MYTHS OF WORLD HUNGER; THE DEBT CRISIS.
 Is it true that there is not enough food in the world?  What are the real causes of hunger?
  Examples?
 Is nature to blame for famines?  What is really to blame?  Examples?
 What is the Green Revolution?
 Who does the Green Revolution benefit the most?  Why?
 Is the Green Revolution the answer to hunger and poverty?  Why or why not?  Examples?
 How did the “Debt Crisis” begin, and when?
 How did banks contribute to the Debt Crisis?
 What is the Debt Crisis, and what types of countries are affected by it the most? Examples?
 How did oil and the U.S. dollar contribute to the debt crisis?  Be able to explain how one thing
  led to another (i.e. the PROCESS through which certain countries came to be in so much
  debt.)
 How, generally, has the Debt Crisis contributed to increased hunger and destitution in Third
  World nations? An example?

GLOBALIZATION
 What is the world-system concept?
 How did the world-system evolve since the 15th century, as discussed in class?
 Know the characteristics and interrelationships between core, semiperiphery, and
  periphery regions of the earth.
 What are some countries that have made a transition from either core, semiperiphery, or
  periphery to another of these three categories?  When did it happen for each?
 How has the core changed with respect to the countries included within it since 1895?
 What does the “tripolar core of the world economy” map suggest?  In other words, which of
  the core regions generally influences which of the peripheral regions, and why?
 Know the general characteristics of modern-day globalization.
 Are national/state political borders more or less important than they used to be?  Why?
 Be able to describe and explain the trends toward globalization with regard to the following
  concepts: a) finance, b) multinational corporations.
 Know some examples of multinational corporations and their characteristics.
 In what ways are cultures being affected by globalization?  Are we headed toward one
  homogeneous, global culture anytime soon?  Why or why not?  What do you think?

THE DEVELOPING WORLD
 In a general sense, what are the basic characteristics of Third World economies and
  populations?
 Know how the concept of the “Third World” originated, and by whom.
 Which countries/regions are generally associated with the First, Second, and Third Worlds?
  Why is it sometimes difficult to determine which “world” a country/region belongs to?
 Be able to explain the ways in which the term “Third World” is problematic.
 How did the Brandt Report of 1980 characterize the world, based on only two categories?
 What economic measurement (indicator) has been used extensively to measure a country’s
  development since the 1960s, and why?
 For what reasons is this measure of economic development problematic?
 Why should land not be viewed as a “thing” but as a “social relation”?  What does this mean?
  Example?
 What were the problems identified by scholars and government officials with regard to the
  Third World in the 1950s and 60s?
 What were the “obvious” solutions to these problems?
 Be able to explain the concepts, origins, and philosophies of modernization theory.
 Why did we conclude that even though the term development is equivalent to growth, growth
  is not development?
 The notion of development has recently been expanded to include numerous factors other
  than purely economic ones.  What are these factors, and why are they important?
 Explain how the case of Sri Lanka – its historical and economic geography – represents a
  good example of the development of underdevelopment.

WORLD POPULATION AND METHODS OF FOOD PRODUCTION
What are the characteristics of commercial agriculture?
Define vertical integration with regard to the food processing industry, and be able to explain the
    general process through which our food makes it to the grocery store.
Understand the primary components of the model titled "Structure of the U.S. Commercial Agricultural System".
How do changes in world grain trade since 1935 demonstrate the increasing dependency of
  the Third World on the First?
Discuss the ecological relations of commercial agriculture.  Is this a sustainable system, and why?
 Be able to explain the variety of factors that help to determine how populations are distributed
  around the globe. Approximately what percent of earth’s land area is inhabited by
  humans?
 Define crude birth rate (cbr) and crude death rate (cdr).
 How is the rate of natural increase calculated?  What is the current rate of natural increase
  for earth?
 What is doubling time, and what is the current doubling time for the world’s population?
 Be able to describe and explain the four stages of the Demographic Transition model.
 What is the purpose of the Demographic Transition model, and what past experiences was
  the model based on?
 Do LDCs fit the model?  In what ways does the model clearly represent their population
  growth, and how do the LDCs deviate from the model?