SYLLABUS 
Geography 446: Cultural Biogeography
Sec. C552       CA 211       Wed. 5:45-8:25 p.m.

Topic: "Cultural biogeography" is the study of human-caused changes in plant and animal distributions. Each time this course is taught, it focuses on some specific topic in cultural biogeography. Past courses have considered agriculture and domestication, tropical deforestation, and island biogeography. This semester, we will examine human rearrangement of plant and animal patterns in North America north of Mexico, including modification of natural vegetation communities, introduction and spread of alien species, and the decline and extinction of native species.

I have organized the course by major ecoregions, proceeding more or less from east to west, much like European settlement. However, we will spend more time studying human impact on the forests and grasslands of eastern and central North America than other regions, because that is the emphasis of the course text.

Format of weekly meetings: This is a seminar course, which means it is based on reading and discussion rather than lectures, and it is a joint effort of professor and students. One or two students will take responsibility for each weekly discussion. We will meet in advance to choose what topics to emphasize, select appropriate readings, formulate the outline of topics to be covered, determine any specific case studies to be presented, and in some cases select videos to be shown during class.

During class, the student(s) in charge will lead the discussion, with help from me where needed, and usually each present a case study from sources other than the general class readings. I will also make short case-study presentations sometimes. At the end of each session, we will usually spend a half hour or so preparing for the following week. Students in charge of that next session will present the reading list and discussion topics, and I will often give a short background lecture.

Optional field trip: The week after finals, I plan to offer a 5-7-day field trip to see firsthand some of the impacts we have discussed in class. This trip is optional, but I hope that most, if not all, students in the course can participate. Those who do so will help plan the trip as part of the course grade; those who can't will write a term paper about some aspect of human impact on North American biotic patterns. Trip planning will include both logistics (the route, transportation, lodging) and site visits, including identification of background readings, tours, and interviews with local experts. The term paper will be a 20-page literature review paper, which ideally will extend some topic on which you have led class discussion.

Background assumed: This is a senior-level course, in which some readings will be drawn from primary research in biogeography and ecology. I will assume that all students have a background in geography and biogeography, including introductory physical and human geography (G107, G110) and the general biogeography course (G307), or alternative preparation to compensate. This course profits from participation of students with a variety of backgrounds, so I hope not to bar anyone with adequate background and a high level of interest.

Materials: The required text for about the first half of the course is From Coastal Wilderness to Fruited Plain , a good new treatment of human-caused biotic change in the temperate eastern U.S. by Gordon Whitney, a forest ecologist. There will be supplemental readings from external sources, particularly in the second half of the course, where we need to go beyond Whitney's book. The new second edition of North American Terrestrial Vegetation, edited by Billings and Barbour, is available for those wanting background reading about the vegetation; I will often draw in it for background lectures. It is not required.

Requirements for grade:

1. Attendance and participation: Because the quality of the seminar depends so heavily on your contribution, 20% of your grade will be based on attendance and contribution to discussions. To receive the maximum credit, you must attend all meetings (for the full evening) and consistently take an active and informed part in discussions. This means reading all of the assigned readings, formulating responses to the discussion questions, and raising questions or ideas of your own. A seminar is no place for passivity; regardless of your personal disposition, you must take part for the seminar to succeed.

2. Leadership of discussions: Each student in the class will help plan and present about 2-3 discussion sessions, as described above. You will receive a separate grade for each session based on your role in planning the sessions in advance, finding appropriate readings, and guiding the in-class events. Together, these grades will form 50% of your course grade.

3. Trip planning/term paper: As noted above you must do one or the other; either will constitute 30% of the course grade. Students who choose to participate in the field trip will of course be expected to go; defaulting on the trip will result in a retroactive grade reduction, amount depending on circumstances. Students who choose the term paper, but decide late to go in the trip, are welcome to go if logistics permit, but they must still complete the paper.
Tentative Course Outline