“This Is Like Déjà Vu All over Again”

Understanding the Changing Planet is the latest in a long line of reports that makes the case for the relevance of the discipline of geography by invoking big “S” science. My commentary argues that this model of science, with its celebration of large data sets, sophisticated methodological techniques, and various material tools and hardware, is only one model of geography's contribution. Instead, I suggest that the strength of geography is in its pluralism and methodological variety, and in the end that will do more for understanding the changing planet than anything else.     

Putting Understanding the Changing Planet in Context: A Response

Understanding the Changing Planet was commissioned by the National Research Council to assess, for an audience of policymakers and funding agencies, key ways in which the “geographical sciences” can help address pressing issues facing society. In keeping with the charge, the report shows how particular empirically focused research initiatives in the geographical sciences can advance understanding of a set of selected major societal issues. Although constrained by a charge focused on the geographical sciences, the committee took an ecumenical approach to science, highlighted many mixed-methods studies, and framed questions that cut across traditional subdisciplinary divisions. It is important to take the report on its own terms and not to view it either as an assessment of the entire discipline of geography or to see it as an effort to encourage geographers to adopt a particular methodological or theoretical stance. Instead, the report should be seen as a study demonstrating, for a broad audience, the types of contributions the geographical sciences can make to addressing major issues of the day.     

中国地理科学进展与展望——与美国地理学战略方向的比较(英文)

Understanding the Changing Planet: Strategic Directions for the Geographical Sciences(UCP),published by the National Research Council(USA),and its comments in The Professional Geographer propose that uppercase and plural "Geographical Sciences"(GS) is the strategic direction for geography in the next decade for better understanding of our rapidly changing planet. According to these comments,UCP valued technologies and tools excessively("task"),and did not pay much attention to methodology("discipline"). Actually,both"task" and "discipline" are geographical wings,especially in the time of "big science".Enlightenment from UCP and its comments is the strategic direction that should be balanced between "task" and "discipline",GS should be a three-dimensional construct of a disciplinary system,methodology,and technologies and tools,and this system should be scientific humanism based on scientific spirit and directed by humanism. During the last 60 years,Chinese geographers devoted themselves to GS,including practice and theory. Obviously progress and outlook are proposed as interdisciplinary GS,Earth Surface Sciences(ESS) and Geographical Construction(GC). The disciplinary system of GS is very complex,and is composed of such human knowledge domains as sciences,technologies,engineering,and philosophy. The main mission is to research the open,complex,and macro earth system(not only scientifically,but also humanistically),and one significant methodology is "comprehensive integration of qualitative and quantitative means"(CIQQM). At the same time,another changing direction in Chinese geography is Human-Economic Geography(HEG).     

Promoting Geography (or Part of It)—Yet Again!

Geographers in the United States frequently express concern that their discipline's potential contributions to the understanding of contemporary society (including society–nature interrelations) and resolution of some of its major problems are underrecognized and undervalued. Understanding the Changing Planet (National Research Council 2010) is the latest in a series of reports addressed at policymakers, the scientific community, and its funders seeking to rectify that situation. It covers the geographical sciences more generally rather than geography specifically and pays particular attention to society–nature interrelations but does those disciplines something of a disservice with its greater emphasis on the infrastructure for data collection, visualization, and analysis at the expense of explanation and theory. It successfully promotes some aspects of the disciplines but largely ignores other vibrant and important parts. Its long-term impact is uncertain.     

Teaching Orientalism in Introductory Human Geography

This article explores efforts to bring postcolonial theory into the undergraduate human geography classroom. Through a case study of teaching Edward Said's Orientalism in introductory human geography, we discuss the relevance of postcolonial theory to critical pedagogy in geography. We lay out how instructors can teach Orientalism in introductory courses, what happens when they do so, and where efforts to use postcolonial theory to help students analyze the “colonial present” can be improved. We suggest that postcolonial theory is particularly well suited pedagogically to show students the mechanisms and uneven power relations producing and sustaining past and present geographies of difference.     

