COSMOPOLITANISM: THE MEDITERRANEAN ARCHIVES†

The existing postcolonial literature privileges the British and French imperial/colonial history that mirrors the ongoing debate on the relationship among cosmopolitanism, universalism, and imperialism. These debates take for granted the Kantian and Hegelian hierarchy of European civilizations, hence marginalizing the southern shores of Europe and the broader Mediterranean space. Drawing on Mignolo's notion of “border thinking” and on Isin's account of the city as a “difference machine,” I address the issue of how imperialism, colonialism, and cosmopolitanism come together and relate to each other in the context of the Mediterranean (allegedly) cosmopolitan cities. In particular, cosmopolitanism is read as the outcome of the reciprocal adjustment of interior and exterior borders in the making of modernity/coloniality in the Mediterranean. Focusing on the Ottoman millet system, my main claim in this article is that cosmopolitanism worked as a peculiar dispositif within the urban difference machine, enabling the city to sustain the tension between different accounts of citizenship.     

On Methods of Teaching Geography

This study investigates the location and varying spatiality of questions in geography textbooks. The results show that study questions posed in page margins address the three components of spatial thinking—concepts of space, using tools of representation, and processes of reasoning—more than questions in other locations within the text. Three practices are particularly recommended to help students develop spatial thinking skills through answering textbook questions: (1) utilize page-margin questions; (2) select questions around spatial representations; and (3) focus on higher-level cognitive processes.     

Popular Culture,Geopolitics, and Identity

Abstract

This study aims to theoretically investigate the notion of critical thinking for a more just understanding of self and “others” in global geographical learning. It focuses on the kinds of injustice in the world which are driven by our relationships with “others.” By drawing on the literature of critical education, philosophy of education, and geography education, this study reveals how universal notions of criticality tend to easily undermine those perceived as global others and may highlight, in deficit mode, their perceived differences. Instead, the study presents the imperative of deconstructive thinking for a more just world. The article concludes by proposing a teaching strategy for alternative criticality which strives for justice in school geography.     

Spatial Thinking Concepts in Early Grade-Level Geography Standards

ABSTRACT

Research in the cognition and learning sciences has demonstrated that the human brain contains basic structures whose functions are to perform a variety of specific spatial reasoning tasks and that children are capable of learning basic spatial concepts at an early age. There has been a call from within geography to recognize research on spatial cognition in a meaningful way in primary school curriculum. This article utilizes the spatial thinking taxonomy proposed by Gersmehl and Gersmehl (2006) to examine to the extent to which spatial thinking concepts are being practiced in U.S. schools. The National Geography Standards and forty-nine state social studies or geography standards are examined. Using standards as a measure of geography content, it is concluded that while some of spatial thinking concepts appear often in curriculum, others are largely absent. Designing geography standards that address the findings of spatial cognition research may serve as a means of improving geography instruction.     

Economic Notes

Abstract

This article introduces the development and validation of the spatial thinking ability test (STAT). The STAT consists of sixteen multiple-choice questions of eight types. The STAT was validated by administering it to a sample of 532 junior high, high school, and university students. Factor analysis using principal components extraction was applied to identify underlying spatial thinking components and to evaluate the construct validity of the STAT. Spatial components identified through factor analysis only partly coincided with spatial concepts used to develop the questions that compose the STAT and with the components of spatial thinking hypothesized by other researchers.     

An Evaluation of University World Geography Textbook Questions for Components of Spatial Thinking

ABSTRACT

Geography textbooks contain chapter or review questions that may engage students in spatial thinking. This research used Jo and Bednarz’s (2009) Taxonomy of Spatial Thinking to evaluate the percentage of spatial thinking questions in four university-level world geography course textbooks. The results from this study were then compared to the findings in Jo and Bednarz’s (2009) analysis of high school geography textbooks. Thirty-five percent of university level textbook questions are related to spatial thinking compared to twenty-four percent in high school geography textbooks. The results provide information useful to stakeholders, such as teachers, administrators, and textbook writers and may help these stakeholders to consciously incorporate the three components of spatial thinking as defined by the National Research Council (2006). A simplified taxonomy for identifying spatial-thinking concepts in textbook review questions is also suggested.     

