
Readings:
"The Green Book: African American Experiences of Travel and Place in the US" (NEH.gov)
"Sundown Towns database" (Loewen 2021)
In our Economic Geography section we will explore the uneven spatial distribution of economic processes across our planet. We will use a case study exploring the location of Amazon warehouse distribution centers to illuminate the unequal distribution of economic activities.
Readings:
"Hardship on Mexico's farms, a bounty for U.S. tables" (Marosi 2014)
"Amazon, poverty are neighbors here" (Mendoza 2021)
In our first of three urban geography sections, we will seek to understand the origins of class segregation in US urban areas. As a case study, we will explore why lower income communities of color are disproportionately burdened with environmental toxins and pollution in Los Angeles.
Readings:
"Port Pollution Sickens my Family. That's Violence" (Victor Andasan 2021)
"Rethinking Environmental Racism: White Privilege and Urban Development in Southern California" (Pulido 2000)
"Pollution, Poverty, and People of Color: Living with Industry" (Kay et al 2012)
"An effort to clear up the air: warehouses and shipping hubs disproportionately pollute communities of color. Regulators are considering new rules" (Barboza 2021)
We continue our urban geography focus by examining the origins of racial segregation in US cities. In this section we will understand how historic processes like redlining and restrictive covenants have lingering impacts on urban space and livelihoods today.
Readings:
"Childhood Asthma: A Lingering Effect of Redlining" (Capps 2019)
"LA's pioneering role in residential segregation" (Slater 2021)
"How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering" (Plumer and Popovich 2020)
In our final urban geography section we will take on the interconnected processes of gentrification, homelessness, food insecurity and housing insecurity. We will explore the geographies of these processes and how they disproportionately impact lower income, BIPOC communities.
Readings:
"Separated by Design: How Some of America's Richest Towns Fight Affordable Housing" (Thomas 2019)
"Want to Solve the Housing Crisis? Take Over Hotels. An interview with Ananya Roy" (Kang 2021)
"To make California affordable, let go of single family zoning" (LA timed editorial staff 2021)
"How much do you need to earn to afford a modest apartment in your state?" (National Low Income Housing Coalition 2021)