AAG’s Encoding Geography Initiative Sees Successes in First Year

Launched by AAG Staff Member Coline Dony in 2018, the Encoding Geography initiative seeks to build capacity for all – for computational thinking (CT) in geography education at all levels to further strengthen our discipline. Throughout the initiative’s first year, a variety of activities and connections were established and the AAG was able to secure funding sources to support research under this initiative.

At Annual Meetings in New Orleans (2018) and Washington, DC (2019), Dony organized several workshops, inviting students, faculty, and professional geographers, in which the growing need for computational thinking (CT) skills in geography were acknowledged, and challenges in terms of teaching, learning, and applying such skills were discussed. Insights from these discussions are that learning CT skills are intimidating for both students and faculty and that there is a generational gap in teaching CT skills. Most faculty did not get or take courses involving CT while they were students, making it daunting to teach this course content unless they receive additional training and support.

The “Transformative Research” program at the National Center for Research in Geography Education (NCRGE) funded the proposed initiation of a research coordination network (RCN) around computational thinking in geography. The goal of this Encoding Geography RCN is to assess current capacity for CT in college geography by identifying courses that teach CT. This requires to first define what course content qualifies as CT in geography, which is harder than anticipated. This RCN is being extended for one more year to continue this assessment.

The “CSforAll” program at the NSF funded a proposed initiation of a Researcher-Practitioner Partnership (RPP) in the San Diego area. The goals of this project are manifold, but most importantly RPPs have good potential to generate better communication between K-12 geography teachers and college faculty, which could improve geography education and the pipeline to college geography, an objective recently outlined by AAG President David Kaplan. Under this grant, the first “Encoding Geography Symposium” was organized on July 6 at San Diego State University concurrently with the Esri Education Summit. This symposium brought together Geography teachers from the Sweetwater Union High School District and researchers from SDSU, UC Riverside, and Texas State University for one day to exchange the realities and challenges of teaching geography at all levels as well as assess opportunities for such a partnership across institutions of education. The outcome of the symposium were a common agenda for such a partnership, outlining the principles and objectives to build capacity for CT in geography education. The hope for this pilot RPP is to serve as a model for RPPs in other districts or states.

The UIUC CyberGIS Center for Advanced Digital and Spatial Studies hosted and co-organized a week-long Summer School with AAG and UCGIS in early July on Reproducible Problem Solving. This summer school brought together graduate students and early career faculty to think about reproducibility in geographic research. Many participants came without experience in programming or CyberGIS, but were mentored to bring their expertise and perspective to the table and leverage the technical ability of participants with programming or CyberGIS skills. Cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration was key to this week-long summer school.

These activities demonstrate the early ambitions of AAG’s newest initiative, which is to open discussions about the challenges associated with teaching and learning geography today. Such conversations so far have been about the increasing demand for computational curriculum, the importance of K-12 in strengthening college geography and its diversity, and the importance of teaching and applying interdisciplinary communication. Looking forward, the AAG hopes to build on the collaborations established throughout the past year, expand our reach to additional members who wish to become involved, and support their research and efforts towards building capacity to Encode Geography.

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Welcome to our new Executive Director

I have said before that as an organization, the AAG punches well above its weight. It is among the healthiest of the academic membership associations and it has done wonders in reflecting and guiding geography. Much of the credit goes to the quality of the AAG staff, incredible people who churn out helpful materials, engage with us on social media, and put together a massive and delicious conference every spring. Heading the staff is the executive director. Since I have been a professional geographer, as a graduate student and faculty member, there have been only three executive directors: Robert Aangeenbrug, Ron Abler, and Doug Richardson. These capable individuals have provided remarkable stability and have propelled the organization forward. From when I first joined the AAG in the 1980s, we have tripled the number of members, quadrupled the annual meeting registrants, and vastly expanded our budget and operations.

