Geography
230
Urbanization
in Developing Nations
Winter
2000
Ideas for
getting started and thinking ahead for the poster project
The final assignment for the quarter is a graded poster project. You
will be expected to present a critical examination of the media representation
of an issue or place that this class has sparked your interest in. We will
dedicate time in section to developing the skills necessary to complete
this project. This handout provides an outline of where you should be headed
and some useful hints on how to get started. If you find an issue you are
interested in and would like to discuss it with me ahead of time, you are
more than welcome to do so.
Assignment Objectives:
-
Apply ideas learnt during the quarter to build an understanding of a particular
place and issue in a developing country, focusing specifically on how the
place, people and issue have been represented in the media
-
Develop a critical analysis of representations of people and places in
developing nations
-
Provide an opportunity for active/group learning and creative presentation
of ideas
NOTE: The objective of this exercise is a critical evaluation of
the representations NOT a description of them
Suggestions for getting started:
-
Identify a place (city or region) and a development issue that interests
you (be sure to pick a location for which a range of literature is available
and an issue that relates to the themes of the class).
-
Begin doing research! If something interests you in class, go to the library
and search some of the databases to get an idea of what information is
available on your topic. Use this information to narrow your focus to a
specific place and issue. Read newspapers such as The New York Times and
cut out articles on issues you think might be interesting. You may change
your mind but if you don’t you’ve already started a collection of media
representations. You will need to collect representations from a variety
of sources. Use the library for books, academic journals, textbooks, magazines,
newspapers as well as the internet. A good place to start is Prof. Lawson’s
web page under "230 course resources".
If
you need help navigating the library we can make arrangements for assistance.
-
Remember you are interested in evaluating the representations in light
of the ideas and concepts you have learnt in class.
On Thursday, March 9th you will present your poster in discussion
section.