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| Objectives |
| The study of World Regional Geography
has two objectives. First, it explains the modern world's great geographic realms
and their human and physical contents, their assets and liabilities, links and barriers,
potentials and prospects. Second, it introduces geography itself, the discipline
that links human societies and natural environments. |
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Beginning |
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| The
Challenge |
THE POWER OF PLACE: World Regional
Geography, a geography telecourse, embraces this challenge. The telecourse builds
an understanding of geography by examining the eleven regions of the world and their
interconnections. What are the physical and human patterns found there?
How is each distinguished by a linkage between the human and physical world?
Perspectives from physical, political, historical, economic, and cultural geography
are used to characterize the individual regions.
In this way, viewers gain insight into the distinctive landscapes of the world's
regions and the ways in which they are knit together into a spatial framework. This
telecourse provides a creative and insightful examination of the many geographic
forces currently at work in shaping the complex features of the world's civilizations
and environments. |
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Beginning |
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| Penetrating
insights |
THE POWER OF PLACE: World Regional
Geography includes 26 half-hour programs providing penetrating insights into
a range of geographic issues around the globe. The series is the collaborative effort
of an international team of educational broadcasters and geographers in the U.S.A.,
Australia, France, Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
Principal responsibility for production design and coordination, and for creation
of the maps, was provided by Cambridge Studios in Boston, Massachusetts. This partnership
has created the highest-quality series by allowing each team to develop programs
in proximity to its own base. The geographic diversity of the teams has resulted
in a unique global perspective on the subject of world regional geography. |
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Beginning |
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| 52
stories |
The 26 programs typically contain
two 10 minute documentary-style case-studies.
Each fulfills two major goals: to characterize an individual region within the eleven
geographic realms explored and to communicate an important concept from a variety
of systematic approaches (i.e., physical, political, historical, economic, and cultural).
To motivate the study of geography, we have used television to do what it does best:
to tell compelling stories and to give the veiwers a feel for the placeńsomething
difficult to reproduce in other media. These are stories that really teach geography. |
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Beginning |
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| Stories
of people |
| Each case study tells the story of
people whose lives are shaped by the geographical forces in question. Often, they
are stories about research geographers trying to understand spatial variation in
an era of rapid global change. In every case, we explore a vital regional and conceptional
issue that can be further illuminated trough geographic analysis. Through state-of-the
art computer-generated maps and animation, the programs present these issues in a
highly visual and intellectualy rigorous manner. |
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Beginning |
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| All
over the world |
| The series takes the viewer to Lanzhou,
China, to experience the contrasting lives and livelihoods of its Muslim and Han
Chinese inhabitants; to Iceland, to discover the ways climate and ocean in a particular
location have influenced the prosperity, and recent decline, of its fishing industry;
to Jerusalem, to examine how territorial issues create a distinctive religious and
secular landscape as a result of the Jewish-Palestinian conflict; to Chicago, where
competition between urban and agricultural interests at the edge of the city threaten
prime agricultural land; to Dikhatpura, India, to focus on a small farming village
reliant upon irrigation to overcome the disadvatages of its local environment. In
addition to the case studies, each program provides seven minutes of wrap-around
material designed to strengthen particular geographic concepts and to generalize
from the case, to the larger region or realm. The feature the commentary of noted
geography professor, author, and ABC commentator, H.J. de Blij. |
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Beginning |
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| Geography
based on |
The programs are organized around
the text written by H.J. de Blij and Peter O. Muller, Geography:Realms, Regions
and Concepts.
