Contemporary Geography Research Articles

Tacitus’ Germania and the Limits of Fantastic Geography

This article explores Tacitus’ careful, simultaneous positioning of geographical boundaries and the limits of his own writing at the opening and close of the Germania. Three main aspects of Tacitus’ engagement with broader debates concerning the place of mythic and poetic accounts in contemporary geography and ethnography are examined: the treatment of the supposed visits of Hellenic heroes to Germania; the portrayal of Ocean as a significant geographical and metaphorical boundary; and the strict rejection of fantastic ethnography. This examination both elucidates the Germania’s relationship with traditions of geographical and ethnographic writing and points to Tacitus’ portrayal of the region as a potentially conquerable space.

Training of Geography Teachers for Secondary Schools at University in Uganda: An Analysis of Gulu University Teacher Trainees’ Teaching Practice.

The changes in learner characteristics and the learning environment in the twenty first century calls for adjustments in teacher training to meet the needs of the contemporary learners. This study analyses training of geography teachers at Gulu University with the view of assessing the application of contemporary geography teaching methodologies for the twenty first century learners. Time- series data were collected from teacher trainees’ lesson plans used during school practice running for three consecutive years of 2016, 2017, and 2018. Teaching methods as well as types of instructional materials were extracted from eighty one lessons taught by teacher trainees in thirty six schools in both rural and urban Uganda. Using SPSS 16.0 software, data was analysed to generate frequencies, counts and cross-tabulations. Findings reveal that question and answer method was the most used while guided discovery was the least used, followed by demonstration. Fieldwork and project methods were not used at all. It was also found out that in 12% of all the lessons, there was no use of instructional materials in the teaching/learning process. The study recommends that the curriculum structure of future geography teacher trainees be improved to factor in contemporary teaching styles which use modern teaching equipment relevant to the current generation of technology and learners, and the training of lecturers who mentor geography teacher trainees at universities be institutionalized.

From Building Dams to Fetching Water: Scales of Politicization in the Indus Basin

Water flows through and informs the socio-spatial geography of the Indus waterscape in Pakistan in myriad ways. This paper argues that state-led water development has historically attempted to bypass political conflict by invoking techno-scientific authority to render water development as a purely techno-managerial pursuit. By invoking the scientifically objective, depoliticized knowledge of water resources, the state shifts the politics of water to the domain of politics of knowledge to disarm communities with cultural and political claims to water. These attempts to “depoliticize” are always accompanied by attempts to repoliticize water—both from within the state apparatus and from society more generally. The paper stages an engagement between the historical geography of the Indus and the field of critical water geography to develop an understanding of politicization as inter-scalar and relatively insensitive to changes in the ruling political regime. We present a novel periodization of the hydrosocial relations in the Indus Basin that highlight periods of relative continuity and coherence in terms of the political regime in the water sector. Despite the significance of these shifts for political history, we argue that the historical geography of water reveals a techno-managerial knowledge/value structure with a deep and structural continuity. Using a scale-sensitive understanding of politicization to analyze the historical and contemporary geography of the Indus allows us to go behind shifts in political regime to identify the deeper structures at play. These are the epistemological and ideological structures that produce a dynamic of attempted depoliticization and repoliticization in the Indus Basin.

Gesho Geshev – Innovation and Contributions

The article deals with the research and professional activity of Prof. Gesho Geshev in the field of demography, regional planning, transnational cooperation, territorial and urban planning, urban geography and urban ecology. The author has more than 100 scientific publications, most of which have been published abroad. In addition, Gesho Geshev participates and manages dozens of projects in which he applies his theoretical knowledge in practice. As the head of two scientific institutes at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Institute of Demography and Geographical Institute), he applies his management skills as well. There, he has been able to form a large team of experts in different fields with whom he works on topical geographical issues. Prof. Geshev combines his research work with teaching activity at South-West University “Neofit Rilski” and University of Veliko Tarnovo “St. Cyril and St. Methodius”. He has been a chairman of the National Geography Committee of the International Geographical Union. Its name remains well known among scholars from Poland, Hungary, Russia, Greece, the Netherlands, Angola and many more, and the applicability of its works is relevant to contemporary geography.

