OBJECTIVES
The Course aims to initiate students in an understanding of the territorial, social, and physical diversity of present-day Spain. They will be brought into contact with the conceptual, methodological, and technical basis of geographical studies, as well as with the main issues of research applicable to the specific case of Spain, including the interaction of population and territory, the issue of the accessing and distribution of resources, the spatial distribution of power as related to human activity, how ecosystems function, as linked with the protection of biodiversity.
METHODOLOGY
From a methodological standpoint, class sessions will be of both a theoretical, as well as a practical kind. Although the theoretical syllabus-content will be explained in class by the lecturer, with audiovisual back-up, also essential is the active participation and critical thinking on the part of students with regard to the debating of documents and complementary texts. As far as practical sessions are concerned, they are meant to provide a deepening of the awareness of theoretical knowledge and will be carried out through assignments undertaken in relation to syllabus units and through the analysis of texts which function as back-up to theoretical sessions.
SYLLABUS
Block I: The Administrative Configuration of Spain.
Subject-Unit 1: The Internal Organization of the State. Administrative Divisions. The Spain of the Autonomous Communities.
Subject-Unit 2: Spain within the International Context. Integration within the European Union.
Block II: Conditioning Factors regarding the Physical Environment and their Effect upon Human Activity.
Subject-Unit 3: Diversity in Land Relief, Climate, and Vegetation.
Block III: The Human Use of Space. Population and its Patterning.
Subject-Unit 4: Evolutionary Trends in Population. Demographic Dynamics and Structure. Migratory Movements, Population Distribution, and Inter-territorial Imbalance.
Subject-Unit 5: Features of Population Patterns. The Internal Structure of Spanish Towns and Cities. The Settlement System.
Block IV: Productive Activities and Their Territorial Distribution.
Subject-Unit 6: Spanish Agrarian Landscapes. Elements of Analysis and Factors of Change. Agriculture, Environment, and Sustainable Development.
Subject-Unit 7: Industrial Change in Spain. Specific Aspects of the Crisis involving Industrial Restructuring in Spain. The Territorial Implications of Industrial Conversion: Depressed Areas, Emergent Zones, New Lines of Development.
Subject-Unit 8: Third-order Activation of the Spanish Economy. The Distribution of Services within Spain's Territory. The Country's Transport System. Activity and Tourist Areas.
Block V: The Interaction of Humans and Territory.
Subject-Unit 9: The Interaction of Society and the Natural Environment. Pollution and the Undermining of Environmental Subsystems. The Protection of Natural Spaces and Spain's Environmental Policy.
COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES
Proposed Assignments: Based on the Course syllabus, the configuration of a scheme involving the key territorial features of each of Spain's utonomous regions:
1) Factors which condition the interaction of the physical environment and human activity.
2) Human usage of space. Population and population distribution.
3) Activities of production and their territorial distribution.
ASSESSMENT
Grading will become effective once the practical assignments carried out in class and presented orally (50% of the final grade) have been carried out, together with a written exam based on the contents of the syllabus (the remaining 50%).
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Conceptual precision.
Analytical thoroughness.
In-depth contact with syllabus content.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- ALONSO, J. (2002): Geografía turística: general y de España. Madrid, Ed. Centro de Estudios Ramón Areces.
-BOSQUE, R. (2005): Síntesis de Geografía de España. Madrid, Ed. Globo.
-CASTELLS, A. y BOSCH, N.(Eds.) (1999): Desequilibrios territoriales en España y Europa, Madrid, Ed. Ariel.
-FARINÓS, J. (2002): Geografía regional de España. Valencia, Universidad de Valencia.
- GARCÍA, J.M., and SOTELO, J.A. (Eds.) (1999): La España de las Autonomías. Madrid, Síntesis.
GARCÍA, J. (2002): Provincias, regiones y comunidades autónomas: la formación del mapa político de España. Madrid. Secretaria General de Estado, Departamento de Publicaciones.
- GARCÍA, T. (2005): Geografía Regional de España para educación secundaria. Madrid, Ed. Síntesis.
GARRIDO, R. (2002) Cambio estructural y desarrollo regional en España. Madrid, Pirámide.
-NADAL, J. (Dir.) (2003): Atlas de la Industrialización de España 1750-2000. Barcelona, Editorial Crítica.
- NUEVO ATLAS DE ESPAÑA (2001) :Geografía general y temática. Barcelona, Salvat
OTHER RESOURCES
Webpage: National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística) http://www.ine.es/
European Union Site:
http://europa.eu/
Multiterritorial Information System, belonging to the Institute of Statistics of Andalucía.
http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/iea/sima/
The Cervantes Virtual Center. Spain's Landscapes (Paisajes de España).
http://cvc.cervantes.es/ACTCULT/paisajes/
Interactive Map of Spain.
http://w3.cnice.mec.es/eos/MaterialesEducativos/mem2002/mapa/
Atlas of Andalucía
http://atlas.andaluciajunta.es/
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