PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Bias and Consideration

By Sarah Witham Bednarz

Now is the winter of our discontent. I have always liked that line, the first of King Richard III. I know it is not really about winter, but it has always evoked for me the vaguely uncomfortable feeling I have during this season. It is cold, the days are short, and all I want to do is hibernate. But here in Texas we are seeing the first signs of spring. Yes, at the end of January. The robins are back, passing through on their way north; the narcissuses are about to bloom; and the trees are budding. Hope is in the air as I write this column. So let me write about two different topics, hiring and award selection. I promise to end each topic with an optimistic twist.

First, I am conscious of the anxiety and discontent of many young geographers who are completing their dissertations (stressful enough on its own) and applying for academic positions or other employment. Hiring is one of the most important things that a department does and yet we often do it without much reflection or consideration of the applicants. Tradition drives the process and I think we become a little callous. Continue Reading.

Recent columns from the President

• New Year, New Name, New Proposal
• A New Year’s Resolution
• Undergraduate Education: Let’s Pay Attention
• More from the President

Presidential Plenary to Kick Off Featured Theme on Higher Education

Thriving in a Time of Disruption in Higher Education

Tuesday, March 29, 2016 | 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Continental 5, Hilton Hotel, San Francisco

AAG President Sarah Bednarz has organized this year’s presidential plenary into a moderated discussion around the eponymously named theme, “Thriving in a Time of Disruption in Higher Education,” with a focus on strengths and opportunities for geography in higher education. She will moderate the discussion, which will feature different perspectives and critiques. The following discussants have been invited to participate on the panel:

• Jenny Zorn, Provost, California State University-Bakersfield
• Elizabeth Wentz, Dean of Social Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University
• Kristopher N. Olds, Department Chair and Professor, Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Kavita Pandit, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, Georgia State University
• Yonette Thomas, Senior Researcher, AAG, and former Associate Vice President for Research Compliance, Howard University

Learn More.

ANNUAL MEETING

FOCUS ON SAN FRANCISCO

The World a Model Makes

By John Elrick

When geographers touch down in San Francisco this spring, they will encounter a socio-natural world produced in part through technical efforts to understand and manage it. As a primary means by which such efforts were pursued in the Bay Area during the postwar years, the San Francisco Bay-Delta Hydraulic Model – located a few miles north of the city in the town of Sausalito – offers a unique window into the formation of the metropolitan region. Built by the Army Corps of Engineers to simulate bay-estuary conditions and test the feasibility of development plans, the physical model now operates as an educational center and public showcase for the accomplishments of the Corps. Learn More.

A New Rx for the Food Movement in San Francisco

By Kendra Klein

With large-scale demand and a mission to protect public health, hospitals are emerging as the next frontier of the sustainable food movement. Health care institutions spend $12 billion in the food and beverage sector each year, and a single hospital can have an annual food budget of $1–7 million or more. Even small shifts in foodservice budgets can create new markets for alternative foods.

To date, the darlings of the food movement have been farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, and urban farms that connect eaters directly with the source of their food. These models appear to have boosted the number of small farmers in the U.S. after decades of freefall, but research shows that we now have an increasingly bifurcated system that favors small-scale direct markets and large-scale commodity markets. What’s more, experts believe that direct market models are reaching a saturation point even though they’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of the agricultural status quo. Local food sales account for less than two percent of total farm gross, and the goods exchanging hands at some 7,800 farmers’ markets nationwide represent less than one percent of total U.S. agricultural production. Learn More. 

[Focus on San Francisco is an on-going series curated by the Local Arrangements Committee to provide insight on and understanding of the geographies of San Francisco and the Bay Area]

NEWS

AAG Calls for Nominations for Standing Committees

The AAG Council will make appointments to several of the AAG Standing Committees at its spring 2016 meeting. These appointments will replace members whose terms will expire on June 30, 2016.