Now our organization will be directed by Dr. Gary Langham. Gary will leave his position as Vice President and Chief Scientist at the National Audubon Society on August 15th to join us as the new AAG Executive Director. This works out wonderfully since the AAG follows the rhythms of the academic year as new officers and councilors begin on July 1st, regional meetings take place in the Fall, and everything culminates in the big annual meeting in the Spring. Gary will be here for all of this, aided by the capable AAG staff.

While I realize that the search process was laid out for you beforehand, it might help to provide a postscript to this detailed and successful journey. Over the years and thanks to the growth of the AAG, the Executive Director position has become quite complex; most academics would not be equipped to take this on from the start. We required someone who already managed large budgets, acquired new funds, oversaw several staff members, interacted with thousands of members, and was accustomed to the world of non-profit organizations.

The AAG retained the search firm, Storbeck-Pimentel, to flush out potential candidates for the position. A Search Committee was then established, led by past-president Glen MacDonald and including councilors and past presidents, to make decisions on each of the applicants. Storbeck-Pimentel consulted a wide range of members to gauge what the AAG was looking for in an Executive Director. They then contacted 239 individuals which yielded 57 active candidates. Of these candidates, the Search Committee chose 23 to be rigorously evaluated, and out of this pool, 10 candidates were selected for interviews. Finally four finalists were brought to Washington, DC to be interviewed both by members of the Search Committee and by the AAG Council. Demographic diversity was stressed throughout the search process. The initial 23 candidates included eight women and six people of color. The 10 semi-finalists included five women and three people of color. And our final pool had three men, one woman, and two people of color. The AAG Council met in a special session in mid-June to make the final selection and found Gary Langham to be the best candidate for the job. An informal offer was extended that very day.

Gary comes to us from the Audubon Society where he has been since 2007; Audubon is a vast member-driven organization with dozens of chapters. His PhD is in ecology, and he double majored in both English and Biology. One of the key aspects of Gary’s current job is preserving bird habitat and providing the necessary policy tools with which to accomplish this. Gary’s job has taken him around the world and he is most proud of his efforts to link how climate change affects bird habitats in North America.

What impressed the Council the most was the degree of innovation and energy Gary would bring to the association. He wants to invigorate AAG regional divisions, increase our targeting of HBCUs, get college students involved at an early stage, and make the AAG more attractive to non-academics. He sees the core mission of the association as looking after its members and providing the types of services that matter the most. At the same time, Gary is mindful of the need to grow strategically, through increased grant acquisition and further broadening of our geographical network.

The AAG has become the necessary organization for geography, not just in the United States but around the world. We demand an outstanding executive director. I think that you will agree, after seeing Gary in action, that the Search Committee and the AAG Council made the right choice.

— Dave Kaplan
AAG President

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0058

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New Books: July 2019

Every month the AAG compiles a list of newly-published books in geography and related areas. Some are selected for review in the AAG Review of Books.

Publishers are welcome to send new volumes to the Editor-in-Chief (Kent Mathewson, Editor-in-Chief, AAG Review of BooksDepartment of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803).

Anyone interested in reviewing these or other titles should also contact the Editor-in-Chief.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to current public health policies which have prompted the closing of most offices, we are unable to access incoming books at this time. We are working on a solution during this transition and will continue our new books processing as soon as we can. In the meantime, please feel free to peruse previous books from our archived lists.

July 2019

All Things Harmless, Useful, and Ornamental: Environmental Transformation through Species Acclimatization, from Colonial Australia to the World by Pete Minard (University of North Carolina Press 2019)

Anthropes and the Material by Penny Harvey, Christian Krohn-Hansen and Knut G. Nustad (Duke University Press 2019)

Bordering by Nira Yuval-Davis, Georgie Wemyss, Kathryn Cassidy (Polity 2019)

Break Up the Anthropocene by Steve Mentz (University of Minnesota Press 2019)

The Browning of the New South by Jennifer A. Jones (University of Chicago Press 2019)

Climate and Society: Transforming the Future by Robin Leichenko and Karen O’Brien (Polity 2019)

From Fascism to Populism in History by Federico Finchelstein (University of California Press 2019)

