|
|||
|
 |
|
|
|
|
The Changing Face of Geography
I use my case as a small example of the shifts toward incorporating technology, applications, and interdisciplinary education into our University curricula. I was hired at SOSC (1978) after being a researcher on NASA grants for four years at Oregon State University. I had also taught cartography, air photo interpretation, and map analysis at Western Washington State College (1972-74). For the SOSC Geography Department to bring into a small undergraduate department someone with my background reflected the Department’s recognition of some significant changes occurring in the academic discipline of geography. Remote sensing of earth’s surface, the acquisition of satellite digital imagery, the need for analysis of the ever-growing masses of data, and demand for computer-aided research and instruction were on the rise. NASA had released U-2 spy plane photography and satellite imagery for "unclassified" use in the early 1970s and was engaged in accelerated "technology transfer" through American universities. Although SOSC because of its regional mission was (and is) not a large research university and had little money for state-of-the-art instructional equipment and software, it was apparent that those in the department at the time saw the necessity to have a faculty member with at least a little background in these expanding technologies and applications. What follows is only a small part of the story of the education evolution on this campus from one geographers point of view, but perhaps also typifies what occurred in other programs at what is now SOU. Immediate and extreme changes did not occur in SOSC geography in the late 1970s. Radical changes were not expected or desired or affordable. The program continued to serve the broad, traditional academic needs of students in a liberal arts college. In my initial academic year here, 1978-79, I remember the department "line" describing the Geography degree program as "a well-rounded undergraduate program covering cultural geography, physical geography, selected geographic regions, and geographic techniques" (primarily field methods and cartography at the time) - a fair description of an undergraduate program with four faculty members at a small college. This basic description still has validity after a quarter century although much has changed in the expansion and refinement of the Geography degree program here at Southern during that time. Some program changes occurred because of a positive shift in the public perception of Geography, particularly in the United States, as a necessary and useful field of study. (Of course, working Geographers have always known the necessity and usefulness.) The National Geographic Society from the mid-1980s through the 90s was responsible for a greater public awareness of the importance of geography. It worked to establish "Geographic Alliances" among educators in many states, including Oregon. U. S. Presidents created commissions on the educational state of the country during this period. Listed right up there with English, mathematics, history, and general science in their reports was geography. Emphasis on these essential subjects was recommended to improve the education goals of the nation. Much of this change in perception and application of geographic knowledge reflects a changing, wider world: expanded global economic and political interaction, increased concern for - and regulation of - the physical environment and natural resources, availability of massive data bases and the attendant explosion of technology, and the burgeoning complexity of decision making processes in application of new knowledge in a dynamic, democratic society. Over the past decade or two, in this rapidly changing world, there have been continuing legitimate employer demands for heightened education and training of prospective employees (read: college graduates) in the areas of world awareness, clear thinking and writing, thorough data analysis, application of computer technology, and effective presentation of information. Geography has expanded and/or added upper division courses in tourism, global livelihoods, geography research methods, quantitative geographic analysis, remote sensing, geographic information systems, field methods, and geographic regions of the world. Geography faculty responded to the challenges of global change, international focus, and contemporary technology by continuing to build and maintain a strong, well-rounded degree program. As part of a higher education general trend, the program increased its focus on effective writing, presentation skills, and quantitative reasoning within its curriculum. For quality control, the program was externally reviewed three times in the past twenty years, the latest in 2000. Reviewers and visiting faculty from more than just one or two Geography programs have expressed admiration and envy for the SOU Geography program and its facilities. As computer technology rapidly emerged over the past fifteen years, the tools of the geographer changed to employ theses contemporary techniques. Computer-aided analysis of large geographic data bases and remotely sensed digital images became combined with effective cartographic display of information to produce one of the most important tools of the computer age, GIS - Geographic Information Systems. Action was taken to bring this technology into the SOU curriculum not only by Geography but other academic programs as well. Through the efforts of Claude Curran, then Dean of the School of Social Science, the old Geography Laboratory (mostly a drafting lab) that was once housed in the bowels of the Music Building - annoyingly just below the practice rooms whose emanating sounds rattled the exposed heating/cooling ducts - was eventually moved to the former Office Management typing and dictation lab space in Taylor Hall. In 1992-93 the single Zenith 200 IBM compatible PC (purchased ~ 1985 for nearly $4,000) was retired and replaced with four "286s." The first basic "Geographic Information Systems" (GIS) course was offered in 1994. Since that time instructional computer hardware and software has gone through at least four generations. In recent times Greg Jones (Assoc. Prof., Geography) has transformed the Geography Lab into a model satellite (department) computer lab on campus. The University now has a full license to use all ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) GIS software and data sets for instructional purposes. Hardware in the Geography Lab is near-state of the art, as much as funds allow. It is a very pleasant place to learn and teach. Another trend of the past ten years has been a more interdisciplinary, cooperative approach to instruction. Around 1990, during one of the campus’s many general education reforms, the faculty debated what courses should be included as a "science" in the SOU gen. ed. requirements. This debate was more a "territorial" argument than anything else and resulted in academic isolation of departments with a lot to offer wide-ranging student interests. By the mid-1990s many SOU faculty realized that an interdisciplinary approach for certain departments was possible, society-supported, and even necessary. A result of this realization was the development of the interdisciplinary degree in Environmental Studies (Biology, Chemistry, Geography, and Geology). The program, now directed by Eric Dittmer (Assoc. Prof. ??, Geology), is a great success. For the Geography Department itself, inclusion of technique courses for the professional geographer, participation in the Environmental Studies degree program, an expanded field methods "capstone" experience, added courses in geography research methods, quantitative analysis, global economies, the environment and economic development, and regional courses in Asia and Europe, etc. represent the concerted effort of Geography Department faculty to offer the best program possible given their numbers and the resources available. Yes, things can and do change for the better over time. Education will not and can not remain the same when well-intentioned people pay enlightened attention to what’s going on in the world around them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ P. S. Another change I have noticed in student clientele in the last decade is that more learners come into Geography more geography-aware and computer savvy and very much world-wise and tuned into job availability when graduating. But this is true for all degree programs, isn’t it?
|
|
