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.

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.

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 Place And Society, Border Geographies, Seminar in Political Geography and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Guntram Herb good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

Guntram is a really really nice dude and it shows in his teaching. This class is pretty easy, and I think you will 100% get way more out of just going straight into a GIS class. That being said, he's a very enthusiastic professor and an effective teacher. You will learn things!

Guntram Herb is one of the best professors I have ever had. He puts in a great effort to make every lecture engaging, and his grading I thought was very fair. Emphasis on group work though means you should choose your group wisely

I love how this course required me to think deeply about national identity and physical and mental borders. It definitely expanded my mind. Professor Herb provide lectures well and frequently provides handouts to make the material even more digestible. I highly recommend this course.