The Greening of Saint Lucia: Economic Development and Environmental Change in the Eastern Caribbean by Bradley B. Walters (University of West Indies Press 2019)

Of Land, Bones and Money: Towards a South African Ecopoetics by Emily McGiffin (University of Virginia Press 2019)

Lineages of Modernity: A History of Humanity from the Stone Age to Homo Americanus by Emmanuel Todd (Polity 2019)

Love, Anarchy, & Emma Goldman by Candace Falk (Rutgers University Press 2019)

The Meanings of Landscape: Essays on Place, Space, Environment and Justice by Kenneth R. Olwig (Routledge 2019)

Mourning El Dorado: Literature and Extractivism in the Contemporary American Tropics
Literature and Extractivism in the Contemporary American Tropics
by Charlotte Rogers (University of Virginia Press 2019)

National Races: Transnational Power Struggles in the Sciences and Politics of Human Diversity, 1840-1945 by Richard McMahon (ed.) (University of Nebraska Press 2019)

North Carolina Ghost Lights and Legends by Charles F. Gritzner (Blair 2019)

In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West by Wendy Brown (Columbia University Press 2019)

Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis by Jared Diamond (Little, Brown and Company 2019)

For the War Yet to Come: Planning Beirut Frontiers by Hiba Bou Akar (Stanford University Press 2018)

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Apply for Nomination Process for the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference

The American Association of Geographers has been granted Observer Organization status to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.  With this formal designation, the AAG is permitted to submit to the UNFCCC Secretariat its nominations for representatives to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-25) that will take place from  December 2 – 13, 2019 in Santiago, Chile.

Prior to midnight Friday, August 23, 2019, persons interested in being nominated by the AAG to attend must be a current member of the AAG and provide the following information (in the below exact format, please) via email to cmannozzi [at] aag [dot] org along with a copy of these instructions:

Note: All information must be as it appears in the official photo identification which the participant will present at the registration desk.

·      Salutation (Mr. Ms. Dr. etc.):

·      Given / First name:

·      Family name:

·      Functional title:

·      Department:

·      Organization:

·      Date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY):

·      Country which issued Passport

·      Identification document number (Passport number):

·      E-mail address:

·      Telephone where you can be reached for questions about your application

·      Dates within the range of December 03 – 14 for which you will be actually attending the COP sessions

·      Email address

·      A very brief paragraph describing your interest and purpose for attending the COP sessions

·      A statement agreeing with the terms of these instructions for nomination

Identification number, date of birth and name are for identification verification only and will not be made available to anyone outside of the AAG or the UNFCCC. Date of birth will also be used to signal nomination of minors.

AAG nominees will be provided with a copy of nomination documentation for eventual presentation at the Conference registration desk in Santiago, Chile.  The UN will provide a quota to the AAG which may restrict the number of participants or the dates for which nominees may be approved for attendance.  This quota will be provided to the AAG after September 9, 2019.

All nominees must have their own source of financial support to attend and make all necessary travel, insurance, visa, and logistical arrangements for themselves; the AAG is not providing any funds or other support for travel or participation.  Nominees also must release the AAG from any and all financial or legal liability during their period of participation and refrain from making proclamations, claims, announcements, or other statements as being the official position of the association or its membership.  Attendees must also adhere to the codes of conduct and follow the guidelines for participation as outlined by the United Nations  (see https://unfccc.int/about-us/code-of-conduct-for-unfccc-conferences-meetings-and-events).

Upon return, attendees will submit a brief trip report to the AAG Executive Director, Doug Richardson, drichardson [at] aag [dot] org

More information on the event is at:https://www.cop25.cl/web/en/

A map of the Parque Bicentenario Cerrillos is available at https://www.cop25.cl/web/en/venue/

Information on accommodations for COP-25 is available at:https://mundotour.cl/cop25/

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Frank Romo – Public Safety Data Manager & Geospatial Consultant, Michigan

Photo of Frank RomoPosition: Public Safety Data Manager — 911 & Emergency Services Technician

What was your favorite class in K-12? My favorite classes in school were history and geography. I really enjoyed learning how maps and diagrams were used for reconnaissance during war times to give armies the upper hand on the battlefield.