How Does Castells's The Rise of the Network Society Contribute to Research in Human Geography? A Citation Content and Context Analysis

Manuel Castells seminal work The Rise of the Network Society (RNS) is one of the top ten most frequently cited publications in human geography. RNS comprehensively investigates the theory of network society, which is of great significance to human geography. Citation count, however, cannot reflect the specific contribution of RNS to human geography. By jointly using citation content and context analysis on 898 journal articles on human geography, this study examines the citations of RNS to clarify the contribution. Results show that (1) “space of flows” is most frequently cited and (2) citations of RNS serve nine citation functions in human geography studies. Eight of them reveal three types of knowledge development contribution, namely, knowledge dissemination, knowledge inheritance, and knowledge innovation. Among the nine citation functions, the critique function is most thought-provoking, revealing the deficiencies of RNS: (1) spatial dualism is abstract and impersonal, (2) “space of places” is as important as “space of flows” in the network society, and (3) the lack of abundant data limits the development of empirical research on the space of flows and network of city. These critical citations provide implications for the development of network society theory in human geography. Key Words: bibliometric analysis, citation context analysis, content analysis, knowledge development, network society.     

Textbook Errors in the Application of the Kelvin Temperature Scale

Abstract

The units of the Kelvin temperature scale (with an upper case K for the proper noun “Kelvin”) are incorrectly introduced in most undergraduate introductory physical geography textbooks. The internationally recognized unit of the Kelvin temperature scale is the kelvin (lower case k), abbreviated to K (upper case). However, many introductory physical geography textbooks incorrectly use units of “Kelvin,” “degrees Kelvin,” or “^oK.” The errors detract from the prestige of physical geography as a natural science discipline.     

Geography’s “World view”: The ontological issues of geography

Contemporary science philosophy suggests that discussing ontological problems is of fundamental significance broadly within certain specific disciplines. Natural and social science research are inseparable from philosophical guidance; for instance, the philosophy of geography is the ideological basis for geography. The traditional philosophy of geography is methodology-oriented, which primarily emphasizes the “logical structure of geography explanations,” and ignores the discussion of its ontology. This study, in the context of the philosophy of science, explores the relationships between methodology, ontology, and the philosophy of geography, defines the connotations of geographical ontology, analyzes the links and differences between philosophical ontology and scientific ontology of geography, clarifies the nature of geographical ontology, and summaries its theoretical values. The ontology of geography incorporates the philosophically ontological beliefs of geographers and geographical schools and the ontological commitment of the theory of geography. As different geographers hold different philosophical viewpoints, their ontological beliefs are different; one geographical theory asserts an ontological commitment of “what is there,” which determines the nature and types of objectives the theory references. The ontological beliefs of geographers determine their epistemology, methodology, and axiology, and the ontological commitment of a geographical theory is the premise and basis of that theory.     

A Folk Guide to Geography as a Holistic Science

Abstract

This article defines geography as a holistic science that seeks to explain variations in the human-environment relationship over the earth's surface. By critically evaluating the ontological, epistemological, and methodological commitments of geography, an attempt is made to bridge the gap between the specialized, professional discussion of geography and practical pedagogical needs. The central argument is threefold. First, by combining natural and social science, the geographical perspective is crucial as a means to explain, and to help solve, real world problems. Second, such a multidimensional science demands a holistic approach. Finally, if this message is to be heard, geographers will need to put more effort into translating their professional discourse into that of nongeographers. The key is to change the prevailing “folk model” of geography held by nongeographers as a means to render the geographic project more intellectually coherent and institutionally legitimate.     

Simion Mehedinţi's Contribution to Modern Romanian Geography

Armed with a scholarship to find an answer to the question “What is geography?” Simion Mehedin?i's studies took him to continental Europe's three main centers of geographic thought: Paris, Berlin, and Leipzig. We explore how his innovative ideas flourished, especially in Leipzig under Ratzel. The first Romanian geographer, Mehedin?i, must be credited with having defined geography as a science of mutual relationships between geospheres. This thinking reached its pinnacle in two complex books, Terra and Ethnos, the contents of which we synthetically explore. We also trace the unfavorable historical and geopolitical conditions that led to this pioneering work being little recognized worldwide.     

