Your final assignment for the quarter is a critical examination of media representations of people and places in southern nations. You are expected to present your critique in the form of a poster which you will present (in 10 mins) in discussion section on March 9^th, 1999. In this assignment, you will draw on the political-economy perspective discussed in class to provide a more complex analysis of your chosen issue than is present in the popular media.

Objectives:

1. Build an understanding of a particular place (city or region) and development issue focusing specifically on how the place, the people and the issues have been represented in the media
2. Develop a critical analysis of how the representations of people and places obscure the historical and geographical relationships that have shaped development in southern nations
3. Provide an opportunity for active/group learning and creative presentation of ideas

Your 10 minute presentation and poster should address the following:

• The arguments, assumptions and perspectives of the articles and sources you are drawing from. How has the issue/place and people been represented in the popular media? Are the people represented as clean/dirty, modern/primitive, busy/lazy, rich/poor, healthy/sick, "exotic", feminine, child-like? Who does the author blame for the problem? What type of development does the author support?

• What things are being emphasized in the physical landscape (modern buildings, cars, pollution, high rise apartments, shanty towns or shacks, industry, agriculture, "traditional" life or livelihoods, similarity or differences)? What does this convey to you about the authors perspective?

• What issues are left out of the representations (of the site you selected) in the popular media? Think about the political, economic, and/or historical processes that we have been discussing throughout the quarter?

Take a look at Prof. Lawson’s web page "230 course resources" by going to "Courses," then finding Geog 230. There are class links below the 230 course description. Or go straight to: http://faculty.washington.edu/lawson/courses/230/230res.htm .

Your poster should include the following:

• a title and your name

• a clear theme that is represented by the title

• legible font type (no smaller than 14-point font)

• photos, tables, maps, graphs and/or other figures

• include a map that shows the geographic location of the place you have selected

• background information on the location and issue (this can be presented with graphs/lists/tables, etc.)

• comments which critically analyze media representations (e.g. bullets or questions)

• citations (use a smaller font) of ALL resources (including photos, tables, etc.) which you use on the poster

• Synthesis: Have you shown and critiqued a variety of representations? Have you linked the representations and your critique of them to the central themes of the course?

• Clarity: Are your poster and presentation clear and well-organized? Have you effectively communicated your analysis of the representations?