How did you first learn about and/or use GIS? I first learned GIS while studying at Columbia University. One of my first major projects was using GPS units for data collection and crowdsourcing information immediately after Hurricane Sandy. This was a transformative experience for me because it taught me how GIS can be used during times of crises to solve real-time problems for people in affected regions.

Name one thing you love about GIS and/or geography (I know, just one!): The best thing about GIS is its ability to empower residents and promote social justice in local communities. In the past, I have used GIS to address issues of inequality in cities surrounding topics like pollution, toxic hazards, racial segregation, food insecurity and public safety. GIS can be used for social good and help people fight to improve the health and well-being of their communities.

Why did you want to volunteer as a GeoMentor? I chose to become a GeoMentor because I enjoy teaching people about the power of GIS. I have taught as a GIS instructor for over five years now and find it very rewarding when I can empower students to use GIS. I chose to become a GeoMentor because I want to embrace the opportunity to teach, pass on my knowledge and share my skillset with the next generation of GIS leaders.

If someone asked you why they should learn about GIS and/or geography, how would you respond in one sentence? GIS is a fun and useful tool that can be used to positively impact the world around you!

Websites:

Twitter@romo_GIS 

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Newsletter – July 2019

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Should we be worried? Or how to maintain and expand the number of geographers in our schools

By David Kaplan

Dave Kaplan“As geographers, we all know the value of geography. Right? It is a field that provides a unique perspective, an appreciation for particularity, an opportunity to synthesize. But as much as we affirm geography’s value to each other, we also need to look at how geography is perceived outside of our community.”

Continue Reading.

ANNUAL MEETING

Prepare to register for #aagDENVER

fee-schedule-300x105-1The 2020 AAG Annual Meeting takes place from April 6-10, 2020. Similar to the 2019 AAG Annual Meeting, registration rates will be based on the way in which attendees choose to participate in the conference. Please check your email in the coming days for an announcement regarding the 2020 Annual Meeting registration opening dates. And remember, register early for the best rates!

View the registration options.

Denver, Colorado to host 2020 AAG Annual Meeting

Mark your calendar for the AAG Annual Meeting in the Mile High City April 6-10, 2020. Registration and the call for papers for #aagDENVER will be announced this summer. We look forward to seeing you in the Rocky Mountains!

PUBLICATIONS

NEW Annals Issue Alert:
Articles with topics ranging from elephant-based labor and energy poverty, airspace to architecture

Annals-generic-225x300-1The most recent issue of Annals of the American Association of Geographers has been published online (Volume 109, Issue 4, July 2019) with 16 new research articles on current geographic research. Topics in this issue include tornadoesU.S. water insecuritysocial vulnerability modelsspaces of parentingemotional geopoliticshistorical geographies of the future, and effects of extreme weather on urban environments. Locational areas of interest include New York City neighborhoodsGhana’s Offin RiverMyanmarNorth Dakota, and Chile. Authors are from a variety of research institutions including Dartmouth CollegeUniversity of ManchesterPunjab University, and University of Connecticut.

All AAG members have full online access to all issues of the Annals through the Members Only page. In every issue, the editors choose one article to make freely available. In this issue you can read Plumbing Poverty: Mapping Hot Spots of Racial and Geographic Inequality in U.S. Household Water Insecurity by Shiloh Deitz and Katie Meeha for free for the next two months.

Questions about the Annals? Contact annals [at] aag [dot] org.

Journals-newsletter-100In addition to the most recently published journal, read the latest issue of the other AAG journals online:

• Annals of the American Association of Geographers
• The Professional Geographer
• GeoHumanities
• The AAG Review of Books

New Books in Geography — April and May Available

New-books1-1-2Read the latest titles in geography and related disciplines as found on the New Books in Geography list. Some of these books are chosen to be reviewed for the AAG Review of Books. If you are interested in reviewing any of the books found on the New Books list, please email AAG Review of Books editor Kent Mathewson at kentm [at] lsu [dot] edu. Please take note, the new books list will now be available exclusively on the AAG’s website.

