Annual Meeting 2024: Expectations and Anticipation

Person holding their hands in the shape of a heart with sunlight in background

By Risha RaQuelle

Photo of Risha Berry

As I reflect on AAG’s work from last year’s annual meeting to this year’s, one word of many come to mind: Transition.

We, members, leaders, and staff of AAG, are living and enduring many transitions, both globally and locally. Yet these transitions require us to continue momentum: Momentum in our reflection and commitment to our core value systems and in our collective call to action through our research, teaching, and service.

It is hard enough to effect transition in the institutions, systems, and ethical frameworks in which we operate. Added to this are the personal and professional transitions always churning in our own lives, sometimes all at once. It can be hard to see a clear dividing line for some, as for example the campuses and organizations where we work experience challenges and shocks to their traditional ways of doing business, challenges in which we too can be caught up.

None of our efforts are possible without you. We are grateful for your partnership.

 

Opportunities to Get Involved

The annual meeting offered us numerous opportunities to elevate our  voices, particularly within the framework of research and scholarship. A throughline is the set of opportunities to partner with AAG in research and to elevate a care ethic in research, particularly at institutions that sometimes have challenges to their ability to compete with larger R1 institutions. Here are just a few possibilities for you to get more involved in effecting this kind of change in our discipline:

  • Request for Partnerships (RFP). We hosted a session and a set of workshops to acquaint participants in the new AAG Request for Partnerships initiative, as a direct result of our commitment to care in the academy and our collective community at the AAG. The first formal RFP is active through August 5, and focused on targeted mentoring networks. Learn more and apply.
  • Convening of Care. Culminating in a forum of 30 participants in September, the Convening aims to shift the presumptive practices of the research enterprise toward policies and systems informed by an ethos of care. Although the first open round for participation closed May 1, we continue to seek applicants representing specific cohorts of experience among researchers. Find out more.

One of the most valuable discussions that grew from our sessions were the observations of participants who pointed out gaps in our proposed approach, which does not explicitly acknowledge how often a precipitating event creates the need to consider and enact a care ethic. Care is an act of benevolence, but more than that, it is an act of concern that stems from a root cause that has revealed an uncaring environment. As participants observed, a precipitating event is often the catalyst toward creating a caring environment. These are what I call critical incidents. These critical incidents are lived experiences that scholars and professionals experience as they navigate access to organizational or institutional resources.  In our discussions at AAG 2024, this was illuminated by participants who shared their lived experiences during the session, including experiences they have had at the AAG.

Our Core Value of and Ethos of Care

This discussion of care, what it means and how best to bring it to the foreground,  brings us back to our association, our membership, our community of values in geography, the value of membership, convening, and collective action. Beyond the career advancement, networking, and ability to stay apprised of development in the field, being part of AAG offers the possibility–the beauty—of making an impact in the work we each do.

In the wake of an amazing meeting, meeting new people and current colleagues both virtually and in person, I ask that you continue to reach out.  Continue to show up. Continue to respond to the calls to actions.

Specifically, we will seek new members for the JEDI Committee and its seven TLC-GRAM subcommittees. Find out more about what we are doing, what we aim to do, and how your vision can be integrated into that work.

Our commitment is to be intentional about identifying timelines for engagement and involvement.  By this meaning, when we ask for your service, we will set deadlines for completion of that service and apply our own principles of care to the whole person you bring to the work.  We understand that all of us are being pulled in many fruitful and challenging directions.  We strive to respect your time with respect to these efforts.

With many thanks and inspiration, as I close out this column and continue to issue the call to action and collaboration.

The AAG Culture of Care column is an outreach initiative by the AAG JEDI Committee. Don’t forget to sign up for JEDI Office Hours. The current theme of Office Hours is An Ethos of Care in the Research Enterprise.

    Share

Community College Geography and Geographers: An Opportunity for Elevating the Discipline

Apples lined up on a flat surface; Credit: Isabella Fischer, Unsplash

By Mike DeVivo
Grand Rapids Community College

Mike DeVivoOften underemphasized in higher education is the important role played by community colleges, which continue to be responsible for the education of 38% of all American undergraduates enrolled in public colleges and universities. Although David Kaplan’s presidential address and the AAG strategic plan have accentuated their importance, two-year institutions largely remain an untapped resource for our discipline. Enlisting community college faculty as fellow partisans engaged in the fight to keep geography as an imperative discipline on the higher education landscape has merit, for enrollment declines have occurred across the U.S. and geography programs remain at risk of termination; in many regional institutions, which nationwide have seen a 4% drop in enrollment during the past decade, this is a critical issue. Moreover, community colleges do much in contributing to the mission of advancing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

The demographic attributes of community college students contrast sharply with those in traditional institutions of higher learning; 30% are first generation, 16% are single parents, 5% are veterans, and 21% have disabilities. In terms of undergraduate underrepresented populations overall, community colleges enroll 52% of Native Americans, 48% of Hispanics, 39% of Blacks, and 34% of Asian Pacific Islanders. For a majority of community college students, working one or two jobs while pursuing studies is a way of life.

