OUTREACH TO PRECOLLEGIATE AMERICAN HISTORY TEACHERS: THE UTILITY OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY THEMES *

The utility of introducing historical geography topics into pre-college American history courses is explored through surveys of social studies teachers in New England and at a meeting of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE). Many history teachers claim to use geography in their courses, but use mostly map skills, place locations, and determinism. History teachers are interested in materials and workshops on historical geography themes, however, and sample, materials were well received by teachers in attendance at a national and a regional conference.     

Twitter and Academic Geography through the Lens of #AAG2018

Twitter has emerged as a global social network of active users who share conversations with one another in an online setting. Academics are one community that has increasingly taken to Twitter as a means of connecting with other scholars, sharing research, and obtaining meaningful feedback. Tweeting has become especially popular during academic conferences where conference attendees use Twitter hashtags to filter conference conversations into a separate dialogue. For geographers, the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) represents one such occasion to use Twitter to discuss contemporary developments in geographic research. In this article, we provide an overview of Twitter as well as the ways in which the academic community uses the platform. Following this, we discuss the tweets sent using the hashtag for the 2018 AAG Annual Meeting, #AAG2018. To analyze these tweets, we collected all tweets with this hashtag for a period of four weeks and examined the content using word clouds and sentiment analysis to explore general feelings and trends associated with geography and the AAG Annual Meeting. We conclude with suggestions for future research avenues that could use Twitter data to gauge the pulse of the geographic discipline. Key Words: academic conferences, American Association of Geographers, geography, sentiment analysis, Twitter.     

Norsk geogra. ‐ sett utenfra og innenfra

The article presents personal reflections on geography as an academic discipline in Norway by a geographer who has come from outside but worked for many years in a Norwegian university. The presentation was given as a lecture to a meeting of the Norwegian Geographical Society held at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Oslo, 17 February 2000.     

RECENT RESEARCH IN JAPANESE GEOMORPHOLOGY

This is the second in a series of reports on Japanese geographic research prepared in cooperation with the Association of Japanese Geographers (AJG). Like the report on historical geography, which appeared in the August issue, this report on geomorphology has been modified for the English-speaking readership of THE PROFESSIONAL GEOGRAPHER. As an indication of the relative importance of geomorphology in Japanese geography, at the April 1979 annual meeting of the AJG in Tokyo 30 percent of the 138 papers presented were devoted to geomorphology.—H. Jesse Walker, Member, U.S. National Committee, IGU     

INTERSTITIAL STORIES: THE PLACES BETWEEN THEORY AND LURKING

Editors' note: Larry Ford, who taught geography at San Diego State University from 1971 to 2009, was to deliver a version of this essay at the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, 30 September–3 October 2009, but he passed away on 17 September 2009. To honor Larry, Richard Fusch, a professor of geography at Ohio Wesleyan University, read his deceased colleague's paper at that meeting. Prior to the meeting and subsequent to it, Janice Ford, Larry's wife, and Dr. Fusch edited the paper for submission to the Geographical Review, the journal in which Larry had published most frequently and for which he had a great deal of respect. This is that edited version.     

Contributors

Abstract

Jan Nijman, assistant professor and Knight Junior Fellow, University of Miami, Florida. Main research and teaching interests are in international relations, political geography, and development issues. Recipient of Nystrom Award 1991, Association of American Geographers, for doctoral dissertation “A Political Geography of U.S.-Soviet Relations, 1948–1988: The Value of a Spatial Perspective” (Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1990).     

Experienced Teacher Participation in Preservice Programs: A Model in Geography at the University of Northern Colorado

Abstract

This paper discusses a model program for preparing secondary geography teachers in the Department of Geography at the University of Northern Colorado. The key feature of the program is the presence of an outstanding secondary teacher in residence throughout the year who team-teaches the Teaching Methods in Geography and World Geography courses with geography faculty, modeling effective ways of teaching the subject. Students are paired with Colorado Geographic Alliance teacher-consultants in summer institutes and for student teaching. Analysis of formative evaluation data collected through the third year provides some measure of the program's success. Students have responded favorably to the use of a variety of teaching strategies, the opportunity to discuss with faculty why certain strategies are utilized, and how their own constructed lessons have worked in their student teaching. They have also reported that their understanding of geography has improved from taking the team-taught courses.     

Paper-Based GIS: A Practical Answer to the Implementation of GIS Education into Resource-Poor Schools in South Africa

Abstract

Geographical information systems (GIS) were phased into the geography curriculum of South African schools from 2006–2008 as part of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for grades 10–12. Since its introduction, GIS education in schools across the country has been met with a number of challenges including the cost of purchasing the hardware and software required to elucidate the basic concepts of GIS to learners. This article examines the introduction of GIS education in schools in South Africa. The development and distribution of a paper-based GIS educational package for resource-poor schools in the country is also highlighted. Preliminary educator and learner evaluations of the paper-based GIS package are discussed and the broader learning opportunities and benefits associated with flexible teaching mechanisms are examined.     

