The emergence and institutionalization of feminist geography in Ghana

Abstract

The emergence and institutionalization of feminist geography in Ghana was in tandem with the global feminist movement in the 1970s and its subsequent international women’s conferences. This paper discusses the pioneering work and research at the Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, and its effect on the institutionalization and diffusion of feminist geography in Ghana. Through research and external collaborations, the need for gender as an academic discipline was strongly argued for and instituted as an undergraduate course at the Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana. These external collaborations with other feminist geographers in international geography associations and universities served as a boost as they created opportunities for highlighting the spatial variations in the role and situation of particularly women’s lives in Ghana. Subsequently, there was a diffusion of feminist geography research and its institutionalization as an academic sub-discipline in Geography departments in other Ghanaian universities. These notwithstanding, the departments of Geography in Ghanaian universities are still dominated by male faculty members. Moreover, research work has been mainly in the field of human geography more than the physical aspects calling for the mainstreaming of gender issues in all the systematic branches of the discipline.     

Development of geography in higher education in China: departments,curricula, and faculty, 1904–1949

By extracting information from various original materials and using geography departments, curricula, and faculty as indicators, this paper contributes to the discussion of the development of geography in higher education in China from 1904 to 1949. Four mutual connections are outlined. First, the development of geography in higher education is inextricably linked to social and political changes. Second, geography in higher education during the period concerned progressed in fits and starts, which affected its distribution. Third, geography departments were split into two categories according to the type of higher educational institution, which created differences in the tasks, curricula, and faculty of these departments. Fourth, faculty were trained in both domestic and foreign universities, and Western universities made an obvious contribution to the growth of qualified academic faculty. Simultaneously, universities where qualified academic faculty were trained were centralized both in domestic and foreign aspects. The special role of geographers returning from overseas study, the particularity of geography in higher education in China, and the connection between Chinese and foreign geography are also discussed in terms of geography departments, curricula, and faculty.     

21世纪高校人文地理学教学改革与实践——中山大学的探索

学科发展的根本在于人才培养,而人才培养的基石是课程体系。目前中国约有150多所高校开设了人文地理学专业,由于学科背景不同,形成了多种人文地理学教学课程体系,由此培养的学生知识结构也千差万别。在此背景下,本文基于中山大学实施人文地理学本科教学改革和教学计划调整的研究实践,在对比探讨国内外各代表院校人文地理学专业学科课程设置特点的基础上,结合本专业就业形势、历史传统、师资情况,提出了以"宽基础、强专业、重实践"为基本导向,以"突出精品、减量增效、资源共享、彰显个性、完善体系"为基本原则的课程改革计划,对人文地理学的教学改革、课程设置提出了基于实践的规范建议。希望此经验有助于国内各院校人文地理学教学改革的进一步深化,也为其他相关专业的教学改革和课程设置提供参考。     

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON GEOGRAPHIC EDUCATION IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES

The basic elements of geographic education in American universities are considered, including the number of geography departments, number of students specializing in geography, and the number of teachers. The teacher-to-student ratio, the nature of geographic specialization, and some features of the educational process are outlined, using the Department of Geography of the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign as an example. Some new trends in the development of American geography are brought out, such as the growing interest in physical geography and in research on domestic matters, and a greater emphasis on applied geography. (The translation is by R. Bruce Wood, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign.)     

试论高校地理专业人文地理学的教学改革

依据7所高校地理专业课程设置的分析,可以发现我国高校地理专业人文地理学课程体系基本形成,《人文地理学》、《经济地理学》、《中国地理》、《世界地理》等课程成为人文地理学的核心课程。各高校根据自身特点,通过多种方式和途径,开设了涉及目前人文地理学发展较为成熟领域的课程。《人文地理学》的课程性质决定了它在人文地理学课程群中的总括地位,该课程的教学重点应该在于阐述人文地理学的基本理论、基本方法。课程性质和教学重点对教材提出了要求,我国不同时期出版的教材各具特色,但随着高校地理专业人文地理学课程体系日趋合理,《人文地理学》教材应与《人文地理学》课程性质和功能相一致。人文地理学外业实践教学不可或缺,但目前仍较薄弱,有待加强。人文地理学外业实践教学应以人地关系地域系统理论为指导思想,选择较为典型、富有代表性的地域进行。     

Multidisciplinary field training in undergraduate Physical Geography: Russian experience

Field training is seen as a central component of the discipline of Physical Geography and an essential part of the undergraduate curriculum. This paper explores the structure and relationships between fieldwork and theoretical courses and the abundant experiences of field training in the undergraduate curriculum of 37 Russian universities. It details a case study of the Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia's largest center of geographical scholarship and training with 860 employees, which admits about 1000 undergraduates and 180 PhD students annually. Here, the total duration of field training extends up to 18 weeks annually and involves 14 (11 Physical Geography) specialist departments.     

