Diversity Amid Globalization

For Undergraduate World Regional Geography Courses.

Diversity Amid Globalization is an exciting contemporary approach to World Regional Geography that explicitly acknowledges the geographic changes that accompany today's rapid rate of globalization. The book's unique approach gives students access to the latest ideas, concepts and theories in geography while concurrently developing a strong foundation in the fundamentals of world regions. The book should help professors engender a strong sense of place, and an understanding of the connections within and between world regions.

Features: Diversity Amid Globalization—The book explicitly acknowledges the geographic changes accompanying today's rapid rate of globalization, emphasizing both the homogenizing and diversifying forces inherent to the globalization process. The text challenges students to make critical comparisons between the regions of the world and to understand more fully the interconnections that bind these regions together. Example of the sorts of topics used to accomplish this goal include:
—The rise of Islamic fundamentalism in SW Asia.
—The economic and political integration of the European Union, contrasted with micronationalism and factionalism in Europe.
—Ethnic diversification in the face of strong participation in the global assembly line in SE Asia.
—The globalization and localization of beer consumption and production in the United States and Canada.

• Helps students develop and understanding of the increasing interconnectedness of the modern world, and fosters recognition of the importance of global processes in our everyday lives.

• This structure fosters a more structured and penetrating treatment of geographic themes and concepts, and facilitates comparisons of specific topics between regions.

• Students can readily study one region in considerable detail and compare distributions and statistics between regions.

• This system allows students to compare and contrast concepts and both within and between regions. Additionally, this system reinforces the book's emphasis on the global effect on local issues.

• 
  —Setting the Boundaries boxes are presented at the beginning of each regional chapter. These boxes describe the extent and major characteristics of the region understudy, helping students grasp the region's features in a global context
  —Local Voices boxes allow the authors to step aside and let local people talk or write about their concerns. These boxes highlight regional issues and topics such as food, music environmental problems, and cultural tensions.
  —Special Interest boxes, written in a more journalistic style than the body of the text, highlight issues that add color and a sense of place to the region.
  —These boxes add color and flavor to the regions by getting off of the beaten path of traditional academic discourse.

  TECHNOLOGY

  Geo Tutor CD ROM—Package free with every copy of the text, Geo Tutor uses interactive digital media to give students background on the cultural, political, economic, and physical geography of the world. The CD ROM provides overview material and asks student to create their own maps of specific topics within each category, The CD also contains a full reference atlas and is augmented by a dedicated website at www.prenhall.com/stansfield.
  Companion website—The Diversity Amid Globalization website tied chapter by chapter to the text provides students with an on-line study guide that provides immediate feedback to study questions, access to current geographical issues, and provides links to interesting and relevant sites on the World Wide Web. Additionally, instructors can create a customized syllabus that links directly to the website.
  Virtual Field Trips—Integrated with the book's web site, these field trips are designed to give students something of the "on-the-ground" feeling that one gets when visiting a country or interacting with the people who live there. The field trips include information about the history, places, people, and current events of places in each world region.
  Country-by-Country Data—Also integrated with the website, this material gives a summary of the vital statistics for each country within a region.
  Presentation Manager—This sophisticated presentation management software makes it easy to create dynamic, customized presentations for use in your classroom. The CD-ROM includes hundreds of images (photos, illustrations, and maps) from the test, as well as some additional graphics.

Les Rowntree teaches both Geography and Environmental Studies at San Jose State University in California, where he recently completed a term as the Chair of the interdisciplinary Department of Environmental Studies. As an environmental geographer, Dr. Rowntree's teaching and research interests focus on international environmental issues, the human dimensions of global change, biodiversity and conservation, and human-caused landscape transformation. He sees world regional geography as a way to engage and inform students by giving them the conceptual tools needed to assess global issues critically in their larger context. Recently Dr. Rowntree has done research in Morocco, Mexico, Australia, and Europe, as well as in his native California. Along with publishing in various geographic and environmental journals, Dr. Rowntree is also writing a book on the natural history of California's Bay Area and Central Coast.

Martin Lewis is a lecturer in International Affairs at Stanford University He has conducted extensive research on environmental geography in the Philippines and on the intellectual history of global geography. His publications include Wagering the Land: Ritual, Capital, and Environmental Degradation in the Cordillera of Northern Luzon, 1900-1986 (1992), and with Karen Wigen, The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography (1997).

Marie Price is an Associate Professor of Geography and International Affairs at George Washington University A Latin American specialist, Marie has conducted research in Belize, Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, and Bolivia. She has also traveled widely throughoutLatin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Her studies have explored human migration, natural resource use, environmental conservation, and regional development. Dr. Price brings to Diversity Amid Globalization a special interest in regions as dynamic spatial constructs that are shaped over time through both global and local forces. Her publications include articles in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Geographical Review, Journal of Historical Geography, CLAG Yearbook, Studies in Comparative International Development, and Focus.

William Wyckoff is a geographer in the Department of Earth Sciences at Montana State University specializing in the cultural and historical geography of North America. He has written and co-edited several books on North American settlement geography, including The Developer's Frontier: The Making of the Western New York Landscape (1988), The Mountainous West: Explorations in Historical Geography (1995) and Colorado: The Making of a Western American Landscape 1860-1940 (1999). In 1990, he received the Burlington Northern Corporation's Award for Outstanding Teaching. A World Regional Geography instructor for 18 years, Dr. Wyckoff hopes that the fresh approach taken in Diversity Amid Globalization will more effectively highlight the tensions evident in the world today as global change impacts particular places and people in dramatic and often