Transforming New Orleans and Its Environs: Centuries of Change

Abstract

Geography is again becoming an integral part of the premier natural-science agency of the federal government. Geographic research emphasizes the surface of the earth, a portion of the earth system that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) defines as the “critical zone.” Although geography was part of the USGS from the creation of the agency, in recent years geography in the agency has largely been limited to topographic mapping. Recently, the USGS and an advisory committee of the National Research Council (NRC) reviewed the role of geography at the Survey. The committee's report, along with ongoing decision-making in the federal government, is likely to reshape geography in the USGS. The newly defined USGS has a regional structure and four disciplines: geology, hydrology, biology, and geography. The NRC report emphasizes the need for the creation of a spatial database called the National Map to replace the existing series of paper topographic maps. The report also outlines the need for geographic research in geographic information science (GIScience), nature-society connections, and bridging of science to decision-making. The NRC report has been briefed throughout the USGS, in the federal executive branch, and in Congress. The changing role for geography in the USGS requires change in the agency culture, revised budgetary decisions, and the establishment of a long-term core agenda for research. Academic geographers will need to prepare a new generation of geographers for participation in the USGS and similar agencies.     

Strategic Positivism∗

Many “sociological”factors can account for the initial acceptance and continued persistence of W. M. Davis's Geographical Cycle. Such factors include Davis's attractive and forceful presentation of the cycle and the role of the cycle as a unifier of the discipline of physical geography, to name two. An analysis of the scientific character of the cycle, in the light of Karl Popper's criteria for demarcating between science and non-science, suggests that persistence of the cycle can also be attributed to a “logical”factor, the irrefutability of the central concept, stage.     

Geographic perspectives on urban sustainability: past,current, and future research trajectories

ABSTRACT

The 21st century has been called the “century of the city” and compounded concerns that current development pathways were not sustainable. Calls for scholarship on urban sustainability among geographers cites strengths in the human-environment and urban subfields that positioned the discipline to make unique contributions to critical research needs. This special issue reflects on the contributions that geographers have made to urban sustainability scholarship. We observe that that integration across human-environment and urban subfields reflects broader bifurcations between social theory and spatial science traditions in geography. Piggy-backing on the rise of sustainability science, the emergence of urbanization science compels geographers to reflect upon the ways in which we are positioned to make unique contributions to those fields. We argue that those contributions should embrace systems thinking, empirically connect social constructs to biophysical patterns and processes, and use the city as a laboratory to generate new theories.     

Media Institute on Geographic Concepts

Abstract

A new political geography has emerged that stresses the political conflict behind the production of space. This orientation in the subdiscipline constitutes a turn away from traditional political geography, where the emphasis had previously been on the spatial distribution of political phenomena. The “new” political geographic theory has been applied to the study of environmental issues, turning the attention of scholars to the political struggle behind the construction of nature as well as space. This article reviews how the new political geography of the environment (NPGE) perspective has impacted the study of such environmental phenomena as hazards, siting issues, human-land relationships, resources, development, and international environmental governance. It concludes by suggesting how the NPGE perspective can inform pedagogy in environmental education.     

The scientific legacy of V. B. Sochava,and future prospects of cultural geography

This paper is concerned with the main statements of V.B. Sochava’s theoretical legacy which are currently central to the advancement of modern cultural geography. Among them are the geographical science studies: metageography and geographical tectology, structural-dynamical approach to culture and landscape, and the concept of the geosystem and its invariant. The study brings out the importance of systems approach to culture and landscapes as well as the significance of the theory of geosystems, a catalyst for the emergence of new cultural-geographical knowledge. The problem of geographical tectology as stated by V.B. Sochava is implemented by adjusting the methods and knowledge of related disciplines for the particular purposes of geographical investigation. An outline is given of the specific character of methodological development of cultural geography in circumstances where the postmodernism world outlook platform is dominant as well as of the “drift” of the interests of the scientific community from the material aspect of man–environment interaction to the postmodern “dematerialization” of social geography. These processes which are progressing more intensely in Western science have influence on national geocultural research. Furthermore, the key characteristics of postmodernization, i.e. recognition of the equivalence and uniqueness of cultural-geographical phenomena, the equality of research standpoints, and refusal from the search for a “metanarrative” unfairly push to the methodological periphery the issues related to evolution, hierarchy, and interobjective connections of culture and landscape. The dominant emphasis on the nonmaterial aspects of cultural-geographical phenomena and processes does not imply that their systems side has lost value. V.B. Sochava’s theoretical developments provide a meaningful potential source for a further advancement of cultural geography. Moreover, even the international science has recently shown an enhancement in the tendency toward the “restoration of materialism” in cultural geography. This paper is built upon an integral approach to demonstrate an avenue for a harmonious combination of the “material” and “nonmaterial” sides of the discipline.     

