Following the point I raised at the IBG/RGS deabte concerning Shell
sponsorship at Strathclyde '96, I would like to encourage as many academic
staff within geography departments to advertise as soon as possible the
forthcoming open forum on 'Petroleum and Nigeria's Environment' with the
intention of encouraging as many undergraduate and postgraduate they know to
attend.
I appreciate this request comes possibly too late with many departments
already in the throws of easter vacation (and many students in the throws of
revision and pro-plus binges), but with numerous british geographers
attending AAG when this 'open' forum takes place (coincidence !?!), there
needs to be numbers present to demand the end to Shell's corporate
sponsorship, and who better than the future academic membership of the
society.
Geography undergraduates need to be made aware of the geopolitics going on
not only with regard to the wider world, but also within the Royal
Geographical Society, and such an open forum would be an ideal and valuable
opportunity to see these power structures in action!
If this isn't possible, I would encourage as many members of the academic
staff to advertise the www// address of critical geography forum page so
that undergraduates and postgraduates can keep up to date with such issues -
Citing this page as an up-to-date source of reference for contemporary
critical and radical geographical debates would encourage increased use of
the page and engagement of contemporary geographical issues.
People (and that DOES include undergraduate geography students) can only be
accused of being apathetic if they fail to act once they are aware of what is
going on. I am fully aware that many students (of whom I am one) are
burdened with increasing financial debts. This may stop people travelling
distances to attend this forum, so I encourage as many academic staff to make
as many students as possible aware of the debates surrounding Shell's
sponsorship of the RGS (as Jo Sharp suggested in an earlier letter through
tutorials or seminars on the issue of Shell and the RGS). Similarly, by
encouraging letter writing etc in protest against this particular (although
not exclusively) multinational, undergraduate voices will (ideally) be heard.
We can but try ....
Thanks for your time
Sincerely
Jo Norcup
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|