Articles for Reading:
Assorted articles on the Web (see reading assignments below)
Link to READINGS
PREREQUISITES: This course
is designed for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates interested
in social sciences and geography. There are no formal prerequisites, and the
course is designed as an intensive, 500-level introduction to geographical issues,
themes, and methods of inquiry related to the topic of rural America. While
this course is designed primarily with geography graduate students in mind,
students from numerous other related disciplines regularly enroll for this course
and succeed grandly.
OBJECTIVES: This is a course about the triumphs and challenges
of the American small town. Ours was once a nation of small towns and rural
lifestyles prior to the rapid growth of urban and suburban places during the
early 20th century. Although their economic role has been largely diminished
by large-scale economic forces, smaller places are once again being "discovered"
for their perceived amenity values, country charm, and less stressful lifestyles.
Small-town main streets are being revitalized, and newer urban developments
are now taking lessons from their small-town counterparts to create more sustainable
communities and neighborhoods. Still, contemporary rural communities face monumental
challenges and disparities unlike those experienced before. Their local economies
continue to be undermined. With these things in mind, this course presents an
overview of economic, social, political, and cultural trends and concepts pertaining
to the rural, human environment. Rather than being a "how-to"class
that focuses on problem solving, we will focus intensely on two primary geographical
questions: (1) what is where, or the realm of description, and (2) why is it
there, the realm of explanation. These are the first two basic questions of
geographic inquiry. Most important, we will then emphasize the third fundamental
geographic question, "so what," by investigating the numerous implications
of the changes taking place in small-town America. We will discuss various social,
community, and political issues that cannot be separated from the economic realm.
Above all, students should gain an appreciation for the various scales of economic
development and their interdependency including global, national, and local
arenas, and the rather intricate relationship between economic, social, cultural,
and political aspects of rural development. Students will critically examine
the concept of development while gaining an understanding of both theoretical
and applied developmental approaches. In the aim of applying all of this
knowledge "on the street," students will conduct a short geographical
research project involving the economic and social aspects of a specific small
town in northern Arizona or elsewhere. Two field trips to nearby small communities
will reinforce material learned in the classroom, and demonstrate how various
processes affecting rural America can be found "on the ground" in
real places.
REQUIRED MATERIALS: There is one book required for this course, available at the NAU bookstore or at local Flagstaff bookstores or online:
CLASS STRUCTURE: This
course is designed as a mixture of seminar-style and lecture-style teaching.
Thus, the first part of class will typically be used for instruction, with the
second half of class reserved for discussion among students. At the end
of each class, you will submit your questions and notes from the readings for
credit (see below). The course also requires two field trips that will
be discussed during the first class of the semester. If you cannot participate
on the field trips, you will be expected to visit the sites on your own and
complete the related assignment.
PARTICIPATION: Regular participation from every student is essential. Participation
not only includes showing up for class and field trips, but playing an active
role in the discussions and demonstrating a thorough knowledge of the readings
assigned. Each week your professor will choose one student to lead the
discussion involving one or more of the readings. Perhaps most important,
everyone's active participation will help to assure a very interesting course
for all involved.
READINGS: Most assigned readings are available on the Cline Library
web site for the course (see web site link above). If you are willing
and able, simply print out each week's assigned reading for your convenience.
If you can't print out the readings for any reason, I will have hard copies
available outside my office door. Please make copies immediately on the
downstairs copy machine, and return them to my office.
For each reading assignment, you are required
to: 1) write at least three thought-provoking questions about any of the articles/chapters
for that assignment, and 2) take short notes on the main ideas of the articles.
Taking notes is easier than one might expect: as you read, simply write down
information, ideas, and concepts that you find interesting or necessary, or
questions about the meaning of what the author has written. Your notes
do not have to be in full sentences or in any particular format, but they DO
need to be typed. They will serve three purposes: a) to help you synthesize
and understand information presented in the readings, b) for your reference
and review later, and c) to enhance our Monday discussions of the readings in
class.
EXAMS: There will be two take-home, essay-style exams, each of
which you will be given one week to complete. There is no formal, objective
exam. Short essays will be required for all questions, for which you will integrate
the material you have learned throughout the course.
EVALUATION: A total of 500 points may be earned in this course:
Take-home Exam 1: 15% (75 pts)
Take-home Exam 2: 15% (75 pts)
Small-Town Project: 20% (100 pts)
Oral Presentations: 20% (100 pts)
Reading Summaries: 20% (100 pts, 10 pts each)
Participation: 10% (50 points)
** Participation Includes reasonable amount of discussion, enthusiasm, and critical
thinking in class and during the field trips.
Attendance:
(10 points, or 2% of your final grade, will be deducted
for each class missed.)
SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETINGS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
(Readings and their summaries are due on each Monday for
discussion.)
AUG 30. Introduction to Rural Geography: The Meanings of Place.
Discuss Term Project.
SEPT 6. NO CLASS: Labor Day
SEPT 13. Small-town Blues and Rural Development
Galston, A. and Baehler, K. 1995. Rural America in the 1990s: Trends and Choices.
In Rural Development in the United States. Washington: Island Press, 7-22.
Jakle, J., and Wilson, D., 1992. Rural Decline. Chapter 6 in Derelict Landscapes.
Rowman and Littlefield.
Lewis, P. 1972. Small Town in Pennsylvania. Annals of the Association of American
Geographers 62(2): 323-351.
Theme Town: Chapters 1,
2.
SEPT 20. FLAGSTAFF'S AMERICA TOUR: Field Trip. Why the Local Matters:
Individuals making a difference.
