WOMEN'S WORLDS AT THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY*

ABSTRACT. For much of the twentieth century, women in the United States found it difficult to obtain university positions in geography. Opportunities existed in other types of institutions, however, including the American Geographical Society (ags ). This article addresses ways in which the Society's mission intersected with its historical context from 1895 to 1970 to create niches for women in editorial and library work. It explores the women's origins, their perspectives and experiences with the ags , and the significance of their contributions to the discipline. It suggests the potential of a gendered social approach for enriching understanding of the histories of geographical institutions.     

Race,Gender, and Constrained Work Trips in Buffalo,NY, 1990

This study investigates whether women's short commutes should be interpreted as constrained or convenient work trips by examining how race, gender, travel mode, occupation, residential location, workplace location, and Inc.ome affect commuting time. The analysis is restricted to a sample of European American and African American male and female workers residing in Buffalo, New York, and the surrounding county using data drawn from the Public Use Microdata Samples of the 1990 U.S. census. Given the pervasive gender wage gap, women unsurprisingly have more compromised (short commutes to low-Inc.ome jobs) work trips than do men. Multivariate analysis reveals that among those who reverse commute to suburban locations, African American women have the longest work trips.     

CONTAINMENT AND MISMATCH: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN COMMUTING IN METROPOLITAN LABOR MARKETS

The spatial containment of women relative to men remains a prominent theme in research on women's employment in American cities. Drawing on a dataset for all metropolitan areas in the United States in 1990, this research analyzes the contextual variability of containment effects and the link between localized commutes and the incidence of occupational sex segregation. Women's more localized commutes persist across most of the urban system, with particularly wide differentials in suburban labor markets in proximity to national service and finance centers. Treatment effects models confirm that differences in the extent of local labor markets among women reinforce occupational sex segregation, but the effect varies by mode of travel. Working close to home slightly increases the likelihood of segregation for women with access to private automobiles, suggestive of spatial containment. Among women reliant on bus transportation, spatial mismatch is so severe that even poorly paid secondary jobs require long commutes.     

Integrating Women and Environmental Issues into World Regional Geography

Abstract

Women throughout the world are demonstrating solidarity and activism on behalf of environmental issues. A World Regional Geography course is an appropriate setting for discussing some of the contributions women make to protect the environment. Using case studies that draw upon women's environmental activism in four world cultures, this article presents content information, instructional strategies and instructional resource lists. The four world cultures that provide the backdrop for this discussion are Anglo America, Russia and its neighbors, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.     

Climatic Perception

Abstract

Climate plays a strategic role in man's perception of the environment. Man's perception of climate influences his adjustment to the atmospheric environment. This study examines the climatic desirability of the conterminous United States as perceived by in-state college students in North Carolina, Arizona, Minnesota and Vermont. Based on climatic preference, the home states are perceived to be the most desirable states in the conterminous United States. In general, the climatic conditions in those states which are in close geographical propinquity to the sample states are also appealing to the students. In addition, Florida, Colorado and the West Coast states (especially California) are perceived as climatically desirable.     

Geography and Planning: Some Perspectives

This paper analyzes the migration of Puerto Rican-born women from the United States to Puerto Rico using longitudinal data. We hypothesize that sojourn length in the United States is a function of both structural (macro-level economic and cultural factors) and behavioral (micro-level life-cycle experiences and personal attributes) variables. We test these hypotheses by estimating a proportional hazards model. The parameter estimates of this model indicate that sojourn length in the United States, and thus the decision to return to Puerto Rico, is a function of wage trends and community characteristics on the mainland plus a number of individual attributes that include education, marriage, and childbirth.     

Shared Learning: Feminist Student Research on Household Reuse Behavior

Abstract

This paper describes collaborative student research on waste management that first compiled home interviews with women professors in Oxford, Ohio, USA, and Beijing, China, on household reuse for a graduate thesis and then communicated the findings in a handbook for undergraduate students. The women participants described diverse household reuse activities and important differences in how items enter and leave their homes. Reuse behaviors were derived intuitively from local contexts but could also be learned through cross-cultural education. These projects show positive links between feminist research and pedagogy in geography that encourage shared learning and promote women's contributions to environmental conservation.     