Rickettsialpox — a rare but not extinct disease: review of the literature and new directions

Rickettsialpox is an urban zoonosis caused by Rickettsia akari. To date R. akari is the only well-characterized mite-borne member of the spotted fever group. It is transmitted by the mouse mite, Liponyssoides sanguineus, commonly found on peridomestic rodents. While the disease was first discovered in New York City in 1946, a few years later a similar outbreak occurred in the Ukraine SSR. Numerous serosurveys and diagnosis of sporadic cases of rickettsialpox suggest its global distribution; however, the actual contemporary geography of rickettsialpox and its incidence are unknown. Rickettsialpox is characterized by the classic clinical triad found in rickettsioses of a black eschar, high fever, and rash but the latter is atypical as it is papulovesicular. Dermatological manifestations and the progression of rickettsialpox may mimic other infectious and noninfectious syndromes, including sexually transmitted diseases. The purpose of this review is to increase awareness of this unique disease through reanalysis of classic and contemporary clinical descriptions of rickettsialpox, evaluation of its worldwide distribution, and updates on the public health importance of the disease as well as the ecology and vector associations of R. akari. Our review data suggests that only limited genetic diversity exists among the available isolates of R. akari associated with previous outbreaks; additional effort is still required to define specific genetic markers permitting direct surveillance, accurate and reliable diagnosis, tracking and studying of the vector and host associations of contemporary isolates. The potential of R. akari to cross into other vector species emphasizes the necessity for detection of outbreaks of the disease in new regions of the world and in novel ecological settings. We describe existing gaps and limitations in our current understanding of the pathogenesis of rickettsialpox, the epidemiology of this disease and the genetic diversity of R. akari. We propose research priorities for what is needed to improve our understanding of this neglected rickettsial disease and its etiologic agent.

Forged in flames: indigeneity, forest fire and geographies of blame in the Philippines

ABSTRACT The forests of Southeast Asia are represented as increasingly ‘at-risk' to fire, constituting a regional fire politics concerned with the management and organisation of environmental blame. State governments often place culpability for this increasing flammability on histories of deforestation that disproportionately blame Indigenous peoples who now face a correspondingly large burden in conservation schemes. By tracing the history of fire management from the colonial period to the 1980s, this paper explores how the management of forests and fire in the Philippines has been shaped over time with imperatives to govern and economically exploit upland spaces. While these histories clearly point to a political economy of knowledge production, they also show how forest governance in the Philippines has worked to construct ethnic difference through policies and practices that naturalise livelihoods, spaces and qualities to essentialised ‘tribal' uplanders. To understand the contemporary geography of blame that surrounds forest fires and deforestation in the Philippines and Southeast Asia more broadly, we argue for a more nuanced examination of ‘the uplands’ as a post-colonial geography co-constituted with the historical production of indigeneity and environmental knowledge. We conclude by emphasising the historical role of colonial forest and land management institutions in fashioning lasting socio-spatial differences.

Affective life, “vulnerable” youths, and international volunteering in a residential care programme in Cusco, Peru

This paper critically engages with the implications of the “affect turn” in the geographies of development and volunteering. By way of considering “affective life” at a residential youth care centre in Peru through an ethnographic study, we aim to contribute to current discussions of “(self‐)transformation” taking place through affectivity in the experience of volunteering. Conceptually, our approach to investigating “affective life” and volunteering involves two steps. First, we critically review this body of work's recent focus on the individualistic mode of volunteer self‐transformation in encountering “vulnerable others.” We identify the need to think about affect and embodiment also from the perspectives of the “vulnerable” groups whose lives are entangled with the presence of international volunteering. Second, we argue for an affect‐informed approach to socio‐politically shaped vulnerability, with a particular emphasis on lived experiences and affective capacities related to enduring social and material conditions. Against the backdrop of marginalisation of adolescent mothers from rural and indigenous backgrounds, many of whom are survivors of sexual abuse, we analyse the experiences of these youths living at a specific residential care centre and interacting with volunteers on a daily basis. In doing so, we employ a series of perspectives from the residents, while taking into account the organisational environment. We also show the complex ways in which resident–volunteer encounters are at play in life‐enhancing affective states, capacities, and relations emerging among the residents. Our findings on the residents' self‐ and shared capacity of transformation highlights the importance of attending to the spatialities of affective life in academic work focused on the contemporary geographies of international volunteering.

Edgar Kant の中心地研究とその現代地理学史上での意義

Edgar Kant の中心地研究とその現代地理学史上での意義

Human geography in Ukraine: problems of development and priority research directions

