Graduate Students Honored During AAG Regional Division Annual Fall Meetings for Outstanding Work
The American Association of Geographers (AAG) announces the recipients of the 2016 Council Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper at a Regional Meeting. Graduate student AAG members from around the U.S. participated by submitting to their region’s paper competition and attending their regional division fall meeting. A student paper from seven out of nine AAG regions was chosen by a jury of AAG regional division leaders and the honors for this inaugural award were given at each of the division meetings.
The award is designed to encourage graduate student participation at AAG regional division meetings and support their attendance at major AAG annual meetings. Each awardee will receive $1,000 in funding for use towards the awardee’s registration and travel costs to the AAG annual meeting.
Paul Miller, recipient of the Southeast division’s award, is a Ph.D. student at the University of Georgia.
Melody Lynch, recipient of the New England\St. Lawrence Valley division’s award, is a master’s student at McGill University.
Ashley Marie Fent, recipient of the Pacific Coast division’s award, is a Ph.D. student at the University of California – Los Angeles.
The Middle States and Mid-Atlantic regional divisions did not issue an award in this category this year.
To find out more about submitting a paper for next year, visit aag council award for outstanding graduate student paper at a regional meeting
The AAG has announced the selection of seven Honorees who will receive the 2017 AAG Honors in one of four categories. Recipients to be honored at an annual awards luncheon during the AAG Annual Meeting are:
Join us in celebrating the official launch of the International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment, and Technologies in Boston! There will be a brief overview of the Encyclopedia from its general editors, followed by a Q&A session with the general and section editors of this great work. Mark your calendars for 5:20-7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 7, 2017.
The AAG election will be conducted online again, and will take place Jan. 11-Feb. 2, 2017. 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. It’s important to update your email address to make sure you will be able to vote. If you know your email address is up to date with us, there’s no need to do anything further.
The AAG’s proposal for a new Advanced Placement course in Geographic Information Science and Technology (AP GIS&T) continues to receive strong interest from high schools, colleges, and universities across the U.S. However, in order to complete the proposal package for the College Board, the AAG needs to collect attestations of interest from at least 250 high schools.
Mark your calendars and be sure to join us for an #AAGChat on careers in geography. The chat will address the many diverse career opportunities for geographers in a variety of industries and employment sectors and how geography students, graduates and early-career professionals can identify appropriate job openings. We will also discuss the many career resources available through the AAG, including our Jobs in Geography Center, Student Opportunities website, and more!
The Nancy Weiss Malkiel Scholars Award Program is now accepting applications
Michelle Behr, Ph.D., has been named chancellor of the University of Minnesota, Morris. Dr. Behr’s appointment is effective February 6, 2017, pending approval by the Board of Regents.
Bailey Anderson, a Liberal Arts Honors/Geography, and International Relations and Global Studi
The AAG is pleased to announce that Volume 107, Issue 1 (January 2017) of the Annals of the American Association of Geographers is now available.
The AAG is pleased to announce that Volume 69, Issue 1 (February 2017) of The Professional Geographer is now available.
The AAG is pleased to announce that Volume 35, Issue 3 (December 2016) of the African Geographical Review is now available.
This past month the 
Two other similar descriptors have become more widespread in recent years — post-factual and post-rational. I believe that these terms are all part of the same sociological and political trend, but have important differences. Post-factual does not necessarily mean being untruthful, it may represent situations in which pertinent factual information is either not sought, not considered, not valued, or is simply reviled. The term post-truth implies deliberate provision or knowing acceptance of information that is known to be untruthful. I would suggest the deliberate suppression of factual information would also fall under this rubric. Post-rational suggests situations in which facts, reasoning and logic are deemed unnecessary or even loathed when decisions are taken. The term post-truth is widely used in a sense that captures all three of these issues. In the context of western philosophy and history, an increasingly post-truth world can be seen as a rejection of 300 years of scientific, socioeconomic and political development that was initiated by the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century.
The AAG is participating in an international effort to design and develop a geography assessment based on the successful model used by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) for the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).
AAG Past President Sarah Witham Bednarz will explore the evolving role, nature, and relevance of geography education as viewed by former presidents of the AAG from 1910 to the present. AAG presidential addresses have, at times, commented directly on education issues; at other times the topic has been avoided, if not ignored.
Since 2012 the AAG has been participating in an international effort, known as GeoCapabilities, to support new approaches in geography teacher education. As previously reported earlier this year, the GeoCapabilities project launched a new website that includes four training modules. Collectively, the modules are designed to promote a “curriculum of engagement” based on an appreciation of the significance of geographical knowledge in the education of young people.
AAG To Host Twitter Chat on Nov. 17
The AAG honored Ralph Ehrenberg, Chief of the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, during his retirement from the Library of Congress on October 13, 2016. The AAG’s Executive Director Doug Richardson presented him with a certificate of appreciation for his many years of service to the Association as the first AAG Archivist and in his distinguished role at the Library of Congress.
The AAG is currently seeking interns for the spring semester, although the organization offers opportunities on a year-round basis for the spring, summer and fall semesters. 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.
The AAG is pleased to announce that Volume 68, Issue 4 (November 2016) of The Professional Geographer is now available.
Sally Eden, professor of Human Geography at the University of Hull, UK, whose research explored issues of environmental perception, and sustainable food production and consumption, passed away in September 2016 after a period of illness.
Larry Hamilton, emeritus professor of natural resources at Cornell University, who played a leading role in the worldwide conservation of mountain areas, passed away on October 6, 2016, at the age of 91.
Let’s talks about Geographical Determinism. Got your attention? I thought so. The term, along with its cousin, Environmental Determinism, has long been disdained and pejorative amongst geographers, anthropologists and other disciplines. There is a rightful rejection of determinism’s racist connotations and applications in the 19th and early 20th centuries. There is also good cause to question explanations of complex societal attributes and histories that are based on selected geographic/environmental conditions alone. To even utter the terms Geographical Determinism here in the Newsletter of the American Association of Geographers, much less start a column this way, might well be considered a step into dangerous waters!
