GEO 210: THE GEOGRAPHY OF

DANGER
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
Winter 2015
Course Instructor: Prof. Larry Fullerton 416 979 5000 xt 6176
JOR 606 lfullert@ryerson.ca

Office Hours (by appointment): Professor’s timetable is on D2L

Lectures: Class Schedule is on D2L

This lower level Liberal Study is not available to students in the Geographical Analysis Programme.

Faculty Course Surveys

Calendar Description: The course examines dangers that arise from global threats posed by various
natural and human-made hazards. From a Canadian perspective, it sets out to provide an understanding
of how their potential for harm to the individual and community is perceived by the public. Mechanisms
that have been developed to reduce the levels of threat to life and property are assessed by examining
selected geophysical, biological, climatic, environmental and malevolent factors that impinge on well-
being.

Course Outline: Canada is one of the safest places to live among the world's more than 200
independent and sovereign states. Canada is not like Australia where many of the planet's most
poisonous spiders and venomous snakes live. Canada is not like Mozambique with the world’s largest
density of land mines. Canada is not like Bangladesh where devastating floods periodically drown
thousands of people and inflict millions of dollars’ worth of damage. Canada is not like some African
nations where more than one adult in three lives with AIDS. Canada does not have cities like Tel Aviv,
Baghdad and Belfast with their omnipresent spectre of terrorism. Canada is not even like the United
States with its alarming incidence of murder, routine threats from tornadoes, hurricane and fire. In fact,
Canada is not like most other places. Whether the agency of danger is natural or human, the likelihood
of premature death or injury from violence, infectious disease, earth hazards, or predators is generally
remote even if perceived otherwise. By virtue of their geography, all nations are not created equal and
the role of serendipity for those who arrive in them through birth or design is undeniable. The potential
outcome of catastrophic occurrences accounts for a widespread public fascination with their impact and
with how various levels of society respond to them. That interest explains the longstanding popularity of
the disaster theme in folklore, in literature and in film. Moreover, ubiquitous video technology has
meant that rare and extreme events are frequently recorded so that the public has unprecedented
exposure to dramatic images in newscasts and documentaries.
This course uses a natural hazards paradigm that geographers have developed to deal with the spatial
dimensions of risk, one that recognizes the importance of perception of threat in understanding societal
recognition of the threat and the response to it. In examining societal well-being across the globe,
students will come to understand that the threat to a nation's population varies from place to place and
over time because of how decisions are made about choices to deal with extreme events and insidious
threats. Material emphasizes the tendency of individuals to place themselves deliberately or
inadvertently in harm's, that is to say, in nature's way. It explores the role played by lack of choice, faith
in technology, complacency, ignorance and arrogance. The consequences of such behaviour and
attitudes for the environment, economy, mental and physical health are examined. And it surveys
advances in geographical innovations which lessen the consequences of hazardous occurrences. Each of
the six major sections below uses lectures, readings and film to show that where a person lives, works
and plays determines to a great extent the overall level of exposure to injury from the natural and
constructed environment.

Course Objectives:
1. To demonstrate the spatial basis of environmental risk that arises from human transactions
with the natural world through case studies of hazardous events

2. To encourage critical analysis of how decisions made by and on behalf of individuals impact
security

3. To show how the hazards paradigm developed by geographers and applied to a wide variety
of disasters over the past 40 years advances the understanding of individual and collective
practices

4. To illustrate the value of geography in developing appropriate societal response mechanisms

that mitigate natural and human made threats

5. To heighten student personal awareness of the underlying risk in landscapes where

populations work, live and recreate

Required Texts: Geography 210 is a three hour lecture based NON-TEXTBOOK course whose
content is supported by numerous references that elaborate individual
presentations. Classroom attendance is essential since only
selected illustrative materials will be posted on Guided Notes on D2L
Course Evaluation:

Value Date

1. Term Test 1 (mc) 10% Jan 29

2. Term Test 2 (mc) 10% Feb 26

3. Term Test 3 (mc) 10% Mar 11

4. Term Test 4 (mc) 10% Mar 31

5. Term Test 5 (mc) 10% Apr 15

2. Major Paper
1. Intro and Bibliography 10% Feb 4
2. Content (main body) 30% Mar 10
3. Conclusions 10% Apr 7

Course Topics:

Part A: Dangerous landscapes

 Disasters and popular culture

 Typology of hazards: the Hazards Paradigm
 Threat perceptions
 The meaning of risk
 Response strategies
 Mapping hazard

Part B: Epidemiology

 The Black Death

 Malaria
 Influenza
 Lyme Disease
 AIDS
 Dengue
 SARS
 West Nile

Part C: Violence

 War
 Crime
 Terrorism
 Traffic
Part D: Geophysical Hazards
 earthquake
 tsunami
 mass movement
 volcano
 extraterrestrial

Part E: Climatic Hazards

 global warming
 flood
 drought
 tornado
 hurricane
 fire

Part F: Animals
 reptiles and herpetiles
 high order predators
 aquatic life

Course Policies
Electronics in Class
Audio recording of lectures is allowed with permission of the instructor and encouraged for students
who are forced to miss a class or who face challenges recording instructor presentations.

