Semester 2, 2015/2016

GE1101E/GEK1001 GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNEYS:

EXPLORING WORLD ENVIRONMENTS
Tutorial Session 1
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Dates:
Week 3, starting Monday 25 January 2016 (Earth Lab AS2 #02-03
or #02-04)
Tutors:

Dr Karen Lai (karenlai@nus.edu.sg)

Mr Dennis Stolz (dennis.stolz@u.nus.edu)
Ms Stephanie Yang (yangxueke@u.nus.edu)

Part I: Geographies of Production & Consumption

Before coming to class, read the following article:

Cook, I., Evans, J., Griffiths, H., Mayblin, L., Payne, B. & Roberts, D.
(2007) Made in...? Appreciating the everyday geographies of
connected lives, Teaching Geography, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 80-83.
[Download from IVLE Files > Tutorials]

Class activity:
We will watch a short video about the production networks of seafood in
Thailand how they create serious problems that extend across international
borders.
Discussion questions:
a) How are key geographical concepts of space, place, territory and
scale explored in this short film?
b) Big corporations (TNCs) seem to play a very important role in how this
video explains our production and consumption patterns and their
regional and local impacts. Is this always the case? Can you think of
examples when TNCs are not always all-powerful economic actors?
c) To what extent do you think consumers have the power to influence the
livelihoods of people in distant (and not-so-distant!) parts of the world?

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Part II: Group project

During Tutorial 1, you will be forming your project groups. Please get
together into groups of 3-4 students. Tutors will help you find group partners
during class, so you should not worry about forming a group prior to Tutorial
1.
You will receive further guidance on the project topics during Tutorial
Sessions 1 and 2 and will also have the opportunity to raise further
questions.
Project Topic 1: Investigating global commodity chains
Choose a particular commodity (food, electronic gadget, clothing, toy it
could be anything!) and analyse its geographies of production and
consumption. You may find it useful to browse this website for ideas:
http://www.followthethings.com/. Some questions to consider:
Where is this item produced/grown/manufactured?
Who are the individuals/firms/organisations involved in its production
and consumption (this may also include financing, design, marketing,
transporting, retail)?
Where is the most value being captured in this commodity chain? (i.e.
where do most of the profits go from the sale of this product?)
What are some ethical concerns (e.g. labour protection, environmental
impact, political conflicts) associated with the production and/or
consumption of this commodity?
Is there any intervention by government or non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) to address these ethical concerns? How effective
have they been?
Any personal reflections on how this research project has changed the
way you think about this commodity?
Project Topic 2: Landscapes of globalisation in Singapore
For this topic, you will explore a topic related to landscapes of globalisation in
Singapore. You must use the concept of landscapes and related ideas
such as sense of place, placelessness, cultural homogenisation,
cultural hybridisation etc. in your analysis. You are encouraged to be
bold and original in devising your research topic as long as you can relate it
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Semester 2, 2015/2016

to cross-border flows of people, commodities and cultures in the Singapore

context. Some topics to consider:
How migrant communities (e.g. Filipino, Thai, Indian, Korean, Japanese,
American, European) have changed local spaces (e.g. Orchard Road,
Golden Mile Complex, Little India, Dempsey Hill)
Singapore as a global city (in terms of arts? Retail practices?
Entertainment and leisure?)
Globalisation and culinary landscapes/food culture in Singapore
Constructions of home and identity of overseas Singaporeans
High-net-worth migrants and their impact on Singapores landscape
Changing place identities in old Singapore neighbourhoods
Fashion or consumption trends in Singapore that display elements of
cultural homogenisation, localisation or hybridisation
Please note:

Your group project essay should not exceed 2,500 words (excluding
bibliography). You may include maps, diagrams, photographs, tables
and other resources to support your analysis.

The deadline for Investigating Global Commodity Chains is on

Monday 7 March 2016, 5pm. The deadline for Landscapes of
Globalisation in Singapore is on Monday 28 March 2016, 5pm.

Tutors will give more details about primary and secondary data
collection. Fieldwork (e.g. interviews, survey, personal observations onsite) is encouraged where possible but not compulsory as it is not
always practical depending on your research topic. Primary data
collection should only be used where relevant and helpful to your
research; it will not automatically give you bonus points!

The articles in your Reading List under the relevant topic(s) are a good
starting point for formulating your research questions and key
concepts.

You should feel free to start reading and doing background research.
You can seek clarification and obtain more focused feedback on your
project either during office consultation, through emails with your tutor
or during Tutorial Session 2.

More details regarding the format of your project write-up, writing

guidelines, citations & references, and grading criteria will be covered
during Tutorial 2.

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