A GIS research agenda

Abstract

This paper is a review of research themes in the field of geographical information systems, as identified from the evidence submitted to the Department of the Environment's Committee of Enquiry into the Handling of Geographic Information (the Chorley Committee) which reported in 1987, the papers and discussions at a workshop on research in GIS held in Edinburgh in 1987 and jointly sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council in the United Kingdom and the National Science Foundation in the United States, and the proceedings of an international symposium on the research agenda for GIS, organized by the Association of American Geographers and held in Washington in 1987. The interpretation of and the emphases given to these themes are, however, the author's own     

AIDS to Successful Photography

Abstract

The National Geographic Society's Geography Education Program continues to work on improving geography in the nation's schools. A successful network of geography education Alliances is in place across the United States. These state-based Alliances emphasize grass-roots involvement by teachers and other geography educators. Features of the Geography Education Program include inservice teacher training at Alliance-sponsored summer institutes, institutes held at the Society's headquarters in Washington, and specialized institutes devoted to a specific topic such as technology in education, or water issues. In the near future, the Society's projects include urban outreach, technology training and application, development of preservice programs, and the implementation and dissemination of world-class standards in geography.     

Teaching Geographic Field Methods to Cultural Resource Management Technicians

Abstract

There are perhaps 10,000 technicians in the United States who work in the field known as cultural resource management (CRM). The typical field technician possesses a bachelor's degree in anthropology, geography, or a closely allied discipline. The author's experience has been that few CRM field technicians receive adequate undergraduate training in geographic field methods, such as cartography and orienteering, which are considered critical to the demands of CRM studies. This paper assesses a practical on-the-job-training approach not uncommon to the industry and concludes with a recommended curriculum. As a result, educators should recognize this need as an opportunity to offer courses in basic geographic field methods at the college level.     

Seedbed of Reform: Arnold Guyot and School Geography in Massachusetts, 1849–1855

Abstract

Swiss-born Arnold Henri Guyot (1807–1884) was the first professionally trained geographer to hold an academic position in the United States. After his migration to this country in 1848 he lived for several years in Massachusetts. During this period he introduced contemporary German-Swiss ideas of geography to key opinion leaders in an important series of lectures (published as Earth and Man), established a system of weather stations, and lectured on methods of teaching geography in Massachusetts teachers' institutes and normal schools. This article discusses Guyot's work in the reform of school geography in Massachusetts as the seedbed for his later, better-known work as the author of innovative textbooks and other teaching aids.     

Teaching Advanced Placement Human Geography

Abstract

The College Board's decision to add human geography to its Advanced Placement (AP) program is an exciting development for teachers at all levels who are concerned about the state of geographical understanding in North America today. Yet as discussed in an earlier edition of this journal (Murphy 1998), the successful implementation of AP human geography is contingent upon meeting formidable pedagogic challenges. These challenges are the product of the discipline's relatively low profile in many high schools (particularly in the United States), the lack of extensive geographical training on the part of most high school teachers, and the scarcity of good geographical reference materials in many classrooms and libraries.     

The first rural women's network in New South Wales: seventy years of the country women's association

The Country Women's Association of NSW (CWA) is the main voice of rural women in the state. It has been the biggest women's organisation in NSW until very recently. Its significant contribution to rural community development has been overlooked. After its foundation in 1922, the CWA established a widespread women's network, as well as many facilities for women and children. The necessary fund‐raising activities required the organisation of regular social activities in country towns. The CWA has always affirmed women's traditional gender roles, and it has never challenged the male hegemony typical of rural Australia. By contributing to the improvement of rural conditions, to the stability of family life and to local social activities, the CWA has helped to develop the rural economy as well as local and national identity. It has helped women put down roots in country areas. Its future role needs to be defined in the context of the difficult economic situation, and of the changes in gender roles, in rural NSW.     

Gender and local soil knowledge: Linking farmers' perceptions with soil fertility in two villages in the Philippines

Scientists often turn to farmers to understand soil management. This process reveals differences and overlaps between local and scientific soil knowledge but rarely considers women and gender issues. This paper examines men's and women's local knowledge of soils in upland, smallholder farms in two villages in Mindanao, the Philippines, using focus group discussions, semi‐structured household interviews, field visits, GIS and soil testing. Farmers' field areas were calculated and delineated based on their perceptions of the different types of soils on their land. Men and women chose the same plots for what they considered their best soil but differed on what they felt were their worst. The fertility of the soils that women considered to be the best and worst was not significantly different from that of the men's respective choices. There was a difference in fertility, however, between the best and worst soils regardless of gender. Although soil fertility analyses showed that the women's chosen soils were similar to men's, analyses of qualitative data showed that their knowledge of soils was different and was based in part on a gendered division of labour. A multidisciplinary approach helped bridge the gap between sociocultural and physical research.     

