GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

The Royal Institute of Navigation are concerned about the nation’s cartographical know-how and have suggested schools start teaching basic navigation.

Source: mashable.com

“After a split of more than 1,000 years, the persecution of Christian by extremists in the Middle East and Africa have brought the two churches closer.”

Pope Francis and the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church will meet in Cuba next week in a first-ever encounter between the heads of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches since the Great Schism of 1054.

Tags: religion, Christianity.

Source: www.usatoday.com

The government approved a plan to allow pluralistic, and mixed-gender prayer, at Judaism’s holy site.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

In the past, Israeli policewomen have detained members of the religious group Women of the Wall for breaching orthodox rules governing prayers at the site. This is Judaism’s most holy site and orthodox traditions have legally prevailed here, defining who could be there and who could perform which religious rites (often on gender lines).  This fight represents a struggle to redefine the meaning and usage of public space in Jerusalem (among other complex issues).  The article states that “this marks an unprecedented move by the Israeli government to officially recognize the rights of Conservative, Reform and other Jewish denominations to hold organized prayer at the site.”

Tags: Israel, culture, gender, space, religion, Judaism,
Middle East.

“Speech with a drawl, twang, clipped consonants, broad vowels, slurred words or extra diphthongs might give away that the speaker is from the American South, Boston, the Midwest or elsewhere. The spice that a certain region may lend to spoken language can even be strong enough to flavor non-audible language as well. Indeed, American Sign Language (ASL) has its own accents. And like its audible counterpart, one of the strongest regional accents in ASL is that of Philadelphia residents, reports Nina Porzucki for PRI.”

Source: www.smithsonianmag.com

Promotional Video Campaign of “Viva Mexico”
http://vivamexico.aiesec.org.mx

Source: www.youtube.com

I love Mexico and love celebrating Mexican culture…this video is a reminder to not solely focus on the past, but to see a vibrant modern Mexican culture as well. 

Tags: Mexico, folk cultures, culture, tourism.

Romania’s Soviet-era approach to child rearing led to one of history’s most comprehensive studies on the effects of institutionalisation on young children.

Source: www.abc.net.au

In the past I have highlighted pro-natalist government policies (and private encouragement) such as Singapore’s National Night and Denmark’s “Do it for Denmark!” Those programs and policies are designed to slow down declining populations; agency, choice and the well-being of the next generation are deeply embedded into the fabric of those plans.  This horrific, historical example shows everything that could go wrong with enforced pro-natalists policies in an authoritarian government.  

Tags: Romania, declining populations, historical, governance.

“Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been escalating on many fronts — over wars in Syria and Yemen, the Saudis’ execution of a dissident Shiite cleric and the Iran nuclear deal. The dispute runs so deep that the regional rivals — one a Shiite theocracy, the other a Sunni monarchy — even clash over the name of the body of water that separates them.

Iran insists that it be called the Persian Gulf, and has banned publications that fail to use that name. Yet this riles Arab nations, which have succeeded in pushing various parties to use their preferred term — Arabian Gulf.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

Is it the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Gulf?  This mini-controversy is part of a broader fight to exert greater regional power and influence (see also this article on GeoCurrents on the same topic). 

Tags: place, regions, language, toponyms.

Brielle, Ellen’s periodic table expert is back and now taking on world countries. Are you ready to learn a thing or two from this 4-year-old whiz? Stay tuned for more Brielle-iant episodes!

Source: ellentube.com

If Ellen says she is awesome and adorable, it’s because she’s awesome and adorable. 

Tags: fun, trivia.

In many parts of the US, Americans of different races aren’t neighbours – they don’t go to the same schools, they don’t always have access to the same services.

Source: www.bbc.com

This article is filled with good geography (and more specifically AP Human Geography) vocabulary.  Redlining, blockbusting, and racial covenants are all discussed as spatial process that have shaped socioeconomic and racial characteristics in American cities. 

Tags: neighborhood, urban, socioeconomic, race, poverty, spatial, housing.