The past decade has witnessed a revival of geography education in the United States. Based largely on the efforts of the national Geographic Alliance network, which continues to retrain social studies teachers to teach "good geography;" the identification of geography as one of the core subjects of the K-12 curriculum by national and state policy makers; and national efforts of professional organizations to enhance geography instruction at all levels, the field has enjoyed a major comeback in pre-collegiate classrooms and in higher education in the U.S. in the past ten years.
This paper outlines major trends in geography education in higher education in the U.S. in the year 2000 with reference to the past half century of change. First, information about the specializations of various geography departments in the nation are compared with the research specializations of geography faculty who belong to the Association of American Geographers. Next, general requirements of graduating with a major in geography are discussed. This section of the paper is followed by an overview of geography as an integral part of "General Education" in today's higher education curricula. Finally, recent developments in teaching geography in higher education are listed. Links to referenced programs and projects are indicated throughout the text where appropriate as and aid to learning more about ideas listed in this very general overview discussed in my brief conference paper.
According to the most recent Guide to Programs in Geography, 1999-2000 compiled and published by the Association of American Geographers, GIS was, by far, the most frequently reported departmental specialization during the late 1990s. As a reflection of the increase in the popularity of GIS courses and programs in the U.S. - and corresponding employment trends - out of a total of 223 colleges and universities who sent reports to the AAG Central Office, 200 listed GIS as one of their department's key specialties. This important curricular emphasis was followed, in descending order by specializations in Environmental, Urban, Physical, Conservation/Land Use/Resource Management, Climatology/Meteorology, Economic, Remote Sensing, Geomorphology, Cultural, and Biogeography (See Graph 1).
Surprisingly, the teaching specializations of U.S. departments correspond only partially with the research interests of their faculty. As shown on Graph 2, memberships of the largest Association of American Geographer's Specialty Groups, (a measure of U.S. geographers' research interests) in 1999-2000 included, in descending order of the "top ten" on the list: GIS, Urban, Cartography, Remote Sensing, Cultural, Geomorphology, Historical, Economic, Geographic Perspectives on Women, and Regional Development and Planning. Only half appear on both lists - GIS, Urban, Geomorphology, Cultural, and Economic.
The total number of students in U.S. colleges and universities earning geography degrees in the past forty years has fluctuated dramatically (Graph 3). According to Rediscovering Geography: New Relevance for Science and Society (1997, 1,2):
In the period 1986/87 to 1993/94, the number of undergraduate majors in geography grew by an estimated 47 percent nationwide and 60 percent in Ph.D.-granting institutions. Between 1985 and 1991, graduate program enrollments in geography grew by 33.4 percent compared with a 15.3 percent increase in the social sciences and a 5.4 percent decrease in the environmental sciences
Data based on the Geography Program Statistical Survey administered by the Association of American Geographers in 1998-99 and a recent U.S. Department of Education report, document that less than one thousand students in the entire nation completed an undergraduate degree in the discipline in 1960-61. Fifteen years later, in 1972-73 and again in 1974-75, more than 4000 degrees in geography were awarded. This number then dropped each year until the mid-1980s when the number of degrees completed in the U.S. leveled off. By the early 1990s, perhaps as a consequence of the successful Geographic Alliance effort that had been working effectively since 1986 to train, (re)train, encourage, and support pre-collegiate teachers (and ultimately their geography and social studies students) in every state, the total number of degrees again climbed steeply for the next five years. The drop in 1999 is puzzling, especially considering the ever increasing popularity of GIS and cartography as marketable skills and the ongoing dissemination of Geography for Life: the National Geography Standards and state standards documents now available for K-12 districts, schools, and classroom teachers.
