GeographyFaculty List
Discipline Representative: A. Sorensen Geography ProgramsMAJOR PROGRAM IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY (ARTS)A Major Program for students interested in Human Geography as an
academic discipline. This Program equips students with the knowledge
and skills needed to understand contemporary social science thought
in the context of the communities, societies, and economies formed
by human populations, and the ways in which location, landscape, and
spatial context shape (and are shaped by) social structures, functioning,
and behaviour. URBAN Geography Concentration SOCIAL/CULTURAL Geography Concentration ENVIRONMENTAL Geography Concentration
Program Requirements This is an interdepartmental program leading to a B.A. degree in
which students combine courses in human geography (GGR prefix) with
courses in physical geography (EES prefix).
Geography CoursesGGRA02H3 The Geography of Global Processes Globalization from the perspective of human geography. The course
examines how the economic, social, political, and environmental changes
that flow from the increasingly global scale of human activities affect
spatial patterns and relationships, the character of regions and places,
and the quality of life of those who live in them. An introduction to the characteristics of modern cities and environmental
issues, and their interconnections. Linkages between local and global
processes are emphasized. Major topics include urban forms and systems,
population change, the complexity of environmental issues such as
climate change and water scarcity, planning for sustainable cities. Confirmatory causal modeling and GIS; map as model; GIS data input;
cartographic and GIS data structures; data errors and editing; elementary
spatial analysis; measurement; map comparison; classification; statistical
surfaces; spatial arrangement; privacy issues. Many of today's key debates - for instance, on globalization, the
environment, and cities - draw heavily from geographical thinking
and what some have called the "spatial turn" in the social sciences.
This course introduces the most important methodological and theoretical
aspects of contemporary geographical and spatial thought, and serves
as a foundation for other upper level courses in Geography. This course will develop understanding of the geographic nature of
urban systems and the internal spatial patterns and activities in
cities. Emphasis is placed on the North American experience with some
examples from other regions of the world. The course will explore
the major issues and problems facing contemporary urban society and
the ways they are analysed. The reciprocal relations between spatial structures and social identities.
The course examines the role of social divisions such as class, 'race'/ethnicity,
gender and sexuality in shaping the social geographies of cities and
regions. Particular emphasis is placed on space as an arena for the
construction of social relations and divisions. This foundational course explores different conceptions of 'the environment'
as they have changed through space and time. It also analyzes the
emergence of different variants of environmentalism and their contemporary
role in shaping environmental policy and practice. Examines the geographical distribution of disease and the spatial
processes in which diseases are embedded. Themes include spatial theories
of health and disease and uneven development and health. Special attention
will be given to the geographical dimension of the HIV pandemic. Following on GGRA30H3, this
course teaches intermediate GIS (e.g. generalization, spatial intelligence,
and visualization) and spatial analysis methods (e.g. K-functions,
Markov chains, redistricting and location-allocation, simulation,
and spatial patterns for points and lines) with a focus on the use
and interpretation of census data. Examines religious movements, faith-based practices, and secularism
with an emphasis on transnational flows and contentious sites. Includes
discussion of immigrant and transnational community formations, faith-based
welfare and class formation, fundamentalisms and social movements,
conflict and violence, and debates concerning gender and sexuality. An independent supervised reading course open only to students in
the Major Program in Human Geography. An independent literature review
research project will be carried out under the supervision of an individual
faculty member. An examination of the geographical dimension to human population
through the social dynamics of fertility, mortality and migration.
Themes include disease epidemics, international migration, reproductive
technologies, and changing family structure. Household production; household governance and contracting; household
economic behaviour, housing demand, life course and housing career;
housing policy and markets; dwelling maintenance and neighbourhood;
social mix and segregation. Examination and discussion of current trends and issues in social
geography, with particular emphasis on recent developments in concepts
and methods. Specific content will vary from year to year. Examines global urbanization processes and the associated transformation
of governance, social, economic, and environmental structures particularly
in the global south. Themes include theories of development, migration,
transnational flows, socio-spatial polarization, postcolonial geographies
of urbanization. Examination and discussion of current trends and issues in urban
geography, with particular emphasis on recent developments in concepts
and methods. Specific content will vary from year to year. Geographical approach to the politics of contemporary cities with
emphasis on theories and structures of urban political processes and
practices. Includes nature of local government, political powers of
the property industry, big business and community organizations and
how these shape the geography of cities. Examination and discussion of current trends and issues in environmental
geography, with particular emphasis on recent developments in concepts
and methods. Specific content will vary from year to year. Explores how politics, the economy, history and culture shape, and
are shaped by interactions of people with the physical environment.
