GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

“Religious scholar Reza Aslan took some serious issue on CNN Monday night with Bill Maher‘s commentary about Islamic violence and oppression. Maher ended his show last Friday by going after liberals for being silent about the violence and oppression that goes on in Muslim nations. Aslan said on CNN that Maher’s arguments are just very unsophisticated.  He said these ‘facile arguments’ might sound good, but not all Muslim nations are the same. Aslan explained that female mutilation is an African problem, not a Muslim one, and there are Muslim-majority nations where women are treated better and there are even female leaders.”

Source: www.youtube.com

Question to Ponder: How does the media play a role in shaping the conversations we have in society about different cultures and places?  How can ‘painting with a broad brush’ lead to stereotypes and inaccurate conclusions?  

Tags: place, regions, culture,  religion, Middle East, media.

Since Texas became a state, the Rio Grande has marked the border between the U.S. and Mexico. But, like rivers do, it moved. In 1964, the U.S. finally gave back 437 acres of land.

Ever since Texas became a state, the river has been the border between the two countries. But rivers can move — and that’s exactly what happened in 1864, when torrential rains caused it to jump its banks and go south. Suddenly the border was in a different place, and Texas had gained 700 acres of land called the Chamizal (pronounced chah-mee-ZAHL), so named for a type of plant that grew there.

Tags: Mexico, migration, borders, political, place, podcast.   

Source: www.npr.org

The territory’s residents are demanding democracy in city intersections, not central squares.

The significance of the protests, which have brought tens of thousands into the streets, lies not only in what protesters are demanding but also in where they’re demanding it—and where they’re not. Consider that pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong typically happen in Victoria Park, which is about two and a half miles from Central District and which hosts the annual June 4 candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing. This time around, however, few police or protesters have ventured there.

The unpredictable, spontaneous geography of the protests is important precisely because it transcends the status quo. It is a testament to how serious these demonstrations are that they refuse to be contained.

Tags: political, conflict, governance, China, East Asia.

Source: www.citylab.com

“United Nations, June 2008 – The bio-fuel, ethanol, is generating a revolution in renewable energy that could help reduce the world’s thirst for oil. In Brazil, the production of ethanol from sugarcane is booming, but what is not clear is the impact it is having on the industry’s sugarcane cutters.”  Transcript of video available here.

Source: www.youtube.com

Although ethanol is working well for Brazil, there is a growing literature supporting the idea that wide-scale ethanol production is not sustainable or environmentally beneficial.  This is a great example to demonstrate that economic and environmental policies are locally dependent on geographic factors and are not universally transferable.  Click here for a simple explanation of the differences in the economic and environmental differences in the production of sugar and corn-based ethanol.  

Tags: energy, resources, political ecology, agriculture, food production, land use, Brazil, South America.

“Mount Tavurvur, on Papua New Guinea’s New Britain Island, erupted on August 29, 2014, throwing ash (gray-brown areas of September image) over surrounding areas. Its last major eruption was in 1994. Tavurvur is a stratovolcano, a volcano consisting of alternating layers of lava and ash, and is located along the eastern edge of the Rabaul Volcanic Complex. Simpson Harbor forms part of the much larger (mostly submerged) Rabaul Caldera.”

Tags: disasters, remote sensing, Oceania, Papua New Guinea, physical.

Source: climate.nasa.gov

Help must come within weeks, or Ebola will require unimaginable resources. Data sources: http://nej.md/1wS4zeN & http://reliefweb.int/disaster/ep-2014-000041...

Source: www.youtube.com

The Ebola outbreak has been a horrific event and its spread has demonstrated many of the principles of viral diffusion.  Hans Rosling, the face of Gapminder, shows that immediate action now can prevent this from becoming a much worse crisis.  

Tags: medical, development, diffusion, Africa.

“In Venezuela, women are confronted with a culture of increasingly enhanced physiques fueled by beauty pageants and plastic surgery.”

Source: www.youtube.com