 |
 |
Indeed. I was suprised when I came to the UK and discovered that universities did not own and run their own bookshops. My home university in Canada had an extensive one, which also provided unionised jobs for students and others in the community. Not necessarily a perfect model (they seemed to sell a lot of university branded sportswear), but an alternative. In message <[log in to unmask]> "Valentine, Jeremy" <[log in to unmask]> writes: > the real issue raised by this discussion is the disappearance of academic > bookshops, which relates to the dissapearnce of intellectual bookshops. one > would have thought geographers would have something useful to contribute to > the explanation of this tendency. i beg for the return of academic > bookshops, and perhaps encouraging good independent bookshops - like > WordPower in edinburgh - to locate on or near campuses might solve the > problem. give them reduced rents (in the same way that other retailers and > business get reduced rents on the basis that they create > employment/community cohesion etc.) i am desperate. > > cheers > > jeremy (not a geographer, more cultural studies - dread word - interested > and informed by developments in geography) > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mark Purcell > To: [log in to unmask] > Sent: 04/09/2006 21:22 > Subject: Re: Take action to save geography - a message for human geographe > rs > > That's so funny it can't be true. > > Kimberly Coulter wrote: > > > In a Madison Borders bookstore, Bob Sack's /Homo Geographicus/ was > > shelved in the "Alternative Lifestyles" section. > > > > */Dave Featherstone <[log in to unmask]>/* wrote: > > > > I like the blurring of boundaries idea- I once found a copy of > > Henri Lefebvre's > > Production of Space in the Astronomy section in Waterstone's in > > Liverpool... > > > > Quoting Carl Griffin : > > > > > Duncan, > > > > > > Quite. All book chain stores have taken a noticeable turn away > from > > > keeping non-technical, non-specialist stock. As such the way in > > which what > > > appears on the shelves of the vast majority of bookshops does > > not reflect > > > ANY academic discipline as it stands today. Try walking into a > > branch of > > > Waterstones and finding a classic - and massive seller - like EP > > > Thompson's 'The Making of the English Working Class'! Maps, > > atlases etc > > > merely represent the public face of what the non-academic > geography > > > community (i.e. the vast majority of the population) perceive to > > be the > > > geographers stock-in-trade. > > > > > > Of course we need more books for ‘non-academic’ audiences. But > > these books > > > must represent geographical thinking today (yes, not just > > cartography) and > > > as such must not shy away from addressing complex ideas, debates > > etc. If > > > we can manage to get such challenging but ‘popular’ books onto > > the shelves > > > of Waterstones, Borders et al then we are doing rather better > > than most > > > other subjects. Such a course of action - amongst other crucial > > outreach > > > work - is vital unless we are prepared to stand back, as I > > predicted in my > > > previous posting, and watch smaller geography departments be > > shut down as > > > year-on-year fewer and fewer 18 year olds choose to read > > geography at > > > university. > > > > > > Carl. > > > > > > > > > Dr. Carl J. Griffin, > > > Research Fellow in Human Geography, > > > Oxford University Centre for the Environment, > > > University of Oxford, > > > South Parks Road, > > > OXFORD, > > > OX1 3QY > > > > > > Tel: 01865 285185 > > > E-mail: [log in to unmask] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Please note my new e-mail address: [log in to unmask] > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail. > > > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=42297/*http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/m > ailbeta> > > > > -- > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Mark Purcell > Associate Professor > Department of Urban Design and Planning > University of Washington > Box 355740, Gould 410 > Seattle WA 98195 > > Tel: (206) 543-8754 > Fax: (206) 685-9597 > > http://faculty.washington.edu/mpurcell > -- Kendra Strauss DPhil Researcher, School of Geography & the Environment University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, OXFORD, OX1 3TB.