(Meet at the Visitors Center/Amtrak depot during class. Submit copies of your
reading notes due for today.)
Paradis, T., 2000. Conceptualizing small towns as urban places: The process
of downtown redevelopment in Galena, Illinois. Urban Geography 21(1): 61-82.
Paradis, T., 1998. The small town growth machine: Making the commercial strip
work for downtown redevelopment in Pontiac, Illinois. Small Town 29(2): 14-21.
Theme Town: Chapters 3,
4.
SEPT 27. Small-town Identity and notions of Rurality.
Bascom, J, 2001. “Energizing” Rural Space: The representation of
countryside culture as an economic development strategy. Journal of Cultural
Geography 19(1):53-73
Blake, K. 1999. Peaks of Identity in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. Journal
of Cultural Geography 18(2): 29-55.
Bres, K., and Davis, J. 2001. Celebrating group and place identity: a case study
of a new regional festival. Tourism Geographies. Pp. 326-337.
Theme Town: Chapter 5.
OCT 4. Theme Towns and the Economy of Image Making.
Engler, M. 1994. Theme Towns: The pitfalls and alternatives of image making.
Small Town, Jan-Feb. pp. 14-23.
Paradis, T. 2002. The Political Economy of theme development in small urban
places: The case of Roswell, New Mexico. Tourism Geographies 4(1): 22-43.
Frenkel, S. and Walton, J. 2000. Bavarian Leavenworth and the symbolic economy
of a theme town. The Geographical Review (4): 559-584.
Theme Town: Chapter
6.
OCT 11. Rural Economic Restructuring and Local Redevelopment
Sharp, J., et. Al. 2002. Social infrastructure and community economic development
strategies: the case of self-development and industrial recruitment in rural
Iowa. Journal of Rural Studies 18: pp. 405-417.
Tauxe, C. Heartland Community: Economic restructuring and the management of
small-town identity in the central U.S. Identities 5(3): 335-377.
Winders, R. 2000. Small business development and nonmetropolitan job growth
in Georgia. Growth and Change 31, winter. Pp. 82-107.
Theme Town: Chapters
7,8, Epilogue.
OCT 18. Nonmetropolitan Growth: A Rural Renaissance? Distribute
Midterm Exam questions. Field trip presentations today.
Beyers, W. and Nelson, P. 2000. Contemporary development forces in the nonmetropolitan
West: New insights from rapidly growing communities. Journal of Rural Studies
16(4): 459-474.
Dahms, F., and McComb, J., 1999. Counterurbanization, interaction and functional
change in a rural amenity area – a Canadian example. Journal of Rural
Studies 15(2): 129-146.
Sutton, C., and Engelstad, J. 1999. Growth on the High Plains: Douglas County
and Denver’s 470 Beltway. Bulletin of the Illinois Geographic Society,
Vol. 41, pp. 4-13.
OCT 25. The Economic Restructuring of Retail: the Big Box. Midterm Exam
due today.
Gruidl, J., and Kline, S., 1992. What happens when a large discount store comes
to town? Small Town, March-April: 20-25.
Schneider, M., 1998. The Wal-Mart annual meeting: From small-town America to
global corporate culture. Human Organization 57(3):292-299.
Robertson, K., 1999. Can small-city downtowns remain viable? A national study
of development issues and strategies. Journal of the American Planning Association
65(3): 270-284.
NOV 1. Downtown Redevelopment: The National Main Street Program
Smith, K., 1995. Main Street at 15. Historic Preservation Forum, spring: 49-64.
Smith, C. 2002. Predicting success or failure on Main Street: Urban revitalization
and the Kentucky Main Street Program, 1979-1999. Southeastern Geographer 42(2):
248-261.
Paradis, T. 2001. Updating the "Small Town in Pennsylvania": Discourses
materialized on Main Street, Madison, Indiana. North American Geographer.
NOV 8. Rural Tourism: The Good, Bad, and Ugly
MacDonald, R. and Lee, J. 2003. Cultural rural tourism: Evidence from Canada.
Annals of Tourism Research 30(2): 307-322.
Mitchell, C. et al. 2001. The creative destruction of Niagra-on-the-Lake. The
Canadian Geographer 45(2): 285-299.
Raento, P. 2001. Gambling in the Rocky Mountains. Fennia 179(1): 97-127.
NOV 15. Economic Development on Native-American Lands
Van Otten, G. and Vasquez, M. 1992. Economic development on Arizona’s
Native-American Reservations. Journal of Cultural Geography 13(1): 1-14.
Sheridan, T., 1995. The Other Arizona. In Arizona: A History. University of
Arizona Press.
Piner, J. and Paradis, T. 2003. Beyond the Casino: Sustainable tourism and cultural
development on Native-American lands. Tourism Geographies.
NOV 22. The Future for Small-Town America. Distribute Final Exam
questions.
Pooley, E., 1997. The great escape. Time Magazine, 8 December, 52-65.
Duany, A., and Plater-Zyberk, E. 1995. The second coming of the American small
town. Historic Preservation Forum, spring: 30-45.
Wall, M. 1993. Debunking the myths about small-town survival. Historic Preservation
Forum, March-April, 40-43.
NOV 29. Student
Presentations
DEC 6. Student Presentations
DEC. 13. Final Exams
due today.
FIELD TRIPS (Required)
OCT 2, SATURDAY: Standin’ on a Corner Festival, 2003. Winslow,
AZ. Morning to early afternoon.
Includes La Posada Hotel, Downtown Winslow, Antique Car Show,
Festival.
OCT 9, SATURDAY: Williams,
AZ. Morning to early afternoon.