Economic Change in Africa

Abstract

The Geographer at Work by Peter Gould Boston: Routledge &; Kegan Paul, 1985. x and 351 pp., figs., photos, maps, and index. $39.95 cloth; $16.95 paper.

Recollections of a Revolution: Geography as Spatial Science by Mark Billinge, Derek Gregory and Ron Martin, eds. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984. viii and 235 pp., figs., tables, refs., and index. $25.00 cloth.

The Role of Place in Literature by Leonard Lutwack Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1984. viii and 274 pp., refs., and index. $24.95 cloth.

The Essential Landscape: The New Mexico Photographic Survey with Essays by J.B. Jackson. by Steven A. Yates, ed. New Mexico: The University of New Mexico Press, 1985. vii and 147 pp., and photos. $45.00 cloth.

Latin America: Case Studies by Richard G. Boehm and Sent Visser, eds. NCGE Pacesetter Series. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1984. x and 300 pp., figs., tables, photos, maps, apps., refs., and index. $24.95 paper.     

中原经济区建设背景下的科技创新体系研究

中原经济区要建设成为全国"三化"协调发展示范区、全国重要的经济增长板块、全国综合交通枢纽和物流中心、华夏历史文明传承核心区,必须加快自主创新体系建设,提高自主创新能力,充分发挥科技创新的有力支撑作用。科技创新是一类开放的复杂巨系统,其专家系统、技术支撑系统、数据信息系统构成了科技创新体系的内核。通过加强人才培养、引进和使用,推进知识创新体系建设;狠抓科技投入和输出,推动技术创新体系建设;强化政府政策扶持引导,推进制度和管理创新体系建设,必然会推动区域发展由要素驱动向创新驱动转变,必然会推动和促进中原经济区的快速、全面、科学和可持续发展。     

西北风沙起蚀观测试验及其研究进展

简要阐述了国家自然科学基金“西北沙漠地表沙粒运移特性及动力热力参数研究”支持的“我国西北三大沙漠地表风蚀起沙观测试验”的科学意义、试验方案和科学目标,总结了该试验在前期取得的部分研究进展和研究成果,概括叙述了该项目在地表沙粒跃移特征、起沙风速、沙尘通量等方面的重要发现和一些新的认识。最后,提出并讨论了在沙漠风蚀起沙观测试验方面需要进一步研究和思考的一些重要问题。     

全球重大疫情下的科研合作格局及其演化——以SARS、H1N1、西非Ebola和COVID-19研究为例

国际合作不仅是全球探索前沿科学的主导力量,也是全球应对资源环境、气候变化、健康卫生、公共安全等问题的最佳途径。本文基于Web of Science核心数据库,系统梳理了几次全球重大疫情期间的围绕病毒及相关研究的科研合作情况及其演化态势。研究发现：① 在SARS、H1N1、西非Ebola病毒及相关研究的国际合作上,美国皆扮演重要角色,但中国香港在SARS病毒研究上以及欧洲国家在Ebola病毒研究上也发挥关键作用。② 通过截取四个时间节点上的COVID-19研究文献发表情况发现,中国和美国是两个最为重要的国家,尤其是中美之间的国际合作更是架构COVID-19研究国际合作网络的骨架。鉴于当前COVID-19全球大流行态势,本文建议中国研究机构应当充分利用此次COVID-19病毒在中国较早被发现的“契机”和当前中国有效控制的局势,继续加强对COVID-19病毒及疫苗的各项研究,强化对病毒动物宿主和传播途径的了解,并积极与国外科研机构,尤其是与疫情严重国家和地区的科研机构进行合作,提升科研实力和国际影响力。在合作策略上可借助中国香港地区的优势,与国外相关研究机构开展三方或多方合作。