Browse the April list or the May list of new books.

New issue of African Geographical Review

African-Geographical-Review-cvr-212x300-1The latest issue of the journal of the Africa Specialty Group of the AAG, the African Geographical Review, has recently been published. Volume 38, Issue 2 (June 2019) is available online for subscribers and members of the Africa Specialty Group. Each issue, the Editors choose one article to make freely available. In this issue you can read People, place, and animals: using disemplacement to identify invisible losses of conservation near Limpopo National Park, by Michael Strong for free.

See more about the journal.

ASSOCIATION NEWS

‘The Professional Geographer’ Welcomes New Editor

Chang3_web-200x300-1Heejun Chang has assumed the role of editor for The Professional Geographer as of July 1, 2019. A professor and outgoing chair of the department of geography at Portland State University, Heejun seeks to use his experience in interdisciplinary publishing to encourage the submission of fresh ideas and diverse dialogues to the journal. The AAG thanks outgoing editor Barney Warf for his service to the journal over the past eight and a half years.

Learn more about Heejun.

AAG Welcomes 2019 Summer Interns

Summer-2019-Interns-300x169-1

The AAG is excited to welcome three new interns coming aboard our staff for the Summer of 2019! Joining us this summer are Angela Yang, an incoming fourth year student at the University of Toronto majoring in Environmental Science and International Development Studies; Eni Awowale, a rising senior at the University of Maryland, College Park who is majoring in GIS with a concentration in Remote Sensing and also a minor in Astronomy; and Garrett Mogge who is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park and is double majoring in geographical sciences and broadcast journalism with a minor in Spanish.

Meet the summer interns.

AAG Staff Participate in AP Human Geography Reading

ATTACHMENT DETAILS Alec-Murphy-AP-Reading-300x169-1

Approximately 950 college professors and AP Human Geography high school teachers gathered June 1 to June 9 in Cincinnati, Ohio to evaluate essay exams from over 233,000 high school students. In addition to scoring exams, professional development activities were held such as a keynote from AAG Past President Alec Murphy and a presentation on AAG college and career resources from AAG social media and engagement coordinator Emily Fekete.

Read more about the AP Human Geography event.

POLICY UPDATE

House Approves Additional $10M for Geospatial Mapping to Address Water Quality, Hazard Resilience

US_CapitolThe AAG recently signed onto a statement in conjunction with MAPPS, NSGIC, and ACEC regarding an increase in FY20 Department of Interior funds to support enhanced 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) coverage of the Great Lakes region. This continued mapping work, managed by the U.S. Geological Service (USGS), will provide essential data for better understanding of the region’s most pressing areas of environmental concern. Since this statement’s release, the FY20 funding bill was passed on June 25th by the full House of Representatives as part of a five-bill appropriations package.

Read the full statement.

RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Doug D. Nebert National Spatial Data Infrastructure Champion of the Year Award Seeks Nominations

FGDC-logoNominations are being accepted for the Doug D. Nebert National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Champion of the Year Award. The award will recognize an individual or a team representing Federal, State, Tribal, regional, and (or) local government, academia, or non­profit and professional organization that has developed an outstanding, innovative, and operational tool, application, or service capability used by multiple organizations that furthers the vision of the NSDI. The deadline to submit nominations is August 15.

More information about the award.

Internships at the AAG

The AAG seeks interns on a year-round basis for the spring, summer, and fall semesters. Interns participate in most AAG programs and projects such as education, outreach, research, website, publications, or the Annual Meeting. A monthly stipend of $500 is provided and interns are expected to make their own housing and related logistical arrangements. Enrollment in a Geography or closely related program is preferred but not a prerequisite for these opportunities. Applicants should forward a resume, brief writing sample, and three references to Candida Mannozzi.

More information about internships.

