Role of Geography Courses in Improving Geospatial Thinking of Undergraduates in the United States

This national study utilizes the Geospatial Thinking Survey (GTS) to assess the geospatial thinking abilities of undergraduates in the United States. A survey of 1479 students from 61 public universities provided the data. The mean score of geography majors was the highest, while that of criminal justice majors was the lowest. The mean score of students who studied at least three college geography courses was significantly higher than those students who took less than three college geography courses. College geography courses apparently bolster student geospatial thinking abilities, thereby corroborating the stronger geospatial thinking skills of geography majors. Moreover, individual questions of the GTS represent different geospatial thinking domains. The results of the internal comparisons of the GTS questions suggest that undergraduate instructors should identify students who need their geospatial thinking ability strengthened in certain domains

The Louisiana French culture region :

Moreover, the findings of this research exploded several time-honored myths about the Louisiana French: (1) The Louisiana French were not geographically isolated in the nineteenth century. (2) Few French called themselves full-time hunters, trappers, or fishermen. (3) Louisiana French farmers were no more backward than the Anglo Saxon yeomen of North Louisiana. (4) Cajuns were not just poor petits habitants; it fact, a significant number of Cajuns were wealthy, large slaveholders. (5) In an agrarian age Roman Catholic French families were no larger than those of the Protestant Anglos. (6) The greatest erosion to the French language occurred not in the twentieth century but in the nineteenth. (7) And during the nineteenth century the Louisiana French did not remain unchanged because they had been drawn into an increasingly-dominant Anglo culture.Within the theoretical framework of Meinig's gradational and evolutionary paradigms, this study attempted to trace the nineteenth-century morphological development of the Louisiana French culture region. Employing the 1820, 1860, and 1900 manuscript census schedules as the prime data sources, the Louisiana French region was delimited for each of the three years. Also identified were independent variables that discriminated between French and Anglo areas as well as among three internal French zones--core, domain, and sphere. The 1820, 1860, and 1900 synchronic cross sections were then diachronically linked to provide more specific spatio-temporal explanation. A postdictive linear model was constructed to suggest points of further inquiry, and a seven-stage Louisiana French regional model refined Meinig's evolutionary paradigm to include the nuances of the Louisiana French experience during three centuries of change

Ethnic Diversity in Geography Undergraduate Programs

The discipline of geography in the United States has not done a good job of attracting people, other than Asians, from underrepresented ethnic groups. This article examines undergraduate geography programs in the United States to understand better the status of their ethnic diversity, particularly regarding Hispanics and African Americans, and to offer insights that may be constructive in creating more diverse academic environments

Teaching Ethnic Geography in the 21st Century

The latest U.S. census data shows an increasingly more diverse U.S. population. College and high school students need to learn more about American diversity and it’s burgeoning ethnic groups to better prepare themselves for future careers and life in an increasingly interconnected world. Teaching Ethnic Geography in the 21st Century, a new anthology from the National Council for Geographic Education is a resource for college professors and high school teachers to help support in the teaching of a wide range of human geography courses as well as courses in ethnic studies, anthropology, and sociology