If you wish to nominate yourself or other qualified individuals for one or more of these vacancies, please notify AAG Secretary Thomas Mote tmote [at] uga [dot] edu on or before March 1, 2016. Please make sure that your nominee is willing to serve if appointed. Include contact information for your nominee as well as a brief paragraph indicating his/her suitability for the position. Learn More.

AAG-Esri ConnectED GeoMentors Program Begins Second Year

The AAG and Esri continue to develop a nationwide network of GeoMentors to assist schools and teachers with introducing GIS and associated geographic concepts into classrooms across the country. The GeoMentors program is in support of the U.S. Department of Education’s ConnectED Initiative for which Esri has donated $1 billion of ArcGIS Online software to all K-12 schools in the U.S.

In the program’s first year in 2015, a diverse and talented network of over 700 volunteers registered as GeoMentors and over 150 engagements were recorded with educators throughout the U.S. Program staff conducted outreach to professional organizations (e.g. AGI, ArcUser groups, EPA, GISCI, NCGE, National Geographic, NSTA), university departments and student groups; these efforts to build the GeoMentor community will continue in 2016. Learn More.

Race, Ethnicity and Place Conference Is Coming to Historic Kent, Ohio

The eighth bi-annual Race, Ethnicity and Place Conference (REP VIII) will be held September 21-23, 2016, at the Kent State Hotel, locally hosted by Kent State University. 

REP VIII already has attracted more than 150 registrants at the time of this publication, representing a wide range of disciplines, and scholars from numerous states and nations who share an interest in racial and ethnic transformation of places worldwide and reflect a mix of applied and theoretical perspectives. Along with paper, poster, and panel presentations, the conference features a welcoming reception at the Kent State Hotel on Wednesday evening, two lunches and a gala dinner. Learn More.

PUBLICATIONS

Second Issue of ‘GeoHumanities’ Now Available

The AAG is pleased to announce that Volume 1, Issue 2 of GeoHumanities is now available. GeoHumanities is the newest journal of the American Association of Geographers. It features articles that span conceptual and methodological debates in geography and the humanities; critical reflections on analog and digital artistic productions; and new scholarly interactions occurring at the intersections of geography and multiple humanities disciplines.

Each issue, the Editors choose one article to make freely available. In this issue you can read Inductive Visualization: A Humanistic Alternative to GIS by Anne Kelly Knowles, Levi Westerveld and Laura Strom for free. To access the most recent issue of GeoHumanities click here. Learn More.

‘The AAG Review of Books’ Volume 4, Issue 1 Is Now Available

The AAG is pleased to announce that Volume 4, Issue 1 of The AAG Review of Books is now available.

The journal features scholarly book reviews, along with reviews of significant current books related more broadly to geography and public policy and/or international affairs. Some examples of recently reviewed books include Lifeblood: Oil, Freedom, and the Forces of Capital by Matthew T. Huber and American Geography and Geographers: Toward Geographical Science by Geoffrey Martin.

New Books Received: January 2016 – The AAG Review of Books office has released the list of the books received during the month of January.

January 2016 Issue of the ‘Annals of the AAG’ Now Available.

The AAG is pleased to announce that Volume 106, Issue 1 (January 2016) of the Annals of the American Association of Geographers is now available. The Annals contains original, timely, and innovative articles that advance knowledge in all facets of the discipline. Articles are divided into four major areas: Environmental Sciences; Methods, Models, and Geographic Information Science; Nature and Society; and People, Place, and Region. Learn More.

MEMBER AND DEPARTMENT NEWS

AAG Archivist Geoffrey Martin Provides Rare Glimpses into the History of Geography

A near-capacity crowd gathered on January 21, 2016, in the Geography and Map Division at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., to hear a talk by the doyen of the history of geography, Dr. Geoffrey J. Martin, Professor Emeritus at Southern Connecticut State University and the official archivist of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) for more than 30 years.