Community college transfer students make up 20% of the overall undergraduate enrollment in public four-year institutions; in California, it is 25%, and in Florida, it is 33%. Once community college students have transferred to four-year institutions, their retention rate of 81% is higher than that of other transfer students, as well as those who began as freshmen; 68% of associate degree recipients are awarded bachelor’s degrees within four years of entering their selected transfer institution.

Although the average student in a two-year institution is 28 years of age, community colleges are also responsible for the education of many high school students; 34% of secondary school students complete college courses prior to their high school graduation. The number taking geography courses at community colleges is not small, and their interest in pursuing geography as a major at four-year institutions is growing. Certainly, their exposure to the discipline contributes to an expansion of geography majors in transfer institutions, as does the exposure of our field to the non-traditional students making up the lion’s share of enrollment in community colleges.

Non-traditional students are increasing in importance as traditionally aged college students are declining. The National Center for Education Statistics has forecasted a 2.1% decrease in high school student enrollment between 2020 and 2030; further declines are likely in the following decade. Geography programs in both two-year and four-year institutions stand to benefit much from establishing close partnerships, which is likely to increase undergraduate enrollments in each; but it is more than just a numbers game. Expanding the presence of geography enhances opportunities to diversify the discipline, demonstrate its value to society, and educate knowledgeable public citizens. As the onus of responsibility in building these relationships must be placed equally upon the shoulders of the faculty at both two-year and four-year institutions, discussed below are some prudent considerations.

General Education and Transfer. Geography can play an important part in the general education curricula of the institutions in which the discipline persists, for unlike most disciplines, geography courses can be listed among those meeting Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Diversity requirements. Moreover, general education course enrollments often validate the presence of geography programs and provide opportunities for attracting majors. Expanding the number of general education geography courses at four-year institutions increases the discipline’s exposure, and developing corresponding courses at two-year institutions does the same. Ensuring their transferability is imperative.

Distance Education. Enhancing distance education at both community colleges and their corresponding transfer institutions is a must; creation of online, hybrid, and short-term residency courses can accommodate student needs. More than 40% of community college students complete most of their coursework online, and for some it is a necessity; 12% do not have the means to commute to the classroom and 9% must care for a family member. As bachelor’s degree distance education programs in geography are limited, developing affordable options to meet the needs of community college transfer students brings considerable benefit to the discipline.

Teaching and Mentoring. Not only is interactive engagement expected, but teaching and mentoring are also attributes that enhance learning, such as empathy, understanding, and compassion. Likely, most college students are characterized by three or more adverse childhood experiences, which can markedly affect academic performance. Faculty are tasked with adopting some level of flexibility while also maintaining academic rigor. By establishing mutually respectful academic relationships, geography faculty in community colleges can assist promising students to gain awareness of the opportunities the discipline has to offer, which should not only include entry-level employment prospects, but also graduate school assistantships and fellowships. Of course, collaboration with transfer institutions does much to facilitate success.

GTU & VGSP. As one of the few honor societies endorsed by the Association of College Honor Societies that charters chapters in community colleges, Gamma Theta Upsilon’s presence can play a role in elevating the status of geography. A GTU chapter not only enhances the visibility of the discipline, it provides students a forum in which they can plan conference presentations, raise funds for travel, and make contributions to the local community, such as spearheading food drives for children in poverty, and engaging in service in other ways. Moreover, the Visiting Geographical Scientist Program, administered by the AAG and funded by GTU, provides an opportunity for faculty and students in two-year and four-year institutions to collaborate in co-hosting visiting speakers. These kinds of partnerships can be effective in recruitment of majors and showcasing geography to administrative leaders and members of the public. As two-year institutions tend to have close ties to local communities, community college geographers can play an important role in facilitating the town and gown relationships with geography faculty in local four-year institutions.

Academic Conferences. Annual meetings of the AAG in addition to those of its regional divisions, and state geographical societies (e.g., California Geographical Society) provide opportunities for faculty and students from academic institutions of all types to confer, present their research, and engage in the relationship-building that contributes to the success of academic geography.