In the Critical Zone: Geography at the U.S. Geological Survey

Geography is again becoming an integral part of the premier natural‐science agency of the federal government. Geographic research emphasizes the surface of the earth, a portion of the earth system that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) defines as the “critical zone.” Although geography was part of the USGS from the creation of the agency, in recent years geography in the agency has largely been limited to topographic mapping. Recently, the USGS and an advisory committee of the National Research Council (NRC) reviewed the role of geography at the Survey. The committee's report, along with ongoing decision‐making in the federal government, is likely to reshape geography in the USGS. The newly defined USGS has a regional structure and four disciplines: geology, hydrology, biology, and geography. The NRC report emphasizes the need for the creation of a spatial database called the National Map to replace the existing series of paper topographic maps. The report also outlines the need for geographic research in geographic information science (GIScience), nature‐society connections, and bridging of science to decision‐making. The NRC report has been briefed throughout the USGS, in the federal executive branch, and in Congress. The changing role for geography in the USGS requires change in the agency culture, revised budgetary decisions, and the establishment of a long‐term core agenda for research. Academic geographers will need to prepare a new generation of geographers for participation in the USGS and similar agencies.     

Friends in High Places

Abstract

“Friends in High Places” is a group activity designed to integrate geography with other social studies disciplines such as government, political science, American history, and world issues. It is necessary to consider geography when shaping foreign policy because the formulation of foreign policy requires of its very nature reaching out from our borders like a worldwide network of nerve fibers. As chief diplomat, the President conducts foreign affairs including 1) the initiation of foreign policy, 2) the recognition of new foreign governments, and 3) the making of treaties.     

Engaging with “urban science”

In this Intervention we discuss possible engagements between an inherently diverse urban geography and an emergent “urban science” dealing with information technology-driven, quantitative analysis of urban data. Although initial responses from some quarters of the urban geography community have been dismissive, we highlight three ways in which urban geography could positively engage with urban science: (1) by exhibiting greater ownership of our discipline’s past and the legacy of spatial science; (2) by resisting equating post-positivism with anti-positivism; and (3) by recognizing that the inherent ability of urban science to address post-truth thinking can be a useful building block in a pluralist approach to urban geography. We contend that (a) urban geographers need to be open to the use of new urban science methods to interrogate the pressing issues of our time and (b) where appropriate, inject cautionary tales of the dangers of a naive positivism in an uncritical urban science.     

从图书出版透视近100年来中国人文地理学发展脉络

本文基于1912-2015年的中国人文地理学出版图书,分析中国人文地理学发展的一些基本脉络,发现：①根据出版总量可划分为1912-1940、1941-1980、1981-2015年3个时期,其中第二个时期著作出版极少;②从出版结构变化来看,在研究期内出版的图书中以政治地理学最为稳定,其他领域均存在明显的波动;③出版的著作具有明显的“基础先行、社会影响、应用助推”阶段性特征;④1981年以来,各分支领域出版的图书平衡增长,其中以历史人文地理、文化地理、旅游地理、GIS在人文地理学中的应用方面增长迅速并与其它学科交叉形成了系列新兴领域,但民族和边疆领域略显弱势;⑤当前中国人文地理学图书出版存在一些结构失衡。基于以上脉络文章讨论了中国人文地理学与科学和社会的关联,认为：①中国人文地理学体现了地理学的跨学科特征,不同分支领域具有与自然科学、社会科学、哲学人文学科不同的交叉倾向,与这些学科交叉形成的新兴领域有望在未来进一步提升中国人文地理学对科学的贡献;②中国人文地理学的发展一直受社会因素的影响,应用研究倾向明显,由此也导致部分领域被弱化及分支领域内研究主题失衡的问题,未来研究在注重社会贡献的同时也当考虑学科内领域间的平衡。