SPATIAL CONSTRAINTS ON WOMEN'S WORK IN TARIJA,BOLIVIA

ABSTRACT. This geography of women's work in the less‐developed world is set in Tarija, Bolivia, a small city that has been dramatically changed by economic crisis and structural‐adjustment programs. Explored is the spatial component of women's economic activities in a low‐income barrio following the imposition of structural‐adjustment programs in the 1980s and 1990s. Women who pursue employment away from home must rely on other women. In particular, households that include more than one woman who is capable of handling important daily chores are more likely to have a woman engaged in income‐generating activities away from the home and the neighborhood. Women at home make it possible for other women to extend their economic activity into the broader community. These findings are important because they draw attention to women's reliance on other women, how women use space, and how they are constrained by spatial factors as they negotiate their daily lives.     

Spatial Mismatch and Employment in a Decade of Restructuring∗

Spatial barriers to employment limit women's job opportunities, but their effects differ among racial/ethnic minority groups. This study evaluates the degree of spatial mismatch for minority women and men by comparing the commuting times of African American, Latino, and white workers in the New York metropolitan region. Using Public Use Microdata for 1980 and 1990, we perform a partial decomposition analysis to assess the role of spatial mismatch in lengthening commuting times for minority workers. The results show that African American men and women living in the center of the region have poorer spatial access to employment than their white counterparts. In the suburbs, African American women and Latinas suffer no spatial mismatch; rather, their longer commuting times reflect greater reliance on mass transit. Comparison with 1980 findings reveals little change in spatial mismatch over time despite significant economic and social restructuring in the 1980s. Spatial barriers still limit employment prospects for the majority of minority women living at the core of the region.     

A Review of “Reconstructing Kobe: The Geography of Crisis and Opportunity”

This paper presents reflections on a research project in women's health, providing both substantive findings surrounding tanning and social status and methodological recommendations for future research. The project under review utilized a picture-elicited storytelling method to: a) understand how women link tanned, bronzed skin to health, status, and attractiveness; and b) test the effectiveness of picture-elicited storytelling as a research method. The project found that, when tanning, women use their bodies to inscribe the social norm of the bronzed aesthetic. While women indicate considerable knowledge of the health dangers of tanning, they continue to link tanned skin to beauty, status, and attractiveness. Further, the research project found that the use of picture-elicited storytelling as a method is potentially powerful but requires considerable attention to concerns of power and representation on the part of the research team.     

Developing Contradictions: Women's Participation as a Site of Struggle Within an Indian NGO*

Women are being hired in increasing numbers by development projects to facilitate women's participation components. Once employed, however, women often find themselves marginalized within their organizations. In this paper, I find that the women's participation component of an Indian drinking water project has enabled the exclusion of women fieldworkers employed by the project. Drawing on the work of Bakhtin, I show participatory approaches as multiple, partial, and contentious. Moves to thwart women fieldworkers and women's participation give rise to struggles over development geography. Analysis of project records, interviews with staff, and observation of staff activities provide evidence for results.     

America's Changing Farmscape: A Study of Agricultural Tourism in Michigan*

Abstract

Agricultural tourism incorporates visits to farms for the purposes of on-site retail purchases, enjoyment, and education. Long popular in the European Union (EU), agritourism is gaining popularity throughout the United States. Interest has grown as a result of stagnant grain prices, rising farm costs, and growing international competition. For rural areas seeking new economic options, the potential of these operations to generate new sources of income through sales and horizontal linkages to other tourism-based activities has sparked interest beyond the farm gate. This article, based on a survey and a statistical analysis of 300 agritourism operations in Michigan, summarizes factors associated with successful operations.     

Geography and Politics of the United States in the Year 2000

Abstract

The future as a productive subject of scholarly inquiry has only recently been recognized by geographers. The discipline's concern with man's spatial behavior and structure in a social, economic, and political vein suggests that teaching, research, and planning efforts can be funneled in these directions. Predicting future events and processes in the social sciences and in most areas of geography is difficult, probably more so in political geography than in many other fields. For this reason studies of a political nature represent a ready challenge and opportunity to examine present political worlds and suggest the likelihood of future political events, problems, and processes. This study, which focuses on the United States, identifies six developments and characteristics that are expected to be representative of the nation's political geography by the year 2000. Specifically, it is believed that by that date boundaries will have less meaning, the city will become the focus of political attention (as opposed to the state), new political cultures will emerge accompanied by new voting patterns, centralized authority at the national level will continue, and political considerations will play a key role in environmental planning and protection.