Martin was invited to speak about his new book, American Geography and Geographers: Toward Geographical Science, which was published in 2015 by Oxford University Press. Learn More.

Kirstin Dow Named Among First Leshner Leadership Institute Public Engagement Fellows at AAAS

Fellows to focus on climate change issues in first year of program

Kirstin Dow, a University of South Carolina geography professor and former AAG National Councillor, has been named an inaugural fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) Leshner Leadership Institute.

All members in this first cohort of 15 fellows are climate scientists with an interest in promoting dialogue between science and society. Learn More.

IN MEMORIAM

• Harold M. Rose – Distinguished professor emeritus of geography and urban studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and pioneer in research on race and segregation …
• Shiloh Sundstrom – Doctoral student and teaching assistant in the Department of Geography at Oregon State University, and a keen rancher, forester and conservationist …
• Susan R. Brooker-Gross – Geographer, educator, and administrator at Virginia Tech …

SPECIALTY GROUP NEWS

Russian, Central Eurasian and East European SG Now Accepting Submissions for 2015-16 Student Awards

The Russian, Central Eurasian and East European Specialty Group (RCEEE SG) is pleased to announce two student award opportunities (Paper Award, and Field Research Travel Award) for the 2015-16 academic year. We offer a Student Paper Award ($150) and a Field Research Travel Award ($250). Learn More.

MORE

NEH Summer Seminar on “Mapping, Text, and Travel” Now Accepting Applications

The Newberry Library’s Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography is pleased to announce its 2016 NEH Summer Seminar, “Mapping, Text, and Travel.” The five-week NEH Seminar, led by James Akerman and Jordana Dym, will examine the complex relationship between text, mapping, and travel from the emergence of the modern world to the dawn of the digital age, focusing on the genre of travel mapping within the wider context of the history of cartography and travel publication. Learn More.

Katelyn Suranovic Interns at AAG for Spring Semester

Katelyn Suranovic is currently pursuing her master’s degree in geography at George Washington University. Her focus is climate change and weather-related phenomena in response to climatic changes. Previously, Katelyn earned her bachelor of science degree from James Madison University (JMU), where she majored in geographic science with a concentration in environmental conservation, sustainability and development. Learn More.

AAG Now Accepting Internship Applications for Summer 2016

Interns participate in most AAG programs and projects such as education, outreach, research, website, publications, or the Annual Meeting. The AAG also arranges for interns to accompany different AAG staff on visits to related organizations or events of interest during the course of their internship. Apply by March 1. Learn More.

IN THE NEWS

Popular stories from the AAG SmartBrief

• Study tracks changing communities in L.A. and Chicago
• Map: 1% of Earth’s land is home to half the population
• Government-owned lands cause tension in the West
• Study: Poor families pay more for housing in unequal cities
• Study: Blizzards may be happening more frequently

EVENTS CALENDER

• 2016 COSSA Annual Meeting & Social and Behavioral Science Advocacy Day, Washington, DC, March 15-16
• 47th Annual South Dakota State Geography Convention, Brookings, SD, March 17-18
• 2016 AAG Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, March 29-April 2
• UCGIS 2016 Symposium, Scottsdale, AZ, May 24-26
• Institute of Australian Geographers 2016 Conference, Adelaide, Australia, June 29-July 1

Submit News to the AAG Newsletter. To share your news, submit announcements to newsletter [at] aag [dot] org.

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

A New Year’s Resolution

By Sarah Witham Bednarz

The fall semester is coming to an end and the new year is approaching. It is the season for reflection and resolution setting. What went well in my classes and research this semester? What do I need to tweak before offering the class again? What resources do I need to keep my research going? What new “thing” did my students come up with that I need to be mindful of as I plan for the spring? These are the ruminations of a seasoned professor. I know some of my younger colleagues are just too panicked about the chaos of teaching (and research and service) to have much time to consider their successes, strengths, challenges, and flaws. We geographers have paid close attention to early career faculty, primarily through the Geography Faculty Development Alliance and three excellent publications Practicing Geography, Aspiring Academics, and Teaching College Geography (available through the AAG Bookstore). This has been enormously helpful in producing a generation of young, astute, and savvy geographers. However, a group we have not paid much attention to is mid- and late-career faculty.

