Explanation and Understanding in Geography.
Office hours by appointment.
Course syllabus.

Discussion Section Syllabus

Matthew W. Wilson
mwarrenw@u.washington.edu
Smith Hall 422
206.616.9287
Office Hours: By appointment
http://staff.washington.edu/mwarrenw

Lecture: M-W-F 9:30-10:20am, Smith Hall 304
Section AA: T-Th 9:30-10:20am, Smith Hall 415C
Section AB: T-Th 10:30-11:20am, Smith Hall 415C

The main objective for this course is to assist you in designing a research proposal. Towards this objective, this discussion section will support the lectures and assignments, and will provide an opportunity for further discussion and clarification of the reading material and key concepts in the course. Please refer to the course syllabus for an overview of these key concepts.

This discussion section is a space for:
• reviewing the readings,
• discussing the graded material,
• working out your research ideas,
• preparing your assignments,
• learning from each other, and
• participating in an interactive classroom setting.

Prepare for this course.
Review the course syllabus carefully, paying special attention to due dates and assignment instructions. There are four major assignments in this course and each one builds off the previous, so lecture and section attendance is crucial. If you have questions about course expectations as overviewed by the course syllabus, please contact me as soon as possible. Attend lecture and section.

Attendance is not taken nor required, however, note that:
1. the majority of your participation grade depends on your preparation for, and engagement in, class discussions and group work;
2. your success in completing the project components and final research proposal largely depends on how well you understand the material that we will cover in lecture and in section; and
3. throughout the quarter, I will be assigning group work or homework that will be completed in section and/or due at the following section; you will be responsible for submitting these for credit even if you do not attend class.

Be in contact.
You are responsible for checking your UW email account; the class listserve is what I will use to send communications outside class. Email is the best way to contact me (place ‘GEOG315’ in the subject heading). Please allow at least 24 hours for a response by email during weekdays. I will not necessarily respond to emails over the weekends.

Be a resource for others.
I strongly encourage you to exchange contact information with classmates, in order to retrieve notes and assignments that you may have missed.

Get help.
This course is strongly based on a progression of lectures and individual assignments. If you are having difficulty with any course material, please contact me. There are also other resources which you should find useful:
• Geography/Anthropology Writing Center
Smith Hall 415. Available by appointment.
• Time Management and Procrastination Workshop
UW Counseling Center, Schmitz Hall 401
Monday, Oct. 15, 3:30 to 5:00pm
Monday, Nov. 5, 3:30 to 5:00pm
Registration is not required, but arrive 5-10 minutes early.

Be honest.
This course, if successful, will expose you to a variety of literatures and ideas. You are expected to draw upon these ideas, but you must be transparent and honest about your use of these ideas. Please get help if you’re uncertain about this expectation! Academic honesty involves properly citing other people’s ideas in your writing. If you fail to cite other people’s ideas and language in your work, you’ve committed plagiarism. Summarizing someone else’s work and not citing them is also plagiarism. The names of students found to have plagiarized any piece of writing in this class will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs for review. Don’t plagiarize. Be honest.