The
Power of Place: Geography for the 21st Century
UNIT 1.
INTRODUCTION: GLOBALIZATION AND WORLD REGIONS
Program
1. One Earth, Many Scales
Lost
in Space? Geography Training for Astronauts
Preparation for a NASA Shuttle mission provides context
for introducing key issues in physical geography and human-environmental
interaction.
Globalization
and Revolt
Why do the forces of globalization seem to draw some places
closer together and cause others to pull farther apart?
Program
2. Boundaries and Borderlands
Twin
Cities, Divided Lives
A single Mexican mother's daily struggle for survival
introduces us to concepts of relative location and geographic
regions.
Operation
Hold the Line
The U.S.-Mexico borderlands form a unified cultural and
economic region with qualities of both nations.
UNIT 2.
EUROPE
Program
3. Supranationalism and Devolution
Strasbourg:
Symbol of a United Europe
The city of Strasbourg is one locus of power in an increasingly
supranationalist Europe.
Slovakia:
New Sovereignty
Since Czechoslovakia separated into the Czech Republic
and Slovakia, how have the Slovaks fared?
Program
4. East Looks West
Berlin:
United We Stand
Berlin is now capital of a reunified Germany and a symbol
of a more unified Europe. But the integration of East
Berlin requires urban reorganization and economic expansion.
Poland:
Diffusion of Democracy
Strategies for spreading democracy through Poland required
a decidedly spatial approach.
Program
5. The Transforming Industrial Heartland
Liverpool:
A Tale of Two Cities
Can European Union investment and the growth of service
industries turn the tide of economic decline?
Randstad:
Preserving the Green Heart
Small, crowded Netherlands strives to maintain its transportation
connections while preserving dwindling green space.
Program
6. Challenges in the Hinterlands
Andalucia:
Developments in the Hinterlands
Spanish Andalucia struggles to move beyond tourism and
agriculture to integrate with the Europe's heartland.
Iceland:
Edge of the Habitable World
At the borders of the habitable world, Iceland must balance
sustainable fish harvests with social costs.
UNIT 3.
RUSSIA AND NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES
Program
7. Northwest Contrast
St.
Petersburg: Russia's Window on the West
What challenges continue to face this Russian port in
post-Soviet society?
Vologda:
Russian Farming in Flux
How have previously state-owned collective farms changed
with privatization?
Program
8. Holding the Hinterlands
Dagestan:
Caucuses Disconnect?
The ethnically diverse, Islamic republic of Dagestan contrasts
with neighboring Chechnya where rebels fight for independence.
Bratsk:
The Legacy of Central Planning
Communist ambitions create the world's largest hydroelectric
project followed by a Russian city in the middle of Siberia.
UNIT 4.
EAST ASIA
Program
9. Changes on the Chang Jiang
Shanghai:
Head of the Dragon
Shanghai enters the 21st Century on a wave of development,
ready to reclaim its legacy as China's commercial center.
Sijia:
Small Town, Big Change
The steady growth of a township enterprise illustrates
three great contrasts in modern China: rural vs. urban;
agricultural vs. industrial; coastal vs. interior.
Program
10. The Booming Maritime Edge
Guangdong:
Globalization in the Pearl River Delta
This program explores globalization and the effects of
modernization on Chinese society.
Taiwan:
High-Tech Tiger
What factors contributed to Taiwan's emergence as a high-tech
powerhouse?
Program
11. A Challenge for Two Old Cities
Lanzhou:
Confluence of Cultures
We travel to the frontiers of Han and Muslim China in
the city of Lanzhou.
Shenyang:
Hope for China's Rust Belt?
A previously dynamic industrial city continues to struggle
with modernizing its manufacturing infrastructure.
Program
12. Small Farms, Big Cities
Northern
Japan: Protecting the Harvest
Japanese rice farmers battle destructive weather in order
to save their crops.
Tokyo:
Anatomy of a Mega-City
The continuing expansion of the Tokyo megalopolis leads
to ever longer commutes and demand for suburban housing.
UNIT 5.
SOUTHEAST ASIA AND SOUTH PACIFIC
Program
13. The Mainland
Laos:
Isolated Heart
Laos is emerging from isolation to join the global economy
as an exporter of hydroelectric power.
Vietnam:
Fertile Dreams
As the world's second largest rice exporter, Vietnam's
booming economy is evident in the explosive growth of
Ho Chi Minh City.