Requirements for students who pursue a degree in geography vary widely from institution to institution. At the University of Oregon (my home campus) for example, undergraduates must successfully pass three required introductory classes, one each in Physical, Human, and Environmental geography; and at least two geography techniques classes, two physical geography, two human geography, and one regional course selected from a menu of choices in each of these categories. Students who wish to earn either a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree must successfully complete a sequence or 2-3 advanced math classes and at least two years of a foreign language. Most departments require only the math sequence for students pursuing the B.S. and only the foreign language courses for students interested in graduating with a B.A. degree. For a sample U.S. university department geography curriculum, see http://geography.uoregon.edu/.
Some geography departments in the U.S. feature geography "tracts" or specializations for students interested in completing a geography degree. These most often include specializations in Physical, Human, Urban/Economic, Techniques, or, most recently, GIScience. Students, particularly those focusing on more applied aspects of the discipline such as Planning or GIScience often enroll in Internships during their final year as an undergraduate. This experience is invaluable in helping students apply skills mastered in the classroom to "real world" problem solving. It also helps build professional and personal networks for job placement following graduation.
Virtually every college and university in the nation requires students to enroll in a number of General Education classes along with courses in their major field of study. These classes are designed to enhance reading, writing, critical thinking, math, and language skills and knowledge. They are often arranged as "packages" of courses in topical categories such as a related group of undergraduate classes in Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Humanities and Modern Languages, and Arts and Music. In today.s ever more diverse social climate, many schools also require students to take at least one class that qualifies as a Multicultural requirement. Geography classes may fit into one or more of these categories of General Education classes. Indeed, many departments depend upon large enrollments in General Education courses to satisfy the administrative demand for departments to maintain high iistudent contact hourslt for each of its faculty. These courses, then, are helpful in providing an enrollment cushion that makes it possible for departments to offer other smaller and much more specialized classes for geography majors and other interested students.
Each campus or state system of colleges and universities has its own list of General Education categories and courses. Geography classes that most often fit these requirements are Introductory Physical, Human, and Environmental Geography; Ethnic Geography (as a Multicultural course); and Historical Geography. Certain regional classes and environmental issues courses may also be included in General Education themes such as Latin America and International Issues.
In the past five years, there have been a number of significant projects and efforts to enhance and strengthen both the curriculum and the teaching skills of faculty in geography departments in the U.S. Most recently in fall, 2000, a new Human Geography Advanced Placement course was offered for the first time in more than 200 secondary schools nationwide. This class was developed by a team of professional geographers and secondary teachers who were organized by the College Board, the agency responsible for developing and administering the final exam that is required for passing all Advanced Placement classes in U.S. high schools (http://www.collegeboard.com/).
This new Advanced Placement class is virtually identical to the Introductory Human Geography courses offered at most colleges and universities in the U.S. Therefore, if secondary level students pass the College Board-administered exam, they are permitted to use the course as one of their required classes when they enter a college or university either as a General Education class or as a course required to complete the geography major.
Several national projects to enhance geography teaching in higher education in the U.S. were created, completed, and disseminated in the 1990s. Others are still in progress. All will no doubt affect geography faculty and their students for many years to come. On this list are major projects such as:
These and other projects developed new instructional materials, encouraged geographers to employ ever more innovative and student-centered instructional methods, and fostered a collaborative spirit in geography in U.S. higher education not witnessed among college and university faculty since the High School Geography Project in the 1960s.
Several other major efforts are now underway that build upon lessons learned in these earlier efforts. They include:
As shown on the Graphs 4 and 5, the total number of students completing their master's and Ph.D. degrees in geography has increased quite significantly in the past forty years. This data provides encouraging evidence about the number of available new geography faculty who are now or will soon become players in shaping and re- shaping geography departments in the U.S. From a low of less than 200 master's degrees and 50 Ph.D.'s awarded in 1960-61 to a high of 800+ master's degrees and more than 150 Ph.D's earned in the mid-1990s, it is evident that U.S. universities are graduating relatively large numbers of new geographers at the present time. This increasing number, coupled with the ever increasing concern for enhancing the teaching and leaning of geography students at U.S. institutions, will, hopefully, assure the future of the discipline in higher education for many years to come.
Page created 19 July 2001