Geography 500 (Fall 2008)
Global Environment and
Sustainable Development

Class Announcements

I have created a poster template in -PowerPoint- It is formatted to be 36 x 48. I have provided a general layout of the cells. Typically the top banner is the title, author and institution information. The Three cells are the main content, and the bottom banner contains acknowledgements, works cited, and other reference material. You are not required to use this layout but you are required to have a poster formatted to the size of this layout.

For your oral research presentation, here are some suggestions as to layout and content. I have changed the requirement slightly. Orignally the length was supposed to be 20 minutes, I have reduced that to 10 minutes maximum, with 5 minutes for questions (Groups will be expected to present for 20 minutes, 10 minutes per member and 5 minutes for question). For your presentation:

• Title Page - Identify your project with a good solid title, with your name (and partner's name if appropriate), and your major.
• Introduction (3 minutes) - this is the first substantive slide. This slide should identify what you are doing, why you are doing it (its importance)
• Objectives and Goals (3 minutes) - What are you goals and objectives for doing this research? What do you plan to learn/figure out/devise/etc?
• Methods (3 minutes) - How are you, specifically, going to achieve your goals and objectives?
• Initial Findings and Results (4 minutes) - What have you achieved to date (beyond your proposal). What conclusions, or other intitial findings can be done? For many this should be at least a literature review.
• Conclusions and What's Next (2 minutes) - What are you planning on doing next?

That is a basic structure. Make sure you convey what your doing, why your doing it, how you are doing it, plus any results you may have to date.

Class Overview

The accumulating impact of environmental problems on our lives has created a public awareness that environmentalists could only dream about twenty years ago. However, within our complex consumer society many of these “impacts” cannot be readily mitigated due to “needs” that they full fill. Furthermore, we have evolved into a society were environmental sustainability means anti-economy and economic growth means anti-sustainability. This course looks to analyze this multi-faceted problem with specific reference to sustainability within the urban and rural environments, as well as within the developed and developing worlds.

This course is not designed to convert your philosophy to a pro-conservationist or pro-development perspective. It is meant to inform and educate. You will be challenged to think from “the other perspective” as well as to challenge your own ideals. You will not be judged or criticized for your beliefs, but you will be asked to rationally justify them.