This is true across higher education. There is very little professional development to assist faculty after they receive tenure, and little has been written about strategies to support senior colleagues. Mid-career faculty especially face significant emotional and professional challenges. Institutions invest considerable resources to start careers but then, post-tenure, the training wheels are off and faculty are supposed to be successful in obtaining their own research funding. Early career faculty are often protected from service, but then, as associate professors, they are magically expected to become effective, engaged committee members and managers of academic programs. Many crumple under the high expectations placed on them by their departments, complaining that after tenure more work is dumped on them. In some instances mid-career faculty can feel neglected, receiving less attention and feedback, either positive or negative. The initial relief at gaining tenure can lead to dismay, a feeling of ennui, epitomized by the thought, “Now, what do I do?” Continue Reading.

Recent columns from the President

• Undergraduate Education: Let’s Pay Attention
• AAG at the Forefront of Geography Education Change
• Do The Right Thing
• More from the President

Geography Is Still an Important Part of K-12 Education Bill

By Doug Richardson and John Wertman

As you are likely aware, Congress has been working throughout 2015 to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA; currently known as No Child Left Behind) – the primary federal law dealing with K-12 education policy. We have been monitoring the process throughout the year and have engaged with Congressional leaders to stress the importance of federal funding opportunities for K-12 geography. We have also written to you multiple times to share key updates.

In recent months, the House and Senate each approved separate versions of ESEA reauthorization legislation, and two weeks ago, senior members from the two houses met to reconcile differences between the bills. The resulting “conference report” was released this week. Here’s our initial analysis:

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the name given to the House/Senate conference report for the current reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.  The conference report will be voted upon by the House this week (possibly as soon as late this afternoon) and the Senate next week.  If both houses approve it, the bill will go to President Obama for signature or veto. Learn More.

ANNUAL MEETING

Judith Butler To Give Plenary Talk at 2016 AAG Annual Meeting

Judith Butler, professor at the University of California at Berkeley, will give a plenary talk about “Demography in the Ethics of Non-Violence” at the 2016 AAG Annual Meeting on March 29 in San Francisco.

This high-profile session will focus on a principled approach to non-violence that often admits to exceptions where violence is conceded as legitimate. To what extent does the exception to nonviolence in the name of self-defense or for close kin implicitly make a distinction between lives worth saving and dispensable lives? A practice of non-violence has to take into account the demographic distribution of grievability that establishes which lives are worthy of safeguarding, and which are less worthy or not worthy at all. Otherwise, both biopolitics and the logic of war can permeate calculations about when and where non-violence can be invoked. Does the demographic challenge revise our approach to non-violence? and if so, how?” Learn More.

David Lowenthal To Speak at 2016 AAG Annual Meeting

Thirty years after his classic book, The Past Is a Foreign Country, David Lowenthal explores anew how we celebrate, expunge, contest and manipulate the past. In his major new work, The Past is a Foreign Country – Revisited, he reveals the past as an almost entirely new realm, so transformed over three decades as to demand an equally new book.

During a special AAG “Author Meets Critics” session at the 2016 AAG Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Lowenthal will talk about his new book, while panelists Diana K. Davis, UC Davis; Marie D. Price, George Washington University; and Dydia Delyser, CSU Fullerton, give their understandings and opinions on the new book. Learn more.

ASSOCIATION NEWS

AAG Election Coming Soon

The AAG election will be conducted online again, and will take place Jan. 11-Feb. 4, 2016. Each member who has an email address on record with the AAG will receive a special email with a code that will allow them to sign in to our AAG SimplyVoting website and vote. The 2016 election slate will be published soon, but for more information, visit the main election page. If your email address has changed in the past year, please take the opportunity to update it within your AAG member account.

