Category Archives: geography

the Wicked Witch of Finance

Posted on February 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

I have absolutely no formal background in international economics, politics, or finance, but at some point I came across the blog of Chris Blattman and  have been a faithful follower ever since.  I like his explanations, his humility, his dedication to teaching, and his sense of humor.   Like today’s entry in which he likens the world of finance to cruel and unusual acts of violence.

Leave a comment

Posted in geography, politics, social sciences

Part 2, Julio Rivera on geography and spatial thinking at Carthage College

Posted on February 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

Here’s the 2nd part of NITLE’s podcast interview with Julio Rivera, the geographer at Carthage College who’s now their provost. Well worth a listen for his thoughts on spatial learning.

Leave a comment

Posted in geography, GIS, higher education, spatial thinking

Geographical Thinking and GIS at Lib Arts Colleges

Posted on November 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

NITLE has just posted part 1 of its interview with Julio Rivera from Carthage College. I first met Julio several years ago when we coordinated a presentation/workshop on GIS at a Council on Undergraduate Research meeting; he’s very involved with and supportive of CUR.

In this podcast he reflects on what it means to “think like a geographer” and mentions observing patterns and finding connections in space and place. He started Carthage’s GIS program in 1997 (same year I started Alfred University’s) and comments on the paucity of GIS at lib arts colleges back then. Right, so few lib arts colleges have geography departments (though some that did were in fact already going great things with GIS, like at Middlebury). It was really in the late 1990s and early 2000’s that GIS exploded into other departments at lib arts (env studies, geology, etc.).

I liked how he linked his own growing up in a mix of urban/suburban areas as motivation to research residential choices, and left him with a lifelong value of kids “roaming.” Long live the free range child.

We need more geographers to become administrators!

Leave a comment

Posted in geography, higher education, spatial thinking

politics & geography

Posted on July 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

Most days, I’d rank the problems surrounding STEM teaching and learning as one of the most important, if not the most important, in the educational front. But my cynical side says that it’s folly to worry about such topics because before such implications are fully realized, we’ll be at the mercy of our global decision-makers. Under-appreciation of political geography is a problem on an entirely different scale. When “war teaches us geography” – it’s too late.

Topical cartoon from xkcd.

Leave a comment

Posted in geography, politics

Next Stop: Leicester, England

Posted on August 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

Leicester, Leicester, rhymes with Chester. I’m in England for the first of a 3-week Fellowship awarded by SPLINT. (Next two weeks will be in May 2010.) The 8-hr time difference between here and California complicated yesterday but now things seeming slowly more sensical in my mind. I’m staying at the home of one of the faculty members in the geography department, Pete Fisher, a man whose name I have known for many years and whose books I have on my shelves, but I didn’t even connect the dots when I sat in his kitchen yesterday!

Oh well.

Off for some breakfast and to explore the city a bit.

Leave a comment

Posted in geography, spatial thinking

Yann Arthus Bertrand’s imagery

Posted on June 13, 2009 | Leave a comment

The imagery of Yann Arthus Bertrand is absolutely captivating. The man is brilliant at capturing spatial patterns and I use scanned versions of pictures from the book to teach spatial statistics. Now it’s a movie. I could watch this for the 2nd time but should probably get up and do something about the earth instead.

Leave a comment

Posted in data & visualization, geography