The authors are the two senior academic advisors for the series. The book is published
by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The course also includes a study guide and faculty
guide, also published by Wiley. |
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Beginning |
| Academic
Advisors for THE POWER OF PLACE |
| AUSTRALIA: Kevin O'Connor,
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia |
| FRANCE: Jacques Levy, Sorbonne
University, Paris, France |
| JAPAN: Kenzo Fujiwara, Hiroshima
University, Hiroshima, Japan |
| THE NETHERLANDS: Rob van der
Vaart, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands |
| SWEDEN: Solveig Martensson,
University of Lund, Lund, Sweden |
| THE UNITED STATES: |
| Osa Brand, Associates of American
Geographers, Washington, D.C. |
| H.J. de Blij, University of South
Florida, St. Petersburg, FL |
| Edward Fernald, Florida State University,
Coral Gables, FL |
| Gil Latz, Portland State University,
Portland, Oregon |
| Dan McDermott, Montgommery College,
Rockville, MD |
| Peter O. Muller, University of Miami,
Coral Gables, FL |
| Richard Williams, U.S. Geological
Survey, Woods Hole,MA |
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| THE POWER OF PLACE: World Regional
Geography
provides a creative and insightful
examination of the many geographic forces currently shaping our contemporary world. |
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Beginning |
| UNITS |
CASE STUDIES |
| Unit
1. Introduction |
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Program 1: Earthly Visions
Introduces the overarching geographical concepts with an emphasis on human/environmental
interaction and physical geography. |
A geographer at NASA teaches astronauts,
and by extension all of humanity, to "see" the Earth in a new way and
to record it photographically |
Program 2: Boundaries and Borderlands
Applies the conceptual tools of the geographer: relative location, distance and scale,
realms and regions, and human/environmental interaction, all through a spatial perspective
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to Beginning |
A single Mexican mother of four children
illegally smuggles cigarettes across the U.S. border into El Paso, Texas, to support
her family, embodying the geographic issues that divide, and unite, these two realms
in a borderland area |
| Unit
2. Europe: Confronting New challenges |
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| Program 3: Supranationalism and
Devolution |
Coexistence of French and German
culture in Stasbourg. |
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Recent birth of Slovakia and Czech
Republic |
| Program 4: East Looks West |
Berlin's transition from a weakened
and divided city to one of emerging importance. |
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Diffusion of democratic ideas throughout
Poland |
| Program 5: The Transforming Industrial
Coreland |
Analysis of Liverpool's once-thriving
industrial economy, fallen to its marginal present-day role. |
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Focus on Randstad-Holland as an integral
part pf the current European core |
| Program 6: Challenges on the Periphery |
The many challenges faced by Iceland,
which exists on the cultural and physical periphery of Europe. |
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Beginning |
Gradual decline of the once-central
but now peripheral Andalucia region of Spain and its hopes for the future. |
| Unit
3. Russia's Fracturing Federation |
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| Program 7: Facing Etnic and Environmental
Diversity |
The question of independence in the
ethnically mixed Republic of Dagestan in the face of the current devolutionary process. |
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The uncertainties of a harsh climate
and poor infrastructure in the Russian countryside around Vologda. |
| Program 8: Central and Remote
Economic Development |
The effects of the shift to a market
economy on real estate values in St. Petersburg |
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Beginning |
The difficulties of industrial production
in Bratsk, Siberia |
| Unit
4. North America: The Post-Industrial Transformation |
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| Program 9: Inner vs. 'Edge' Cities |
An "empowerment zone"
proposal in inner-city Boston. |
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The pressure of suburban growth on
agricultural communities surrounding Chicago. |
| Program 10: Ethnic Fragmentation
in Canada |
The resistance of French-speakers
to domination by English language in Quebec. |
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Vancouver as an emerging Pacific
Rim metropolis |
| Program 11: Regions and Economies |
Competition for water resources in
eastern Oregon. |
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Beginning |
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| Unit
5. The Geographic Dynamic of the Pacific Rim |
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| Program 12: The Japanese Paradox:
Small Farms and Mega-Cities |
Predicting the best rice-farming
methods in Tohoku in Northern Japan. |
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The morning commute of Tokyo businessman. |
| Program 13: Global Interaction |
How Singapore exploits its location
to play a key commercial role in Pacific Asia. |
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Beginning |
Australia's European roots and recent
Asian influences in economic development. |
| Program 14: Migration and Conquest |
Migration patterns both within and
outside of Mexico. |
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Beginning |
The "cycles of consequest"
borne by Maya peoples in Guatemala. |
| Unit
7. Continent of Contrasts |
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| Program 15: Andes and Amazon |
Monitoring volcanic activity in Ecuador. |
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"Sustainable development"
for the Amazon in northeast Brazil's Pára State |
| Program 16: Accelerating Growth |
Urban homesteaders in São
Paulo, Brazil. |
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Beginning |
The lure of an export economy in
Santiago, Chili. |
| Unit
8. North Africa/Southwest Asia: The Challenge of Islam |
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| Program 17: Sacred Space under
Siege? |
Mapping the spatial variation in
religious practice in Jerusalem. |
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Gaps between rich and poor, secural
and fundamentalist, Turks in Istanbul. |
| Program 18: Population, Food Supply,
and Energy Development |
Rapid population growth and agriculture
in Egypt. |
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Beginning |
Oil revenue, Muslim life, and new
industries in Oman |
| Unit
9. Sub-Saharan Africa: Realms of Reversals |
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| Program 19: The legacy of Colonization |
Disparity between elite and poor
in the Ivory Coast. |
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A failed attempt at growth and poorly
developed infra-structure in Gabon. |
| Program 20: Understanding Sickness,
Overcoming Prejudice |
A spatial look at health and disease
in Kenya. |
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Beginning |
New land-reform policies in post-apartheid
South Africa. |
| Unit
10. South Asia: Aspiring India |
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| Program 21: Urban and Rural Contrasts |
A geographer studies Dehli as a multicultural,
rapidly growing city. |
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Beginning |
Local farmers reliant on irrigation
in Dikhatpura, southwestern India. |
| Unit
11. China and Its Sphere |
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| Program 22: Life in China's Frontier
Cities |
The settlement of Lanzhou in northwestern
China. |
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Struggling manufacturing industry
in Shenyang. |
| Program 23: China's Metropolitan
Heartland |
Physical location and government
policy bolster development in Shanghai |
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Recent industrialization near Nanjing |
| Program 24: The Booming Maritime
Edge |
Industrialization: the Nike experience
in Guangdong |
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Beginning |
Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan |
| Unit
12. Southeast Asia: between the Giants |
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| Program 25: Mainland Southeast
Asia |
Prospects for development in isolated
Laos. |
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Rice production in the Mekong Delta
of Vietnam. |
| Program 26: Maritime Southeast
Asia |
The growing importance of tourism
in Indonesia. |
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Beginning |
A geographer studies Malaysia's different
ethnic groups. |
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The
complete package of the telecourse includes the 26 half-hour television programs
for distance-learning undergraduate courses, a Study Guide, a recommended textbook,
and a Faculty Guide.
