User talk:Kevinmccarthy25/sandbox

Environmental Determinism Outline:

My plan of attack for this article is to add analysis from several readings on the political organizing frameworks from the following authors (while Sarah works with a separate group): 1. Jared Diamond (1997). Guns, Germs, and Steel. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. 2. Marcella Alsan (2012). “The Effect of the Tse Tse Fly on African Development,” unpublished working paper. 3. Engerman, Stanley L., and Kenneth L. Sokoloff. Economic development in the Americas since 1500: endowments and institutions. Cambridge University Press, 2012. 4. Nunn, Nathan, and Diego Puga. 2010. “Ruggedness: The Blessing of Bad Geography in Africa.” Review of Economics and Statistics 94 (1): 20–36.

I will work with Sarah to provide a breakdown of each authors influence on the various theories we will present. Since much of the theory is based on Jared Diamond's original theory, I will start in this area and work to flesh out his ideas more than they currently exist in the article. In Diamond's case specifically I feel that there is an opportunity to look at the overarching framework of his ideas. Currently, there seems to be a focus on the examples which Diamond mentions.

For the Engerman and Sokoloff piece on economic development in the America's, I think it may be beneficial to add their point of view and theories to the article since they are not currently cited. I think the article would benefit greatly from an the institutional framework approach, and will include a significant amount of information from the piece. I am currently attempting to figure out if it would be best to give the work of Engerman and Sokoloff their own section, since their is so much informaiton, or possible add them into the prexisting headings. Also, I am considering applying their framework across several of the sub-headings, climate, urban, etc., but this may prove a difficult and speculative task.

For the Nathan Nunn and Diego Puga work on how the geography in Africa shaped the growth of the continent, I will also draw the overarching framework and specific ideas. I think that this section could be formed into a new 'geography' sub-heading, or may even fit best when applied across multiple pre existing sections. This piece also offers and opportunity to flesh out more specific examples, some of which may keep the reader interested while also presenting the organizing framework of geography.

While reading these works it has become apparent that some of the wikipedia pages for their authors or even the works themselves could be improved. There is also the possibility that Sarah and I could add to these pieces on their respective pages as well, or link those pages to 'Environmental Determinism' or vice versa.

Kevinmccarthy25 (talk) 23:29, 6 March 2016 (UTC)