Noon-12:50 p.m. MW: Yokum 207, Friday: Hawkins 23 Dr.

Jennifer Mapes Office Hours: 215 Ward Hall TTh 11 a.m.-1 p.m. or by appointment Email: jennifer.mapes@plattsburgh.edu

GEG 319: Geography of New York State

This course examines environmental, economic, and social issues in New York State. We are interested in the state as a whole, but as geographers, there is particular focus on regional trends, in particular, the influence of history and environment on contemporary issues and conflicts. As a geography course, the focus of our discussions will also be on the overlap of, and competition between, our desire to achieve environmental health, economic viability, and social justice. In creating this course, I discovered that the only college-level textbook was last published in 1977. There is also no sufficient online source that compiles data on or a description of New York State geography. Our goal, therefore, is to create this source. Your class project is to create an Atlas of New York State. In this class you will write about New Yorks regions and their environmental, economic, and social geographies. You will also learn how to search for data to create maps that illustrate this geography. You will also learn the skills necessary to curate a list of links that provide more information on your region in each of these categories. All of these will contribute to a class-built website, which we will create during our final exam period.

Course objectives
Describe the regions, physical features, and demographic features of New York State, including environmental, social, and economic geographies. Explain why these geographies exist in New York State, placing them in environmental and historic context. Be able to broadly describe and discuss the causes of contemporary economic, social, and environmental conflicts in New York State. Acquire skills in online map-making, cartography, and online publishing. Learn how to search for and find sources of geospatial data that can be used for making maps. Learn how to evaluate websites for content and quality.

Required texts
Readings are provided on Moodle and/or as handouts in class. The schedule of readings is listed below. 1

Course schedule
Week 1: Jan. 30-Feb. 3 Week 2: Feb. 6-Feb. 10 Week 3: Feb. 13-Feb. 17 Monday Atlas Project Introduction Biomes Guest lecture: Dr. Schultz Early Manhattan Excerpt from Manahatta: A Natural History of New York City, Eric Sanderson. Online questions due Erie Canal "This Wilderness Becomes a Fertile Plain from The Nature of New York, David Stradling. Online questions due Regional overview due Adirondack Park II Prepare for debate in class Urban Parks Parks in New York City: A cultural and literary companion by Eric Homberger. Online questions due Wednesday Introduction to NYS Moon Guide Soils Guest lecture: Dr. Fuller Hudson River Introduction and "20th Century waters," in The Hudson: A history, Tom Lewis. Adirondack Park I Last half of Contested Terrain, Philip G. Terrie. Friday LAB: Moodle & HTML LAB: Finding data

LAB: Online mapping tools Data due

Week 4: Feb. 20-Feb. 24

LAB: Workshop

Week 5: Feb. 27-Mar. 2 Week 6: Mar. 6-Mar. 9

Big Tupper Debate

LAB: Workshop Data due LAB: Workshop Data due

Environmental Justice Tracing Mans Progress in Making the Planet Uninhabitable," from The Nature of New York, David Stradling.

Week 7: SPRING BREAK Week 8: Mar. 19-Mar. 23

Week 9: Mar. 26-Mar. 30

Agriculture The Agronomy of Dairy Farming, Cornell University, G. Fick and W. Cox. A Dairy Farm cant Lay off the Cows, New York Times, Peter Applebome. Deserting Wall Street for the Farm, New York Times, Bill Finley. Exam due Online questions due Tourism "Forward" by William Cronon, and "Introduction" from Making Mountains: New York City and the Catskills, David Stradling Online questions due

Hydrofracking Drilling debate in Cooperstown, New York Times, Peter Applebome. Marcellus Shale, Department of Environmental Conservation.

LAB: Creating HTML Environmental map / links due

Downtown redevelopment The Battle of (Downtown) Saratoga, Metroland, Ashley Hahnn; and Can it Happen Here? (Troy), Metroland, Chet Hardin

LAB: Online mapping tools Data due

Week 10: Apr. 2-Apr. 6

The prison economy Big Prisons, Small Towns: Prison Economics in Rural America, King et al., The Sentencing Project. Online questions due Gentrification Williamsburg on the Hudson, New York Times, Peter Applebome; and Are towns outside of NYC feeling the effects of rural gentrification? Community and Rural Development Institute, Clairborne Walthall Online questions due Apologies to the Iroquois Excerpt from Apologies to the Iroquois, Edmund Wilson Exam due Politics "Timeline" from Albany: Capital City on the Hudson, Online questions John J. McEneny. Online questions due Population decline Upstate New Yorks Population Plateau, Brookings Institute, Rolf Pendall. Online questions due New York City I "Harlem" from New York City: A cultural and literary companion by Eric Homberger. Online questions due

New Yorks Rust Belt Can Buffalo Ever Come Back? City Journal, Edward Glaeser and What It Will Take, ArtVoice, Bruce Fisher. Plattsburghs Post-Air Force-Base Economy Redefining Plattsburgh: Base closure took big part of communitys identity, Press Republican (Associated Press), Michael Hill.

