Central Washington University  -  Winter Quarter 2006

GEOG 415

Geography of Oceania

Tuesday evenings  6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Black Hall Room 150

Instructor: Dr. Robert Kuhlken
Office: Lind Hall Room 118B
Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Phone: 963-2795
E-mail: kuhlkenr@cwu.edu
 

Required Texts:

A Traveller's History of Australia 

   by John H. Chambers
 

The Pacific Islands:
  Environment & Society

   edited by Moshe Rapaport

      

About this course

Geography 415 investigates the physical and cultural geography of what is perhaps earth's most widespread and wondrous region. Oceania comprises the island continent of Australia, along with the myriad islands of New Zealand, New Guinea, Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. Topics covered in this course include landforms, climate, flora and fauna; ecological adaptations of indigenous people; historical and political geography; natural resources and patterns of livelihood; and the creation of distinctive landscapes and regions.

Course Outline & Required Readings

For the two class periods on Australia, required readings are from the Chambers book,
while those for New Zealand will be from various handouts and websites; and for the
Pacific Islands, required readings are from the Rapaport, ed. volume.
 
 

Week 1     January 10

Introduction: A Vast Geographic Realm, Contemporary Political Territories

Web Resources

Australia political map

Australia blank political map

Historical map of Australia & New Zealand

Australasia physical map

Charting the Pacific

Week 2       January 17

Australia: The Physical Environment & Human Settlement
 


 

Required Readings

from the Chambers book:
Chapter 1: The Physical Environment, pp. 3-10
Chapter 2: Aboriginal Australia, pp. 11-35
Chapter 3: Europeans Arrive, pp. 36-59
Chapter 4: Convicts and Colonists, pp. 60-85
Chapter 5: New Britannias, pp. 86-111

from the www:
Geography of Australia 1
Geography of Australia 2
Australian Landforms and their History
Australia's climate
Australia flora & fauna


Additional Web Resources

Maps of Australia

Landforms of Australia

Climates of Australia

Australia's natural vegetation

Australian Geographic online journal

Ecological images of Australia

Aborigines - Australia's native peoples

Art regions of aboriginal Australia

The dreamtime

European discovery and colonisation

Week 3       January 24

Australia: Historical & Economic Geography

Required Readings

from the Chambers book:
Chapter 6: The Demise of Black Australia, pp. 112-139
Chapter 7: Economic Development, pp. 140-171
Chapter 9: The Early Federation, pp. 203-227
Chapter 11: Politics, Economy and Culture,  pp. 258-295

from the www:
Australia at a glance
The Australian Gold Rush
Canberra: Australia's capital city
Natural Disasters in Australia
Salinity


Additional Web Resources

Australia Landcare Program

Landlines: Australia's Rural Affairs Weekly

Australia bushcare

Australia Natural Resources Atlas

Profile of Australian agriculture

Australian wine maps

Australian wheat production

Agricultural Commodities Australia

Culture & recreation in Australia

Waltzing Matilda

Waltzing Matilda RealAudio download

And the band played Waltzing Matilda, by Eric Bogle

Asian immigration to Australia

Canberra: history & geography

An ideal city?

About the ACT
 

Week 4       January 31

New Zealand: The Physical Environment

Required Readings

from the www:
About New Zealand: a brief outline
NZ landscape features
North Island landscapes
South Island landscapes
New Zealand Vulcanism
New Zealand's Volcanoes
Active volcanoes in New Zealand
Geography and geology
Coasts
Climate
The Bush and its plants
New Zealand: Land and People
Geology and Soils; Regional Land Usage
New Zealand forest resources


