Murmurings in the departmental corridor: excavating a history of Glasgow University’s student geographical society (1955–2005)

Abstract

Despite their ubiquity, student societies of geography, and other subjects, in university departments have received relatively little consideration in historical and contemporary accounts of these departments. This is a grave oversight considering the potentially large part they play in the academic and social life of the department and discipline itself. Using the geography department at Glasgow University as a case study, this paper attempts to begin correcting this omission by excavating and tracing a history of their student geographical society through the pages of their student-run magazine, Drumlin. Focusing on student members’ social and academic interactions with their fellow members, with departmental staff, and with student-geographers beyond Glasgow, what emerges is a highly active and impactful society. A reading of this partial history reveals the benefits, and perhaps troubles, of the student geographical society in terms of disciplinary belonging, development of geographic identity, and the formation of wider networks and communities. Additionally, through its activities, the Society may have allowed students an opportunity to become active participants in the reproduction of their own discipline. This exploration highlights the importance of writing student-geographers and their student geographical societies into the histories of geography and the academic spaces in which it is practiced