2016 AAG Honors Announced

The AAG has announce the selection of eight Honorees who will receive the 2016 AAG Honors in one of six categories. Recipients to be honored at an annual awards luncheon during the AAG Annual Meeting are:

• Susan Christopherson, Cornell University, Lifetime Achievement Award
• George Malanson, University of Iowa, Lifetime Achievement Award
• Aaron Wolf, Oregon State University, Gilbert White Public Service Award
• Linda Mearns, National Center for Atmospheric Research, AAG Distinguished Scholarship Award
• Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo, State University of New York, College at Cortland, Distinguished Teaching Award
• Kavita Pandit, University of Georgia, Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors
• Carrie Stokes, United States Agency for International Development, Gilbert White Public Service Award
• William R. Strong, Emeritus Professor, University of North Alabama, Gilbert Grosvenor Geographic Education Honors

Learn About the Honorees.

AAG Award Deadlines

Deadlines to apply or submit nominations are fast approaching for a number of AAG awards. Please follow the highlighted links below for instructions or additional information. All submissions must be received by December 31, 2015.

• John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize
• AAG Harm J. de Blij Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Geography Teaching
• AAG Dissertation Research Grants
• Darrel Hess Community College Geography Scholarship
• AAG Marcus Fund for Physical Geography
• AAG Research Grants
• AAG E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Award
• Anne U. White Fund
• AAG Globe Book Award for Public Understanding of Geography
• AAG Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work in Geography

MEMBER AND DEPARTMENT NEWS

Richardson Elected as AAAS Fellow
Douglas Richardson, Executive Director of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. Richardson was elected as an AAAS Fellow for “distinguished contributions to the field of Geographic Information Science and Technology, and for tireless service as Executive Director of the Association of American Geographers.” Learn More.

Janet Franklin Elected as AAAS Fellow
Janet Franklin, a professor in Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, has been elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in recognition of her contributions to understanding of human impacts on ecosystems. In notifying her of the award, Rush D. Holt, CEO and executive publisher of Science, cited Franklin’s “distinguished contributions on human impacts on ecosystems by developing novel species distribution models, combined with innovative geospatial analysis and extensive fieldwork.” Learn More.

University of Tennessee Invites GFDA and Department Leaders for 2016 Workshops
The Department of Geography at the University of Tennessee (Twitter: @UTKGeography) is proud to announce that it will host, in summer 2016, the GFDA (Geography Faculty Development Alliance) Early Career Workshop and the AAG Department Leadership Workshop.

The GFDA workshop is for graduate students and faculty who are beginning their careers in higher education—instructors, lecturers, assistant professors, and other untenured faculty. The workshop is open to faculty from all types of teaching and research institutions inside and outside the US. The workshop, sponsored by the Association of American Geographers, focuses on topics which are frequently the greatest sources of stress in the first years of a faculty appointment.

The AAG leadership workshop is for all geographers interested in improving their programs—chairs/heads, associate chairs/heads, deans, academic advisors, provosts and other administrators, as well as all faculty interested in leadership issues. The workshop is particularly well suited for individuals who may soon assume leadership positions. Learn More.

Wright
Wright
Esri Chief Scientist Dawn J. Wright, PhD, Receives Award From Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America (GSA) conferred the 2015 Bromery Award for Minorities on Esri chief scientist Dawn J. Wright. The award recognizes Dr. Wright’s lifetime accomplishments that have advanced geologic and geographic science as well as influenced the professional careers of her students. GSA members presented the award to Wright during the annual GSA meeting November 1, in Baltimore, Maryland. Learn More.

