Cultural Geography Blog

This is in my top 3 films (if I have one...) There is something about it which grabbed me the first time I saw it, and continues to do so now decades later...

Here's the latest resource that I have worked on (a little - I gave some guidance on the contents and Finnish translation and activities) It's been developed by Eeva Kemppainen and Ian Cook, who I've worked with previously. Developed for Pro-Ethical Trade Finland This guide sets out an approach to teaching media literacy and the geographies of consumption that has been developed by the NGO Pro Ethical Trade Finland (Eettisen kaupan puolesta ry), with funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland. A subvertisement workshop involves interpreting and subverting the messages made in product advertising. With their teachers, students are shown how to critically read advertisements brought into the classroom and encouraged to work out: • How images and texts are designed to convey a message about a commodity • How advertisements convey relationships between people, places and things • What claims advertisements make about the origins and uses of com...

If you are heading to the Historic Dockyards at Chatham over the next few months, you can check out a specially expanded version of the Pole of Cold exhibition which has been to several other locations over the last few years. This is the expedition which I got involved with in a small way by writing the educational resources, funded by the RGS-IBG (as was the expedition). The resources won a Scottish Association of Geography Teacher's (SAGT) Award in 2014. Read more about it in earlier posts on this blog. Further details of the exhibition: Discover the mystical world of the Arctic and the people who live there.  From Shamanism to ice cream. Kent’s very own polar explorer Felicity Aston MBE presents a diverse and exciting exhibition, which combines the natural world, adventure and art.  This compelling exhibition gives an insight into the coldest place on earth. Pole of Cold explores what life is like in some of the coldest permanently inhabited places in the ...

Breaking into the summer break for some important news … The AQA 'A' level Geography textbook that I worked for over 2 years on editing and co-writing (and re-writing) is now in stock at the publishers!   Order your copies now. Thanks again to everyone who helped with the project! Image: Caroline Walton from CUP

Countdown to Crystal Serenity: The 1 per cent are coming to Canada’s Arctic https://t.co/616MkOUUsr via @macleansmag pic.twitter.com/RpJ1CEzTWf — Jane George (@sikugirl) July 19, 2016 This post has been in draft for a couple of months, and the story has evolved since it was first announced. This would now be a useful idea for exploring fragile cold environments. I'm going to try to develop this as an evolved case study piece, but ran out of time… will come back to this I think I've just read a Jonathan Franzen piece on Antarctica in the Times which was excellent and worth hunting out... The Crystal Serenity is a large cruise ship, which is going to boldly go on a voyage this summer, setting off in August 2016… and it's one that all geographers should be fascinated by. The ship is going to sail around the north of Canada, and go through what would have been referred to in the past as the Northwest Passage. The ship's website has a range of detail on the vo...

Cultural geography was at the heart of this really enjoyable Opening ceremony. There were images of the rainforest, the arrival of European migrants, slavery, the changes in the landscape, and the growth of the cities and the favelas. There was a major element of the environment about the event, with some visualisations on climate change being displayed prominently... I enjoyed the city scenes with amazing projections on the floor of the stadium, and the fireworks were good as well. The ceremony was shown with a delay in the USA apparently, and according to an article: NBC responded to online criticism by saying that its team needed time to edit the ceremony and put it into context for viewers in the US. In a statement, a spokesperson said: "It's not a sports competition. "It's a cultural ceremony that requires deep levels of understanding , with numerous camera angles and our commentary laid over it. "We think it's important to give it the pr...

Out to see 'Finding Dory' today which is excellent - I preferred it to 'Finding Nemo' as there's more humour and invention, and of course the familiarity with the characters helps... The short film that went with it was also wonderful. It's called 'Piper ' and has exploration and overcoming fear at its heart... and of course it looks beautiful... Are you ready to brave the waves?

Ollie has just finished an amazing 4228.5 mile unsupported ride across the USA from West to East. A really inspirational ride, and look forward to reading the book. TransAM Miles: 4228.5 miles Getting Lost / Accessing Services off-route miles: 36 miles Total Miles: 4264.5 miles Total Time: 28 days, 2 hours and 46 mins Average miles per day: 152 miles Longest Mileage Day: 202 miles (who even thought that was possible!) Shortage Milage Day: 73 miles Normal time cycling each day: 16/17 hours Total punctures: Six Tires worn out: Five (three back and two front) Brake Pads worn out: Two sets Crashes: One (Day 14 - all healed now but week three was pretty sore!) Lowest Point: Sea Level 0m/ft at Astoria and Yorktown Highest Point: 3617m / 11,539ft at Hoosier Pass, Colorado Tubes of Chamois Cream used: 2.5 Favorite State: Wyoming (Can’t beat Yellowstone and the Tetons + good to re-visit some of the places that I peddled on the 2008 Divide Route) Least Favorite State: Kentucky Total Beers c...

Google has been working in the favelas of Brazil to produce a virtual fieldtrip experience which, with the Olympics about to start in earnest (some events have already started) is well worth taking a look at. Thanks to Ben Hennig for the tipoff to this resource. Favelas are being mapped because "a big part of having an identity is having an atlas". They are not just a place, they are a people, and to fully understand them, you must go inside... This is colourful and is well worth experiencing (make sure that you wear your headphones when you do)