LAB: Workshop Data due

Week 11: Apr. 9-13

LAB: Workshop Data due

Week 12 Apr. 16-20

Week 13 Apr. 23-27

Burned Over District Introduction, Grassroots reform in the burned-over district of upstate New York, Judith Wellman Gold Coast of Long Island (YouTube: On Moodle) Preserving the Gems of the Gold Coast, New York Times, Marcelle Fischler. Refugee resettlement TBA

LAB: More on HTML Economic map & links due Online questions due LAB: Online mapping tools Data due

Week 14 Apr. 30-May 4

LAB: Workshop Data due

Week. 15 May 8-12

New York City II "Mannahatta" New York City: A cultural and literary companion by Eric Homberger.

LAB: Workshop Data due

Course assessment
Atlas Project (50%) Maps (24%) Environmental Map (6%): Due March 23 Economic Map (8%): Due April 20 Social Map (10%): Due May 14 Maps will be created in Friday labs as well as outside of class. You may work with a partner, but choose carefully as you will share responsibility for the final product. You may not create a map using the same data or specific topic as another student/group. Claim your data/topic as soon as possible in the forum on Moodle. You must submit a detailed and properly cited description and analysis of what your map shows, following guidelines provided in class. Regional Overview (5%): Due Feb. 13 You must sign up for a region that you will work on throughout the semester. If you have a special regional request, please email me before the second class of the semester. Otherwise regions will be assigned randomly. No more than two people can work on the same region. Regional Annotated Links (15%) Links will be submitted to the database on Moodle and will be properly hyperlinked, given the instructions provided in class. Links will be annotated as described in the instructions. Environmental Links (5%): Due March 23 Economic Links (5%): Due April 20 Social Links (5%): Due May 14 Compiled Web Page on your region (6%): Due May 14 The final product of your work will be an HTML version of your overview, links, and images, and any associated files. You will learn how to create HTML in the class. Weekly Moodle submissions (20%) Reading study guide (10%): Due Monday by 10 a.m. Each week (as noted on the course schedule and Moodle), you will submit a study guide with three suggested essay questions and a list of key words or concepts (4-6) that are important for understanding the region and/or topic discussed in the reading. Data for mapping submitted to Database on Moodle (10%): Due Friday by 10 a.m. Provide an annotated link to data that relates to the weeks topic that can be used in creating a map. While the link can be to a web page, the data that you are linking to should be .xls (Excel), .kmz or .kml (Google Earth), .shp and associated files (ArcExplorer). We will spend time the first week of class discussing what these files are and how to find them. Take-home essay exams: Due March 19, April 16, May 18 (3) (20%) Essay exams will be posted on Moodle and will be made up of student-submitted questions. The questions will be posted immediately after we discuss the topic in class, so you will have plenty of opportunity to work ahead. 4

Attendance & Participation (10%) Attendance (5%) Attendance is mandatory, after three unexcused absences, you will lose credit off this portion of your grade. Excused absences require either a note from a doctor, pre-approval for a school-related activity, or evidence of a family emergency. Participation (5%) Daily participation=5%, No participation=0%

College Honor Code

It is expected that all students enrolled in this class support the letter and the spirit of the Academic Honesty Policy as stated in the College Catalog. This is your first and final warning against plagiarism and other forms of cheating. If you plagiarize, you will not have an opportunity to redo the work, will be reported to the University, and may fail the class.

Electronic communication policy

The best way to communicate with me is always in person. See me before or after class, or during my office hours. My emails I will post non-pressing announcements on Moodle and discuss them in class. Any timesensitive announcements will be sent to your school address. If you are having trouble accessing your school address, please let me know. Otherwise, I will expect you to receive my message during regular business hours. Similarly, I will check my email during business hours (M-F 8 am to 5 pm), but rarely check , my school email nights and weekends. Please do not expect an immediate response. If I have not responded to your email within 48 hours, a polite reminder email is fine. Your emails Please send emails from an address associated with your real name. Yahoo, Hotmail, and Gmail accounts may not be recognizable as student emails and may be ignored. Follow proper email etiquette. This includes an informative subject line, a salutation (Dear Professor Mapes, or Dear Dr. Mapes, or just Professor Mapes,), your full name, and what class you are in. I do not answer questions that are answered on the syllabus (such as, What did I miss? or What are your office hours? or Where is your office?). Please check here first!