MORE MEMBER NEWS
International AAG Members Contribute to Timely Book
Beth Schlemper Attends White House Summit on Next Generation Schools to Highlight STEM Education
Naomi Simmonds To Receive Award for Doctoral Thesis
IN MEMORIAM
Harry “Hal” Bowman
Matthieu Giroud
Tony Hambly
Michael Harrison
Campbell W. Pennington
Victor Winston

POLICY UPDATES

American Scholarly Societies Joint Statement on ‘Campus Carry’ Legislation

The Association of American Geographers joins our colleagues in 28 other scholarly societies in opposing policies designed to facilitate the carrying of guns on college campuses. We encourage any state considering such policies to bring the perspective of geographers and other educators throughout the United States to the debate. Following is the official joint statement:

The undersigned learned societies are deeply concerned about the impact of Texas’s new Campus Carry law on freedom of expression in Texas universities. The law, which was passed earlier this year and takes effect in 2016, allows licensed handgun carriers to bring concealed handguns into buildings on Texas campuses. Our societies are concerned that the Campus Carry law and similar laws in other states introduce serious safety threats on college campuses with a resulting harmful effect on students and professors. Learn More.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

National Endowment for the Humanities Requests Applications for Public Scholar Program

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) invites applications for the 2016 round of the Public Scholar Program, which is intended to support well-researched books in the humanities that have been conceived and written to reach a broad readership. Books supported through the Public Scholar Program might present a narrative history, tell the stories of important individuals, analyze significant texts, provide a synthesis of ideas, revive interest in a neglected subject, or examine the latest thinking on a topic. Most importantly, they should present significant humanities topics in a way that is accessible to general readers. Learn More.

Library of Congress To Offer 3-D Imaging Junior Fellows Opportunity

The Jay I. Kislak Collection of the Archaeology and History of the Early Americas at the Library of Congress holds a large and important collection of ancient Olmec and Maya objects dating from 1200 BC to 900 AD. The selected fellow, after being trained in the handling of archaeological materials, and working in close conjunction with the collection’s curator, will make a research database of these objects and take detailed digital two and three dimensional images. Using structure-from-motion imaging techniques the fellow will further produce state-of-the-art interactive three-dimensional models of these important archaeological materials that can be used by scholars to virtually study these objects anywhere in the world. Learn More.

EVENTS CALENDER

• 2016 COSSA Annual Meeting & Social and Behavioral Science Advocacy Day, Washington, DC, March 15-16
• 47th Annual South Dakota State Geography Convention, Brookings, SD, March 17-18
• 2016 AAG Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, March 29-April 2

Submit News to the AAG Newsletter. To share your news, submit announcements to newsletter [at] aag [dot] org.

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

The Bully Pulpit

By Sarah Witham Bednarz

I begin my first column by thanking you for electing me president of the AAG, a decision I hope you do not regret. I am simultaneously very excited and nervous about this opportunity but I know that I have excellent support from my in-house colleague, Bob Bednarz, from Doug Richardson and a terrific staff at Meridian Place, and from a superlative Council. And I will lean on the wisdom of many Past Presidents who guide me, notably Julie Winkler, Mona Domosh, Dick Marston, Alec Murphy, and Ken Foote.

I now have the bully pulpit. Theodore Roosevelt coined this phrase at a time when bully meant something quite different from today. To TR, everything good was bully. But its current meaning of speaking from a point of authority, of being a little bossy, or pedantically instructive attracts me to the term. I hope to be more instructive than bossy; I know you will let me know if I am achieving this tone by commenting on my columns. Continue Reading.

Recent columns from the President

• Why is our Geography Curriculum so White?
• How We Hurt Each Other Every Day, and What We Might Do About It
• The Costs (and Benefits?) of Constant Counting
• More from the President

ANNUAL MEETING

AAG Opens Annual Meeting Call for Papers on July 31

Registration for the AAG Annual Meeting in San Francisco opens on July 31, 2015. AAG will also begin accepting abstracts and proposals for presentations. The 2016 conference will take place March 29-April 2. Researchers, scholars, professionals, and students are welcome to present papers, posters, and panel discussions on all topics relevant to geography. Abstracts are due by Oct. 29, 2015, but may be edited through February 18, 2016. Learn More.

