Cultural Geography Blog

One of the good aspects of the new Edexcel AS/A2 Geography course is the support in the form of additional materials (and of course the seminal NING ) It's great to hear from Jon Wolton that there are some new guides for each of the units which include ideas, and suggestions for related news items and articles. Click HERE to go the download page for the World of Cultural Diversity resource

You've heard of Hollywood , and Bollywood , and now a third country takes the stage (or screen) in the shape of Nigeria's 'Nollywood' . This has been featured in a few current newspaper articles, such as The Guardian one here. Many of the films are made in local languages, and are therefore important culturally. Cinema is an essential part of global culture, and there is a long tradition of geography teachers using films in their teaching, sometimes to teach about particular concepts, or natural hazards.

For the last 3 or 4 years now, I have been involved in posting something on BLOG ACTION DAY on the particular theme of the year. The theme this year is WATER.  The Vimeo video sets the scene... Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo . Change.org | Start Petition Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion around an important issue that impacts us all. Our Goal First and last, the purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. We ask bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue. By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue. Out of this discussion naturally flow ideas, advice, plans, and action. In 2007 with the theme of the environment, we saw bloggers running en

I always enjoy the latest additions to Tina Richardson's blog: Arcades / Promenades , which relate to her psycho-geographical investigations of the English seaside resorts, such as Hunstanton. Plenty of cultural connections in these places...

Thanks to the good folks at the Princeton Architectural Press for sending me copies of two rather wonderful new mapping books... "The Map as Art" by Katharine Harmon ( I already have a copy of her excellent book 'You are here') and "from Here to There" by the Hand Drawn Map Association.. . More to come on these books shortly.... "I sense that humans have an urge to map - and that this mapping instinct, like our opposable thumbs, is part of what makes us human...." Katharine Harmon

The Cape Farewell voyages aim to bring a cultural response to the issue of Climate Change. Previous voyages involved Anthony Gormley, and Rachel Whiteread , who was inspired to fill the turbine hall at Tate Modern with white cubes. When teaching the now sadly ex-Pilot GCSE Geography course a few years back, I used the Cape Farewell pack that the Geographical Association produced. The blog posts that relate to my studies of this EXTREME ENVIRONMENT are available by following THIS LINK to the blog: you'll see student work and a range of other resources which I hope you might still find useful... The latest Cape Farewell expedition is going to follow the route shown on the map above, and it has JUST SET OFF ... you can follow if for the next few weeks by visiting the CAPE FAREWELL WEBSITE , or following CAPE FAREWELL on TWITTER.

Thanks to Samantha for getting in touch to tell me that this blog has been listed in a recent list of 50 best blogs for Geography Geeks In at no. 6 :) Thanks for the inclusion... Welcome to any visitors who may be here because of my listing... You might also find my LIVING GEOGRAPHY blog interesting: it has over 1800 posts now on all things geographical... Best wishes GeoBlogs

Just caught up with the p ublication of a piece by Professor David Lambert in the TES , published on the 27th of August, while I was away on holiday. I saw the original piece, and haven't checked yet for any possible editing of the piece for publication. It was titled "Crack curriculum's core and open a world of opportunity" If politicians want more focus on knowledge, subject teachers should decide what is crucial The Government appears determined to reform the school curriculum again. This is something that some teachers may resist - it will appear as yet more change, when not enough time has been allowed for the last alterations to settle. And because of the return to "knowledge" as opposed to "skills", changes could be accompanied by much Gradgrind-sounding rhetoric about facts and old-fashioned subjects. It could sound like a rush to restore a golden age of subjects past, and undo the curriculum reforms of the last government. However, if w