GEOGRAPHERS IN THE NEWS
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‘The Professional Geographer’ Welcomes New Editor

Heejun Chang. Photo credit: PSU-ISS.

This summer, the AAG journal The Professional Geographer will see a change in editorial leadership. Barney Warf has completed two terms as editor of The Professional Geographer and is succeeded by Heejun Chang, who assumed editorship of the journal on July 1, 2019.

Heejun Chang is a professor and outgoing chair of the department of geography at Portland State University. His publication record is extensive having published 131 peer-reviewed articles on topics related to hydrology, water resources, human modification of the environment, and environmental change, his areas of expertise. Heejun has experience with publication in a wide variety of journals, both disciplinary and interdisciplinary, and is regarded as a high quality peer reviewer, an accolade for which he received an excellent reviewer award from Journal of Hydrology. He has also served as guest editor for special issues of Climate and International Journal of Geo-Information.

Heejun’s vision for his term as editor of The Professional Geographer is one of diversity, inclusion, and innovation. He sees the journal as a premier location for bridging traditional divides among human, physical, and GIS scholarship and hopes to foster a balance in submissions from the various facets of the geographic discipline. Heejun believes that encouraging more cross-generational scholarship as well as manuscripts co-authored with practitioners will help to cultivate fresh ideas within the discipline and that The Professional Geographer can play a key role in circulating these debates. Lastly, as the AAG has become more international in its membership, Heejun welcomes scholarship from the global geography community including academics from the global south or whose primary language is not English.

The AAG would like to express their heartfelt thanks to Barney Warf for his hard work over the last eight and a half years. Under Barney’s editorship scholarship published in The Professional Geographer maintained high quality and rigor while engaging academics and practitioners worldwide.

The Professional Geographer, published four times a year, features a range in content and approach from rigorously analytic to broadly philosophical or prescriptive. The journal provides a forum for new ideas and alternative viewpoints.

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Should we be worried? Or how to maintain and expand the number of geographers in our schools.

As geographers, we all know the value of geography. Right? It is a field that provides a unique perspective, an appreciation for particularity, an opportunity to synthesize. But as much as we affirm geography’s value to each other, we also need to look at how geography is perceived outside of our community.

In this regard, the last year or so has been sobering, at least for Geography in the United States. Geography degrees have been closed in some universities, including Boston University, whose Geography Ph.D. program did so well in the last National Research Council ratings. Geography has been threatened (but ultimately spared) at others, despite reorganization and faculty layoffs. Then, to add insult to injury, a recent report in Inside Higher Education (highlighting an even more precipitous drop in History) showed how the number of Geography majors had also declined in the last six years, falling about 7 percent. No matter our research excellence, our success in procuring funding, our prominence in public discussion – if geography loses its majors, the field as a whole is in peril. This was a point expressed many years ago in Ron Abler’s classic column “Five Steps to Oblivion.” Ignoring majors is a sure-fire path to program destruction and, as we know full well, we can never take geography’s position in the curriculum for granted.

So should we be worried? We should at least be guarded. The trends of major loss in the last few years are real, but there are other countervailing forces on which geographers should capitalize.

Compared to the other liberal arts, geography in the United States is a distinct underdog. We are the smallest of these traditional disciplines, just a bit under geology, physics and anthropology, and dwarfed by the likes of psychology and biology. Only 1 percent of all liberal arts majors specialize in geography. (By comparison, geography is squarely in the middle of the pack in the United Kingdom, comprising 5 percent of all liberal arts.) Geography has not been commonly taught in U.S. high schools. It is further hamstrung by its absence in most colleges and universities, relying on the larger state schools, some community colleges, a sprinkling of private colleges, and a very few private universities to provide the courses. Where geography is present, the departments tend to be small and most student majors arrive after their sophomore years.

