Describes geopolitics as the branch of geography that explores the relationship between geographical realities and international affairs. The essential task of the discipline is to identify those geographical circumstances that explain the power interests, the character, and the behavior of nations. Includes a lesson plan that introduces students…

A former Sauer graduate student reminisces about one of the most influential, albeit controversial, figures in American geography. Topics include Sauer as a geography educator, his fieldwork, his department at Berkeley, his opinions about the subfields of geography, his interest in the here and now, and his personal interests. (SR)

The years between the Dawes Act of 1887, which imposed allotments in severalty on the American Indians, and 1933, when an advocate of Indian self-determination became Commissioner of Indian Affairs, were marked by a drive to assimilate the Indians. Geography instruction in Indian government schools during this period is discussed. (RM)

Columbus sighted Jamaica during his second voyage and was marooned there for more than a year during his fourth. The succession of early maps of Jamaica betrays its slow development and its unimportance to early colonizers. Modern tourism is the elusive "gold" which the Spanish fortune hunters did not find. (CS)

Describes the ethnic history and the economic development of Jamaica from its beginnings as a Spanish colony through British rule to post-World War II independence. Rastafarianism, an extremist Black nationalist movement, arose after independence. Its militancy is due to an overwhelmingly Black majority population, with few countervailing ethnic…

Kingston, capital of Jamaica, has been molded by three institutions: colonialism, the sugar plantation, and slavery. It has an enormous marginal population living in permanent poverty and not absorbable into the labor force. This marginality, fundamentally related to dependent capitalism, sustains itself by keeping wages low. (CS)

Jamaica experienced organized violence from 1976 to 1980, when general elections were held. Describes field work carried out in ghettos and shanty towns which mapped the rigid geographical polarization of Jamaica and its effects on employment, education, and migration. The geographic framework for a resumption of hostilities remains. (CS)

Reviews the life, theories, and influence of Alexander von Humboldt, the early nineteenth century founder of modern geography. Maintains that Humboldt's novel approaches to the study of landscape antiquities have value for contemporary students in cultural and historical geography. (JDH)

Commercial geography, originally taught in 18th-century trading schools, reached its zenith in the mid-1920s because it was stimulated by the development of the British Empire, noted for its commercial applications, and popularized through information disseminated by geographical societies. Demise factors include America's isolationist attitudes,…

The educational history of geography instruction in France from 1870, when it was first taught at the university level, through the 1970s is discussed. (RM)

Looks at problems in United States geographical education in the early nineteenth century as perceived by reformers of that period. Focuses on who the reformers were, what changes they advocated, and problems encountered by the reform movement. (Author/AEM)

Uses the U.S. General Land Office Survey as a source of data for reconstruction of local presettlement vegetation patterns in the United States. Data serve as a basis for an introductory biogeography course at Indiana University, Indianapolis. Includes field exercises, questions, and tables of frequency of witness-trees records. (NL)

Examines the life and work of Samuel Griswold Goodrich who, writing under the name "Peter Parley," was one of the United States' most prolific geography textbook writers. Explains that Parley was among the nineteenth century's best known educational figures. Underscores Goodrich's profuse use of illustrations and personal writing style. (SG)

Discusses Egypt's issuance of stamp maps, which are postage stamps whose designs incorporate maps. Provides a time line of Egypt's issuance of stamp maps. Explains that Egypt has issued more stamp maps than any other country. Explains how teachers can use the stamps in history and geography instruction. (SG)

Discusses changes in the location of manufacturing in the United States during the middle part of the 20th century and explains how investigation of these trends can be used in geography courses and in geography research. Findings from the study of industrial location indicated that industries became less concentrated from 1940 to 1977. (DB)