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY IN JAPAN∗

A regret frequently expressed at International Geographical Congresses concerns the lack of summary information about the nature of geographic research in the host country. During a discussion of this point with members of the Association of Japanese Geographers, the idea of publishing a series of reports on various aspects of Japanese research surfaced. The concept was later enthusiastically supported by the United States National Committee for the International Geographical Union. This first report, “Historical Geography in Japan,” has been modified for the benefit of the English-speaking readers of THE PROFESSIONAL GEOGRAPHER. Although the reports will be of particular interest to those planning to attend the 1980 IGC in Tokyo, they should prove of general interest as well.—H. Jesse Walker, Member, U.S. National Committee, IGU.     

Environmental “Education”: The Last Measure Of Man

Promotion of nonacademic geography is a logical response to curtailment of opportunity for new teaching careers. Yet this necessary redirection of effort must be accompanied by renewed dedication to education and especially to nonprofessional undergraduate education. The case for geography in the liberal arts curriculum may well be a strong one, but questions about what we can offer need to be raised more frequently among ourselves if we are to respond effectively when such questions are asked by outsiders.     

The shifting sand of geography in South Africa

South African geography, like other subjects, has to undergo the arduous process of curriculum change in order to meet the demands of the new education system and to contribute to a broader agenda of national reconstruction. Changes within geography can shed light on the impact and implications of the new national curriculum on teaching subjects. The paper suggests that the introduction of environmental education into Curriculum 2005 offers geography educators the opportunity and the challenge to advance geographic knowledge.     

REGIONAL TRENDS IN ELECTORAL SUPPORT IN BRITAIN, 1950–1983∗

Analyses of the geography of British elections have typically stressed the continuity in patterns of party support. This paper challenges that conclusion. Employing an alternative method of analysis, it identifies significant regional trends in the Conservative and Labour vote between 1950 and 1983. Pro-Labour trends in Scotland and Northwest England are contrasted with secular changes favoring the Conservatives in non-metropolitan Southern England. These long-term trends have not been associated with growing regional polarization in party support. While the findings are specific to Britain, the method of assessing electoral change might be usefully applied to patterns in other countries.     

Political Organization of Space in Advanced Placement Human Geography

Abstract

The political geography section of the course offers the opportunity to introduce students to one of the most important ways in which humans have divided up the surface of the Earth for purposes of management and control. By challenging students to consider what lies behind the patterns on political maps, this segment of the course can encourage the development of a critical geographical perspective while enhancing student appreciation of the link between geography and current events.     

Considering Refugees Through 100 Years of Geographical Review

Given the role of the American Geographical Society and its flagship journal, Geographical Review, in the Paris Peace Conference and its prominence in the discipline of geography ever since, this paper considers how the journal takes account of refugees in its pages from 1916 to 2018 using a bibliometric approach. The term “refugee” was tracked in every Geographical Review article published during this time period, using content to generate data and analysis in QSR NVivo. First, we identify key trends in scholarship over time, then we note the rise and fall of important key terms, and finally, we examine both the countries analyzed and how these geographies change over time. The results of this bibliometric analysis of refugees in Geographical Review reflect both global geopolitical dynamics and refugee governance structures, and broader trends in epistemology in the discipline of geography. Observations made on these trends and variations indicate a need to further explore shifting paradigms and master narratives, both past and emerging, built around the “refugee” concept and its treatment within the discipline of geography.     

Editorial Notes and News

Abstract

The “Harvest of Hope” was an interdisciplinary science/geography project that provided students from two different schools and very diverse backgrounds the opportunity to work in a cooperative community service effort. With teacher coordination from both districts involved in the project, students from an inner-city school and a suburban school planted, tended, and harvested crops on unused school property and donated the food to organizations providing resources to the needy. “Harvest of Hope” was designed to aid the needy of Denver and teach high school students about real-world geography issues. Students also gained knowledge of issues inherent in world agriculture and the group problem-solving process. From a social perspective, inner-city students and suburban students had the opportunity to interact and gain an appreciation for cultural diversity. Most importantly, students learned through this project to think globally, but act on a local level.     

Population in Advanced Placement Human Geography

Abstract

The Advanced Placement human geography course affords high school students the opportunity to experience an introductory college-level course in geography. Population is one of six major themes in the course. The course outline identifies four key areas of study in the population unit: geographical analysis of population, population distribution and composition, population growth and decline over time and space, and population movement. This article addresses each of these areas of study and identifies examples of concepts, topics, and types of data that could form the basis for instructional activities. A resource list is provided for additional reading.     

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.