Newsletter – January 2018
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Creating Safe Spaces
By Derek Alderman with Lorraine Dowler
Hollywood, The Hill, and the nation’s newsrooms have been exposed as spaces of sexual harassment, misconduct, and even assault. Yet, sexual harassment and discrimination are neither unique nor new to these highly public industries and this misconduct is unfortunately common to most workplaces…The academy can and should be an important tool in studying this issue, collecting the stories of victims, and analyzing the frequency, scale, and impacts of sexual harassment. At the same time, however, higher education is also part of the problem.
Read past columns from the current AAG President on our President’s Column page.
ANNUAL MEETING
Book Your Room for #AAG2018
The official hotels of the 2018 Annual Meeting are the Sheraton New Orleans, Marriott French Quarter, and Astor Crowne Plaza. All three hotels are located on Canal Street, the de facto border between the French Quarter and the Central Business District. While the Astor Crowne Plaza has sold out, discounted rooms for attendees are still available in the Sheraton New Orleans and the Marriott French Quarter.
Confederate Monument Controversy in New Orleans
Confederate Monuments are being toppled in cities throughout the southern United States and New Orleans is no exception. Geographers Jennifer Speights-Binet and Rebecca Sheehan explain the debates surrounding the removal of four Confederate monuments in New Orleans, a process that took close to two years to be completed.
Coastal Land Loss in Louisiana: From Denial to Reality
The wetlands in Louisiana once accounted for close to 40 percent of the nation’s marsh/swamp ecosystems. With increases in human activity and climate change, Louisiana is seeing a loss in these ecosystems and their coastal lands as a result. Louisiana State Sea Grant Scholar Donald W. Davis provides a look at the land loss in recent decades and the work being done to prevent further damage.
New Orleans: Place Portraits
For reasons ranging from debauchery to better health, the tourist has imbibed in New Orleans’ local culture and geography throughout the centuries. Richard Campanella of the Tulane School of Architecture and the Crescent City’s unofficial “geographer laureate” takes readers to the upscale health resorts of St. Tammany Parish, the defunct docks of the oyster industry, and the rollicking spaces of nighttime revelry in January’s Place Portraits.
Read all three articles:
- Pleasure Atlas: New Orleans.
- Lugger Culture: Vernacular Oyster Vessels of Coastal Louisiana.
- The Ozone Belt: How St. Tammany Parish Turned Ecological Services into Good Business—but for the Wrong Reasons.
“Focus on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast” is an ongoing series curated by the Local Arrangements Committee to provide insight on and understanding of the geographies of New Orleans, Louisiana, and the greater Gulf Coast region in preparation for the 2018 Annual Meeting.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
2018 AAG Honors Announced
Each year, the AAG invites nominations for AAG Honors to be conferred in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement or welfare of the profession. The AAG Honors Committee is charged with making award recommendations for each category, with no more than two awards given in any one category. The AAG is proud to officially announce the 2018 AAG Honors. Formal recognition of the Honorees will occur at the Awards Luncheon at the 2018 AAG Annual Meeting.
AAG Announces Inaugural Class of AAG Fellows
The AAG Fellows is a new program to recognize geographers who have made significant contributions to advancing geography. In addition to honoring geographers, AAG Fellows will serve the AAG as an august body to address key AAG initiatives including creating and contributing to AAG initiatives; advising on AAG strategic directions and grand challenges; and mentoring early and mid-career faculty.
Find out more about the inaugural class of AAG Fellows.
‘The International Encyclopedia of Geography’ Receives CHOICE Award for Outstanding Academic Title 2017
The International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment, and Technology, an international publication from AAG-Wiley, is the recipient of a prestigious CHOICE Award for Outstanding Academic Title 2017. The Encyclopedia also received a “Summing Up” award of “Highly Recommended” for community college and undergraduate students through professionals/practitioners as well as for general readers.
2018 AAG Elections: Ensure Your Email Address is Accurate
The 2018 AAG election will be conducted online and will take place Jan. 31-Feb. 22, 2018. 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. Please be sure to update your email address with the AAG to ensure receipt of the ballot. The 2018 election slate will be published soon.
POLICY UPDATE
Enacted Tax Bill Protects Tuition Waivers
A massive tax reform package signed into law by President Trump shortly before the holidays drew attention primarily for slashing corporate rates and amending individual filing rules. The original bill that passed the House of Representatives included language that would have counted graduate student tuition waivers as taxable income. The AAG was actively involved in opposing the provision and keeping our student members and departmental leaders informed, and we are pleased with the outcome.