李旭旦先生的学术思想和贡献及其他——纪念李旭旦先生诞辰100周年

李旭旦先生是人文地理学家、区域地理学家和地理教育家,毕生致力于地理教育和科学研究,培养了几代地理学人才,桃李满天下。他才思敏捷,知识渊博,治学严谨、执着,有较高的学术造诣。学术上他强调人地协调论和统一地理学,提倡区域研究,致力于地理教育理论的建设,创办《地理知识》杂志,曾任德国《GeoJournal》杂志编委,主编《人文地理学》(中国大百科全书分册)、《人文地理学论丛》、《人文地理学概说》,提出白龙江是我国西部南北地理分界线的科学论断,主张把解决现实问题作为人文地理学的主攻方向,重视野外调查,晚年他提出复兴人文地理学的倡议,把我国人文地理学的发展推向一个新的阶段。他是我国现代人文地理学的奠基人。     

Tutoring Relevant Geography: A People's Geography Project initiative

UK geography departments are now reaching the stage where, in light of social change and growing competition for students, the need to offer a degree programme that is relevant to the needs and expectations of students is a real urgency. Drawing on the People's Geography Project, an initiative from the USA, this paper details the experiences of the author in teaching relevant geography in first-year undergraduate tutorials. The paper contends that by providing an opportunity for students to engage in contentious debate and to adopt a political position, students are encouraged to approach issues from a critical geographical perspective, demonstrate the relevance of a geographical perspective in contemporary issues, recognise the conflicting interests from competing discourses and reach a possible, just solution to social problems. This paper reports on the choice of topics, the forum of debate and assessment through alternative coursework styles, and it analyses the learning of both geographical and transferable skills through a People's Geography tutorial programme. The degree of relevance perceived by both the students and the tutor is evaluated, and suggestions are made for further development of a People's Geography approach.     

‘Partially provided’: geography at the University of Toronto, 1844–1935

In universities, as in everyday life, there is a fundamental need for geographical knowledge, even when no formal departments exist to provide instruction. This need was true in the University of Toronto during the decades before Griffith Taylor was appointed in 1935 to the first university Chair in geography in English‐speaking Canada. Using matriculation and annual university course examinations, university calendars and the papers of President Falconer and Professors James Mavor and Harold Innis, I trace the development of geography at the University of Toronto from the mid‐nineteenth century to the arrival of Taylor. Courses taught in selected aspects of physical and human geography in the Departments of Geology, Political Economy and History are particularly significant. Underlying this instruction, and also the desire to establish a geography department, was an acute awareness of the fundamental importance of geography to help understand a large regionally complex homeland, and a wider world.     

南京大学人文地理学发展系谱

本文梳理了南京大学人文地理研究机构的发展历程,总结南京大学人文地理研究机构由基础层、应用层、联合应用层三个层级组成。将南京大学九十年的人文地理学科发展历程划分为三个历史时期,即1919年到建国初期的近代中国人文地理学源地与人才培养的摇篮,建国初期到20世纪70年代末80年代初承担全国性科学研究和生产任务的先行者,20世纪80年代初期至今的优势学科凸显,同时"大人文地理科学"蓬勃发展与国际化阶段。认为南京大学对中国人文地理学科发展有四大贡献,即中国人文地理学的摇篮与创新源地,中国人文地理学思想理论发展的中坚,中国人文地理学主要分支学科建设的引领者,以及中国人文地理学承担国家重大项目的主体。     

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Zhu Xiang,professor of human geography,was bom in beijing in 1995,He graduated from the Institute of Geography of West urope and North America in East China Normal University and got his master degree there in 1988.     

A lone ranger: My journey towards becoming a feminist geographer in Nairobi,Kenya

Abstract

Very few Kenyan universities offer modules on Gender or Feminism in their courses. Women are largely under-represented and very few hold senior positions. Due to the few numbers of female faculty, mentorship for young female scholars is lacking. Feminist writing by Female Kenyan geographers in professional geography journals is limited. Collective action among female geography faculty is also largely absent. This is largely due to the lack of feminist advocacy and policies in the universities. My journey to becoming a feminist geographer has received little or no support from the university. I have taken personal initiatives to link up with local and transnational gender associations in order to get insights on current feminist scholarship issues. My lived feminist experience and observations of the struggles of ordinary women in everyday livelihood negotiation have been my main motivation for continuing to do feminist work. Thus, my feminist work has concentrated on women in marginal economic informality. This paper presents my journey as a feminist geographer. It begins with a discussion on the state of feminist geography in three universities in Kenya namely, University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University and Egerton University. This is followed by a presentation of my journey toward becoming a feminist geographer in the absence of a supportive infrastructure. My journey has been inspired by my lived experience. The paper concludes with a call for a concerted effort for feminist advocacy in Kenyan Geography departments.     

Problems of General Economic Regionalization at the Present Stage

Professor Ryabchikov, Dean of the Geography Faculty of Moscow University, finds that Soviet teachers colleges are adequate to supply geography teachers to the middle schools, especially in view of a gradual reduction of the number of class hours devoted to geography in those schools. He sees the primary function of university geography as the training of specialized geographers for industry, agriculture and other segments of the national economy. Universities are therefore urged to reorganize their curricula from the present somewhat academic approach to a greater practical and applied content that would benefit graduates in their new jobs. The author calls on universities to strengthen their ties with industry by taking advantage of the Soviet system of contractual research for production organizations.     