Indeed, the AAG plays a critical role here, for among other things, elevating the discipline tasks the organization’s leadership to elevate the status of regional division annual meetings. Moreover, the organization must demonstrate both vitality and value to all academic geographers, many of whom have been on the hinterlands of American higher education for years. Urgent action is needed to address some of the 21st century changes in higher education that can adversely impact academic geography and the “health” of departments.” Developing community college-university alliances will not resolve all—or even most—issues facing geography programs; but these kinds of partnerships carry the potential to do a lot in the shaping of healthy departments.


References

American Association of Geographers. 2023. AAG Strategic Plan: 2023-2025. Washington, DC: American Association of Geographers.

American Association of Geographers. 2022. The State of Geography. Washington, DC: American Association of Geographers.

American Association of Community Colleges. 2023. Fast Facts 2023.

Brenan, M. 2023. Americans’ Confidence in Higher Education Down Sharply. Gallup (11 July).

Fry, R & Cilluffo, A. 2019. A Rising Share of undergraduates are from Poor Families, Especially at Less Selective Colleges. Pew Research Center (May).

Gardner, L. 2023. Regional Public Colleges are Affordable—but is that enough to draw students? The Chronicle of Higher Education: 28 July.

Kaplan, D. 2023. Who Are We? Redefining the Academic Community. Annals of the American Association of Geographers 113 (8): 2003-2012.

National Center for Education Statistics. 2024. Digest of Education Statistics, 2022. Washington, DC: US Department of Education.

Velasco, T. et al. 2024a. Tracking Transfer: Community College Effectiveness in Broadening Bachelor’s Degree Attainment. New York: Community College Research Center.

Velasco, T. et al. 2024b. Tracking Transfer: Four-Year Institutional Effectiveness in Broadening Bachelor’s Degree Attainment. New York: Community College Research Center.

The Healthy Departments Committee provides engaged guidance and action that enhances the future health and excellence of academic geography departments across the country. Take advantage of our resources and get your voice heard.

    Share

AAG Welcomes Convening of Care Graduate Fellow

Shaun Johnson close-up photoAAG is proud to welcome a graduate fellow who will be assisting in the planning and implementation of the Convening of Care, taking place in Washington, D.C., September 19-20, 2024. We would like to extend a warm welcome to Shaun Johnson.

Shaun Johnson (he/him) is a Ph.D. Student in Geography at the University of Kansas studying under Dr. Barney Warf. He earned his B.S. in Geography and Political Science from Illinois State University and his M.A. in Geography from the University of Kansas. His professional interests include electoral and political geographies and the study of digital networks of care. Outside of academic pursuits, Shaun is interested in board games, reading, and the outdoors.

Shaun will be joining the team for the Convening of Care as a Graduate Fellow to assist in planning pre-and-post-convening activities, designing and delivering training modules, communicating with participants and stakeholders, and coordinating publications.

Learn more about the Convening of Care

This award is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2324401 and Award No. 2324402. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

    Share

Council Meeting – April 2024

    Share

AAG 2024 Annual Meeting PDF Program

    Share

New Books for Geographers: Spring 2024

washington dc Take-a-stroll-along-the-Tidal-Basin-in-the-spring-to-catch-a-glimpse-of-the-Jefferson-Memorial-and-the-iconic-Cherry-Blossom-trees-courtesy-of-washington.org_

The AAG compiles a quarterly list of newly published geography books and books of interest to geographers. The list includes a diversity of books that represents the breadth of the discipline (including key sub-disciplines), but also recognizes the work which takes place at the margins of geography and overlap with other disciplines. While academic texts make up most of the books, we also include popular books, novels, books of poetry, and books published in languages other than English, for example.

Some of these books are selected for review in the AAG Review of Books. Publishers are welcome to contact the AAG Review of Books Editor-in-Chief Debbie Hopkins, as well as anyone interested in reviewing these or other titles.


A Caribbean Poetics of Spirit, by Hannah Regis (University of the West Indies Press 2024)

After Nativism: Belonging in an Age of Intolerance, by Ash Amin (Polity Books 2023)

American Indians and the American Dream: Policies, Place, and Property in Minnesota, by Kasey R. Keeler ( University of Minnesota Press 2023)

An Anthology of Blackness: The State of Black Design, by Terresa Moses and Omari Souza (MIT Press 2023)

Borders: A Very Short Introduction, by Alexander C. Diener and Joshua Hagen (Oxford University Press 2024)

Cities in Search of Freedom: European Municipalities against the Leviathan, by Elisabetta Mocca (Bristol University Press 2023)

Climate Migration: Critical Perspectives for Law, Policy, and Research, by Calum Nicholson and Benoit Mayer (Bloomsbury Publishing 2023)

