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Mental health/homeless in urban areas using space as the conceptual framework

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Mental health/homeless in urban areas using space as the conceptual framework

3-4 pages, 250 word abstract, explanation of work strategy for paper (general format). Use scale as the overarching conceptual framework. I will provide two articles to get “scale” information from. Minimum of 8 scholarly sources (peer reviewed journal articles or books)…3 of those 8 sources need to be annotated within the proposal (paragraph of what that article talked about). Explain how those sources will be used in the paper. The more sources the better! Basically I’m looking for help with getting this first part done and I can expand it from there. I can provide more criteria later for the writer. General stuff.

Geography Capstone Project

Geography 490: Senior Seminar                

Spring 2015

 

General Overview

One of the explicit goals for your geography degree is that you develop the skills to “conduct in-depth analysis of and explore possible solutions to environmental and social problems while demonstrating effective written and oral communication skills” (Student learning objective 5). To meet this goal you will complete a capstone semester-long project with multiple components, including: (1) an abstract and proposal for a research paper, (2) a term paper, and (3) a 15-minute presentation, which must include a lecture and visual aids of some sort.

 

As you should be well aware by now, geography is a broad discipline with a few central organizing concepts. The key concepts in geography are space/place, scale, human-environment systems, and nature-society relations. Over the course of the semester we will be doing an in-depth reading of scale. Using scale as your theoretical entry point, you are to select one of the following research topics for your capstone project:

 

Possible research topics include:

  1. Land use land cover change in Latin America or West Africa
  2. The effects of conflict on landscapes and human migration patterns
  3. A comparative study of long-term urban sustainability planning
  4. Examination of the science and policy of wetlands/stream restoration
  5. Climate mitigation and displacement
  6. Commodity chain analysis of globalized natural products (e.g. fisheries, timber, nontimber forest products)
  7. Cultural and natural legacies of the National Park Service or US Forest Service
  8. Sustainable food systems
  9. Critical GIS and counter-mapping
  10. Other (requires professor approval). Students completing independent projects with an advisor are encouraged to build on that work for their capstone project.

 

Process

Topic Selection: February 19

Early on in the semester you will select your top three topics, and what your personal perspective is likely to be (physical, human, GIS). If they are prepared to write complimentary papers from different perspectives, I may place students in pairs for collaboration. This will be explained further in class.

 

Paper Proposals: Due March 12

Paper proposals should be approximately 3-4 pages and include the following: (1) an abstract (250 words). Abstracts summarize the purpose, methods, and major findings of the paper. Read several abstracts online to familiarize yourself with their structure. (2) An explanation of your work strategy for your paper: general format or outline of paper, if you will be using any original data include details on how you will collect and analyze it, how you plan to use scale as the overarching conceptual framework for your case study. (3) A minimum of eight scholarly sources (peer reviewed journal articles or books) that you plan to use in your paper. You are required to use at least two sources from class. All eight sources should be listed in your paper proposal. Three of the eight sources should be annotated in your proposal. Annotating a source means that you provide a summary (typically a full paragraph) of the paper after the citation (see instructions for annotated bibliographies), and include a comment or two about how you plan to use the source in your paper. You are free to have additional reputable paper and electronic sources. You will likely need more than eight to complete your project.

 

Term Papers: Due April 28

  • Papers should be 12-15 pages of body text – i.e. this does not include figures, tables, title, name, or bibliography. It does include the abstract.
  • If you would like to include tables or figures they must be properly formatted, cited in text, and meaningful to your paper. See Annals guidelines for formatting.
  • All papers should be in 12 point font, double spaced, 1” margins.
  • Proper use of citations and footnotes is required. All references must be in APA format. See class guidelines for formatting, or when in doubt follow the format of the citations in the syllabus, which should conform to the scholarly journal: Annals of the Association of American Geographers (e.g. Liverman 2004) and see the annotated bibliography examples.
  • In addition to the structure of your argument and paper, you will also be graded on grammar, spelling, and proper word usage.

 

This is a general rubric for how I grade term papers:

Content:

  • Clear research question and thesis statement
  • Paper is on appropriate topic, and uses relevant literature
  • Strength and complexity of analysis: paper summarizes major issue – includes reference to both physical and human geography perspectives; applies current concepts of scale appropriately
  • Discussion is author’s own analysis and demonstrates critical thinking abilities

Structure:

  • Logical order and flow of material
  • Appropriate length, proper formatting
  • Grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure
  • Citations are consistently and correctly formatted (APA/Annals format)

 

Presentations: In class from April 28 – May 7

The aim of these presentations is to demonstrate your proficiency at translating complex written material and ideas into a cohesive, engaging, and thought provoking oral presentation. You may choose to present a poster or a powerpoint slideshow as a visual aid for your talk. In either case, you should plan on talking for approximately 12 – 13 minutes, and having a couple minutes for questions. Some topics clearly lend themselves to a poster or a paper, but both require serious input and consideration. If you are presenting at AAG, you may be able to use the same poster/talk, but this will depend on how you have incorporated scale into your work with your advisor. You will be assisted with poster printing, but be aware that you will need to print your posters according to a different deadline schedule yet to be determined. You will be graded on the quality of your presentation.

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