GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

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.

Source: www.youtube.com

Eratosthenes is often referred to as the “father of geography” for creating meridians and parallels on his maps to organize global information, classifying climatic zones, and as shown in the video, calculating the circumference of the Earth. Plus, he coined the terms so he gets the credit. If you have never pondered the meaning of the word “geometry,” the accomplishments of Eratosthenes will certainly show that the mathematical prowess was at the heart of expanding our collective geographic knowledge. 

Tags: mapping, math, location, historical.

Source: www.youtube.com

Who was Ptolemy and what were some important contributions to geography?  This student-produced video does a nice of introducing him to a modern audience.