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Friday Forum, School of Geography and Environmental Studies Journey towards knowledge O world of spring and autumn, birth and dying! The endless cycle of ideas and action, Endless invention, endless experiment, Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness. Where is the life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? Slide 2 Geography challenges Thinking about a discipline Peter Wilde 9 August 2013 Slide 3 Today we stand in footsteps millennia old. May we acknowledge the traditional owners whose cultures and customs have nurtured, and continue to nurture, this land, since men and women awoke from the great dream. We honour the presence of these ancestors who reside in the imagination of this land and whose irrepressible spirituality flows through all creation. Jonathon Hill Slide 4 My journey towards an understanding of geography Slide 5 Place Space Time Region Scale Societal and physical processes Differential change over time indifferent places Different expressions of phenomena in different places Different outcomes of processes in different places How the characteristics of place and space influence phenomena, processes and outcomes. Where my journey has led so far Sense of place Interaction among phenomena in a place Interactions between places Slide 6 The 1960s Classical regional geography Integrated teaching about human and physical features in space Slide 7 Layered English landscapes: Midlands fields Transport in Birmingham Canal 1770 Motorway 1980 Slide 8 Brewing 1754-1900 West Midlands iron industry around 1850 Iron works note proximity to canals Slide 9 My home town - Oldham Slide 10 The early 1970s Positivist quantitative physical and human geography Positivist quantitative physical and human geography Slide 11 Christallers concept of regions Slide 12 More recent physical geography Ever more quantitative Slide 13 Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA): A ( basic) primer A simple view as Earth rotational feedbacks Gravitational feedbacks -> Global feedbacks Modelling critically requires Time-steps of spatial distribution of ice mass Knowledge of how Earth responds to loading: (3d) Earth structure (notably, lithospheric thickness, lower & upper mantle viscosity) Poorly understood Slide 14 Spatial aspects of physical processes Gravity and rebound Courtesy of Matt King - - - - - - Before ice melt _____ After ice melt Slide 15 Geography matters! (Courtesy of Matt King) Pacific islands feel the brunt, regardless Northern Europe feels less than average due to Greenland melt! Greenland mass loss equiv to 1mm/yr global sea level rise West Antarctic mass loss equiv to 1mm/yr global sea level rise Slide 16 More recent human geography Post-positive approaches Ever more sub-disciplines Post-positive approaches Ever more sub-disciplines Slide 17 Peets view of the growth of sub-disciplines in human geography Slide 18 Contemporary discourse in relation to space Contemporary discourse in relation to space, an unreflexive `churning' of spatial turnsshort intellectual product cycles limiting opportunities for learning both within geography and more generally, has been characterized by ``an unreflexive `churning' of spatial turns, leading to short intellectual product cycles for key socio-spatial concepts, limiting opportunities for learning through theoretical debate, empirical analysis, and critical evaluation of such concepts'' (Jessop et al, 2008, p 389-401, quoted in Malpas 2012 p 229). Malpas quoting Jessop on the churning Slide 19 Geography challenges! Slide 20 The course of the good ship UTAS Slide 21 Slide 22 Slide 23 Slide 24 Why keep this discipline? Geography is confused at the centre and open at the boundaries Geography opens a world to other disciplines Geography is atomised among sub- disciplines Specialisation is more productive than integration Other disciplines study place and space Geography is confused at the centre and open at the boundaries Geography opens a world to other disciplines Geography is atomised among sub- disciplines Specialisation is more productive than integration Other disciplines study place and space Slide 25 Centre for Environment real-world Provide solutions for real-world environmental problems. end-users Be guided by end-users in setting priorities. Support interdisciplinary research, including science, humanities, government and law I know were in there somewhere! Australian Environmental History (HTA271) interaction Explores the interaction between human beings and the natural environment in Australian history. impact The unit first examines the Aboriginal relationship to the flora and fauna of the continent and then reviews the impact of European settlement on the land and native animals until the 1970s. It assesses the effects of agriculture, pastoralism, mining, forestry and introduced animals, and of pollution arising from urbanisation and industry. environmental consciousness national parks and nature reserves wilderness, conservation, and preservationgreen movement It traces the rise of an environmental consciousness with the establishment of national parks and nature reserves, the development of ideas about wilderness, conservation, and preservation, and the emergence of the green movement. Slide 26 Slide 27 The new national school curriculum Geography builds a broad and holistic understanding of the world by integrating knowledge from the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. Geography develops students curiosity and wonder about the world. Geography explores the places that make up our world, and investigates the effects of location and distance on the characteristics of places, the interconnections between places, and the management of place and space. Geographical skills include fieldwork in human and physical studies, and interpreting and mapping spatial distributions Field and computer-based technologies are fundamental to geographical study. This knowledge and skills can be applied in everyday life and to a variety of careers. Geography builds a broad and holistic understanding of the world by integrating knowledge from the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. Geography develops students curiosity and wonder about the world. Geography explores the places that make up our world, and investigates the effects of location and distance on the characteristics of places, the interconnections between places, and the management of place and space. Geographical skills include fieldwork in human and physical studies, and interpreting and mapping spatial distributions Field and computer-based technologies are fundamental to geographical study. This knowledge and skills can be applied in everyday life and to a variety of careers. Slide 28 Slide 29 Re-forming and re-presenting geography Slide 30 Slide 31 Saying goodbye! We shall not cease from exploration And at the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time the source of the longest river The voice of the hidden waterfall And the children in the apple tree Not known because not looked for T.S.Eliot Little Gidding Slide 32