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]
>
>
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>
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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
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