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.     

Editorial II

Abstract

This paper begins by outlining some recent initiatives to encourage the incorporation of ‘enterprise skills’ in British higher education and discusses the response of the academic community. Geographers are at the forefront of these developments. The second part of the paper illustrates how a first year practical course in geography was redesigned into a set of largely resource‐based group projects which incorporate many of the personal transferable skills emphasised in the various enterprise initiatives. It is concluded that the inclusion of enterprise skills is relevant to geography courses, but they are best integrated into mainline courses rather than taught as separate courses.     

Transformative learning in community college human geography: a mixed methods study

ABSTRACT

The study explores the extent to which transformative learning occurs using quantitative and qualitative methods in a human geography course (N = 35) and explores student affect in relation to the learning environment. We used the eight-scale Transformative Learning Environments Survey (TLES) instrument for the quantitative analysis and an aligned analysis of student reflective work to capture the “voice” of the student as a qualitative approach that provided a rounded perspective of transformative learning. The TLES proved reliable where the sub-scale Alpha reliability ranged from 0.71 to 0.93 and a separate affect scale of Satisfaction was 0.95. The standardized regression coefficient between Satisfaction and the sub-scale of Student-Acting demonstrated the strongest positive association (0.27), followed closely by Disorienting Dilemma-Environment (0.24). The qualitative results supported the quantitative associations in most cases, but not all. The qualitative aspect to this present study offers a deeper look – beyond just statistical outcomes – using students’ own voices to explain their perspectives related to transformative learning.     

Defining competences for future geography students in relation to low carbon societies

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the most important skills and competences that will be important in the coming years for future geographers involved in assessing and managing low-carbon societies. The analysed information was extracted from a questionnaire answered by professionals working in low-carbon management in three European countries (Finland, Poland and Catalonia, Spain). From the results, we have identified not only the most requisite abilities and skills, but also differences between countries on a European scale. Among the findings, we would highlight the general agreement that “soft skills”, as opposed to “hard skills”, are critical for future professionals addressing policies in relation to low carbon societies.     

Teaching economic geography in UK higher education institutions

Abstract

This paper examines how the changes in the last decade in economic geography have been reflected in the courses taught in the UK and assesses the impact of recent changes in teaching styles and methods on how the subject is taught. It summarises the findings from a survey of 50 UK Geography Departments. The paper covers three main topics: the significance of economic geography in UK degrees courses; the characteristics of introductory economic geography courses; and the issues involved in the teaching of economic geography.     

The silver screen

Abstract

Based in educational theory and with an interdisciplinary backdrop, this paper applies to economic geography thoughts and contributions pioneered in agricultural science by Professor Richard Bawden. Commonly held educational objectives are interpreted alongside three major teaching traditions. From this analysis, the potential relevance of experiential learning is examined in the light of paradigmatic shifts in economic geography and practical developments in tertiary milieu. The conclusion is that praxis‐based teaching deserves more attention than it has previously received.     

Evolutionary Perspectives on Rural Australia

An enduring concern within Australian rural geography has been to understand the nature and implications of change. Much of the intellectual effort has been focused on interpreting how rural economies, populations, social institutions, cultures, and land uses have been transformed through processes operating across a range of spatial and temporal scales. This paper offers a critical appraisal of recent rural research in Australia and how this body of work has attempted to make sense of change. It argues that despite an ongoing focus on the nature of change, it is often reduced to a relatively simple historical narrative. We suggest that some of the emerging ideas in ‘evolutionary economic geography’ might offer an alternative means of conceptualising the trajectories of rural economies, institutions, and communities. The paper outlines the contours of evolutionary economic geography and the ways in which some of its key conceptual foundations might offer a means of understanding not only rural change, but also continuity.     

Australian Geographers and Geographical Information Science

Geographical Information Science (GIScience) has become an important sub‐discipline for North American geographers but in Australia few geographers are engaged in this ‘research in GIS’ area. Australian geographers seem more concerned with ‘research using GIS’ which has become absorbed into the geographical tradition of thinking and communicating with diagrams, images, and maps. The breakdown of disciplinary boundaries in Australia makes it difficult to be sure, but most of those engaged in GIScience in Australia seem to identify with disciplines other than geography.     

古代国家都城祭祀体系与空间模式——以唐长安为例

祭祀是礼制的渊源,国家祭祀是社会礼制中最高礼仪层次,也是以礼为内核的儒教的载体,都城形成了国家祭祀体系中最为完善的地域空间,本文在建构儒教之所以成立的基础上,以唐代长安城为例,探讨了城市祭祀的等级、结构和地域空间体系,认为国家祭祀是古代都城的显性文化现象,是城市上层的精神空间的表达,是传统城市特有的一类精神文化。