中国历史地理学的发展与成就

中国历史地理学是从传统的沿革地理学发展而来的。本世纪30年代现代科学方法的传入,促使中国学者将传统的沿革地理学向现代科学的历史地理学转变。中国历史地理学真正得到充分的发展是在1949年新中国成立以后的事。
四十年余来,中国历史地理学的进展和成就大体可有下列几个方面:
(1)学科理论的探讨确定历史地理学是现代地理学的一个组成部分,研究对象是历史时期地理环境变化及其规律的学科。其上限应与古地理学衔接,下限与当代地理学挂钩,将整个地理现象变化连贯起来,以便更好地认识和改造现有的环境。
(2)学科基本建设《中国历史地图集》和《中国历史大辞典历史地理分册》是现今研究历史地理各分支最基本的工具。
(3)研究领域的扩大与深入四十余年来,历史自然地理中的气候、水文、植被、灾害、沙漠、海岸各分支都有重要的研究成果出现。近十余年来,人类生存环境变化的研究已成为历史地理学界热门的课题。历史人文地理自80年代以来开始兴旺起来,政区、农业、人口、城市、交通、工矿业、商业以及社会、文化各分支都有明显的进展和成就,估计到下一世纪,历史人文地理学将有更大的发展。
(4)研究方法、手段的革新近三十年来新技术的运用给历史地理学的发展带来极大的推动力。许多过去无法进行的课题,由于新技术的运用而得到解决。     

Christian colleges amid political changes: The University of Nanking’s reorganization and registration (1927-1928)

Jinling University, or the University of Nanking, was created in 1910 from the merger of three Christian missionary schools in Nanjing (Nanking). After a period of smooth development in the second decade of the twentieth century, the University of Nanking had to face huge challenges in the 1920s when nationalism and revolutionary movements gained momentum in China. After the Nanjing Incident in 1927, the university was forced to deal with all the serious challenges of running a new school. Within two years, the University of Nanking underwent comprehensive reform, which included the reorganization of the school administration, the establishment of a board of directors, the accession of the university’s first Chinese president, and the completion of a process of government-mandated registration. All this ultimately led the University of Nanking into a new era. The university reacted to the registration requirement and the internal administrative reshuffling in a process of gradual, interlocking responses. This process reflects the general nature of relations between church universities and the Chinese government during this important historical moment, though the unique characteristics of the University of Nanking’s own experience are also apparent.     

Geography in higher education in the USSR

Abstract

Soviet geography in higher education stems from a solid tradition long pre‐dating 1917, but in Soviet times the subject's practical relevance to environmental problems has been especially emphasised. University courses are very specialised, yet in certain respects they are also extraordinarily broad by British standards. Geography graduates usually enter either teaching or scientific/ research bodies, to which they are readily suited by their training. The practical emphasis of geographical education, however, occasionally produces certain strains in the discipline.     

建设以非洲地理研究为特色的非洲学——南京大学非洲地理研究成果回顾与展望

论文全面回顾了南京大学非洲地理研究发展的历史,从自然地理、能源地理、农业地理、矿产地理、工业地理、人口与城市地理等方面总结了南京大学非洲地理的重要领域。指出了当前研究的困境与不足,并探讨了今后南京大学非洲地理研究应关注的重点。     

Study of the History of Geographical Ideas

Two recent books on the history of geographical ideas, by A. G. Isachenko of Leningrad University, and by Preston James of Syracuse University, are reviewed in the general context of the need for a textbook for courses now being taught at Soviet universities. The Isachenko book is criticized on the ground that it reduces the history of geographical ideas to a history of physical geography, ignoring the impact of human activity. James, who deals with the history of geographical ideas as a whole, is praised for having included a chapter on the new geography in the Soviet Union and on the innovative aspects of theoretical geography, such as systems theory, spatial systems, diffusion on studies, etc. In the reviewer's opinion, the two books need to be examined critically in connection with preparation of a text for a Soviet university course on the history and methodology of geography.     

Political geography around the world IX: Academic geography in Spain and Franco's regime, 1936–55

Contemporary academic Geography in Spain begins in the 1940s with the educative reform carried out by General Franco's regime. However, Spanish academic Geography did not present any Fascist trend; for instance, German geo-politics did not achieve any relevance. Possible reasons for this political-ideological contradiction may be found in the role played by the staff that manned the new University geography departments, whose scientific behaviour was totally isolated from any Fascist political approach.     

Gender representation and participation in Dutch human geography departments

Since the beginning of the 1970s the under‐representation of women in geography has been questioned in several publications. Most articles refer to the situation in English‐speaking countries. This paper examines the vertical and horizontal gender segregation in human geography departments in Dutch universities. In spite of several policy measures to promote equal opportunity, women form only 19 per cent of all human geography faculty. In the conclusion, consequences and dilemmas related to gender representation and segregation are discussed.