Climate Travels: How Ecotourism Changes Mindsets and Motivates Action, by Michael M. Gunter Jr. (Columbia University Press 2023)

Constructing Worlds Otherwise: Societies in Movement and Anticolonial Paths in Latin America, by Raúl Zibechi and George Ygarza Quispe (Translator) (AK Press              2024)

COVID and Gender in the Middle East, by Rita Stephan (University of Texas Press 2023)

Defying Displacement: Urban Recomposition and Social War, by Andrew Lee (AK Press 2024)

Displacing Territory: Syrian and Palestinian Refugees in Jordan, by Karen Culcasi (University of Chicago Press 2023)

Encountering Palestine: Un/making Spaces of Colonial Violence, by Mark Griffiths and Mikko Joronen (University of Nebraska Press 2023)

Fatal Jump: Tracking the Origins of Pandemics, by Leslie Reperant (Johns Hopkins University Press 2023)

Fluid Geographies: Water, Science, and Settler Colonialism in New Mexico, by K. Maria D. Lane (University of Chicago Press 2024)

Food in a Just World: Compassionate Eating in a Time of Climate Change, by Tracey Harris and Terry Gibbs (Polity Books 2024)

For a Liberatory Politics of Home, by Michele Lancione (Duke University Press 2023)

Global Health: Geographical Connections, by Anthony C. Gatrell (Agenda Publishing 2023)

Hydrofeminist Thinking With Oceans: Political and Scholarly Possibilities, by Tarara Shefer, Vivienne Bozalek, and Nike Romano (Routledge 2024)

Hyperspectral Remote Sensing in Urban Environments, by Shailesh Shankar Deshpande and Arun B. Inamdar (Routledge 2024)

Katūīvei: Contemporary Pasifika poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand, by David Eggleton, Vaughan Rapatahana, and Mere Taito (Massey University Press 2024)

Making a Home: Assisted Living in the Community for Young Disabled People, by Jen Powley (Fernwood Publishing 2023)

Making Space for Indigenous Feminism, 3rd Edition, by Gina Starblanket (Fernwood Publishing 2024)

Making the Literary-Geographical World of Sherlock Holmes: The Game Is Afoot, by David McLaughlin (University of Chicago Press 2025)

Making the Unseen Visible: Science and the Contested Histories of Radiation Exposure, by Jacob Darwin Hamblin and Linda Marie Richards (Oregon State Press 2023)

Mapmatics: A Mathematician’s Guide to Navigating the World, by Paulina Rowińska (Harvard University Press 2024)

Mapping Middle-earth: Environmental and Political Narratives in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Cartographies, by Anahit Behrooz (Bloomsbury Publishing 2024)

Master Plans and Minor Acts: Repairing the City in Post-Genocide Rwanda, by Shakirah E. Hudani (University of Chicago Press 2024)

Memory in Place: Locating colonial histories and commemoration, by Cameo Dalley and Ashley Barnwell (ANU Press 2023)

Midlife Geographies: Changing Lifecourses across Generations, Spaces and Time, by Aija Lulle (Bristol University Press 2024)

Migration as Economic Imperialism: How International Labour Mobility Undermines Economic Development in Poor Countries, by Immanuel Ness (Polity Books 2023)

Near and Far Waters: The Geopolitics of Seapower, by Colin Flint (Standford University Press 2024)

Patchwork Apartheid: Private Restriction, Racial Segregation, and Urban Inequality, by Colin Gordon (Russel Sage Foundation 2023)

Pessimism, Quietism and Nature as Refuge, by David E. Cooper (Agenda Publishing 2024)

Prepare, Respond, Renew: GIS for Wildland Fires, by Anthony Schultz, Matt Ball, and Matt Artz (Esri Press 2024)

Pyromania: Fire and Geopolitics in a Climate-Disrupted World, by Simon Dalby (Agenda Publishing 2023)

Reclaiming the Americas: Latinx Art and the Politics of Territory, by Tatiana Reinoza (University of Texas Press 2023)

Red Leviathan: The Secret History of Soviet Whaling, by Ryan Tucker Jones (University of Chicago Press 2023)

Remapping the World in East Asia: Toward A Global History of the “Ricci Maps” by Mario Cams and Elke Papelitzky (University of Hawaii Press 2024)

Resisting Eviction: Domicide and the Financialization of Rental Housing, by Andrew Crosby (Fernwood Publishing 2023)

Re-storying Mediterranean Worlds: New Narratives from Italian Cultures to Global Citizenship, by Angela Biancofiore and Clément Barniaudy (Bloomsbury Publishing 2023)