Program
14. The Maritime Connection
Indonesia:
Tourist Invasion
Why was Bali a target for terrorists? We explore the underlying
tourist industry on this once peaceful island.
Multi-Cultural
Malaysia
Amidst growing pressures from Islamic militants, social
and economic programs seek to build tolerance among Malaysia's
diverse cultures.
Program
15. Global Interaction
Singapore:
Gateway to Southeast Asia
High-tech infrastructure, a well-educated workforce and
strict government repression have all helped Singapore
become a pre-eminent port and one of the wealthiest cities
in the world.
Australia:
New Links to Asia
Australia shifts its trade from Europe to the Asian "economic
tigers."
UNIT 6.
SOUTH ASIA
Program
16. Urban and Rural Contrasts
Delhi:
Bursting at the Seams
The ever-expanding capital of India continues to act as
a magnet, pulling millions of Indians away from the hardships
of the rural countryside.
Dikhatpura:
Help through Irrigation
In rural India, creating sustainable agricultural development
proves a challenging proposition.
UNIT 7.
NORTHERN AFRICA AND SOUTHWESTERN ASIA
Program
17. Sacred Space, Secular States?
Jerusalem:
Capital of Two States?
Can the historical and political geography of this holy
city provide clues to a peaceful resolution between Jews
and Palestinians?
Turkey:
Fundamental Change
At the edge of Europe, Turkey hopes to take economic advantage
of its proximity to the western world.
Program
18. Oil and Water
Egypt:
Gift of the Nile
This program investigates Egypt's limited natural resources,
focusing on that nation's dependence on the Nile River.
Oman:
Looking Beyond Oil
Having benefited greatly from its relatively modest oil
reserves, Oman looks to diversify its economy for future
growth.
UNIT 8.
AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA
Program
19. Strength to Overcome
South
Africa: This Land Is My Land
South Africa continues to face many challenges in redressing
the land inequities under apartheid.
Kenya:
Medical Geography
AIDS has become one of the biggest killers in Kenya. How
can geography help understand disease?
Program
20. Developing Countries
Cote
d'Ivoire: Cocoa and Change
Cote d'Ivoire has long been the world's largest producer
of cocoa, but has recently faced economic downturns and
loss of its historically stable government.
Gabon:
Sustainable Resources?
In one of Africa's wealthiest countries, oil revenues
have declined, putting new pressure on the country's timber
resources.
UNIT 9.
LATIN AMERICA
Program
21. Population Geography
Mexico:
Motive to Migrate
A geographer's research reveals a major source of Mexican
migration: the North-Central 'Hollow Core.'
Guatemala:
Population and Conquest
Every year a greater number of Maya Indian victims of
"continuing conquest" must share inadequate
agricultural resources.
Program
22. The Dynamic Pacific Rim
Ecuador:
Orange Alert
When scientists monitoring the Tungurahua Volcano see
dangerous signs, they have to advise the government: evacuate
or remain?
Chile:
Pacific Rim Player
Bordered to the east by the towering Andes Mountains,
and on the west by the Pacific Ocean, Chile enjoys continued
economic growth.
Program
23. Brazil: The Sleeping Giant
Sao
Paulo: The Outer Ring
The sprawling mega-city of Sao Paulo is evidence that
Latin America is among the most rapidly urbanizing regions.
A
Second Chance for Amazonia?
An American scientist discovers new possibilities for
sustainable development in the Amazon basin.
UNIT 10.
NORTH AMERICA
Program
24. Cityscapes, Suburban Sprawl
Boston:
Ethnic Mosaic
How has federal empowerment zone funding helped Boston's
diverse but poor neighborhoods?
Chicago:
Farming on the Edge
As in many areas of the US, suburban Chicago just keeps
expanding into the surrounding countryside.
Program
25. Ethnic Fragmentation in Canada
Vancouver:
Hong Kong East
Prior to the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong, thousands
of wealthy businessmen moved their families to Vancouver
causing a collision of cultures. What has happened since
1997?
Montreal:
An Island of French
Trying to preserve their culture, Quebec welcomes immigrants
and pays to teach them French.
Program
26. Regions and Economies
Oregon:
A Fight for Water
Native Americans and farmers compete for a scarce resource:
water.
U.S.
Midwest: Spatial Innovations
In the U.S. Midwest, an influx of Japanese automakers
has brought more than just new factories to this once
declining manufacturing region.
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