“The U.S. is bound by treaties to defend a quarter of humanity. Could this drag Americans into a war?”
Tags: conflict, USA, war, political.
Source: www.washingtonpost.com
Roman Mars is obsessed with flags — and after you watch this talk, you might be, too. These ubiquitous symbols of civic pride are often designed, well, pretty terribly. But they don’t have to be. In this surprising and hilarious talk about vexillology — the study of flags — Mars reveals the five basic principles of flag design and shows why he believes they can be applied to just about anything.
Source: www.youtube.com
I’m not ashamed to admit that I love flags; I enjoy thinking about the cultural, economic and geopolitical symbolism embedded in the flags and what that means for the places they represent. I share the above video for that purpose, but more importantly because it is an introduction to the audio podcast 99 Percent Invisible with a special ‘behind-the-scenes’ peek. Great geography resources rarely fall under the title “Geography” with a capital G. It takes geographic training to “see the geography” in the world around us. I’ve recently discovered the 99 Percent Invisible Podcast and while it is not explicitly (or even always) geographic, it is loaded with excellent materials about design and the details of the world around us that often go unnoticed, but deserve greater scrutiny. For example the episodes on the Port of Dallas as well as reversing of the Chicago River show how the physical and human systems intersect within urban areas. These two geo-engineering projects also were conceived on in very particular social, economic and technological contexts.
I also loved the episode Monumental Dilemma, about the uncomfortable 1800s New England memorialization of Hannah Duston for scalping Native Americans…this is incredibly awkward culturally as our society and social values have changes over the years. Do we tear it down? Ignore it? Apologize? Since the historical legacy is unsettled, so is the monument. So I’ll keep listening to the 99 Percent Invisible podcast and please recommend some especially geographic past episodes as I dig through the archives.
Tags: podcast, architecture, TED.
The Iranian capital is replacing anti-Western billboards with works of art, and welcoming new architecture by world-class designers.
Source: www.citylab.com
A new exhibit from the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association showcases the simple visualizations of complex ideas that have changed how we live.
Source: www.citylab.com
We learned last year that many of the effects of climate change are irreversible. Sea levels have been rising at a greater rate year after year, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates they could rise by another meter or more by the end of this century.
Source: www.youtube.com
“There’s no question that among the world’s wealthy nations, the U.S. stands out when it comes to circumcision. The WHO estimates that the overall male circumcision rate in the states is somewhere between 76 and 92 percent. Most Western European countries, by contrast, have rates less than 20 percent. But even these numbers mask considerable regional variation within countries.”
Tags: perspective, cultural norms, culture, gender, regions.
Source: www.washingtonpost.com
The world’s population is projected to reach 11 billion by the end of the century. Feeding that many people will be a challenge, and it is further complicated by the impact of climate change on agriculture. That is why some people advocate an unusual way to boost the food supply and feed people sustainably: by eating less meat, and more insects.
Source: www.youtube.com
While it might make economic, nutritional, and environmental sense, I’m sure that many are squeamish at the idea of insects primarily because in violates many deeply engrained cultural taboos. The main reasons listed in the video for promoting the production and consumption of more insects:
- Insects are healthier than meat.
- It is cheap (or free) to raise insects.
- Raising insects is more sustainable than livestock.
Questions to Ponder: Would you be willing to try eating insects? How do you think this idea would go over with your family and friends? What cultural barriers might slow the diffusion of this practice?
Tags: food, culture, diffusion, cultural norms, economic, food production, agriculture.
“The reason why some countries are rich and others poor depends on the quality of their institutions, the culture they have, the natural resources they find and what latitude they’re on.“
Tags: development, statistics, economic, globalization, poverty.
Source: www.youtube.com
I can’t say I agree with all the arguments put forward in this video, but it can be a nice starting point to get students to critically analyze the ideas put forth and assess the merits of the claims being made.
There is still this wider perception that hunter-gatherers are more macho or male-dominated. We’d argue it was only with the emergence of agriculture, when people could start to accumulate resources, that inequality emerged.
Tags: gender in agriculture, development, gender, agriculture, labor.
Source: www.theguardian.com
GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION 