From left: Waterdown Wetlands Trail, Hamilton, Ontario; Peguche, Ecuador;  Quito, Ecuador. 
Photographs by Nick Beals, ConneXions '12

World Geography: Human Patterns and Interactions (CGUX 4M*)
* 'M' indicates a university level course that does not require a university-level prerequisite; therefore, it is accessible to students who have been in the college level. Universities consider it on par with u-level courses.

This course examines how humans interact with their natural environments and with each other, especially in urban settings. Students will study the influence of spatial, political, economic, and social factors on settlement patterns, human migration, cultural change, globalization, and environmental trends. Students will use geotechnologies and skills of geographic inquiry and analysis to extend their knowledge of
human geography and to identify and explain current trends and patterns, and predict future ones. (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/canworld1112curr.pdf)

Inquiry-based Learning

The teacher and students will be gradually developing their use of inquiry-based learning throughout the semester starting with major inquiry questions, or problems. The first is "Has European imperialism and colonialism been beneficial to the world?" Students will begin their inquiry process by creating questions through six major thinking strategies, known in English teaching as methods of essay development: Definition and Illustration, Classification and Division, Cause and Effect, Process, and Comparison and Contrast.

Poverty in the Developing World

Globalization (a.k.a. Hypercapitalism)

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To understand globalization, we play the Transnational Auction Game (Rethinking Education) in which students compete for the chance to host garment factories in a race for the bottom. Bangladesh is an example of a country that has won the race and offers the cheapest place to do business. Mark Kelly reports in CBC's Marketplace.

The Global Land-grab: imperialism 2.0

Many corporations based in the world's strongest economies are 'investing' in agricultural land in some of the world's weakest economies. These investments range from ensuring food security for the home country to developing bio-fuels to capitalizing on the rising value of agricultural land. The investments are huge and local farmers in the developing country seem to be exploited in the process. Fortunately, there is an NGO (non-government organization) called GRAIN.  "GRAIN is a small international non-profit organization that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems." 

Plantation Agriculture 
This globalized factory-method of farming is attacked in this Green Peace spoof of a Dove ad campaign. The original--a powerful critique in its own right--is on the left. While they both can be considered important social justice messages, the second one reminds us that Dove is a brand that is part of a large corporation, and therefore guilty of some hypocrisy in trying to change the world. 

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Palm oil plantation in Africa.

The First Plantations: Hyper-Capitalism's roots in Imperialism and Sugar

This CBC produced documentary explores the consequence of  Christopher Columbus's 'discovery' of a new continent and the island of Hispaniola: the global sugar trade. Especially with its focus on the Fanjul family of Florida, the documentary reveals how imperialism in the Americas, born with Columbus's voyage in 1492, lives on today. Pay particular focus to the last 24 minutes where migration from Haiti to the Dominican Republic is explored. 

Alternative Capitalism: Conscious and  Sustainable

"For Rogelio, resin is the only source of income that he has known his entire life. One time he worked as a resin tapping instructor in the Arteaga Mountains [in Southern Mexico], which is six hours away from his house. This loan will be used by him and his family to establish the first pine resin plantation in the region. By having these pine trees, his family will be left with permanent financial security for future generations that will enable them to live under better conditions. Rogelio is proud of his work. The vocation of a resin tapper gives him the opportunity to support himself and also become the boss of his own business." (KIVA.org)

Farm Africa: an NGO

The Slow Food Movement: a sustainable alternative

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Conscious Capitalism  

In ConneXions, the Geography course begins with a unit on economic and political spectra. Capitalism is subdivided into four types, with socialist capitalism on the left and hyper-capitalism on the right with regulated free-market capitalism and free-market capitalism in the centre. Students study the purpose of organizations such as the World Trade Organization and evaluate their effects on nations and communities. Students also study `alternative' forms of capitalism such as Fair Trade and Micro-finance. The tongue-in-cheek music video about a business pitch on the hit TV show Dragons' Den captures the basic opposition between the alternative capitalism represented by the Fair Trade movement and free-market capitalism represented by the show's right-wing iconoclast Kevin O'Leary.