GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Traveling Teaches Students in a Way Schools Can’t

American education is largely limited to lessons about the West.

When I turned 15, my parents sent me alone on a one-month trip to Ecuador, the country where my father was born. This was tradition in our family—for my parents to send their first-generation American kids to the country of their heritage, where we would meet our extended family, immerse ourselves in a different culture, and learn some lessons on gratefulness.

My family’s plan worked. That month in Ecuador did more for my character, education, and sense of identity than any other experience in my early life.

Tags: place, tourism, education, geo-inspiration.

Source: www.theatlantic.com

December 1, 2015 0

Ghanaian coffins

“Amid calls for a three-day weekend in Ghana to allow residents to attend more funeral parties (with the emphasis on party), here’s a look at some of the country’s famous customized coffins.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Cultural practices surrounding death are designed to honor the departed and are deeply situated in the local customs. Some people from a different cultural setting might find the cultural practices of Mexico’s Day of the Dead startling.

Questions to Ponder: Do you this as having elements of popular culture or folk culture? Would these coffins ‘work’ in other places? Why or why not? What other cultural traits and attitudes need to be in places for this to be cultural acceptable?

Tags: cultural norms, folk culture, culture, Ghana, Africa.

November 30, 2015 0

Most Cyclists Are Working-Class Immigrants, Not Hipsters

“Urban planners are noticing a cultural gap between bike advocates and others who bike. Planners see a particular type of cyclist: a working-class person – usually a minority and often a recent immigrant – riding to work on whatever type of bike he can get his hands on. Those cyclists are men and women for whom biking isn’t an environmental cause or a response to an urban trend but a means of transportation that’s cheaper than a car and faster than walking.”

Source: www.governing.com

Those that fight for bike lanes are not representative of all the cyclists. These invisible cyclists are show that the cycling is an economic strategy for many of the urban poor, just as it can be a social statement for wealthy bike riders.

Tags: mobility, transportation, socioeconomic, class, planning.

November 29, 2015 0

The North American City

Geography of the United States & Canada

Tags: urban, prezi, planning, urbanism, architecture, North America.

Source: prezi.com

November 28, 2015 0

The Geography of New Orleans

Geographers make a distinction between site and situation as they consider the underlying foundation of a place. Few cities represent such a wide chasm between these two aspects as does New Orleans. The situation, or the answer to why does a place exist, was imperative. The Mississippi River was a major artery for the North American continent. As first the Europeans and then the Americans assumed control of the area, a port was essential at the mouth of this river. But the site, the response to where a city is placed, continues to confound. Few environments were or are more inhospitable to human habitation. Poor soil, disease, floods, and hurricanes are constant threats that have plagued the city for over three centuries. But the why trumped the where and hence the paradox of New Orleans persists.

Source: maps.bpl.org

New Orleans is the classic example to use to explain the difference between site and situation…lousy site, incredible situation. These maps are a nice introduction to the city.

November 27, 2015 0

A Map of the World, Made From Soil and Stone

A walkable map of the world, made from soil and stone by one man

Source: www.atlasobscura.com

What am I thankful for? A world filled with wonder and beauty. A world that is endlessly fascinating because its depths are beyond my ability to ever fully comprehend it. A world that, despite all our faults, remains humanity’s only home and we collectively need to to act as good and wise stewards of this planet.

Tags: cartography, fun, visualization, mapping, art, geo-inspiration.

November 26, 2015 0

Chinese forces ‘used flamethrowers’ in Xinjiang operation

“A Chinese military newspaper gives graphic details of a raid in Xinjiang province against suspected militants.” http://wp.me/p2Ij6x-60y

Source: www.bbc.com

This BBC article gives an update on China’s crackdown on Uighur nationalism under the guise of cracking down of ‘foreign terrorists.’ Earlier this year I wrote this article for the National Geographic Education Blog on this topic, the always simmering tensions in the China’s westernmost province of Xinjiang.

Tags: Central Asia, political, confl ict, governance, China, East Asia.

November 25, 2015 0

The Myth of the Caliphate

Myth Article #1: Western pundits and nostalgic Muslim thinkers alike have built up a narrative of the caliphate as an enduring institution, central to Islam and Islamic thought between the seventh and twentieth centuries. In fact, the caliphate is a political or religious idea whose relevance has waxed and waned according to circumstances.

Myth Article #2: ISIS may use terrorism as a tactic, but it is not a terrorist organization. Rather, it is a pseudo-state led by a conventional army. So the counterterrorism strategies that were useful against al Qaeda won’t work in the fight against ISIS.

Myth Video #1: This video points to the reasons that recruits are attracted to extremism (not just poverty and ignorance).

Tags: political, governance, religion, Islam, historical, terrorism, geopolitics, ISIS.