Border Geographies We live in an age of intense globalization with near instantaneous transfers of information and unprecedented movements of goods and people across the world. At the same time, there are more walls constructed between countries today than ever before.  How do we explain this paradox of increasingly restrictive borders in an age of globalizing flows?  In this course we will trace the history of political borders, critically evaluate theories in the scholarly literature about borders and flows, and investigate strategies, experiences, and imaginaries that produce different border-scapes and representations. Students will be actively engaged in unraveling the paradox of walls and flows through group research projects on specific border regimes around the world.

Introduction to International and Global Studies This is the core course of the International and Global Studies major. It is an introduction to key international issues and problems that will likely feature prominently in their courses at Middlebury and study abroad. Issues covered will differ from year to year, but they may include war, globalization, immigration, racism, imperialism, nationalism, world organizations, non-governmental organizations, the European Union, the rise of East Asia, politics and society in Latin America, and anti-Americanism.

Place and Society: Local to Global This course is an introduction to how geographers view the world and contribute to our understanding of it. Where do the phenomena of human experience occur? Why are they there? What is the significance? These questions are fundamental for explaining the world at different scales from the global to the local. Throughout, we will focus on the spatial basis of society, its continual reorganization through time, and how various human and environmental problems can be usefully analyzed from a geographic perspective.

Seminar in Political Geography: Radical Geographies  Geography has always been associated with the exercise of power and came into being as an academic discipline because it supported imperialism, nationalism, and war. However, the field of geography also has a lesser-known emancipatory tradition that emphasizes social justice, empowerment, and resistance to oppression. Early radical voices—anarchists, socialists, and pacifists—were silenced and often forced into exile.  It was only in the context of the protest culture of the 1960s that radical geographies started to find an audience.  In this seminar we will examine how geography and geographers have engaged in revolutionary activism, education for justice, social mobilization, and theorizations of alternative models of society.

Geopolitics of Europe The course examines what is arguably the most influential region in the world from a geographic perspective. First, we will chart the complex geopolitical dimensions of Europe in an attempt to understand what unites this highly differentiated region. Next, we will critically evaluate the main European political body, the European Union. Then we will analyze the political, social, economic, and environmental challenges that threaten to destabilize Europe. Finally, we will try to assess the degree to which political power in Europe has acquired a "European" dimension at the grassroots level by investigating political activism across borders of individual countries. Students will be actively involved in this study through a research project that culminates in a conference on the Future of Europe at the end of the semester.

Guntram Herb

Reviews and ratings for Guntram Herb at Middlebury College.Guntram Herb teaches Border Geographies, Intro to Intl & Global Studies, Place And Society and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Guntram Herb good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

Sure — here’s a little something:

The Clockmaker’s Window

In a quiet town where the streets curled like question marks, there stood a clockmaker’s shop with a single window always glowing warm gold. People said the clockmaker wasn’t repairing clocks at all, but listening to them—leaning in close as though each gear carried a secret.

Border geographies is a very interesting course that has a lot of importance beyond just geography (even though its in the geo department). The biggest thing is that Professor Herb is always willing to investigate issues that are not mainstream or very heard of if students bring them up. 

Professor Herb and Professor Lee co-taught my section of the course. It was easy to tell that they both are passionate about the material, and I found Professor Herb to be an especially effective teacher of the material.