Additional Web Resources

New Zealand physical map

North Island

South Island

Manaaki Whenua - New Zealand Landcare Research

New Zealand biodiversity

New Zealand land & wildlife

Napier earthquake
 

Week 5       February 7

New Zealand: Cultural-Historical Geography

Required Readings

from the www:
The people of New Zealand
Where New Zealanders live
Arrival and settlement of the Maori
Pre-European society
The Maori economy: a history
Maori people and culture today
Treaty of Waitangi
Cook's Achievement
History of immigration to New Zealand
British immigration and the New Zealand Company
Where did they go to?
Large differences in regional growth
New Zealand agriculture
New Zealand agricultural production


Additional Web Resources

Virtual New Zealand

Te Maori

Maori culture

Tainui canoe chant

The Treaty of Waitangi

Haka:  from the Rugby league

New Zealand regions

Another view of NZ regions

About New Zealand

New Zealand forest plantations

New Zealand wine regions

Urban places of New Zealand

New Zealand local governments

New Zealand webcams

Midterm Exam   Feb  7

Week 6       February 14

Pacific Islands: Physical & Environmental Geography

Required Readings

Chapter 4  Geomorphology, pp. 43 - 53
Chapter 7  Biogeography, pp. 76 - 88
Chapter 8  Terrestrial Ecosystems, pp. 93 - 106
Chapter 9  Aquatic Ecosystems. pp. 109 - 117


Web Resources

Theory of island biogeography

Model of Island Biogeography: a more detailed explanation

Status of Cook Island birds

New Caledonia flora

Pacific Island environmental news

Schematic diagram of an atoll

Atoll ecosystems

Mangrove ecology

Week 7       February 21

Pacific Islands: Historical & Economic Geography


 

Required Readings

Chapter 10  Pre-contact Period, pp. 121 - 130
Chapter 11  Post-contact Period,  pp. 134 - 142
Chapter 17  Tenure, pp. 208 - 218
Chapter 29  Agriculture & Forestry, pp. 353 - 363
Web Resources

Lapita pottery on Fiji postage stamps

Mutiny on the HMS Bounty

Canoe plants of ancient Hawaii

The Easter Island story

Traditional Pacific Island Agroforestry Systems

Agroforestry in the Pacific Islands: Systems for Sustainability

Urban agroforestry on Pacific Islands

Week 8      February 28

Pacific Islands: Population & Settlement Geography

Required Readings

Chapter 21  Demography, pp. 258 - 268
Chapter 22  Mobility,  pp. 270 - 280
Chapter 26  Urbanization, pp. 315 - 325
Chapter 27  Urban Dilemmas, pp. 326 - 334
Web Resources

The Cook Islands

Oil & gas fields of Oceania

Effects of Population Growth and Urbanization in the Pacific Islands

Week 9       March 7

Pacific Islands: Cultural Geography

Required Readings

Chapter 20  Art, pp. 246 - 254
Chapter 33  Communications,  pp. 405 - 415
Chapter 32  Tourism, pp. 394 - 403

Web Resources

Pacific Islands Report

Pacific Islands Internet Resources

Café Pacific

Tonga on the Net

Planet Tonga

Arts Pacific

Cook Islands dancing  video from island of Mauke

Jane's Oceania home page

Oceania Travel Notes

Discover Paradise

Lonely Planet's Oceania

South Pacific Organizer


 
 

Pacific Islands:  Focus on Fiji

Web Resources

The Fiji Museum

Geography of Kava

Fijian tanoa from the Peabody museum

Fijian warfare

Map of Kadavu  from Thomson 1889

Ecotourism in Fiji

Fiji photograph gallery

Some additional web links you might find useful:

  • Maps of Australia
  • Links for Australia
  • Australia photo gallery
  • Australia wilderness photo gallery

    •  
  • Nzine lots of travel information for New Zealand
  • New Zealand photo galleries
  • New Zealand webcams
  • New Zealand Prehistory and Biogeography.

    •  
  • University of Hawaii's Oceanic Sites
  • Center for Pacific Islands Studies
  • University of Guam Homepage
  • Oceania blank outline map
  • Oceania political map
  • Large reference map of Oceania
  • Oceania place names
  • map of the western Pacific

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