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The
Videocassettes |
The 26-half-hour programs are available
on VHS video-cassettes as resources for use by colleges and high schools or for informal
learning. |
The
Textbook: GEOGRAPHY: Realms, Regions and Concepts, by H.J. de Blij and Peter O. Muller
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to Beginning |
GEOGRAPHY:Realms, Regions and
Concepts has a world-class reputation for providing the most authoritative, accurate,
and complete presentation of world regional geography. It contains a wealth of special
features that help students master the material, including Key Ideas and Consepts,
boxed material on special topics, Systematic Essays, 10 Major Geographic Qualities
of each realm, a "Realms in Transition" section, prononciation
guides, a comprehensive glossary, an exhaustive bibliography, and a Gazetteer.
Plus, it feautures a complete and extensive instructor's support package for the
world regional geography course. |
The
Study Guide: Gil Latz, Portland State University
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to Beginning |
The Study Guide is designed to help
students achieve learning objectives on a weekly basis, to identify and follow course
themes, to view the material from a geographical perspective, and to integrate the
information from the programs and text. The Study Guide is organized into sections
corresponding to the 26 programs and includes student objectives, program overviews,
preview questions, regional overviews, case study themes, program summaries with
comparisons of key points raised in each case study, review questions, and extended
activities. |
The
Faculty Guide: Gil Latz, Portland State University
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to Beginning |
The faculty Guide offers a week-by-week
plan to colleges and universities that license THE POWER OF PLACE as a complete undergraduate
college-credit course. Introductory material is designed to help both faculty who
are new to telecourse teaching and experiences instructors. It offers special perspectives
on teaching the telecourse and describes methods to aid students in understanding
the complex issues and familiar feautures of world regional geography. The Faculty
Guide complements the program format of the Study Guide by presenting information
for each world region explored by the telecourse. This regional or unit-level organization
includes: a unit overview, summary of the programs under review in a particular unit,
program overview, clarification of the relationship between each case and the larger
region, a unit summary, and test bank questions. |
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| How
You can Use THE POWER OF PLACE |
- As a college-credit telecourse
fulfilling a one-semester requirement in world regional geography.
- As a resource for teacher in-service
programs in geography.
- as discussion materials for high
school classes in social studies, geography, environmental studies, political science,
and economics.
- As a video reference for public
and university libraries and media centers.
- As supplemental materials for
use with undergraduate or graduate-level courses in human, economic, and physical
geography, international economics, international relations, comparative government,
environmental studies, and urban planning.
- As an educational resource for
businesses and corporations involved with global marketing, and for governmental,
community, and service agencies dealing with regional and global planning.
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to Beginning
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THE POWER OF
PLACE: World Regional Geography may
be used as a television course for distant learners or as a video resource for classes,
libraries, and media centers. To receive a preview cassette or further information
please call the phone numbers listed below.
Colleges, universities, and other
educational institutions may:
- Purchase the programs on videocassette
for use in the classroom or media center
- Duplicate the programs for use
in the classroom or media center at your institutions:
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to Beginning
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For information on
the two options listed above, please call 1-800-LEARNER
or contact The Power of Place |
- License the use of POWER OF PLACE
as a complete college-credit telecourse for distant learners:
- Acquire an off-air taping licence
- Acquire an off-satellite taping
license
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to Beginning
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| For information on
the three options listed above, please call the PBS Adult Learning Service at 1-800-257-2578
or fax your request to 703-739-8495 |
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