MEMBER NEWS
All Woman Panel on Climate Organized at SEDAAG Fall Regional Meeting
Dr. Jennifer Collins and Dr. Kathy Sherman-Morris organized an all female panel of Climate Specialty Group (CSG) members at SEDAAG to discuss the 2017 hurricane season. The panel opened with an overview of the record-breaking season and continued the conversation with the ways in which the 2017 hurricanes are being incorporated into research and teaching efforts.
RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES
AAG Snapshot: Service to the AAG
Have you ever considered being more involved in the American Association of Geographers? Are you looking to enhance your resume or CV with service experience? Consider volunteering for one of the many positions available for members of the AAG. Whether you are a student getting started in geography or a professional well into your career, there are plenty of opportunities available and we would like your help!
Learn more about volunteering.
Deadline Extension for the AAG Wilbanks Award for Transformational Research in Geography
The annual AAG Wilbanks Award – established in memory of the late Dr. Thomas (Tom) Wilbanks, a former AAG President and long-standing AAG member, who was admired and respected for his many years of scholarship and research bridging the academic, public and private sectors – honors researchers from the public, private or academic sectors who have made transformative contributions to the fields of Geography and GIScience.
Visiting Geographical Scientist Program Accepting Applications for 2018-19
The Visiting Geographical Scientist program (VGSP), funded by Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU) and managed by the AAG, sponsors visits by prominent geographers to small departments or institutions that do not have the resources to bring in well-known speakers. The purpose of this program is to stimulate interest in geography, targeted for students, faculty members, and administrative officers.
Learn how to apply to the VGSP.
Nominations Sought for the ‘Journal of Geography in Higher Education’ Prize for Promoting Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Have you read a very good, recently published paper that helped you reflect on your own approaches to teaching? Did the paper give you new ideas to help improve your students learning? Did it provide an innovative way of addressing a concern or issue that is relevant to geography in higher education? Or perhaps the paper tackled broader analysis of the institutional contexts which frame pedagogic approaches? If you have been inspired, please consider nominating a paper for this prize.
PUBLICATIONS
February 2018 Issue of the ‘Professional Geographer’ Now Available
The Professional Geographer, Volume 70, Issue 1, has been published. The focus of this journal is on short articles in academic or applied geography, emphasizing empirical studies and methodologies. Volume 70, Issue 1 includes a focus section entitled: Critical Data, Critical Technology.
Read the January 2018 Issue of the ‘Annals of the AAG’
The first issue of volume 108 of the Annals of the American Association of Geographers has been published. Read articles that span the breadth of the discipline, organized into four major areas: Methods, Models, and Geographic Information Science; Nature and Society; People, Place, and Region; and Physical Geography and Environmental Sciences.
Full article listing available.
New Books in Geography — November 2017 Available
From the Andes to Youth Activism, almost the whole alphabet is covered through topics on the New Books in Geography list for November 2017! Find a new book to get started in the new year.
Browse the whole list of new books.
December 2017 Issue of ‘GeoHumanities’ Published
Volume 3, Issue 2 of the AAG’s newest peer-reviewed journal, GeoHumanities, is now available online to members. The journal features both scholarly articles and short creative pieces that bridge the academy and artistic practice. This issue includes a forum on Emotions, Empathy, Ethics, and Engagement.
FEATURED ARTICLES
Educational GIS Activities in Africa
Over the past decade, most universities and some secondary schools across Africa have been exposed to geographic information system (GIS) technology. Teaching about and with GIS on that continent has been both challenging and rewarding. Esri is committed to making a long-term difference in GIS education in Africa and, over the past five years, has ramped up its involvement in this endeavor.
Continue reading about Esri’s activities.
Featured Articles is a special section of the AAG Newsletter where AAG sponsors highlight recent programs and activities of significance to geographers and members of the AAG. To sponsor the AAG and submit an article, please contact Oscar Larson olarson [at] aag [dot] org.
GEOGRAPHERS IN THE NEWS
- AAG Past President Glen MacDonald talks CA wildfires on NPR
- Sriram Khé discusses U.S. fertility rate decline and relationship to immigration
- Geographer Kendra McSweeney: Want to limit migration? We can start by supporting democracy in Honduras
- UCLA Geographer Laurence C. Smith has glacier fieldwork profiled in New York Times
- Economic Geographer Michael Storper cited in New York Times piece on globalization
IN THE NEWS
Popular stories from the AAG SmartBrief
Submit News to the AAG Newsletter. To share your news, submit announcements to newsletter [at] aag [dot] org.