FOCUS ON SAN FRANCISCO

The Coming ‘Dry-Wet Knockout’ in California

By B. Lynn Ingram and Frances Malamud-Roam

Seven of the last 10 years have been dry in California, and the last four have been critically dry. The drought is a top concern for Californians, with two-thirds of the state in extreme to exceptional drought. Severe droughts are one feature of our state’s climate; extremely wet years are another. In fact, droughts and floods are two sides of the same coin, because often extremely wet winters have followed on the heels of severe and prolonged droughts. This coming winter, a major El Niño is predicted, and may bring heavy rains accompanied by flooding, mudslides, and landslides.

The coupling of prolonged droughts with extreme wet years has been dubbed a “dry-wet knockout” by climate scientists, who have found that these occur with unnerving frequency in California’s climate history. In just the past century we have seen several examples. The years between 1928 and 1937 were among the driest of the 20^th century in California, desiccating the grasslands of the Central Valley and the slopes of the mountains, and shrinking rivers and lakes. Then the winter of 1937-38 saw a series of storms deluge the northern two-thirds of the state, including two storms that dumped 10 inches of rain in southern California, flooding areas from San Diego to Los Angeles and into the Mojave Desert.

Learn More.

NEWS

AAG Releases Statement in Defense of Academic Freedom at the University of Wisconsin

The Association of American Geographers expresses its deep concern over the proposals pending in the Wisconsin legislature that threaten tenure and hence academic freedom. By expanding the circumstances under which tenure can be revoked, the policies recommended by the Joint Finance Committee threaten the academic freedom that makes scholarly discovery and creativity possible. As such, these pending proposals run counter to the ideals of intellectual independence, shared governance, and public engagement that have made the Wisconsin State University system, and the higher education system of the United States, a beacon of academic vitality around the globe. We call on the Wisconsin legislature to uphold a system of higher education that is open to a diversity of perspectives, methods, and experiences by supporting academic free speech that is made possible by the tenure system. Learn More.

Share Your Experiences About Being a Visiting Geographical Scientist

Invitation to submit your experiences to promote VGSP

The AAG and Gamma Theta Upsilon are planning a new section of the Visiting Geographical Scientist Program (VGSP) website by highlighting past events that inform potential hosts and speakers about this important and beneficial funding opportunity.

If you have hosted or been a speaker at a VGSP event, we are interested in featuring images of your experience, including any links to videos, posters or other promotional materials, along with quotes and reflections about the program. Learn More

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

How Not to Get a DDRI Award

By Antoinette WinklerPrins

1) Construct a narrowly focused case study of process in a small community in a faraway land, emphasizing its uniqueness. The case will be of interest to a few others who work in the same area.

An acronym has been developed for these projects, “WISC” (Wallowing in a Specific Case). The GSS program and NSF in general does not prioritize support for WISCy proposals as it needs to support research that generates new knowledge more broadly and with relevance to US society. Read More.

National Humanities Center Offers Fellowships for 2016-17

The National Humanities Center invites applications for academic-year or one-semester residencies. Fellowship applicants must have a PhD or equivalent scholarly credentials. Mid-career as well as senior scholars from all areas of the humanities are welcome; emerging scholars with a strong record of peer-reviewed work are also encouraged to apply. Located in the progressive Triangle region of North Carolina, the Center affords access to the rich cultural and intellectual communities supported by the area’s research institutes and universities. Fellows have private studies; the library service delivers all research materials. Scholars from all parts of the globe are eligible; travel expenses in addition to a stipend are provided. The deadline for applications is October 15, 2015.  Read More.