The problems of development of scientific schools of human geography in Ukraine are determined. It is shown that contemporary human geography in Ukraine is a methodologically formed science with its own theoretical and methodological apparatus, which under the current conditions should be aimed at solving the applied problems regarding the improvement of the socio- territorial organization in Ukraine.The article analyses the different functional aspects of development of human geography in Ukraine. Among the main problems that hinder the development of scientific schools, and there- fore the science in general, are the following: individualized activity of scientific schools without specific purpose, partial realization of their contribution to all-school social geography, and contribution to the world of science; the problem of definition , which is as- sociated with the use of simultaneous usage of different terms for the science ;«economic and social geography», «socio-economic geography», «social geography»; the problem of social differentiation, geography and lack of a pivotal system of logically completed laws of science that could integrate different paradigms and research areas; lack of implementation of applied science functions and etc. Considerable attention is paid to the prospects of comprehension of human geography related to improvement of the theo- retical basis in accordance with the realities of the beginning of XXI century, emphasis is placed on applied aspects of science and avoidance of pointless abstraction.The strategic goal of socio-geographical science is the determination of economic, demographic, social, political and environmental capacities of the geographic shell, justification of rational parameters of regional and global nature management, identification of the main trends of technological, sectoral and territorial development of the economy of Ukraine and its regions.It is proved that the main tasks of the science are also studies of the quality of life of the population; improvement of the structure of production and its transfer to an innovative level; definition and achievement of the optimal social, functional-branch and territorial structure of the economy; optimizing the structure of economic, social, political and other ties. At the regional and local levels, priorities include the problems of nature use and nature conservation, the development of depressed regions, the justification and implementation of regional economic, social, demographic and environmental policies. The key to solving these problems from the methodological point of view is the substantiation of the general theory of regional studies taking into account the diversity of the territorial organization of society.

Geo-Inquiry: Informed Action to Make Our World a Better Place

With new standards in social science and science, student-centered inquiry drives contemporary geography education (Mohan 2018; Swan, Lee, and Grant 2018; Hauf 2014). Developed by the National Geog...

Foreign Kitchens, Foreign Lands: Middle Eastern Foodsheds for American Consumers

ABSTRACTHow have cookbooks shaped popular understandings of place, especially when they describe culinary traditions rooted in foreign landscapes? This paper examines depictions of Middle Eastern landscapes and cultures that appeared in widely marketed cookbooks by Middle Eastern women sold to mainstream American readers between the 1960s and 1970s. I analyze these cookbook representations of imaginary foodsheds, rooted in the mid-twentieth century context of modern industrial food production and Pax Americana geopolitics. I demonstrate that these foodsheds served as discursive tools for cookbook authors to perform a kind of gastro-environmental identity for readers interested in these unfamiliar cuisines. Authors contextualized their recipes in landscapes, histories, and communities to build cultural bridges between themselves and their American readers. They depicted Middle Eastern foodsheds as nested both in contemporary geographies and in long-term historical timeframes. These cookbooks can serve as remarkably revealing sources for exploring how Middle Eastern identities came to be understood in mid-twentieth century mainstream American households.

Diversity of the Bosmina (Cladocera: Bosminidae) in China, revealed by analysis of two genetic markers (mtDNA 16S and a nuclear ITS)

BackgroundChina is an important biogeographical zone in which the genetic legacies of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods are abundant, and the contemporary geography environment plays an important role in species distribution. Therefore, many biogeographical studies have focused on the organisms of the region, especially zooplankton, which is essential in the formation of biogeographical principles. Moreover, the generality of endemism also reinforces the need for detailed regional studies of zooplankton. Bosmina, a group of cosmopolitan zooplankton, is difficult to identify by morphology, and no genetic data are available to date to assess this species complex in China. In this study, 48 waterbodies were sampled covering a large geographical and ecological range in China, the goal of this research is to explore the species distribution of Bosmina across China and to reveal the genetic information of this species complex, based on two genetic markers (a mtDNA 16S and a nuclear ITS). The diversity of taxa in the Bosmina across China was investigated using molecular tools for the first time.ResultsTwo main species were detected in 35 waterbodies: an endemic east Asia B. fatalis, and the B. longirostris that has a Holarctic distribution. B. fatalis had lower genetic polymorphism and population differentiation than B. longirostris. B. fatalis was preponderant in central and eastern China, whereas B. longirostris was dominated in western China. The third lineage (B. hagmanni) was only detected in a reservoir (CJR) of eastern China (Guangdong province). Bosmina had limited distribution on the Tibetan plateau.ConclusionsThis study revealed that the biogeography of Bosmina appear to be affected by historical events (Pleistocene glaciations) and contemporary environment (such as altitude, eutrophication and isolated habitat).

The geography of same-sex couples and families in Australia: an empirical review

ABSTRACTMuch has changed since the first mapping of single-sex couples and families from the 2006 Australian census. An increasing willingness to allow their identification in the census has accompanied increasing public acceptance of same-sex couples culminating in significant support for legalising same-sex marriage in a 2017 national survey. Technological advances permit complex cross-tabulations of Australian census data and more detailed characterisations of same-sex couples. New geographies differentiate between male and female couples with children, showing same-sex couples are not just a feature of some inner-city areas, though these remain important, but also of suburban, regional and some rural areas. Drawing on the 2016 census, contemporary geographies of same-sex couples with and without children in Australia and changes over the past decade in Sydney are analysed at a time of increased interest in this demographic.