Analysis moves beyond the roles government and interest groups in
shaping environmental policies, to expanding our understanding of
'politics' in (i) environmental discourses and knowledge; (ii) economic
systems; (iii) regimes of natural resource ownership and use; and
(iv) everyday struggles within and between communities and interest
groups as they shape human-nature relationships. Explores the processes through which segments of societies come to
understand their natural surroundings, the social relations that produce
those understandings, popular representations of nature, and how 'the
environment' serves as a consistent basis of social struggle and contestation. Land reform, which entails the redistribution of private and public
lands, is broadly associated with struggles for social justice. It
embraces issues concerning how land is transferred (through forceful
dispossession, law, or markets), and how it is currently held. Land
inequalities exist all over the world, but they are more pronounced
in the developing world, especially in countries that were affected
by colonialism. Land issues, including land reform, affect most development
issues. This course addresses the translation of environmentalisms into formalized
processes of environmental governance; and examines the development
of environmental institutions at different scales, the integration
of different forms of environmental governance, and the ways in which
processes of governance relate to forms of environmental practice
and management. Location of a firm; market formation and areas; agricultural location;
urban spatial equilibrium; trade and spatial equilibrium; locational
competition; equilibrium for an industry; trade and location. Examines knowledge theory and Indigenous worldviews, environmental
philosophies and values, and their relations to practice. Students
will be introduced to Indigenous Knowledge as it pertains to the environment
through exposure to community people, political leaders, academics,
activists, and scholars. Changing social, economic and environmental relations of agriculture
in the late twentieth century. Includes expansion of global agribusiness,
how this has affected conditions of agriculture at the farm and regional
level and problems of achieving sustainable agriculture and food systems
in an international development context. Explores the practice of ethnography (i.e. participant observation)
within and outside the discipline of geography, and situates this
within current debates on methods and theory. Topics include: the
history of ethnography, ethnography within geography, current debates
within ethnography, the "field," and ethnography and "development". This course examines issues of urban form and structure, urban growth
and planning in the Toronto region. Current trends in population,
housing, economy, environment, governance, transport, urban design
and planning practices at the local level and the regional scale will
be examined critically. The last 50 years have seen dramatic growth in the global share of
population living in megacities over 10 million population, with most
growth in the global south. Such giant cities present distinctive
infrastructure, health, water supply, and governance challenges, which
are increasingly central to global urban policy and health. Examination and discussion of current trends and issues in human
geography, with particular emphasis on recent developments in concepts
and methods. Specific content will vary from year to year. Seminar
format with active student participation. Deals with two main topics: the origins of environmental problems
in the global spread of industrial capitalism, and environmental conservation
and policies. Themes include: changes in human-environment relations,
trends in environmental problems, the rise of environmental awareness
and activism, environmental policy, problems of sustainable development. Examines the localized consequences of global processes. Toronto
will be used as a site for understanding how individuals interact
with and experience the effects of globalizing forces differently
based on their unique conditions of life and how they respond to the
challenges and opportunities of a globalized world. How have social and economic conditions deteriorated for many urban
citizens? Is the geographic gap widening between the rich and the
poor? This course will explore the following themes: racialization
of poverty, employment and poverty, poverty and gender socio-spatial
polarization, and housing and homelessness. Cultural Politics and political economy of travel and mobilities
across time and space. Covers migration and immigration, tourism and
travel encounters, diaspora and displacement, religious missions and
pilgrimmages, study abroad and working holiday, transportation and
communication technologies, and narratives of time travel. Addresses
how these extraordinary and everyday mobilities and immobilities inform
geographies of race, gender, sexuality, and nation. An independent studies course open only to students in the Major
Program in Human Geography. An independent studies project will be
carried out under the supervision of an individual faculty member Designed for final-year Human Geography Majors, this seminar is devoted
to analysis and discussion of advanced theoretical and methodological
issues in Environmental Geography. Specific content will vary from
year to year. Seminar format with active student participation. How do gender relations shape different spaces? We will explore how
feminist geographers have approached these questions from a variety
of scales - from the home, to the body, to the classroom, to the city,
to the nation, drawing on the work of feminist geographers. Examines links between health and human sexuality. Particularly explores
sexually transmitted infections. Attention will be given to the socially
and therefore spatially constructed nature of sexuality. Other themes
include sexual violence, masculinities and health, reproductive health,
and transnational relationships and health. Examples will be taken
from a variety of countries. Designed for final-year Human Geography Majors, this reading-intensive
seminar course develops analytical and methodological skills in socio-spatial
analysis. We explore major theoretical/methodological traditions in
geography including positivism, humanism, Marxism, and feminism, and
major analytical categories such as place, scale, and networks. Particularly
recommended for students intending to apply to graduate school. Designed for final-year Human Geography Majors, this seminar is devoted
to analysis and discussion of current theoretical and methodological
issues in human geography. Specific content will vary from year to
year. Seminar format with active student participation. From Tiger Woods to Mariah Carey, the popular mixed race phenomenon
has captured the popular imagination and revealed the contradictory
logic of categorization underpinning racial divisions. We will explore
the complexities of racial identity formation to illuminate the experiences
of those who fall outside the prevailing definitions of racial identities. Designed for final-year Human Geography Majors, this seminar is devoted
to analysis and discussion of current theoretical and methodological
issues in urban geography. Specific content will vary from year to
year. Seminar format with active student participation. |
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