Chair's Blog

A 1776 English map in the UW-Eau Claire Archives. One of our many cool maps This past spring, UW-Eau Claire's McIntyre Library and the Department of Geography and Anthropology teamed up to develop an internship program for students interested in spending time with – and learning from – the University's map collection.  Under the guidance of Asst. Professor Greg Kocken, Head of Special Collections, Archives and Records Management, students can choose from between two internship alternatives, depending on what they want to learn and produce. Both the Cartographic Cataloging and the Digital Curation internships make valuable contributions to the work of the Library and the Department of Geography and Anthropology as the students investigate and learn about maps, their histories, stories, ideas, purposes and perspectives.  The internships open up the worlds and histories of cartography to students and the students gain important practical experience in interpretation...

Yes, the absence of any posts would suggest the absence of anything to post about, but that is hardly our department's reality.  Indeed, it has been a whirlwind since the end of April, between the end of the semester activities (CERCA week, Department Banquet, Final Exams, Graduation), some family needs that took me to Michigan a few times, work-related travel to Scotland, England and Turkey.   While I was in the United Kingdom, the department received the news that it had been awarded a big grant that will enhance our geospatial programming.  T hanks to Dr. Christina Hupy and numerous faculty in and out of our department, the Geospatial Education Initiative grant will have a big impact on our department and opportunities for our students. Please read the recent press release for the details and anticipate exciting outcomes. Now, mid-summer is behind us and preparations for the fall semester have already begun.  I will try to catch us up on some of the ev...

We are very excited to learn that Emily Christenson was selected to Georgia State University's Research Experiences for Undergraduates: Addressing Social and Environmental Disparities through Community Geography and Geographic Information Systems initiative.  There were over 170 applicants, and Emily is among the handful selected to be a CSAW Scholar (CSAW stands for Community Soil Air Water , click for the program website).  This nicely paid (!) research opportunity is part of an ongoing NSF-supported project that brings together scholars and community partners to address the multifaceted relationship between urban communities and their environment. Emily will be working with faculty mentors in community-based research and fieldwork to examine some aspect of  neighborhood change, property markets, social geographies, air and soil quality, urban green spaces, and neighborhood visioning in Atlanta, Georgia. Emily's research interests include community and individual...

While the Department of Geography and Anthropology is proud of most all of its students, we are happy to report that UWEC's College of Arts and Sciences has recognized three geography majors for their exceptional efforts as they prepare to graduate.  These College awards come with 4-digit cash prizes and reflect not just hard work, but engagement with ideas and faculty, and a desire to learn and contribute in ways that are meaningful and rewarding to many people.  Congratulations Corrin, Zach and Sean for your contributions. Bravo. Corrin Turkowitch Corinn Turkowitch Arts and Sciences Outstanding Undergraduate Award, 2014 From her nomination letter (prepared by Jeff DeGrave, who drew from many faculty member comments), Corrin Turkowitch is " . . .   that rare person who possesses exceptional abilities, tireless motivation, and kindred leadership—combined with an acute cultural sensitivity to the many social injustices that continue to permeate our globalized wo...

The department is happy to report that, in recognition of their high impact on student learning and the central role that field experiences play in a geographic education, the Geography Field Seminar will receive Blugold Commitment Differential Tuition support in 2014-2015.  This support significantly offsets student participation costs and makes them much more accessible to students. It should be noted, however, that international experiences typically cost more than domestic ones. Oregon Wheat fields and Mount Hood, Oregon. Photo by E. Zeitler. In the fall semester 2014, the GEOG 368 Field Seminar will be a regional examination of Oregon and its various environments, and will combine the the physical, human-environmental, and human aspects of geography.  Dr. Ezra Zeitler will lead the course and program.  The field component to Oregon is tentatively scheduled to run from 26 September to 5 October.  Thus, students will have the opportunity to prepare for 3-4 ...

This past week, the Association of American Geographers (AAG) held its Annual Meeting , this time in Tampa. The AAG has been hosting annual meetings every year since 1904.  I am not sure what the attendance was in Tampa, but last year in Los Angeles there were over 7,000 attendees.  That's a lot of geographers. Arik Arnevik & Jackson Becker in front of their poster at AAG 2014, Tampa, FL UW-Eau Claire has a long history of student and faculty participation at the AAG Annual Meetings, and we are suspect that we bring as many undergraduate participants as nearly any other school in the country.  This year, in addition to seven UW-Eau Claire faculty participants, we were proud to have four students successfully present their research.   Nate Wick explains details of his research to Ross Guida ('09), now in the PhD program at Southern Illinois University. Nathaniel Wick presented a poster of the research he conducted with recent UWEC geography gradu...