Lecture Security

Geo 210 is a non-textbook lecture-based course. Students who either miss classes or lose all or parts of
their notes are responsible for the security of all material by ensuring digital information is printed in
hard copy, backed up on an external device or on a cloud platform. The instructor cannot provide nor
intervene to procure lecture content.

CommunicationAccording to the Establishment And Use Of Ryerson Student E-Mail Accounts For Official
University Communication Policy, students are required to use their Ryerson email address for
communication with the instructor. Only emails with course number in the subject heading will receive
a response. Replies normally will be made from Monday to Friday no later than the next office hour for
enquires that can be briefly answered. Office hours by appointment are posted on D2L. It is the
responsibility of students to check their Ryerson e-mail regularly. Otherwise, concerns should be
discussed in person or on the telephone. Questions that pertain to material that was delivered in class
or provided in the course outline will not normally receive an e-mail response at any time.

Grading
Grade challenges will be considered if the test or paper is returned within three business days after
initial distribution in class with the completed Instructor Reassessment Form which can be found in the
D2L Assignment folder. The instructor’s assessment will be final.

Grades will be posted in an Excel Spreadsheet provided through an email. They will not be provided
individually through email. Term work will be returned within three weeks of submission.

Missed Assignment Deadlines, Term Tests and/or Final Examination

Deadlines for the assignment sections will be strictly enforced. Late submissions are subject to a
deduction of 10 marks per working day (Mon to Sat) from the assessed grade. According to Ryerson's
Undergraduate Course Management Policy and Undergraduate Academic Consideration and Appeals
Policy, assignment deadlines, tests or exams that have been missed for medical reasons requires
students to notify the instructor that a completed Ryerson Medical Certificate has been supplied to their
programme department. It is the student’s responsibility to arrange a date for a makeup test (if the
medical certificate is accepted) with the Access Centre. Exceptions will be considered only for
students who have registered with the Access Centre. Note that identical standards must apply to
all students so the option of overlooking the failure of one student to meet any requirement would be
both unfair and inappropriate.

The security of assignments is a student responsibility since lost or stolen electronic files are not
acceptable excuses for lateness.

English Language Support

Task-based academic language workshops, individual help with written assignments, one-on-one
conversation and pronunciation practice, as well as help with reading, listening and oral presentations
are available to students whose first language of academic study is not English. More information can be
found at www.ryerson.ca/studentservices/els/.

Accommodation of Students with Disabilities

Students who require academic accommodation services and support should contact the Access Centre
and refer to Academic Accommodations of Students with Disabilities Policy. If academic
accommodations for tests and exams are required, it is the student's responsibility to book at least 7
business days prior to the date of writing any test or exam. Late test/exam bookings are no longer
accepted. For more information, refer to the Access Centre Test/Exam Booking Procedure website.
Access Centre students must establish extension deadlines with the instructor.

Accommodation of Student Religious, Aboriginal and Spiritual Observance

Requests for accommodation of observance can be made formally to the course instructor. The student
must submit a clear explanation of the observance and requested accommodation along with a copy of
the Accommodation of Student Religious, Aboriginal and Spiritual Observance form. Instructors will
confirm accommodations, in writing, within 5 days of receiving the request. Refer to Accommodation of
Student Religious, Aboriginal and Spiritual Observance Policy for more information.

Academic Integrity
It is the student's responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Academic Conduct and
understand what plagiarism means. According to the University, plagiarism means claiming the words,
ideas, artistry, drawings, images or data of another person as if they were your own.

There are many different types of plagiarism, including:

 Copying and pasting material from a website
 Making minor changes to an author's words or style and then presenting the material as
your own
 Taking text from published authors, your friend's paper, or work you've already handed in
 Using a direct quotation but leaving out the quotation marks
 Paraphrasing too closely to the original
 Failing to cite sources or citing them incorrectly such that the work cannot be properly found
 Working with another student on a project but failing to put both names on the final product
 Having someone else re-write or heavily edit your paper

Just remember, if you are found guilty of academic misconduct in a course:

 the minimum penalty you will receive is a mark of zero on the test, exam, paper, project or
assignment in question
 the “Disciplinary Notice (DN)” will be placed on your academic record and official transcript
where it will remain until you graduate.
 The professor might also decide to fail you in the course.
 If you already have a DN on your record you will be placed on “Disciplinary Suspension (DS)”.
 The University also has the right to place you on Disciplinary Withdrawal or to expel you
from the University.

For more information about plagiarism, please refer to the Office of Academic Integrity website.

Plagiarism Detection Service

The major paper must be submitted to Turnitin through the D2L link. Failure to use Turnitin will result in
a penalty of 20%. An originality score that exceeds 30% will be scrutinized for plagiarism and may be
penalized and/or not accepted. “Students who do not want their work submitted to this plagiarism
detection service must, by the end of the second week, consult with the instructor to make alternate
arrangements.”

Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct

It is the student's responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct and
conduct themselves in a manner consistent with generally accepted standards of behaviour, University
regulations and policies.
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