„The House of Geography Education“ – an Example Model

All processes and phenomena have geographical dimensions which justify the presence of geography science as the main subject of study in Bulgarian school system. As such the role of geography in development of specific competences and patterns of behavior is with undeniable value for students. Against the background of growing public demands for education (and geographic one in particular), it is necessary to develop a new educational paradigm, respectively new educational models that set the student's personality and their needs, interests and responsibilities in the center of geography training process. In this regard, we are taking a step forward by presenting an exemplary educational model of geography education. We construct it on the basis of current interpretations from contemporary geography didactics in Bulgaria and in countries with developed educational systems. We present it through a metaphor having in mind that "severe" theoretical issues may be broken and examined from a different perspective and give us the possibility for further researches of the issue.

Methodological levels of research the post-industrial development of the city

Since the middle of the twentieth century, most countries of the world are in a phase of significant socio-economic transformations. The main vector of these transformations is the transition to the post-industrial stage of development, which was predicted by a number of scientists from many industries at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There is a logical relationship between the level and stage of development of the country. So the highly developed countries of the world are already in the phase of post-industrial development. For countries with a low level of development and a powerful and complex industrial past, such as the post-Soviet and post-socialist countries of Eastern Europe, the transition to post-industrial development, the so-called post-industrial transformations, is characteristic. A detailed study of these processes makes it possible to predict the possible paths of developed countries and individual territories. The city, as the main agent for transforming the territory, plays a major role in the country's transition to the post-industrial level of development. This article is devoted to the methodological features of studying the features of post-industrial urban development. In contemporary human geography, there is an active discourse on the issue of methodological support for research, which mainly focuses on the feasibility of applying qualitative and quantitative methods and the possibilities of their interdisciplinary application. However, in our opinion, the more complex the object of study, the wider and more directional should be the methodological apparatus of research. In this case, one should take into account the territorial aspect of this study and select methods solely for their effectiveness in achieving their goals. The author proposes to classify research methods of the features of the post-industrial development of the city according to hierarchical levels of influence of the city: global, regional and local levels. Also, this paper offers a generalized algorithm of socio-geographical study of features of post-industrial urban development, which presents the main stages of the study and proposes the most common methods of study.

Abordagem territorial para a Geografia Marinha: reflexões a partir do planejamento espacial e a gestão integrada

Este estudo visa contribuir com a elaboração conceitual para o campo de atuação da Geografia Marinha. Pesquisas geográficas sobre espaços marinho, costeiro e oceânico têm predominado desde abordagens sobre fenômenos físicos. Tais avanços vêm resultando inequívocas contribuições no âmbito das políticas públicas no Brasil. Com a intensificação da urbanização, dos modos de produção e dos fluxos de objetos e ações, as interrelações sistêmicas e decorrentes implicações ambientais consolidam a interferência antrópica nos mares, oceanos e costas. Convém, então, considerar-se uma condição territorial a esses espaços. Os fatores de ênfase humana (econômicos, políticos, culturais) configuram, também, o quadro complexo de ações sobre as superfícies marinhas, contribuindo para que as mesmas sejam influenciadas por valoração, apropriação, usos, conflitos e atividades. As múltiplas escalas cabíveis à inteligibilidade da superfície terrestre projetam na superfície marinha uma superação paradigmática, aqui atribuída à Geografia Marinha. Ao passo em que surge um crescente foco na atribuição de responsabilidades sobre os litorais, as zonas contíguas e as águas internacionais, sob preocupação de fóruns multilaterais cada vez mais criteriosos, a governança acaba por evidenciar o desafio de se construir consensos, normas, agendas e avanços em propósitos sustentáveis. Conceitos como o de território, por sua vez, contribuem com as abordagens complexas inerentes às questões emblemáticas de tais áreas. Algumas proposições da Geografia contemporânea, em permanente (des) construção, podem auxiliar no aprimoramento de métodos e técnicas de abordagens, pesquisas e aplicações do conhecimento geográfico para oceanos e costas. O desafio está em aproximar linhas de pensamento e de trabalho, o que incorre em um caminho de diálogo necessário dentro da própria constituição e consolidação da Geografia Marinha, em seu alcance metodológico para a integração dos fenômenos físicos e humanos. A(s)cenda (a)o debate.