Seeds of Control: Japan’s Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea, by David Fedman (University of Washington Press 2024)

Society Despite the State: Reimagining Geographies of Order, by Anthony Ince and Geronimo Barrera de la Torre (Pluto Press               2024)

Spinning Tea Cups: A Mythical American Memoir, by Alexandra Teague (Oregon State Press 2023)

Stopping Oil: Climate Justice and Hope, by Sophie Bond, Amanda Thomas, and Gradon Diprose (Pluto Press 2023)

Structured Luck: Downstream Effects of the U.S. Diversity Visa Program, by Onoso Imoagene (Russel Sage Foundation 2024)

Taking the State out of the Body: A Guide to Embodied Resistance to Zionism, by Eliana Rubin (PM Books 2024)

Tent City, Seattle: Refusing Homelessness and Making a Home, by Tony Sparks (University of Washington Press 2024)

The Best Country to Give Birth? Midwifery, Homebirth and the Politics of Maternity in Aotearoa New Zealand, by Linda Bryder (Auckland University Press 2023)

The Black Geographic: Praxis, Resistance, Futurity, by Camilla Hawthorne and Jovan Scott Lewis (Duke University Press 2023)

The Gender Order of Neoliberalism, by Smitha Radhakrishnan and Cinzia D. Solari (Polity Books 2023)

The Geography of Hope: Real Life Stories of Optimists Mapping a Better World, by David Yarnold (Esri Press 2024)

The Lost Subways of North America: A Cartographic Guide to the Past, Present, and What Might Have Been, by Jake Berman (University of Chicago Press 2023)

The Ocean on Fire: Pacific Stories from Nuclear Survivors and Climate Activists, by Anaïs Maurer (Duke University Press 2024)

The Rocks Will Echo Our Sorrow: The Forced Displacement of the Northern Sámi, by Eliin Anna Labba (University of Minnesota Press 2023)

The Sentinel State: Surveillance and the Survival of Dictatorship in China, by Minxin Pei (Harvard University Press 2024)

The Struggle for Taiwan: A History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between, by Sulmaan Wasif Khan (Basic Books 2024)

The Unsettled: Small stories of colonization, by Richard Shaw (Massey University Press 2024)

The Youth Climate Uprising: Greta Thunberg’s School Strike, Fridays For Future, and the Democratic Challenges of Our Time, by David Fopp, Isabelle Axelsson, and Loukina Tille (Columbia University Press 2024)

Transport Truths: Planning Methods and Ethics for Global Futures, by Greg Griffin (Bristol University Press 2024)

Urban Biodiversity: The Natural History of the New Jersey Meadowlands, by Erik Kiviat and Kristi MacDonald (Rowman and Littlefield 2024)

Urgent Moments: Art and social change: The Letting Space projects 2010-2020, by Mark Amery, Amber Clausner, and Sophie Jarram (Massey University Press 2023)

    Share

Letter to Indiana Governor on Freedom of Inquiry

    Share

Call for Participation for the Convening of Care in Washington, DC

Person holding their hands in the shape of a heart with sunlight in background

By Risha RaQuelle

Photo of Risha Berry

I’m excited to share with you the Call for Participation for the upcoming Convening of Care, scheduled to take place in Washington, DC, September 19-20, 2024. Funded by the National Science Foundation and in partnership with the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP), the convening will bring together 30 participants from three different, key perspectives within the research enterprise: funding officers at colleges and universities, department chairs, and early-career geographers.

If you would like to attend, take a look at our Call and start your application.

The convening will lay the groundwork for alternative standards in the research enterprise — defined as the systems and activities that lead to funding and research — by asking participants to reconsider their work through an “ethos of care” framework. Based on work by Principal Investigator Emily Skop of UCCS has led, an ethos of care seeks to enhance practices and processes within the research enterprise and enable collaborators to confront and address the accepted norms of power and bias, and to “resolve to disrupt and transform those norms in a mutually beneficial, evolving and inspiring manner.”

We are especially eager to see participants from Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs), Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), and community colleges, who are often under-resourced yet most qualified to address the much-needed change to align institutional research activities with the goals of belonging, access, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (BAJEDI).

Questions? You can sign up for Friday Office Hours to meet with me as one of the two Principal Investigators.

This award is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2324401 and Award No. 2324402. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

The AAG Culture of Care column is an outreach initiative by the AAG JEDI Committee. Don’t forget to sign up for JEDI Office Hours. The current theme of Office Hours is An Ethos of Care in the Research Enterprise.

    Share

AAG Travel Policy

    Share

Letter to National Science Foundation on DISES

    Share