Cultural Geography Blog

Great "sense of place" and connection with music, the past, tradition, rural landscapes and handmade music... New Imagined Village album to kick off 2010 in style: EMPIRE and LOVE

Merry Christmas ! Image by Amalia Versaci on Flickr...

There has been no shortage of books about 'the North' over the years, and I own quite a few of them. Have to say I'm really enjoying Martin Wainwright's book at the moment now - full of great images as well as anecdotes and information about the changing nature of the North... A nice AUDIO SLIDESHOW on the Guardian website. There are quite a few in the Guardian's TRAVEL section too...

Just got my RGS-IBG Bulletin for Spring 2010 . Some good events coming up, and discovered that I'm featured on p. 20... This is my lecture at the Norfolk GA branch in March, when I'm exploring ideas of PLACE in the context of Norfolk... I'll be using a few articles from the Autumn 2008 issue of GEOGRAPHY. Remember that if you're a GA member, you can download the last 5 years issues of the journal(s) you subscribe to. I'll be trailing some elements of the lecture over at the LOOK AT LANDSCAPES blog in the next few months. Also plan to write the lecture up and produce a resource that other colleagues can use on the meaning of "place"... There'll be plenty on the cultural aspects of place, and have been reading the relevant sections of Jon Anderson's Cultural Geography text...

When I was teaching OCR Pilot GCSE, we did a unit on Cultural Geography. One of the icons of the UK that we always focussed on was Fish and Chips... A good BBC MAGAZINE feature on Fish and Chips has just been added.

Nice infographics are a favourite thing of mine... This graphical retelling of the story of Red Riding Hood by Tomas Nilsson of Sweden is superb... It's in the style of a Royksopp video called "Remind me", which can be viewed here, and features a range of geographical connections...

Dan Raven Ellison has launched a new project URBAN TWEET DAY . U RBAN TWEET DAY is a side project of URBAN EARTH. The idea is to record our perspective on our urban lives and habitat through an online stream of tweets that describe urban events and experiences as they happen. By the end of the urban day we will have created a collaborative narrative - a descriptive portrait of urban life.. To take part all you need is: 1. The ability to Tweet ( www.twitter.com ) 2. To be in an urban area on Saturday 9th January 2010 3. To include #utday in each of your related tweets We'll then be able to search the tweets to reveal our story. Please do spread the word around, the more of us the better.. and leading up to the day, add the URBAN TWEET DAY Twibbon to your Twitter profile picture. If you don't already, you can follow us on Twitter here . Any questions, thoughts or ideas?

Had a quick flick through this book earlier in the week, and one that was mentioned over on the Edexcel NING. It's called "Understanding Cultural Geography : Places and Traces" by Jon Anderson (not the singer with 'Yes') Has a lovely clear introduction on the importance of culture in our lives, and a range of fascinating chapters. I wanted to sit there and read it rather than get on with what I was supposed to be doing. Available for just under £20 from Amazon . What's nice is the relationship between the cultural forms and PLACE. The book begins by saying "We live in a world of cultural places... we contribute to it every day and night." Context is vital of course with culture, and I use the word a lot when describing the work that teachers do... Cultural geography tries to explore "the intersections of context and culture. It asks why cultural activities happen in particular ways in particular contexts." Some really interesting sections...

Those teachers who have opted for the Edexcel 'A' level specification in the UK (for students aged 16-18), there is a unit called "The World of Cultural Diversity" . Today, the pre-release titles were announced. Students will be expected to prepare OPTION 4: The World of Cultural Diversity • Explore what is meant by a global culture, how it is defined and, if it exists, what its characteristics are. • Research contrasting locations, some of which show the effects of cultural globalisation and others which seem to be resisting the process. Would be interested in hearing the thoughts of any blog readers on any suggested resources or thoughts on these particular contexts...

Image by Flickr user abooth202 under Creative Commons license An interesting article in Friday's TES on a plan by Stephen Heppell to open up a school in Rotherham : my home town. The school is, interestingly, going to be located in an empty department store in the town centre... Stephen Heppell suggests that the layout of shops is more suited to modern teaching approaches than classrooms, and avoided the idea of "cells and bells" . Similar schemes are already in operation in other countries, including the US and New Zealand. A quote that struck a chord: "Rotherham's a nice place, but when you walk through it, it's quite sad because whole streets are boarded up. When Burger King had gone there was a sign in the window saying 'Nothing of value left in these premises' - and I tried to imagine what had ever been there of value..." This was suggested as being a useful use of the freehold for shops: if it's handed over for a few year's the bui...

For those doing Edexcel A2, Jon Wolton has added a range of useful support materials for those doing the A2 exam this year. One of them is to support the unit called THE WORLD OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY , and would be worth a look to provide some background on the topic. An excellent resource.

Thanks to @bldgblog on Twitter for this tip off.... OWNING THE WEATHER is a new film on Weather Modification The trailer is well worth watching....

Coronation Street has been added to Google Street View. View Larger Map Could be a useful place to visit with students, perhaps for a literacy task ? Are there any other soap opera locations in Street View ? Via Twitter.