GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

“OTR A.D.O.P.T. transfers abandoned buildings to qualified new owners at reduced cost.  The catch? You must commit to rehabilitating the property and returning it to productive use. You must also demonstrate an ability to successfully complete such a project.  A.D.O.P.T.-Advancing Derelict and Obsolete Properties Through Transfer.”

Source: otradopt.com

This banner was spotted by Laura Spess, an urban geographer in Cincinnati in during the 2014 APHG reading.   The Over-The-Rhine neighborhood is very close to the reading, and the urban renewal here is quite controversial.  Many point to the economic positives and infusion of investments, while other see social displacement of the poor.  After the reading we were discussing the messages embedded the sign (and the urban landscape).  The OTR ADOPT organization conceptually thought of poorer neighborhoods as orphans and that the gentrification process should be likened to adoption.  While the merits and problems of gentrification can be debated, I find that particular analogy painfully tone deaf and wasn’t surprised to find the organizations website, well, derelict and obsolete.  

Questions to Ponder: Why might this analogy be problematic?  How might current residents of the community feel about the message? 

Tags: neighborhood, landscape, gentrification, urban, place, culture, economic, APHG, Cincinnati. 

A two-euro coin commemorating the bicentennial of Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat will not be widely released, after France objected to what it called a “negative symbol.”

Source: www.npr.org

Celebrating national history is great…but if your moment of greatest triumph comes at the expense of a country that is now in an supranational organization with you…well, then it can get awkward.

The government of the People’s Republic of China calls the country’s westernmost region Xinjiang, but the people who have lived there for centuries refer to their home as Eastern Turkistan. Many times when two groups do not refer to a place by the same name, it points to a cultural or political conflict, as is the case here.

Source: blog.education.nationalgeographic.com

Multiple names on the map can hint at bigger cultural and political fault lines.  Is it Londonderry or just Derry?  The Sea of Japan or the East Sea?  This article I wrote for the National Geographic Education Blog is on the always simmering tensions in the China’s westernmost province.  

Tags: Central Asia, toponyms, culture, political, conflict, governance, China, East Asia, religion, Islam, landscape.

“Ever since I researched the meanings of monuments in the cultural landscape in Mexico City, I’ve been fascinated by the cultural politics of memory and heritage. The removal of a statue is a cultural 180, acknowledging what was once honored and revered is now something that is not worthy of that distinction. This sort of change is not without protests on both sides and a cultural rearticulation of who ‘we’ are when ‘we’ make a public memorial.”

Source: geographyeducation.org

Cecil Rhodes was the namesake for the Rhodes scholarship at Oxford University and the colonial names of Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) and Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia).  He was deeply connected to British colonialism and was one of the most ambitious colonizers that expanded the British Empire.  This week a statue of Cecil Rhodes on the University of Cape Town campus was removed.  See the BBC article, Yahoo News!, and PRI podcastfor more details. 

Questions to Ponder: Why do you think this monument to Cecil Rhodes was established in 1934?  Why was it removed in 2015?  What does this say about South African politics and culture?  How might we characterize the supporters and opponents of the statue?

Tags: South Africa, Africa, historical, colonialism, political, landscape.

“Yes. It’s true. In the meantime, I’d also like to live. Except, nobody wants to let me live–they all want to remind me of how I’m going to die, or how I’m going to cause my children to die. I was packing my kid’s lunch the other day, and tossed in a Twinkie with a smile and stroke of endearment, when I happened to glance at my kid’s class newsletter on the table. It informed me that if I feed my child Twinkies, I might as well be feeding him rocket fuel.”

Source: www.insideoutminds.com

I can’t agree with everything mentioned in this article, but the overall message something that I do think is worth discussing.  Our society can be swayed by fear and a few statistics to wildly overreact to a situation (Ebola, Y2K, etc.).  So many movies tap into the our societal fears that an over dependence on technology or chemical alterations will destroy humanity (like Terminator, the Matrix, the Net, etc.).  The anti-GMO movement successfully taps into that cultural zeitgeist, and some like ‘the Food Babe’ stir up fear to the chagrin of many scientists.     

Tags: GMOs, technology, agriculture, agribusiness.

We asked a range of people, from writers and chefs to musicians and photographers, to share one experience from the last year that truly inspired them – something that, in no uncertain terms, reminded them why they love the world. Madly. Here’s what they told us.

Source: www.bbc.com

Fog envelops Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, in this National Geographic Photo of the Day from our Your Shot community.

Source: photography.nationalgeographic.com

Source: www.johnnycashhasbeeneverywhere.com

This is more for the teachers than the students since this is most certainly not a current pop culture reference.  Still, what’s better than an interactive map displaying the locations where Johnny Cash has been while listening to him sing “I’ve Been Everywhere?”  (Tech support: Use Google Chrome or Safari to play and ignore the finger). 

Tags: music, transportation, mapping, tourism.

Clarissa Ward breaks down the history of differences between opposing sects of Islam

Source: www.cbsnews.com

The geography of the Sunni-Shiite division is incredibly important for a good understanding of world regional geography as well as modern geopolitics. This 5 minute video (as well as this NPR podcast) examine the historical and religious aspects of this split to then analyze the political and cultural implications in the Middle East today.  Additionally this Pew Research article highlights the 5 countries where the the majority of Muslims are Shiite, with some good demographic data to add to the analysis.  Take this quiz to test your knowledge.  

Tags: MiddleEast, Islam, religion, historical, culture.