Open-Source Geography

Nations of the World - The Animaniacs

What is a State?

What is a Nation?

History of the European State

• Pre-History
• Agriculture
• Roman Empire
• Era of Institutionalized Anarchy
• Renaissance
• Colonialism:  The Berlin Conference 1884
• Treaty of Westphalia
• Post-World War II

Geopolitics

• Columbus
• Ghengis Khan:  Map of the Mongolian Empire
• Freidrich Ratzel - The State is an Organism:  Feed to Thrive
• MacKinder’s Heartland Theory
• Containment: The Rimland Theory
• NATO
• The Fall of the Berlin Wall
• The World is Flat - The Rise of a Global Middle-Class
• —Global Consumption Patterns
• —Abundant but Finite Energy Resources
• —Thoughts on Malthus in Globalized World

Boundaries

Balkanization

Annexation

Difference Between a Nation and A State:  Soveriegnty

• Nation-State
• Multi-State Nation
• Multi-Nation State
• Stateless Nations
• Kurds
• The Basque
• The Flemish
• The Zulu
• The Palestinians

Boundaries

Evolution of Boundaries

• Delimitation
• Demarcation

Boundary Type

• Geometric Boundaries
• Antecedent Boundaries
• Physical Boundaries
• Super-Imposed Boundary
• Relic Boundary

Shape of States

• Compact
• Elongated
• Fragmented
• Perforated
• Prorupted

Governance Systems

• Federal
• Central

Discussion of Mid-Term Exam

• Did you like the format?
• Did you learn anything you would like to share with the class?
• How did you approach the exam?

Demography in Prince William County

Building a European Geographic Information Infrastructure

GIS Samples

• Arlington County GIS
• Prostate Cancer GIS
• Migration in the United States
• Development in Prince William County - Power Point Animation
• GIS Jobs

Electoral College Map

• Voter
• Precinct
• 1990 to 2000 Congressional Reapportionment
• State:
• —Popular vote in the state wins the state
• —Electoral College Submit Votes to State Election Officials
• Current Status of the Election
• How does your nation choose its leaders?

What is a State?

Perhaps I am biased, but I believe Geography is a great major with excellent career opportunities.  If you do not know what to study in college, consider taking a Human Geography or Physical Geography course to get a taste for how interesting the science of Geography actually is.  Also, don’t think of Geography in terms of what you may have learned in grade school about where places are.  Geographers do ask “Where” but then they follow up with “WHY?”  This is why I say “science” in that, unlike psychology, it is a discipline recognized as a science by the National Science Foundation complete with rigorous and accepted methodologies.

So here are some reasons to consider Geography as a major:

1. It is intellectually challenging, but relatively intuitive which is another way of saying that it is an “easy” discipline

2. There are more jobs than qualified people. Check out the Geography Jobs Clearinghouse if you need specific examples (http://www.gjc.org)

3. Like statistics, Geography can be applied to every discipline. I can make the case that the social and hard sciences rely on some sort of spatial reasoning.

4. The job market continues to expand and like #2 above the number of jobs outpaces the number of qualified applicants

5. Considering #2 and #4, its a field that continues to grow despite recessionary economic conditions

6. Again, because it is underlooked but a growing field, graduate funding in the form of assistantships (i.e., tuition waivers and paid living expenses) is typically available upon acceptance. Though I don’t have the statistics to support this statement, I imagine that the rate of graduate funding in Geography is the highest amongst all disciplines. I was not a stellar undergraduate, but gained acceptance and funding in all 5 master’s level Geography programs I applied to. With my overall undergraduate 2.9 GPA (admittedly with a 3.8 in Geography) I don’t think the same can be said for psychology or the hard sciences.

7. Finally, and back to my point, since Geography is at least tangentially ubiquitous in every field of the academy, you can choose topics that uniquely interesting to you and still increase your odds for a successful career.

8.  Extremely Cool Technology!