Geographies of mobility: a brief introduction

ABSTRACTThis article introduces readers to the concept of mobility and some recent ways in which it has been approached in geography. In doing so, it aims to encourage a meaningful engagement with the ideas and issues of mobility as well as an appreciation of the breadth of mobilities research. Although movement has long been a concern of geographers, in studies of transport, tourism and migration for example, the conceptual emphasis on mobility is a more recent and important development within the discipline. As such, this article demonstrates the centrality of movement and mobility not only to geography, but also to some of society's most pressing challenges and to the mundane happenings of everyday life. The article begins by demonstrating this centrality of movement to contemporary life, before charting the conceptual development of the mobilities turn, and the need to understand mobility as relational. Relatable examples are used throughout to show mobilities in action and highlight the significance of ideas and issues of mobility for contemporary geography.

Women and Sex Tourism Landscapes. Series Contemporary Geographies of Leisure, Tourism and Mobility. ERINSANDERS‐MCDONAGH, New York, 2017: Routledge, 166 pp., ISBN: 978‐1‐138‐814545‐7.

Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale GeografieVolume 109, Issue 5 p. 685-686 Book Review Women and Sex Tourism Landscapes. Series Contemporary Geographies of Leisure, Tourism and Mobility. ERIN, SANDERS-MCDONAGH, New York, 2017: Routledge, 166 pp., ISBN: 978-1-138-814545-7. Ilse van Liempt, Ilse van Liempt University of UtrechtSearch for more papers by this author Ilse van Liempt, Ilse van Liempt University of UtrechtSearch for more papers by this author First published: 08 October 2018 https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12321Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume109, Issue5December 2018Pages 685-686 RelatedInformation

Contemporary Geographic Variation and Sociodemographic Correlates of Hysterectomy Rates Among Reproductive-Age Women.

For decades hysterectomy rates have famously demonstrated unexplained geographic variation. The aim of this study was to identify county-level correlates of hysterectomy rates among reproductive-age women. Using county-level data from multiple sources, linked with claims-based surveillance data of every hysterectomy performed among women ages 20 to 44 in North Carolina from 2011 to 2013 (N = 7180), we explored social, economic, and healthcare factors associated with county-level rates. After accounting for spatial autocorrelation, county-level hysterectomy rates were negatively associated with county-level median household income, positively associated with the proportion married, and not associated with measures of healthcare capacity or access. This analysis provides preliminary evidence that contemporary hysterectomy use in North Carolina occurs along socioeconomic lines.

Los desastres naturales y la geografía contemporánea

Los desastres naturales y la geografía contemporánea. La geografía contemporánea empezó a integrar los eventos calamitosos en sus reflexiones epistemológicas gracias a la geografía de las calamidades, cuyas primeras formulaciones aparecieron hacia 1920, de la mano de Raoul Montandon. La obra más importante de éste fue la revista Matériaux pour l'Etude des Calamités. La otra reflexión epistemológica importante sobre las calamidades naturales se desarrolló en Estados Unidos, gracias a la iniciativa de los alumnos de Gilbert F. White. En la década de los sesenta, L Burton, R.W. Kates y el mismo White, empezaron a plantear la llamada geografía de los riesgos. Esta empezó pronto a ser calificada de tecnocrática por la llamada geografía radical, como resultado de la aplicación del análisis marxista. La disciplina recuperaba así algunos de los presupuestos iniciales de la geografía de las calamidades; aquellos que ponían énfasis en el carácter social de las catástrofes naturales. Estos modelos de investigación, junto al trabajo en otras disciplinas, han ayudado a crear un marco de nuevas sensibilidades frente a las mismas.
 
 [fr] Les désastres naturels et la géographie contemporaine. La géographie contemporaine a commencé à intégrer les faits calamiteux dans leurs réflexions épistémologiques à partir de la géographie des calamités dont les premières formulations son apparues vers 1920, de la main de Raoul Montandon. Une de ses oeuvres les plus importantes a été Matériaux pour l'Étude des Calamités. L'autre réflexion épistemologique importante sur les calamités naturelles s'est développée aux États-Unis à partir de l'iniciative des élèves de Gilbert F. White. Dans les années 60, L Burton, R.W. Kates et White commenceront à poser la géographie des risques. Celle-ci fut qualifiée rapidement de technocrate par la géographie radicale, résultat de l'application de l'analyse marxiste. La discipline récupérait ainsi quelques principes iniciaux de la géographie des calamités; par exemple ceux qui ponaient l'accent sur le caractère social des catastrophes naturelles. Ces modèles d'investigation et le travail efectué dans d'autres disciplines ont aidé à créer un marc de nouvelles sensibilités en relations aux mêmes.