Yet as a discipline, we punch far above our weight. Much of this is thanks to the AAG. Our membership of 12,500 rivals fields such as history, sociology, and political science. Our activities involve collaboration with geographers and other scientists around the world, many of whom look to American geography as a beacon, to the AAG as the one necessary organization, and to our annual meeting as the place to convene. About one-third of our membership is international, buoying our disciplinary footprint. Other strong organizations, like the American Geographical Society, the National Council for Geographic Education, and the Society of Women Geographers also help lay a foundation for geography outside the academy and in the schools.

A closer examination of the major numbers in the United States also shows that our recent decline may be a short-term phenomenon. Between 2007 and 2013, the number of geography majors grew 22 percent, and even with the decline in the last four years, we are still up nearly 10 percent over the last decade. But we may still look at how these recent trends could be reversed — a project that could involve seeing where the declines were sharpest and identifying possible areas of growth. (Liberal Arts as a whole has also suffered small declines). That we are in a better position in regard to majors than we were 11 years ago is a positive sign, but still worrisome.

One very encouraging sign is in the expansion of some of geography’s closest cognates — fields like meteorology, environmental studies, area studies, and the like. These are fields commonly folded within geography departments and so almost always can count as a “geography” major. The table below shows the most important of these:

Pursuing such strategies entails the teaching of geography by other means. Students want geographical knowledge, they gain this by taking classes in these close cognates — often with geography professors — and they come out with much greater exposure to geography than would have otherwise been the case. Some of these incorporations may be acknowledged by renaming and Five Steps to Oblivion; other times the department may keep its name and just promote its diversity of offerings. To be sure, some of the traditional quasi-geographical specializations such as landscape architecture and area studies have declined. But there has been an explosion in environmental studies and global studies, with more modest growth in some of the other close cognates. If geography departments can capture those majors, the path toward sustainability becomes much clearer. At my department for instance, we were able to create an environmental studies major precisely because there was nothing like this available on campus. As a result, we have tripled our “geography” major numbers within the last two years. Other departments may pursue other strategies. Middle Tennessee State University, for instance, has a vibrant Global Studies major.

The last point I want to make also has potential to be the greatest opportunity. Since its inception, the Advanced Placement Human Geography high school course has exploded. Thanks to geographers like past President Alec Murphy, David Lanegran, and others, we were able to create this AP course in the 1990s and it has continued to defy all expectations. Out of the 38 AP exams given, AP Human Geography ranks in 10th place. (Environmental Science ranks 13th). The most striking aspect is its growth. Human Geography has grown by about 450% since 2008, far ahead of any other subject. And all signs indicate that this expansion will continue, as AP Human moves into other parts of the country.

Unfortunately, this phenomenal growth has yet to translate into major gains in college majors. AP courses/tests should make a positive difference in later specialization. Whether they just confirm existing intentions or open up new possibilities is still in question. But some worry that they end up eating into introductory course offerings. But there can be no doubt that this is a city-sized opportunity available to us. We need to devise ways as a discipline to turn these high school learners into college majors. The AP Human Geography exam and other AP possibilities will be the subject for a future column.

So despite some reason to worry, longer-term trends in the last decade are still positive, some of our closest cognates are growing briskly, and the expansion of AP Human Geography has been nothing short of phenomenal. The long-term health of the discipline is not assured, but it is within reach. We must exploit our advantages.

If you have gotten this far, let me extend my gratitude to all of you for giving me the chance to serve as president of the American Association of Geographers. I am humbled in succeeding people like Glen MacDonald, Derek Alderman, and Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, not to mention all the luminaries who served before them. I look on these columns as an opportunity to shine light into some of the various features and problems of our discipline. Among these will be columns on creating a more inclusive academic culture, the internationalization of the AAG, the explosion of metrics in our discipline, publishing paradoxes, encouraging great writing, managing mental health, promoting opportunities beyond academia, and rethinking the regions. I hope that each column helps to further a dialogue, as there are rarely easy answers. We just need to keep trying. Please email me at dkaplan [at] kent [dot] edu with your thoughts.

— Dave

DOI: 10.14433/2017.0056

Source for this data comes from IPEDS Access Database for Integrated Postsecondary Education Data (IPEDS) Collection, https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds.

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