MEMBER & DEPARTMENT NEWS

Jenny Zorn Named Provost at CSU Bakersfield

Dr. Jenny Zorn will join CSU Bakersfield on July 31, 2015 as provost and vice president for academic affairs, succeeding Dr. Soraya Coley, who was named president of Cal Poly Pomona last fall. As the chief academic officer, Zorn will oversee the academic enterprise of the University, including the four schools, Extended University, Antelope Valley Center, and academic support services such as enrollment management, grants, research, and faculty affairs. Zorn currently serves as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at Humboldt State University, prior to which she was the associate provost for academic and international programs at CSU San Bernardino. Read More.

AAG Members Speak at 5th International Hurricane and Climate Change Summit

Five members of the AAG were invited speakers of the 5th International Hurricane and Climate Change Summit held in Chania, Greece June 9-14. Co-organised by Climate Specialty Group Chair, Jennifer Collins, the following AAG members presented on topics such as paleo-tempestology, hurricane intensities and tropical cyclone risk assessments: Kelsey Ellis, Harry Williams, Jennifer Collins, Mark Welford and Jerry Jien. Read More.

Elizabeth Wentz Appointed ASU Dean of Social Sciences

Elizabeth Wentz, professor and director of the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University, has been appointed dean of social sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Read More.

IN MEMORIAM

Harley Jesse Walker
Daniel W. Gade

PUBLICATIONS

Learning Progressions Handbook Is Now Available

AAG and Cambridge Scholars Publishing announce the release of “Learning Progressions for Maps, Geospatial Technology, and Spatial Thinking—A Research Handbook” by Michael N. Solem, Niem Tu Huynh, Richard G. Boehm.

As an approach to educational research, learning progressions offer considerable potential for investigating how children develop an understanding of geographic concepts and practices across grade bands and in relation to national geography standards. Learn More.

New Books Received — June 2015

The AAG Review of Books office has released the list of the books received during the month of June. Read More.

MORE HEADLINES

Op-Ed: #KickOutTheKKK: Challenging White Supremacy at UNC

By Reuben Rose-Redwood, Derek Alderman, Altha Cravey, Scott Kirsch, Omololu Refilwe Babatunde, and Josh Inwood

On May 28, 2015, the Board of Trustees at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill voted to rename Saunders Hall—the building in which the Geography Department is located—following months of student protest that garnered national attention. Nearly a century ago, this building was named in honor of William L. Saunders (1835—1891), a white supremacist who played a leading role in the Ku Klux Klan of North Carolina during the nineteenth century. When the name was bestowed in 1920, the university’s Board of Trustees listed Saunders’ leadership in the KKK as one of his accomplishments deserving recognition. Naming a building for Saunders was therefore a clear attempt to inscribe the legacy of white supremacy into the very fabric of the university’s cultural landscape. And the fact that the building’s name endured for over 90 years speaks to how legacies of anti-black racism are a largely unquestioned and taken-for-granted aspect of our everyday surroundings, both on and off university campuses.  We say “largely” because the power of every racialized landscape never goes completely unchallenged, and Saunders Hall was no exception. Learn More.

A Posthumous, Open Letter to Jay Harman

Dr. Brian Michael Napoletano

Dear Professor Harman (or Jay, if you will permit me),

I’m sorry it’s been so long since we’ve communicated; I’m still terrible at keeping in touch with old friends. However, I have thought of our conversations many times, and have been excited to update you on where I am and what I am doing. I have made several radical life changes that I wish to share with you, as you have been a major inspiration in the career choices I have made. Learn More.

EVENTS CALENDER

• Earth Educators’ Rendezvous at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, July 13-17
• Regional Studies Association Inaugural Australasian Conference 2015, Melbourne, Australia, August 31-September 2
• GIS in Transit Conference, Washington, DC, September 1-3
• 2015 ILGISA Annual Conference, Springfield, IL, September 14-16
• U.S. Board on Geographic Names 125th Anniversary Celebration, Washington, DC, September 18
• Digital Earth 2015 Symposium, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, October 6-10

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