GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

I imaged that the term ‘the boondocks’ was of Asian origin, but I was surprised to learn how this U.S. military lingo was able to become a mainstream term.  The Tagalog word bundok means mountain and given that the guerrilla warfare tactics, the enemies were hiding ‘in the boondocks.’ This term spread throughout the military to mean an isolated region, but today the term completely shifted from its military-based meaning to one that embraced the American heartland.  This is a fascinating article from NPR’s Code Switch team that focuses on issues of culture, identity and race. 

Tags: language, toponyms, historical, conflict, culture, diffusion.

Portland, Oregon is often discussed as a magnet for a young demographic that wants to be part of a sustainable city that supports local businesses and agriculture.  This podcast looks behind that image (which has a measure of truth to it) to see another story.  Relining, gentrification, poverty, governance and urban planning are all prominent topics in this 50 minute podcast that provides as fascinating glimpse into the poorer neighborhoods of this intriguing West Coast city.  When in cities, we often use the term sustainability to refer to the urban ecology, but here we see a strong concern for the social sustainability of their historic neighborhoods as well. 

Tags: neighborhood, gentrification, urban, place, culture, economic, race, poverty, place, socioeconomic.

These quotes are actual complaints received by a travel agency; some tourists were shocked to discover that their foreign excursion would actually have foreign experiences.  I think all of these tourists need just a little more global awareness before they leave their front porch next time.  

• “On my holiday to Goa in India , I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don’t like spicy food.”
• “We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish.”
• “It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England . It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair.”
• “There were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners.”
• “We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning.”
• “I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes.”

In a busy city like New York, there are never enough places for parking and lanes for traffic.  There is simply not enough space for the flow to be smooth and efficient.  Cyclists that attempt to assert their right to the street are often times referred to as “cyclist activists” as though their activism is synonymous with extremism that  is more easy to dismiss.  Many hold views that privilege a motorists right to space in the city above that of a cyclist.  I saw this tweet by a NYC cycling organization that referred to “activist drivers” who park in the bike lane as attempting to create a “guerrilla can lane.”  They used the terms and language used against them and superimposed it on the larger motorist community which sees itself as having a more natural right to all space in the city.  This video embedded above is an excellent spoof and highlights the dangers of being a cyclist in a motorist-centric world.  Below we see a video as cyclists have clashed with locals in the neighborhood for wearing too little clothes, so they removed the bike lane, but “guerilla cyclists” put it back on the street.  This was dubbed as a hipsters vs Hasidic Jews.    

Tags: transportation, cycling, urban, planning, territoriality, space.

This video (and earlier videos in the same vein) is extremely risky business.  These videos perfectly encapsulates the beliefs, values and ethics that underscore the organic farming movement and resonate with consumers.  This is a key part of Chipotle’s advertising campaign, food with integrity.  Many within the agricultural industry are not amused, and as a group they are Chipotle’s suppliers.  “In general, this romanticized view of agriculture is not going to be able to feed the world,” said Tom Super who is the spokesman for the National Chicken Council.  Many in the industry think that Chipotle pushing its values on consumers.  See this article for more on the tension between Chipotle and agricultural suppliers.

Tags: food, agriculture, food production, agribusiness.

Models in geography, even if they are at times limited in their explanatory power, are excellent pedagogical tools to promote students to think spatially.