Dear Emma and other Geographers,
Sounds like an interesting project. The following article human geographers have just had published in area might be of interest:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/area.12126/pdf
Geographers out of place: institutions, (inter)disciplinarity and identity 2014
Emma Wainwright, John Barker, Nicola Ansell, Susan Buckingham, Peter Hemming and Fiona Smith
Area, 2014, 46.4, 410-417, doi: 10.1111/area.12126
Abstract:
Ten years ago, the decision was taken to close Brunel University's Department of Geography and Earth
Sciences and its undergraduate programmes. Since this time, most of the human geographers have
remained at Brunel, but now work from beyond the boundaries of conventional academic Geography.
In this paper we argue that this situation, which is not uncommon for geographers in the UK and
elsewhere, has significant implications for both individuals and the discipline more broadly. Through our
everyday experiences of interdisciplinary working, this paper reflects on what it means to be a geographer
working outside of 'Geography'. The paper examines the implications of this at three different yet
related scales: the immediately personal scale in terms of identity and individual academic performance,
the institutional scale and its organisation that can lead to the presence/absence of academic subject
areas, and then finally the disciplinary scale with its attendant spaces of knowledge generation,
dissemination and protectionism. Our arguments are framed by neoliberal-led higher education changes
and conceptualisations of institutions, (inter)disciplinarity and identity, and point to broader significances
for the shape of the discipline.
Best wishes, Susan
Professor Susan Buckingham
Centre for Human Geography
Brunel University
Uxbridge, UB8 3PH
UK
Tel: 01895 266090 (direct)
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/shssc/people/social-work/susan-buckingham
EU COST Action Gender STE project: www.genderste.eu
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Emma Saunders
Sent: 07 January 2015 07:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Geography department moves: call for info
Good morning,
Having just registered for a postgraduate course in the geography department of Edinburgh University, I was surprised to find that a large scale move has been planned to merge in one building the various sub-disciplines of the (recently created) School of Geosciences such as geography, geology, ecology...
In 2004, the geography department joined this administrative unit because of the shared grant applications with the physical sciences and the fact that geography sat uneasily in all the various larger units. Staff in its majority accepted this merger with the understanding that this administrative change would bear no consequences on the organisation and running of the discipline. The geography department indeed remained in a specific central building, where both human and physical geographers worked whilst the other disciplines of the School of Geosciences were based in an campus far from city centre.
The School of Geosciences now holds a vision of a 'single-site'
building to be located in the Science campus far from city centre.
Many lecturers and students in the geography department have expressed concerns that such a location would both marginalise 'radical'
geographies and hinder collaboration across the social sciences. Many have also questioned the assumptions underlying the move and lack of evidence to support such a change.
I am interested in hearing positive and negative stories, experiences and consequences for geography departments, staff and students of similar mergers and moves. If you have any to share, please send them to this email address. This stems from a desire to research the consequences of such moves and mergers and assess how wide spread a phenomenon this is.
In the mean time, i wish you a happy, challenging and surprising new year,
Best,
emma saunders
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